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

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[The cats at least give her an indication of where to look, where to focus her attentions- which helps. Her magical ability was modest, but present... but also, not exactly innate.

She reaches out to let the cats smell her, straining her eyes with one arm still somewhat anxiously curled around the makeshift crystal ball in her lap...

And she hears a voice. Somewhat... distant seeming, quiet, but-]

I am Sieglinde Sullivan, the Green Witch. Can you hear my voice?

[ The "Green Witch"? That may explain why she can hear him. He knows of another witch, but Magilou had a higher resonance. This seems to be a case similar to Stiles, where his voice sounds distant unless the listener tries to focus.

It's better than nothing and not having to fully rely on the magitek. He realizes how strange this may be. It always is... Nonetheless, the tone of his voice remains friendly and kind.]

Pleased to meet you, Sieglinde! I can hear you perfectly fine. Uh... can you see me, at all? I thought you were looking at me earlier.

[He sounds... well. Not ominous, despite the strange nature of this entire thing, and she feels no particular sense of malevolence from the spirit...]

I... can. Sort of.

[She'd sort of hoped he would come into focus as he came closer, because the lens of the sea serpent's eye she'd scavenged (er, cut out of a corpse) in Nalawi was kind of heavy.

She rolls it onto the ground in front of her, shifting about awkwardly.]

Could you, um. Take a seat here, perhaps?

[In front of the lens, a few paces away.]

[ And he sits before the lens, as instructed. He's not sure what she's doing, but he watches curiously. ]

Okay, sure! I'm sitting. Trying.

[ There's a small laugh in his words, squirming in place as a cat tries to invite itself into his lap. He's hardly the ominous kind of spirit and sounds very much like a child... only invisible.

He offers the cat a distraction by scratching it under the chin. He doesn't want the cat to look like it's hovering now... ]

What's that anyway? I saw you holding it before.

[Okay, small... glitch in her plan. Where she sits, with the lens between them, and where he sits... even if she hunches down, she can only actually see his legs.

Not very conducive to actual decent conversation.]

Ah... it is a lens, from the eye of a sea serpent I encountered on a mission, some... seven worlds ago...

[Answering absently with a frown, she pulls her feet from the tide pool and and gently drapes the towel she brought along over them, shifting and rolling... until she's on her belly in front of the lens, propping up her chin on her hands. Undignified, perhaps, but.]

This is better- I can see you now.

[His face, at least. He is... quite young looking for a spirit.]

You've been to seven worlds, Miss Sieglinde? Wow! You must have seen all sorts of different cities, people, animals... everything!

[ Miss? Ma'am? Seven worlds ago, though. Would that make her a little older than him, even though she doesn't appear that much older. And that would make her his senior when it comes to missions. Perhaps it would be more polite to throw in a prefix. ]

A lens from a sea serpent, huh. It makes sense you can see me with it. Animals can see me perfectly fine. Uh... are you okay talking to me like this?

[ This is at least somewhat better than having someone talk to his disembodied voice, without knowing where to look. Maybe any people nearby will just think she's talking to the cats. ]

Or nine, depending on how technical you want to be about it.

[So animals could see him... how strange! She'd never really stopped to consider that perhaps ghosts or spirits could be selectively seen, at least, beyond the selective for "magic user" and "non magic user"...

But, focusing on the question at hand! (She'll take "miss".)]

I am willing to overlook the indignity of the position if you are comfortable.

[A lady lying on her stomach like this? What would her manservant say?]

It's not that...

[ How undignified she might look wasn't actually on his mind. But he's perfectly comfortable where he's sitting, with his little crew of cats. He cranes his head briefly, looking around. Most people appear occupied with their fishing at the moment. ]

I guess I'm more concerned if the locals saw you talking to open air.

Well, if they wish to be gossipy laundresses about it, I shall tell them I am reading the future in my crystal ball.

[Yeah, Sieglinde, that will make them think everything's totally normal.]

You seem very popular with cats... are you so with all animals?

[ He imagines that would attract more attention if she claimed to read the future. If she's comfortable with speaking to him out in the open though, then he'll try not to worry so much. ]

Popular? I don't know about that. I just started playing with the cats and they took a quick liking to me.

[ He doesn't normally go out of his way to interact with animals... unless it's a bug. ]

But we did have some dogs and birds on the ship I sailed on, back where I'm from. I'd say they were pretty friendly to me.

Your people sail the seas? As people do?

[Wait- was that rude to ask? Did he consider himself people? Or, human? Or... alive?

Wait, this was already confusing, she should start somewhere simpler.]

I mean... are all the people of your world like you?

There are people like me, yes. I'm a spiritual being known as a malak. Not just us malakhim live on the world, but humans and daemons too.

[ He smiles, clearly taking no offense. It's not rude at all. He prefers his kind being referred to as people, rather than how the Abbey thinks of them as things. Malakhim are people, living just as humans are. ]

So... you are not a ghost? A spirit born of a death?

[Now that was interesting... a whole living race that wasn't visible to the average eye?]

Malak are born from the pure, untainted mana. That's what we call the life energy of our world. Some have appearances of animals too, not just human.

[ Surprisingly, she might be one of the few who's realized he's not exactly a ghost. Although, a spirit born of a death isn't entirely incorrect. There were some special cases, such as himself... ]

But in some very rare cases, malak are reincarnated humans.

So you are living spirits, then... I have not met your like!

[And it's clearly fascinating to her, leaning in to see him even closer through her makeshift crystal ball.]

What about you?

[Without thinking that might be a potentially sensitive subject, she just asks.]

Uh... yeah. [ And as she leans in to look at him, he leans back a bit awkwardly. Until one of his little cat companions crawls into view, poking its nose at the lens. ] Not many people in the guild have.

[ Talking about his previous incarnation might have been a sensitive subject, if it was an event that he clearly remembered. He considers his current self to be completely separate from a previous life. The only reason he's aware of his life from before is through visions that the world showed him. ]

I was reincarnated from a human.

[ And he goes on easily enough, expecting there would be more questions if he left it at that. ]

My mom— the mother of my previous incarnation. She took a long fall and died, along with the baby she was pregnant with. And now I'm that unborn child's reincarnation.

[ Well, that's still the watered down version of the entire story. ]

Shoo, shoo-

[Sieglinde is far too interested in what's in front of her to allow kitty interference, and she gently waves the creature away from her serpent lens.]

Is that a usual case for your kind? To be reincarnated from those who are not given a chance in their first life?

[She thinks she's read a few similar theories about the fate of fetuses in other religions in her world, but the idea of it divorced from faith and birthed into an entirely different species- now that was fascinating!]

[ Poor cat, though he's quietly grateful for its brief disruption. He sticks his hand out again, rewarding the feline with scratches under its chin. ]

...The mother was reborn as a malak as well. So it doesn't only apply to unborn children. It doesn't happen ordinarily, I don't think. Humans are sometimes reborn as malakhim, that I know for certain. As for how or why, it's unclear. Possibly there's a higher likelihood among humans who possess a great amount of resonance.

Well, that's just an educated guess by one of my friends. He's a much older malak, about thousands of years older. Most of what I learned about malakhim comes from him.

[ Because he can't take all the credit for his explanations. If it weren't for Eizen, he wouldn't have been able to learn about his own race. Honestly, there's still a lot that he's learning about himself. ]

[Okay, maybe not so simple...]

And resonance is your world's spiritual sense? So those who can see you malakhim are more likely to become them?

[It sounds... kind of lonely, the way he phrases it. Needing to learn about his own race from a single other person?

But she at least has the werewithal not to say that just yet... with as many questions as she plans to ask him... she'll get to it.]

[ This is a lot of questions, but he doesn't blame her. He'd be just as curious if he were her. He might not even have the chance to ask what a "Green Witch" is at this time... ]

...Yes. It might have something to do if the death takes place during some sort of natural phenomenon too. Like I said though, I'm not certain. It's only a theory.

[ She's not the first person to consider his existence to be lonely. ]

[Even more mystery! Sieglinde is quite sure this needs noting at this point, it's getting even more complex-]

Of course, of course... one... moment...

[She rolls over slightly onto her side to grope for her bag, pulling out a notebook from within and begins flipping through the pages looking for a blank section, muttering to herself slightly as she rustles through magic circles and diagrams all meticulously detailed in High German.

If he has anything he wants to say himself, this might be his last chance, she's gearing up... !]

[ Now he's the one leaning forward with interest, trying to take a quick glimpse at the contents of the notebook as the pages quickly flip by.

The magic circles somewhat resemble the channeling circles that come with casting some of the more stronger malak artes, but the language is nothing he recognizes. He's just as curious about this unfamiliar language just as much as he wonders what kind of witch Sieglinde is. ]

Um... Miss Sieglinde? So, what's a green witch?

[ One of his companions from his world often referred to herself as a powerful witch, but he has a hunch that Sieglinde might be a little different from Magilou. ]

Hmm... ?

[Sieglinde pauses, considering a page that is only slightly covered in a combination of text and sketches of alien plantlife, but ends up passing. There has to be a completely blank page in here somewhere-]

It is a line of witchcraft who specializes in healing. So you needn't have anything to fear- I do not dabble with the darker arts [... a pause] unless necessary.

[ His face lights up briefly as she pauses, then his expression deflates as the pages continue flipping by. He wanted to look more at that plant. But after seeing that sketch, he might be putting two and two together. ]

Green... healing. [ He murmurs to himself. ] Healing with medicinal plants?

Medicinal plants and herbs do have much to do with it, yes.

[There's a few more plants on the successive pages she browses, still on the hunt for unused space. Gracious, she needed a new book-]

It is... something of a mix between science and magic, if I am being honest.

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