lifeaftr | October Event: Crystal Clear

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October Event: Crystal Clear

OCTOBER EVENT: CRYSTAL CLEAR

Who: Everyone!
What: Your exploration takes a turn.
When: October 20th - 26th
Where: The caverns situated underneath Ensō
Warnings: Character death, body horror, descriptions of illness. Please mark any additional warnings as needed!

Part I: Attack, Attack!
Congratulations! You've successfully gone where no Storyteller has gone or can go, and woken up in the network of subterranean caves buried beneath the island's mass, along with your designated supplies: a miner's cap, a week's worth of food, and both your knapsacks and their collective contents. And the further along you go, the vaster and more sprawling these almost labyrinthian tunnels seem to get. There’s certainly evidence that civilization once thrived here - old buildings hewed from the rock of the cave walls may very well contain old tools, or even salvageable supplies. Careful examination of structures and cavern walls alike will reveal sigils resembling those carved on the doors, each of which will need to be destroyed entirely at the Storyteller's behest. Whatever was down here was advanced enough to dwell without sunlight. But that raises a rather pertinent question...

If there were once people here, where did they all go?

Fortunately, one will soon discover that there's plenty of natural light underground, exhibited by the crystalline growths on the walls. None of them appear to be dangerous, and those attracted to shiny things might even find them useful for picking up or chipping away in order to better light their way. The crystal has about the thickness and hardness of quartz, and bathes its surroundings in a luminous green glow.

The closer you come to the center of the mass, however, the denser the crystalline growths seem to become, until one has to be quite ingenious in navigating them. Eventually, they'll simply be too dense to be squeezed through, even by the smallest and most agile of your number.

That’s when they it will start to become apparent.

Something in the crystal is moving.

Huge chunks of crystal are starting to detach from the center and move slowly, inexorably, toward those unfortunate enough to have explored the caverns. Unmistakably humanoid silhouettes, distorted by awful crystalline growths, most of which have completely swallowed any recognizable features.

...most.

The good news is that the creatures can be shattered, and beaten back. The bad news? Well...

Part II: Retreat, Retreat!
Those who get close enough to the crystalized beasts to get a good look at them will soon make a horrifying discovery - the fact that, underneath those thick layers of luminescent quartz, there was once something that might have been recognizable as human. These quartz monsters aren't native to this region, or indeed, to any region of the island at all. They were formed.

Formed out of the very crystal that you explorers have been touching, picking up, sleeping on, and just generally remaining in prolonged contact with ever since you set foot down here.

Indeed, anyone who has been in contact with the crystal for extended periods of time - sleeping on it or getting dealt a swipe from one of the crystalized monsters, for example - will find that tiny, quartz-like growths have started to sprout on their skin as well. Once the virus has taken root, it will spread rapidly until it has swallowed you whole. Indeed, the unpleasant symptoms will reveal themselves within twenty-four hours of the initial exposure: in addition to clusters of crystalline growths pocking the affected areas, the inflicted will begin to experience intense stabbing pains all over as the crystal begins to grow - both inside and out.

The transformation is slow and arduous and painful, and vocalization tends to be one of the first things to go once the crystals sprout in the mouth and throat. Within the span of about three days since the initial exposure, the transformation will have sheathed most of the physical body in crystal entirely, sealing the victim in a humanoid cast of glasslike green.

It has not been confirmed if the inflicted are sentient and aware of their state of being once they are completely consumed. Whatever their intentions, those are easily overridden by the virus's innate desire to spread to as many organisms as possible.

As this is an event with a high risk of death, the Storyteller will impose death penalties for one week only. Additionally, deaths succumbed during the event count towards the character's total. There is no known cure to the virus, but that doesn't mean characters can't or shouldn't try!

Event Timeline

[ ♆ ] October 20th: Spelunking begins. Points of interest will be provided.
[ ♆ ] October 22nd: The Quartzalcoatl make their presence known.
[ ♆ ] October 24th: The final sigils are broken, and the Storyteller will return all uninfected to the Islets.
[ ♆ ] October 26th: All deceased will be returned at midday, suffering from a reduced death penalty.

Event Specifics

[ ♆ ] If your character perishes in this event, please let us know!
[ ♆ ] For those who opted out, please see the top-level below!
[ ♆ ] Item claims can be found on the OOC plotting post here!

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hmm....

[She can tell this is no small matter to him, so she does her best to give it the appropriate amount of weight and thought.]

...I've had more than a few nasty shocks in my time, but I can't say that I have anything quite of that scale, no.

[a beat]

That being said, I think it would be fair to say I'm on first name basis with several people who have. Gods, a whole city...

[Perhaps that story would help, here.]

Have I ever mentioned the place I was before I came here? Not the world itself, but specifically the place? Ishgard?

[Ignis shakes his head slowly, lest he end up making himself dizzy from the motion. She's mentioned some vague things, but nothing specifically about Ishgard.]

It's most disconcerting to think of a whole city feeling as I'm feeling right now. What happened?

[As disconcerting as the whole idea is, Ignis can't help but be grateful for the distraction. He needs something to help pull him out of his thoughts for a little while.]

[Storytime it is, then!]

Well... Ishgard's always been the, shall we say... standoffish sort. "Led by Halone the Fury herself" to settle in the Coerthas region of Eorzea and fight against the Dravanian Horde. It could be bothersome for the rest of us at times - the Garlean Empire could be knocking on our doorstep with a an ancient Allagan superweapon and they'd send hardly so much as a gil of aid.

[If you think her tale has that very high level of specificity of something that actually happened? Yes, yes it does. Her feelings towards Ishgard are certainly rather different now than they were around the time of Ultima Weapon. Not to mention now that it appeared to be transitioning away from a theocracy to something more... inclusive. But still, back to the tale.]

For centuries they've been locked in a holy war with the Dravanian Horde: dragons, and those from Ishgard and smaller settlements around Coerthas who - for all sorts reasons - decided to side with them. It... was truly terrible in some ways. "Die to a dragon, go to haven. Die to aught else, who gives a damn?" Anyone suspected of sympathy could be branded a "heretic" and face execution. Not to mention the church had absolute authority on everything.

[That is the closest she'll get to actually expressing her frustration at the time she and Alphinaud stood trial for heresy based on nothing more than the word of a lone Heaven's Ward knight. She's glad it ended how it did, but the whole thing had been rather rediculous. And she's hoping she remembered that old Ishgardian saying correctly - it wasn't as popular nowadays.]

Now, I don't pretend to be an expert on old Ishgardian scripture, but I'm fairly certain it all says that the Dravanians started the war, and that the four High Houses of Ishgard were the descendants of the twelve knights who'd served their founder at the start of it, or something like that.

A few of us - Alphinaud, the Warrior of Light, and myself - were granted asylum in Ishgard after some... unfortunate incidents elsewhere. And the two of them actually left with the Azure Dragoon and one of the Dravanian leaders, Lady Iceheart, to try to broker peace. And then they came back quite the bit of news. Turns out the war was started by Ishgard, not the dragons, and they'd once lived together in harmony. Also that whole High Houses thing was nonsense - they were all descended from the twelve founding knights.

[Her smile turns a little wry.]

As you can imagine, the church was not pleased with the idea that this information might be made public.

[Ignis is hoping for distraction to be found in Tataru's story and it is distraction he gets in spades. In fact, so many things catch his attention, he has no idea where to start from. Despite having learned his lesson about assuming all Empires are the same from his mistake with Terra, hearing about one with a name so similar to Gralea, the Imperial Capital, is disconcerting to say the least. Then there is mention of the Warrior of Light. Ignis doesn't recognize the warrior's proper name, but his title is far too similar to Noctis' title as the King of Light to sit easily with him. It's also not escaped his attention that Tataru has called out to the Twelve in the same way he would call to the Six. Can it be mere coincidence that the numbers are so closely related to each other?

Still, these are mere details within the story and if he questions each one, she will never be able to finish the story itself. Reluctantly, Ignis files away these observations for later follow up questions and focuses on the narrative itself. The origin of a war changed to hide the true aggressors. How often does that happen? Too often. Why, he can only imagine the propaganda that those in Niflheim hear every day painting Lucis as the cause of all their hardship. Fortunately, the rest of the world knows better, which doesn't seem to be the case in the story's instance.]

No, I dare say they probably weren't. In fact, it is too easy to imagine the lengths they went to in an attempt to stop it. I can only hope murder wasn't the end result. It far too often is.

[Ah... well then.

The sad little smile that Tataru makes is probably answer enough, but she'll tell the thing properly.]

When they came back, our warden, Count Edmond de Fortemps - Fortemps is one of the high houses, you see - advised caution. But... Aymeric de Borel, he's the High Commander of the Temple Knights, which is... sort of separate from the church and the Heaven's Ward. Not to mention he's a good person besides. But when Aymeric heard, he became very upset, and went to confront the Archbishop himself about it.

Of course he was arrested and faced execution for heresy. Several people - Alphinaud, the Warrior of Light, Aymeric's second-in-command Lucia, and one of the count's sons, Haurchefant - they all went to save him. They did succeed, and the Archbishop and he Heaven's Ward fled the Vault, but....

The Heaven's Ward tried to assassinate the Warrior of Light. Haruchefant... he noticed in time to save them, but...

[Not enough to save himself.]

[He can't see that sad little smile, but Ignis doesn't need to. As Tataru continues, he knows beyond a doubt where this is going. Still, that doesn't stop the knot from tightening in his stomach. Were it the King of Light who faced the assassination attempt in this story and not the Warrior of Light, it would be he, Gladio, and Prompto who stepped in. They would succeed just as Haruchefant did, he has no doubt of that, but any one of them could also all to easily end up sharing his fate.]

It is the bravest and the kindest who often suffer the consequences when people succumb to greed and violence. His sacrifice was not in vain. Such sacrifices never are no matter how painful. The others were eventually able to bring the truth to light, weren't they? You wouldn't have told me this particular tale had they not.

Well...

[Ah yes, this is the more satisfying part of the tale.]

The Warrior of Light did end up riding back to Ishgard on the back of a dragon after they defeated the Archbishop. It was rather magnificent to see, actually.

[It... had rather forced Aymeric's hand on how much he meant to reveal, but from what she'd heard about his meeting with the Warrior of Light and Alphinaud after the fact, it may have worked out better in the long run. Nobody could have accused him of hiding the truth as the Archbishop did, at least.]

[Despite the seriousness of the story and how tired Ignis is, he can't help but let a small smile cross his face at the shift in tone.]

My goodness. They rode home on the back of a dragon? How did they manage something like that? Was it a reward for their deeds?

[Look, when it comes to dragons and dragon-like creatures, the first thing that comes to Ignis' mind in Bahamut, and no one would be riding on the back of that particular Astral! Granted, it is only the god's armor that is draconic in nature and not his form.]

Something to that effect, I think. Apparently Midgardsormr, who I should add is something of the father of all the dragons on Hydaelyn, had apparently been watching them for some time, to see what they did about the Dragonsong War. I didn't quite understand all of it, but it sounded like very important business.

[Not that one would expect anything less from the Warrior of Light. Even for being in the Scions, they just... had a knack, for getting involved in such things.]

Important business indeed. Some people find themselves caught up in it no matter what they do or what they may wish.

[Like Noctis. Like Ardyn. Endings and beginnings.]

I can't help but wonder sometimes...

[Ignis stops, realizing he's not asking the question he really wants to. After taking a moment to rephrase things in his head, he begins again.]

Do you truly think it fair that these great beings look down on us and judge us for our actions in events we didn't chose to be a part of?

[Well, that got heavy, fast.]

I... I don't know, truly. I'm not the sort of person that gods take an interest in, unless you count primals, but that's not the kind of attention anybody wants.

[Mindless thralldom... No, that wasn't the kind of thing that anybody probably would appreciate.]

I just know that all of us, we did choose, in our own ways.

I'd seen barely sixteen summers or so, when Minfillia asked me if I wanted to be coincounter for The Path of the Twelve. All I had to look forward to until then was working for a goldsmith at a pittance, so my family might one day not be harassed by moneylenders, so of course I said yes. Alphinaud's grandfather sacrificed himself to save Eorzea, so he and his sister Alisaie came here and joined the Scions to find out why. Both are still here, in their own ways. The Warrior of Light... truthfully I don't know as much there. There's a lot we don't know about them. But it was a choice they came to find the Scions, and choice they made to join.

[That was something that Minfillia had always stood by, very staunchly. That it was always a choice; nobody would be forced.]

So many times though, we choose to take that first step, and the others just sort of follow.

[They could have backed out though, if they truly wanted. While there were many situations where they felt they had no choice, if they truly wanted, if they truly felt their fate was not fair, they could have left. Gods only knew what life and opportunities the Warrior of Light could still have waiting for them, elsewhere, or Alphinaud back in the Sharlayan motherland. But they didn't.]

Whether it's fair for the Gods or Midgardsormr or anything to judge us for that or not, I don't know. But it doesn't really change what we're trying to do, does it? Especially for those of us who don't see them.

[Or are seen by them.]

Edited (correcting 3 am spelling/grammatical errors) 2017-11-21 18:51 (UTC)

[Fate and gods tend to be pretty heavy topics unfortunately.]

I don't know. I prepared most of my life for the time when I would see them and now, part of me wishes that time wouldn't have come. I want to take my charge and hide him where they can't find him.

[Ignis sighs, resting his head back against the rock behind him, blind gaze turned up at the ceiling of the cavern above them.]

It's selfish fear, I know that, but no one told us he'd have to die to fix all this. Someone his age shouldn't have to come to terms with dying to save the whole world. He shouldn't have been born just to die; we who watched him grow and kept him safe shouldn't be tasked with the duty of shepherding him there.

[His soft voice shakes slightly almost as if he's near tears even if he won't let them fall.]

I spent my whole life willing to die for him. His Shield did too. Why is he the one who has to do it in the end? What is all our sacrifice worth if the end result is the same? The world will be saved but he..he'll...

[...he'll never get to see it.]

[Twelve above, that sounds.... Awful, in more ways than can be counted. And she has almost no context. And yet...]

I sometimes wish I could be of more help to people, really. But I don't think I envy those the gods favor.

I worry about the Warrior of Light, at times. They don't act like it, but they've been through so much. More than I can really say. And my friend, Minfillia... she was called, by Haedalyn. The others said she's called "The Voice of the Mother," like some sort of... representative, for Haedalyn. Trapped in the aetherial sea with no return, though I have to believe I'll see her again some day.

[Has to. Both for their own sake and that of the others, whom she knows rely on her optimism.

Seeing those the gods favor though, their representatives and champions... They may have the choice, but those choices are often so hard, with the stakes so high. Maybe that's the truly unfair part, about it all.]

What's he like, your charge?

Edited 2017-11-24 07:43 (UTC)

Logically, my mind tells me this is all because the gods see things differently than we do. They must save the many over the few, look to the prosperity of the future over the pain of the present, but even the strongest and most intelligent of us struggle with those views.

[He raises his head then, turning back in her direction and reaching out a hand to her. It's a silent offer of comfort.]

Your friend, given such a title and position. Honored, many would probably say, and yet that doesn't stop the loss you feel or how much she misses her friends and family.

I'm sorry you have to know this pain. I'm sorry she does.

[There is silence for a moment as Ignis thinks of the best way to describe Noctis. Once he finally begins speaking, a fond smile crosses his face.]

In many ways, he's a frighteningly normal young man. Lazy, selfish at times, spoiled--perhaps a bit at my doing.

[Soft laughter follows the statement.]

But he is so full of potential. He will be everything we need and more. I have complete faith in him. He just needs time to find his way to shine.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

October Event: Crystal Clear

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LOTS of Heavensward Spoilers

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Let's just say more HW spoilers from here on out

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I actually had to rewatch the end of Heavensward for this

Oops! Iggy asks the hard questions. LOL!

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