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

"Oh, hold on, I think they're rallying." Indeed, with the speech over, the minions formed a proper line, then began to advance on the voidblob in lockstep.

The blob in question appeared to have completely forgotten they were there, as it happened. This proved to be a mistake, as the first minion up promptly tossed a sword into the air, only for said sword to expand about eighty-five times over and immediately descend to impale the thing.

Sure, sure. Whatever, he was here now, may as well see it out.

But if he gets too bored or annoyed with this Vegeta's going to fly off and leave you, Zetta.

He however keeps his eyes on the troops as Zetta speaks up, curious to see what will actually happen. That weapon change was interesting, a brow raised as it happens, it certainly wasn't something he was expecting to see. "It's like Nyoibo." Vegeta thinking of Goku's power pole he had used in his youth.

"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.

"It's a name of a weapon." Vegeta attempted to clear up.

However any further talk of it was instantly forgotten with... THAT. What the hell was that?! "What the hell was that?!" Vegeta barked out. "What kind of childish nonsense is this to bring to a battlefield?!" Just what the hell are your minions doing, Zetta?! How was that even possible?! It didn't make sense at all!

What the fuck just happened?!

"Childish nonsense? What's childish nonsense about forcing your opponent to eat a world's circumference worth of dirt?"

While Zetta was trying to figure that out, another minion leaped into the air, threw the ball of a massive flail into the ground, and then heaved. With that massive effort, the entire battlefield shot into the sun, just like that.

Once the horrific blinding light cleared, though, everything appeared to be back to normal, except that the voidblob was incredibly charred.

"How is that even possible?! What kind of ridiculous magic or powers is that?!" That's cheating! It's totally cheating! To have the power to drag a being around the full length of a planet in such a short span of time! And did it have to be in such a comedic style?! Have some pride in battle! It's like watching Trunks and Goten and their silly techniques they made up together as Gotenks. But they were children, of course they made childish attacks!

Vegeta's rant is however interrupted by that bright light, squinting against it until it vanished and... well, at least they got the job done... as long as the build up had been with it all. He's not sure all that effort was worth the final result for just getting rid of one voidblob.

"It's mana power. Seriously, you have to know about it..."

Zetta was used to humans, who had no knowledge of mana power and little natural proficiency with it, being confused. But this guy clearly had some actual gas in his tank, both to Zetta's inherent senses and from a quick glance at his status screen.

...had he heard about it? Maybe in passing when the younger version of Trunks back home was trying to tell him about video games, and maybe also here and there with magic users both in Verens before and on the train. But Vegeta has little details beyond really knowing the word or knowing it's linked to magic.

"I don't. I know of ki." ...and now Vegeta is wondering if it was possible to pass ki through an item to replicate something like that. Well, not like that, but still, to use it as part of an item or weapon. Then again it's only recently he's taken up using a weapon and training under Trunks here in learning how to use a sword. Vegeta's never had an interest in weapons in the past. If you had to rely on a weapon to fight then you're useless once it's gone, better to train the body instead. Plus he's found few weapons could keep up with what he's capable of doing.

Zetta waved a hand for him to go on. "Okay, what's ki, then?" He had a pretty good hunch how this conversation was going to go, now that a term had been established. Actually having this conversation was some crap, as far as he was concerned, but just another day in an increasingly unlikely couple of years.

...he's going to let that little hand wave pass. A younger him wouldn't had, be glad for that Zetta or you may had lost it. "Every living being as a level of ki to them, most will never do anything with it as it's so low that it holds no use at all for fighting or other abilities. Some are born with higher levels while others can train to increase it and use it to strength their bodies and make them faster and stronger than they were before." It was basically life energy.

Raising his hand Vegeta allowed a ball of ki energy to form just above his palm, "Or to make it into attacks." Before launching it off into the distance at another blob he had seen starting to bounce it's way towards them, the impact splatting the remains of it across the ground around it.

"Okay, so you just packed a bunch of 'energy' into a blob of light and blew something up with it. How's that any more ridiculous than anything my guys did?" Huffing, Zetta straightened up and didn't give the guy a chance to respond. "Mana power's under everything. Magic, technology, or just plain physical ability. It represents the ability to make the world operate under the rules you want."

Swirling Consequences Ongoing

What's a fourth wall, anyway?

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