Day 4: Morning

[wizardseason]

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!

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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.

Comments

[wizardseason]

There are absolutely no 5-star creperies on Harsen Island, unfortunately. Honesty it could be argued that there were no 4-star creperies either. ICOC certainly wasn't a 4-star but it could be argued to be a 3-star. But, really, this was the Wizard. Her measure of restaurant approval was "do they accept pajamas as clothing?" and "do they serve ramen?"

For the record, ICoC didn't serve ramen.

"Is that so?" She answers first before addressing his second question.

"No, Ten just wanted to help. He wasn't involved yesterday."

[eutychia]

"So then, we're still due for a meeting with the one responsible today?" Luka idly drums his fingers on the table. "Ten, huh? Helping. I didn't know your monsters wanted to do anything other than kill us and smell disgusting on the inside."

[wizardseason]

"You are." She confirms as she raises her coffee mug to her lips to take a slow sip. Occasionally she'll be sneaky and stealthy about taking tiny silent sips, but for right now she's just taking a drink and there's no stopping the slight sound of coffee.

"They each have their own motivations, though the early ones are fairly simple." As she says it, Luka might remember back to previous years where 'strange monster behavior' was reported alongside some of the knight reports. One of the previous princesses was killed by a strange monster, one that wasn't the "in your face trying to kill you" types. There's been quite a bit of variety.

[eutychia]

"Interesting. I didn't really take them to be free-will types. I just assumed that was all under your command, somehow."

He pauses momentarily to whisper something to the waiter, who hurriedly rushes off into the kitchen.

"Anything you can tell me about today's mysterious stranger?"

[wizardseason]

"I can ask them to do things, but they don't have to listen." She answers, watching him for how he responds and curiously wondering what he just ordered from the waiter. What kind of food are you getting, Luka?

"Nothing. They haven't let me meet them."

[eutychia]

"Ever?" Luka is surprised by the revelation. "And yet you know they made that time fuckery happen."

The waiter returns a moment later and sets down a bowl on the table -- it seems to be filled with only fruit and whipped cream, piled high. Luka thanks him and sends him on his way, picking up his spoon eagerly.

"I assume they're not allied with you then, and probably not with me." He says, taking a spoonful of cream and berries.

[wizardseason]

"Ever." She confirms, before elaborating on his point. "My magic can't affect theirs, and I couldn't escape yesterday's events. So it was them."

Process of elimination, and forty years of studying and researching, had led to that conclusion pretty quickly. She glances to his breakfast choice and wonders if it's a favorite of his or a required dietary limitation.

"I'm sure they have an agenda, who's to say who it aligns with but them?"

[eutychia]

"Well I'm looking forward to meeting them and finding out what the fuck their issue is." He savors another spoonful, quiet for a moment, using the time to think.

"So then... was that you, yesterday? That I met in front of that weird door?" He's not sure how exactly to describe that encounter, and hopes the Wizard can infer from his vague description.

[wizardseason]

"That?" She asks, first, teasing the idea as if she'd forgotten it.

"All those years ago, yes. Do you remember where that door is?"

[eutychia]

"Not exactly. Not the best with directions when you wake up in an unfamiliar place, in an unfamiliar time, and you're blind. And you're following the disembodied voice of a child while trying to avoid stepping into cracks in the ground. Makes things a bit difficult." Luka says with a slight smirk.

"Why? Is that location still significant?"

[wizardseason]

"Only a bit?" She adds, jokingly, her tone clearly light in response. But he does ask the question she wanted him to ask about that place.

"It is. The one you want to meet is there."

[eutychia]

"Are they dangerous? I'm quite interested in meeting them but if they're going to kill me on sight I'd want to know." He says, gesturing with his spoon. "That's after I work out how exactly to find this place again, too."

[wizardseason]

"Hm." She gives a vague sound as an answer first, considering his question. She thinks about answering for a moment but instead opts for a sip of her coffee. Then, after what seems like just a little too long, she answers. He'll be able to pick up on the flat tone of her voice. She's not smirking anymore.

"They would be a fool if they did. But I don't know what they're like anymore."

[eutychia]

"Anymore?" Luka repeats back, leaning in. "But I thought you'd never met. Yet you imply you knew what they were like at one point..."

[wizardseason]

"I saw them forty years ago." She answers, looking over Luka. "When this all began. We didn't speak."

[eutychia]

"Hm. Awkward. Any reason you didn't speak? Does the Protector know any more about them than you do?"

[wizardseason]

"They threw him through the mountain and into the ocean." She answers. If he was looking for an awkward answer, there it was.

"They didn't seem much for talking at the time."

[eutychia]

Luka blinks. "Why... did they do that? Why didn't they do the same to you, too?"

He absentmindedly rolls a berry with his spoon, too focused on the bizarre revelation to really focus on eating anything.

[wizardseason]

"Simple. I wasn't trying to shove them into a casket." She answers, watching Luka play with the berry. Idly, she starts funneling magic into the berry so it starts increasing in size. It's slow and subtle but she's intending to make it as big as an apple if he doesn't comment on it.

"I saw it from a distance." She answers. And if Luka tries to reach out to the Protector for any kind of support in this moment, he'll find that he's by himself again. Like the last time he spoke to the Wizard, he's alone.

[eutychia]

"I'm guessing you mean figuratively. If they fucked up the earth and caused all those cracks in the ground... they kind of deserved that, no?"

[wizardseason]

"Not figuratively." She corrects him, watching him as she debates how much of this next bit to share or not. Ultimately, she decides to share a big chunk of it.

"It has to be broken or they can't get out." She offers, leaning back in her seat.

"Maybe it won't all crumble when it's without them."

[eutychia]

"Wait... literally, in a casket?" He stops idly playing with his food, the berry now likely suspiciously large. "Are they what's behind that door I found? Are they trying to get out... is that why the ground is cracking?"

Luka's face is intense as he tries to theory-craft on the spot. "If they're causing all of this, why would the Protector wanted to have locked them up in the first place?"

[wizardseason]

"Literally in a casket" She confirms after he asks. But then he's asking the important questions, and she nods to confirm his first two questions. Except he can't see those, so she voices it too.

"They are, and they are. He expects them to go back to sleep. But you can't keep something contained forever if it was already ready to get out."

[eutychia]

"So, say they did get out. I'd imagine that would cause the end of the world, considering the Protector wants to keep them inside. But you said it might not?" Luka gestures with his spoon to emphasize his words. "Why do you think that?"

[wizardseason]

"They're strong." She starts, considering how to finish the sentence as he gestures with his spoon. At this point, the berry on his plate has reached the size of a grapefruit. It finally stops growing, and now it's just a matter of when he goes in to eat it.

"With their strength, who knows what they might do when the time comes?" She ends it, cryptically. She'd said before that she didn't know what would happen, she hadn't met them in so long that it was anyone's guess.