middleofsomewhere | Swirling Consequences Ongoing

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Swirling Consequences Ongoing

SWIRLING CONSEQUENCES: ONGOING

QUICKSAND 11-13 ~ TEAM OBJECTIVES ~ LOCATION INFORMATION ~ OTHER DETAILS
COMMS ~ ASK QUESTIONS ~ SHENANIGANS ~ TEAM PLOTTING ~ MISSION TASKS/REWARDS

OVER THE YELLING HEIGHTS...

As they arrive at their destination, the Voidtreckers are quick to get to work into the various jobs that need them. The Blues have slowly but steadily been doing their best to fulfil all three of their tasks. They've worked to locate locals and to get them aid after being cut off, and have been searching for those from other worlds. A few helped with the dralite work, but took priority in helping people and leaving the dralites to others.

Orange have largely focused on collecting herbs, doing some work to help farmers relocate their animals, but only a few helped the dralite with their nests. At least there will be plenty of potions, teas, and craggy leaves to hand out, with the leaves sure to help the stressed out animals yet located.

For the Purples, they've been working well to clear the roads and ruined layouts of farms and villages to give better access around the Yelling Heights. A few have helped in escorting their fellow team members and the locals in getting around.

As for the Reds, they did what they do best: going on the offensive. They've been working to get rid of the voidblobs, but don't have much interest in setting up safe perimeters. A few voidtears, however, have been located, and hopefully that will help everyone push forward in the next few days of the mission.

Overall, the farmers are thankful for the help so far, and a good decent have been assisted. They will help Voidtreckers as they need it, and have tools on hand that can be borrowed. They will be willing to assist with the voidtears, if only able to push back any voidblobs, or to make sure Voidtreckers get back somewhere safe afterwards.

The storms have increased, changing the spotty but sunny days into more rain and wind. The choral singing can be heard more, even if one isn't near a voidtear, causing an increase in animals becoming stressed and spooked. Fortunately, transgates - quick travel gates - have been set up between the Weary Wanderer (near the forest and scrublands), one in the largest village on in the farmlands, and one can be accessed around the scrublands. These will help with some of the travel.

Animals are scattered around the scrublands and fields between farms, some unfortunately perished over the first few nights, but also some safely brought back to their appropriate farms. Adult dralites will be more hostile around people, spreading out father and bothering farmlands, screeching up a storm that stuns most people even from a distance. Their young can still be found, alive or not, and they will leave with either, though with wails for their deceased child. Even capturing them and leading them back into the forest will do some good.

↪ Prompt: There's a farm not too far from the Weary Wanderer that Albany asks for people to go to - some earmuffs can be taken along to help with the sound, along with earplugs. The reason becomes clear as soon as Voidtreckers approach it, where dralites can be circling around it. A woman greets whoever comes - "Thank ya for coming out here, I know you're working hard" - and leads them to the cause.

There's a ditch where trees have fallen, their farm bordering the forest. The cries of younger dralites can be heard, but the adults are squabbling amongst one another, and people who try to approach the fallen wreckage can thwapped at by the adults.

What will be the best course of action? To bruteforce the paralsying wails and peckings and to get at the trunks? Or to pacify these disagreeable winged things? Voidtreckers can also come here and find a displaced person or two taking shelter. (B2, B3)

While a good portion of the roads have been cleared and managed, there are areas away from the Weary Wanderer that need help, where the Ciyesia mountain suffered its damage and plenty of the farm animals and more secluded farmers have been cut off from help. The great chinchillas and the voidblobs are taking advantage of the ruined roads to kill and take animals (the chinchillas), or just to ruin them as they're found (the voidblobs).

↪ Prompt:"We're gonna need all the hands we can get. Can some of your folks come with us 'round Ciyesia? We're having trouble to getting to some of ours in a tricky part, and the animals that way - oh, they're nasty."

There's a trail - or most of a trail - that goes around the side of the Ciyesia mountain, leading over to a smaller collection of hills. While good work has been done on clearing up, around this area there's still a fine slide of rubble that's scattered over the walking paths. Those with sturdy arms are necessary to clear the wreckage, but also to deal with the voidblobs, great chinchillas, and even the dralites in this area, with the latter preferred to be pushed back to the forest. The farmers coming with the Voidtreckers will help to round the animals, but they'll need help dealing with the trouble along the way.

Doing this will help them gain access to a few farms, grateful to find visitors, though their families will be around, trying to deal with trouble. Find them on the road, with animals or in a troubling situation with a voidblob, and do what you can to help. (P1, B1, R1/R3, O2)

While Voidtreckers have worked hard to get rid of them, larger voidblobs have been spotted, and are becoming a bigger issue across the community. Further perimeters will need to be set up to keep them away from the farmlands scattered around, using good coordination to cover as much ground as possible. The voidtears as a result are easier to find, as blobs can be easier to spot if people are on watch, but are tougher than the result blobs: as tall and wide as a newsagent storefront, they will take more than one or two people to deal with them. Their speed can be unpredictable, and they're sturdier than the smaller variants, having a more gelatinous ability to move - even to rise high or to spread out.

It is advised stronger Voidtreckers deal with these - coming in with little experience or just a blade will be dangerous.

↪ Prompt: "We're seein' some of those big boys out around the fields. I'm telling ya, they're fast bastards. Think you can help us get rid of 'em? Anything you need, we've got your backs."

The locals of these lands are doing their best to help the Voidtreckers, as well as each other. Getting word out to the farther communities is hard, but they have set up a system - flags. Flags made out of any bedsheet that can be found, then put up on wooden logs. They're a call for help, being used especially if they spot voidblobs. It's a desperate attempt at communication, but the voidblobs are troublesome - and more so their larger variant. No fence or barricade works to keep them back, and the best the farmers can do is hope they won't come towards their homes when they roll into their lands. It's also worse if there happens to be a voidtear nearby...(R1, R3)

Finding displaced people will be all the more important, though some have been put forward to aid. Glowing marks around the Yelling Height's forest have been put on the tree trunks to help guide people out of the forest easier from different spots, and another Voidtrecker has been encouraged to create crystal trackers, that can be picked up. These crystals will glow the closer they approach a non-native, nor non-Voidtrecker sentient being - which means both displaced people, and the voidblobs.

Sending people home will require the same anchoring technique used during Jinnjar, Diagad, and similar to the recent events. It only takes one Voidtrecker to return someone to their world, hand in hand they will cross a metaphysical void river, seeing flashes of the visitor's world and life. And Voidtreckers will be just as exhausted as they were getting their own returned to the train... Probably best to share this burden out between as many who are willing.

↪ Prompt: Some displaced people have found their way out of the woods, found around the escorts for those keeping check, or even making their way to Albany's inn or a nearby farm. The locals themselves can't help send them home, but they're used to helping outsiders, warming them up and getting them fed. Some will accept help easily, but others are less keen on approaching unknown houses. (B2)

To approach a voidtear will be a challenge, but as they're found, planning a route straight to them that minimises time will help. Closing a voidtear will require more than one person, a small group even - with each getting under a voidtear and then pressing their anchor button. They will need to focus on keeping themselves grounded and to resist the pull of the void, as they offer their own energy in stitching up the tear. For smaller tears two people should be able to close it but more voidtreckers will be necessary for the larger ones. Colours and music entice them, to just give up, let themselves float into the void... They will need to support each other to keep steady.

OOC NOTES

OOC Post ~ Questions ~ Shenanigans ~ Tasks Check-In & Mission Rewards
Notes: A conclusion post will go up on the 26th. Feel free to put toplevels put up at the end of the start log here! Or to re-use portions and to put up fresh posts here. Or to just link them here, have a blast.

Here is a TL;DR of the above tasks: Dralites are everywhere, more aggressive and hostile; farm animals are more scattered and harder to reach, being attacked by chinchillas and voidblobs around scrublands; displaced people need to be found and sent home, and voidblobs now have a larger variant; the voidtears are becoming easier to find, but the effects of the storms are worsening, closing them will be a priority.

Please have your tasks submitted by the 25th to help determine the conclusion of the mission! We will start to count mission rewards around this time too.

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[ Huh? Hmmm. He's wondering. ]

Without trying to knock it down? Or after it's down, then throw it over?

[ Making thrown motions, as that's who Tidus always is. ]

Oh. Um. That's also an issue, if they get attacked whilst he's transforming, or at all. He did need to change back, it still felt more natural for him in his human form. Perhaps it always would.

"Yes please." He said to them both and hoped that Naoya was busy enough looking at the rift. There was a gust of wind, lost quickly in the storm as he twisted, hooves turning to hands and feet.

He reached out to Tidus to grab some clothes, hurrying for both the privacy and also the cold.

[When Roland finally woke, an hour or many hours later he would find a a creature lay before him. Black of coat, mane damp but ruffling in the breeze. He was lay up against Roland, sheltering him from the worst of the storm.]

Wind? Pah. But Tidus will take Faux's recommendation as the guy who knows what he's doing with this jet, legs coming to rest in their proper tucked position than his own idea of how to sit. It'll be a good thing too, if Tidus sees those ribbons come out once they're moving; or, so he'll think.

For the time being, he calls a "Holding tight!" in response to the warning of lift-off, gripping on as best he can, not knowing what to expect before he's doused by air. So it feels, when they shoot straight up, a rush that's unusual from the way he usually experiences it. It rattles Tidus's senses inside his head, has his nerves tingling with the change in atmosphere, the sudden lift in height.

Should he be scared? Because oh, when he actually gets a chance to soak in what's happening, the decreased speed, his body adjusting to everything, there's a definite "Wooooooo!" that he has to fight against the wind to let out, but that needs to come out.

hello this is the best ride ever, sorry gibbs, you know you're enjoying it too (in tidus's heart).

[ He doesn't feel so good. It was a peaceful sleep when he was knocked out and dreaming, but the waking up part is groggy and heavy, as if a truck had hit him on the way home. ]

What in the...? What happened...?

[ Roland cradles his head with a free hand, before his better senses catch up. ] Wait- Tidus! The baby dralite, and my hair-

[ This is when his sights clear up, and his gaze takes in the creature of imposing nature, curled up against his body even as he sat up to take in where he is. He doesn't panic outright, but it takes him time to realize what's going on. Or even to recognize the familiar beast - friend - who's peacefully watching him come to life. ]

Taiki? How did you get here?

[He stirred when Roland did, turning towards him but staying quiet not to startle him too much.

Even staying still it seemed he startled Roland slightly. He bowed his head, nuzzling his hair slightly.]

Tidus asked me to keep an eye on you, while he returned the dralite to the nest.

Honestly, he was still ancient, just look at those specs! But there is still something wonderful about older tech, and that appeal of retro. After all, without it being a stepping stone, technology wouldn't had advanced how it did. Even Idia knows that his own tech will one day be seen as equally ancient. Tech, unlike magic, would always continue to improve, it didn't have a stopping point. It would continue to evolve, and that's what was amazing about it.

He managed to let out a little bit of a low giggle, those spiky teeth of his peering through a small grin, "It's because I know you're not human. You're so much easier to talk to now." Moving to crouch down next to Faux rather than hover over him. "Tech is so superior to living things. You're creator was amazing, considering the tech they had to work with of the day." Another sound of joy. "Ah! I wonder what they could had done if they had access to what I do!"

"Eh? Lightcycle? I assume it's transport like a Magical Wheel." Which, ehh, sure, Idia would be curious to see one and how it worked, to take it apart and learn the tech, but he preferred a different type of magical transport. Hmm, maybe he would get it here one day... provided they ever got a vehicle dock to store larger items in, and maintain them of course. However, back to Faux, "I hadn't even considered making a form such as yours, or however the train did it. Then again, I don't think even I have the tech to do such a thing. Not yet at least." But he will have to consider it now.

"You holding on all right?" The best way to distract himself from the sensation of draining energy was, of course, to be gallant in her direction.

Edge slapped his own button dramatically, using the motion to cover his slight stagger as the sudden tug hooks into him somewhere below his gut. Irritation went a long way towards keeping him grounded, though -- could anything be simple, normal, and sensible around here? Physical foes, challenges not met through tecnho-arcane trickery? Having a clear and straightforward cause to turn his sword on would help him a lot.

"We need an energy-storer for this! What is it -- a battery, instead of having to use ourselves all the time!"

Whoa, whoa, what?

While Rezo does not actually resist being thrown over Vegeta’s shoulder, he does yelp a bit, which may be unpleasant considering how close he is to Vegeta’s ear. Rezo isn’t a small man, and while having someone yank at his shirtfront is one thing, being outright carried is another. He hasn’t been carried like this since-

Since the last time he expended his magic capacity, probably? i.e. ever?

But once he’s there, Rezo does his best to adjust and listen to what Vegeta says.

“Oh,” he says, which perhaps isn’t the most appropriate response. It should probably be a thank you for not leaving me to die but unfortunately, Rezo cannot bring himself to say as much.

A howling comes from behind him, and Faux has to tell himself that, no, it's not Tidus falling off.

Regardless of his fears, he smiles at making the user's day. "I promise, no corkscrews!" lest Tidus does come off.

Hitting the accelerator, he ups the speed again, dipping the nose to the right, plotting a course for the target void storm along the outskirts of a tableland farm. Apart from some rain and low hanging clouds, it's a pleasant enough 10 minutes of flight time, if you're a program of course.

They pass a pack of Dralite adults flying in formation. Thankfully the lighjet is above their reach. Any lower, and it could get dicey.

A more intense wind whips the lightjet now, wobbling the nose for a moment. They're coming into a storm front now, it's going to get turbulent. The clouds keep the view rather short, but he's flown over the area a few times now to have an idea of whats ahead.

Ryo has never had a pet of his own, but he's seen people talk about their pets - it's the same fond tone and expression that Naoya has now, and Ryo offers him a slight smile in response. "The holes just mean she likes you, right?"

He just tilts his head a bit at the next part. "I mean, you could stay back and plan things if you wanted to. You don't have to go with your team. I go with Purple team all the time." Generally when Purple team is in danger and in need of a healer, or when Orange is doing something intensely technical and above his head, but still.

Well. It might come down if we throw the net over it?

[ This is beginning to seem like an ill-conceived plan. ]

I'm just worried if you knock them out of the sky first they'll get hurt and screech more.

[ Wow Inigo, it's like you think Senku's strength is on par with a wet noodle or something.

He sighs a little bit as he considers that. ]

Okay food first...if we had to build a cart, that I could do.

Ryo raises an eyebrow - which Rezo can't see, oops - and shrugs. "Open the bag and I'll put a few more in. I do need to set some aside for other groups, though."

One the bag is open, in go about six more leaves. "There's six more in there now. There are more at the transgate in the farmlands if you need them and don't want to come all the way back here."

"It does. If she didn't like me we'd have many more problems." No one likes an angry dragon, least of all the person bonded to it.

"I could, that's true... but there's still that competing urge to go out and explore new worlds. That's what I like the most about these sort of... in between places - there's so many more worlds to go out and see. So many different things than what I'm used to in my world. You don't have the desire to do the same?"

Elidibus may be much diminished, but it's the note of divinity in him that collapses Ryo's sense, not sheer power. The technicalities are odd, but Ryo's just grateful for the protection it affords him, even if it still startles him when it happens.

It's also what lets him know Elidibus is coming, and he's ready to greet him when he arrives. Both eyebrows go up when Elidibus explains his plans. "Here." He hands over several of the potions they've made on world, then reaches into his satchel and pulls out a small jar full of powder that definitely didn't come from here, offering it to Elidibus as well. "Take this too - it's from Tidus's world, I think." There's stuff from everywhere in the medical supplies on the train; he's stopped trying to keep worlds of origin straight in favor of knowing how everything works. "It's incense - burn it, and the smoke helps people recover spent magic." He has no idea if it'll work on everyone, or if it'll help with void-related exhaustion, but it has to be better than nothing.

It sounds familiar - the need to go see more, to experience the world (or worlds, in this case) at large. It sounds like wanderlust - at least, how he's heard it described. Orion and Endon have it, and he'll follow them to the edges of Tera and back, but he doesn't feel it himself. He shakes his head. "No. I'd honestly rather be home than any of this, but...that's not an option right now." The train had tried. The train had not succeeded. Best not to dwell on that. "Have you found anything here that's made it worth exploring to you?"

Ah. Well. Something to file away, in that case. "In this place? I rather like the dralites, aggressive though they might be. In general... I've found people who are much more understanding than those at home. It's difficult being one of the few who has a certain view of how the world works - but traveling has helped me find people who understand, at least in some part."

The salves and poultices native to the world are welcome and accepted. But the incense is something that gives him pause. He had noticed it in the train's stores for recovery supplies to take on missions.

"Tidus? I shall ask him about it in detail. For now, my thanks." Even if that's wrong, Tidus seems the type that can point him in the right direction. He'll probably figure out whom he needs to talk to about it.

Everything will be properly tucked away for transportation. He's recovered enough that he can at least 'magic' everything into a spatial storage. "Do you have the support you need? Have you been taking your own rest?"

It just seems a general check-in. One he'd ask to a fellow ally whether or not they looked harried or tired.

He's about to question liking the dralites - if you have a penchant for dangerous screaming, maybe - but he waits, and Naoya's next words bring a slight smile to his face. "Sometimes the best people for you aren't the ones you started with." He can definitely understand that.

Is a shadow joining this onslaught? Good, then Tidus's higglepal can appear out from his chest and get instantly smacked aside by a NEW DRALITE THAT HAS SCREAMED INTO THE SCENE. There are no rules only here, except the need to Smash. Are the dralites more likely smashing the boys and each other? Probably. But as that happens...

This does leave fewer adults around where the fallen tree is, the babies wailing. Even when they 'calm', there's still excited yips with their parents so close!! A few of the adults are watching Kaseri still, the chicks not immediately moving away from the space that Kaseri's freed up; but a few squawks from the less fighty dralites do make the youngsters start to come out. Particularly, those with the parents not engaging in a brawl in the background.

But even their babies will start to wander out as the other dralite chicks too. They have parents to cry for, loudly or timidly. And at some point, their hardheaded parents will notice the cries of their children, and move away from the scene - even flying to grab their babies into their beaks and to take them away.

Either way, there's going to be a big mess of fluffy feathers where Tidus and Katsuya are, and a few blue higgledies scattered around the battlefield, along with the blue caped wonder.

The true hero today....is Kaseri, the good pony(ta).

[ IS HE WRONG. Can you look him in the eyes and tell him he's wrong??

But when it comes to the plan, Inigo just nods. ]

Sure. Let's go ahead and try it!

"Uh, gesundheit?"

But that wasn't the end of the raging stupidity. The next minion up stepped forward, brandished a fishing pole -- then spun around, and flung a cast off in the exact opposite direction. A long moment passed as the reel spun noisily, while even the blob seemed confused... then, the hook shot over the far horizon and sank into the hook. The minion began furiously reeling, causing the blob to shoot off into the distance, only to reappear a moment later behind them as the minion hauled it, as near as anyone could tell, around the entire world -- dragging a gouge in the ground the whole way.

As far as Wash is concerned, that's an any nest will do scenario - hopefully dralites are intelligent enough to sort it out instead of attacking young that aren't theirs, though he's pretty sure they would've been briefed on that if that was going to be an issue.

(Hopefully. He still doesn't have a metric for what a "normal" mission is when they're evidently all very different.)

"Good enough," he says, gently but firmly working one set of dralite claws open and removing them from the unicorn. The claws clamp down on his wrist instead, but that's fine - he'll deal with that later. He gets to work on the second set of claws. "Once I get it loose, back up so it doesn't grab you again." Which doesn't solve the problem of it clinging to Wash, but Wash at least has opposable thumbs to deal with said issue.

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Swirling Consequences Ongoing

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let me reiterate: SORRY ABOUT HIM, VEGETA

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would you be ok with wrapping this one here? c: seems like a good point

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