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]

"Ah, naturally. How clever and learned you are. Your adeptness with machinery has translated into your own brand of ether usage."

If it sounds a bit hollow, it probably is because it very much is a bit hollow, even if Shu is doing her best to inject pep into her voice. She does not fail to notice the expression of confusion on Donnie's face.

...Well. Despite that she genuinely wanted to have one interaction with Donnie without upsetting him (there had been a poor track record in previous months), it seemed she was already doing so without meaning to.

"...I do mean that. My apologies for appearing distracted." A slight sigh. "I wish I did not keep upsetting you, but... may I inquire if you have spoken to Raphael yet?"

[purplexing]

"I'm not upset..." he says, although now that she mentions it, Donnie wonders if that's what it is. He looks away, mentally trying to pick apart that knot. "...are you?"

His mood lifts, if cautiously so as Shu mentions Raphael. He smiles faintly. "I did, actually. It's really strange...how much he's like my brother, and yet not." Kind of painful too, but...they're both brotherless.

"I found him at my garden. It was kind of awkward at first, sure, but...we managed."

[singlemilletgrain]

"Ah!" She breathes a sigh of relief. "Good, good. I had hoped you would." Knowing Donnie, it could have gone one way or the other. He had a habit of disappearing into work whenever something was bothering him. "Then, if you have gotten to know each other, this is much less uncomfortable to say."

"Raphael used the exact same kind of magic, only to create weapons." She shakes her head. "At the time, I took it as a sign that everything was some strange coincidence, for surely you had never displayed such an ability before. And now I see you manifesting the exact sort of powers, down to a, ah... 'signature color.' How extraordinarily bizarre this parallel dimension business is."

[purplexing]

"Raph can do this too??" Donnie blinks, because that's certainly news to him. He looks...confused, maybe almost lost for a moment. Is it just a thing they all do where Raph is from then? Or was it some kind of Ether side-effect like Donnie had thought his had been.

"He makes weapons...?" Maybe he seems a bit conflicted at that. He'd thought this brand of Ether magic had been a him-thing. Really, it probably shouldn't bother him except it is and he doesn't know why.

He doesn't even bother pulling out his staff to make a point, not when he can just literally conjure one up in his hand, which he does. If Shu's watching carefully she can see that it pieces together from the inside out, just as it would be were Donnie to fashion the thing by hand. The only difference is that it's simply made up of glowing outlines. And then he adds the sharp, extruded blade at the top.

[singlemilletgrain]

"A large shield." She recalls thoughtfully. "As well as gauntlets to enhance his physical abilities. Ah -- yes. Like that, but super-sized. We were fighting off a large... queen of insects of some sort. He used the shield to deflect acid and the gauntlets to fight."

But now she is observing that Donnie looks less than pleased, and her previous intimation that this might be upsetting to him for one reason or another has returned.

"...You are finding it uncomfortable. Perhaps I should not have mentioned it after all."

[purplexing]

"I... No, it's not..." Donnie frowns, shaking his head as he lets the weapon vanish.

Wait, Raph hadn't mentioned anything about acid, had he? He'd looked more or less fine to him otherwise, save for the damage to his shell and plastron, but Donnie hadn't thought to ask about those just yet.

"I didn't think any of my brothers could do this sort of thing. I didn't know I could, all I knew about Ether before I joined the Corsairs was that too much could kill you."

His hand can't help but stray to where one of those control bands had been affixed, rubbing at a memory that's never quite faded.

"But maybe Raph...that Raph, has always had such an ability. I guess there's a lot I still don't know about him."

[singlemilletgrain]

"I did not ask."

She shakes her head slightly.

"All I did was confirm my suspicions that he was in some way connected to your family. ...And ask him for a bit of time to break the news to you. But I am sure he would be happy to discuss it - it did seem like second nature to him."

She furrows her brow briefly as she considers the issue at hand.

"...Do you remember a few months ago when I was reading fortunes, Donnie?"

[purplexing]

"I...I know. There's a lot I want to ask him about but...I didn't want to overwhelm him." Or overwhelm himself, more likely. Donnie had been grateful enough that they'd managed to connect at all. He hadn't been quite sure how it would have worked out, and when he did come upon Raph, even though he'd spent the day looking for him, the turtlekin had no real plan as to where to go from there once he managed to find him.

Donnie blinks, head lifting.

"...yeah? When you were talking about trying to get me apprenticed so I could get a job and a new house?"

[singlemilletgrain]

"At a time in the future."

She responds without sounding even the slightest bit repentant.

"I do still think you should consider a formal work-study. It could serve you well."

Really, he's brought this on himself by bringing it up at all. Shu seems as if she might possibly start in about 401Ks when she raises a finger.

"Ah, but I was saying... The fortunes. The metaphor I use to describe the future is like a flowing stream. There are many rivulets down which the water may flow and many obstacles in the way that may divert it one way or the other. Those rivulets may reintegrate at any point or they may diverge into major forks that no longer have anything in common but their headwaters.

"However, if we are considering the idea of a parallel existence, it would perhaps be akin to sharing the same stream as your other self. There are differences in the details and differences in the obstacles you have faced, but on the whole, you have taken a similar path down this stream - like two boats occasionally drifting apart and coming back together. This is not to say that you share the same fate as that other Donnie, but simply that it would make sense if, for some reason or another, you developed similar abilities in response to similar aggravations. You might diverge - or you might not. It probably doesn't matter as the boats are not tethered together. You are simply sharing the waters."

[purplexing]

Oh yes, he looks terribly thrilled at having reminded her of that. Donnie tries very hard not to frown, waiting for her to make her point even as he hopes it wasn't instead revisiting that whole conversation.

Instead she speaks of water. It makes sense though, this comparison. It also is really strange to think about the existence of another Donnie, stranger still to hear one so freely mentioned, but the fact is that there is another him, somewhere beyond this world and universe. Another Donnie that might be missing his Raph right now.

"Sharing the waters..." he echoes, and while he does give into a frown, it's not so much out of being upset as it is just...sad. He'll have to make sure this Raphael will be all right, so he can one day get back to his family. Because...that's what family does.

[singlemilletgrain]

"Of course, down this stream, I do foresee a nice white house with blue trim and a vegetable garden..."

For both the Donnies. But Donnie perhaps knows Shu will enough by now to tell when her pleasant, neutral smile has shifted into her teasing, sardonic smile. There is perhaps two pixels' worth of movement in the set of her lips.

"I must have you both over for dinner sometime, when you are more comfortable. Your brother, even if a slightly different brother, would be a very important guest, after all."

[purplexing]

"....." Donnie's expression flattens abruptly, and he puffs his cheeks out as he gives her a pointed look. But at least she's not being serious (at the moment), not that it keeps him from sighing. Heavily.

The prospect of dinner along with his brother does sound nice though. He's sure Raph would enjoy a good meal, if he's anything like the Raph he knows. "...I think that could be nice," he says.

[singlemilletgrain]

Donnie gets a beatific smile, like a Renaissance Madonna. ...He would get a pat on the head if he were closer.

"And come to think of it -- ! How exciting it will be to perhaps have a guest who will finish all of the food."

This has literally never happened. But Raph is a very Large Person and as such, she imagines he has an appetite to match.

"I shall have to see if I am up to the task. ...What kinds of food does the Raphael you know prefer?"

[purplexing]

Wow, what a shift. It makes Donnie just a touch suspicious, but then he knows that Shu loves to prepare a feast. At least now he has someone to pass anything he feels he can't finish. ...if Shu doesn't stuff Raph before then.

He wouldn't put it past Raph to finish off things. At times Donnie can have a sizable appetite himself, but he'd never be able to out-eat his older brother.

"My Raph will eat anything," he says. "That's how I found out most of the effects of the plants I've studied from the woods."

[singlemilletgrain]

This is exactly what inspired Shu's rant about safeguarding Donnie's future a few months ago. The Madonna smile wavers.

"...You do hear how alarming that sounds, don't you?"

Sometimes, directness was key.

"Please do not feed random objects to your siblings. ...Or to yourself. Why don't I prepare a menu and you can approve it later? In the meantime..."

So returning back to the subject of white houses with blue trim...

"Why don't you tell me more about what you've been working on? It has struck me that perhaps, it would be useful if I understood a bit more about Ether."

[purplexing]

Oh now what did he- oh.

"I didn't feed them anything! They do it themselves! Lick weird things, touch weird things! Even in spite of my warnings of previous times," Donnie feels the need to correct. But just because his brothers did dumb things didn't mean he couldn't learn from them.

"I haven't had any problems with anything you've prepared before but...if you want, I guess I can see."

He looks back at the wall as Corsairs continue clearing out rubble from the new opening. "Well, we need more space and more...everything, really. This is me taking a break from helping with building frameworks for the buildings that need to go up." He blinks. "Or...oh, did you mean like...with the drill and stuff?"

[singlemilletgrain]

"Mmm..."

Given she had already pursued the question of 'were they raised in a barn' (yes) in a previous conversation, she will not carp on the issue now. Her disapproval remains evident.

"Yes, with the drill and stuff." A flicker of a smile. "I understand why that rock needed to be removed. But how do you bend Ether to such a means? I have not seen it be used in such a flexible fashion before."

[purplexing]

Donnie seems to brush off any of that remaining disapproval. He's said his piece!

"Well...I guess it's just how I found it easiest to apply it. I know people seem to more commonly command the elements and such with it but...I've never once thought of how to even try such a thing. Even now I wouldn't know how you would do it. I tried to sit in a class once, just to see if it'd help me understand but...a lot of the explanations kept rounding back to some sort of feeling or another and I wasn't sure what to do with that."

He holds his hands out, that brilliant light glowing again, finer lines of magenta tracing out tiny gears and intricate pieces that fit snugly against each other, already moving as outer layers cover it up to create a little pocket watch in his hand.

"I understand that it's an energy. And that energy just needs to be pushed into some kind of reaction. Ether stones power lamps and airships by the energy stored within. Ether is simultaneously contained and not, because it's part of the atmosphere, part of us. So we're the stone, and simultaneously the controller of the output and how it's used. For me, it's easier to envision that in a tool, or an appliance, a drill or an Armor cannon."

[singlemilletgrain]

“My conception of Ether largely involves being struck by fireballs so far.” She will admit with a shake of her head. “I believe what you are describing is fairly analogous to what I understand to be Arts Units. The power I told you about before - Originium - can be channeled through a conduit. But still, even at home, this involves the creation of elemental forces to use in offensive power.”

She reaches out a hand towards the manifested pocket watch.

“May I? …You see, it is somewhat of a miracle to create matter out of thin air. Is this a real object or is it an illusory projection?”

[purplexing]

He tilts his head, holding the watch out to set into her hand. It doesn't weigh anything and yet it is solid, a gentle warmth with an underlying vibration that suggests the inner workings at work, even as the finest hand on the clock face moves along with each tick.

Donnie massages at the space between his brows. "Something in between? It's...real enough, it functions, but it's still impermanent. I've been doing it all this time without something to focus through, which... I didn't realize was a thing until I was talking with Renne about how to streamline her casting ability."

[singlemilletgrain]

Shu chuckles briefly as she investigates the pocket watch in minute detail.

"But you are showing off." She says this fondly, without a trace of rancor or distaste. "Do you think I do not understand how delicate the inner workings of this object are? To create a working replica with your mental stamina alone must require an intricate understanding of each individual piece. I could not draw you a blueprint of what is inside a watch, let alone hold its imagery so vividly in my mind that I can call it to life. I presume it is not possible that Ether can simply 'fill in the missing bits' if you do not have a precise conception of what you are trying to create."

She returns it to his hand after she is satisfied.

"Well. I do not think that is the kind of Ether I will be able to manipulate. But if you can create something as precise as a watch and something as powerful as a drill the size of a small vehicle, I wonder if you truly grasp the extraordinary nature of what you are doing.

"As for a focus, perhaps I can provide some insight. Arts Users can also use their own bodies as a Unit. It is... highly dangerous, for I have told you of the perils of Originium. But perhaps you are using yourself as a conduit."

[purplexing]

Donnie smiles sheepishly as he scratches the back of his head. It's not necessarily a denial.

"It's one of the first things I ever figured out how to take apart and make work again. It was so fascinating how every little piece fit together, and to watch it all move."

He lets it disappear as well once it's returned, brilliant little motes of colored light.

"I think that's just my way of...casting. Rezo would use words for some of his spells, so maybe...picturing how to piece things together into a functioning construct is the same thing." He ducks his head then. "Ah... that's also what I've wondered. It'd explain why it's straining to hold things for long or make more complicated objects. I made Renne a glove so she can channel Ether without having to pull out her ENC to use, so I was considering making use of something similar."

[singlemilletgrain]

"You started with a pocket watch?"

Of course he started with a pocket watch.

"...Most children would start with something like a toy car." Well. His father probably doesn't seem to have bought them any toys. "If it is anything like Arts, creating a unit as a conduit should release some of the strain. Particularly if you can store a crystal. Most Arts users have their Unit double as their weapon - a staff of some sort, generally speaking, though that is usually more for the aesthetics than anything else."

[purplexing]

"Well, no. I started with a lamp but because the one dad found stopped working. He brought me the pocket watch after one of his supply trips to Elysium. It was just a little broken, I think someone probably dropped it and the parts were knocked out of alignment."

Donnie sighs wistfully. He'd lost that pocket watch when the Imperials took him in and doubted anyone had kept it since the glass had a big crack in it and the casing had been dented. But it had still been a treasure of his and he missed it.

"It sounds like it might be. The Ether stones we got are a completely different level than the ones that we commonly used. They're purified, and the difference is like day and night for how easy it is to tap into." He tilts his head. "I've considered implementing it with my staff but I think I'd rather have it where I don't have to worry about pulling it out. I considered reworking my ENC bracer for it but I wonder if it'll interfere."

sorry for the enormous delay!

[singlemilletgrain]

Well. Maybe a slight upwards revision of Donnie's father if he at least was aware of his childrens' interests. Her eyes wander upwards.

"Perhaps your goggles."

There was no rule that Arts Units had to be on items that were considered to be of offensive use, after all. Still, perhaps fitting in a crystal would interfere with the purpose of actually seeing through the lenses.

"I have never used Arts or Ether magic before." She shakes her head slightly. And though Donnie might find this odd given how many times she has used healing around him, this is a true statement. "But if I am going to be in this world much longer, I should learn to utilize its resources. If I were to ask you how one might begin to channel Ether, what would be the best way to go about it?"