tushanshu_logs | [EVENT | FOURTH WALL] THE DREAMING'S FLATULENCE

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[EVENT | FOURTH WALL] THE DREAMING'S FLATULENCE | APRIL 15-30

Characters: ALL and plus ones. (Yes, fourth-wall characters, that means you.)
Date: April 15-30 2016 (2017 in-game)
Location: Mod-posted comment starters are for the immediate aftermath of the odd explosion which starts the event, but this log can also be used for anywhere in the setting anytime between April 15-30.
Situation: The College went BOOM. Weird people began appearing randomly in the city. After that, other buildings went BOOM even though nothing actually exploded besides the College. After that, scattered buildings developed spontaneous structural damage overnight. Could these events be related? You be the judge.
Warnings/Rating: Add warnings in subject headers as needed.

The morning of April 15th dawns cold, but clear. There isn't a cloud in the sky, the sun's barely risen, and in general the kedan are going about their daily lives - opening shops, heading to work, leading kirin through the city streets. In particular, there's a small but steady stream of people moving in and out of the College.

Then, without warning, a section of the College implodes.

During the following few days, an influx of strange Foreigners appear, seemingly dropped randomly by the Dreaming throughout Keeliai. Someone might end up in a canal, or on a rooftop. Someone else might find themselves flying through the air to land heavily in a disused alley. Someone might wake up in the corner of a kirin stable. A few might even land in Hatal on the mainland, and feel a curious draw leading them back towards the turtle. They arrive in the same unexpected manner as normal Foreigners; the only differences are the sheer amount of people arriving at once, and that none of the newcomers seem to possess any soul gems.

Also during the next few days, kedan and Foreigner alike might be startled by an exact replica of that thunderous boom from the College explosion echoing around Keeliai. This only occurs for about a week, but it occurs regularly, and the source of these strange echoes is impossible to trace.

Once the explosion echoes stop, investigators might notice that specific and exact sections of structural damage from the College appear on other buildings in Keeliai without any obvious cause. These cases of spontaneous long-term damage continue all the way through until April 30th.

Apart from those disruptions, life on the turtle is generally normal for the next two weeks - or as normal as it's possible for life to be when one lives on the back of a turtle where the most powerful gang makes the rules. No one can say for sure exactly when the strange Foreigners vanish again. Some will swear they all vanished at once; others will be equally sure they disappeared one by one over several days. One thing's for sure, however -- by the time April 30th draws to a close, not one of the strange Foreigners is left in Keeliai.

LINKS
The College | The Echoes | The Structural Damage | OOC Information post | Fourth-Wall Character Check-In

OOC
The top-level comments are for the explosion and its aftermath, but fourth-wall characters should feel free to use the rest of the post for anything within the setting! Just remember to label the top-level comment for location and date. You can also add more fourth-wall characters throughout the event at the character check-in, linked above. Please direct any questions to the OOC post.

Fourth-wall characters are also free to tag into player-posted logs and console/radio posts dated between April 15th and 30th! A quick reminder that fourth-wall characters will not have soul jewelry, and will not be able to create their own network posts or logs.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Onlookers will hear a thunderous boom, then see a sizeable portion of the College building crumble to the ground. Back walls cave in, ceilings sag under their own weight until they collapse, and a cloud of smoke and dust fills the air above the College, making it obvious from nearly anywhere in the city where the explosion occurred. The smell of flames blankets the area, sending kedan onlookers into a further panic.

For several hours immediately following the explosion, Snakes, bystanders, and any Foreigners who wish to help can be found digging through the rubble, looking for anyone caught by the blast -- and, hopefully, what caused the blast. Miraculously, however, it slowly becomes clear that no one was hurt. The part of the building which collapsed was mostly storage for the magic-nullifying salt extracted from the fog months ago, and all of that salt seems to have vanished. There was a lab or two and a meeting room, but through sheer coincidence no one was in that part of the building at the time of the explosion -- and, despite the smell, there's no fire anywhere. Some kedan were nearby enough to be shaken, and others -- especially those who worked within the College -- may have some bruises and cuts from where they fell or dropped something in surprise. Beyond that, however, injury seems to have been avoided.

Unfortunately, it also seems impossible to trace how exactly the explosion happened. Foreigners who remember the last time a large stockpile of magic-nullifying salt made something explode might believe the answer is obvious, but it doesn't explain the cloud of smoke in the air, or the acrid smell of fire which lingers around the blast radius despite there… being no fire.

For the next couple of days, work crews gather around the shallow crater trying to salvage as much of the building as they can. Enough of the College stands to let their activities go on as normal, but no one's willing to leave the entire back of the building exposed. The work crews will welcome any help from Foreigners, no matter if they're permanent or temporary - just as long as they're reliable workers.

For about a week after the initial explosion at the College, there are echoes of the sound of the blast around the city. Each of the echoes is self-contained -- they're not 'echoes' in the traditional sense. In fact, the first time one happens, kedan flock to the College absolutely sure that another explosion has occurred, but none has.

The echoes sound every hour or so, though there's no discernable pattern to the lengths of time in between them. On the 15th and 16th, everyone in the city is confused and terrified, unsure if any of the sounds belong to a second explosion, or if they're heralds of worse things to come. By the 17th, however, the echoes are accepted as another of those strange tricks the Dreaming likes to play, and the kedan barely flinch as they go about their everyday lives. The echoes continue until around the 23rd, when they abruptly cease sometime during the night.

Any source of the echoes is impossible to trace. Some of them sound like they come from the College; others sound like they come from a tavern, or a house, or a shop. More than once a shopkeeper jumps at the sound of her store falling apart and rushes to rescue her merchandise, only to discover nothing broken or even out of place. The echoes can happen anywhere at any time -- they're totally unpredictable and oftentimes a shock to those nearby, but apart from the noise, they're harmless.

Once the echoes of the College explosion stop sometime on the 23rd, a different phenomenon takes their place. Angry and often inconvenienced kedan report that their homes, workplaces, or favourite taverns are sporting structural damage which should only happen after extreme and long-term use. A crack in the wall here, a sagging ceiling there, blackened or rusted corners - even, in a few rare cases, evidence of fire damage, despite there never having been a fire on the property.

For the most part, the structural damage always seems to be harmless -- worrying, and occasionally inconvenient (a door no longer closes properly in its frame, for example, or a window sticks and no longer opens), but harmless. Investigators may deduce that nearly all the reported cases of damage exactly match some of the damage done to the College by the initial explosion. The only exception to this is the cases of fire damage -- there was never any fire in the College, therefore never any fire damage. Even that, however, can be linked to the acrid smell of flames which persists around the blast zone until the end of April.

Someone has arrived, and is coming to grips with his situation. Which is not well at all because he's hungry and broke.

So have a dramatic kid falling to his knees in the middle of the street, reaching his hands towards the sky.

"Woe! I have been plunged into the dark abyss of this dreary world! My dreadful feelings swell within my black heart and my cavernous gut. For I have no means with which to fill it!"

His stomach growls loudly.

Kylo Ren has been told many, many times by various people, and by none more pointedly than by General Hux, that he is melodramatic. Which he strongly denies, of course, in a manner which isn't melodramatic at all.

Now, as he watches the strangely dressed boy fall to his knees and shout his anguish to the world, he feels nothing short of gloriously validated. If only Hux were here to witness this moment.

"It's not that dark, I have visited darker worlds." Glorious validation aside, that's the best he can manage. Usually people are too poetic screaming to get poetic at him.

There's no entrance like falling from the sky. Literally.

One minute Kylo Ren had been training on the Finalizer, preparing himself to meet his Master and finish the last stage of his training, the next he was falling.

It was only thanks to the Force that he managed to soften his fall enough to roll off, only then he ended up toppling over the edge of the roof and right towards the picturesque canal the building lined. He was full out cursing by that time, and barely managed to give himself enough momentum by actively pushing himself off the roof make it to the walkway that spanned the canal. Even in falling, he drew his lightsaber.

Kylo landed on the walkway in a crouch with his arms stretched out at his sides for balance, some dirt from the roof clinging to his black robes and helmet somewhat askew. There was a moment of perfect stillness as his senses registered the impossible his mind still refused to acknowledge. Just a moment of stillness, before the crimson crossguard lightsaber ignited with a hiss and crackle as indignant as its owner's feelings.

Alya may have no idea where she is, but she's making the most of it, wandering the unfamiliar streets with her cell phone camera on and recording, narrating her journey.

"First on the scene! I seem to have been kidnapped to some mysterious place. I don't know about you, but this doesn't look like Paris to me. I don't know what sort of villain is responsible, but right now there's only one question on my mind: when will Ladybug arrive to save the day?"

Seemingly satisfied, she turns off the camera to save battery power and continues to wind her way through the streets, looking for some sort of monument so she can get a better view of her surroundings. Despite her bravado, she's actually a little nervous.

Aaaaand there's already a teenager there with her smartphone, filming the whole thing.

"Excellent dismount! The French judge gives it an 8 out of 10."

His dark eyes found the teenage girl and narrowed on her, though the mask hid it.

"You. What do you think you are doing?" Somehow he managed it that none of his supreme annoyance got lost in the vocalizer that turned his voice mechanical. The girl wasn't frightened, as if she didn't even know he was holding a weapon, and that was befuddling. Slightly disturbing, even.

There is, indeed, no entrance like falling out of the sky, and just as Kylo is getting his bearings, yet another appeared out of thin air.

A large, round, white pig.

Or was it a cat?

Whatever it was, it was screaming in a nasally voice and its landing trajectory was somewhere in the vicinity of Kylo's head.

There are some things a helmet can protect against, but the bulk of Nyanko-sensei was not one of them.

"No," came a nasally voice somewhere in the vicinity of Alya's ankles. "This seems to be purely accidental."

Should she look down it would appear to be some kind of... animal. Probably a cat. A very fat cat with a huge head and waddling along on stumpy little legs.

He looked up at her with his smug face. "But that's beside the point. Have you seen a gloomy human around here by the name of Natsume?"

Adrien had originally arrived on the scene as Chat. There were explosions, structural damage, that was usually a sign some superheroing was needed. However, on landing on a rooftop, instead of trouble he finds...well, still trouble, but this one is Alya-shaped and as such is a welcome sight. He's been here from months, and he hasn't realised how much he's missed his friends until one has appeared right here in Keeliai.

He pauses on the roof, watching her weave through the streets, torn between wanting to go and see his friend. He has a duty, after all. He turns to look at the damaged building. It hasn't collapsed, no one seems hurt. This isn't a repeat of the earthquake in Hatal. He could take a break on this one.

He hesitates a moment more, before deciding maybe this once, he could indulge himself. Just once. He drops himself down from the roof and untransforms, before heading down a side-street to bring him out right into Alya's path. He hopes his surprise is at least convincing. His happiness to see her is absolutely genuine, though.

"Alya? When did you show up here?"

Chat has been checking up on all the explosions, just in case anyone had got hurt by them. That doesn't seem much of the case here, something he can be thankful for. It IS pretty damn weird that people are just popping up like daisies. That's new.

He wanders over to where the weird (goth??? is he a goth?? he looks like a goth) is bemoaning his state of existence.

"You know. We have got food here. Do you want some sea prunes or something?"

"No, sorry, I--" Alya stops in her tracks, eyes going comically wide. That is a cat. At least she thinks it's a cat. Talking to her.

She blinks. "Well. You see stranger things every day."

When you're looking for superheroes, like Ladybug for example, you tend to seek out the places in need of some saving. Which is how Alya wound up near the building that had seemingly exploded. She certainly isn't expecting to see anyone familiar there, especially not Adrien Agreste.

"Adrien, you too?" Who is kidnapping her classmates? Who'll show up next, Marinette? Kim? Ugh, Chloé? "Not too long ago, I've just been wandering. Do you know where we are?"

"I'm filming your dramatic entrance," she says, in a tone of voice that carries along the added, 'duh.' She presses pause on her recording and crosses her arms, looking him over.

"You would have scored higher, but you didn't announce yourself. Usually when a superhero arrives on the scene, they shout, 'Voilà, it's me, Darkcloak Redsword!' Or, whatever your name is. You should try it. That robotic voice has a real impact."

Somehow in her rambling it never occurs to her that maybe he's not a superhero after all. Maybe he's a villain.

Still, even the villains have cool names.

"Oof!" The word echoed between the buildings as Sheena found herself unceremoniously landing on her backside in an alley. "Dammit, Atia! What the hell kind of curse is this!" She demanded, getting to her feet. It was one thing to wake up in someone else's bed, but freefalling through the air to land on her ass was another. Wiping the dirt off her hands and clothing, she began to look around frantically.

Where was Tomoya?

She spotted the Corrine look-a-like at the end of the alley, his tails straight out as he made a growling sound. "What is it, Tomoya?" she asked the little animal. He couldn't talk, but like most animals could convey something wrong in other ways. Coming up beside him and looking out, she could see why he was upset. This didn't look like Atia... Slowly reaching up to her neck, she drew her hand away quickly in surprise before groping around her throat in disbelief.

There was no collar!

Looking down at the little animal, she smiled. "I don't think we're in Atia, anymore, Tomoya! We're...!" Wait a second... "Not home." Taking another look at their surroundings, Sheena shook her head in disbelief and spoke loud enough for passersby to hear.

"Another world? You've got to be kidding me!"

Not too long ago. That's...good. She probably hasn't come across a welcome centre yet, but that's fine. He can explain most of what she needs to know. He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, because this is going to sound crazy no matter how he puts it.

"Yeah, I do," okay here we go. "We're not in Paris any more. Or...Earth, actually. This city is called Keeliai, and it's on the back of a gigantic turtle."

A pause, then because even for them, where Weird Stuff Happening is basically a normal Tuesday, he earnestly adds.

"Really. I've been here for about three months."

Chat has been hanging around, watching people arrive, but mostly keeping an eye on the buildings. He doesn't want a repeat of the earthquake incident where people died. If he can stop that happening again, that would be great. There are no earthquakes, though, only person after person appearing from seemingly thin air.

He watches Sheena from atop a roof arch, the belt that makes his tail twitching seemingly of his own accord. He has no idea what the animal is, but it doesn't look regular. He's pretty sure it's not a kwami though, so...that's something.

"Sounds like you've done this other world dance before. Lucky you. Some of us didn't land on our feet so easily."

By this point, Sheena had crouched down next to Tomoya and was looking out among the place, formulating her next move. She still couldn't believe she was on yet another world and not her own. Sighing, she was scratching behind Tomoya's ear when she heard a voice come from above her. Rising quickly, she whirled around and got into her battle stance.

Realizing she wasn't under attack, she relaxed her guard and lowered her fists, a wry grin parting her lips.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't call it lucky. Nor would I say I landed on my feet," she said, glancing back over her shoulder.

Nyanko-sensei gave a solemn nod of agreement.

"That's right you see stranger things-"

He paused.

"Just who are you calling strange?!" The round cat demanded, furious and indignant at the notion his splendid self could be anything but magnificent.

The man who appears near the area of the explosion, at first glance, looks like he was caught in it--he's covered in blood and dust, and terribly injured, sprawled on the ground and gasping gurglingly for air. But he has no outside injuries; it's more like someone shoved their arm down his throat and tried to rip out his internal organs.

Which is pretty much what happened, except that the thing that was removed wasn't one of his natural organs. They're all still there ... just maybe not in exactly the right places, or with healthy working connections to one another.

Which is why Dex is choking on his own blood, his vision revolving on an axis when it chooses to work at all. He can still feel his heartbeat, but it's almost fascinating, how slow it feels, how distant it's getting. He knows he's in pain, but it's the sort that's so overwhelming that the sense of it is shutting down. It's there, he's just having trouble caring.

He's having trouble caring about a lot. The only reason he's still bothering to try and breathe is a long-ingrained impulse not to give in.

On your feet and don't stop moving, Vex.

That'd be lovely, Deuce, Dex thinks dizzily, if I could breathe.

His last memories are hazy. Scouting a town with the Monster Hunters. Remnants. Then scattered, dream-like flashes he isn't sure he's meant to remember at all, of being in another town, leading a town, holding Valkyrie's baby sister, confronting Darquesse ...

He really doesn't want to remember much after that.

So he just lays there, trying to breathe and feeling, with distant fascination, his life ebbing away.

It was chance. Sheer chance. Raine had been passing by the mouth of the alley, on an errand for something else, and she saw the flash of turquoise and curled tails, and she thought, just for a moment--

Well. She hadn't seen anyone from her world for nearly a year, now, and hope, unlikely as it was, leapt to attention. It was worth checking. Raine backtracked when she processed what she had seen, and she peered down the alley.

She inhaled sharply when she recognized the person there. Older, perhaps, but there were stranger things, and sight and mana both told her the same thing. "Sheena?"

The Dark One looks up in surprise at the man who is standing nearby and talking to him?

"A fog of dread surrounds my soul at the mere thought!"

Worlds darker than this one? That didn't sound very good at all. He definitely didn't want to go to any of them if they were worse than this. But now he's looking more closely at Kylo Ren and the way he's dressed.

"The ebon that shrouds you is like that which covers my very being. Does it reflect your inner self as it does mine?"

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

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[EVENT | FOURTH WALL] THE DREAMING'S FLATULENCE | APRIL 15-30

THE COLLEGE

THE ECHOES

THE STRUCTURAL DAMAGE

Marketplace

have a pot calling the kettle black

Water Sector

Wherever!

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Re: Water Sector

Re: Wherever!

aww yeah here we go

oh my god I love you

Re: Wherever!

no subject

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Marketplace | Amat CRAU Sheena

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1/2

2/2

I NEED HEALING; CW for blood and severe injury; some spoilers for last book of SP

hope this works c:

black like his soul