EVENT ★ OSKA BURNING

[futurologists]

The scene that greets you after the mist of world hopping fades isn’t a pretty one. You may remember Oska from your first, brief trip here — it was a stately, serene place, a grand castle usually wreathed in low lying clouds or gently sunny. Not so today. The damage done to Chantes by the demons and chimeras pales in comparison to what has been done to Oska. Only one tower of the formerly impressive castle stands upright, the others have been knocked down and torn to rubble, some of which is still smoldering or in flickering flames. Most of the castle has been flattened, entire rooms torn apart and laid to waste. No exterior wall is without gaping holes, as if some army and their immense battering ram had needed a whole collection of entrances to storm this castle. Nothing is untouched, and worst of all, the underground larder seems to have been completely buried in a fall of rocks from the kitchen’s exterior wall. Even if you were able to dig it up, it’s dubious much of the food is unspoiled or intact. If there is any up side to all of this destruction, it’s that no bodies can be found amid the mess, human or otherwise. Even the livestock are missing. Personal effects can be dug out of the ruins, and it seems very clear that this castle was populated until recently. There remains not one soul to tell what happened, though. Well, almost not one soul. The network that usually connects the jewelry is completely nonfunctional. Attempting to access it only brings up one static message, repeating for as long as you care to listen to it: Something [ SHHKT ] --rrible has happ-- [ The message cuts out frequently, replaced with static. ] The-- [ shhhhhhkt ] came, they destroyed everything and n-- [ The static fades slightly. ] We’re trapped. You’re on your own. But please, we ne-- [ shhkt ] your help. They’re still here. There’s worse to come. But when you [ SHKT ] --ind them, you can’t kill them. They need to be questioned. We mus-- [ shhhhkt ] know their motivations. Some of the new recruits… they’re in the dungeons. You need to he-- [ shkt ] them, please. They can still be saved. SURVIVAL The dungeons are, of course, the only part of the castle left intact enough to present a challenge to escape. Some newcomers will find themselves lost in a labyrinth of cell-lined corridors, able to wander for hours before stumbling across any hint of daylight. How that’s even possible with most of the castle destroyed is anyone’s guess. Other newcomers might even be locked into the cells, with keys left nearby but just out of reach — or not. Better hope some sort of escape artist happens across you, if you’re one of those unlucky arrivals. Food isn’t going to be easy to come across. You might try digging out the larder, but not much food can be salvaged from it. Are you going to put in the work to dig up a single shelf of intact loaves of bread, a cold roast chicken locked in a wood stove, and one barrel of apples? Maybe you try scavenging in the small, abandoned village outside the castle. This will uncover some food, but not much. Most of the food out there is either rotted through or missing entirely. You might find enough to last one person two days on your own, but who knows how long you’ll need it to last? Wherever you find your food, if you find your food, rationing is highly recommended. Water isn’t so simple to find, either. There is a lake not far outside the castle walls, but the water in it tastes rancid, a sign to any right-thinking person that it’s no good to drink. Anyone brave or stupid enough to push through the taste and drink it anyway will find there aren’t actually any adverse effects, but is it worth the risk? Water can otherwise be found in very small amounts, collected by rainfall in buckets, on indented stones, in mislaid pots. It won’t be much, but if you search diligently it’s enough to keep you going. Shelter will be a little easier to find… at least, at first. No one is using any of the beds in the village, they’re free to pick from as long as you don’t mind the eerie silence. If your character is particularly awful at scavenging, please see the end of this post. HELL WEEK Survival aside, that still leaves the question: just what did happen here? Characters are welcome to dig through the ruins for hints at what fate may have befallen Oska. We have provided a thread here to sign up to find belongings or other little signs of life, and try to piece together the picture. But what about that culprit, mentioned in the broadcast? Some characters will be able to stumble across very, very specific clues — riddles and puzzles, purposefully laid to guide the finders toward… something. Who knows what lies at the end of this oddly deliberate trail? You can sign up to find and solve the puzzles here. Day one in Oska is easy enough to survive, an almost peaceful acclimation to the dismal scene. Things get a little bit tougher from there, though. On day two the ground begins to shake. It’s just little tremors at first, easy to miss if you’re not standing still. But by mid morning they’re large quakes, enough to break some structures further. The quakes continue through the night and into day three, when they are large and severe enough to throw someone off their feet, tear apart a house, and even open wide chasms in the ground. They come with unpredictable frequency, anything between five minutes to three hours, but they definitely come more closely together as time passes. The village is safer at this point, without quite so many stones to shift and crush you, although those chasms are still a concern. Come the evening of day three, the quakes stop entirely. A soft rainfall begins to patter down instead — still thirsty? Now is your chance to find some battered coffee tin and gather your drink. The rainfall continues steadily overnight, and by the morning of the fourth day it is a torrential downpour. It never lets up, not even once, and soon the water is more than the ground can handle. Flooding begins at this point, just a few inches deep in some places, more formidable in others. This also lasts for two days, and by the end of the fifth day in Oska most of the village is washed out. You’ll have better luck among the sturdy stones of the castle. Remember that still-standing castle tower? It’s not exactly the most structurally sound thing, but it is definitely out of the water. The water stops very suddenly at sundown on the fifth day, affording a pretty peaceful, clear night. Come dawn of the sixth day, however, heavy clouds move to obscure the sunrise. They seem to flame around the edges in the light of it, and then in the middles. That’s clearly not sunlight lighting up those clouds by this point. The clouds flash from within as they build more and more heavily, but no lightning has ever been that flickering golden color. At midmorning the first drops begin to fall: not rain this time, but liquid fire. By noon the firestorm is at full strength. It swings between sheets of fire pelting down, and clearing up only to pelt down great fireballs. The rain-drenched village and castle can only fend off the rain for so long. Eventually the water evaporates and anything that can burn will burn. Time your ventures out into the weather very carefully, because the firefall never lets up for long, and that’s the kind of downpour you don’t want to be caught in. OOC INFO Is your character awful at survival? Can’t scavenge to save their life, completely out of food and water and about to expire? Wherever they fall asleep, they’ll wake up with a small, inexplicable wrapped bundle left next to their head. Within will be a half an apple, a single leg of chicken, and a very small canteen of water. This log will last for one week, and there will be new information available on the 17th. As per our informal poll, this log will last ICly for one week, and OOCly for two. There will be new information available on the 24th. What the setting will be from here will depend on characters' ability to work together to catch whoever is responsible for these events. You can sign up to find hints about the people who lived here and what may have happened to them here, and puzzles left by the perpetrator leading to the discovery of them on this post. Please direct any questions here.

Comments

[ninmu]

[ later, in large, somewhat sloppy handwriting, this is added. ]

I CAN SPAR WITH YOU.

FROM MELAN BLUE

[winces]

You mean like a mental spar like a riddle??? I love riddles!

from someone who totally does not know who melan blue is

[ninmu]

[ almost 9 hours later, since he's busy looking for food... again. ]

I MEAN WITH A SWORD.

FROM MELAN BLUE

[winces]

[ ah... she'd initially just been looking for mental training, but now he's got her worried she needs all other kinds of training too...!

i mean. she probably does, but still! ]

Oh do you think i am that bad at it???

[ninmu]

[ this time, when he passes by, he decides to just wait by the bulletin board until she comes back - obviously, she's making consistent passes by to check her message, and it feels silly to communicate like this. Plus, he's just not very good at writing.

The next time Olivia comes around, she'll find Melan sitting on the ground below the message board. He looks like he might be taking a nap, actually. ]

[winces]

[ she stumbles upon him with a slight, startled squeak, most of it thankfully muffled by the sudden slapping of her hands over her mouth. she'd come with a charcoal and scrap of paper ready to respond to whatever message had been left behind, but her surprise clearly shows she hadn't been expecting the ai to leave himself behind.

she stands frozen for a moment, noticing he hasn't yet to move... could he truly be sleeping...?

maybe she can just... turn back around then... and sneak off without ever alerting him of her presence........... ]

[ninmu]

[ maybe he was sleeping before - but the sound of her squeak gets his attention, and his head shoots up immediately, rifle swinging out in her direction. He's a weapon; he's always ready for combat, and it was sloppy of him to let the enemy get the upper hand --

-- Except as soon as he sees Olivia, he recognizes her and remembers where he is. ]

Sorry. I thought you were an enemy. [ lowering his gun and getting to his feet... ]

[winces]

—eep!

[ having a weapon swung her way was definitely the last thing she'd been expecting, despite knowing what he was. her hands fly up in the universal gesture of surrender, her eyes wide and back rigid. ]

S-Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you...!

[ his gun may be lowered but she still seems a little shaken... ]

[ninmu]

You're not bothering me. I was waiting for you.

[ which sounds a little ominous, but it's really not. Seeming somewhat oblivious to her fright, he walks over towards her, stopping a courteous few feet in front of her. ]

Talking over the paper is inefficient. I thought this would be better.

JK I CAN READ

[winces]

[ waiting for her?

she blushes a little, glancing away sheepishly. ]

Oh... I guess you figured it out, huh.

[ olivia pls. it wasn't very hard to do. ]

[ninmu]

[ he tilts his head. why this human blush?? He doesn't think she did anything embarrassing... ]

Yes. [ pause. ] Was it a secret?

[ your codes NEED WORK OLIVIA ]

[winces]

[ spoilers, melan: she is always being embarrassing. ]

W-Well... It was supposed to be...

[ninmu]

Oh. Sorry. [ another pause. ] You should not use your name if you're trying to go in disguise.

[ he's here to help. ]

You wanted to train?

[winces]

[ muttered quietly, petulantly, ] I tried to cross it out...

[ but anyway. ]

Yes, um. I'd like to — if it wouldn't be too much trouble...!

[ she wanted some mental training, but she brought her sword along too, just in case. ]

[ninmu]

[ quietly, he regards her for a couple of seconds. That is a sword at her side, but... ]

... I offered, but... [ for once, emotion seeps into his voice; he sounds hesitant, maybe somewhat worried. ] You're only a human. I am a Monomakia. There is a great difference in our strength... I don't want to hurt you by accident.

[winces]

[ olivia blinks a bit in confusion, more so for the shift in his demeanor than the fact he's actually showing emotion. (for, in olivia's mind, while she is well aware of what he is... he hadn't done much to make her think he's much more different from the rest of them.) ]

Oh but— I'd work hard, I — I promise...!

[ she doesn't think much of her strength or her capabilities or her... anything, really. but somehow the thought that he doesn't either just cuts at her, and she's suddenly desperate to prove herself to him. ]

[ninmu]

[ it's nothing so harsh as thinking she's weak - he's way too simple for that. But Melan knows how fragile humans are. He's held them in his arms while they died. Maybe this wasn't a great idea...

Still, she seems confident, and he's not the type to go back on his word, so he nods with a small hum. ]

If you are certain. [ a pause. Then: ] I have never taught anyone anything before. I will do my best.

[winces]

Don't worry — I'll be the best student you'll ever have.

[ she seems confident about that, too, but who knows how long that'll last. at this point, it isn't about her. she's determined to make him not regret this, to make him feel better about his teaching, and if she has to break her back over it, she will!

...

maybe this wasn't a great a idea... ]

So! What should I do now?

[ninmu]

[ they'll make this work... hopefully without sustaining serious injuries in the process. He blinks, then raises his sword once again - although, for now, it's just to point at Olivia's. ]

That blade. Have you used it before?

[ how basic is this training gonna be, oli ]

[winces]

[ it's alright, melan! she can heal herself........................ ]

Oh — this? [ the fact that olivia suddenly regards the sword as if only just noticing it is probably not all that encouraging, but to her credit she does seem to handle it with ease as she brings it up to consider it. ]

I have, yes! [ in real fights and everything. it's not her favorite thing to do, but she's done it before since she's had to. ]

Khan Basilio and his men have giving me some training here and there, whenever they could afford to... And I've been learning a few techniques from another swordsman here, too!

[ninmu]

[ HE DOESN'T KNOW THAT....... she looks as warrior-like as a fancy doily. except he doesn't know what that is either, but.

Melan nods his head, seeming to approve. ]

Knowing your weapon is your greatest skill. It's the only thing that separates you from your death in a battle. [ lowering his blade; he won't use his rifle on her for this fight, since she doesn't have one, herself. ] I don't know your level of skill yet. You should attack me with all of your strength so that I can learn.

[ a pause. Then, somewhat awkwardly: ]

... I will be careful.

[winces]

[ she hesitates a little, glancing about. ]

H-Here...? Right now...?

[ that fancy doily has all but shriveled up right now. ]

[ninmu]

[ oh no... at least he's not stunted enough not to notice that reaction. Not budging from where he stans, he stares at her questioningly. ]

If you don't want to, then that is also fine. [ no skin off his nose. ] Sorry. I want to help.

[winces]

—n-no, it's not that, I...!

[ she has the skill. and she certainly has the potential, despite all that she might say and appear to be.

but that so-called "killing intent"? she lacks it, incredibly. only in a true battle has she really been able to put her heart and soul into it, instead of merely copying the movements. here, now, with a friend (?)... she finds herself hesitating. ]

Sorry — I just... need to psych myself up for it, I guess.