epidemiology | EVENT ▸ EMPIRE OF THE CRASHING WAVE

EVENT ▸ EMPIRE OF THE CRASHING WAVE

EMPIRE OF THE
CRASHING WAVE

The royalty of Guild Ophelia has managed to hold an audience with Empress Nama of the Celestial Mountains, urging her to meet with the Empress of the Crashing Wave in the interest of finding an accord between their clans. In return, Nama requests that Ophelia take two letters to the Crashing Wave's court, where, as foreigners, they should be received better than any of her own people.

The Empire of the Crashing Wave is a week's travel by foot from the Land of Celestial Mountains, through the forests and farms of the Flowerlands. There is no visible indication that this universe was once two, with even the road leading through the Flowerlands heading seamlessly toward the sea.

The farms and villages in the outskirts of the Empire of the Crashing Wave are decorated in seashells and motifs of the sea, and the closer one gets to the city, the stronger the scent of the ocean becomes. Once the city proper is reached, Ophelia's magitek projects words in front of their eyes that only they can see:

Location reached:

» EMPIRE OF THE CRASHING WAVE
A progressive society that values innovation. Main sources of income: fishing, pearl diving, jewelry crafting, shipbuilding. Politically matriarchal; socially egalitarian. Empress YOUMI resides at the PEACEFUL TIDE.

No events scheduled. You may wish to survey the surrounding area.

The city is built right on the ocean's edge, with some parts of it even jutting out into the sea on bridges and piers. The castle, Peaceful Tide, is built high above the rest; guards will stop anyone at the gates and, if shown the correspondence from Empress Nama, will deliver the letters directly to Empress Youmi. Attempts to seek an audience with Youmi will be rebuffed for the time being, so you may as well take in the sights...

▸ A PROMISING DEVELOPMENT

Unlike the Land of Celestial Mountains, men may move freely here, the matriarchal rules of the land only extending to politics. Men and women work alongside each other in all sections of the city, nobles and commoners alike, and even the guards have men among their ranks. In the Artisan District, potters, musicians, and artists line the streets and sell their wares, work, or discuss their craft with each other.

Closer to the Beach, there is a boardwalk where young couples stroll alongside grandparents chasing after their grandchildren, electric lamps bathing the wooden planks in a warm glow at night. Fishermen haul in their daily catch in buckets and nets, trailed by a gaggle of hopeful cats. Beachcombers and pearl divers populate the beach as well, making it a clear place for work instead of play.

A few days after Ophelia's arrival in sea clan territory, a bell rings loudly in the late afternoon, drawing citizens toward the castle. Guards stop anyone from getting too close, though the populace seems to know what to expect -- soon, a beautiful woman in an elaborate blue kimono appears in an upper balcony.

When viewing the woman, Ophelia's magitek will tell them:

» EMPRESS YOUMI
Leader of the EMPIRE OF THE CRASHING WAVE.
30 years old. SPECIES: Human. MEDICAL CONCERNS: Lactose intolerant.

The crowd cheers at Youmi's arrival, only quieting once she raises her hand. She speaks clearly and confidently, her voice carrying easily across the assembly.

"I have received a letter from Her Imperial Majesty Nama of the Land of Celestial Mountains. She informs me that their spring festival was interrupted by an attack from our own people, working without my knowledge or consent," Youmi begins, holding her hand up again when a displeased rumble begins to ripple through the crowd. It's unclear if they're perturbed by the ambush or by Nama herself. Once all is silent again, she continues.

"She has detained the criminals, for that is what they are, and assures me she will not bring this to the battlefield. I will send her an agreement to the terms, but hear this: any who escalate this further will be slain by my order. I have spoken. The spirits of the sea watch over us all."

Youmi then retreats back into the castle. While some citizens cheer their empress's decree, others mutter unhappily amongst themselves as they disperse and go about their business.

▸ BUT TROUBLE CONTINUES

The rest of the day following Youmi's decree goes by without incident, leaving time for Ophelia to stop by the sake breweries near the sea or travel back through the forests of the Flowerlands for hunting, hot springs, or simply enjoying the nature of Hanabira. With war averted and the empresses in communication, it seems as though Ophelia's time in this universe will draw to a close soon.

As the sun sinks down, finding a place to sleep might be a good idea. There are hotels in the city, but for those who are trying to be a little more frugal, the Flowerlands is a good place to set up camp for free. Doro, the Lord of the Flowerlands, has heard of Ophelia's efforts in starting communication between the empresses as well, and offers rooms in his castle in thanks; if war were to start between the two, his land would suffer for it.

During the night, those who accept Doro's invitation will hear a commotion very nearby, steel clashing against steel. Doro and his daughters rush out, weapons drawn, and straight into a skirmish between sea and mountain clan ronin. The warriors are fighting to kill, and in their fervor, someone's fire arrow alights a farmhouse on Doro's property. The farmers need to be rescued and the fire put out, and while the warriors will likely kill each other, they could also be subdued to prevent further damage. Please let the mods know with a link to the thread if your character is killing or capturing any of the ronin.

After the skirmish, Doro must be brought back inside his castle, having been wounded during the battle. He pleads with Ophelia to continue to help, as it looks like a tentative truce by the empresses is not enough to calm the citizens. Since they were so successful in receiving an audience with Nama, he believes they can propose a way the two empires can live in harmony.

Throughout the next two weeks, skirmishes between the clans are peppered throughout the Flowerlands, some leaving bodies behind and some leaving damage to farms and forest. It looks like Ophelia's peacekeeping mission just became a lot more hands-on: keep the skirmishes from getting out of control while still working toward a way to end the conflict once and for all.

▸ OOC NOTES

This log will last for two IC weeks: the first three days will be free exploration, and day four is Youmi's proclamation and the skirmish in the Flowerlands. Your characters are free to explore for the next ten days, during which further skirmishes will occur. If you have questions about this log or the overall mission, please ask them on the dossier. Questions about Futurology in general should be directed to the FAQ.

▸ Coming next log: Peace proposals! Get your brainstorming started now.

▸ Activity Check is due on 5 February 23:59 UTC. We do not accept late submissions, so make sure you fill it out!

▸ Uniform Design Contest is open! Submissions are due 28 February 23:59 UTC. Gamewide voting will be in March.

▸ Bounty Board ▸ Items Page ▸ Exploration Group Planning ▸ General Plotting ▸ February Calendar

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

...You don't think Hathaway would actually give us a do-over, would they?

[how much energy did that universe crap give off anyway.

beside the point, tho.] It will be. We haven't screwed up yet. [One mission as a success counts.]

Chiss are naturally more restrained than your own species, this is true in almost all cases.

[His attention flicks back towards the horizon ahead, seemingly content with Poe's assessment.]

However that does not mean we are incapable of honoring noteworthy victories, or engaging in recreational activities.

[~~Such as visiting JoAnn's Fabrics and arguing with Martha over the importance of tulle in modern design.~~]

It is a guidebook. [Thrawn echoes her, slowly stilling his fingers against shattered wood.]

The Galactic Senate failed its people during the Clone Wars. Content to do nothing in idle stagnation, they allowed countless billions to die in a war that they themselves denied. A war that fed on corruption and greed— and death.

[He had been there, he had seen it. Fought in it at its end, alongside General Skywalker when such a thing should never have occurred: machines forged for destruction, humans driven to hatred for all they endured at the hands of species that were not their own.]

And in that moment, the galaxy suffered.

[ for the barest moment he looks deliberately confused, his lips twisting in momentary confusion. ] Ah, how strange ... that absolutely should have been it.

[ he begins to fan through the cards, muttering to himself in an exaggerated whisper as he goes over the cards.

then, as if something occurs to him, he clicks his fingers. reaching up just behind the girl's left ear, he pulls a card and turns it around.

hey, it's the card she picked. ]

Well, there's the problem. It wasn't in the deck.

Tah-dah!

[ there's something about the follow me part that seems to amuse him. there's a certain amount of assumption that comes with it, and there's a smug glee that comes from being underestimated.

there's a twist of his wrist and a long gesture with a dark nailed hand. ]

Well? Lead the way.

Yeah, okay. Can we tone down the doom and gloom a little? [Thrawn is giving him the fucking creepies talking like some kinda sophisticated ambassador.] They can be stupid and fight it out for all I care. The less ones wanting to stick their nose into battle, the better.

[He heaves another equally exasperated sigh.] The problem is they are killing innocent people in the process, and I'm not gonna sit around and let them do that.

Which means we gotta hurry up and figure out what the hell we're doing with the two empresses.

[ She doesn't need to ask about how that relates to the New Republic. Poe has filled in that gap. They let the First Order rise. They sat by and did nothing. They—

But the First Order participates in the suffering of the galaxy. They stoke it. ]

You think the galaxy didn't suffer under the Empire? [ This provokes an understanding in her, one she is reluctant to accept, but feels powerfully true now that it has occurred to her. This is balance. ] There will always be suffering in the galaxy. [ Just as there will always be joy. ]

[Sadly, Inuyasha thinks the plea for rest is about being tired more than wildly whacking away at the dirt in annoyance.] I'm fine. I ain't tired. I could go all day like this.

[But he does stop long enough to glance up at Laphicet.] You done with the flowers already?

Don't think you'd be the best choice to go get the villagers to come look for their families. Not with how their talkin' already. I'll just do it later.

You should go see if any other of us need any help after last night. Make sure none of us are dead. [He dumps some dirt over his shoulder, then pauses again.] Thanks, I guess.

There's a technique?

[ w e l p. ]

Okay. Show me. [ She nods, gesturing to him in earnest with one hand while the other wipes hair out of her face. ]

[has he ever met a chiss before? probably not. he sort of recognized thrawn as one but only because he saw a picture of a chiss in a book once or something. this is an exciting new journey for him.]

Yeah? What kind of recreational activities do you like?

[not even being sarcastic just genuinely curious. like are we talking about going out to drinks or going to ... well, to joann's fabrics. or like, fishing? playing dejarik??? he has no idea what thrawn is into. it's a mysterious mystery.]

[Somehow he manages to procure a wooden bucket, which he dips into the stream that flows past the farmhouse. Then he runs back, his knees banging against the bucket as he goes, water sloshing out onto his legs. The god may be known for his slippery deceit, but he remains fairly easy to find thanks to the golden horned diadem catching and reflecting the light of the flames. Chasing after him, Connor offers him the bucket.]

Here, will this work?

[Connor can hear her slipping farther behind him, but he doesn't dare try to look over his shoulder for more than a second snatched here or there as he dashes. When she gives the order, he runs for cover within the grove ahead. He stumbles as he skids to a stop once within the safety of its shade, and taking cover behind the thickest tree on hand he peers out to see what Lucina will do. His heart feels like a rock inside his chest, his stomach like a fist clenched tight, and his blood is loud in his ears.]

[The trek back to Doro's palace is a silent one. Connor resigns himself to Asher's assistance, pressing the kerchief to his neck and holding his gaze somewhere away from his friend. As he trudges along, he wonders how stupid he must have been to think he might help, to think he might be more than the disaster he has proved himself to be time and again. He misses the self-assured man he used to be before he collapsed into this person he despises, this person whose fears and doubts he wants to shed as a snake sheds its skin.

Once back in the wing of the palace that the lord of the Flowerlands had reserved for members of Ophelia, Connor pushes away from Asher.]

I'm not gonna faint.

Unless that's a ball-point brush, you're out of luck. So I guess the honor falls on you.

[He pats Majima on the arm, becoming more touchy-feely as the sake takes over.]

That last one was kinda sour...like some kind of fruit. Or was that the one before it?

[The way she speaks... it's less of a troubling relationship and more that she reveres her father. In a way that once Alucard had, but truly felt deeply in regard to his mother.

He hesitates, then feels it is right so speak after she'd shared so much.]

Where I am from, well trained doctors and people who learn science is a rarity among humans, at least in Wallachia. My mother was determined to help people. She believed in the best of people, that she could teach them that they didn't have to be afraid to live. That she could be a doctor.

I wanted so badly to be just like her.

I know.

[Asher watches Connor go, dodging talking points the same way he averts his eyes. Herein lies a great dilemma, that of treading the line between truth and kindness.

The space between them remains, even though the tallest of the two does not leave.]

Connor, I know you wanna help.

And, you can, I know you can, my OG bromie! You're hecka smart, we both know that...

[A quality of Connor's that makes Asher quite jealous in all honesty, though this is not the time nor place for that confession. He is handsome, poised, and smart; all natural gifts that Asher Millstone feels as though he will never possess, no matter how many times he runs his mouth about being any of the three.]

But you can't just run head-on into a fight when you can barely throw a punch, man.

[His head turns this way and that.]

What's the status on the whole work-out thing? You been swole-ing it up or nah?

Edited 2018-02-17 23:57 (UTC)

[He sees her and groans on the inside, not because her present isn't comforting, but because they have had this conversation before, or something like it. Asher feels as though he remembers exchanges from before that sound familiar and thinks he knows what she will say.

Lucina will tell him that he is not useless, that there is good inside him, and even if all of those things are true, they do not make him exceptional.]

Oh, yeah.

[But being surrounded by people who are the exceptions to the rule, those who have moved mountains and saved thousands, does things to you, it makes you want more.

She is one of those very individuals, a level-headed leader who does everything she can to protect the citizens of her country and seems to get along with everybody,
a princess who always has the best interests of others at heart. Lucina is accomplished and likable and amazing, even at an age younger than his own.]

I'm just, y'know...

It's uuuuuh, um, a rap song that I'm singin', you've probably never heard of it...

[don't rub ur ear nervously like that ash she'll know ur a liar]

No problem.

[Jason doesn't take offense. How many of his friends are or can be broody when they want to be?]

Yeah, I saw the people around the castle didn't seem like they were very happy with you.

[He hesitates. Maybe this guy wanted to be alone though? Jason could understand wanting space. He focuses back on the fire and tends to it a bit, working to get the flames big enough to handle actual wood.]

I've camped a number of times, but usually it was with a few friends. We weren't necessarily doing it for fun or long periods of time...but it was at least more enjoyable with other people having to sleep on the ground with you.

I dunno, it's all kinda runnin' together.

[ So Majima simply began to write a message about the fruit-flavored sake on the provided paper. ]

Maybe we can just keep track from now on. So the fruit one was okay, but the wasabi one was way too overpowerin'. No one wants that shit.

[ Have an... awkward return hand pat? Was this a foreigner thing? Who knew. Friendship. ]

[Jason nods.]

It can get pretty distant though. We've had people come to the camp who can only trace their godly lineage back to a distant relative, generations ago. Usually they have a family that's kept the tradition alive, but there have been rare occasions where they've come to camp without an awareness of their heritage.

[Jason had fallen into a rhythm with the spade. Say what you will about hard labor like digging, but it was easy to lose yourself in it and let your brain shut off. He looked over when his companion spoke again and paused for a moment. The pause allowed the sweat on his brow to fall into his eye so he wiped that away.]

No, I don't think so.

[Pretty sure he'd remember a guy in an outfit like that.]

I'm Jason. Are you new to the guild too?

[Jason doesn't know what a sutra is, but when she gets on her knees he starts to suspect. A suspicion that is only confirmed when she tells him to clasp his hands and bow.

He nods, mirroring her hands and then lowering his head. He doesn't have anything to add to this, leaving her to lead whatever is about to happen next.]

[Jason studies the man for a moment. There's something...but he's not sure what's bothering him. There isn't really time to question it much and instead Jason just turns and rushes forward into the fray. A few feet away another skirmish is already underway -- with more of each clan clashing further out. He brings the sword up and blocks the downward swing of a sea clanwoman from driving into the shoulder of a ronin from the mountain clan.

He follows the momentum of battle, kicking the sea clanwoman away before turning in time to block the sword strike from the recovering mountain ronin. The woman looks surprised by the combat prowess of a man, but doesn't let that stop her for long. She swings again and Jason is able to step out of the way of the blow.

He's so used to fighting monsters and other demigods that it takes him a minute to realize that the reason she is so slow is because she is an average mortal. Jason's purpose isn't to toy with the ronin though, he wants this fighting to end. He drops low and pops up behind her, taking her down with a blow to the head.]

[ !! What a magnanimous man. Lissa beams as he relents. ]

No, you're the greatest friend! I hope everyone's lucky enough to have you as a friend on this team. I promise to be really diligent and stop after one more cup.

[ TBD on the success of that plan. ]

You don't seem tipsy at all though.

[ What's his secret. ]

Of my own world's kind!

[ She insists it quite loudly and fervently, enough to draw a few curious glances from the nearby merchants. Embarrassed, she quiets down again, but doesn't stop chatting. ]

I even have a magic staff and everything. I can show it too you, once we find these snails of yours or whatever.

[ She hasn't forgotten that she's promised to help. ]

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EVENT ▸ EMPIRE OF THE CRASHING WAVE

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sorry for the delay

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no sweat, welcome back!

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