middleofsomewhere | 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hey, at least Faux understood why bathing was important, which was a step up from the way Lea more often had to explain things to Xion. Though Xion was more likely to get depressed than embarrassed.

He made sympathetic noise at the comment about burning up energy though. "Mm... Yeah, that's really easy to do on missions," he said. "I know I pushed myself way too hard on my first one and wound up regretting it."

He quirked an eyebrow at the way Faux trailed off though, wondering why he was avoiding his gaze. "And that solution is...?"

Well, he's already set himself up. Faux gives a momentary glare of suspicion, before realizing how ridiculous the notion was of Lea meaning anything more than what he does.

Pulling one of his arms out, he nervously scratches at his chin, "Ah, don't tell the medics," he hushes out, flinching as he divulges his secret, "but I've been swiping the ethers from the first aid supplies..." he's not proud of it, "They work." nodding his head a tad too vigorously, "a little too well."

Now he's kind unsure how to describe this to a non-program. It's obvious no other user has had these issues but him. "I can substitute them for my normal energy. They're denser though, and they..." how would he put it? "ah, it's like when I drink too much and, they make me irritable when they wear off." Yeah, like now.

It's not exactly what he means. Maybe it might be close enough to something a user can relate to.

So that was where they'd all been going. Lea's gone to pick one up for himself, just in case, only to find significantly fewer than expected. "Don't worry, I won't tell on you," he said. "Though you may want to use some points to replace a few of them, once we're back on the train. And next time, just ask if you need something; the supplies are there for people who need them, but we do kinda need to keep track of how much we've got."

"Ethers are normally used for replenishing magic, so it's interesting that they work kinda like normal energy for you; if Vexen ever shows up here again, he might be interested in hearing about that. In the meantime though... yeah, I'm glad you found something that'll work in a pinch, but it doesn't sound like something that's very healthy to do if you've got a choice. Kinda like a human trying to live off nothing but coffee or energy drinks or something." Sort of like certain chilly academics did sometimes.

As Lea responds to his confession, he can't quite pick the user's intentions from his tone. Even if it's not his intention, Faux can't help feeling sufficiently reprimanded, cause he knows he did wrong. With a sluggish nod, "You're right; I didn't even think of replacing them," he didn't think he could, "yeah, users do need them." His absentminded words relieving his frown into just a tired look, again disappointment at himself.

Lea's next comment could be seen as funny in any other circumstance, hilarious given his magical capacity of zero. The name though draws an eye, and not just because he knows someone else who would be interested with a program out of his element, guzzling an inappropriate energy substitute. His own user... "Vexen," he says instead. A former passenger, "He was one of those who disembarked?" or whatever happens to one when they leave. It's not on purpose that he keeps the implications hanging in the air, he's done the math, he knows the odds. Does Lea?

And outside of a current necessity, he agrees. Unfortunately he isn't in that position yet. "In the meantime, I don't have that choice." Some of that irritation starts to reappear. "I'm needed to help these users." He relaxes back onto the wall, though he's still visibly tight while doing so.

"'People' includes you too," Lea said, not having missed the shift in terminology. "And if anyone's been telling you otherwise, let me know, and I'll have a word with them. I'm not letting anyone give another of my friends personhood issues."

"Anyway, point is, you don't need to sneak around and steal stuff. If you need something, just ask. If you don't understand something, again, ask. Most people on board will help you out, if they can. We're all on this crazy ride together, after all, so most of us try to look out for each other."

And Lea didn't miss the implications of what Faux said regarding Vexen. "Yeah, yeah... I know the odds are against it. But a guy can hope, you know? And I don't know anyone else who might have an idea why they work like that for you, or how to find out if he didn't know already. I mean everyone did the 'turning a Potion into a Hi-Potion or an Ether' experiment in school back home, including me, but this is way beyond that."

"In the meantime though, yeah. Not much choice. Just try not to overdo it, OK?"

Person? ...Faux isn't a person- he's a program. Unperturbed, he glosses over Lea's concerns about personhood issues. Regardless he nods at Lea.

What does elicit a reaction is the casual admission of friendship. Friend? When did this happen? Yeah, they'd been 'friendly' to one another, did that really denote 'friendship'? Something so simple as a friend is giving him uncomfortable feelings. He... hadn't thought about friendship at all since he was brought here, amongst the users. And arguably, he hadn't been thinking of it before that either.

Does he even have any 'friends'? Does passing association count? What of Brit? The program threatened to kill him if he slipped up. Roy? The user took pity on him. He'd do it for any program. Does the free grid's Ram really count? who knows; Faux had weirded him out, and, well, does a version of himself even count? Does it?

Having been stupefied by Lea's admission, the grumpiness he'd been feeling has dried up somewhat. After a moment of possibly a weird expression, he motions that he's following the user, "Got it." Having parsed through the info, he hadn't got 'all' of it.

The next words Lea speaks, he hyper-fixates to catch up on his previous inattention, only for his last comment makes him feel like a beta again. That however is mostly deserved. With a nod he gives an autonomous "OK".

Then blurts out, "When did we become friends?"

OK, that was kind of a weird expression. Lea wasn't sure what it meant, but Faux at least seemed to be following along with what he was saying, so he continued. Until the last bit, that was.

Faux's blurted question took him slightly by surprise, and he had to think a moment to try and come up with an answer. Even then he came up somewhat blank, so he shrugged. "I'm not sure exactly when it happened, honestly," he said. "But I know it's true now. So sorry, buddy, but you're kinda stuck with me." He gave a bit of a cheeky smile.

"I've always been pretty quick to make friends, really ever since I was a kid. Especially if I thought the other person could probably use a friend or two. Though I've still got nothing on Sora in that department; he can make friends with anyone who isn't actively trying to kill him. And sometimes I'm not convinced even that would stop him."

Swirling Consequences Ongoing

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CW: Potential Drug use aka, prolific energy drinks usage

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