khuimods: (Default)
Khu Ioduan Mods ([personal profile] khuimods) wrote in [community profile] ioduanlogs2019-01-07 07:07 pm

[EVENT] IN THE WAKE OF XI TIANLONG

Characters: All
Date: January 2019
Location: Around Aifaran
Situation: The archipelago is recovering from the megastorm, Xi Tianlong, and a Watcher has sailed into Aifaran's port.
Warnings/Rating: Mentions of death and devastation resulting from a natural disaster; use additional warnings as needed.


The force of the storm and the chaos it wrought - both mundane and metaphysical - has given rise to its name: Xi Tianlong. The Black Sky Dragon left devastation in its wake and many areas are still flooded. The first priority is to ensure the safety and security of everyone living in the archipelago. Anyone of sound mind and body is expected to join the recovery efforts.

I. THE WORK BEGINS

Volunteers may report to operation and logistics outposts run by Sentry and city officials to assist with a wide variety of tasks. Each outpost reports to an overarching emergency operations center, where almost all leadership decisions are being made from.

At a given outpost, the scene is one of organized chaos: most people are in constant motion, wearing weariness as well as their uniforms. Most of the outposts have been set up within buildings but a few are located outdoors beneath huge tents. It may be hard to tell exactly who is in charge, but soon enough you'll be directed to a table designated for processing volunteers. From there, volunteers will be assigned to tasks based on their skills - and not necessarily what one may prefer to be doing. Lives are still at stake. It is time to dig deep.

While participating in recovery efforts, people begin to come across… oddities. Things that do not appear to belong here. Some admit to hearing voices calling their names or whispering incomprehensible secrets, though they're chalking that up to exhaustion and stress.

Below are areas where volunteers are needed:

MEDICAL SUPPORT: A wide spectrum of support is needed, from doctors and magical healers to basic first aid. Individuals will be assigned based on their expertise to emergency clinics that are being set up across the city. There is very little time for bedside manner: the focus is treatment, especially in facilities handling more serious injury. Triage is in full effect.

Including, it seems, for injuries that do not have an identifiable cause, or are reportedly caused by one of the storm's more chaotic effects. Patients falling under this category are sequestered in a separate treatment area, or in some cases moved to an entirely different facility to provide adequate care. They must have stories to tell a willing ear.

DEBRIS CLEARING: At first glance, this is the most straightforward task and easily the one that has the most volunteers assigned to it. One hardly needs particular skills to gather up and deposit debris in bins that are bound for the growing mountain of wreckage outside the city walls. Items of a personal nature or anything that may have immediate use as part of recovery are separated out, but a more thorough sorting will have to happen later. The archipelago is not an endless bounty of resources, and everything that can be reused or recycled, will be. It is hard, messy work. Many volunteer crews push back heartache with song and recitation of well-known poetry to keep their minds focused.

The Sentry does need sharp eyes to deal with a few particularly hazardous areas. Anyone with structural engineering knowledge or similar may end up clambering through the carcasses of buildings, locating any survivors and shoring up instabilities as much as possible.

ORGANIZING AND DISTRIBUTING SUPPLIES:Between what the city and businesses provide, donations, and items collected as part of the debris clearing, there is a lot to go through. Supplies from the city and Sentry are already quite organized, but the rest will arrive at collection points in various states of disorder. Volunteers are needed for sorting, cleaning, and distributing supplies. This may be on an individual basis or to bring items to shelters, such as clothing, medicine, blankets, non-perishable food, and so on.

Items of a personal nature (e.g. pictures, anything with a name on it, etc) that are recovered by cleanup crews are set aside for people to try and claim later, but it can be quite a mess. Lost and found is by no means a priority, and those who come to ask about their property will either be turned away or told they can dig through the piles. There's no time to catalog it all until the city is in better shape.

REPAIRS AND CONSTRUCTION:The first order of business with repairs is to sort what actually can be repaired from what must be torn down and built again, better and stronger. So there is a sort of tiered organization: when the nature of repairs has been ascertained, usually by an expert with long experience at this sort of thing, then the task is assigned. There's some demolition, not all of it skilled, for which Dreamfolk with destructive talents or large muscles are in high demand. Priority in rebuilding is given to utilities and those centres where people are being given aid; dwellings are a close second, since the winter is still in full sway, but all efforts are calibrated toward helping the most vulnerable first.

Carpenters and masons are well loved here, but anyone with a talent for reinforcing structures, for hitting a nail with a hammer, or just plain old carrying heavy things and holding them in place, will be valued.

OOC: Anyone who volunteers will receive a unique discoverable based on which volunteer group they choose by responding to the comment below.


II. HAZARDS AND HUSHED WHISPERS

The trees that sprouted improbably from lightning strikes during the storm remain firmly rooted, wherever they are. Most of them grew from rooftops but a handful reside in the streets. Regardless of whether they have soil or sun (and in one unique case of a tree growing in a flood zone, no air), the trees seem healthy and content. They're also quite diverse, including fruit-bearing trees, evergreens, and several from unidentified species. One has a bioluminescent glow at night. Another grows perpendicularly out of the side of a building. None of them show signs of disease, damage, or lack of nutrients. For the time being, the official word is to leave them alone. Given their origin, no one knows how a tree might react to being cut down or uprooted or touched, and in any case they don't seem to be doing anything but standing there. Leaves fluttering a little in a non-existent breeze.

One glaring exception to this ambivalence is the grove of trees rooted in a section of the Skyway. Rumor has it that the cluster grew out of a single lightning strike, whereas all the other strikes only produced one arboreal interloper. About a week after the storm clears, Opara Core technicians erect a containment tent across the entire section to hide it from view, and to cover the roots dangling down through the track. By then, however, enough pictures of the trees have been taken to reveal the gnarled roots and branches are not made purely from wood: they're veined and interwoven with a silvery-blue metal. Even the leaves have silvered edges, giving rise to the theory that they're sharp as razors. The technicians and scientists who come and go from the site are tight-lipped about the situation and will evade questioning.

There's been no improvement or really any change in the status of those buildings now colloquially called 'drowned.' Obviously, no one is allowed inside. Those with a careful ear to the ground may overhear some whispers, that these buildings are -- wrong somehow, strange. But these conversations are hushed quickly. Whatever is actually wrong, it's something that those investigating are trying twice over to make sure doesn't get out to the general public. The clearest thing, perhaps, is that these buildings are not safe.

While it's not the first priority, as soon as there's some breathing space the Sentry has some crimes to look into. The storm's peculiar eddies affected many Dreamfolk, and while there's some debate about the level of responsibility given that many are reporting states of altered consciousness-- crimes still happened. People have still been injured or worse. This is not something that can be simply let lie. Further, cannier minds provide, there's the risk of some having committed opportunistic crimes and then trying to camouflage them under the veneer of a Dreamperson affected by the eddies. Sorting this distinction out comes first; then comes how responsible those under the eddies' influence actually are. Nothing is being allowed to simply slip by if the Sentry catches wind of it. Frankly, they're paying more attention now than they usually do, under the logic that now more than ever their order will be a source of reassurance.

OOC: If a character chooses to touch the lightning trees, please respond to the comment below.


III. WATCHERS IN THE WATER

The two ships that accompanied Melias are of a similar design to her own, but there is no visible cabin on them. In fact, there only appears to be one door on each, at the stern, but there's no visible means of opening them. The ships are cream-colored and almond-shaped, with whorls carved onto them that could be symbolic of the water - and, if one looks closely, there are words carved into them in an alphabet that has been extinct since long before the establishment of Aifaran.

The ships do not dock, but flank Melias' ship in the harbor, seemingly guarding it. If anyone gets curious enough to try and sneak aboard one of the two mysterious ships, they will be met with a feeling of intense amusement projected into their minds before something resembling a tree branch materializes from the hull, grabs them, and gently deposits them on the docks nearby. Any attempt to breach the chitinous hulls by violent means will be met with a wave of anger tinged with disappointment. Hull damage is quickly self-repaired. The ships seem to be alive after a fashion. That's crazy, though, isn't it?

If Melias learns of an attempt to board or damage the ship, she'll scold the Dreamfolk: "All in good time! Honestly, you lot are so impatient."


---

OOC Notes: Melias will be available for threading upon request.
redlightgreenlight: (skeptical)

[personal profile] redlightgreenlight 2019-01-23 05:30 am (UTC)(link)
"I honestly have no idea how we fared during the storm," Valdis replied, "I haven't been briefed and there's so much to do. The Sentry is much larger than what I'm used to, but we are still spread thin."

She glanced over at Sheena, "Why? Have you heard something?"
ninjainviolet: ([Concerned])

[personal profile] ninjainviolet 2019-01-24 06:40 am (UTC)(link)
"Plus, I don't think too many people were using the network because of the storm, either," Sheena said. "I know I didn't want to. I just wanted to get out and help." Though now, they're being used to coordinate things.

Continuing her walk, the ninja shakes her head. "No. But I know a group went silent during the storm. I was wondering if anything's been found out and how everyone's doing."
redlightgreenlight: (expressionless)

[personal profile] redlightgreenlight 2019-01-25 12:36 am (UTC)(link)
Being outside the city, and with the effects of the eddie, the network had been the last thing on her mind.

"All us Dreamfolk seemed to be a very foolhardy bunch," Valdis commented, "As for the group that went silent, I haven't heard anything. I'm not really in investigations," She sounded quite bitter about that, "I only help with interrogation, waste of my other talents, but I'm quite effective."
ninjainviolet: ([Skit!Wonder])

[personal profile] ninjainviolet 2019-01-31 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
Except for a few pictures here and there, the same could be said for Sheena.

The ninja gives her friend a wry look. "Speak for yourself. I mean, it's not like I've ever run into a situation without thinking about the consequences or anything," she adds--her tone indicating that's precisely what she has done.

And still does because that's just who she is.

"I'm sorry to hear about that." She doesn't offer any kind of hope because it's been a while, and surely there'd be some news by now. "They don't let you investigate anything? Why not?" She had caught that bitterness, Valdis. "And just how effective are you at making people talk?"
redlightgreenlight: (Kinda Happy)

[personal profile] redlightgreenlight 2019-01-31 04:13 am (UTC)(link)
Valdis glanced as Sheena, slightly surprised by the last question, "I'm an empath, I can sense when they are lying, then I just...talk to them, give them scenarios, psych them out a bit, play devil's advocate...I don't need to lay a finger on them, or threaten them, to get the truth."

She shrugged, a hint of a smile on her face now, "I don't know for sure, but they probably won't let me investigate because I might have told the Head Detective that I won't take orders from him. Never mind the reason, but as you might figure, that didn't go over too well."

She laughed though. The look on his face had been worth it, though she regretted the long term impact.
ninjainviolet: ([Calm Ninja])

[personal profile] ninjainviolet 2019-02-05 08:34 am (UTC)(link)
Sheena raised a brow in interest. "That's a pretty useful skill to have. We...don't do anything that delicate in my village." Nope. Making someone swallow a thousand needles for lying is anything but gentle.

The ninja had to laugh. "Yeah, I can see how that might have made things hard for you. So, why not become a private investigator? I used to do some things for the police where I was before."
redlightgreenlight: (expressionless)

[personal profile] redlightgreenlight 2019-02-06 04:27 am (UTC)(link)
"I supposed," she replied, "Its not a very common skill for sure, at least to the level with which I can use it. I'm quite adept at playing devil's advocate."

The idea of being a private investigator had crossed her mind, but there were several flaws in that plan.

"Private investigators don't have the same access as officers do, and they don't have badges that open doors. The only perk is that people don't automatically assume you are corrupt...and you get to set your own rules."
ninjainviolet: ([Imp])

[personal profile] ninjainviolet 2019-02-13 12:56 am (UTC)(link)
Sheena smiled. "That's not something I was very good at. I usually went for the direct approach."

That said, she would now say something that would contradict that. But, that was her training, of course.

"Who said you always have to have the door opened for you?"

Yep. She was talking about using other methods to get information.
redlightgreenlight: (cocky)

[personal profile] redlightgreenlight 2019-02-14 05:03 am (UTC)(link)
"Yes, well, you don't play with your food," Valdis commented.

She glanced over at Sheena, one brow raised.

"I won't lie and say I've never picked a lock, or opened a safe, or conned a man out of all his money, but I do try to have some morality here. Besides, I don't like cages, and I don't tend to stay in them, even when required by law."

Just because she could kill without leaving a trace didn't mean she could hide breaking and entering.
ninjainviolet: ([Calm Ninja])

[personal profile] ninjainviolet 2019-02-21 02:51 am (UTC)(link)
"Are you sure about that?" Sheena asked in a calm and serious tone implying otherwise. She had a lot of secrets and history behind her--some of which startled people when they heard it.

"And who said anything about picking a lock? The key to being a ninja is to blend in in order to obtain information. I picked up a lot of it back in Keeliai when I ran Tai Noodles. All I did was look like I wasn't paying attention when I was."
redlightgreenlight: (Kinda Happy)

[personal profile] redlightgreenlight 2019-02-22 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah," Valdis replied, sounding amused, "I'm positive."

If Sheena fed on human souls, Valdis figured she'd know by now.

"I can sit all day and listen, I can even feel, and track and predict," she continued, "But at the end of the day, I would still not have the same power I currently have."

She shook her head, "I know you are a ninja, but what else do you do with those skills?"