[EVENT] Cold Winds Blowin'...

[ironwood]

Characters: All
Date: January 10-31, 2018
Location: Keeliai, all sectors
Situation: Hurricane and ensuing cleanup
Warnings/Rating: add warnings to headers as necessary, please.


Come late night on the 10th, carrying over into the wee hours of the 11th, the winds that have been on and off all month pick up, howling between buildings and rattling anything not nailed down. The worst of it comes over the next day, when the winds don't actually stop, sweeping through the city at high speeds and bringing rain and all kinds of debris with them.

The canals in Water are nearly impassable, making travel even more inadvisable than it would have been. In some places the wind takes out the power, too, leaving several people temporarily without much in the way of heat -- not good when the average temperature is hovering around 5°C (about 40°F). The rain comes heavier over the course of the day, and flooding both minor and major abounds; during the worst of the storm the canals are near to overflowing and there's a sincere -- and realized -- risk of drowning. As the flooding rises fast, some unprepared citizens may be caught by these rushing torrents and need rescue.

The storm settles down toward the end of the twelfth, leaving only brisk winds and a sullen drizzle as it finally passes the city by. In its wake, however, is a vast array of damage, and significant repairs to be made.

The high winds have knocked many trees down, some of which landed on homes and businesses -- in some cases, punching right through the roofs, rendering the buildings temporarily unlivable, and sending their occupants out into the storm to seek their nearest secondary shelter. Flooding is wide-scale, doing immeasurable amounts of property damage and putting many lives at risk. Many are left injured, homeless, or their businesses and livelihoods in ruins. Even more have lost personal possessions that are irreplaceable.

All told, the Merchant's Guild estimates that nearly 10% of the city's residential districts have suffered severe damage, meaning that the homes in those areas are not structurally safe to live in until repairs are made. This translates to about 6000 kedan across all Sectors in need of temporary housing. A further 20% (roughly 10,000) of the city has experienced moderate damage, so their homes are livable, but they may be without power, heat, or necessities like running water or adequate food stores.

The rest of the city takes light damage, mostly in the way of flooding and damaged goods. Volunteers are needed all over the place to remove storm debris to a growing mountain of wreckage outside the city walls. Everything from broken windows and furniture, to entire trees and large sections of rooftops need to be hauled away, and in some cases, the Foreigners' abilities will be much appreciated, since whatever left is going to be done with kirin-hauled carts and sledges.

Through the rest of the month, repairs are in progress, most of it taking place beneath a sapping cold rain, which impedes both repairs and volunteers' health, and many come down with walking pneumonia and flu-like afflictions. Usayi is among those organizing work crews for the clearing of large debris and urgent patches; he'll be spearheading those efforts as the month wears on as well. The Woodsmen also call for help from as many volunteers as possible, citing the loss of a great deal of growing and stored seeds, as well as the damage to their agricultural land plots, which are now littered with more debris.

Comments

Chat | OTA

[purrns]

Chat can be found here. The Earthquake, as long time as passed since then, is still fresh in his mind, and he isn't about to let anyone suffer this time. He'll throw his all into doing what he can.

He can be found amongst the work crews, using his baton to lever debris out of the way, or pushing structures into safer positions. On occasion, someone may even see him deal with a large piece of seemingly unmovable debris in a way only he can. With a shout of "Cataclysm" his hand swirls with black energy, and the second that hand touches down on the debris, it disintegrates into dust.

He very quickly moves away after that, though. He gives a hero wave and vanishes into the shadows. He returns about fifteen minutes later, to continue working, but maybe you're curious enough to follow him? Or you can just keep helping him out!

[schrodingersghost]

It doesn't take Danny long to sweep down from the sky and join him. The ghost makes good use of his intangibility, using it to rapidly sink debris into the ground and to investigate the safety of structures before anyone else enters.

[purrns]

Chat finds the intangibility thing super useful, honestly. It means Danny can check something out before he takes it away. Much less chance of anyone being crushed bu rubble, that way. He likes it, teaming up with another superhero- being aware of Danny's identity makes his work stronger, too. He's working with a friend.

"How's that one looking?" he jerks a thumb at a pile of debris leaning against an alcove.

[schrodingersghost]

Danny quickly phases inside the pile of debris and takes a look around. A moment later he i back out with a worried expression.

"That whole things going to collapse if we try to remove it one piece at a time. But give me a moment. I have an idea."

[purrns]

Chat gives a little salute, leaning on his baton, he can play the waiting game.

"Knock yourself out, bud. ...Though uh...maybe not literally, okay?"

[schrodingersghost]

"Geez, I'm a little more reliable that that." Danny takes a step back over to the pile of debris and concentrates on ice. His eyes shift color from bright green to ice blue as his glow takes on a cold blue tinge.

And then he fires a blast of cold energy from his fist. The entire pile of debris freezes into a block of solid ice.

[purrns]

Now that is a handy trick. It's nice to have cold, frozen powers working to his advantage for a change, instead of having it trying to make him a cat-sicle. He gives Danny a thumbs up.

"Cataclsym!"

The black energy swirls into his palm, which he quickly places on the icy mass. It melts down and vanishes as it does so, as if it was never there in the first place.

[schrodingersghost]

"Talk about catastrophic."

He couldn't resist.

[purrns]

That gets a snort of laughter.

"I know right?"

His ring flashes and gives a little BEEP BEEP.

"Cover for me while I feed Plagg?"

[ironpeace]

Usayi is paying enough attention to see Chat continue popping in and out. He has better things to do than time it, but the frequency is... odd.

Still, when the crew he's immediately supervising encounters a difficulty, he reaches to try to snag Chat on the next time he passes by, either coming or going. "A moment. How carefully can you target that?" There's a brusque gesture something like claws, intended to indicate Chat's disintegration powers.

[purrns]

Luckily for Usayi, he gets Chat on a return trip, so he stops to actually pay attention, rather than give a hurried excuse and beat a hasty retreat. He huffs in amusement at the action, mimicking it with a small touch of theatrics.

"So long as I can touch it, really carefully. Though it doesn't really take multiple things at once, unless they're attached," his tail twitches a little. "Why? Got something that needs to get gone?"

[ironpeace]

He nods, shortly. "Precisely, though. Without removing what it's attached to, what's around it. Come with me."

For the moment, Usayi is taking the question as assent. He turns, beckoning Chat to come with him. "A beam through a wall," he explains, succinct. "It's caught, but cannot be forcibly removed without significant damage to most of what's around it, accounting for the angle. Removing it by force will also make the structure unsound. If you can remove only the crosspiece it's stuck in..."

Well, it will save everyone some trouble, and some significant efforts in re-building.

[purrns]

Chat follows, listening intently. He's always one for goofing off and playing the clown, but even he knows when it's time to buckle down and get the real hero work done. This is absolutely one of those times.

"Yeah, I'm purrtey sure I can do that. Sounds simple enough."

He may be taking this seriously, but there are still puns. There will always be puns.

[ironpeace]

"That was a terrible pun," Usayi says flatly as he goes. "You're reaching."

He says nothing of the suitability of wordplay for such a situation. They're going to be cleaning up for a long time, after all.

Around a corner, Usayi leads Chat to where two of his crew are, and the situation he just described. It looks as though one structure was blown at some force into another, resulting in the awkward sticking.

[purrns]

"No claws for alarm," he winks in Usayi's direction. "I'll work on some better ones."

Still, even Chat knows when it's time to be serious, and the playful demeanour drops as he gets to the mess. He hums a little to himself, looking at it from different angles, belt-tail twitching as he thinks.

"Yeah. I can get this out of the way."

[ironpeace]

Damn it. Usayi's mouth twitches.

"Save the work on your wordplay for later," Usayi says instead, curt, and pretending the boy isn't growing on him. He watches Chat studying the particular problem they have at hand, wondering how the tail moves -- it looks like a belt. There is no muscle that should be controlling it.

"Do you require anything?"

[purrns]

He saw that, you can't hide those mouth twitches from him!!! He knows you liiiiike him. The belt absolutely has no muscle controlling it. It's just magic. Chat cracks his knuckles, grinning.

"Nah, I'm good. I got it," he holds his right hand up. "Cataclysm!!!"

A ball of black energy swirls around his hand, bubbling and dangerous. He carefully steps towards the beam, tongue sticking out a little as he concentrates, making sure he hits the right part exactly. The second his hand touches the beam, the part disintegrates. There it goes.

"Okay, done," he says stepping back.

[unetrustworthy]

Curious? ...okay, so she was always kind of curious naturally, but in this instance, the urge to want to help outweighed any other instincts for the moment.

"You know, this might go a lot faster if you stayed in one place to help." She called over to him. Assuming he was spreading himself out thin to cover more area. Which would have been admirable, but there was still more work she could see that needed to be done. "The dust you're leaving behind won't sweep up itself."

That last part might have come with hints of a teasing smile. Midii, herself, was ignoring the dust in favor of rightening some of the (lighter) outdoor furniture that had been knocked over.

[purrns]

He laughs at her final comment, giving a little bow, even as his ring makes a loud BEEP BEEP sound. Insistent like an overly irritating warning buzzer.

"Oh, if only I could," he replies with a grin. "Un-furtunately, I have a time limit once I use my superpower. I'll turn back into a pumpkin and nobody wants to see that."

[unetrustworthy]

Her brows furrowed for a moment, as she turned her attention towards the sound.

"Your powers...come with a time limit?" (She asked, as if she were completely unfamiliar with the notion.) "Why?"

[purrns]

"Well. They're powered by these little uh...sprites, called Kwami," it's not really talking too much about it, he's not mentioning names after all. "Using my power drains his energy, so he can't hold onto the transformation."

The ring flashes again, letting out another insistent BEEP BEEP.

"So I got to feed him. He'll be fighting fit again in a few."

[unetrustworthy]

There were...so many comments she could make. But it would seem they'd have to wait. That beeping sounded pretty urgent.

"Alright. Go head. We can manage until you feed your sprite."

[purrns]

"Thanks, I'll be back before you know it."

He gives her a little salute, racing off around a corner and finding a place to change back. He's glad he got a good supply of cheese in, really, he's needed it. He remains hidden in a little back alley somewhere, while Plagg eats his cheese, complaining the whole damn time.

There's a temptation to return to her as he is, to tell her the truth. He's been living in on the turtle for a while now. He should be able to be more honest with the friends he's made here. It's not like any of them would take his secret with them to his home.

But the fear is still there, so he ignores the temptation for now, returning, fully transformed, about five minutes later, a grin on his face.

"And the cat came back."

[unetrustworthy]

"I can see that."

She was in a strangely upbeat mood for a girl whose hair was a mess, whose face was slightly smudged with dirt and sweat, and who was trying to sweep a pile of dust and wood. Her eyes were turned downward, but only so she didn't trip as she collected her latest pile.

"i knew another superhero. A long time ago. Not too well. He was more like a...friend of a friend..." (a very dear friend, although it would have been a lie to say Kyle hadn't become a wonderful person to know in his own right.) "His power came from a ring too, I think. But I don't remember him ever having to feed it."

It was all so interesting to her. The similarities. The differences. The whole concept behind having to wear a ring or feed a sprite to give yourself superpowers. And spandex.

[purrns]

"Really? That's pretty neat. I've never heard of other heroes who've had their powers in jewellery. It's a thing for us, but then again, ours are kinda different. It's not so much as the ring as the being that fuses with the ring, and then you."

He doesn't mind talking about it all that much. He's pretty certain at this point Midii isn't going to try and swipe his Miraculous and go on a murder-spree with it. He starts to pick up pieces of debris, piling them up carefully.

"It's pretty complicated. I still don't know everything about it, honestly."