lifeaftr | March Event: De L'autre Côté de L'eau

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March Event: De L'autre Côté de L'eau

MARCH EVENT: DE L'AUTRE CÔTÉ DE L'EAU

Who: Everyone condemned to the Water, and those who see fit to rescue them
What: A rescue is implemented!
When:Predominantly on March 19th
Where: Ai'tuoh, and the small islet just off its coast
Warnings: Mark as needed!

Just Sing For Me All Night

It's time for your captured comrades to be recovered, and by none other than your fine selves! While the Storyteller will detail the elements of said rescue below, they very notably don't say anything about how they plan for you make it through Ai'tuoh, and then to the islet off its coast.

You have their tacit blessing to make your way there however you would like. Through stealth, through diplomacy, by salting and burning the earth...whichever you prefer. It is, as it turns out, awfully difficult to discern the innocent from the perpetrators when they all look alike.

Whatever course of action you choose, bear in mind that there will be consequences. The Storyteller will be sealing off Ai'tuoh's mana pool once everyone who has been retrieved has come through, but that doesn't mean that the island will be gone forever.

And If I Shout For You, Never Doubt

While the details of the rescue's mechanics can be found in the Storyteller's explanation below, we ask that, if your character was captured and needs to be rescued, please let us know HERE. This will make it easier for other players to account for who might be their focus, and why!

A few guidelines for each of the groups:

[ ♆ ] Group One will be predominantly busy fending away militia, who you can assume will be pouring forth to protect the Water from these intruders at a fairly concentrated rate. Most of the fighting will likely be grouped around the Water itself, leading to a risk of being forced into the Water or slipping in yourself. The militia largely fight with spears, swords, and shields, but are not above attempting to sedate you if they can get close enough, to make it easier to tip you into the Water.

[ ♆ ] Group Two will be serving as the tether, meaning they will be holding onto the thread the Storyteller has provided. This means physically remaining on our side of the abyss and holding onto the thread very tightly, as well as mentally focusing incredibly hard on the Water itself. When the thread is deposited into the Water, it will open a dark tunnel into the surface itself, leading all the way through to the other side. The Water will not take kindly to this; it will attempt to close, and exert a tremendous mental pressure upon your mind to do so. In order for this portal to remain open, your focus must be wholly devoted to keeping it open. It may feel very much like a mental game of tug-of-war, and you may very well feel a very physical tug on the thread itself as well; you must be actively concentrating on bringing everyone home.

[ ♆ ] Group Three will then have to grab hold of the thread in some way or another and not let go as they're swept into the dimension and through to the other side. As long as they remain in contact with the thread, they will be able to make their way back and be immune to the soporific effects of the strange void, as well as detect the opening the thread makes in the landscape of the netherworld on the other side of the Water. If they let go, they will lose their way and be vulnerable to the somnolent effects, and must be drawn back by someone who is still tethered.

Just remember: once you've found who needs recovering, you cannot, under any circumstances, look back at them while you guide the home.

You simply have to trust that they will follow, and that will be what leads them back to you.

Event Timeline

[ ♆ ] March 19th: Characters are taken to the Standing Water, and the rescue is facilitated
[ ♆ ] March 20th: Monthly Storytelling occurs as usual
[ ♆ ] March 31st: Ai'tuoh disappears, and anyone left on it or in the Water will suffer a death

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

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Let's back up for a second here. It's been a really shitty couple of days. Humongously shitty. Ginormically shitty. Astronomical, even.

First, new city. Magnus, making full use of his own patented Rustic Hospitality™️ and a side of his inherent ability to rush into things without a probably necessary second thought, made his way into the new city to try and meet the locals. So far so good, right? Yeah! He was being all polite and shit! Didn't even challenge anyone to a fight, or stole anything. He was being pleasant, cordial, and an all around good guy.

Then these assholes locked him up. They knocked him out, locked him up, took his ax, his gloves, and, worst of all, they took Steven. Not to mention all the other people they locked up for no reason, Erika, Guzma-- Ren! Of all people, they locked her up!

And, as if that wasn't enough? Pulling them all into this crazy-ass ritual with spooky unmoving waters and whatever the fuck. When Magnus saw this, when Magnus watched that kid sink into the water and not come back - that's when he snapped.

So, yeah. Flash forward, and he's pretty easy to spot. Being weaponless doesn't seem to slow him down, as he's quick to throw himself on some guards or militia without much care. He can hand a few hits. He's more interested in figure out if they can.

He grabs a militia's weapon, slamming his foot into their chest and knocking them off the edge and into the water, when Taako enters the scene.

"Wh--Taako!!"

Obvious relief washes over his face, only briefly interrupted when another member of the militia rushes him - and Magnus is quick to duck and use the previously snatched weapon to sweep their legs and kick them off the edge.

"FUCK all of this!"

Boy, Magnus is nothing if not eloquent. Taako laughs high and humorless, all wild nerves and vicious spirit. Thank Magnus for Magnus. These dipfucks bought and paid for this when they put him in jail, and he's meanly glad to see them eat absolute SHIT, he doesn't even need to contribute here. Magic-warding a prison, what the fuck, that's cheap as hell. How's the water this time of year, you joyless fucks?

As much as he's enjoying seeing these hearty doses of melee justice, and wouldn't mind Levitating a few of these fucks right into their own spooky bullshit-water himself, that's still not what he's here for. And there's not going to be a raucous shitstorm of activity around Ren to help him find her, is the sobering thought that settles in his stomach with an ice water shock. There were a lot more people on the Ren end of the buffness spectrum than on the Magnus end that went missing, and the water-that-isn't is a void-call in the corner of his eyes that makes his scalp crawl.

But hoo boy, is this next bit a hard sell, the part where he gets in the not-water with only a rabbity god's string to guarantee he gets back out. If Taako looks a little shifty, a little flighty, it's surely just because he's keeping an eye out, making sure the militia doesn't get the drop on them. “Yeah. So hey, gonna need your help with something. Don't flip out, okay? I need to get in the water.”

"What?!" Magnus's reaction is probably anything but surprising. And so is their private conversation in the middle of full blown chaos, but it's highly unlikely someone's going to actually be able to interrupt them.

"But--" Of course it's shock and worry that's got Magnus worked up, but as soon as the words leave his mouth, the next logical step finally loads in: there's people in there. There's people in there who fell or were put in the water unfairly, and haven't come back out. In fact, Magnus has yet to see anyone come back up and swim out of it. It's like they just phase through.

He knows Taako always has how own plan, his own way of doing things. Magnus is one of the first people to just let him do his thing and trust Taako's methods, as seen several times before, but, you know, he's not too keen in losing the elf to the water too.

Yeah cha boy's not exactly thrilled about this either, needless to say, so they are pretty much on the same page about that. Taako can actually see the realization sink in, however; this is necessary, he's not just proposing this little swim for shits and giggles, no one's gonna come back up from the water unaided. Kicking militia ass isn't actually a long-term solution, as great as Magnus is at it. Just as visible, at least to someone who knows what to look for, is the implicit trust keeping Magnus' flipping out to a respectable and handleable minimum. At least someone here seems to think Taako knows what he's doing. Too bad it isn't Taako. But Mags isn't really known for his good judgment anyway.

“No, listen,” he says, which is probably an underwhelming reassurance for someone who knows the kind of shit that typically follows that interjection. He's pretty insistent, despite the fact that Magnus hasn't actually...made an argument for him to counter. “It's cool, because I have a magic string. From the Storyteller. You know the one?” There's not much about his sheepish grin that's reassuring, either. He knows how much like bullshit this sounds, and he's kinda just decided to lean into it, stay on brand.

“That's where you come in, my dude,” he beams, like he's bestowing participation on Magnus like a gift. Special offer, only five easy payments of hold this fucking string, shipping and handling not included. "We're gonna get out of the way, you're gonna get invisible and hold this string, and I'm gonna get in the water." Taako snaps his fingers, see how easy this will be? Shame he's full of shit. "Flawless plan, right?"

As much as Magnus trusts Taako's judgement (much to a lot of people's surprise, probably) and respects his surprisingly adequate problem solving skills, the way he looks at the elf all throughout his explanation is one akin to a child afraid their parent is going to leave them stranded with an unwanted babysitter or family member. Or, perhaps, of a dog watching its owner jump into a scary pool. It's- it's worry, man, it's worry and the fear of losing someone to something he can't understand.

But they've done crazier things, right? Shit, this place, the time in prison where his strenght wasn't enough to get himself, his friends and all the other innocent people out, all of it wore him down, probably. This is fine! This will be fine! It's all fine, they're experienced adventurers and world savers! Can't fake that on a resume!

"Are you sure? I mean-" The Storyteller doesn't seem to be that useful. For something they call a 'god', Magnus hasn't seen them do anything that extraordinary. Will this even work?

But the sounds of the battling around them creep back into Magnus's focus and he glances around. There's no time to ask a lot of questions. They need to hurry up, get them out, and go. He just needs-

"Taako, are you sure?" He's ready to push his worry aside, just. Give him something.

Edited 2018-04-05 13:53 (UTC)

Look, it's not like this is a role Taako wants, or finds easy to fill. So the less Magnus questions him, the better, as far as he's concerned. Taako knows, okay? This sounds like a less than stellar plan, he gets it. Still no reason to call attention to that fact and make it a whole. Thing.

"What, did I stutter?" His forced confidence evaporates, leaving only surly fear, and he refuses to meet Magnus' worried look. Taako certainly looks sure of something, and it's not this stupid string-based rescue mission. But this is where they're at. "I'm not gonna leave Ren," he says, almost too quiet to hear over the fighting.

It's gotta be him, is the thing. Mags would try to lead every single person out of the water, and probably get his dumb ass stuck down there for his trouble. And then what? Nah. Sucks, but nah. So just let him do this very obviously unwise thing with as little fanfare as possible, thanks. "Kinda need you to just roll with this one, dude."

It's weird, you know? It's weird, but not that weird, to hear Taako being so forthcoming about helping out someone else. It's not that Magnus doesn't expect it of him, it's just- it's just a thing.

And that's all that Magnus needs.

He straightens up and nods, uncertainty sticking to his eyes but decisiveness on his face. They need to do this. They have to get her out of there. They're not going to leave Ren behind. They've done the hero thing before, they can do it again, powers or no powers, gods or no gods.

"Okay." He reaches a hand out to set it on Taako's shoulder in an encouraging manner, turning his head to look down at the water. He shouldn't be so nervous about this. They are who they are, they've done the things they've done. This isn't It, they've been though It, and this? This is nothing.

"Lets do this."

Taako's thoughts, unknowingly, mirror Magnus'; They've Been Through Worse. What's a little spooky water, between hundred year friends? Magnus' resolve is as comforting as it can be, considering all the dumb shit he's watched him do. He grins encouragingly at the decisive response anyway, though it's a little anemic on account of him still being pretty sure he's gonna die. Which, whatever, been there, done that, at least this time there's a good reason.

"Let's do this," he agrees, and makes his way to the water's edge, as out of the way as he can manage, and gives the unnatural water a look of wizardly appraisal. Conclusion? Hey, still super fucked. "So you like. Hold the string, and just-- really concentrate on me not getting, getting flushed down to hell like a goldfish. Okay? And don't get knocked in or we're both hosed."

So saying, he turns back to Mags, intending to cast the little bit of insurance he can lend him in the form of Invisibility, but he's busy saying a lot of dubiously comforting words. "I mean, I already died once here, and I don't think the rabbit's real into unfinished stories, sooooo." He shrugs. Is this sound logic? Shame we'll never know. "Don't think this lil spa trip is gonna get me out of my date with the end of the world."

There's a weird feeling that comes with Taako mentioning the Island Time death. It's born of the dissonance between most of their lives and the most recent decade, where, despite death always being just a couple of steps away for the latter part, it's just...it's different. Something about it is different. But this isn't the time or the place for complicated psychoanalysis. Now is the time for action.

He grips the string with both his hands, firm, in a way that makes it clear you'll only pry that thing from his cold dead hands, as far as he's concerned.

"You got this, Taako." He even won't remark about how it feels like Taako's stalling. About how much Magnus believes in him. There's no time, there's no time to deal with weird unresolved feelings, or to argue over disparaging views of the world.

Magnus Burnsides belives in the best wizard he's ever know. And he's going to do what he does best: he's going to protect his friend.

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March Event: De L'autre Côté de L'eau

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