Day 4: Morning

Morning: 6:00am - 12:00noon

[ IRL Timeframe: July 3rd - ~~July 10th~~ July 17th, 2019 ]

If any hero was expecting day four to be anything but absolutely bananas, they'd been living in a dream bubble. Fortunately for everyone, they wake up where they fell asleep the previous night. Unfortunately, though, everyone receives a decidely rude awakening at 6:06am.

An earthquake.

No part of the island is safe, everywhere and everything starts shaking and rumbling. Roads split, the train tracks bend, buildings fracture, buildings collapse...

...and bright, glowing blue fissures open up in the ground.

No city is safe from their new feature, but in every single city it's clear that the cracks are coming from a specific source. In Far Haven, the cracks lead west to Craydon. In Bamborough, the cracks lead east to Craydon. In Craydon, though, the cracks lead directly north up the mountain. They gradually narrow the further up the mountain you go, where do they end?

Heroes will, of course, not be able to immediately see this pattern. How are they going to find out about it? Social Media won't be buzzing about it until noon at the earliest!

But that won't be the only thing social media is buzzing about by noon. It looks like Web is nowhere to be found. A concerned local ~~not a stalker~~ reports the missing knight and there's quickly a deep discussion about it. Death? Ran away? Kidnapped? Abducted by aliens? No one knows. There's no body. There's nothing. Where'd Web go?

Fourth Morning Event: All Cities: The Quake.

The Weather
Eerily still.
64°F / 18°C
Despite the quake, there's a nice breeze.

Prompts:

6:06am Earthquake, Everywhere: Every town has fallen victim to an earthquake. The damage is unthinkable. Cars aren't moving anymore, roads and paths are obstacle courses, and everything inside has fallen over. It was a big one! Fortunately the citizens are out almost immediately to begin rescue and repair efforts. No matter where the heroes go, there'll be someone to help, something to do, or help to be offered. Do you need saving, or will you be saving others?

7:45am Train Station, Far Haven: Social media is going absolutely crazy. There's a MONSTER here! There's a monster in the train station!! Numerous pictures are posted of a Child-shaped monster with ten eyes instead of a face. Today, however, he's wearing a pair of black athletic shorts, some flip-flops, and a T-Shirt that says "I'm with Stupid" on the front and an arrow that trails around to the back of the shirt where it says "You're Stupid". At the train tracks, he's going one rail tie at a time repairing them to get the tracks straightened and fixed again. What's the deal???

08:00am International Cabin of Crepes, Bamborough: As if Social Media wasn't buzzing enough about the monster in Far Haven, it explodes again when the Wizard arrives at ICoC for breakfast. Several servers post that she asked for "the family table" and she invited all the knights and the princess to join her. Breakfast. Her treat. Anyone who comes to visit will find her sitting at the head of the biggest table, sipping a mug of coffee.

11:00am Mountain Base, Craydon: [Exploration] Several hikers have returned from up the mountain, reporting that they'd found "strange doors" blocking their path. According to the description they gave, it sounds like the doors can only be opened if one, or more, of the heroes make the climb up the mountain. The cracks go up past the doors, but there's an invisible wall all around the area that stops them from ascending any further. Whatever's going on up the mountain will need some heroic intervention to figure out. Good luck, heroes!

Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

Important: 'Exploration' toplevels will unlock additional information as items in their descriptions are explored. If your character explores a feature, write [Character explores ____] at the end of your tag and send a ping on Discord to get a reply with further details regarding that item.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He looks back the second he hears his name, his gaze finding them when it's called again. He brightens a little at the sight of Luka, taking a step down towards them.

"I am. I think there's something happening at the top. Are you coming too?" he asks Luka, scanning over Olivia as he speaks. It takes him a second, his mind running through the other knights and not recognizing her. There's a moment here where he tenses warily, not understanding why the princess would just be walking around with some civilian. It's not until he sees her tail that he relaxes a little, eyes widening slightly.

"Olivia?"

The one and only. [She says, giving him a wink. And just to make sure he knows it is her,] Don't suppose you brought that food box with you?

It's probably gonna take us a while to get to the top. [She's personally never hiked before, being a city girl and all, and she's at least 90% sure Luka hasn't either. She hopes he's wearing comfortable shoes instead of fancy ones, at least.] So, whenever you two are ready.

"As ready as I'll ever be. Who know's what's actually waiting for us up there." Luka has definitely never hiked before. He's, at the very least, had the forethought not to wear heeled or platformed shoes, but the boots he's wearing now as just as fancy as anything else he owns. You can't fight monsters if you ain't cute.

"So. What's this I hear about a food box, hm?" He inquires, keeping a slight focus on the ground beneath them.

"Oh, uh--" he startles at the reminder, unbuttoning the top button of his vest and reaching inside it as he explains, "There were boxes for us in Far Haven yesterday." It takes him a second of searching but then he pulls out a bundle of uh stuff: nutrition bars and crackers, packs of instant tea and soap. The bundle is wrapped in a delicately made grass cord, and he hands it towards Olivia.

"I reused the box, but this is all the stuff that was in it, plus the food from mine. Uh, I can give you the box too if you need it. It was easier to carry around like this," he says, glancing briefly in Luka's direction before turning towards the mountain. He looks over his shoulder, making sure they're still ready, but as long as no one's protesting, he begins up the trail he picked out through the trees. It'll probably be a long climb like Olivia said, especially with the shoes Luka apparently decided to bring.

Oh! You can keep the box. Thanks. [She inspects the bundle and smiles as she pockets it somewhere in her surprising-amount-of-pockets hoodie. She thinks its cute! Very forest-y.] Why'd you give me your food, though? You didn't like it?

[Olivia gently taps Luka's arm before she starts guiding him up the trail, letting Gyre lead. She's simultaneously watching out for rocks or roots in their path, and taking in the mountain scenery.] By the way, were you both okay this morning? I mean, with the earthquake and all.

"It was a rude awakening. But I was lucky enough not to be in any real danger. It seemed like a lot of chaos..." Luka says. "And those cracks in the ground again, everywhere. People were really in a panic."

Luka's specifically careful not to step into any of those cracks should they appear on the mountain. It's one thing he can at least try to look out for on his own.

"I wonder if it's going to be anything else like it was yesterday. I mean, forty years ago."

"I can't eat most of it," he says quickly, turning slightly to listen to Luka, to watch the way he handles himself on the uneven ground. Seems like it's going okay so far.

Now that his eyes are on the ground and Luka has mentioned yesterday though, he pauses for a moment. "It was forty-one years ago," he says absentmindedly, moving towards the nearest crack in the ground. "My camp was knocked over, but I was... I helped some people in Craydon."

He sounds incredibly distracted, and a moment later, he has crouched down and stuck his hand in the crack. He's going to touch the ground if he can. Testing if it's different from yesterday.

Luka makes the right decision to not set foot on any of the cracks, while Gyre makes the foolish decision.

Gyre's entire arm will feel like it's tingling as the crack's energy flows through it. All he'll feel a moment later is a bristling as the hair on his head stands up on end and he gets goosebumps all over his body. A loud voice will practically shout in his head in a language he doesn't understand, and only he can hear it.

"Quecq ecqus ci ajra fiiv?"

Olivia and Luka, on the other hand, will be given a lovely scene: Gyre's hand goes into the crack in the ground and his entire body glows bright white. A moment later, he pops out of existence with a flash and is totally gone.

And then he lands, with an audible thud, like a sack of potatoes dropped from a foot in the air directly behind both Olivia and Luka.

Way to go, buddy.

Edited 2019-07-13 03:05 (UTC)

[Olivia notices Gyre making a fool decision, but before she can call him a fool, she's forced to shield her eyes from the white glow he starts emanating.] Gyre, what the f— Gyre!? [When she looks again, he's gone! He disappeared! Olivia has one or two seconds to panic thinking that the world swallowed him or something, before a thud behind her makes her jump out of her skin. She lets go of Luka's arm and steps in front of him protectively in a fluid motion as she turns to see... Gyre is now there.

Her brain blue screens for a moment as she tries to understand what just happened, and then she goes up to Gyre and gives him a slap. Perhaps a little harder than intended, but it's mostly to see if he's actually there and whether he's responsive! But also because that was scary and you don't go around sticking your fingers in other's wounds, dude.] What was that!? Are you okay? Don't fucking do that again! How do you feel?

Luka was only able to see the bright flash and hear Olivia's startled response. He gathers Gyre had done something dangerous and likely stupid, but that's about it.

"What did he do? What just happened?" Luka asks. "And how, exactly, did he get behind us?"

Luka turns around to face them both, waiting for answers.

Well that was unexpected. He feels his hair start to stand on end, and he's trying to draw back out of the pit before it backfires on him. He's too late though, and there's light and sound.

He gasps when he hits the ground behind them, hands flying instinctively to his head to keep it from falling loose. Luckily, he's not falling from far enough up that he needs to worry about it, but it does mean he's completely unprepared for getting slapped across the face??.

"What the fuck!" he shrieks. Sorry, Luka, he doesn't even hear those questions as he jerks to his feet and points his clawed finger towards Olivia's chest.

"I felt fine until you hit me?? What was that for!"

Because you scared me!! [The very flustered Lara Croft lookalike exclaims, pushing his hand away.] I mean you started glowing and then you were gone! What if the world had only spat out your corpse dude, I don't know! That was scary!

[She turns to Luka for backup, but she sees the confusion in his face and sighs, crossing her arms.] Gyre. Touched one of the cracks. And disappeared. And then he fell from Gods know where right behind us.

[A moment passes, and she shoots a glance back at Gyre. She was genuinely worried about him, you know! The poofing out and the noise were scary, but she was also scared for him! Not that she has the time or the energy to explain that. She just tilts her head and sighs.] Sorry.

"Uh... what were you expecting to come of that? Even going near those things feels weird as fuck." Luka says with slight disbelief in his voice. He hadn't taken Gyre to be a reckless type, before this.

"Hey, did you at least see anything interesting when it happened?" He asks after a moment of pause, his tone carrying a childlike curiosity -- but like, the kind of child who dares their friend to kick a beehive.

Oh, that was not. What he was expecting here. He softens immediately when Olivia says she was worried about him, his mouth twisting into something halfway between apologetic and smiling.

"It's... fine. I didn't think it would..." he trails off for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts. Trying to put that language into his memory as deeply as he can so he doesn't forget it.

"Yesterday, the cracks just made my skin uh, pimply?" he says, wiggling his fingers over his arm. He looks to Olivia as he says it, hoping she gets it at least. He can't find the word for goosebumps and Luka can't see his gesture so hopefully at least one of them picks it up. "And when I dug into one, a child appeared. I thought they might, uh, come back, I guess."

He takes a quick breath, directing his attention more fully towards Luka. "I didn't see anything, but there was a voice. The language was strange."

[She nods as Gyre explains, giving Luka a brief glance to watch his reaction when the voice is mentioned; she's aware that he'll know more about that subject than she does.

She had stuck an arm and dug around in one of the cracks the day before, too, but the situation between then and now was different - somehow this being the present made them seem more dangerous to her.] It was like electricity but it didn't hurt, right? Did it hurt this time? I mean... besides you being uh, dropped from the air.

[She thinks to herself for a moment, her eyes moving to the crack on the ground. Maybe the energy in them had gotten stronger over time. But she didn't know if that was good or bad.] Garrot and I found roots inside the cracks, pulsing with energy... leading to a source up the mountain. [She says, as her gaze follows the path they'd been walking. They should keep moving. She gently takes Luka's arm again, beckoning Gyre to keep guiding them with a nod.]

Luka's quiet as the two exchange words, thinking on the Wizard's revelations that morning.

"The Wizard told me last night that we'd be meeting the person responsible for sending us back in time today." He speaks up at the lull in their conversation.

"And this morning, she confirmed that this... person... is locked up somewhere, causing those cracks, trying to escape. I think if they escape, the world's going to end. Maybe that strange voice was them."

He doesn't know how much either of them know about the situation, but Luka figures it couldn't hurt to tell them what he's learned.

He nods as Olivia describes the sensation of the cracks, and shakes his head to her question. It had definitely felt like electricity yesterday, and it still felt like that today. It hadn't hurt even if it had been surprising. He's about to confirm this when Luka jumps in and Olivia signals that they should keep moving.

He starts up the mountain again, staying closer to them then he had before. The information is important, especially from the princess. He knows Luka probably knows things that he doesn't, and he keeps glancing back over his shoulder so he doesn't miss anything.

Turns out he knows all of this so far, but as long as they're sharing, he adds, "It, hm... they're inside the planet, is what she told me. I think she wants them to escape, but I'm not sure if that will make the world end?"

He goes quiet for a beat to carefully make his way down a steep hill, waiting at the bottom to help catch the other two if they need help. "Be careful here. How do you think we'll meet them if they'll destroy the world when they escape?"

[Olivia scoffs in disbelief.] Why are you both talking to the Wizard like she's not an enemy who may very well be lying about everything she says?

And assuming she's not, who is this mysterious third big player anyway? Are they actually what we've been calling our "world"? [She asks, turning to Luka. She's referring to conversations they've had in the Protector's tower, of course, since at least she'd thought the cracks on the ground had been the world itself's doing.] Is there actually a third alien or whatever the fuck—no offense—the Protector and the Wizard are, somewhere inside our planet? Like, what the fuck. [Its too early in the morning to be thinking about this kind of stuff, honestly, and she asks all of this with skepticism dripping from each word.

She carefully helps Luka down the hill, considering Gyre's question.] If they can't get out I guess we are supposed to meet them inside their little prison, or whatever. Fuck, maybe that's where we are heading up to right now, even. [She shrugs.]

He shrugs. "I don't know if they're an alien like the Wizard and Protector are, or some kind of spirit of the planet. He did say the world itself was trying to destruct."

"I know the Wizard's liable to be lying with every word... and I keep that in mind, but even so I'd like to know what she thinks she has to say to sway me. Plus, The Protector's pretty tight lipped about the fine details."

Sorry Protector, if you heard that.

The Protector will Remember That.

He listens to them talk about the Protector, and he does nothing to hide the bright curiosity in his expression. He's clearly attentive to whatever information he can get about that dude, his brow furrowing a little when Luka mentions him being tight lipped. Maybe this third person will be a little less opaque then the aliens apparently are. Small blessings, he supposes.

Once they've reached the bottom of the hill, he heads back up, picking his way carefully along, checking behind him to make sure they're still alright.

"Olivia... have you spoken to the wizard at all?" he asks after a beat, adding carefully, "I don't think she's lying most of the time. Maybe hiding things, but what she says is true."

[Olivia notices Gyre's interest in the Protector, but unfortunately she doesn't want to give anything about what they've spoken of away in case he can't be trusted. Sorry bro...

She wrinkles her nose at his question, shrugging lightly.] Ehhh, I haven't. Sort of don't see the point of sitting down for tea with someone who wants to destroy me and everything I've ever known. I haven't really run into her, either.

Keep in mind she's supposed to try to set the Knights against each other, too. Be careful about... what you choose to believe, I guess.

Luka nods along to Olivia's words.

"Maybe what she says is true... but she's very masterful with what she chooses to say. It's hard to tell when she's being sincere or when I think she's trying to manipulate my choices."

"She claims we'll get a lot of answers today, maybe even where we're headed."

"Mm," he murmurs, nodding slightly as he takes in what they're saying. He's silent for a beat, trying to pick out how to say what he wants to say.

"I hope so. It's been... confusing. So far," he says, glancing back at them and catching Olivia's wrinkled nose. She really feels like that, huh?

"I haven't followed," a gesture around at the island, "all this after the first years of it, but it seems as if everything I've heard about it is wrong. She's supposed to drive us apart, but the only thing she's ever said she wants is for us to protect each other and kill the monsters." He pauses a moment there, turning his attention back to their path up the mountain. He takes a breath, and ends up shaking his head very slightly. "It's just strange to me."

I mean, that's kind of what the Protector wants too? Right? [She glances at Luka as she says this.] Protect each other, get rid of the monsters, get rid of her. [She shrugs.] Honestly everything about this seems strange and tedious to me, but complaining about it every day won't make the Wizard change her game.

[She looks up the path and sighs.] How far up are these doors anyway?

Day 4: Morning

Morning: 6:00am - 12:00noon

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