epidemiology | EVENT ★ WILL O' WISP

WELCOME TO NALAWI

When the newest recruits are surrounded and taken away from Oska by the white mist of an opening rift, they’ll find themselves brought somewhere no one meant for them to be.

There is stone all around, and recruits seem to have been transported into some sort of cave network. If the recruit in question has any sort of non-human powers, magic, or abilities, they will find that this has been either severely dampened by an unknown force, or removed altogether.

There isn’t any sunlight to be had anywhere, and some places in this strange, sprawling labyrinth are thrown into deep and complete darkness. In other places a subterranean, luminescent fungus grows on the wall, providing an eerie sort of green-blue light. There doesn’t seem to be anyone around to provide guide or explanation; recruits are free to explore this strange, silent place as they will. It’s no use trying to keep from getting lost, it’s a hopeless maze of unending stone hallways. But at least they have each other in this stifling darkness, right?

Be careful, though. Small clicks sound now and then in the darkness: little shelled insects that scuttle up the walls and across the floor. They seem to feed on the fungus, and are peaceful enough if left alone. If approached, though, they’ll lash out with the stinger on their long tails before rushing away again into the darkness. The stings from these creatures are painful, and temporarily paralyze whatever limb has been struck. It will last for at least an hour before wearing off again.

There is one other creature of note within this stone labyrinth: there is exactly one large cavern in this mess of halls and dead ends, and it contains a woman. She is hard to define, her form is made of living flame that casts dancing shadows from the bars of her cage. She sits peacefully against the far wall of the room, and thick bars of stone, shaped from the ceiling and floor themselves, provide her cell. She can be approached, and will speak if spoken to, but makes no attempt to move or escape.

No matter how ALASTAIR’s newest arrivals spend their time, eventually there is an interruption. Maybe you’re in that single, occupied cavern when she arrives and you spot her, or maybe you’re still lost in the maze and never even found the cavern or saw either creature at all. It doesn’t matter. A tall, cat-like woman with eerie blue light gleaming from her dead eyes arrives in time, and she knows immediately she and her captive are not alone here. She will say nothing, she will allow no time for questions. With one wave of her hand, a fierce wind stirs to life and begins to howl through the maze. It’s strong enough to literally pick you up off your feet and hurdle you through the darkness, and somehow avoids smashing its prizes into any walls. This wind knows exactly where it’s taking its captives, and it knows the way. All at once the recruits will find themselves blasted straight up into the open sky, and into the middle of a powerful hurricane.

This windy, dizzying experience lasts a good ten minutes as recruits are buffeted and spun end-over end in the hurricane as they leave land and travel over the sea, but it does end eventually. They are dumped unceremoniously on the western shore of a new place, the island of Pu’ulai, Nalawi, and the storm dissipates instantly after leaving them there.

Those recruits that have been on Nalawi a little longer are welcome to spot the odd, impossibly brief storm along that western edge and investigate. They’ll find that Pomarr has delivered them a few wayward recruits.

Welcome to Nalawi. Sorry about the local gods.

OOC NOTES

Characters will arrive in these caves first and spend an unspecified amount of time within them. This section of the log is closed to new arrivals only. You may choose to have your character run into the fiery lady (please see the thread below to have an encounter) solo, with another character (or characters), or not at all. Either way, they will eventually be brought to Nalawi proper, where any character in the game may encounter them.

To catch up on the recent goings-on, there's an OOC post here that should answer your questions, accompanied by this IC post. The mission briefing your character received is here, and you can find more information on the island your characters ended up on, Pu'ulai, here.

If you have any questions, feel free to direct them to the subthread below!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He stiffens reflexively at that warning, shoulders tensing as he glances around. As though she might emerge from the shadows at any instant.

But so far, no one is there, none but the two of them. The tension doesn't leave his posture, but he looks back up at her once again]

I understand. Is there any other information you might be able to tell me that would help in freeing you?

[Seeing her caged this way, knowing that it's causing hardship for the people of this world, Haise has to find out whatever he can while he can.

If Pomarr shows up, well. He doesn't know how to leave this place, so he'll have to do what he can in such an event]

[Her fiery, indecipherable eyes linger on Haise for some time, thoughtful. The concern he's shown, from one who isn't even one of hers, much less of this world, isn't something she had anticipated.

Finally:] She is strong, gorged on my sister's power. [She begins the slow, methodical process of climbing to her feet, moving like one very old and tired.] If there is a way to free me it would be to go through her; I do not know that it can be done by force. The embers of mortals burn out so swiftly and easily...

[Mortal beings must seem to fade as quickly as seasonal flowers, to beings of such longevity. The thought doesn't escape Haise, especially where he feels his own strength and abilities have been sapped since he first found himself in this place.

Those powers would surely be daunting without such a handicap in place]

Do you suppose she might be reasoned with? I understand revenge is a bitter motivation, but also that there can't be real fulfillment in it.

[She's made it to her feet in time, and begins a slow walk toward the bars of her cage, toward Haise. A thin, dark line, almost a black gossamer spider's web, circles one ankle and disappears into the wall she leaves behind.]

She has suffered much. When I saw my children in danger of the fate that befell her people, I could not be reasoned with. [She brings a gentle heat with her as she approaches, and still the fire dances slowly around her.] When you leave this place... if you leave this place... will you bring my children a message?

[The difference in temperature tells him that those flames are more than just seeming, no matter how impossible such a being's existence would be in his own world. Truly the stuff of story and myth there, but a reality so close at hand now.

Part of a reality in which there has been much damage in the past. It seems factional in its way, and that's something familiar to his experience.

He stands up straighter when presented with this question]

If I can do that for you, I will.

[It's clear he doesn't possess the power to free her, not right now. Conveying a message, though... that much he can do]

[She stops at the bars and lifts one hand to curl fingers around the stone that entraps her.]

Tell them I have loved them... and more importantly, tell them they can go on without me.

[Her other hand slips between the bars, stretching out toward Haise, palm up as if to ask for his hand in hers. The flames die out around her extended hand, leaving smooth, dark stone behind. It is warm, if touched, but not painfully so.]

[He fails to mask the hesitation, between her words and watching the flames recede. She's contemplated the possibility that she may not survive this - that's what he thinks. It's something he himself has had to consider, in the past.

Swallowing the lump in his throat such thoughts inspire, he lifts a hand]

Though I hope they wouldn't have to... I'll tell them that.

[That they are loved. That they are remembered... And that their deity believes in them.

Movement slow and deliberate, he settles his palm over her own]

Thank you.

[She reaches her other hand as his settles over hers. The fire there recedes similarly, and warm, living stone hands cup Haise's for a long moment. Her eyes narrow and dim as whatever she intends takes concentration and effort, not to mention energy, of which Nalanni is recently in very short supply. But then she has it. Both of her hands pull away again, leaving an egg-sized fire opal in his hand.]

Your heart is warm; so is this small token of my appreciation.

[And it is warm, as warm as her hands had been. Haise will find that whoever holds it will feel similarly warm throughout their entire body, no matter the temperature around them. Nalanni turns, starting her slow walk back to her place at the wall.] ]

I-

[Wide-eyed surprise dashes across his features, staring at the stone she's left in his hand. With the concentration that seemed to have taken, did she have the energy to spare, for something like that? He knows so little of gods, of other worlds...

Whatever it may have taken, it's done now. He cups the stone between his hands carefully, looking to her retreating form again]

Thank you, I'll treasure it.

[It hadn't ever been necessary to give him anything, and conveying a message feels like so very little in the face of her circumstances. But so long as he finds his way out of this place, once he's relayed those words, surely there's something more he can do for her predicament]

And...I'll do whatever I can, about what's happening to your world.

[Nalanni doesn't have a chance to respond. Before she's made it back to her post, they are very suddenly no longer alone. There's a very faint noise as someone pads into the cavern from one of the many tunnels that empty into it. Pomarr: tall, catlike, colored in the watery grays and blues of a shipwreck. Her glowing blue eyes land on Haise for only a moment before she huffs, a singularly annoyed sound. Up goes her arm, and the sharp, cold winds rise obligingly. Nalanni falls to a crouch to weather the storm, and Haise has only seconds before he's swept up in the wind and carried bodily away.]

EVENT ★ WILL O' WISP

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