EVENT | LANDFALL | KITHIKA | KEELIAI

[cherrywood]

Characters: ALL!
Date: February 12th - 28th
Location: Keeliai
Situation: The discovery of an artifact from the first war against Malicant reveals the land of Kithika within a dimension of the Death Plane... and just happens to be contained inside a bottle.
Warnings/Rating: Please indicate content warnings in subject headers as applicable.

OOC INFORMATION ♦ CITY OF KEELIAI ♦ INSIDE THE BOTTLE ♦ THE WORLD EATER
Commencing the morning of the tenth, a mysterious thick, black fog covers all of Keeliai with no discernible cause, making it difficult to see. Although it doesn't seem to enter houses or suites, it's literally everywhere else and can't be swept or cleared away by superpowers. Attempts to scan it with technology lead to unexpected and inconsistent results, with the findings varying from speculation that it is smoke from a coal fire to the occasional reading stating that it is black cotton candy floating in the air.

Following the official announcement explaining origins of the mysterious black fog inundating Keeliai, the call is put out for the Foreigners to attend the Palace and prepare to be transported to Kithika. Once inside, it is explained, they will be responsible for finding the source of the corruption and expunging it. Once they have entered the bottle it will be impossible for them to leave until their task is completed, making this an all or nothing undertaking. This is upon direct imperative of the Alderwood Emperor and he expects any and all combat-capable Foreigners to heed his order, and they are to report to the Palace of the Landed Sky without delay.

---

OOC INFORMATION
Landfall Questions | Approved Item Requests | Player Plot - Kryptonian Rampage OOC

CITY OF KEELIAI
Emperor's Orders: Miasma Explained | Marshaling the Forces | A City Under Siege | Halting the Scourge

INSIDE THE BOTTLE
Crossing the Swamp | Decayed Grounds | The Sullied Temple | Stone Idols | Item Discovery

THE WORLD EATER
Battling the Dragon | Soul's Poison | Kryptonian Rampage | The Guarded Pool | Weighing the Options | Aftermath

Comments

Marshaling the Forces

[cherrywood]

The Palace is under heavy guard night and day even before the official announcement and summons are made, with each Foreigner being carefully scrutinized for signs of infection before being allowed entry to a large antechamber with armed guards posted at regular intervals around the outer wall of the room. Evandau and Milyn are standing off to one side holding a conversation in undertone though they will occasionally glance over at the entering Foreigners. They can be approached if desired, however they will not be in an overly conversational mood given the serious circumstances.

Secure upon a granite pedestal is the bottle itself: a very beautiful, intricate thing with whorls and ribbons of colour blown into it. It seems impossible for such an innocuous object to hold a passage into the realm of Death were it not for the evidence outside the Palace and staining the city beyond. To enter Kithika, it is explained, all one must do is touch the glass surface and the innate magic will take over from there. The guards will remain on high alert in the antechamber to ensure that nothing interferes with the bottle and those within it however there is one final piece of information imparted to them: until and unless the source of the corruption within Kithika is destroyed, it will be impossible for anyone to exit the vessel. If their efforts do not succeed, there will be no way to bring them back to the Life Plane.

Make your preparations, it is instructed. Whether you enter singularly or in groups, it matters not. Organize yourselves here and make haste.

[iwannabeadragon]

"There's always a catch isn't there?" Hawke mutters to no one in particular upon learning the final piece of information. Not that it's particularly surprising. If they fail then they're likely all dead anyway, which is all the more reason not to fail. When he dies he's not going to do it inside of a glass bottle.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Hawke finds himself grinning. He feels a growing excitement along with a healthy dose of fear. It's the same feeling he got when he dueled the Arishok and fought against the templars in the mages' last stand. This may very well kill him and he knows it. After all, they're entering the very realm of death. It may possibly be one of the least intelligent decisions he's made, but he can't just sit at home. This is why he was brought here, to save this world and by extension his own. Not only that, but he can't pass up the opportunity to say that he literally stared down death and won. This is exactly the kind of adventure he lives for.

With his equipment ready, Hawke approaches the bottle.

[ixis]

"Champion!"

A familiar voice calls from across the antichamber, the owner's pace hurried, staff in hand and cape billowing. Trailing along behind him at a more cautious, scrutinizing pace is a short, green goblin decked in a hood and more than enough knives. Once Naugus is close enough for a more conversational volume, he grins. "Of course you'd rise to the occasion, but are you the sort to travel alone in these ventures? Would you deny the assistance of a humble wizard and dextrous goblin?" He waves back at Styx, indicating that these two are already teamed up.

[rakash]

His wandering gaze - what, he's curious, it's not like he's casing the joint, goblin's honor - wanders in Hawke's direction at the mage's shout. Oh hey! This development he also likes. In spite of his shorter legs he proves entirely capable of keeping up more closely when he chooses (enough curiosity...for now), and there's a flash of sharp little teeth in his lined face as he calls out after:

"Yeah, come on, Hawke! The more the merrier when you're doing something this stupid."

[iwannabeadragon]

Hawke stops short of the bottle when he hears his name, or at least his nickname. When he turns he finds two very familiar faces and he smirks. Their arrival is both welcome and not in the least unexpected. Hawke had a feeling that he was going to run into the two of them sooner or later.

"Why am I not surprised that you both know each other already?" Hawke flashes the two of them a grin. Weird attracts weird it seems. He only has to look to his friends in Kirkwall to find proof of that. "A nearly suicidal journey into a bottle full of literal death wouldn't be nearly as fun if I did it by myself."

[ixis]

"Readily agreed! Besides, what's the fun of me combating this threat if there's no one to see my acts of wizardry?"

He's already breezed past Hawke, taking a closer, squinting look at the bottle before grinning back at the other two.

"I'll see you on the other side." With that, his gloved hand rests against the glass and with a shimmer, he's gone.

[iguanasolution]

"So if we go in, we won't be able to get in contact with anyone in Keeliai?"

But the soldier is already paying attention to someone else, looking for signs of infection and Frank is left frowning to himself, holding his bow close to his chest with both hands. His spear, that he hardly ever uses, is also strapped to chest.

As soon as Milyn made the post he gathered all his weapons with full intention to make use of them, but it feels reckless to go into battle without fully knowing what they will find, or without a way back. One of the first rules of war is always being ready to be able get away.

To be able to fight tomorrow.

[meanandgreen]

The next warrior to be inspected is bulky and green, the huge curve of his carapace and heavy musculature making him weirdly imposing for his hardly five foot frame. Both hands are wrapped around the three pronged weapons tucked in his belt, shoulders hunched, already coiled and ready for the coming fight. When the soldier stops to inspect him, he bears his teeth and glares. Looks about ready to lunge at the guy before he moves on.

"Who knows. Maybe they got pay phones inside that thing," he growls, shifting from foot-to-foot. It's hard to miss the blatant sarcasm in his voice. It's a different dimension, moron. What do you think?

[iguanasolution]

"Right." Frank is so used to worse sarcasms from that kind thanks to Leo, the idea of getting offended doesn't even cross his mind. Not to mention while he'd heard there were turtles living on the turtle (and he bets no one has made a joke about that, ever) he hadn't seen any of them up-close. Let alone talk to them.

"But there's plenty of other ways to communicate. We could send each others flying animals with messages, or- we had a system back at home" the other camp had it, but that's not important "using the rainbow itself- which isn't going to work here, but maybe there's a similar thing. There's plenty of ways to communicate without technology."

[meanandgreen]

What the heck this has to do with rainbows he doesn't know. It's weird enough, this whole thing with bottles full of death, going inside the thing to fight. Raph's seen weirder, but this is definitely hitting the charts.

All he wants right now is to get this over with, get in that thing and fight his way one step closer to getting home.

"Uh-huh," he grunts, his attention drifting elsewhere. Still tense. Cagey. His eyes dart around the room, traveling from face to face, then to every possible exit. Sizing people up, his hands never leaving the hilts of his weapons. He's never trusted the Emperor. And he definitely doesn't trust Evandau. Being back in the palace, surrounded by strangers, possibly risking it all for this freakin' mission... he doesn't want to think about it. If he doesn't die fighting whatever's waiting for them inside that bottle, everyone does. No one gets to go home. That's all there is to it.

But everybody seriously needs to move faster. Waiting around like this is gonna drive him crazy.

[iguanasolution]

Frank's tense as well, but for completely different reasons. He had never had a reason to trust Eshai, and he still doesn't have a reason to trust Evandau- but the whole fall of the Emperor thing had shaken him more than he'd like to admit. He was the son of a soldier, and his mother's death in Afghanistan was still too recent for him not to end up drawing similarities, try as he may.

"...Is there something making you nervous or something? We don't really have to go in if we don't want to. Milyn said."

Re: Marshaling the Forces

[solo_patria]

Enjolras is here, because,of course he is, when there's a need now. It feels too terrible not to act when he can. The lack of contact with the others is, perhaps, a bit worrying, but, well. What more is there to do but stand up when he can, correct? He will not be missed for something so necessary, and in fact, it's very likely someone else will join him when they know of what has happened.

It's easy enough to write a quick message for his friends and have it dispatched, saying that he is acting on official business and will be gone for a time, and that the Palace will be able to say more, and then, once that is taken care of, drawing in a quick breath before stepping toward the bottle.

Re: Marshaling the Forces

[loquaciouslyfeline]

The miasma in the city has been unpleasant, to say the least, and when the call to arms goes out, Amelia responds immediately. She has been stagnating, really, and the chance to have an impact on the war is welcomed. Her arrival at the palace is prompt, delayed only briefly by a quick personal message to a certain draconic fellow. This is not the sort of thing one undertakes alone, after all, and she is interested at the prospect of seeing Temeraire in action.

That there will be no returning from the bottle world until the corruption is removed is of no concern to her; Amelia would not have intended to leave the job half-finished even if the option were available. For the time being, she approaches the bottle as closely as she is able to without alarming the guards. The thing itself is fascinating, and she desires to inspect it a little more thoroughly.

Funny that such a small trinket could be the source of all the dark mist plaguing the turtle.

[dracobin]

Temeraire, for his part, has spent the better part of the day with the door barred against the miasma, contemplating the wisdom of sending out a message to his fledgling Aerial Corps when he is so visibly shaken by Milyn's message. To fight a battle is one thing; to return to the realm of Death is another entirely. Even now the memory of it is as clear in his mind as if it had happened yesterday.

If nothing else, he is grateful for Amelia's message. Here is an excuse to travel with someone, at least, and as stiff-necked as he occasionally finds the captain, there is something oddly reassuring about her composure. If he must do his duty--and of course he must, when Evandau has requested it of him--at least he will do it with someone at his back.

He arrives at the palace in his gear, with one of the flying-harnesses slung about his neck alongside a small pack of supplies. Amelia is easy enough to pick out--but for the moment he pauses, stopped in his tracks by the sight of the bottle.

[loquaciouslyfeline]

Temeraire's arrival draws Amelia's attention away from the bottle. She turns and approaches the dragon. "Good to see you, Mr. Temeraire." It is a bit odd to her to address a dragon as such, given the nature of the creatures from her own universe, but Temeraire quite different. She gives the dragon a once-over; up until this moment, she has only spoken to him on the network. He's a bit smaller than she would have imagined, really, but still impressive.

And he's come with gear, as well. A good thing; Amelia is woefully under equipped, and it does not seem as though the Emperor has any intention of supplying his forces for this expedition. She gestures at the harness around Temeraire's neck. "Is that a rigging of some sort, for use in flight?"

[dracobin]

Temeraire blinks once, a little distracted by the intricate pattern on the bottle, before he lowers his gaze to Amelia. He blinks again, involuntarily, at the sight of her in person. "Oh--yes, Captain, it is good to see you, as well."

He has never seen anything quite like her, and his tongue flicks out, carefully, to catch her scent: unmistakably feline, but not entirely so. It is intriguing enough that he forgets himself for a moment, and has to shake his head to recall himself to her question.

"Yes, it is a flying-harness," he replies as he carefully disentangles it. "You put your legs through the loops here, like so: and there are buckles here, so it fits snugly; and then you clip these carabiners to my harness, so you do not fall off, when I am flying. It is a great pity we could not have had at least a training session before all this happened, but there is no use in worrying about it now, I suppose."

[loquaciouslyfeline]

"A pity indeed," Amelia agrees, taking the harness. It's a clever design, really, she thinks as she puts it on as instructed. At a later time she would have to study its structure more closely. A harness would be certainly be more secure for a life-line to attach to than simply tying a rope around oneself. Adjusting the harness so it holds closely - though not too tightly; a lose of circulation would be very bad - she straightens up and looks back to Temeraire.

"Well then, my great scaled friend, shall we?"

[bindsthedead]

Sabriel had come prepared. She was wearing the same mail hauberk and cloth-wrapped helmet she had been wearing upon he arrival in Keeliai, and in addition to her sword-belt and bell bandolier, she had added the dirk she'd found in Sinbrilee- and a sturdy pack she'd hastily filled with a few days provisions and a few miscellaneous items, including a blanket- not something she'd pack during a journey to Death in her world, but if the land within the bottle was anything like the Death realm she'd found in Sinbrilee...

Sabriel distracted herself by examining the bottle, noting the disturbing but familiar aura. Approaching it did elicit a sensation oddly similar to standing in a place where the boundary between Life and Death was thin- though not quite the same, she thought with a frown.

"Stranger and stranger," she muttered, looking for familiar faces among the Foreigners who'd gathered there.

[problematical]

There's an unfamiliar girl standing along one wall of the antechamber, one hand tangled in the red material of her skirt and the other tapping a staccato beat against the stone wall behind her. It's not loud to normal hearing and though the occasional armed guard glances her way she's not done anything to draw attention to herself and they remain at their posts.

She watches the people being swept into the bottle by its magic, filling the antechamber and then disappearing. By the looks of it, it's starting to agitate her. "Wait," she says in a low, urgent undertone as someone passes by her. "How do they go?"

[hisbabygirl]

She's been looking for Ellie. Sarah's well aware there's nothing to be said to stop the other girl from going in, but the least she can do is to come wish her good luck, face to face.

Sarah barely notices River, her attention fixed on finding the friend that's already gone in. It's only when the older girl speaks that Sarah finds herself looking up at her. "Um... I don't know really. Magic, I think. There's a whole other world in that bottle."

[problematical]

"Magic," River repeated, her hands twisting in the knitted vest that she wore. "But how? Quantum particle displacement?" Then she shakes her head roughly, dismissing the idea before Sarah even has a chance to respond.

"Can't explain, can't quantify, it's worse than the book," she adds, because at least she could apply some logic to the Shepherd's Bible.

[hisbabygirl]

"Uhh..."

It's about all Sarah could manage for the moment. River was obviously thinking about all of this far deeper than Sarah ever had. The girl shuffled her feet a little, looking from River to the bottle. "It's uh... Well, I don't know much about it all yet? Or if this is even the same thing. My friend said that everything is made up of, crap what was it. Ions? And the ionic matter changes and..."

Sarah really should of left this explanation to Ixis.

[daughteroftheoriginal]

May is not the kind of girl to leave someone who's looking bothered alone in that state, whether she's in her civvies or out in costume like she is right now. Spider-Girl makes more sense wandering around in a bottle (A bottle! Since when did she end up having such weird adventures in the first place? Honestly, far too early in her superhero career. She really have known it'd keep coming!) than May Parker, whose most impressive skills lie in team sports and running for (and dropping out of) a student government position.

"Well, they call it magic, but really? Who knows. Sufficiently advanced technology and everything. Could be magic, could be science."

And the other girl's question answered: "Are you alright?"

[problematical]

River shook her head quickly, messy hair flipping back and forth with the vehement motion. "Not the same, one can be quantified. It needs rules to work, can't just be there or it's a broken singularity but why would in be in a bottle?"

She utters a dismissive laugh, like that idea was just absurd. "Inside the bottle, down the rabbit hole..."

[daughteroftheoriginal]

She's going to take that answer as a 'no', for now at least.

"Okay, Alice in Wonderland is definitely the right example for how crazy this is. You're right, one does have real rules to it, but without being told, we have no idea which applies in this case. As for why it's in a bottle, I have no idea."