Hades 💀 Plot 1 - Execution Phase

[blessmefather]

Who: Open to all Corsair characters
What: Evacuating a village and prepping for a landslide. Then the landslide.
Where: A small hidden village in the forest at the foot of a mountain
When: Backdated to the 4th of March


Surveying the Area

Those who have influence over the elements, or know how to calculate a way to divert some of the impending landslide will want to explore the village layout and the area around it. The village is a humble circle of stone and wood buildings surrounded on all sides by old, towering trees, with a few trees in between some buildings. The ground of the village has been leveled, but upon reaching the edge of the village on the mountain side, the ground makes a steep incline. An old stone wall a little taller than the nearest hut was assembled on this side of the village to divert falling rock or water, but there's no saying something only so tall and worn with age will stand up to the kind of disaster Matt has been warning of.

Evacuating the Residents

Matt has visited this village before during his travels and has good relationship with the elders. It will take some pleading, but the elders will eventually agree to evacuate on the off chance the disaster really comes. Most of the villagers follow their leaders' words, and start packing some supplies and cherished belongings. While it's a small village, some people unintentionally slow the process. Some have pets or livestock to wrangle, others have mobility issues, and there are those who just can't decide what to bring and are having trouble thinking clearly due to panic.

Convincing the Stubborn

A few intentional stragglers insist on staying in their homes. Their neighbors plead with them to come, but they insist that the village wall will hold. One or two might even believe the Imperial propaganda that that Corsairs are up to no good. Do the Corsairs trust their plans to protect the village will protect the stubborn, or do they try to convince them? Or do they take different measures to get them out?

The Landslide

Matt warns all the Corsairs of the time arriving. Within the next ten minutes, there's an unmistakable crash of rocks up the mountain, and the avalanche begins. Any last evacuations must be completed and those using magic or tools to protect the village must hurry to wherever they deem most fitting for their part. Sure enough, a massive wave of rock and dirt tosses up dust as a frightening chunk of the mountain gives way above.

Note: Due to the scale of the challenge, this is being treated like an event, and players may tag each other and post top levels instead of just interacting with Matt's top levels.

Comments

[newmemorywhodis]

Huh.

Well, that guy's weird.

Link's not going to worry about it, though. Instead, he just climbs the tree again - and soon, Tau might see Link paragliding off of it into the distance.

[heaven_rooted]

"....."

Tau glances up at the brief shadow that passes above. He shakes his head.

"What a weird guy."

Surveying the Village.

[bearsperminute]

"Let me get a feel for that retaining wall..." She hums, closing her eyes and extending her senses as she walks along the wall. What's going on in there...?

After all, if it were just a bad landslide, chances were, there'd be something to do about it. Simple reinforcement, or raw power where nothing less would do.

And so, here she is, walking the wall, touching it with one hand, tracing it, trying to feel as deep into the earth as she can. "... Wish I still had my Custom..."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link is, of course, on the wall. He always likes to be up high, if he can. He pauses in his own surveying to watch Kanna.

And makes a faintly puzzled, inquisitive noise when she speaks. What's her 'Custom'?

[bearsperminute]

"My last Walker-Armor was a lot fancier," she explained. "It was made custom for my abilities. In this case, I'm missing a dowsing array which would tell me immediately if the wall's been undermined by water erosion."

Landslide

[newmemorywhodis]

Link - irritatingly devoid of any abilities which would be able to protect the village itself - is ushering out the last few evacuees. If he's lucky, he'll get them out of the danger zone before the landslide hits.

He's not lucky.

The first thing that grabs his attention is the sound. The rocks and dirt thunder as they slide down, and the cacophony is deafening. It's almost overwhelming.

The second thing that grabs his attention is the massive boulder that is heading right for them.

For weeks now, Link has been throwing his arm at random objects, hoping that Ultrahand would return. But it's only now - as the massive boulder is about to flatten them all, and he instinctively throws his arm up - that it finally works.

The landslide continues to fall, but the boulder hangs in mid air - held aloft by a beam light - as Link's right arm glows and transforms in appearance.

[spacetogrow]

Ilphyl nodded. "Sounds good. And I do have a bit to spare, though I'm more used to using it on undergrowth than trees."

[heaven_rooted]

"Hm. Well, if you can help encourage some of that undergrowth, it'd be better than nothing. The more things intertwined with the ground and what's below, the better."

Evacuating the Residents

[theriflespiral]

Surprisingly, there is one boat in particular that keeps making the run up to the island's shore-- the sea sloop Humboldt, registered to Penguin Logistics.

When it arrives, it carries food, and Elysians, and news of the world-- not just food, but hot food; anyone who accepts helping deliver supplies, and any refugee from the village, is treated to pancakes and watercress and stuffed blin at the camp they've set up.

When it leaves, it is carrying evacuees or Corsairs rotating through.

For now, however, it is moored, because her captain's captain has decided to arrive today-- not least because she has learned that there are people who need a hand with herding animals.

It's been years since she's done herding, but she has help from the villagers and probably from other Corsairs.

Is anyone else working to move these animals?

[newmemorywhodis]

"...Like Esthere Armor?" Link says, thinking of the large armoured constructs that people used in this world.

Or did she mean normal armour - like the Hylian armour Link now wore, stolen back from the Empire? He glances down at his own leathers, then looks back at her with a questioning look.

[bearsperminute]

"Yep! I was a pilot." She pauses. "Still am. Uh--"

Actually, wasn't he the one she deflected that spear for? She cleared her throat slightly, and proclaimed in exactly the same tone as she had bowling over the Schild, "'Hold it right there!', remember?"

[blessmefather]

The elders exchange looks. Gisela sighs. "I can't ask the entire village to pack up their belongings on a whim. Are you really sure the risk is beyond what our wall can handle?" she asks.

"I'm positive," Matt insists. "It's a long story, but if you need proof now, perhaps we can show you? We have the airships and armor to fly you closer to see."

"I can't say any of us have been... fans of flying... Is that really the only way to show us?" Gisela wonders. The elders all look uneasy at the idea.

Re: Landslide

[bearsperminute]

Kanna's been busy getting the last people through, and was just about to start to try and interrupt the landslide itself when Link got out the telekinesis.

"What--" No time to really think about it, and it's not even the weirdest Ether power she's ever seen (thank you, Iris). Kanna swings through one rock, stopping it and tossing it towards another free-flying boulder, bringing them both to a stop. "C'mon, forest boy, we don't have time to stare!"

[blessmefather]

The rumbling from the mountain grows louder and closer, dust rising in the air. Matt's barrier of energy continues to grow, reaching higher and passing beyond the top of the old wall. "Everyone, brace for impact!" he shouts, though it should be clear to anyone in the area that the first of the rock and earth sliding down the mountain is about to make contact with the barrier.

He's faintly aware of Tau's energy nearby, but he has to commit his concentration to their task. Lucky (?) for Tau, Matt cannot simply turn and see the horns that have appeared on his head.

[heaven_rooted]

He can sense it, like a shiver in the air as the trees beyond the wall detect the increased rumbling from further above.

"Stand firm!" Tau growls, head turning back towards the mountainside. He can't give them any more, not without becoming at risk himself, but he remains with his hands firmly against he trunk as though he means to support it with his own strength. In a way he does, while simultaneously borrowing off of its more direct contact with the earth, sensing through it the network of roots and the status of the trees already starting to take the brunt of the mountain's rebellion.

It's terrifying to hear, that sound, but any fear Tau feels is bolstered by anger. And sorrow. He knows that there's only so much the trees beyond can do, and he knows they'll do what they can, because there's little other choice. But little will know or understand their sacrifice.

[redprayer]

Surveying the Area

The stone wall that is intended as a bulwark captures Rezo's interest in particular, and he can be found among the Corsairs examining it. He traces his hands along the worn stone, feeling out the condition of it and working out the proportions.

"Earth magic could serve to reinforce this," he muses, "But where should the raw material come from?" He doesn't want to dislodge stone and dirt from the wrong place, after all, and hasten the very disaster they're trying to mitigate.

The (Post?)Landslide

Physical reinforcements and evacuations are all handled, and when everyone receives the alert Rezo hurries to the village hall and, aided, by a levitation spell, leaps up onto the roof.

"{Windy Shield!}"

He pours as much energy into the spell as he can spare, growing the shield so that it encompasses not only the building but a bit of the surrounding area, forming a spherical barrier of wind strong enough to repel any stray rocks and rubble that smack against it.

He'll be at this for a while, but when everything is quiet, Rezo drops the spell. He takes a breath- and at that moment he feels himself get hit by a cloud of dust that sets him to coughing.

Damn. Right. The avalanche would have sent up masses of dust. Rezo does his best to hold his breath as he whips off the sash he has tied around his waist and wraps it over his mouth and nose. The effects of the air magic have kept Rezo out of the worst of it, but now there's not much to do but literally let the dust settle.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link's mouth opens in a wordless oh of realisation - that had been her, hadn't it? But she'd been hidden within the Schild at the time, and he hadn't quite remembered the connection.

But he remembers now, so he nods.

[bearsperminute]

"Yeah. Usually I try and stay in the armor, but for things like this a closer inspection's needed." She grins, but that fades as she hums. "And Matt was right. It's really feeling its age... Even if it were overhauled, enough weight, and..."

Re: Landslide

[newmemorywhodis]

A quick glance towards Kanna - Link has absolutely not been standing around just staring, thank you very much - but he doesn't voice any annoyance.

Instead, he just moves the captured boulder in the air, over towards the ones Kanna just stopped. Once they boulders are next to each other, a green glue-like substance appears between them - and suddenly, all three boulders are now stuck to each other.

Lifting them up once more, he holds the boulders up in-between the still incoming landslide, and the civilians. Now at least there's a barrier, which should help keep them all a little safer.

It's going to keep Link busy, though. So Kanna's going to need to keep on top of anything that might get past the boulder barrier.

[newmemorywhodis]

Link is quiet, as he looks at the wall with her.

He's not nearly as knowledgeable about construction - most of what he knows comes from haphazard Ultrahand experiments - but even he can see the wall's age.

"...We can't fix it?" he asks softly. Though he thinks he knows already the answer.

[bearsperminute]

"Rather, even if we fix it, if the slide's too heavy, it's going to collapse. It's..."

She taps one of the supports with her knuckles. "Here, let me draw--"

She's not a great artist, but it gets the idea across; the wall is decently heavy, decently thick, but it's supported by a limited amount of trench beforehand and driven posts. "So if it has to hold up a mountain--"

She makes a motion of tipping over the whole thing and blows a short raspberry.

Re: Landslide

[bearsperminute]

She takes the blows of a few stray rocks, less than the size of her palm but rough on her regardless. But she's wading through the advancing scree, regardless. She'll regret it, probably, for the rest of the month--

But better those pieces hit her and her bones than the people behind her. Besides, she's after bigger prey. Namely, the one a few seconds off, bounding down the mountainside like an unfortunate puppy that doesn't know it can crush a house.

Strikes land among some of the larger pieces as she builds up her Ether, then-- "IPPATS--"

Her fist burns with orange Ether and shatters the boulder, sending its pieces several which ways, where they tumble to a stop inches from the crowd. The transfer of energy sends her sliding back, and she waves her hand with an extremely annoyed air-- but she's back in it soon enough.

She tests that hand. "... Huh. Not broken, at least."

Her glove is toast, though, and it'll turn out later that her right hand's knuckles are torn up. "Right, next is... that one..."

[newmemorywhodis]

Ah.

Mountains are big.

Link gets the idea.

"...We need to get everyone out." Because if the wall couldn't hold back the landslide, they weren't going to be able to construct one that would in time.

[newmemorywhodis]

There are screams from the small group of villagers, as the shattered pieces of the boulder rain down around them. With them huddled as they are underneath Link's boulder-barrier, none of them take any hits - Kanna's not missing a beat. She's keeping it all from them.

But that doesn't mean that the villagers aren't still terrified.

Reassurance isn't Link's strong suit. Neither is staying in relative safety while someone else takes risks. But he tries anyway.

"You're safe," he tells them. "Stay low." And then he tries to peer around the boulder-barrier to see what's coming. Is the landslide starting to slow at all?

[blessmefather]

Matt has been busy collecting information via his senses and from those surveying the area, and reassuring the Elders, but he has a moment to breathe near where Natalia is helping to herd the animals.

He's no animal expert himself; certainly nothing compared to the druid on their team, but a stubborn goat catches his attention. While most of the herd is moving along, one of the goats seems loathe to move from its pen. Matt tilts his head, silent at first as he concentrates on the straggler.

"Ah," he murmurs, nodding to himself. He turns towards Natalia and gestures back at the goat. "She's pregnant."