EVENT ★ POKAREKARE ANA

[futurologists]

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. 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. 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.

Comments

[dailydouble]

We denied them the right to a say in the outcome. I dislike the implications of that.

[ The implication being that they will continue to do this. Ahad is not naive enough to believe that missions will always end peacefully, but he finds making decisions for sentient beings somewhat distasteful. It was one thing to use science to return a sun, but quite another to murder goddesses. It places them in the category of beasts to put down, monsters...and if so, what does that make him? What does it make Loki?

Will ALASTAIR go to his world and determine that his family needs to be slaughtered? It's unlikely, but evidence currently points to much of the group proceeding in such a situation without pausing long to question it. ]

Which spot hurts least?

[ He'll raise a hand, waiting for a response (and permission) before touching Koltira. ]

[respired]

Making those decisions is our mission. We are here to work for the universe. Not the individual.

[ To Koltira's mind, anyway. He doesn't suffer the same turmoil that Ahad does, and wouldn't even if he had known the other man was a god. Gods to him are simply a type of existence; little different from mortals except in scope and power. That was why they had to be put down so often. Because power corrupts. Because there are so few of them. Because there's so much of everything else.

He gestures to a gash on his arm, after a moment of surprisingly tough deliberation. ]

There.

[dailydouble]

An entire people is not an individual.

[ He's firm on that. The universe matters little, if the people left no longer can live in it in a way they choose to or accept.

With caution, Ahad will reach out and close his hand around the wound on Koltira's arm. It takes focus, but willing flesh to close and mend is no more difficult than willing himself to another place. The concept is different, but the effort is the same. ]

[respired]

[ Irritably. ]

That is true. Yet the lot of you were quick to dismiss the suffering of one for the other, regardless. I have no regrets.

[ Koltira's unnatural body does not like this mending, nor any other. He grits his teeth in pain; squeezes his eyes shut. He breathes, but only as an expression of this pain; only as a way to let some of it out. Still, the magic does what it's meant to do. The gash closes. ]

[dailydouble]

[ He'll remove his hand, as soon as the gash begins to close. There's a certain amount of interest in his gaze as he watches the gash heal. While he didn't doubt his ability to use his will this way, it's still fascinating to see it in action. ]

I did not expect regret from you. [ His tone is softer than the words might suggest. ]

[respired]

[ He bristles. ]

You do not know me well enough to have expectations either way.

[ That was the real core of his issue with the aftermath of this mission -- so many people making presumptions, so many people thinking they knew why he had come to his conclusions. That they knew anything about who he was, or what he felt. He's sure some of the people he spoke to believe that he doesn't feel, which couldn't be further from the truth. ]

[dailydouble]

[ That gets an eyebrow raised. ]

I did not expect regret from you, because I expect nothing.

[ It's always easier to expect nothing from everyone. Ahad would attest to that. ]

[respired]

[ Well, fair enough. He mutters. ]

So you shouldn't.

[ He flexes his arm, testing it. He has other wounds, but they're less severe, and not openly oozing, besides. ]

My thanks for your help.

[dailydouble]

[ He sighs, already tired from this exchange. ]

We have disagreed, but not everything I say is intended to be an insult.

[ Everyone seems over tense, and Ahad is no different from the rest. He does manage a nod at the thanks, however. ]

Thank you, for allowing me to try.

[respired]

[ A short laugh. Not everything. He'll take it, especially right now. As much as he always wants to press the attack, he knows it's not the time. ]

It was no trouble.

[ Not more than magical healing normally is, anyway. He lifts a hand before he starts off. ]

Shorel'aran.

[ Farewell. ]