March Event: De L'autre Côté de L'eau

[lifeaftr_mods]

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

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( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[crosslaced]

[His expression doesn't so much as flicker- finally, the sensible reaction to Laurent of Vere. It's taken so long to come around that he's almost forgotten how to deal with it, psh. Gotta work on that later. Casually the blonde wipes off his cuts on his brocaded jacket.]

I felt that his plan to terrorise the civilians was a touch excessive, [throwing his gaze at the burnt stalls, the goods scattered and ruined.] Are you here to finish what your brother started?

[attheclocktower]

[ Okay no, that earns the Keyblade whipping forward and jabbing in his direction a bit. Trying to get some kind of reaction, anything. ]

I'm here to make you back off. Shion wouldn't-

[ There's a note of caution in the back of her mind, the memory of how he had talked about No. 6 about finding out what they did to Safu. But like hell she's admitting that to this self-righteous jerk, especially right now. Besides, that wasn't about the people. It wouldn't have been about the people. They just would've-

She switches topics abruptly. ]

So what, beating him up was the only thing you could do? Did you even try anything else?

[crosslaced]

[Unless she looks like she's really about to go for him, no dice.]

Let's not pretend you're interested in exonerating me. I tried not to kill him, but that's not going to last if you let him bleed out.

[attheclocktower]

[ Laurent has clearly never handled a volatile Aster before, and he's making so many mistakes. Staying calm in general, whether to maintain a level head or to not let on that you feel anything, already leaves a bad taste in her mouth. At best, it makes her feel like he isn't understanding, isn't trying to understand. At worst, well... There've been other cruelly disaffected people in her life.

The attempt to divert her accusations from him towards fear for her brother likewise backfires, because while there's lots of fear there, the easiest way to deal with it is to feed it right back around into anger. Though as an added "fuck you," one of her hands lets go of her weapon and visibly drifts back to cast two quick Cure spells on Shion.

But that admission? Oh that admission. ]

You don't get to act like you care if you were willing to kill him!

[ And you don't get to try to pin this blame on her when you're the one who hurt him in the first place. ]

[crosslaced]

I’m not acting like I care.

[Exactly the opposite, tbh. He backs up some more.]

If you’re done, I’ll be going.

[savedbyasong]

[He'd really thought that it was the end. That he had broken his promise despite everything. But the Cure spells hit him, stemming the bleeding from his shoulder, stirring him back round to consciousness.

You don't get to act like you care if you were willing to kill him

Aster... He opens his eyes, the crushing realisation of what he's done is starting to hit him. He tried to destroy... he did destroy. He was sat in the smoldering wreckage of peoples livelihoods. He had done this.

He had lost control, in a way more complete than ever before and Laurent had stopped him...] Aster... don't...

[She was furious. He could see it just in how she was stood. It was heartbreaking to see. Because he didn't deserve her defense. Not this time. Not after what he had just done.]

[attheclocktower]

[ The effect is instantaneous, like a bucket of water thrown onto a fire. Her rage evaporates and she half turns, to see her brother waking up.

The worst of her anger is gone, but she doesn't trust Laurent to turn her back on him for more than a split second. She backs up several steps, Keyblade held in front defensively and other hand held protectively, shielding Shion from view. Or at least as best as she can. ]

Fine then. Get going.

[crosslaced]

[bye]

[savedbyasong]

[No... no he doesn't deserve her protection. Her leaping to his defense without even knowing... She doesn't know what he did. She just assumes he is worth saving.

What did he do to deserve her?

His breathing is too fast, he's looking around at the destruction he caused. He can't...

What has he done?]

[attheclocktower]

Hey... hey...

[ Her Keyblade vanishes immediately and she drops to her knees next to him. She sees that hyperventilation. Sees his panic. She leans her forehead forward to touch his. She trusted him today. Now it's his turn to trust her. ]

It's okay, he's gone. He's gone, and... we'll figure it out.

[ The two of them together, not some random interloper who thought he had the right to judge and impose whatever solutions he saw fit. ]

[savedbyasong]

[He presses his head against hers, letting her shelter him from the world. From what he's done. It's cowardly and wrong but for a moment he lets himself believe her. They'll figure it out. Like they could figure a way out of this mess.

He had tried to burn down a city, he had tried to destroy a city filled with ordinary people.

Breathing was hard, thinking was hard. Feeling was harder, it was like he had burned them all in that show of rage. All he could feel was numb horror at what he had done. He clung to Aster as the only thing that made any sense in all of this. She was there, it made everything a little more okay]

We... we should move...