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

Out of the water?

[This has to be one of the stranger requests he's ever gotten, since he can't see how being in or out of the water should matter if the man's so weak he can't even lift his arm. But the fact that he clearly is that injured or otherwise is enough of a concern that Meallan doesn't argue too much, just bends enough to grab his wrist and drag him, as carefully as possible with only one hand to steer the prone man, out of the shallows and slowly up from the water enough that he should be fine. There's still water lapping around his ankles, but unless the tide comes in suddenly it won't be an issue, he hopes.

That done he drops down onto the sand himself, breathing a little more heavily from the task.]

Are you all right? I'm no healer, but if you're this weak that you can't even move, I can see about finding one for you.

Uh-huh. ( a laugh, because even ace realises how odd it must seem, but there's no getting around it. the relief that floods him once he's tugged from the reach of the ocean is palpable, and already his numbed limbs are finding their strength. it takes a minute or two, but eventually he shifts so he can sit and drag his feet out of the surf. )

Appreciate the thought, but it won't be necessary. I'm okay, so - thanks.

[He watches with a raised eyebrow at the other man slowly seems to come to life, shifting and moving out of the water the rest of the way on his own. Clearly he's fine, and the question is written all over Meallan's face before he even voices it.]

Do you mind telling me why you couldn't do that earlier? It's only a little water, did you really need to be dragged out of it?

Oh, that. ( the confusion on the guy's face is clear as day, and rightfully so - the one weakness that plagues all fruit users probably does seem completely silly to the uninitiated. )

Gonna hazard a guess that you're not from the same world as I am. Where I come from, there're these fruits that grant people different abilities, depending on which they eat. Thing is, once you eat one of 'em, the sea's your enemy. Drains the strength out of you if you come into contact with it. Normally, I'd be fine until the water comes up past somewhere around here - ( here he gestures vaguely to his knees, and shrugs ) - just my luck that the storm dropped me in back-first. Not too bad, when I think about it. Could've fallen in on my face, after all - that'd be a little inconvenient.

[Meallan isn't quite certain where to begin with that, if it's the fruits that give people abilities or the fact it then makes the sea hate them somehow. His doubt is equally obvious, but eventually he decides to start with the slightly easier part.]

So... are magical fruits common in your world? And what kinds of abilities do they give people anyway?

[Although he's fairly certain any answers he gets will just give him even more questions...]

Nah, they're pretty rare. Wouldn't be surprised if someone hasn't heard of them, really. Okay, uh - ( from the look on the stranger's face, he's going to have to make this as simple and painless as possible. just watch him. )

When y'get down to the basics there are three known types - some give superhuman abilities like the manipulation of shockwaves, others grant animal traits - strength or speed, for instance. The rarest ones give users the ability to control certain elements, and they're worth a fortune on the black market. These things've been around for a while, but we hardly know much about it, ourselves; some'd go so far as to call it a sort of curse. I don't think the trade-off is that bad, though.

[Hopefully the new arrival won't mind if Meallan just stares at him for a long moment, trying to take all of that in.]

All of that from... fruit?

[Maybe he shouldn't be this sceptical, since a few years back if someone had told him magic could send someone through time he'd have thought them crazy as well but... fruit. All right, he'll try to just... go with it.]

Does that mean you have an ability as well then? Since you couldn't leave the water?

A bit far-fetched, huh? Rumour has it that they're fruits of a being called the Sea Devil, but honestly? Nobody really knows what they are. They're... just kind of there, I guess.

( a shrug, because he's never thought to question it. surely someone out there has figured out the origin of these curious fruits - but it doesn't matter all that much. what are they going to do with that knowledge, anyway? )

And - yeah, I have one, too. Abilities seem to be on the fritz in this place, though. My initial thought was that they'd disappeared, but when I got dropped in the ocean I knew it was still in here, somewhere.

( ace holds his palm out upright, looking a little silly for a short time while he concentrates on willing a flame into existence - funny, how something that used to be second nature for him no longer comes so easily.

after a time he feels like he's finally grasping at a familiar sensation thought gone, and a tiny, weak fire whirls to life in his hand only to dissipate as quickly as it appeared. well, worth a shot. ) It looks a lot better than that, honest. At least, it was better than what I got while underground earlier. A few sparks, and then it was gone. Wasn't even enough to light my way in that labyrinth.

EVENT ★ WILL O' WISP

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