EVENT ★ BACK TO THE FUTURE

[futurologists]

BENDED TIME As outlined in the OOC post, things start to slow down and grow quiet in Oska for a few days as the bugs crawl away and slowly disappear. But then the cocoons hatch. Fully grown temporal insects claw their way out of them, each about the size and temperament of raging bulls. They come out far more aggressive and eager to fight, are are willing to take on anything that moves with jaws and claws alike. Except, of course, another insect — when two of them encounter each other, they enter into a mating dance and then slip away into another dimension, leaving behind only the temporary ghosts of years gone by. If you can’t find a way to pierce that thick shell to take one down, better find another one to pair it off with instead. Just try not to get bit while leading them around and find yourself suddenly 5 years old again. The insects aren’t the only thing going on in Oska, though. As it turns out, unicorns really hate this adult form of the temporal insects, and will start kicking their way out of their stalls in the stables to get at the insects in an attempt to impale or trample them. According to Uruz they’re gallant warriors, but not always quite cut out to take on a bug, and can easily get themselves hurt or killed. She would really appreciate recruits taking a moment to recapture any stray unicorns they may come across and leading them back to the stables. Try to avoid any insects on the way, or you’ll find yourself suddenly fighting insect and irate unicorn, which is no one’s idea of a good time. The lake is getting more active, too. All the fighting has woken up something in the depths of it. Dark red tentacles sometimes creep up onto shore — and don’t worry, this time they don’t belong to a sea goddess. The tentacles don’t attack unless attacked, and can in fact be quite agreeable. Nodes along the length of them act as primitive eyes, which see well enough to interact with anyone nearby. They’re also all a little peckish. Toss a tentacle a bit of food and watch it curl around and ingest it using tiny mouths on the underside. It might even be willing to play a few rounds of fetch or slap a bug into the sky for you if you put it in a good mood with a morsel of food. The senior ALASTAIR members can be seen out and about and doing their part, too. Uruz and Dagny fight as a team, centaur and elf, sometimes fighting back to back and sometimes as mount and rider. They’ll stop and lend a hand, but the cats are a little less generous. Cherenkov and Crowley fight inseparably and use magic and science in deadly combination to ward off and destroy the bugs, but can usually only be seen darting on their way from one place to another. They have a lot of magitek to repair in the destructive wake of the insects. Pomarr, neither as senior nor as invested in actively picking off the bugs, offers shelter near a tentacle-free portion of the lake, calling down storms to toss away bugs for her and anyone in the vicinity. OOC NOTES This log spans a week ICly. Characters will find themselves beginning to understand each other again as the bugs first vanish, as the effects of the cats’ work on the magitek pays off. The translation problem will be completely fixed by the time the cocoons hatch. All of the bugs will have been killed or shipped off by the sixth day, leaving the last day before their departure to the next mission blissfully relaxing. Any temporally misplaced recruits will be back to normal by the last day, as well. A reminder to anyone still texting: the texting feature of magitek jewelry operates based on thought! There are no physical keyboards, recruits merely think the message that they’d like to send to another recruit.

Comments

Achilles

[heelies]

( I. BUG EXTERMINATION ) [It is with great bewilderment that Achilles faces the immense insect which presently lours upon him. It seems to him that he had merely blinked or looked away, and vanished was Patroclus like a fire which, once doused with water, leaves only gaping darkness where before danced the light. Vanished too is the familiar landscape of Mount Pelion, whose every ridge and shadow he has become acquainted with, and in its place unfolds a grand hallway whose breadth is dominated by this monster. He has not his spear, nor his bow and arrow, these weapons which in his capable hands might make a carcass of the fearsome beast. His best weapon now is his fleetness of foot, and so he turns and runs, thinking that to fight such a beast unarmed is not bravery but plain foolishness. For all his godlike speed, the insect chases him still with its claws like scythes so eager to fell grain, and its pincers glinting like the heads of spears. As Achilles cuts around the corner, he sees someone along the corridor and shouts this warning.] Beware! Swiftly there comes a terrible monster that has stolen into this house! [Shall you run, or shall you fill your heart with fighting spirit? Some may find in this boy the shadow of familiarity, from the golden curls growing wild atop his head to the effortless elegance of his limbs in motion. His style of dress recalls simplicity: no sandals bind his feet, while the excess fabric of his tunic, unpinned from his shoulders, is tucked underneath the belt which cinches his waist. His skin appears burnished by the sun, and already the edges of taut muscles lend sharpened angles to his body. In a word, he is radiant to look upon, the son of a goddess.] ( II. UNICORN HERDING ) [So too does Achilles set his nimble feet to work herding the unicorns over the lush castle grounds. Yet the curiously horned horses let him nowhere near: no matter how softly he approaches, they shy away. When he gives chase, they run all the more swiftly, and the moment he thinks he might at last close the distance between himself and one of their ilk, it seems the unicorn is suddenly ten paces beyond the reach of his furiously pumping arms. Eventually comes the time when he must slow to rest, for his heart crashes in his heaving breast like the waves of a wind-whipped sea, and his cheeks bloom ruddy for this exertion which for him is so rare.] This is impossible! [These words fall rife with frustration, for he is one unacquainted with failure.]

i

[strikingtwice]

[The young man, a boy really, who rounds the corner doesn't strike Meallan as familiar in the slightest, as unfamiliar as he is with the boy when grown. All he sees is a child, afraid and fleeing for his life, and his remaining hand snaps out with a sharp gesture as the smell of electricity fills the are and light flares briefly around his fingertips.

Immediately, a sigil, vibrant blue and crackling with power, flares under the giant insect, turning to a circle that surrounds and cages it in electricity as it crosses. The snap of power forces the creature back a step, but as it charges the field again Meallan can see it won't hold it for long.]

Come on! That's gotten us some time, but not much!

[heelies]

[Even in the panic of this pursuit, of prey fleeing from predator, there is time enough to wonder at the awesome power which crackles from the stranger's fingertips as would lightning from the hands of Zeus who bears the aegis. A few paces beyond where stands Meallan, Achilles is struck dumb as with wide eyes he watches the fearsome beast clash with the flickering field of light. Then comes the command to run, and again his feet fly over the smooth stones of the hall. Farther down the corridor down which they flee he sees a doorway, and there he runs. He gestures for the man to follow his lead.] Hurry now - there we may hide! [The heavy wooden door he pulls open with ease, and he holds it that Meallan may pass first pass through. Swiftly he follows at his heels, yanking shut the door in his wake. The room in which they now stand boasts ceilings so tall it almost seems impossible that still they remain inside. Light drifts in through the ornately arched windows and dozens of lanterns spill forth their yellow glow. The walls are lined with richly gleaming shelves of the finest wood, the length of each filled with volumes upon volumes - but all of this means little to one who in all his life has never seen a book, for no such thing has yet been imagined in his time. As he catches his breath he looks around the sprawling space, and his bemusement for it is plain.]

[strikingtwice]

[The boy is fast on his feet at least, fast as a Dalish child even, and Meallan is glad he doesn't have to worry about dragging him along as they run. He doesn't question the choice in direction, knowing that being out of sight gives them a better chance than not, and as the door is pulled shut he focuses again. The spell is more difficult, not being his preferred element, but he manages to create enough ice against the door to hopefully hold it for a time, on the off chance that the insect tries to get it open somehow.

Then he turns around to take in where they are and the look of uncertainty mixed with wonder on the boy's face.]

Good choice, we should be able to avoid it here. And we won't get too bored either.

[He pauses a moment, then asks curiously:] Have you never seen a library before?

[heelies]

[As he treads further into the grand room, his gaze drifts from the thousand curiosities it comprises to the man whose appearance is equally strange to him, from the pointed peaks of his ears and the markings on his face which remind Achilles of tree roots and branches, down to his arm which instead of tapering into a hand ends abruptly in empty air. At this he cannot help but stare, as children tend to do, with some grotesque blend of fascination and horror. It is only when Meallan asks his question that Achilles remembers that he ought to look him in the eye.] I've not heard of a library before. [He shakes his head, and his brow buckles into a tight knot.] What land is this in which I now find myself? Are you lord of this house? [For one so young, who has only just begun to leave childhood behind and move ever closer to manhood, he addresses adults with ease: not a trace of shyness shadows his words, and he stands with shoulders square and chin held level, for this is how his father has taught him.]

Achilles

[sereneflame]

[Serene hadn't thought her spear would be of much use deprived as she is of her camel, yet since she has returned the weapon has been invaluable, far more than the sword at her hip. She's been patrolling the hallways, trying to keep the corridors to the kitchen clear at least.

Achilles' cry startles her into action. She braces herself as he runs, gesturing sharply with her chin to the beautiful youth]

Get behind me!

[As the beast rounds the corner she screams, pulling with her ALASTAIR-granted gift and lighting a line of fire over the creature's head. She has yet to find an enemy that can't be weakened when set alight.]

[heelies]

[Such fierce fighting spirit he expected not from a woman so fair. He thought she might flee for fear: this is how, years from now, Odysseus would discover him among the daughters of Lycomedes, who would cower in fright when sounds the war drum, while he would take up spear in defense of his third father's house. Yet this woman seems to harbor no such frailties as women might. Achilles stands back, feeling sharply in this moment how useless are his limbs unladen with the fearsome heft of his spear. Half in bewilderment, and half in awe which he cannot help, he asks.] From where came these flames? How is such a feat possible?

[sereneflame]

[She laughs high and sharp at his awe, her heart already racing at the sight of her beautiful fire eating her enemy. She doesn't take her eyes away from her prey as she calls to him]

Because I am a Charlord!

[The insect's momentum has been lost by its wild skitter to get rid of the flames; she won't be trampled if she makes a move. She darts in, pushing her fire back into slumber as she thrusts her blade into the now-brittle chitin of the creature's face. It screams and flails its long limbs, but she manages to rip her spear back before it knocks her over. She skittles back, pulling fire directly from the wound]

Keep on your toes! I'm cooking its brain but it might still charge before it falls!

[heelies]

[He knows not what a Charlord might be, wholly unaware that this is a family name, but nonetheless her deeds strike in him fear and amazement both. He did not know a woman could wield a spear at all, yet here she heaves its haft with a fierceness that is matched by the flickering flames which flare from the beast's wounds. He is one yet unacquainted with the raw brutality of death, having killed only deer and rabbits and other game in the hunt: what he witnesses now is far the greater horror, yet he flinches not. It is with wonder encroaching on reverence that he stands behind this woman, with his stance firm and his feet light, and watches the life flee from this monster. Soon it collapses as would a tree when consumed by fire, far too weak to support its great weight any longer and thus it has no choice but to lie supine upon the funeral pyre made of itself. Quietly Achilles asks.] Has it any life left in its limbs?

ii

[grunehexe]

[As much as Sieglinde had wanted to study the phenomenon occurring at hand, the bugs and the jumps through time- or at least, that had been the plan, she'd found herself outside the castle grounds, awaking suddenly with little memory of how she'd gotten there. It was a trek back to the castle, and she'd only just made it with her hobbled gait, plopping down in a whirl of skirts to rest a moment and adjust the bandage on her arm before...

Was that a unicorn?

It is, cantering past in a gorgeous stream of white and flowing mane, and on its heels... a handsome, wild boy? It was hardly a sight she couldn't expect to see in such a bizarre place as Oska, but. Why? Her gaze moves between the boy and the unicorn, that had slowed its gait and stood temptingly still in sight, confused and unable to help but stir to ask.]

Why do you pursue that creature?

[heelies]

[His gaze falls upon her as she speaks, and for a moment he seems as surprised to see her as she was to see him chasing after the gleaming white unicorn. His is a society in which men and women lead quite discrete lives until they are wed: at thirteen years of age, the only girls he can claim to know are those who serve in his father's house, all demure and silently obedient, and of little more interest to him than the furniture. More than a year has turned since last he passed through the halls of Peleus' great house, however, and perhaps he now notices something in the fairer sex which before he overlooked. The girl who sits before him is curious in appearance, her manner of dress strange to him yet undeniably splendid, her hair sleek and dark and ornately done up. Quite suddenly, Achilles feels a prickle of rare self-consciousness for his uncivilized appearance.] The lady centaur asked that these horned horses be returned to the stables. I did not expect it would be so impossible a task, however. [There is in his words the undeniable imprint of a pout, yet still he holds his chin with a proudly defiant lift, and for all his time passed in the untamed wilds of Mount Pelion he possesses still the impeccable carriage of a prince.]

[grunehexe]

Unicorns are very proud beasts... I do not imagine they take kindly to being saddled.

[Though she'd been sitting quite casually before, when she thought no one could see her, Sieglinde tried to surreptitiously straighten up and present herself a bit better, tucking a stray strand of dark hair into her hennin, smoothing down her skirts.

There was a time she wouldn't have bothered for a boy who seemed about the same age as herself- she was more inclined to use her efforts on men, seeing as her goal wasn't a crush but an heir... but luckily, or unluckily, for the boy in her present company... she's just recently experienced her spring awakening.

Her first kiss (two kisses) from a certain young Sumerian hero had worked wonders towards opening her eyes to the potential charms of her fellow youths.

Still, she examined her company in a new light, even if her current question was... the state of his virginity. Did unicorns even respond to male virgins the same as female? Certainly that was never mentioned in the legends...]

But, perhaps I could be of some assistance...

[heelies]

[While she straightens herself and smooths her skirts, he attempts to swipe the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. The result is little better, for his hands too are grimy with the sweat and dust accumulated lately in his hopeless pursuit. How strange that it should bother him to wear this appearance with which he is so comfortable when with Patroclus, at whose side he so easily leaves off all cares. Even when he had first pressed his lips to Patroclus' so smooth, it occurred to him not that he ought to worry over the way he looked: his only worry had been if his friend should find it strange, and this followed after the deed itself as thunder chases lightning. Such had been his own awakening, as fresh in his memory as Sieglinde's is in hers, yet he had thought little of its intricacies and implications. In the sanctuary of Mount Pelion, that wild kingdom which feels so impenetrable, so secluded from the fading outside world, such questions demanded no discernible answers. Upon her offer, Achilles' eyes light up.] Know you much about these beasts? You speak as would one who is familiar with their ways. Will you tell me then how I might tame them?

ii.

[weatherscience]

[ "Impossible", declares the boy nearby, and Nami has the strangest urge to laugh -- she's herded two of the unicorns back to their stables by now, lured them with carrots and apples she'd stolen from the dining room, though only after she made sure to ask the two ALASTAIR members for good compensation. Belle-mere would be so pleased, when she came back home with enough money to pay for their food for a week!!

She doesn't hesitate to step in, giving Achilles a look and a self-confident smile that somehow makes her look older than her ten years of age. ]

Maybe you're just not that good!

[heelies]

[He had stooped to rest his palms upon his knees that he might catch his breath, which too has run away from him as has the unicorn, but when this shrill taunt falls upon his ears he straightens to his full height and glares imperiously down at the girl.] You ought to practice gentler words, for none will like so rude a tongue. Moreover, I am the swiftest of foot of all that I know, and I have skill too in taming horses - these silly creatures are simply too impudent to take. [The unicorn he had chased after circles at a distance, tossing its head, which Achilles takes for a taunt.

[weatherscience]

[ "His full height", while still far less than a grown-up, still towers over her -- not that she seems too intimidated, or to care at all. ]

Why should I lie? I just said what I saw! You can be really fast, but that doesn't seem to be helping you much here. I bet I can get that unicorn to listen to me within the next two minutes.

[ Is he a betting type? She's not sure, but he sure seems like the type to be unable to ignore a challenge... ]

[heelies]

[Achilles is unused to such brashness, for all in his father's house regard him with respect and thus he has come to expect it from everyone who crosses his path. So too is he unused to challenges issued squarely against him. In the footraces he had joined at festivals the other boys knew already the weight attached to his name. The boys who serve in Peleus' house wanted above all else to ingratiate themselves to him, that they might be chosen to serve as his therapon. Patroclus knows better than to challenge him in contest of strength and speed, or perhaps his heart is too gentle to wish for the fierce spirit of competition. Perhaps he ought to be the more mature of the two, having in his favor both years and noble upbringing, but irritation rankles in his breast and so he seizes upon her words of challenge.] I should like to see you try!

i) bug herding

[asscan]

[It had been Laedo's first experience with these creatures since he'd been reverted to the form of a boy--an asandus child, short as a large dog, more squat of feature, but still as brightly gleaming, and still proud for all that he is more innocent to the way of things. Looking up that the bug, Laedo's first instinct had been to speak to it. Was it not a daemon that could reason? Wary though he was--daemons from his world could resemble any shape, but it was well known that among all of them, they had the ability to drain a fully grown asandus of every drop of her or his magic--he had nervously asked the creature for directions... he was lost, after all, and he was scared.

All he had gotten for his efforts had been a swipe of a claw and an insectoid shrill that had put every last hair up on Laedo's short neck. Like a frightened kitten, Laedo had puffed up and mantled his wings, hissing as he turned to one side and lashed his tail... but that had only made the creature more furious, and so like Achilles, Laedo had turned on his tail and fled.

Now he is bounding along another hallway, putting paws to rough brick walls as he uses the surroundings to literally bounce around a sharp corner. Seeing Achilles, hearing his shout, Laedo turns both ears back and gives a breathless cry.]

So too for me! [he returns, but that is evident as his pursuer rounds the corner behind him, claws leaving divots in solid stone a mere tails-length behind the dragonet.] Quickly, to the stairs!

[A third option is just out of reach between the two of them, a cubby hole with the hint of a step from Laedo's point of view, up to other rooms he has had no chance to explore, and of which he has no memory. He has little time to make the run, but still he parses Achilles as human, and so with a golden chest puffed up to full pride he adds,]

Go, I will hold them off!

[heelies]

[When first he had laid eyes upon Laedo he had thought him yet another beast from which to flee - it is only when the young asandus speaks that he thinks this might be a more civil creature. At the very least, he is not an ally of the fearsome insects and he is willing to collaborate with Achilles that they may escape this present danger. He shall trust in that much. Perhaps he is far more inclined than most to trust in this creature despite his inhuman appearance, for his teacher too is not human: he has come to revere Chiron as a second father, whose guidance he trusts and whose wisdom he esteems. Swiftly does Achilles reach the base of the stairs and he begins to bound upward, but he pauses to fling a look over his shoulder for this stranger's words.] What of you? What shall you do? [Perhaps he needs no weapon to fight, for Achilles can see his fearsome claws and does not wonder how he might defend himself, but still there is but one of him pitted against two of the beasts.]

[asscan]

I will prevail! [The dragonet is all valiant ideals and not much to back them up, at this point, but he's been raised to think highly of himself, of his people, of his Goddess' deep and abiding love. He can do anything so long as he puts his heart into it.

So he does. Turning on the landing, he flares his wings wide and gives the best roar of challenge he can. It's a sonorous thing, but it sounds more like a warm-up for an operatic debut than a battle cry. That doesn't matter, when the bugs converge on their position... and seem to clash with one another instead of with the small dragonet. Laedo almost joins in on the fray when the pair of hostile creatures rend a hole as though through the very air and, emitting foul fumes and cries, disappear through it.]

And stay gone! [Laedo cries, but only after a moment when he's stopped gaping. He's scared them away! All by himself! The look of triumph he's wearing when he turns back to Achilles is so pure and fierce that he may as well be a powerful fida'venae, a priest wielding the light of Aska directly through his very flesh.]

[heelies]

[From where he stands halfway up the flight of stairs, he stares in astonishment at the site where just a moment ago menaced the monsters with their terrible maws and sharp scythe-like arms. Nothing remains in their wake but for the faint shades of people who once walked these halls, and for these flickering visions Achilles feels a chill crawl up his spine. His mouth hangs open to match his wide eyes, until at last he finds his words.] How did you do such a thing? To where have they gone? [He has begun to descend the stairs that he can come to the peculiar creature's side. It does not occur to him that his next string of questions might be considered quite rude, for he cannot help his curiosity.] Furthermore, what manner of creature are you who stand before me? You speak as would a man, yet you bear no likeness to man in countenance nor in form.

i.

[brightdawn]

[ Koltira's already slain a number of these insects today; what's another? He grins as the shining human youth comes barreling towards him, drawing his greatsword--itself already encrusted with black, monstrous blood--from his back. ]

Let it come! I have bested its kin, and soon this beast will join them.

[heelies]

[Several paces past Koltira, he skids to a halt upon the flagstones and twists to watch the stranger face the fearsome beast. From this gruesome clash he shall not shy: in the warm yellow light of the hall his eyes gleam intently. It is both fear and awe which unfold in his breast as he bears witness to this scene. The man is quite strange of features, with his ears protruding from his hair like cliffs which jut forth from the foam of the sea, and his eyes aglow like beacons which lead men to the shore. Achilles' gaze fixes on his magnificent weapon too, that sword which seems so formidable it might slice a man in two through his trunk, and he waits for the impact.]

[brightdawn]

[ Koltira waits for the right moment as the insect charges him. When it's within melee range, Koltira leaps, his body a spinning blur of motion as he descends, sword pointed down, upon the insect's back. The blade pierces the carapace; there's the sound of chitinous shell cracking as Koltira bears down, followed by the crunchy, wet noise of organs and bones run through. Blood pours from the impaled insect as it flails and collapses.

Koltira stays where he is, kneeling on the broken carapace, though he looks up at the boy. ]

Are you unharmed?

[heelies]

[Death is grisly to behold. Although Achilles knows well the mess that is so swiftly made of flesh, from the gristly brittle bones of fish to the rich black blood spilled by deer, he does not look long upon the felled beast, lifting his eyes to the stranger who has split its fearsome shell.] Indeed, I have not a scratch - for this I have your swift sword to thank. [He speaks cautiously, not with nerves as other children might speak, but with uncertainty for who to regard this man's peculiar appearance.]