EVENT #07: ASPHODEL CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

[vivalamods]

EVENT #07: ASPHODEL CONSTRUCTION PROJECT PLANNING

The Corsairs have been mobilized and preparations are underway. As negotiators are dispatched to Vindess to prepare for the evacuation under Imperial noses, the crafters and suppliers set to work, preparing the new settlement and whatever airships can be spared for the evacuation. Some Corsairs have even taken it upon themselves to build or “liberate” more airships for the effort.

As always, when the goal is certain the Corsairs move as one. Together, they will see Asphodel completed. All hands are needed, the question is, where do you lend yours?

MISSIONS

Prepare Asphodel: Get the new settlement of Asphodel up and running to receive the refugees from Vindess.
Priority: Critical
Challenges: Corsairs will need to keep the settlement hidden while also making suitable housing and preparing farms and other amenities to sustain life. It will require a large amount of excavation to get in order, as well as construction of homes, furniture, and other facilities. The work will be backbreaking and the timetable is extremely aggressive.

Prepare Citizens for Evacuation: As the citizens of Vindess toil under Imperial lockdown, the Corsairs must prepare the entire population for evacuation.
Priority: Critical
Recommended Roles: Negotiators and Infiltrators
Challenges: Corsairs will need to convince the entire population to evacuate. There are a number of methods that can be employed, while many are going to be reluctant the Imperial crackdown has shaken the settlement and unease is high. There is evidence within the Imperial offices that Infiltrators can recover that show mass executions with lists of “dissidents” have been scheduled for April which the Corsairs might make use of if they choose to investigate. Other options include capturing potential dissidents and taking the entire willing population while executing or taking prisoner loyalists, or other methods the Corsairs determine for themselves to make this happen.


Acquire Airships: The Corsairs always need more airships, and moving an entire population will require heavy effort and can use as many ships as can be mustered.
Priority: Optional
Recommended Roles: All
Challenges: The Corsairs don’t have the major Ether Stones that serve as the airship engines and will need to either capture or salvage resources to increase the size of their fleet. While the Corsairs have been investigating airships that don’t require Ether stones, that research is still a distant dream, but some Corsairs may want to spend some time pushing that investigation along to see if they can make it a reality sooner rather than later.

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Comments

[singlemilletgrain]

"Your predecessor?"

She questions, for she does not understand to what he is referring. Perhaps the tree that provided the seed from which he grew?

"So what is it that brings you so far afield from your 'true body'?"

[heaven_rooted]

"The original tree my cutting was taken from."

Not too far off from Shu's assumptions.

"The short answer? The Empire. The Imperials have been working their way through the forests, taking and wasting it for their own resources. Illusions and curses will only prevent them from getting to the heart of the woods for so long."

He draws a rough circle in the dirt with a finger tip, poking a dot in its center. "My keeper wished for my safety. But they also hoped I could help to do something for our woods, find outside assistance, and there's only so much I can do and only so far I can go from my tree otherwise." His fingers smooth over the earth again. "I almost died because of the Imperials, but my keeper gave me their life."

[singlemilletgrain]

"Ah."

As usual, the Empire seems to be the focal point of many atrocities uniting all sorts of peculiar individuals.

"A familiar story, even if the details differ. I am sorry to hear of the circumstances. And you are hoping the Corsairs can help protect your woods? Is this not an urgent matter that might require our immediate attention? It does not take too long to level a forest with the level of technology in this world."

[heaven_rooted]

"I'm hoping they can help me protect my woods. I don't expect it to be without cost, which is why I've been helping them as a medic."

Tau wipes his hand off on his knee before he folds his arms.

"...for now the curse keeps the Empire from advancing, but I know it won't slow them for long. I had a look at some of the labor camps out in Larendt to get a feel for the situation. The workers aren't happy with their situation, but they're fearful of Imperial punishment."

[singlemilletgrain]

"Perhaps you should speak with the commander of the Flotsam flotilla. She may be able to spare some troops in between missions."

Shu regretfully does not have much advice by way of combat strategies.

"And how have you found your time with the Corsairs thus far? I am curious that you have chosen to take on such a form. Is there a particular reason - somebody you modeled yourself after? There are certain disadvantages to being viewed as a child."

[heaven_rooted]

"Maybe. I think our hopes are to get the Larendt workers to revolt and take our side. That would definitely deprive them of means to make a reasonable output, more so if it shuts down Imperial production completely."

Tau blinks, perhaps briefly puzzled at the question posed him. "It hasn't been too bad. People are careless and push themselves too much more often than not. They fight among themselves much too easily when their energy can be put to better use." A brow furrows as he tilts his head. "A humanoid form seems more reasonable to interact with others through. That's just how I manifested myself as, although I assume my predecessor also had such an appearance before he faded." He frowns a bit, looking mildly annoyed. "Roughly speaking, my age would be equivalent to my current appearance by their standards. I haven't had too much trouble. They learn fast not to underestimate me," he adds with an almost feral grin.

[singlemilletgrain]

So trees also had rebellious teenage phases. Fascinating. Shu smiles despite herself.

"You are shattering my image of trees as venerable sages of the forest. But I suppose all trees sprout from seeds and saplings in the beginning. Then -- if you are indeed the age that your appearance suggests..."

One might almost hear the gears whirring in Shu's head as they shift into Big Sister Mode.

"You are very young to take on such a burden. I hope you have found trustworthy allies in this community, for yours will be a protracted fight. If the time should come when your forest will be directly threatened, do not hesitate to call on me for aid. I do, after all, have a more direct stake in such things." Though she was more of a harvest deity and less of a nature deity. Still, the two were interconnected.

[heaven_rooted]

"They don't just come into existence that old," Tau snorts, although somewhat amused. The hint of a smile turns somewhat uncertain as Shu trails off into that thoughtful silence, and while he's not sure what might be going on through her mind, something about it triggers warning bells in his own head.

He blinks when she speaks again, his expression sobering as he nods. Imperials won't just leave due to an inconvenience. He'd heard what had happened with Hesaeth, and hoped that neither side would be so desperate to slight the other that they'd choose to raze Larendt's forests. Truthfully it's difficult not to be anxious when the threat exists and spreads like a disease biding its time.

"I'd rather hope we can do something before it comes down to such, but I'll hold you to that," he says, smiling crookedly.

[singlemilletgrain]

The warning bells are apt, even if nothing has outwardly appeared to shift. Or perhaps Shu's placid half-smile is just a tad bit more menacing...

"Best to be prepared for all eventualities."

She responds tritely, and a bit uselessly, for she does not think, 'our odds of success against the Empire may not be high' is a topic of conversation that one pursues with a relative stranger. For a time, she sits quietly, for she thinks she is tired of discussing the Empire and its ever-abundant crimes.

"...Tell me about your forest."

[heaven_rooted]

That's something Tau doesn't disagree to, offering a solemn nod. He can't anticipate how much more destructive the Empire might decide to be, and he doubts rumors and a few plants suddenly compromising some of their structures in the labor camps will truly keep them away.

He looks off into the distance, past the stretch of freshly sown fields as though he could see beyond them. He'd love to be anywhere but stuck underground again, but they have things to tend to.

"...it was peaceful. Everything was greener, more alive. There's no visible boundaries, it's just something you notice when you're there, a subtle shift in the atmosphere. There's a spell that keeps away those with intent to do harm, making a maze of sorts that keeps turning them back out to the rest of the woods they'd come from. But those seeking shelter would be able to pass through. I...don't know if it's the same now."

[singlemilletgrain]

"It seems like a beautiful story. A mystical forest protected by the spirits - the faeries that lead you astray in the tales of Victoria." Shu smiles, clearly more at ease with the change of subject. "And you came into existence in such a place? Are there many like you?"

Sensing his wistfulness, Shu taps him on the shoulder lightly.

"Here. Come with me."

[heaven_rooted]

Beautiful, huh? He supposes on a vague level it could be. He decides not to ruin Shu's perception of the place by mentioning its changes, but then he's not entirely sure how much has been affected since he'd left.

"No, just me. I don't know if other sorts of spirits like myself exist in this world, but I suppose it's not impossible. They might be more bound to their true nature and limited in where they can go."

Tau blinks, looking at Shu as his focus falls back into the present. "Hm?" He tilts his head, but pushes to his feet.

[singlemilletgrain]

"How curious your existence is, then." Shu blinks mildly. "One might call it a miracle of sorts, if you truly believe yourself to be unique among all creatures. Your predecessor brought you into being - and so on before that? But what was the prompt that created the first arboreal spirit?"

Leading Tau to the edge of the field, she gives him a slight nod.

"Here. Repeat after me."

Exhaling slowly, she closes her eyes and brings both palms together... then in a smooth motion, lunges upwards as if she were performing the 'tree' yoga pose.

...It is unclear how this is supposed to be useful in any sense.

[heaven_rooted]

"I don't know how I'd feel if I met someone who was like me but didn't have to go through the extra hoops to be this way," he notes dryly as he follows after her.

"All I know is what my keeper told me about what they learned from my predecessor. That there were numerous spirits of similar sorts, and other spirits would look after them because they couldn't go anywhere. I'm not sure how they came to be."

Tau stops as they get to the edge of the field, staring as Shu begins to...do something.

"...the hell are you doing."

[singlemilletgrain]

"Should not guardian spirits be more couth?"

Is couth even a real word? Shu betrays no hint of humor as she repeats the motion, looking a bit ungainly.
...And then the next time she does it, a little sprout pops out of the ground in front of them.

"Come. Think of your forest and repeat after me."

Again. And another small ripple of sprouts.

....omg

[heaven_rooted]

He still stares at her flatly. What did that have to do with...whatever this is?

His attention drops down towards the ground as something sprouts in response. Somehow. Something by the look on his face suggests that Tau is not entirely convinced of this. He folds his arms.

"Why?"

[singlemilletgrain]

"Because it is cute, and I saw it in a movie once when I visited Higashi, and I am trying to do you a favor."

She responds sagely.

The next motion brings up a small shrub.

[heaven_rooted]

"...there are so many weird words coming out of your mouth at once," Tau says, his position not having changed as he continues to look on. Oh, and now there's shrubbery. What is this??

"It seems impractical to make such gestures for that."

[singlemilletgrain]

"Oh, alright. If you're going to be that way. Do think of your forest, though."

Shu brings her hands together once more and lowers her head so that her pressed palms are up against her forehead. Then, with one great thrust upwards, there is the sound of a crack as the ground underneath the field erupts in a shower of dirt caused by a thousand trees reaching for the sky all at once. Winding and twisting, stretching and surging, the fragile stems thicken into wood and bark, solidify into a thousand old hardwoods whose roots skitter along the surface of the field and whose canopies suddenly cast all of the underground into shade. It is the gleam of fireflies that light their way now as they stand suddenly at the entrance to a thick and dark wood.

"I would like you to know you have ruined a dream of mine by being obstinate." Shu sighs. And however much Tau followed the instructions to think of his forest is however much this illusory wood will resemble his home. "...It is not real, of course. But since you have already seen my work, I do not mind so much."

[heaven_rooted]

Oh, he is most stubborn.

His smugness is interrupted at the sudden surge of power. It's strange, somehow even familiar although he can't quite place why.

As Tau starts to see what Shu is doing, he does push his thoughts towards home. They're old memories, for the earliest are the best, a dense wood where greenery thrived. A great old tree stands apart from things, dulling slightly, its own foliage thinning. A younger tree is rooted not too far beside it, with still much growing to do if it ever hopes to become like the other.

"...."

[singlemilletgrain]

And indeed, as he gazes around, he will spot those familiar trees. The gaps in his memories are filled in with generic foliage that blends in with the surroundings, but insofar as he seeks out anything specific, it will be present for him to glimpse. Shu gives him a little nod, then steps forward into the entrance of the wood, pushing aside some low-hanging branches.

"Why don't you show me around?"

[heaven_rooted]

It's strange, almost startling, even though he knows it's an illusion. He can feel the difference, so it's hard to quell the anxiousness of seeing but not sensing what he sees.

Tau smoothes out his expression into his usual neutral mien as he walks through these woods.

"You're scary," he can't help but say even as he navigates the shaded spaces, resting a hand on a trunk that he knows isn't really there.

[singlemilletgrain]

This child was sent by Shang Di to try her. Shu's cheeks puff out very slightly as she arches an eyebrow at Tau.

"I believe most people would say 'thank you' or in some other manner convey appreciation, rather than insult the gesture."

[heaven_rooted]

This is how he is around people he likes. He can be much worse when it's the opposite!

"Well it is," Tau says, laughing a little at the face she makes. Maybe he prides himself a bit in being able to get under her skin. "Most people don't conjure up entire gardens and forests from memories and dreams."

His hand brushes against a tree trunk in passing, fingers pulling away as though touching something unfamiliar. In a sense it is, because there's no response from the trees that he would expect, not in these. They may not have the same awareness as he does, but they still had their way of responding, old friends and distant relatives of a sort.

"We're in the oldest part of the grove," he says, pretending like nothing had happened as he continues, stepping over old, gnarled roots that rise up from the ground, skirting around patches of flowers and moss. "That's the Old Man, not that he's really there anymore. After my cutting was taken from him, he gave the rest of himself the forest around, to continue to thrive."

[singlemilletgrain]

"You have caught me in a nostalgic mood." Shu responds with a slight shake of her head. "It has been many years since I have done something like this. But tonight, you see... I was remembering. So why not share our memories?"

Though she is the one responsible for this, Shu touches as little as possible. It seems inappropriate, in a way, to place her hands upon this precious memory of her companion. She was a visitor, a guest in this space, and she listens with the appropriate solemnity as Tau speaks.

"There can only be one of you? Is that the way it works?"