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

fire

[keystaff]

[Sakura can relate to fear of dangerous (or even sometimes seemingly childish or silly) things. Most everyone has fears. And that's all the more reason to be torn in staying to reassure Alice and heading out with using her Water and/or Windy card to try attempt to deal with the worst of the fire resulting from this strange 'rain' currently falling.]

I--I won't.

[Won't leave, she means. Not if Alice doesn't want her to. Needs her, someone, there for reassurance in this. Being scared in this sort of situation is understandable regardless of a past trauma relating to fire.]

[digophelia]

[ She's glad Sakura is safe, despite everything. But this is exactly what Alice wanted to protect Sakura, Sieglinde, and Steven from. Alice doesn't lift her head as her eyes well up with tears, not even as she takes a deep breath to stop herself from crying. It feels like a failure on her part, despite everything that Michel had done.

It's more than just fright that Alice insists anyone stays in her sight, it's just so that she knows that they're safe. ]

It's not safe to go out, and fire is dangerous. Very dangerous.

[ She runs her hands through her hair as she says it, pushing out the memory of the fire of her house. But it's so hard to do so when the smell of smoke puts her back at that night. ]

[keystaff]

It is. But with Watery might be able to help with the worst of it at least? Or Windy....

[But then. Keeping Alice and anyone else calm and safe away from it as best she can is another way of helping. So Sakura tells herself. Alice in particular seems to need the support and comfort at the moment.

She can't help reaching out, to put a hand to Alice's shoulder, or to take the other's hand in some sort of meager reassurance.]

[digophelia]

It may be better to wait until it dies down.

[ It couldn't last forever; eventually, fire would die down. Sakura's touch doesn't startle Alice as much as it would from another. Keeping an eye on Sakura proves to be somewhat of a distraction from what is going on around her.

If only because Alice will not have Sakura venturing out on her own, even with her magic. ]

Please, sit here for a bit longer.

[keystaff]

What if it doesn't though?

[Of course, rain always comes and goes. Sakura's just never experienced fire like this, raining down on them. Sure, she knows of lights and campfires and lamps and such, but this is on an entirely different scale in comparison. In comparison to even what she can manage with the Firey card. Not that she uses that one too often if at all due to the obvious damage it could cause, and for it being one of the more powerful cards in her deck.]

It's not the I mind staying with you, I want to be sure you're okay in this too, but....

[But she is scared. Worried all the same.]

[digophelia]

I hate fire, I cannot stand it. Actually... I'm afraid of it. It terrifies me.

[ She doesn't think she's openly admit that to anyone. She hates to think about it, the burns she had all over her body. Worst of all, her parents, her father. She couldn't go back for them, it was too late. Alice couldn't even open the door, the doorknob was so hot. ]

But as much as it frightens me, I don't see it continuing. Why would it? It dies out, eventually.

[ And then there will be nothing but the charred grounds and hopefully, not a soul out there. ]

Stay with me. [ She's not even asking, it's a gentle command. ] it can spread quicker than you think.

[keystaff]

Alice....

[Somehow, Alice's fear seems far more serious, more personal and intense than her own worry over spitting oil when she tries to cook, to fry some meals. Decidedly so. But Sakura isn't sure if or how to really ask about it. Still, she gives a nod of agreement. Giving Alice's hand a squeeze.]

It'll be okay. I have Watery, and Windy, if it does spread here to help us at least have time to get out, I'm sure. And we're not alone, others are here too.

[digophelia]

[ Sakura won't get the details of what happened and why she's afraid of it. She seems to relax when Sakura takes her hand -- it's good to see Sakura in front of her, safe and sound. ]

We'll see how it is, when it stops.

[ It has to stop. It cannot continue on like this. Alice relaxes her posture, curling her legs underneath her, rather than keep them so close to her chest. At least she's not curled up almost in a ball. ]

It still seems too risky right now. But if you use water on anything out there that's burnt or burning.

[keystaff]

I just hope it does, soon.

[It's hard to say, exactly when it might stop. But for now, there isn't a lot that they can do, not at the moment. Sakura just hopes she can help with the worst of it if necessary. For the time being, she's staying and reassuring her friend though.]

I'll do my best. If I have to. But we're okay in here, for now.

[digophelia]

Once it dies down, we can try to move.

[ For once, the grips her hand in an attempt to reassure Sakura. ]

We'll see if there's a safer spot in the tower.

[keystaff]

Okay.

[So it's just. Waiting until then. Hopefully during things being slightly less eventful in regards to there being any close calls with the fire getting too near to where they are currently prior to moving.]

When you're ready, Alice.

[digophelia]

[ When it becomes silent enough, Alice moves forward and, eventually, shifts to grab Sakura's hand. ]

It seems safe enough, let's go.

[ Slowly, but surely, she starts to move further through the tower. ]

[keystaff]

Alright. Now, then.

[Sakura had tried to be patient, to wait and move once Alice herself was ready, since the elder seemed even more terrified than Sakura of the fire, all of this.

Then again, most everyone is probably at least a little scared, she reasons, as she keeps hold of Alice's hand, quickly and easily keeping up and following the other. Her gaze moving from Alice to their surroundings as they wander, inspecting how safe things are now in the supposed aftermath of sorts.]

[digophelia]

[ When they're further into the tower, out of any glint of light and sound, Alice feels better. As long as she doesn't see or smell it, she can finally calm down. Slowly, she lets go of Sakura's hand and settles back down, visibly more relaxed.

Thankfully, the storm is letting up, as well. ]

That's much better.

[keystaff]

It is....

[Things seem to be calming a little more. Which helps Sakura herself start to being on relaxing a bit herself in comparison to being all wound up, fretting over Alice, over who might need help out there in this. She's still sticking close though, not leaving Alice's side.]

You're going to be alright, Alice-san?