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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Faux, Faux. Do you really think you can walk out with a bunch of ethers and not have company following you? Like this company, who sees a guy taking a bunch of ethers, and knows he's following him quickly out of the door to say:

"Hey! If you're going after danger, I wanna come with!"

Aw yeah. You want to get in trouble and so does Tidus. Come on!!

The voice stalls his retreat. Turning around, with what he hopes isn't a suspicious smile, he greets the user. "Tidus!"

Of course he'd get caught by him. The user seems to be surprisingly shifty. He hasn't seen him around for a few days now, but he hasn't forgotten about his deal with the lightjet either. This might actually work out if he doesn't need to bother another crew mate to work at some void tear tracking.

Faux continues to walk down a path away from the buildings, subtly guiding them to an openish area. "You think I'm up to something dangerous, huh?" Everything here fits that definition, technically.

He's grinning with a 'Hey' in response to his name, jogging to catch up and walk in pace with the guy. There's a fun note in his voice as he responds, and speaking of definitions-

"Isn't that our job? You could be going to play with the dralites or sheeps," he says, "but a guy doesn't take bottles of ethers for fussing over animals. Unless you've got some skills you're hiding."

Like silencers. Tidus would take some magical silencers.

Ah, the ethers. Faux smile slides into a smirk at the general amusement of Tidus' last comment. Hiding. Funny.

Yeah, he has some unseen skills. The ethers aren't just for those, though. Returning to seriousness, "If you really need to know, I use them to replenish my energy. Those void tears drain you pretty good. Users just get tired. I however cannot regenerate my own energy." That pretty much answers where this is heading.

Having found a suitable sight for a launch, he stops to address Tidus, "I did promise you a lightjet ride..." He's still extremely unsure about the safety of Tidus being on the modified lightjet...

Oh ho, voidtears, huh? So that's the trouble that Faux is getting up to. But that isn't so surprising, not worth a change of expression - unlike the mention of the lightjet ride.

Those shoot Tidus's eyebrows up.

"Oh yeah? Show me this thing! Let's see if I can sit on the back!"

Was it the back he was possibly going to sit or stand on? Tidus doesn't even know what to imagine with the thing, but now that Faux has brought it up - it's time to check it out!

Tidus is acting like an excitable Bit. Amusing as it is, it may be that at the end of things Tidus may be screaming whiles holding on for life.

"All right," he motions to Tidus with an arm, "Step back. The lightjet will form around me. Don't want you to get your head knocked off."

Now, Faux knows that lightjets can be held in a passive hover mode, otherwise they wouldn't be able to be worked on. Not having actually performed it when he's on it though... well, he'll see if he doesn't just accidentally zoom away without Tidus onboard.

Bringing out the baton, he actives the lighjet mode, and the skeletal wireframe code unravels around him into the shape of the flier until it's details rezz in, filling up the mesh until a fully usable lightjet is in front of Tidus. It's lightlines details glow the same off-white light blue as his own circuits.

Alright! The lightjet indeed rezzed in on hover mode. Now, its a matter of fitting Tidus in position.

He can't move around much but he bends his head to approximately where Tidus is, "Ah, behind me at the top, you see those handholds? Pull on them and it should activate the seat so you can keep your legs on the flier." Mostly. It's still going to be pretty rough, especially without a helmet. Hopefully he doesn't have remind the user not to let go of the handholds...

gonna see a cool ride gonna see a cool ride!!

Tidus takes the signal of the arm and moves away, another step taken about the vehicle forming around Faux. He's interested, absolutely, isn't sure what to expect - not even the way it comes around him, similar to how most hammerspaces work in materialisation, and yet.

And yet he did expect - and was correct - about how cool it would be. Look at this sleek design! It's so modern! (For a guy like Tidus, anyway.) Anticipation is buzzing away in Tidus, who's trying to get a good look at the lightjet from around his side, but there's something about a handholds? Seat? Oh, cool, yes, let him get on board.

"Sure!" Even if it looks like a tight fit, Tidus isn't caring in the slightest. He knows what he thinks Faux means as he rounds to the back; taking him a moment to figure how he might pull them, but he gets his hand onto one and then other, gives it a tug for the seat to slip into position.

"Sure I'm not meant to dangle them?" His legs, he means, since that much he can deduce about the 'tight fit', but it's far from asked like it's a bad thing. Will Tidus dangle his legs? Absolutely. ...unless something's likely to blast them off.

Shaking his head, Faux's voice becomes tinny as his helmet covers his head in preparation, yet still projects clearly to Tidus, "I wouldn't recommend it, the wind is quite strong in the air.."

And if Tidus is dangling those feet, he should really think hard where he puts them, lest they find them within the trajectory of a light ribbon, coming from the tail of the flier. He hasn't had too use it yet. But things can change rapidly in bad weather and unfamiliar environments.

Regardless, he's not too concerned about the ribbon usage. It's not an energy field that could hurt a user, it's just awkwardly placed.

If Tidus can't be trusted this time with his makeshift changes, he's installing a seat belt if he survives.

"Hold on, taking off," is all the warning Tidus gets before the flier taxis off the ground in three seconds and shoots up into the air in increasing speed, until they are skyborne.

That's when he cuts the speed a smidge, hopefully making the experience a little more comfortable for the user. Unhappy weather is ahead, so this may be the most comfort he'll get before the true rockiness starts. They're heading into void storms, remember.

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).

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Swirling Consequences Ongoing

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also i realised yesterday i kept calling faux 'flux', i am sorry

Oh, no prob. I actually thought it was a nickname he'd given him.

my mind meshed clu and faux together and made flux, lol.

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