EVENT ▸ EMPIRE OF THE CRASHING WAVE

[futurologists]

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

Comments

[justbeingknife]

Gotcha. Then I ain't the right person to ask -- it's my first mission, period.

But ya might be able to get somethin' outta one of the agents who've been around for a while. Urahara, Hayame-han.

[ Though thus far, everyone had been a little cagey about the days of ALASTAIR. Weird. ]

[datapoint]

[Not fresh from, no.

Aloy does as she's told, crouching down and sitting back on her heels as she waves the stick around a bit. She's not really good at it, it's more stick action than string action.]

The... previous civilization, [she supplements, since 'Old Ones' wouldn't mean anything to him,] died out a long time ago. A lot of animals, too. I've only seen depictions of them in ruins.

[secondnature]

Sounds like a plan. Besides—the Mountain Clan has more of an axe to grind these days.

[Thanks to the Festival.]

It'll be good to know where they stand first.

[forcevisions]

Droids.

[ A beat. ]

In my world, the machines that have an AI, they're called droids. But even then, they aren't ... I mean, people control them. They don't think and act on their own. [ Debatable, by droids rights activists, but Rey is spared the complexity of those politics by growing up in a junkyard. ] They have programming.

[ A true, wholly sentient AI would be different, especially if it had control of weapons. ]

Who's building them?

[secondnature]

It can't. That's why we patrol and buy them time.

[Yes, he's being realistic, but in a way where he believes in the people around him. It's just not always present in the words he actually says.]

[mitthrawnaruto]

[Perhaps surprisingly, that question turns Thrawn entirely silent— his unsettling, inhuman stare flickering as it shifts downward, visibly reviewing information that doesn't physically exist. The question's a simple one, which makes it all the more vexing.

Because it's not just the rebels here, is it? Like Orbar and Turuy, like Gendling— who targeted a good man because he could not cut his teeth on Thrawn, like the countless others who made sure Eli Vanto stood no chance on his own, the question seems to extend to them, too.

Does he forgive them?]

I do not despise them, if that is what you are asking.

[predomination]

It's only an expression, Rey-san. I know you're as gentle as a kitten, truly. [He could have probably stood to genuinely dial that down, but sometimes Urahara is at his most sincere when he doesn't drop the act. If he dropped the act, it would be like admitting he said something wrong on purpose, rather than just making a joke that cuts too close to the bone with all of her fear of darkness.

And the joke proves he has no belief that she's really all that dark.]

[predomination]

Oh, it wasn't so bad, once I got used to it. I liked the work- that's why I decided to stay and continue on.

[He props his chin up on his hand.] I didn't even really need the incentive. How often can someone say they've traveled to other worlds?

[predomination]

Yoruichi-san is a bit different from your average cat. [He's being coy, lbr. Coy about his... furry fetish, I guess.]

[predomination]

[Okay, now that's cool. Urahara gives her an impressed nod before approaching the still bound and struggling Sea Clan ronin, who curses at him when he approaches.] You should be more polite. Zari-san isn't here to mess around. You interrupted our sleep, after all.

[followhim]

[?????? istg urahara poe just found out what cats were five minutes ago] You had a talking cat?

[forcevisions]

Isn't your philosophy the one that's all about how one doesn't preclude the other?

[ Mr salt about the Jedi binary over here can get called out too. Mostly because she has to say something abrasive to justify the fact that she's now going to lean into him a little to catch her breath. ]

[cachemoney]

[Sorry, she's too busy switching gears to signal orders. Give her a second, let her live.

Fiona just blinks stupidly for a second, but then Rhys is muttering something to her and she remembers she has to Care For Him because he's Useless and Will Die Without Her, and her brain snaps back into working condition. Taking hold of his arm, she laughs.]

Nooo, don't be ridiculous. I'm sure Mister... [Kaien, the proprietor supplies, glancing back and forth between them.]

Mister Kaien! I'm sure this is just a joke. People of our importance would never be put in a room like this.

[predomination]

[that's why it's funny.] Oh don't say it like that. She'd be so angry with me if she heard. She comes and goes as she pleases and keeps an eye on things for me.

[predomination]

[Urahara places an arm around her shoulder to steady her. Also because he's a giant lanky dad-like person. Eat it, Luke Skywalker.] Ah, so you have been listening~

[justbeingknife]

[ Hmm. ]

Yeah, it's definitely an adjustment. Gonna be weird going back knowin' about all this crazy shit happening on other worlds.

[grunehexe]

Wha-

[How rude a refusal of her generous offer???

Sieglinde can’t hide the offended look on her face, pausing mid twist to try and chase her sleeve. Did he think her so weak she couldn’t even gather shells? She had scavengers for urchins in the Nalawin sea- not that... he would know about that. Still-]

I can swim, you know!

[Just because she couldn’t jump on rooftops... But, her protests are a bit weak in the end despite her distaste for what she thought might be an insult. After all... she did want to examine the mollusks.]

[grunehexe]

No, no, I am inspecting the quality of the shell itself.

[Always ready to explain Magic/Science, Sieglinde thrusts the shell in Lissa’s direction to show that she’s made a few knife marks in the shell, rubbing the powdery flakes that collect around the damage.]

Crushed shell is what I think will work well for my current project base, but one has to make sure the animal has a healthy shell first, or the quality will suffer-

[“The animal” reminds her that it’s still alive, though, and she spared a look at the creature with a small frown.]

It’s edible, surely...

[It being alive isn’t a problem, but waste is such a shame...]

[kisha]

[Whyyyyyyyyy

There’s a flurry of splashes as Hayame hurriedly tried to finish getting the sweat and char off her body even faster, face almost too red with embarrassment to even function, spluttering in indignation.]

I care not for whether you have lain with a woman or not!!

[Didn’t most men have the decency to keep such talk between other men? Or at least until the alcohol was flowing???]

[evenslimmer]

[ What else is he supposed to say? They don't have time for a practical demonstration. She's in his head; surely she can get the impression of his certainty. He knows what he can do, even if she's still an unknown.

But now's a good time to observe. She's the one with the weapon, she's the one who gets to go first. Scott lurks in the shadows behind her, fingers to the side of his visor, waiting for the sight-lines to open up. She nails one on the side of the head, and there's a clutter as more come to follow.

There's no time to grab her shoulder. Only room for NOW, NOW as they come into his line of fire, and she's short enough that he can aim right over her head.

The first lesson, the hardest lesson he ever learned on the road to using his powers for something more than just destruction: how not to obliterate everything in sight. It's one concentrated, narrow shot, but the hall lights up ruby for the second it takes the blast to leave Scott's visor and slam right between the ronin's eyes. He drops like a stone; another blast wipes out his friend behind him, and they drop to the floor like very concussed stones. ]

[justbeingknife]

Guess it depends on where you're from. In my case, you tell someone you're from another world, and they'd probably have ya committed.

[ Needless to say alternate universes, robots, and psychic powers were all out as conversational topics. ]

[bestaround]

Heh. You only just got started, and you're already thinking about what it's gonna be like going back?

[dbag]

[ Oh. Okay. He takes a moment, processing this. So, she's good copping, right? Which means he should be bad cop. He furrows his brow for a moment, thinking, then says, ] Yeah, funny joke.

Um, and. I've got a funny joke for you, too. 'Cause... you're gonna be Mister Cryin' if you don't get us to our real room in the next five seconds. Because we're gonna— she's gonna make you pay. She told me. [ Casually throwing Fiona under the bus, nbd. ]

[undeserved]

[ a robotic breed seems entirely plausible to 2B, on the other hand, seeing as machines have started adapting to Earth's various ecosystems back home... but she doesn't know that Laphicet doesn't even know what a robot is, and it doesn't help that she doesn't exactly know what a lion is. Other than some kind of cat-related animal. She focuses on the more pressing issue at hand: her invisible teammate.

After a few seconds of thought, she holds out her hand as if she's going to accept something, palm up. ]

Prove it. If you touch my hand, I should be able to feel it, right?

[justbeingknife]

Hey, time goes by faster than ya think. By the time you gotta leave, better to have your plans in order.

[ That was Majima's take on things, anyway. When he got back, he anticipated things were going to be pretty balls-to-the-wall for the immediate future. ]

What's your plan? Gonna play things by ear?