[EVENT] RIPPLES ON THE WATER

[khuimods]

Characters: All
Date: September 15-30
Location: Aifaran and surrounding areas
Situation: The barrier is displaying increasingly strange behavior.
Warnings/Rating: In individual threads - please remember to warn!

The barrier that surrounds the archipelago is designed to keep the chaos of planes at bay, to safeguard the last great bastion of life in Konryu. The magic that created and sustains the barrier is immense - but not infallible. And a question that few have dared to ask in anything but a hushed whisper now descends upon the city: what if something stronger crawls out of the abyssal dark?


SHIMMER AND SHAKE

All month, the barrier has been markedly more visible than usual with swirls of rainbow color shifting across its surface, giving it the appearance of a giant soap bubble. This happens from time to time, and initially is of no great concern. Researchers prudently keep a close eye on it, recording the barrier's behavior in detail, and everyone carries on.

The first ripple appears at sunset on the 15th, warping the fading colors of the sky and spreading up and across the horizon until it vanishes. There is no outright panic in response - Aifaran is accustomed to strange events - but tension and uncertainty settle in quickly.

The Aisling Tower releases a statement in cooperation with the Ioduan Academy assuring the city that there is no indication that the barrier has weakened appreciably, nor any immediate danger. The best minds the archipelago have to offer are studying this event and advise citizens to avoid speculating about the cause until they know more. Apprehension diminishes some, helped in part by the coordinated efforts of the Tower, the Academy and the Sentry providing a unified front of calm and reassurance. Over the next few days, more ripples interrupt the cloudless skies, and no one can quite tell if the phenomenon is a physical disturbance or if the play of light and shadow merely makes it seem that way. The epicenter of each wave moves erratically, but it doesn't take the keenest of observers to notice they are marching slowly towards Aifaran.

A NIGHTMARE LOOMS

At midday on the 19th, a nightmarish figure of legend becomes visible on the barrier and sends panic through the city. Although never confirmed to be real, nearly everyone recognizes the writhing mass of darkness atop too many spindly legs: the Night Fisher. It towers high enough to be seen for miles outside the city. For half a minute, Aifaran and the surrounding lands are cast in eerie, shifting shadow as the abomination spreads tendrils questing over the barrier. Something beyond the edge of hearing sends a cold shiver down one's spine despite the warm afternoon.

And just as quickly as it arrived, the image disappears and sunlight returns to streets that are hastily emptied. City hall and the Aisling Tower are hounded for answers, while temples are packed by terrified followers seeking guidance and comfort. Hours go by and the skies remain clear. Cautiously, fearfully, people return to their homes.

The following day, researchers report that a swath of coral reef that begins off Shuyul Bay (which Aifaran overlooks) and extends beyond the barrier suddenly and mysteriously died off. Calls for skilled volunteers to help investigate are issued.

WAKING DREAMS

Another strange phenomenon that comes after the Night Fisher's first appearance is what the experts at the Aisling Tower are calling the Dreaming Sickness. Something in the Dreamfolk, and the native inhabitants of Aifaran who are sensitive to the Dreaming will find that they initially have trouble distinguishing dreams from reality. They may feel constantly fatigued and disoriented - with chronic migraines being a staple of the symptoms. As things progress, they will find they can lucid dream, and their dreams may even manifest in reality.

For example, if they were having a nightmare about a giant boot with teeth chasing them? It may just appear down the hall. Having a dream about soaring through the air? Anyone around them may also sprout wings. Fortunately for others, these visions don't manifest much further than a radius of about 30 feet, only last a few minutes, and the harm they can do is negligible at best. Experts at the Tower are unable to find an immediate solution to this problem, though they remind the public that these things tend to resolve themselves after a little while.


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OOC Notes: The Dreaming Sickness is an opt-in event if you do not wish your character to be affected. This log covers the latter half of September and you may post starters dated anywhere in that time period. Have fun!

Comments

QUESTIONS

[khuimods]

Miles | Waking Dreams | Night at the Shore | CW: Violence, Death Magic (?), Blood

[redlightgreenlight]

The ripples had grown worse, culminating in the vision on the barrier. The following headaches, dizziness and fatigue drove Valdis to the beach, a place she could close her eyes and listen to the sea. The water soothed the pain, and she at least hadn't experienced anything like some of the other Dreamfolk. The scent of blood pulled her from her empty meditation. Thick, fresh and sharp. Her eyes opened, fear shooting through her mind at the sight of the bloody heart held in the hand of a man all too familiar.

"Fascinating," he said, examining it closely, "Does any connection exist between the organ and the soul?"

He squeezed the heart, blood dripping down his arm and onto the sand, and Valdis could have sworn she felt the heart in her chest clench painfully. His eyes filled with an honest and dark curiosity that sent shivers down her spine, and she felt frozen under the gaze. Disappointment flashed across his face as the heart turned to dust in his hand.

"Pity," he said, "I'm going to need to take another one now."

The Void screamed at her to move, and move she did, lurching to her feet and racing toward the treeline, but the ground erupted into flames, so hot she felt she might burn despite her usual immunity. She spun, searching for another route only to have Amos appear in front of her. Strength left her legs and she collapsed, clawing at the chains around her wrists, drawing blood with her nails and shrieking with the Void.

Help us, the sharped hissing plea would ring in the head of the closest person.

Dark magic lashed out at the archdemon, breaking the chains and swirling around her like a barrier built from death. She screamed with him as the magic washed over the ground and over him.

But the magic didn't stop, killing the flames and everything in its path. She had to rein it in. She pulled at the sensation, trying to drag it back, to squash it entirely. The city suddenly seemed closer than it was before, people were going to die if she didn't do something. Panicked, Valdis pulled a dagger from her belt. It had worked once before, and the fastest route was between the fourth and fifth rib.

tw zombies/body horror

[necrocabbage]

A.
Though he tried to work through the odd migraines that had started bothering him, the owner of the antique store had eventually noticed, and insisted that Trahearne take some sick leave. By that point, he was in no state to argue.

The sleeping supplement he took in his tea every night was no longer working, and he couldn't be sure if the migraines had anything to do with it. He tried to downplay his condition, not wanting to worry his roommates, but he was so tired. Bone tired, in a way he hadn't been since he first arrived in Aifaran and had only been able to get snatches of sleep between the nightmares that plagued him. The nightmares that had never stopped, only been smothered by artificial means.

He wound up at an outdoor table near the Dreaming Bridge, a book in front of him as part of an effort to take in some fresh air and do something relaxing. Instead, Trahearne found that he couldn't concentrate. The words were swimming in front of him, and he only closed his eyes for what seemed like a moment - but when he opened them again, he wasn't alone.

A horde of Risen surrounded him, decaying zombies that brought with them the stench of rot combined with seawater. Though they represented a variety of races, many of them sported colonies of dead coral, muted splashes of color against grey skin and the red-brown of shriveling internal organs. Trahearne shouted wordlessly in alarm, scrambling up on the table as the Risen scrambled closer, reaching out for him.

"Destroy," one grated out, other Risen adding in gurgles and groaned words of their own, "No escape!" "Die, die!"

B.
As his sickness progresses, Trahearne became more and more disoriented. He's no longer easy to find, having left the Dreaming Bridge in favor of wandering the city's streets. Like when the Dreaming was dredging up the Dreamfolk's memories, Trahearne knows in his moments of clarity that he's a danger to others. But those moments are further and further between. Now he's so sleep-deprived and Dreaming-Sick that half the time he's asleep on his feet, and that's always when the worst of it happens.

Like now. Trahearne doesn't know where he is. When he snaps out of his haze, he's in the middle of a road between low, squat buildings - warehouses, he thinks. The salt on the breeze might be his imagination, so he's not sure he can trust it. Something still seems wrong. Even in the midday sun, the shadows are too dark, stretching towards him like... like vines!

They are vines, dull green and studded with thorns half as long as his arm. Trahearne turns and starts to run for it, but he's unsteady on his feet and doesn't make it very far before he stumbles and falls, the vines slamming into the ground around him. He starts to push himself up on one arm, but stops abruptly when he sees the looming form ahead. It's a Mordrem - plant-based and humanoid in shape, but hulking and monstrous as opposed to the slim, more human-resembling sylvari. This one has grown bark so thick it could easily serve as armor plating, orange eyes glowing with fury.

"Did you think you could escape us? In life or death, you WILL serve the jungle dragon!"

C. Wildcard

[corundrum]

[A: A Nightmare Looms]

[The things Padparadscha is used to seeing loom in the sky are usually a little brighter, but still, the shadowy form on the barrier initially looks enough like a very strange sunspot to have their hand resting on the hilt of their sword.

Once they identify it as something else, though, their grip softens a little. The ripple of fear around them and discomfort within them says there's something of significance to this apparition, but once light returns and people begin to flee for safety, there's nobody left to ask.

Padparadscha remains watching the barrier for a while after, still as the stone they're made of, and expression completely unreadable.]

An unforeseen outcome, then... [Rutile really should have reconsidered.]

--

[B: Waking Dreams I]

[While Padparadscha can technically dream, usually it's limited to oddities of their inclusions. Manufacturing imaginative scenarios like humans do isn't how it typically happens for them, so their dreams don't hold much fear for them like they might for others.

Unpleasantness, though - there's plenty enough of that to go around. On occasion, in the later stages of the Dreaming Sickness, they may find themselves surrounded by strange, almost luminescent humanoids, bowing and reaching for them but seemingly presenting no actual threat - with such a short radius, they can't be imagined descending from the sky, after all. Not to mention Padparadscha now has a somewhat different impression of them than many of their companions.

Their smile as they walk between the strange figures is deceptively light, and they try not to spare too much attention.] This "illness" is getting quite strange, isn't it...?

--

[C: Waking Dreams II]

[The other effect they encounter from the visions is less troubling, if somewhat morbid in a way. The amount of times they've woken up to differently coloured chunks of gem filling up the holes in their chest is almost uncountable by this point, and so, on occasion, the only "vision" impressing itself on them is that of the gem segments filling their torso changing colour. Any kind of colour a corundum gem comes in might appear - deeper red, blue, green, purple...

It's a funny thing to see, honestly, though Padparadscha largely seems to be ignoring it.]

--

[D: Wildcard]

[[Feel free to hit me up at reviseleviathan to plot something else!]]

[spoilsfun]

Conan winces at the light as he makes his way down the street. He was beginning to regret trying to get something done today. Between the nightmares last night, and the migraine that was rapidly getting worse, this was looking like the start of a bad day.

Open | After the first dream | CW: None Yet

[redlightgreenlight]

Her recovery from the nightmare had been slow, yet she refused to lock herself away and hide. Questioning everything she saw seemed like a better idea than giving in to fear. Valdis still felt herself drawn to the water, so it was there that she sat in the sand once again, this time in daylight, when the strange colors of the barrier weren't as bright or noticeable. The sound of hooves plodding through hardened, wet sand drew her attention from the waves.

A black unicorn walked toward her from downwind, the long mane and tail in swept by the breeze. It tossed its head, snorting at the sight of her, and if it had carried a scent, she might have been convinced it was real. It nickered lightly, as if please to see her, further indicating the presence of a dream. Even if they existed on her world, no unicorn would have approached her. But the creature continued toward her, swishing the long black tail and Valdis rose to meet it. She reached out her hand as it arched its neck out, pressing its velvet nose into her palm.

The jolt that raced through her body reminded her of when she first grasped the hilt of her sword. Nothing more than an illusion, yet it seemed so real. The unicorn turned its head, an intelligent green eye keeping her in view as it looked past her. It snorted, lifting a leg to strike at the ground, tossing the fine head, unhappy with whatever approached.