epidemiology | EVENT ★ POKAREKARE ANA

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EVENT ★ POKAREKARE ANA

NALANNI

Now as weak as any mortal, Nalanni only needs one person to dispatch her. Though Jason has been selected for the sad deed, it would be smart not to let him go it alone.

Once Nalanni ceases to be, the ground quakes and roils. The planet's rock and earth can feel the loss of its mother, and with Ryba still living, the power imbalance throws the world into turmoil. Monsters stream forth from the cave Nalanni had been held on the risen Dakal island. But unlike before, when Pomarr blew through the side of Nalalona and left lava creatures in her wake, these monsters are made of stone. And they are gigantic.

Ranging from five to nine meters (roughly 16-30 feet), the stone golems are slow-moving but powerful, capable of crushing anything in their path with their feet or powerful fists. The golems cannot be spoken to or reasoned with; all they feel is the loss of their mother and the vacuum of power she has left behind. Their mindless anger makes them easily distracted, so teamwork is the best way to keep them at bay. Roughly formed of rock and hardened mud, they are weak to water. Luckily, halfway through the day, a light rain begins to fall.

The golems will continue to come forth from the earth until Ryba is defeated. Upon her death, they will simply collapse into inert piles of stone.

stephan martiniere

RYBA THE DEVOURING ONE

Pomarr stays true to her word and draws the sea goddess to the shore of the deserted island that once housed the Dakal. Without comment, Pomarr turns and steps into an ALASTAIR rift, leaving your team to its business.

Ryba is impossibly large, a mass of twisting, searching tentacles with no discernible body. She is especially weak to electrical attacks, but can otherwise be defeated by simply wearing her down with brute force. Now that you've got your collective powers back, it should be a piece of cake. Right?

ATTACKS:

TENTACLES. Ryba's initial attack is waving her massive, numerous tentacles around to try and keep combatants at bay. Despite their size, they are surprisingly quick -- capable of snapping at anyone who dares get too close, whiplike, or simply crushing those who stay still for too long. Her tentacles are seemingly endless, impossible to count, and move about in a nearly hypnotic way.

THE STORM. After enough damage has been dealt, Ryba will grow more desperate and begin to use her connections to the sea itself. Though the battle is near the shore, sudden winds whip at the recruits, pulling them away from the shallows. Drowning becomes a real danger: the waves are high and fast, and intensely swirling waterspouts crisscross with intent to sweep recruits up, scrambling them.

SHARKNADO. Ryba's last-ditch effort calls upon the creatures of the sea as well as the wind and waves. She creates a swirling vortex with her massive body in the center in attempts to shield herself from attacks. But that's not all -- spinning around her at high speeds with the vortex are sharks. A lot of sharks. And they are all angry.

If characters attempt to speak with Ryba through the battle, she will respond in a calm, dark voice throughout: she has nothing to say to the invaders who would dare take her from the peace of her trench, except that they must destroy her or she will kill them all herself, before the world crumbles to nothing.

Once Ryba is defeated, her massive body will simply cease moving. Goddess or not, it seems her form is as physical as any other creature of the sea.

waqas malik

ISLANDERS

During the day-long battle, characters who choose not to fight are advised to stay behind with the Nalawi to keep them safe. Though the battle rages far to the west, on the once-sunken island of the Dakal, the storms may travel to the westernmost edges of the Nalawi islands. Recruits may attempt to temporarily evacuate the westernmost Nalawi, though there may be considerable resistance.

After the battle, the Nalawi can instantly tell that their goddess is gone for good. Where there was once confusion and desperation in the face of Nalanni's disappearance, there is now only sorrow and directionlessness. All recruits are invited to return to Komo, the first island at the start of the mission, for a somber memorial for Nalanni: the Nalawi don't blame the recruits for what has happened, and only expect them to join in their grief.

For the rest of the time on Nalawi, characters may spend their time as they wish. The locals will need help learning how to cope without their Gifts and how to live without the goddess on whom they had come to rely. They will need help learning all sorts of trades, from fishing to pottery to plumbing, so characters who have knowledge in the mundane will have their time to shine.

But the Timeline is always in need of tending, so recruits can't stay here forever. Say your goodbyes, because soon a rift will open and you'll be headed back to Oska.

OOC INFO

Mods will not be NPCing the Ryba encounter, so you are free to NPC her attacks yourself. Please remember that defeating her is a group effort; no one person will have the "killing blow."

The battle against Ryba will take one full day. After she is defeated, recruits will have 13 days to say goodbye to the Nalawi before departing for Oska.

If characters wish to temporarily stay behind in Nalawi, see here for details.

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[ There's basically just one conclusion Ramir's come to through all of this. Murderous gods and genocide and sole survivors and stuff is all way over her head, so she'd focused on what she knows: if they fuck it up, they might not escape with everyone intact. Morals and shit aside, they have to stick to the directive to make it out of this alright.

So of course she's down for this little venture, and as cheerful as she ever is when she feels entirely out of her depth and almost completely at a loss. She walks next to Jason (she'd have taken the lead if she had the powers for it, but since she's currently still tragically normal, common sense keeps her somewhere a little safer), and digs a hand into a pocket at his comment. ]

I knew there was a reason to keep this thing around.

[ She produces her trusty pastel pink cellphone with the little white dog charm on it, without a signal for half a year now, but a great rechargable flashlight nonetheless. She flicks it to its flashlight mode and keeps it pointed ahead as they move away from daylight. ]

[It's ironic, really, that Jason would issue her a ticket onto the Godkiller Express out of everyone in ALASTAIR. She's as guilty as Nalanni and equally as deserving of a bullet through the head, and yet she's allowed to keep her life while someone else dies for the same crimes she'd committed in the past.

At least she's only there for backup and not for any sort of moral support.

She's dropped back to the rear of their little trio, one hand lingering next to her holster as her eyes dart from side to side and front and back. The majority of the Nalawi have been ported to another island, away from whatever chaos might erupt soon, but there's still a chance there might be a rogue Nalawi hellbent on wiping them out before the three of them can wipe out Nalanni.

And while she's no godkiller, she'd earned quite a reputation back home for being a very decisive funkiller.]

The dark is the least of our worries, I'd imagine.

[Ready as Nalanni might be to die - is there a heaven or a hell for deities or do they simply disappear? - she's still a god, with likely more power in a single earlobe than all three of them combined.

[Sweet convenient modern technology. He knew he liked you for a reason, Ramir. Jason's not quite as cheerful as Ramir or as grim as Riza on the surface. If anything, he's just been bizarrely quiet compared to the usual level of casual chatter he puts up when interacting with the crew. Focused and preoccupied while he turns the situation over in his head. With the strap of his newest weapon settled on a shoulder and Ramir's light bouncing off the walls of the cavern, he wastes little time in leading the way into the dark of the tunnel.

Hawkeye bringing the fun level right back where it belongs.]

You're both welcome to cool your heels out here. Nice day for it.

[He'd work alone if he had the luxury to. Less ways for things to go wrong, if less way to dig himself out of a hole. There's pros and cons to both here, and the badass lady brigade is a compromise. If she's having second thoughts, Riza's free to decide just how much she actually does want to accomplish something here and now after weeks of sitting on their hands. (Her words, weren't they? "standing around twiddling our thumbs." He'd grabbed her on merit of that conversation. Moral support never really factored into it.) Might be better if someone hangs out here in case things go south, anyway. Word of mouth on Nalanni's state of mortality and intentions to roll over don't hold as much water as they could.]

[ Ramir snorts, mainly to cover her rising nerves as they get deeper. ]

Are you kidding me? Have you watched a single horror movie in your entire life? This group is staying together.

[ Which is to say, there's no way she's going to be alone, and she'd rather be with two other people than just one. She does a cautious sweep of the light around them, taking in the tunnel ahead, the ceiling overhead, even a quick check on tunnel behind, although nothing has changed there. It still looks basically exactly as advertised: a creepy underground tunnel leading them to wherever. She turns the light back onto their path with a frown, doing her best not to think about how much this all sucks. ]

[Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ramir. (She hasn't watched a single horror movie in her life, thanks for checking.) Also thanks for the sarcasm, Jason, it's become a staple in her life by now.

While there's pros and cons to both options, staying behind and sticking together, there's not exactly much time to hold any parliamentary debate over which option is better. So:]

I'll drop behind once we get there.

[Ideally somewhere between the two of them and the door, lest things take a sudden nosedive for the worse and booking it becomes her only option. Might not get her all that far in the battle between goddess and human but hey, at least she'll have a 20 foot head start.]

[Well, who doesn't like a good creepy cave. Hell, he practically grew up in one. The deeper inside they wander, the more their speech bounces back at them in echo. Jason drops his voice lower on reflex when he comments on Ramir's answer.]

Little late to worry about the night of the living dead.

[They've sort of wandered past that already, given they'd followed an undead catlady over here. Since Riza's volunteering for the rearguard—]

Couple dozen feet at least, if you're gonna keep a perimeter. But I'm sure I don't need to tell you that.

[If nothing else, he doesn't have to worry about her getting any heroic ideas about going back for him. Them.]

[The chamber ahead is large and nearly empty, the only light source coming from Nalanni herself, her form flickering faintly as it burns. She is of indefinable shape -- the flames that make up her body are constantly moving. One can make out a head, arms, legs, but little in the way of details. A cell makes up most of the cavern, and in fact, the cell has been carved out of the cavern itself. Her cage is open and she could easily make a run for it, but she makes no attempt to move. Nalanni has made peace with her fate. She sits quietly in the corner, her expression somber as she looks up to watch the trio enter.]

[Speaking of twenty feet.

As soon as they start coming up on light that isn't being cast by Ramir's phone, he waves at her to drop it so they can make a less obvious approach. The caution is second nature, but ultimately—apparently—unnecessary. What they get is what they've been told to expect. Nalanni is almost as her people described her—recognizable from the recording salvaged from the island the last time they were here—but diminished. Caged, sitting back against the wall, despite the open door and the company. Like fish in a barrel, as it were, if the fish were on fire and the barrel was carved from stone. Close enough.

Somehow, it's even more aggravating than walking into a trap. The tepid light flickers out at them. Jason stops at the edge of it, fingers curling at his sides, jaw locked. The still silence grates on his patience. He breaks it first, and he doesn't do much to curb the building bite in his voice.]

What, no warm welcome? Didn't even bake us a cake? I'm a little hurt. Here I thought we were going to be expected.

[Or at least, one of them was. And isn't that a trick, because he'd never set eyes on her volcanic highness before in the first place. But Pomarr had indicated that he'd been requested.

(One has to wonder at the angle. If this song and dance is supposed to be a kindness, or a mercy, someone's been barking up the wrong tree from the get go.)]

[ She darkens and pockets her phone at Jason's silent request, her own steps unconsciously going quieter at the same time. It's tense, even she can feel it. That is, right up until Nalanni's in sight, and... everything is as expected. That's almost anticlimactic. She stands next to Jason, if a little back of him, uncomfortable in the silence but unwilling to break it.

God, she's so glad Pomarr, or Nalanni, or whoever — picked Jason, and not her.

And speaking of Jason, his words earn a vaguely concerned glance over at him. There's more sharpness in that than she usually hears from him. Is that just his form of stress, as hers makes it out as silence? ]

[As instructed - and out of habit - Riza drops back once they enter Nalanni's chamber, settling herself right at the entrance and leaving Jason and Ramir to step towards the flickering figure in the far end of the cavern. The distance comes as something of a relief; after one too many brushes with fires born out of vengeance and ill will, she's in no hurry to experience such a thing again.

She's content for now to let the three up ahead do the talking, though her hand settles more firmly on her holster now that things are started to get heated (no pun intended).]

[If Jason's sharp words bother her, it doesn't show. She smiles wanly, standing. Careful not to draw too close and frighten them, though, she hangs back.]

Jason. [There is warmth to her tone, but sadness, too. Nalanni may have accepted her fate, but she isn't happy about it. She looks to Ramir, then Riza, nodding in acknowledgement of them.] Hello.

[The silence might have caused tension were she someone else, but as a goddess, she feels no trepidation. Her focus returns to Jason.]

I'm glad you're here.

[Stress is one way to put it. In other ways, it's just easing up on the public face and falling back on old habits. He didn't bother with a dedicated double identity in ALASTAIR, given the circumstances. That doesn't mean he hasn't been keeping up a few masks.

He can feel Ramir at his side, but he doesn't dare take his eyes off Nalanni. She stands, and he watches her move. Lifts his chin when she says his name, cocks his head, curls his fingers at his side like he's ready to reach for a weapon and put an end to the standoff before it can start. He doesn't, yet, because if nothing else, he's got a good sense for drama. Comes with the territory. Which is also why his first reflex is to answer, press, antagonize, feel his way around the situation. Because there's no way he believes this is as easy as it says on the tin. What's the catch?]

Well, it would've been rude to stand up a lady of your stature. [It sounds like it ought to be flippant, but it's measured out too deliberately and dangerously to be called careless. She's no known quantity. No drug lord or street mafiaso, no dirtbag assassin with an energy drink habit and a truckload of kidnapped kids. She's literally made of fire, a thing right out of the realm of metahumans and aliens and greasepainted psychopaths with villain monologues, and that sets off alarm bells that echo all the way back to Gotham.] Just what kind of a guy do you think I am?

[Hah.]

[ Jeez, Jason. Antagonize the goddess about to die, why don't you. She casts just one exasperated look at him, then her attention is fully on Nalanni. It's hard to believe that's really what she is -- a real goddess. Or something powerful enough to call herself that, anyway.

Well, if Jason's going to be an irreverent asshole and Riza's going to be their responsible rearguard, at least one of them can try a little decorum. Just to see how it goes. ]

You know what he's here for, right?

[It's hard to make out her facial expressions through the fire, but it looks like she ducks her head and chuckles softly at Jason's words. It isn't dismissive, but she laughs because of the ridiculousness of the situation. He is here to end her life, yet he's the one wary of her.]

I can sense your discomfort. I assure you, there's no need.

[She turns to Ramir.]

I do. I understand what must be done. For my children. [A pause.] I only ask that you ensure they can go on without me.

[This is what happens when they leave Responsible Adult Riza Hawkeye outside and let him do the talking. His caution is funny to Nalanni in context, but in the absence of (and the face of) superpowers or magic, a healthy sense of paranoia is what keeps you kicking in his line of work. The bottom line is that he's just got a pretty low opinion of her. Enough that his lip curls when she asks after the safety of her children. That's cute.]

I dunno, we could just wipe 'em all out instead. Save us all the trouble. [So much for not antagonizing, Ramir's exasperated looks roll right off his shoulders. As pointed as this suggestion is, it's clearly made just to get her dander up. Even if Jason's no saint, he only believes in putting a bullet where it's been earned. The deer people—most of them, the ones that weren't drowning their neighbors in their own eyeballs a few days ago—don't deserve that. But Nalanni?] 'Course, it takes a certain kind of monster to do a thing like that, don't you think?

[Genocide. After all, she'd know. The situation has gone and made a martyr out of a murderer, but that sure as hell doesn't wipe her hands clean. He swings the Dakal shotgun down over his shoulder and into hand—the same kind of tech found scattered around the island, which seems fitting enough—though he doesn't immediately raise it.]

You can play martyr all you want, sugar, but I think we both know you deserved this a long time ago.

[Hey now, just because she's outside doesn't mean her ears have suddenly stopped functioning. The conversation isn't exactly being held at high volumes, but the cavern's just big enough that it echoes slightly, carries through and out into the hallway just enough. And while Riza had certainly expected some form of dissent during this whole affair, she hadn't expected the majority of it to come from Jason.

Regardless of whether Jason has any real intent behind his threat or not, Riza steps in, both literally and figuratively, raised voice cutting through the air.]

We won't wipe them out.

[It's directed towards both Jason and Nalanni, with different intents to each. There's no forgiving what the goddess has done, but there's also no need to punish the Nalawi for her crimes either. (And she's spilled enough blood with her own hands to last multiple lifetimes.) Speaking of spilled blood—]

Why did you kill all the Dakal?

[To say she expects any sort of answer other than because they attacked me or because I could would be a lie, but a part of her needs to ask all the same, hopes against better judgement all the same.]

[It's difficult to get much of a reaction out of Nalanni. She is a goddess, after all, and has a different view of the world. Human morality and goddess morality are two very different things. However, at the suggestion of wiping out the Nalawi, she bristles, flames burning brighter. It's only when Riza assures her they won't that she settles down.

In response to the question, she looks at Riza almost quizzically.]

What would you do if your children were threatened?

[To Nalanni, it seems a normal response for a mother to protect her children, no matter the costs. The Dakal had to be taken care of. If she had left some alive, they would have come back stronger and more determined to hurt the Nalawi. Which lives are more important, those of the Dakal or the Nalawi? She made her choice.]

They threatened me and they killed my children. That is why I did it.

[It's gratifying to get a reaction. That's really what he's best at. He'd pushed for it, aimed for that sweet spot, the cheap and dirty target, because the placid looks and the tepid reactions don't do anything but piss him off.]

Shut up.

[Not that gratification is necessarily a good thing, it just burns under his breath,, feeding his anger like an ember. If Riza's expecting the reasoning behind the genocide to calm him down, she'll be sorely disappointed. He's always been quicker to jump to anger in defense of the powerless, the overlooked, not necessarily the big picture.]

Y'know, I really don't know what's worse. That you like to call it justified, or that you really believe it.

[Slaughter a bunch of civilians, children, down to the very last. Call it necessary, call it justice. That's a damn war crime at its worst. Scorching the earth like the fire she's apparently made of. Calling her a god doesn't make it any different. He exhales sharply.]

Looks like you racked yourself up some bad karma in the end. Guess what goes around really comes around. [Now who's killing her children? If they're supposed to believe the higher ups, Nalanni's very existence is going to wipe out her people. So really, they all want the same thing in the end, how convenient.] I left my fire extinguisher at home, but I have a feeling we can work something else out.

[ Jason has always seemed pretty laid back to her, unconcerned and rational. She'd gotten used to it. But apparently all it took was the right topic, he's got plenty of passion after all. Ramir watches him mostly sidelong, her attention more on Jason than the goddess.

Maybe Pomarr picked him better than she'd first figured. ]

The Nalawi are gonna be fine. [ It's out low, a quick mumble, and she's not sure if she's saying it for Nalanni, or to remind herself about what they're here for. Her attention turns back onto Nalanni as she speaks a little louder again. ] We're gonna make sure of that, before we go. They didn't do anything worth dying for.

[ god jason please shoot this flaming lady already, put her out of her misery before you get any more pissed ]

[Nalanni stands and looks Jason in the eye. She's apathetic to his disapproval, dismissing it as a human having a narrowed view of the world. She still finds herself frustrated with his disrespect and threats towards the Nalawi, though, and it shows.]

If there's more you'd like to say, you may say it. But the Dakal are gone, and no amount of words will bring them back. Focus on helping those left: my people.

[She looks at Ramir and Riza, hopeful they'll be more receptive.]

They will need it.

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EVENT ★ POKAREKARE ANA

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when will i stop fucking up, the answer is never

votes you off the island, then.

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nvm i fucked up twice in that tag, just leaves this thread

this is professional plot point rp please shape up, val

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