middleofsomewhere | Swirling Consequences Ongoing

Entry tags:

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

[ Don't come any closer?? Fine, he can do that!!

...And Tidus really wants to, considering the current situation. If Tidus has quickly learnt anything about dralites, it's that they love to make noise. Why the one in Roland's hair isn't screeching up a storm is anyone's guess, but Tidus isn't going to complain.

...just: ]

You'll have to move.

[ Some day. One day. Can Roland really just hope it'll stay asleep? Will it?! Tidus doesn't trust that thing to not start screaming at the slightest offence! ]

I can't.

[ He's really on the verge of just making a run for it, except his hand starts pointing at a very obvious problem of the dralite burrowed between long strands of hair. ]

One wrong move...and this thing rips it all off!

[ Roland crosses his gaze with Tidus again. ]

Don't you have some sleep magic on you? Or a gadget of some kind?

[ Rips it 'all' off? --oh. oh.

Ugh, this old man. ]

Do I look like I'm made out of tricks? [ Does he need to answer so huffily? No, okay, back up. ] I need to touch it to sleep it - and what if I hit you? [ Do you want that, Roland? ]

Can't you just... [ Huff, let's think- ] Sing it a lullaby? And start walkin'?

[ It's a baby! Babies love lullabies. ]

You won't. [ He has the utmost faith in Tidus! Also- ] Besides. It's nesting in my hair because I tried to befriend it. If I sing it a lullaby, it'll just stay stuck up there for good.

[ The baby dralite feels the small movements Roland makes with his neck, and adjusts itself with a soft purr. Long wings taper even tighter around his head and hair. Roland winces. ]

Please...Do anything. [ Another wince. ] Apart from hurting it, I mean.

[ You know this is serious for Roland when he sounds like that. ]

[ Uggh. He really doesn't want to throw anything at it - it seems too mean to try it. So, he'll slowly start to creeeep towards Roland and dralite. And, since Roland won't do it... ]

Go to sleeeeep... dream up a dreammm... up in the skky.... is the bliitzball star...

[ Will the dralite allow Tidus to approach it and its new daddy Roland? Will he be able to get close enough for a spell...!?! ]

I just said not to do that-!

[ It's a relatively forceful whisper he tries to spurt through gritted teeth, but it's too late. The lullaby is sung and the baby dralite in his hair starts to actually stir. He can feel the wings tangle a bit more into his locks, which makes Roland close his eyes just in case he has to brace. The only thing he can thank their lucky stars for, is that the dralite isn't screeching.

Yet. ]

Yeowch-ow, ow. [ Roland whimpers slightly, wincing. ] The good news is that it's getting comfortable. The bad news...is that it's getting comfortable.

[ Sleep. Spell. Now??? ROLAND ALERT LEVEL 10 ]

[ Why is he complaining about Tidus singing a totally useless lullab-- oh??

Ohhh????? ]

Okay, [ okay, ] --no singing.

[ Promise! He just needs to hope he can move slowly forward towards Roland without anything happening. His hands creeping up from his sides to raise, to let them slip up over the sides of Roland's head.

Time to stand chest to chest if Tidus can get that close without any issues. This has to be the most awkward sleep spell attempt ever. ]

If I miss, [ he says, voice hushed low, ] I'm gonna knock myself to sleep.

[ It's not a threat. Putting a sleep spell close to your hand when you're Tidus (and dumb)?? Not smart. ]

What? How? Never mind. I'll wake you up.

[ Or his best attempt to. There's a joke somewhere there, about spells backfiring is a menace and shouldn't ever be a thing, and he's never experienced it; that he has all the faith in Tidus to get this done! But his focus is on holding his breath as Tidus draws in closer, Roland's own eyes falling shut in concentration. ]

[ The dralite stirs...but doesn't do anything else but burrow further into thick locks of hair. Roland groans inwardly. ]

Come on...We just want to get you home safe, little guy...!

[ Ye of too much faith, Roland.

But Tidus has made it in front of Roland, a good portion of this process done. He has a hand glowing, the fearful glowy hand of magic - and he brings them above Roland's head on either side, trembling slightly in vicinity of the dralite. There's a pause, and then--

He closes his hands onto the dralite; not with a slap, but a rushing to hold it and keep it in place. The magic spilling into it, and the spell hopefully successful in knocking it out as Tidus touches it.

(And also not accidentally knocking Roland out, with his head right there.

but you never know.) ]

[ The spell is effective enough that Roland can tell it worked on the onset, the wings loosening its hold over his hair, and his scalp feeling less weight as the dralite chirps, down for the count. He smiles in such grand relief, that he can't help but place a hand on Tidus's nearby shoulder. ]

See, I knew you could do i-

[ Not that he would ever regret placing his utmost trust in Tidus during dire moments like this, but this time, it slowly backfires as Roland's consciousness drifts to a familiar, soothing darkness. His eyes close abruptly, and his body sways as the dralite falls out of his hair, and the hand on Tidus's shoulder follows his descent, forehead and dead weight suddenly on the other at full force.

Somebody spoke too soon. Perhaps the dralite was truly one with Roland's hair more than he expected, as both baby chick and former president lull fast asleep. ]

Edited 2022-03-29 17:19 (UTC)

[ It worked??

--It worked!!

His hands are on the dralite, no rush to let go; considering even that he should move it off from Roland's head and tuck it under his arm (so he can push it onto Roland, but you know). At least, that's his thought process; as Roland gives his praises, the hand on the shoulder, and as the dralite starts to tip, so does Roland, a small 'huh?' as then there's a weight toppling forward. ] N-no-!

[ Somehow, some way, Tidus manages to get Roland against his chest, an arm going around the back of his body. His knees buckle under the awkward weight, and the fact he's using his other hand to keep the baby dralite press between his shoulder and Roland's head. ]

Mhhh... mmggghrhrr! [ A-and how is he supposed to deal with this? He can't keep this up; less because of the weight and more for the position, but the former doesn't help, either.

But-- but Tidus does manage to stop himself from just dropping Roland. He lets his knees continue to buckle and lower him, and bringing them both of them down on the ground this way, with the dralite continued to be held next to his head and shoulder.

D-down... we go... here we are...! ]

[ Roland, to Tidus's great discomfort, sleeps quite still. Like a log. Even in his positioning, knocked out by accident, his body tries to adjust to the position it knows best: on his back, completely straight. It doesn't make for a smooth transition as he's lowered by the only person conscious at this point in time, the baby dralite's body huffing up and down in deep breaths while Roland folds his hands over his stomach.

The only two upsides to this rather unfortunate scenario is that Roland is in no immediate danger thanks to the power of being well-stocked with supplies; and that a surprise nap probably did him some good. If his relaxed brow was of any indication. ]

What do I do...!

[ This might not be the worst situation, but here they are, out in the middle of nowhere... and Tidus is pretty sure he's meant to do something. Can he get anyone to show up here to help? Take Roland away? He could wake him, sure, but he does look like he could do with the sleep.

Tidus takes the time to think about the best option. He could leave Roland here and take the dralite... or should he wait for Roland to wake first? But if the dralite does before him, that'll get noisy.

... ... ... we're going to call and ask a friend. ]

[ Meanwhile.

Whether Roland stirs slightly in his spell-induced slumber because of Tidus's hold on dreams, or maybe it's because the void storms are just that strong across the atmosphere; he turns his head this way and that, a short mumble uttered inaudibly. ]

[ His brow furrows for a moment, before it relaxes, and his hands return to his side, sleeping completely straight on his back.

Do dralites dream of electric birds? We shall never know. ]

[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.]

[ 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Swirling Consequences Ongoing

b, you're not our DAD

eat your vegetables

no!!!!!!!!!!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject