EVENT | LANDFALL | KITHIKA | DRAGON

[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
For nearly two days the brave quest takers have been sequestered at the sullied Temple and its grounds, the thick jungle and swamp preventing them from leaving. There are faint tremors that run through the ground and in the middle of the third night, the ground gives a great heave, jostling everyone from their rested states. In one of the Temple rooms, a sinkhole has appeared to reveal not spongy ground beneath, but a dark tunnel leading down into the earth. It doesn't take much to widen the entrance and follow the gentle downward slope that leads out to the north, and a walk of about two hours (which surely would feel like longer to those who don't enjoy being trapped in low, dank places) leads them under the swamp itself. By the time the tunnel slopes upward, the muddy ground has turned hard and packed with small chips of rock and sand; the terrain above is changing and as they emerge upward through a fissure in the ground...

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OOC NOTE: The Aftermath comment will be unfrozen and its direction posted on February 23rd, based on the outcome of the other threads.

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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

Battling the Dragon

[cherrywood]

Emerging from the fissure at this end of the tunnel, they may find that the ground beneath their feet seems to shift as if it's breathing. Off in the distance, there is a mountain that appears to have the same difficulty. This is a massive corrupted dragon, known colloquially as a WORLD EATER. It's head and rolling sections of it's scaled back break the surface of the rocky plain, each are bearing massive pustules of this corruption (which seep black fluid) all over its sinuous body, the bulk of which is still trapped beneath the earth.

World Eater is an immense and old dragon that is displeased about being awoken (and about waking up with a mountain atop it, to make matters worse). To fight, they must band together and attempt to fight the dragon, noted as being the source of the corruption, or they can leave it be and search for other ways to lift the corruption. Those with greater strength and fortitude may find themselves better served by combating the dozens upon dozens of clawed legs while those smaller in size and higher in precision may prefer to attack the corruption directly.

Characters will have to attack the corrupted spots in groups. Its key weakness is the corruption and it will howl whenever a pustule is ruptured or cleansed. But the dragon, as it's attacked, will become increasingly more agitated and will shake itself free from the mountain (destroying it in the process) to fight back. It's a few hundred miles long, so characters will need to work together to bring it down. World Eater will do all in its power to stop the irritants that have poked and prodded at it, showing no hesitation to stomp upon, chomp down, or bury them in an avalanche of rock and corruption, so it may take a fair share of coordination to deal with it. Leaders and soldiers alike will be needed for this battle, for it is said that only an army can bring the corruption to an end.

Attempts to communicate with the dragon are met with a blank wall, its consciousness locked down and the creature having no desire to let anything in... probably.

Open

[bindsthedead]

"Anet, Calew, Ferhan!" The marks became silver blades as they left her fingertips, each aimed at a separate pustule. Each struck true, and Sabriel was rewarded with a shower of ooze- only for her triumph to be cut short when she realized the stuff was starting to reform into three- three creatures.

Sabriel's sword seemed wreathed in golden fire- the marks on it burning as brightly as they ever had as she drove it into the heart of one of the smaller monsters that had sprung from the corruption- only to find herself backing away from the other two. Perhaps attempting to fight alone had not been so wise.

Open

[unobtainableredemption]

[Holy shit, that was a huge dragon.

He had known there would be a dragon at the end of this bottle, but he hadn't expected this. This was so completely out of his league that he didn't have a word for just how out of his league it was. It had made fighting the energy creature and everything in the tiny universe seem like child's play. He should have stayed home and dealt with the consequences.

God damn it.

With a flick of his wrist, he shot a strand of webbing onto the neck of the creature and swung into the air, his death sword from the magical weapon tree in hand. Might as well start hacking away at the neck...

One of these days he really was going to kill (his) Peter Parker.]

open

[hulkintraining]

[Teddy decides to take to the skies for his assault. It only makes sense since he has the ability to reach areas of the dragon that many others can't without some help. And the more angles they can hit at once, the faster they can get this done. Teddy is so ready for this to be over.

He flies up above the dragon, lowering himself just enough to allow himself to land blows on the corrupted spots along the dragon's back. He claws at the spots with all of his strength. The dragon's howling causes him to flinch just a little. He doesn't want to do this, but he has no choice. Not now. None of them do. It doesn't make him feel any better.]

Open

[iwannabeadragon]

"Would you look at that..." There's no hint of fear in his voice as he looks upon the dragon. If anything, he sounds utterly impressed by it. The size of the beast is far larger than the high dragon that Hawke once fought. In fact the World Eater dwarfs it completely. An utter shame that the creature is so thoroughly corrupted. At least Hawke can do it a service by putting it out of its misery.

Magic blade in one hand and an axe in the other, Hawke prepares to fight. He spares a quick glance to Notch. "Watch my back and help anyone that looks like they could use it." The hound barks once and Hawke makes his move. Darting nimbly about the dragon, Hawke leaps at the nearest spot of corruption driving his weapons into it as deeply as they'll go before leaping away. He may not have the powers that others do, but it's not his first time fighting a dragon. Hit and run tactics are the way to go for him.

open

[skybluejeep]

"Oh, my god."

Stiles just stares up, and up, and up at the thing, his eyes wide. Maybe Batman was right. Maybe he wasn't ready for this. Already the other heroes are starting to attack, repeatedly diving for what looked like weak spots. And Stiles stands rooted to the ground, momentarily frozen by the enormity of what they're all facing.

closed to Aquaman

[cowled]

[The pain doesn't take him by surprise. He'd known it was coming from the second one of the dragon's myriad legs knocked him into the mass left behind by one of the exploded pustules. There was no time to avoid it, only to mitigate the damage. The 'damage' came in the form of the acid-like substance eating through the Nomex/Kevlar plate armour along his left side and through to his skin. No, the pain isn't a surprise but it is a hindrance. No matter how well Bruce can control the impulses of his own body, fighting off shock when he needs to be at the top of his game is always a gamble. But he'll be no use to anyone if he gets killed.

It's that understanding that has him duck away from the fight, hand pressed against his side as he scrambles (a little undignified) into a hollowed out section of Earth. The ground shakes, and dirt rains down from the ceiling but he estimates three minutes until its collapse is imminent. More than enough time.

He peels the section of body armour back and throws it to one side, flicking a thermite capsule at it as he does. It'll eat through the polyfibres and render it unidentifiable by anyone who may find it. Then he pulls a flask of water from his belt and dumps it along his side. He knows it's only a figment of his imagination, and the shock, but he can almost feel the flesh sizzle at the water's touch, and he categorizes it as 'unpleasant.' Chemical burns are some of his least favourite injuries at the best of times, and this hardly qualifies. There was no time to take samples and figure out an alkali, he's simply having to – and his mouth quirks downwards at this – 'wing it'.

Bruce doesn't like winging it. Planning and foresight are why he wins, and having that stripped away from him is like losing a sense, a limb. He can operate reasonably well with limited resources, but by no means is it his favourite thing.

Which is why, for the time being, all he can do is wet the dressings with the remainder of the water, press them firmly against his side and begin the arduous process of wrapping it so that the moisture and blood won't wick away from the wound.

(The dragon is approximately two hundred and eighty miles long, with the appropriate tonnage, if there is a pustule every two yards that means a total of--)

There's a noise at the mouth of the cave, and he stills, cataloguing in that moment the too-fast beat of his heart and the shallow draw of his breath, the fact that if the individual is a foe it may very well be a fight he'll lose. Still, he draws back into the shadows, letting his cape fall over the half-wrapped bandages, and pulls out a flashbang grenade, priming his Starlite lenses to compensate for the flare. If he has to fight, it'll be hard and fast, and he'll put whoever it is down with extreme prejudice. He can worry about dragging them out of the way of the cave's imminent collapse after the fact.

But a moment's consideration makes him realize, it's no enemy. At least no one he'd consider as such lately.]

Aquaman.

[It's a warning that he's present, and a battlefield greeting. The adrenaline of an anticipated fight ebbs, and Bruce leans briefly against the wall for the sake of gathering his strength.]

OTA

[mightythinice]

[She stares at the dragon, something so big her eyes couldn't even see it all and she waves her hands in frustration, just a bit. This was both incredible and impossible. How was a girl like her supposed to do anything with this?]

You gotta be fucking kidding me. How the hell am I supposed to help here? That thing is huge!

[she grumbles, and pulls the rifle a little closer, forgetting to keep Tess close by as she darts off.

To be honest, she wasn't even really thinking about how crazy it was, despite her words.]

open

[neverdanced]

Due to circumstances, Steve had to part ways with Bucky. Apparently touching those statues had been a bad idea on both of their parts, and a continued fight amongst themselves wouldn't help with the overarching mission.

Although he's without his right-hand man, he has procured an additional shield. That's not good enough to actually do him much good, not when dealing with something this size. It can't be that much different than New York. Or at least, this is what he tells himself.

A collaborative effort is the only way to take the dragon on, so his next task is trying to organise an attack with those he sees around him.

OPEN

[dracobin]

The instructions the Imperial Court had sent with his egg had been vague about a great many matters--they did, after all, have a reputation to protect--but they had been very clear about one thing: Celestials were not to engage in open combat. It was beneath them.

Napoleon had bent the rules, of course, as he would. After all, it was well known that a little action would do a young dragon wonders. Lung Tien Xiang had not fought, precisely, at Dover and London, and Barcelona, and Madrid, but he had not sat out those battles, either; and of course there was no safer place in battle than at the Emperor's side, so where was the harm in it? Besides, he had always had an eye for aerial tactics: he made himself useful where he could. Still, Napoleon had been his only rider; Xiang had never suffered the indignity of a crew clambering about him, and he was not about to start now.

But he was not here to see Xiang face down a creature so large it seemed to blot out the sun. This was something he would have to do alone. The dragon before him posed a threat to France, and it could not be permitted to come any closer. Xiang gripped the spear in his claws tighter and crouched, ready to spring into the air.

Soul's Poison

[cherrywood]

With each pustule destroyed, there will be a brief eruption of a blisteringly hot goo that will cascade down around the combatants. Once upon the ground, the goo will begin to amalgamate, the corruption reforming into a multi-legged creature that will try to latch onto the dragon (or the nearest living thing) and overtake it. Its bite is a poison of the mind, darkening thoughts with uncontrollable rage and blinding the victim's perception of friend or foe. Everyone becomes a foe and they will fight until the creature that has attached is killed -- a strike to the heart is sufficient.

If, however, the creature is left to feed upon the dragon or another victim, it will shrink as it feeds itself into the body, forming into a pustule that will require a renewed attack in order to dispatch it.

closed to Toro

[beganwithamask]

No one can say even the youngest members of the Invaders aren't doing their part to help fight the corruption overtaking the dragon. They're not the most powerful beings out there, but they're tenacious and determined. They've been working on one of the oozing black pustules between the two of them, barraging it with fire and bullets and strategic knife slashes. It's taken a bit, but eventually it bursts, spraying burning goo. "Take cover!" Bucky shouts to Toro, trying to lunge out of the way of the explosion, his arms over his head trying to protect himself.

Closed to Kidd

[iguanasolution]

This whole thing felt frankly stupid.

Not that they had ended up fighting the dragon; that was actually refreshing. Something like that was what Frank had been expecting, what he had anticipated. A big bad evil against whom he could give everything in a fight, who was bigger and more powerful than anyone in Frank’s team would ever be and who would destroy the world if they failed. It felt familiar in ways Frank was honestly afraid to delve into, so he just decided to enjoy knowing where to stick his arrows and ho with it.

“That black goo thing seems to be vulnerable!”

But he was still following the man he was supposed to impress into teaching him how to be a leader, how to be more assertive. So the main thing going through his brain at the moment was: ‘way to go’. But he guessed that kind of vibes were what made one such a good pirate. He still thought heroes were cool, but he had to admit the thought that he had basically been investigating around a place with an actual pirate made him a little excited-

And then one of his arrows went straight to the pustule at the right angle, at the right time to make it explode, and make it splash all over, Frank himself included. One would think that was the advantage of long-range weapons.

“Wow. At least monsters turned into dust when you shoot them, they didn’t-”

Wait, was it- regrouping?

Kryptonian Rampage

[cherrywood]

While the corruption incited by the stone idols or the poisonous effect of the dragon's shed black ooze, some of those it has affected are taking matters into their own hands.

((OOC: Please see the plotting post and follow up and contact Al or July for more information on this portion of the plot. Please keep all side plot related threading under this header for organization purposes. Thank you!))

Meeting both Jor-El and Kal-El

[andaway]

[They had both been trying to keep quiet, keep on the shadows. They were both proud and protective, yes, but they were also smart enough to realize jumping into an attack without the necessary knowledge was also the most foolish course of action. But being on the dragon's side ('for now', Kal had remarked to his father more than once already) meant protecting it from harm, if only to get on its good side. And if youngest Kryptonian was honest with himself, slapping away the ants was also kind of fun.

It isn't long before they begin actually enjoying the job. Kal is the first one to speak, arms crossed and hovering a couple feet of the air with his eyes bright red- for show, rather than actual anger. His father is close behind.]

Go on, attack the World Eater. Give us a reason to step on you like an ant. Try to hurt us. Or simply run.

It's always funnier when they run.

Meeting only Kal | CW: Mutilation

[andaway]

[The first noticeable thing are his yells, a mixture of pain, anger and frustration.

By then it's easy to figure out where Kal is, and that he isn't exactly happy. If you get close enough to him the sound of his laser vision can be heard, and after a couple minutes he steps out of the shadow and it's clear what he had been doing with the laser.

He's missing a leg up to his knee, and even if the wound has been cauterized there's blood everywhere in his suit. His own, Jor-El's, other people's blood- it doesn't matter, what matters is that what had been supposed to be a fun activity had turned into a nightmare because his father could never understand true power. How could he, when he had been born into a red sun? Kal was the one who had had his powers since birth, Kal was the true last Kryptonian. Kal had to become the most powerful around before he took the dragon matter into his own hands-

which is why, if your character hadn't looked for Kal the moment they had heard the screams Kal is the one looking for them, ready to punch them without giving them any kind of explanation. There's a lot of powerful people around, but two of them are the last ones standing with a powerset similar to his own.]

Take down | CW: mutilation

[andaway]

[The Kryptonian's shenanigans had been discrete at first, taking down people the dragon would consider dangerous to get on its good side. After losing a leg and killing his own father, Kal is kind of done trying to keep things in the down low. He's screaming in anger, lashing out with his laser vision without looking around to whoever he might be hurting, stepping around with enough force to leave craters on the ground- the dragon is awake now, what's the point in being careful? And it may even attract nice distractions to wherever he is. He wants to fight, wants to lash out, wants to hurt because his phantom leg is hurting and it's no fair that everyone else isn't hurting along with him,

As far as he sees it there's only little pests left to deal with, no one really worthy of worry and definitely not anyone he cannot deal with if the situation arises.

Or so he thinks.]

[everylittlegirl]

Hayley had made the mistake of touching the child statue hours ago. Once she realized the resulting compulsion, she wandered off from her group to try to find a safe place to wait out its effects, citing discomfort as the reason. Admitting to discomfort in general was bad enough that sharing it with near strangers unprovoked was only frustrating.

"I hate this place," she called out to no one in particular, wandering through the sort of clearing not far from the temple grounds. Mostly because she was weaponless, the girl was constantly on the lookout for threats and was more careful than she might normally be if accompanied. Hayley didn't want to die again.

The decision

[andaway]

[Kal's lying on the ground, the piece of Kryptonite stabbed deep into his chest. He's unconscious, but the discomfort and pain are pretty easy to read from his expression. If it doesn't get taken off soon he'll die from exposure.

By his side, Batman's inert body- a reminder of the deeds Kal and his father did under the corruption's influence. They have the weapon to make him pay for it- the question is: will they?]

Patricide: Death is a Science | CW: Mutilation

[lookedtothestars]

[This was becoming a waste of his time. Had been since the start. It was interesting enough at the beginning, taking part in and watching the deaths they were causing, but mindless slaughter was only so stimulating. At least that was the case for him.

Kal-El, naturally birthed experiment that he was, clearly took more out of it. Mindless indeed. Even Zod would have found it boring sooner. There were only so many methods before torture, too, would become tiresome. If they were going to continue this, it would need to be with more efficiency, and less debauchery.]

Kal. Your antics are no longer amusing.

Pulling the rabbit out of the hat

[andaway]

But I don't know if she's dead. [And really, what was the fun in doing all this if he didn't get to at least crush his enemies under his feet? Literally, this one time. His father didn't seem to get the need to actually make them fear them and make sure they know who's the most powerful, but his father doesn't seem to get anything lately. Not surprising, considering he's living on borrowed power- but he's been useful so far.

Eventually, though Kal gets fed up with the machine. And by fed up I mean he kicks it in the direction of the unexpected watcher with a growl. Whatever, it wasn't really alive to begin with.]

Magic vs Magic (closed to Sabriel)

[backwordscompatible]

[Well...shit.]

[Zatanna had hung back for most of the battles, because it looked as if her boys were winning. Which was a very good thing. She liked winning. On rare occasions, she might throw in a little booster, but for the most part? No reason to ruin her clothes. As it was, she was still flicking bits of lingering dirt and frost off the coarse leather bindings that held up her corset.]

[But this? She felt the presence long before she saw it. A second magic user. One who might almost promise a challenge. Which meant she had to get up.]

I don't suppose it's too late to talk you into joining the winning side?

[The offer came out dry and dull. She wasn't even remotely serious.]

The Guarded Pool

[cherrywood]

Should characters venture across the rocky plain they will eventually come across a pool of pure, clear water. This water can be used to cleanse the corruption from the dragon and the land. But be careful! It's being guarded by a pair of Fu dogs, who will ask riddles of the characters before they will be permitted near the pond. Those characters that drew something from the GOOD LUCK POND and LEFT SOMETHING IN RETURN will be allowed to pass without answering a riddle.

Once the trial has been passed and your character is allowed access to the pool, they will find that the water is potent but its potency limited. The Fu dogs would explain that use of the water, if asked and engaged appropriately: it must be used within four hours of being drawn from the pool otherwise it will lose its effect and the characters will have to try again. There are silver jugs nearby the pool that one can use to carry the water, trying to use anything else – such as a magical construct or something from the outside world, will slowly turn the water brackish and it will be useless at that point.

With each pustule cleansed, there will be a high-pitched scream that denotes the death of the corruption at that point. The pustule will melt away and there will show a brief glimmering of tiny iridescent blue/orange feathers overlaid like scales and a pleasant, warm aura before it fades into a grey haze until all of the corruption is dealt with.

open

[bindsthedead]

When Sabriel had stumbled, exhausted from the battlefield, trying to find a place to sleep for an hour or so to regain her strength. What she hadn't expected to find was a pool full of fresh water- or two talking dogs, who let her pass after glancing at the pendant she'd taken from the pool and spoke to her of a way to cleanse the corruption. To Sabriel, whose general distaste for bloodshed had only been heightened by the vision of the monster she might have become, the idea of cleansing the corruption without the death of the dragon seemed ideal. Thus, after resting as much as she dared, she filled one of the silver pitchers and set out.

Finding her way back to the fighting was not hard, but Sabriel stopped every so often- just long enough leave behind a charter light on the ground to mark her path.

When she finally reached the dragon, she threw the water on the first pustule she could reach- and gasped at what she saw underneath the corruption.

Turning back the way she came, she grabbed the wrist of the first person she could find.

"Come with me- I think there's another way to do this!"

Weighing the Options

[cherrywood]

Defeat of the dragon by any of these means will reveal a beautiful creature beneath all the corruption. If solely cleansed with water, it will curl back up and renew its rest once more. If the corruption is killed instead, then its body will lay in death, destroyed by the fight that was wrought upon its body. If a mixture of the two, it will be gravely injured and require medical assistance, but will no longer try to destroy those that touch it.

It is the choice of those who battled and defeated its contamination to decide what to do with the dragon now...

Open

[cmdreffingshepard]

Shepard was exhausted. On her last legs. Even with her cybernetic enhancements, so much use of her biotics and fighting was bound to wear her out, particularly against something so big and inscrutable.

This was one of the few things she had just never trained for. Like fighting a Reaper on foot. Except even bigger.

Exhausted as she was, however, she couldn't keep quiet. She had to speak up.

"Killing it would be wrong," she said firmly. "We can't just kill it out of hand. The corruption obviously wasn't its fault."

Aftermath

[cherrywood]

The Foreigners have spoken and chosen to mercifully spare the dragon, which is able to purge the last of the corruption by calling down great beams of light from the heavens.

The fog will lift in the outside world, and the bottle's world will become as beautiful as it once was. The temple will be restored, the swamp will disappear and be left instead with a beautiful, warm ocean. There will be bright light and warmth, and the statues will pick themselves up and become people once again, who will interact with the foreigners politely.

At this point, characters will be able to choose to leave the bottle and return as they would like.

OPEN

[strategisch]

Armin was tired, and hungry, and injured. But most of all, he was so filthy he was practically unrecognizable. Before he could tend to his other needs, he had to get clean.

First, after taking off his boots and detaching all his gear, he plunged into the ocean, uniform and all. There was so much mud caked on him that he wouldn't be able to get out of his clothes until it was washed off... He was too attached to his uniform to just cut himself out and throw it away.

Once he could free himself, he stripped down to his underclothes and spent a long time scrubbing his cloak and jacket as well as he could. The warm, salty water did a good job of cleaning the muck out of his uniform, and stung at his contusions in a satisfying sort of way.

With a couple of good pieces of driftwood, he set up a rack for his uniform, and then set his attention to maintaining his maneuver gear. If it rusted or got dirt in the wrong places, it could become inoperable. He cleaned out his sheathe-boxes, polished his blades, disassembled his engine, tested his triggers, oiled the straps of his harness, and laid all the intricate pieces in perfect order on the sand to dry out and cure.

Then he waded into the ocean for a second time to try and clean himself. It takes a damn long time to get all traces of dirt out of blonde hair like his.