epidemiology | EVENT ★ OSKA BURNING

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EVENT ★ OSKA BURNING

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.

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[ Sounds like a death knight. Anduin stops in his tracks, bewildered, rubbing at the back of his neck. He follows the sound of the voice--the presence, really--and calls out in response. ]

Hello! Are you lost, too?

[ Footsteps. Anduin feels a twinge of anxiety as the stranger approaches. He's dressed ominously. Billowing cloak, forbidding mask. Maybe he is a death knight? Anduin swallows thickly. He keeps his spine straight. He has the Light; he will not fear. ]

Maybe we can help each other.

[Its impossible not to feel Anduin down the hall. The Light is so strong with him that it almost makes him sick to be near -- but just by his voice alone, he can tell that he isn't dealing with a Jedi. After all, a Jedi would've sensed him just the same, and he would not be so amicable to help from one as dark as he.

One sweep of his person confirms his suspicion. No lightsaber. Too young to be one of the Order, younger than even that girl -- though perhaps not by many years.

He admits that he is lost quickly, and Ren finds himself further disinterested in interaction with him.]

That depends on what you've found down here.

[He hasn't been walking long -- it is unlikely he'll be of any help to the boy, even if he wanted to. But there's no reason to show his hand quite so soon.]

[ Anduin doesn't need any extra-sensory powers to tell that there's something off about this guy. Beyond his weirdly modulated voice (which Anduin quickly concludes is not the result of undeath, at least), his whole demeanor reads as--harsh. Someone accustomed to getting his way. Someone who has a set of right answers in his head, and expects to hear them.

Well, Anduin's seen that before. ]

I'm afraid you're the only thing I've found down here so far.

[ He jiggles his wrist. ]

Well, you and this new piece of jewelry. Did you get one, too?

Yes.

[It is a large chrome chain that he pulls from the pocket of his robes and holds out for inspection. As far as he can tell, it is useless, so there's no sense in hiding it. It doesn't look much like jewelry at all, unless you happen to be an orc or a motorcyclist trying to compensate for something.

And if Anduin chooses to inspect it, Ren will use it as an opportunity to inspect him. He's a good ten years younger than him by first glance, and his light burns so brightly that it makes him want to choke the life out of him without even giving him a chance to speak.

But he doesn't. He hasn't learned enough about this place.]

It played one message, and has not done anything further.

[ Let Anduin love you, Kylo.

He leans over, careful not to intrude too much on Kylo's personal space. That's certainly an interesting piece of, uh, 'jewelry'. He wonders if everyone brought here received something unique to them. Must be. ]

Oh, that's ... lovely.

[ Smiles. Kylo Ren all but radiates hostility, yet Anduin is undeterred. He can tell that this man's attitude goes beyond simple irritation at their circumstances, but doesn't that make it even more important to look after him? He's a volatile element. ]

But! Good. You heard the message, too. We're fellow recruits, I think. My name's Anduin Wrynn.

[ He holds out his hand. ]

[Nobody loves him. But also, the idea of being a 'recruit' makes his nose wrinkle. He's way more important than some greenhorn.

He was a commanding officer among the First Order. A Sith Apprentice. One of their many sword arms.

"Recruit". As if.]

Kylo Ren, Master of the Knights of Ren and the First Order.

[None of those terms likely mean anything to him. Anduin's attire is a bit odd (which gives him the hint), but there's no harm in trying for a reaction anyway.]

[ Well, that's a very fancy title. Of course, Azeroth is a world run rampant with fancy titles, so Anduin's smile doesn't flicker at all. He's met his share of knights--light and dark alike. He doesn't recognize Ren's particular organization, but that's fine. Why would he lie? ]

Well met, Master Ren.

[ That done, he turns 'round, making a 'come on' gesture. ]

We should try to find our way out of here. Judging by that message we got, there are people nearby who need help.

[Master has so much negative context in Ren's eye, but he doesn't bother to correct Anduin. It is hardly pressing.

Being led by a child feels odd to him, but his lack of waypoint means that he doesn't have much choice but to follow until another opportunity presents itself. The Light surrounding Anduin makes some deep part of him feel ill. And that was to say nothing for his apparent ideas of how Ren would assist the weak and injured.]

Perhaps it is a test.

[Field training, as it were. If this organisation truly existed, then they were recruiting fighters. No sense keeping them if they couldn't preform simple tasks...or died overnight.]

[ Anduin calls Light to hands, meant both as a self-soothing technique and as something to brighten their way forward. The dungeon corridors are long and dark, and he can hardly see more than a few feet in front of him.

His body aches, he's thirsty, and his stomach's growling--but complaining about any of that isn't productive. He has to stay focused, no matter how weak he might feel, nor how unsettling his companion might be.

(and he is pretty unsettling.) ]

A test? To determine what, do you think?

Pathfinding skills. Endurance. It could be a number of things.

[Ren follows in his wake for a few moments, in spite of the Light that he calls to his hands. There is a shift in the Force that he feels when he does it, the call to the light tugging at his limbs and his heart.

It makes the dominant part of him ill, enough that he completely forgoes his question to growl as he reaches for his lightsaber. He doesn't pull it off his belt, but he's definitely considering it.]

Whatever it is you're doing, cease it immediately. If you cannot see, then I will navigate.

Edited 2016-03-03 19:33 (UTC)

Oh--

[ The light gutters out, but he frowns, knitting his eyebrows. Maybe Ren has sensitive eyes? Maybe that's why the mask. ]

Does it bother you? It's only Light.

I do not care what it is.

[As for Anduin's question, he doesn't answer with anything but a few long strides to get in front of him with all the grace of a man who does not know how to interact properly with other human beings.

The bothersome itch goes away after a few seconds, but it leaves a piece of him incredibly unsteady and distracted. Unfortunately, without the light and with the screen of his visor, there is only so much Seeing the Force can do for him. So once he has enough distance in front of Anduin, he pulls his lightsaber off his belt to ignite it in order to provide the light they needed and holds it above his head to cast its unstable flickering down the corridor in front of them.]

[ Anduin makes a face, though it's probably (hopefully) obscured by the gloom of the corridor, which is hardly pierced by Ren's unsteady lightsaber. It seems a poor substitute for the purity of Anduin's Light, but perhaps his presumption was correct, and Ren is just sensitive, somehow.

It's an interesting weapon, anyway. He catches up to and then walks alongside Ren, eyes on the lightsaber, his expression bright with curiosity. ]

I've never seen a sword like that before. How does it work?

[He keeps it over his head in spite of Anduin's curiosity. By now, he has discovered that his galaxy is foreign to most of these recruits, so the fact that his weapon is a point of interest should not surprise him either.

That does not mean he is entertained by the thought of having it inspected.]

It powered by a kyber crystal, which I presume also means nothing to you.

[The idea that someone in the universe doesn't know of lightsabers or the Force is almost inconceivable. Even his father, who had been a nonbeliever until his son had grown into a killer, had been aware (if not in denial).]

Edited 2016-03-08 01:56 (UTC)

It doesn't, but--I'd love to hear about it, if you're willing to share.

[ He trots alongside Ren like an amiable puppy. It's not that he's unaware of the continued and palpable aura of threat this guy exudes, it's just that he's choosing to muscle his way past it. They have to work together, after all. They should try to learn about each other. ]

Not particularly.

[And for a few seconds, it seems like he's going to wander in silence until Anduin gets bored enough to leave. But the fact of the matter is that Ren enjoys feeling as if he is the authority on things -- on everything really. So after a few tense moments of nothing, he speaks again.]

A kyber crystal is a rare concentrated substance, attuned with the Force in such a way that allows it to create a manifestation of energy. It assists in channeling the purest form of plasma.

[To demonstrate its power, he pauses in his steps and sets the weapon down against a brick on the ground. With some applied force, it simply melts a hole straight through the rock and leaves it molten red when he pulls the blade away.]

[ It seems that Ren's refused to answer him, and Anduin's just about made disappointed peace with that when the other man starts talking. The 'force' seems interesting, and not too divested from how Anduin understands the Light--maybe the same thing, in a different form?

He listens attentively, and his expression is duly impressed when Ren strikes the rock with his lightsaber. ]

Such power. It must take a great deal of control.

In a manner of speaking. That all depends on your point of view.

[Ren lifts his saber back into the air to continue offering light to their journey. Control was occasionally an enemy of the Dark Side -- but as Snoke had taught him, control could also be an ally.

Losing control was much easier, and less stressful.]

Constructing a lightsaber requires ancient knowledge, and Force sensitivity.

I don't doubt it, sir. Did you craft that one yourself?

[ His tone remains quite earnest. Truth be told, the weapon does look handmade ... ]

Yes. I was much younger, then.

[He seems to be relaxing the more they talk, and even curiously tilts his head back just enough to make sure Anduin is still following him.]

A few years younger than you.

[ Anduin's clearly impressed. ]

I've never made my own weapons before. Only trained--with knives and bows, mostly.

[ He walks along for a few moments, eyes on the saber, thinking. ]

What did you have to do?

It begins with a ritual once called "The Gathering". You are sent alone on a journey to harvest your kyber crystal. Each is uniquely attuned to the Force-wielder who hunts for it.

[He lets Anduin digest the information as they walk, but pauses when they come to a crossroads. When he continues, he makes no effort to disguise what he believes to be a feat of strength.]

With kyber crystals being so rare and in such short supply, rituals such as the Gathering no longer have any use. The hunt is much more difficult in modern times. The crystal in my blade is cracked, and thus highly unstable. The lightsaber itself required extremely careful construction to contain its power. Hence its shape.

Huh.

[ He can suss out that much -- the lightsaber pulsates in his mind's eye, erratic and strange. Its energy isn't precisely evil or negative, but he feels a little discomfited, the longer he looks at it. As though the crystal is broken in more than just a literal way. ]

How did it crack? Was it that way when you ... harvested it?

No. I wanted it that way.

[There's a finality to his statement as he lowers his weapon and glances down at Anduin.]

This is where we part ways. The left will find you others. I sense them further down the hall.

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EVENT ★ OSKA BURNING

3 - dungeons

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