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

[blessmefather]

Speaking with the Elders

"Matthias, it's been a while! What brings you back?" One of the village elders, an old halfling woman, greets him when he leads the way for the other Corsairs into the village hall where the elders normally meet to discuss concerns. Her chest is covered in numerous beaded necklaces that clink when she moves. Other elders wear similar necklaces but none quite as exquisite. It would seem that she is the leader among them.

Matt smiles and steps forward. "Hello, Gisela. I wish I was here to catch up, but I come with a warning instead."

"I had a bad feeling when I saw all those airships hovering in the sky. What's going on?" Gisela asks, eyes narrowing.

"We don't have much time, so I'll get right to it," Matt replies. He tells the elders about his foresight and the landslide, that it will happen later today, and that the scale is large enough to wipe out the village.

"Our village has stood safe for centuries," Gisela insists, "We have fortified the mountainside with a wall that has kept us safe. Why would this time be different?"

Matt lets out a quiet sigh that the Corsairs standing near him can hear. He might have to give his full story about the Will of Hades after all, unless someone can convince them with another approach.

The Landslide

For Matt, his effort to protect the village itself comes down to the raw power of his new abilities. He hadn't been much of a spellcaster in his first life outside religious ceremonies and first aid in a group effort, but he's determined to try. Dark plumes burst from the ground around his feet as he starts to summon forth the power of Hades, and he sprints for the mountainside edge of the village, cane left behind.

The old wall that had protected the village from old avalanches will only do so much, but it makes a good marker for his senses of where the village edge is and how wide. He raises his arms and wills a barrier of magic energy to begin forming from somewhere under the ground up, as if the underworld below was leaking energy up into the living world.

Surveying the Area

[heaven_rooted]

He'll leave the negotiating and whatnot to people who actually like talking to people. Tau knows where his specialties lie, and he has, in a way, his own people to address.

There may not be such spirits as himself here, but the forest still has its voices. It's just that not many can hear it.

"Oi, I know it's not much, but they've been good to you, haven't they? Better than those Imperial bastards."

Whoever else might out surveying may just come across him or...well, he's not being very quiet about it. But who's he talking to...?

"Oh, don't give me that, old man. Your roots probably go deeper than most. Bet you've felt it, this mountain's older than you. And it's not going to hold up long. You've probably never thought you'd have to see battle, but this is as close as it'll come."

He's...addressing the trees. And what might be stranger, you get this odd feeling that something may actually be listening. There's a stillness to the air, and then the gentle susurrus of thousands of leaves stirred by the faintest of breezes.

[spacetogrow]

Surveying the Village
Ilphyl is regarding the incline. "That's definitely too steep for trees to help stabilize the ground. Some kind of ground cover might work. Or stone walls." It doesn't have to hold for long, but buying time to do a better evacuation means the villagers can take more supplies and precious possessions with them.

Evacuating the Residents
Ilphyl's ability to talk to animals (or, failing that, to charm them) means they are helping with pets and livestock. You might see them having a seemingly one-sided conversation with a cow or a rooster about why they need to follow Ilphyl and the humanoid residents of the village to somewhere unfamiliar.

Landslide
Ilphyl has cast a levitation spell -- they don't have true flight, but they can at least get to a few spots marked to set up some breaks designed to redirect the earth. They don't have enough magic to do more than a few -- so had to wait to confirm which spots would be best -- but they will be working until there's nothing to be done.

Re: Surveying the Area

[spacetogrow]

Look, talking to plants is perfectly normal, though Ilphyl would need to prepare a spell to be understood and have an actual conversation. And Ilphyl does have a sense that the forest is... well, awake is the best word they can come up with. They have the sense of a being that is normally content to just let time flow, but at the moment is having to focus on some tiny detail.

They wait for what seems like a lull in the conversation rather than the party that Ilphyl can't currently hear talking, and speak up. "How is the negotiation going?"

Speaking with the Elders

[spacetogrow]

"Um, ma'am?" Ilphyl is willing to kneel so they can make eye contact with the woman rather than talk down on her. "We can double-check the slope again, but it looks like it's been eroding bad. Especially farther up. If something starts up there, by the time it hits the lower slopes, it will have enough power to just scoop them up, and crest the wall. It's a lot easier to see by air than it is by ground, I'm afraid."

[heaven_rooted]

"Tch. They're crusty old guys but they're stubborn too," Tau snorts. "And it's not like they have much options, but they won't let themselves be mowed down without a fight. I know they're only so strong though, so it's still a big ask, but they're already stretching, digging in."

For all his seeming annoyance, he still smiles fondly at the forest surrounding them.

"I'll give them what I can. But only so much can be done if the very mountain is going to be against us."

[spacetogrow]

"I had to gear most of my magic to getting people's animals out and shoring up the rocks, but I can spare a bit to help, if you and they want it."

Ilphyl's sense of what a forest is will always be the zurkhwood forests they grew up around, but any large and sessile being -- whether it is a fungus or a plant -- needs something to anchor it. And neither roots nor mycelia grow quickly.

[heaven_rooted]

"This land is old, and it hasn't been easy for these guys to establish themselves, but they have. Plants are resilient. But they still need a good foothold. I can't do anything for the ground itself, but if you have any thoughts on how to help with that..."

Tau shrugs. "But anything you can offer will be better than nothing."

Landslide

[heaven_rooted]

Matt plies his powers to fortifications, and Tau, to the very trees of the woods. It's been tiring work, and there are simply too many trees to 'bless' but he offers a touch to the oldest and some of the younger, strengthening roots so that they can hold firmer. Trees that will be at the forefront, trees that will support them, roots intertwining deep beneath the surface.

Branchlike horns have sprouted from his brow, a sure sign he's been pushing himself as his guise has started to slip. He rests his hands against the large trunk of another tree as he hears the rumblings from above.

The strange energies from beneath make him shiver, even if they're the echoes of something happening elsewhere, and he turns his head towards the direction of that release point.

[spacetogrow]

Ilphyl considered. "I can turn some rock to mud, but too much and it would slide before the trees could get their roots in."

[heaven_rooted]

Tau shakes his head. "I think that'd be more risky than anything else. It might even trigger a closer landslide." And that's not exactly something they need.

"Most of them are established enough," he says as he looks back at the trees. "They just need some strenghtening."

[newmemorywhodis]

Tau's not the only one who's avoiding talking to people. Link too is out surveying the landscape - something which often involves climbing up trees and other high places.

Link hadn't been expecting someone to start talking to the tree he was using as a vantage point. But he's met the Deku tree, so it doesn't strike him as that odd. Though he can't remember spotting any face on this one before he climbed it.

Not inclined to interrupt someone else's conversation - even one with a tree - Link just waits. And listens, of course. Eventually, the man will probably notice that Link's here. He's not hiding.

[heaven_rooted]

There's no obvious response. The green-haired kid below might just as well be crazy. He at least has a reputation of throwing people overboard back on Flotsam.

After the breeze seems to die down, Tau nods.

"I know it'll be tough. You won't be alone. I'll give you what I can." He pauses, head lifting. "Mm? Oh. I'm sure he's not thinking of nesting."

His eyes skim the branches before fixing on Link directly. "You're just up there for the view, right?"

[newmemorywhodis]

As a response, Link drops down from the tree. He lands deftly on the grass next to Tau.

"It's tall," he says. Taller than the other trees in the area, which was why it was a good spot to scout from. He'd gotten a good view up there.

Now, though, Link looks at the tree with a faint frown. Where's its face?

[heaven_rooted]

Tau nods, looking back at the tree. "See? It's a compliment, old man."

He glances at Link, head tilting at that expression. What's with the frown?

"...what? This one's been here a long time. He's just being grouchy."

[newmemorywhodis]

"...I can't hear him."

It feels like a personal failing. What would the Deku tree have thought, if Link had carelessly wondered into the Lost Forest and not heard him at all?

[heaven_rooted]

That has Tau staring at Link then.

"I'd be more surprised if you could, honestly," he says after a moment, snorting.

[newmemorywhodis]

"...The tree doesn't talk?"

Which...would actually make Tau rather odd. Having a conversation with a talking tree strikes Link as perfectly normal; haven't one with one that doesn't talk...not so much.

[heaven_rooted]

"Not verbally. Guess it's more like a feeling than actual words. These are only trees, after all."

Tau tilts his head at Link again. "...are tree spirits common where you're from?" he has to ask. Why else would Link be so surprised about speechless trees?

[newmemorywhodis]

"The Deku tree talks." Although that was the Deku tree, as in singular.

Other trees, not so much. Although maybe they just didn’t feel like talking to Link specifically.

[heaven_rooted]

"Deku...?" He shakes his head, not a familiar name, but then that's probably not surprising, especially if it's not of this world.

"You probably won't find any talking trees around here," Tau notes. Just in case Link might be thinking to look. "The forest is old but it's still an ordinary forest."

[newmemorywhodis]

Link looks at Tau.

Looks at the tree.

Looks back at Tau.

If the trees here don't talk, how come Tau was chatting with one?

[heaven_rooted]

"...."

Two can play that game, Link.

Tau looks flatly at the other, folding his arms.

[newmemorywhodis]

That's okay. Link can be patient. Also, he has a lot of practice at Not Talking.

He continues to stare.

[heaven_rooted]

What is with this guy?

Tau arches a brow as he continues to look back as well. He's not really sure what he wants, and while he can be patient, it depends on the situation. This, he has no patience for, not when he has things to do.

After another minute or two he huffs, turning abruptly to venture further into the woods.