EVENT | LANDFALL | ZESHORA

[ironwood]

Characters: ALL!
Date: June 17th to July 8th
Location: Zeshora
Situation: Tu Vishan has washed up near the cities of Atoce and Uessaire.
Warnings/Rating: Add warnings as needed.



The cities of Zeshora were renowned across all of Konryu as works of art, and even with the upheaval which sank and destroyed many of them centuries prior, that distinction remains evident. The Erol'a will recount, if asked, a terrible series of earthquakes and resultant tsunamis that rolled over Zeshora, and how great chunks of the continent simply dropped away. Zeshora was one of the oldest continents, and its landmasses upon the backs of long-dead Great Turtles had been so constant, that no one had even thought it possible such a thing could have happened.

Testament to the Erol'a's resilience however, they adapted and reclaimed the cities that had fallen to, or just below, sea level. Arches, pillars and soaring ceilings dominate the architecture in both cities, and every surface is painstakingly decorated with tiny inlaid shells and coral, turning every hall and room into a mosaic of colour. It's not uncommon for Erol'a dwellings to have multiple stories, and likewise it's not unlikely to have at least a few of those levels under sea level. So it's entirely possible to have one's upstairs be above water, and one's downstairs be below the water! Imagine having to take a swim to get a midnight snack. Of course, the Erol'a don't find that strange at all. Likewise, it's perfectly normal to them to walk down the hallways of their homes in ankle, knee or waist-deep water, something that the Foreigners and even some kedan might take some getting used to. The water temperature during the day is a delightful 80℉/26℃, and about ten degrees cooler throughout the night, so it's pleasant for nearly everyone.

---

LINKS
Atoce - City of Pearls | Uessaire - City of Lilies | Ollesse - The Coral Ruins | Secessi - The Floating Reefs | Hatchling Messages
Astegune | Landfall Surprise | Landfall Update - Jun 23 | OOC Post

OOC
Please direct questions to the OOC post! You can either use the areas described under header, or create your own -- don't feel you have to be limited to threading only in the locations mentioned in the starters! Just don't forget to label your top-levels with specific locations (eg the Height or the Deep).

ACTIVITY CHECK NOTE: Due to the late-month timing of this landfall, threads from this log can be counted toward either June or July AC. Just don't use the same comment thread for both and you'll be fine!

Comments

[jinzhong]

Jackie was a sucker for a pretty face, and for kids who needed help. If Midii wanted to, she could absolutely play him like a fiddle.

"No, not really. Just the way it smelled kind of reminded me of home, for a minute."

[unetrustworthy]

"You had tea like this?" She brought her own cup to her lips, inhaling before taking a sip of her own. "...it's sweeter than what we used to drink. Most of the teas here are."

[jinzhong]

"Yeah, kind of," Jackie says, "but I used to put a lot of sugar in mine, heh. So the sweetness doesn't even bother me."

[unetrustworthy]

That might explain it.

"We...couldn't afford sugar. The only reason we even had tea was because one of the neighbors grew leaves in her backyard. She'd give me some in exchange for helping her clean."

[jinzhong]

Jackie's face fell. "Man, really? No sugar?" It was practically unthinkable to him. Sure, he'd grown up poor, but he'd always had access to tea and sugar and good food - perks of being friends with Mrs. Chu's son and hanging out in the restaurant all the time. "That really sucks!"

[unetrustworthy]

"It was probably better off. Whenever the twins ate anything sugary, they'd be up all night, hyper."

Trying to put a positive spin on things. A little trick she'd learned in Keelai.

"Most of those resources were sent off to the troops. And our village was small. We weren't a priority."

[jinzhong]

Jackie smiled a little at her first comment - yeah, he knew how kids got with sugar - before looking a little concerned again.

"Troops? There was a war on where you came from?" Well, there'd been a war here, too.

[unetrustworthy]

"The whole world was at war."

It wasn't an exaggeration. Save for the privileged few who had the luxury of living in their own, sheltered towns relatively untouched by combat...

"Since before I was born. It started with an assassination in...I think it was AC 175? Over the Space Colonies. That's all I ever remembered hearing about it."

[jinzhong]

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Space Colonies?" And the entire dating system was utterly alien to him, too.

"I get the feeling we do not come from anything close to the same world. Uh, we got a guy on the moon once, though."

[unetrustworthy]

"So did we." Obviously. "That was before the new Calendar System went into affect, though. Just over two hundred years ago."

She didn't seem surprised in the least, like all this was old news to her. Given how many times in the past she'd had similar conversations with others from...if not her world, than one similar to it.

"Enjorlas...I don't know if you know him or not, but he told me he was from Paris in the early nineteenth century, anno domini. That would have put him about...three hundred years into my past."

[jinzhong]

"Yeah, I know that guy." He had known Enjolras was from some time in the past, so...a little mental math here...18-whatever plus three hundred years or so...makes Midii...

"You're, like...a hundred years from my future, I guess. I'm from 2012. Didn't, uh, didn't stick around long enough to find out if all that conspiracy theory bullshit about the end of the world was true, though."

Sentences Jackie never thought he'd say...

[unetrustworthy]

One hundred years into his future meant that the Mayan Calendar conspiracy had been roughly a hundred years into her past. Considering how many other apocalyptic theories came and went in that time, it shouldn't have been too surprising that she looked confused by his statement.

"What End of the World Conspiracy Theory?"

(There were so many to choose from.)

[jinzhong]

"Uh..."

Great, well, now he has to think.

"I dunno, there were a lot. Somethin' about the...Aztecs, maybe?"

Oh, Jackie. So close, and yet so far.

[unetrustworthy]

She wracked her brain, trying to think if that name had come in up any of her pitiful excuses for History lessons. It hadn't.

"I've never heard of them. Sorry."

[jinzhong]

Jackie shrugged. "Anyway. Not like it's that important. World didn't end, right? Obviously. So we're here."

[unetrustworthy]

Her eyes glanced downward, focusing on the table...so that he couldn't see a rare, mischievous glint behind them.

"Maybe. Maybe it did, where you come from. You're here now, so who's to say the Aztecs weren't right?"

[jinzhong]

Well...she did have a point.

"Heh. Maybe they were." He said with a smile. "Back where I come from, maybe they did us all a favor." Not like he'd be around to see either way, but it wouldn't be fair of him to tell her that.

[unetrustworthy]

And, suddenly, the joke seemed a lot less humorous.

"What do you mean? What's...what happened in your world?"

[jinzhong]

He just shrugged, shaking his head. "Things kind of sucked back where I was from. Kind of felt like the end of the world all the time. If it did end, I don't know if we'd have known the difference. I'm...happier here, anyway."

[unetrustworthy]

"Was there war in your time, too?" Her lips pressed together into a thin line. She wouldn't have been surprised at either a confirmation or denial.

[jinzhong]

"Eh, sort of," he said. "I mean, nothing like you're talking about, with space and stuff. Smaller wars. And growin' up where I did was kinda like growin' up in a war, anyway."

[unetrustworthy]

So both confirmation and denial. On certain points.

She was right. She wasn't surprised.

"And you think your world would be better off if it didn't exist at all?"

[jinzhong]

"It kinda felt like the world was ending, towards the end. At least, like my world was." The fracturing of the Sun On Yee had been unthinkable, the accusation of betrayal by Wei utterly unacceptable. "So, I dunno. Maybe that part of the world ended without me." Not like he was alive to find out.

[unetrustworthy]

"Would you ever want to find out what did happen?"

A question Midii had asked herself dozens of times over the last couple of years.

[jinzhong]

"Eh...I dunno," Jackie said, sounding unsure.

"I think I might be better off not knowing, you know? Didn't look like it was gonna end anywhere good."