[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

[necrocabbage]

Trahearne isn't paying any attention to the alarmed pedestrians around him. He's shaking like a leaf, struggling to push himself up on his arms, the combination of his terror and many sleepless nights having sapped his strength considerably. His eyes are glued to the Mordrem approaching him, but... hearing his name called does start to get through to him, at least a little.

"Stay back!" Trahearne shouts out, his voice nearly cracking. "It's too dangerous! Don't come near me!"

The Mordrem isn't reacting to the onlookers or the shouting at all. In fact, when it reaches down to grab at the fronds atop Trahearne's head, its fingers pass through entirely, though Trahearne still jerks further upright as though he can feel it. "Still you struggle against the inevitable," the Mordrem told him, in a voice with an undertone like seeds scraping together. "You have always belonged to Mordremoth!

[afoolsgold]

This is a terrible spectacle for the Fool to witness, even knowing that his friend is in no real danger from the spectre in front of him. The damage that this sickness has done to his mind is clear enough; the Fool won't turn his back on that.

"You have always belonged to Mordremoth!"

One last straggler fleeing the scene jostles him as he strides forward and goes to his knees at Trahearne's side. "We belong to no one, in this place," he insists determinedly and touches his friend's shoulder, his grip firm. "Whatever our lives were before we were drawn here, those binds can only shackle us if we let them."

An overly simplistic way of looking at things, the Fool knows, and more than a little hypocritical, but if he can at least convince Trahearne to focus on the sound of his voice, rather than the dream of this moment, then he will count his gambit a success.

[necrocabbage]

It's the grip on his shoulder that makes Trahearne jump in surprise. Now the Fool is there at the corner of his vision, and that doesn't make sense, because the Fool had never been in the Maguuma jungle with these terrible things. After all, Trahearne isn't truly asleep, and his mind can't make sense of these two things existing together where they shouldn't be. The Mordrem and the vines shimmer like a mirage, only present for a few seconds longer before fading away completely.

Now it's just the two of them kneeling in an empty street. "Fool?" Trahearne asks, looking more and more bewildered as he takes in the surroundings. "Where did you come from?" He couldn't actually remember what he'd been doing or how he had ended up here, but he certainly remembers the Mordrem. He's still shaking a little as he drops his head into his hands, "By the Pale Tree, it's happened again..."

[afoolsgold]

"Give yourself a moment to regain your senses. There is no need to rush." The Fool speaks gently, soothingly, and leaves a hand resting against his friend's shoulder as the dream-like phantoms recede around them. The visions had been real enough that the Fool had seen them too, but the only threat they truly posed was to Trahearne's peace of mind.

After a moment, he starts to his feet and offers his hands down to aid Trahearne, should he need it. "Come, let us get you some place where you can sit and recover. The cafe is not far."

[necrocabbage]

Trahearne's breathing is a bit ragged, and he hastily wipes his eyes before taking the Fool's hand, accepting the help back up to his feet. It's soon clear that he needed it; he's as unsteady as a fawn, and likely would take quite a while to make it to the cafe on his own. "Yes, I... I can't be out here. I'm too dangerous." He recalled there being far more people here before the vision of the Mordrem had overtaken him. Trahearne knows it's his fault, but for all of his wandering around the city, he couldn't seem to find a place without people in it.

"It's all true," he adds in a mumble as they start walking. Now that the Fool had seen one of the worst of his nightmares, Trahearne had nothing to gain by acting like it hadn't happened. "Everything it said was true."