Event #003, Part I: The Symphony of Disruption

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Magisteria Event #3

🌠 The Symphony of Disruption 🌠

Part I: The Darkness

CW: elemental disasters, madness, possible death, various forms of destruction and chaos, totally open-ended.

OOC Notes: Here it is! The game's first "Intense Event"! Some special notes for this event --

* Death is possible, and PCs can also kill citizens or creatures in the distrct. This event will have special revive mechanics which will be explained later, and PCs will not have to go through the usual revival process for an in-game death. "Light Sentinels" can even kill fellow PCs as a means of saving them, and this will be briefly explained to them, though the means of revival and specifics around this won't be revealed until the event's second half.
* For the corruption element: your character does not necessarily have to be corrupted. If and how they are is up to player discretion, as is the extent and manifestation of the corruption. They can just get lucky or manage to resist through will power, however you want it. Characters can be brought back to themselves by the power of Light Sentinel allies, or by the alignment switch Blessing from the game's third TDM. If you wish to engage with the event both corrupted and un-corrupted via separate prompts/TLs, that is Fine.

Dark City

Locals familiar with the Supernatural Undercity will tell the Otherworlders that, during the autumn and winter seasons, it’s not unheard of for Magisteria to feel different. The spookier residents have a way of making their presence more known, and those with spooky potential have a way of going… more feral. The succubi and the demon women of the Entertainment District are known to come with a lot more bite, and only the biggest of daredevils would be advised to purchase their services during the apex of the season.

It’s different from year to year, but these seasonal changes are always mitigated by the Authorities of each district and their powers. The spooky season in Magisteria becomes a respectful celebration of the diversity of the undead, demons, succubi, and other creatures, and both locals and Otherworlders are encouraged to cede respectful distance to those who may be experiencing enhanced primal urges during these months.

This year, something is different. One night, a darkness falls which overtakes the Bios in the Entertainment District and the bright corners of High Rise Village.

The darkness is as heavy as a tangible thing. At night, the stars and moon disappear. When day comes, the sky is grey as slate.

---

A Grey Day

Some citizens wear protective gear. It may be of assistance, but may not offer complete protection from the algorithms and the lepidoperatives' corruption tokens.

When dawn arrives, those living in High Rise Village will begin to hear notes of music. Dissonant, eerie, chaotic: disruptive. A symphony composed of a cacophony of sounds. Moreover, different people may hear different tunes. The only commonality is the lack of rhyme or reason, the lack of cohesion.

The songs play and weave through invisible algorithms, beckoning to the district’s citizens to unleash their inner turmoil, and other sides of themselves.

Holograms appear informing residents to take shelter and advising of the safest locations within the district. For weeks, most of the people and creatures of High Rise Village have been migrating to Evergreen Terrace, entrusting their protection to Arwyn. The apartments are brimming, full, and busy. The streets, by contrast, are ghostly, empty, and disorganized.

But not everyone can simply wait in the apartments and ride out the storm. After all, if this is an attack, someone(s) has to form a counter-strike. So Enforcers and other members of Magisteria’s various law enforcement agencies and vigilante groups are out and about, along with others who are not afraid of a conflict and who have sufficient training for battle.

No one demands that Otherworlders leave the safety of the apartments unless they have specifically expressed a will to do battle or unless they have a specific role to play in stopping – or ending – what’s coming, but should they enter High Rise Village, they will encounter the Chaos.

---

Chaos Comes to High Rise Village

Everything has the potential to become or manifest a twisted version of itself. The people, the animals, the buildings – even those in opposition, such as the fighters and those aligned with law enforcement. Even they can be Changed and altered by the chaos in the district.

Of course, those with powers are using them to resist in various ways, relying on their forces of will, but it’s like the whole district is in a trance, a hallucination, or perhaps a simulation.

But if that’s what this is, it feels all too real.

Throughout the district, spider-shaped lepidoperatives on thin, silver webs jump and move about. They’re fast and small and difficult to spot. Connected to the invisible mechanisms of Phantom Cipher’s Manifestation, these metallic insects can affect everything they touch by planting tokens on them: known as void imprints, wraith marks, and eclipse sigils, these tokens can induce a being to manifest or become a phantom version of themselves.

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I. Alignment Shift(ed)

Otherworlders, natives, and creatures may become, or manifest (or both) different versions of themselves. In keeping with the spookier time of year, this other version could be a werewolf, a vampire, a ghostly manifestation, or a cryptid, or it could be One’s Self, Inversed: there is no apparent rhyme or reason to what you may become or what you may apparate. There may even be more than one “you” at a given time, depending on how far the effects of the corruption tokens reach.

Affected Otherworlders may find themselves attached to the silver webs, becoming like puppets. You may find that allies are now enemies, or enemies are allies. Nothing is as before, and everything is thrown into Chaos. Your actions may no longer be your own, and what you do or whom you fight may no longer be your choice.

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II. Mecha Monstrosities

The district pulses with cyborgs and phantom creatures, and those who, like Phantom Cipher himself, seem to be a mixture of both. The Fractured have returned. Only now, they are walking about in the daylight, or what passes for daylight in the corrupted district.

Androids with barbs and spikes patrol the district, and many are not shy for conflict. Like Lysa’s “pet,” Grimm, these androids are powerful and can regenerate a certain number of times when attacked. Some will attack on sight, and others may try to “play” with the Otherworlders, or with citizens or creatures in the district, whether the latter are corrupted or not.

Of course, alignment-shifted PCs may also be able to ally destructively with such entities. Those on the path of destruction may find common ground in trying to take down the infrastructure of the district.

---

III. The Party of the Damned

All around, people, organic and inorganic, appear with skull-like features. There may even be faces you recognize, from work, from the clubs, from elsewhere in the district. But now, their features have changed.

These skull-faced citizens of Magisteria insist upon partying just as they do within the clubs in the evening. They dance and sing along with the music, encouraging Otherworlders to join them.

If anyone speaks to them or asks what is going on, the answer is the same:

Nothing. Nothing at all. This is who we are, who we’ve always been. Why do you look so strange, Otherworlders?

This is the paradise city… the city of all our dreams. Magisteria. Light and Darkness.

Bios and Umbra. This is what’s always been inside all of us, all along. Inside of you all... inside of Everyone...

Are you only just now seeing it? But this is what we’ve always been. The skin hangs over the bones, but the bones are inside, underneath…

Party, party while the city burns... party like it's the end of the world...

They move and move, like puppets, but with a strange sense of freedom nonetheless. Beckoning. Whispering. Just let it out. Let out what has been inside of you, all along. It's inside of us all. The darkness that walks with the light. Bios and Umbra. Look at what we can become when not forced towards "Perfection." Inside of Magisteria, all along. And these party-goers do not slow or tire. Though their movements are haphazard, like zombies from films, still they keep moving, keep going, never growing exhausting, never ceasing...

---

IV. Elemental Nightmares

News comes that the source of the “hack” is Magisteria’s Elemental Control Center. This central zone is a bit like a giant brain that regulates elemental magic within the district. Now, the magic becomes chaotic. Giant tornadoes of raw elemental power sweep through the district. Alleys and buildings explode into gust-fed fires, and tides of water burst forth over the district. The ground trembles and all of the elements are out of control.

Those with magical powers are (if still in control of themselves) encouraged to work to stem these tides, to ebb the flow of the elemental disasters which are occurring throughout High Rise Village.

Comments

Emet-Selch | Final Fantasy XIV (will match format)

[emet_sulk]

1. Alignment Shift

"Fascinating," he murmurs to himself as he examines the internal structure of the Fractured Sentinel. Unlike before, the mechanical creature is surprisingly docile, allowing him to poke and prod without retaliation. His Sight could already trace the circuits of Bios within but he hadn't had the luxury of time to truly understand its workings.

He remains engrossed in his mechanical dissection until someone appears. Perhaps someone looking for a fight, or someone...on the same side. He glances at them, putting away his tools and casually replacing the back of the Sentinel so that it can reactivate.

"Well, hello there. Do you have business with me?"

2. Elemental Nightmares

It's bad enough that the elements are raging out of control on their own, but what if someone is secretly helping things along? Emet-Selch is calm in the face of chaos, striding forwards where others flee. He watches with a dispassionate eye as a small twister chases down a civilian. Are they worth saving? What can they offer this star?

At the last moment, he makes a gesture and the winds veer off course. Enough for the person to barricade themselves inside a nearby shop. They will never know how close they came to dying.

Emet-Selch finds another in mortal danger, but upon examination, he incinerates this person himself. It happens in a flash: fire enveloping them utterly while they scream. Only a charred body is left behind.

3. Wildcard

Feel free to DM me or ping on the game's Discord server if you have other ideas etc. Other options I contemplated are having various flavours of Emet manifesting outside of himself because of the tokens (like vampire/werewolf/and so on).

1.

[xploud]

Now this is...curious. Katsuki's not sure what to make of someone just out in the open, poking and prodding at one of those derange mechs like it was nothing. Weirder yet, the thing actually looks like it's allowing it, still 'alive' enough to lays still and not self-destruct or lash out. Katsuki wonders if this is some sort of quir--eh...some sort of ability this guy has, his head tilting to one side curiously as he approaches, keeping just out of arm's reach as he stands and inspects the intricate circuitry and wiring from where he is. Way beyond his skill level, but he'd love to learn more...the databanks these things must have would be a treasure trove of information, and if that Phantom Cipher asshole is controlling them, too, he would definitely leave a cyber footprint. Probably not enough to track, but it's still something that someone above him in skill may be able to use.

"Not exactly. I'm more interested in what you're doing - what you're figuring out from that thing's head."

It's memory, processor, all that tech shit. How Katsuki would love to poke and prod himself, even if it's...a little strange, what with these things basically being mechanoid people in a way - androids - but...the information they may have is too valuable, sadly. Plus, they're attacking people, good people, so he's a bit biased when he thinks 'lol, fuck them actually'.

[emet_sulk]

The Sentinel whirs back to life. Its eye immediately zeroes in on Katsuki and its machinery begins to hum loudly as if preparing to attack-- but Emet-Selch pats its shoulder, seemingly absently, and it settles down into a passive, watchful mode.

"A surprising amount, I must say. The way Bios so seamlessly integrates with the mechanical components here would put Allag to shame."

He looks over the Fractured robot with a distinct glint of satisfaction in his gaze.

"Even that shard would envy such weapons, I wager. Although they may have simply destroyed themselves instead."

[xploud]

The blond narrows his eyes, muscles immediately tensing and readying to either defend or counter, just on sheer reflex, daring the thing to try it. Obviously, it does not, and Katsuki only loosens the tightness in his shoulders a tiny bit...eyes still on the mech. Whatever this guy is doing to it is working like a fucking charm, but he's still not exactly about to trust either of them. The mech...and then the one keeping it passive are both dangerous in their own right.

"Bios..." he clicks his tongue, thoughtfully. "That's like this place's energy, isn't it?" He still doesn't quite understand the concept too much, honestly. Is it kind of like, ah...mana? Like the stuff you hear about in an RPG? Life force??

"You say that stuff is powering these things? So in a way, they're...alive?" He doesn't like that. It means he has some sort of...ethical dilemma to think about now when he takes them out. Blech. "...What're you even going to do with the information you're gathering?"

[emet_sulk]

"Mm... 'Alive'. Now that is the question, isn't it?"

What makes something alive? Until recently, he had assumed it to be a full, complete soul. If something exists on enough Bios for long enough, can it become sentient like certain creations?

"A thing may be alive without being sentient, but would you recognise it as a living being? Would you afford it the right of survival, the right of choice, as one would another man or woman?"

He reaches out and, under the guise of stroking one of the Sentinel's panels, infuses more of his own aether - Bios - into its circuits.

"But as for what I would do with this information... Well, first I would investigate the practical applications!"

The Sentinel stirs again, glowing a baleful red. Bakugou has a second or two of warning before it fires its eye laser.

[xploud]

Katsuki's expression sours, visibly and obviously - like a stupid orange cat who licked a lemon in 4K - and he makes a soft groaning noise deep in his chest. For fuck's sake, beating the pulp of out these things is hard enough without the issue of ethics coming into play, please do not. He enjoys tearing these things apart - it's fun and easy practice for his quirk, he doesn't exactly want to stop...

"I'm not here to preach on what is or isn't a 'soul', or what does or doesn't have one, asshole - I just want to know what the fuck we can glean from these things. If we can hardwire their processors, grab what we need from them..." he clicks his tongue, thinking. "Then there's a possibility of tracing any kind of shit back to its source, too. Hacking shit always leaves a digital footprint...but this Phantom Cipher guy is really good as wiping 'em clean."

For now, anyway. Man, it's kind of funny how he's missing that shitty little weirdo girl...what was her name again? The lovey-dovey one. Whatever, she's just some weird extra with a hell of a good hacking ability. Man, if she were here, she'd have tracked down this cockwipe before he have a chance to boot up his rig. Bet.

"Shit--!" He barely has a second to jerk to the left, hissing as he feels the heat from a laser that came way too close to his person to be comfortable. All at once, the blond EXPLODES (n-not literally this time...), bristling and raising his voice. "WHAT THE FUCK, YOU SHIT SNORTING GORILLA! I ALMOST LOST AN EAR!! YOU WANT TO DIE?! HAAH?!"

[emet_sulk]

"Oops. My apologies. That wasn't meant to miss."

He doesn't really understand this control that Phantom Cipher has given him. It's not that he doesn't understand the machine itself or its workings but that there is some fundamental disconnect between hardware and sorcery and it's inhibiting his ability to fully control the Sentinel. That said, infusing the thing with Bios seems to be a step in the right direction.

A familiar would be more useful, he thinks idly. Oh well.

"Let's try again." Another shot of Bios and the Sentinel focuses on Katsuki again. This time it feels a little more responsive to Emet-Selch: it fires a few bursts in quick succession.

[xploud]

Oh, this sack of heaving cat puke...this is the game he wants to play? Fine. With a snarl, the blond immediately leaps to the side, using a burst from his palms to lengthen the distance and give himself some speed as well. He can't get a clear shot of his own at ground level, and Katsuki isn't sure quite yet how to properly deal with fucking Geppetto and his puppet. He could temporarily blind the bastard with a Stun Grenade, but that then risks the robot breaking its bonds and coming after both of them...and Katsuki is bound to make sure this stupid fucker actually comes out of this alive. Hopefully tossed ass first into a jail cell, but still alive.

"Don't underestimate me!!"

Leaping up into the air, using some additional boomies from the soles of his feet to get a good several yards up, Katsuki uses the advantage of height to fire his own volley down at the robot. Better to take that thing out first, then deal with the other guy.

[emet_sulk]

Emet-Selch merely has to thrust his palm upwards and a magical barrier shields himself from the fire raining down. He could technically shield his new robot ally as well but, well, then all those lasers it's attempting to fire back at Katsuki might hit him instead.

Fortunately for the younger man, this mage doesn't seem to be planning to add his own firepower to the fray just yet.

"Curious power you have there, boy," he calls out from his shelter. "Explosive power rather than fire itself? And such precision of movement. I've never seen anything like it."

[xploud]

Katsuki clicks his tongue in annoyance - ugh, a goddamn magic user. He still doesn't really get how that shit works, but understands the fundamentals enough to equate it to something he can make sense of in his head. He's encountered enough people with quirks that cause a barrier effect, but those were amateurs...or students like himself. Shattering those with even his raw, brute strength was easy, but someone who clearly knows what he's doing? It's going to take more firepower.

"Yeah? Well keep the bullshit going and you're gonna see a lot of it, you pickled prune."

Perching on an exposed steel beam from a partially destroyed building, Katsuki waits, but he has one palm pointed out and still glowing, just in case he has to attack or counter whatever comes next. This fight is pointless, but he's obviously not going to back off - a Villain is a Villain in Katsuki's book, even if they play stupid games to win stupid prizes.

[emet_sulk]

"Oh? Not going to attack this time? Very well, then--"

The mage knows that Katsuki is waiting to counter whatever he conjures. If the boy can manipulate explosive power then he wonders how well it will fare against some less...tangible elements.

His shadow seems to waver. Then like a drop of ink on the thinnest of paper, it blooms: spreading from his feet across the ground towards Katsuki, before a great maw explodes from the ground and tries to swallow the boy whole.

[xploud]

The blond doesn't say anything, just narrows his eyes and waits. He can't exactly kill this bastard, and if he's got some sort of shielding qui--uh, ability...then it's going to be difficult to get any damage in on him. For that, he'd have to really pull out all the stops, and that's not a good idea. The buildings are damaged, but they're still in tact, and if he puts any more 'oomph' into his explosions, that won't be the case anymore. If there's one thing UA drilled into his skull, it's to reduce the property damage as much as possible, that comes out of civilians' pockets when the city has to repair it all.

Thus he waits and observes, biding his time to see what comes next, and his lips curl into a sneaky little grin when he sees that shadow start to move. Probably not quite like that birdbrain's quirk, but similar enough, he'd wager. Shadows aren't exactly too keen on light, and if that moron's got his own eyes locked on Katsuki, then he can take advantage of that. Right before the dark tendrils swallow him up, he extends his arms out and detonates. But, instead of a resounding BOOM, the explosive blast is more akin to a thrum. It's a pulse of bright, yellow-white light that bursts from his palms, like two stars going supernova.

Katsuki's flashbang move - Stun Grenade. Hopefully Emet wasn't watching, because that light is Literally blinding - that's what it's used for, to stun, blind, and disorient his enemies so he can swoop in and take them out. It ought to tear through those shadows, too. It would Tokoyami and and Dark Shadow (the poor little guy hates bright lights), so here's hoping.

"That the best you got?! Tch, you really just a shitty old man..."

[emet_sulk]

Emet-Selch flinches from the light. He shades his eyes too late. The world flashes shades of white and the mage fumbles for the nearest wall, using it as an anchor to reorient himself.

"I'll kill you, boy," he spits out furiously. It's not that he hates bright lights specifically...but that the flash has sparked an old, hated memory. One that he still struggles to move past (and is, frankly, not inclined to whilst under another's influence).

He throws out elemental magic haphazardly now, more to defend himself until his vision is restored than with any kind of aim. Fire, borne by the wind, roars through the air; the earth cracks and boulders toss themselves wildly.

2. how many times must he teach you this lesson, old man

[lightduties]

Rhea'li had heard the broadcast... and the subsequent warning to not engage Adam Smasher. Which sounds awfully like he should get involved in putting the smash down.

But... he can't ignore the plight of the civilians before him. The raging winds, flooding, flash fires... With evacuation and search and rescue efforts hampered, Rhea'li does the best he can to save anyone he can, using Titan to help with freeing people trapped under rubble that his bursterfly finds. Every time he finds someone who is too badly wounded for him to save, he keeps his frustration inside.

Rhea'li catches sight of a familiar silhouette and he rushes over so he can join forces with Emet-Selch.

That is, until he sees the man incinerate one of the locals.

No...

"What are you doing!?" His shout of fury rips out from his throat, the sight of Emet-Selch betraying all they had suffered for twisting Rhea'li's normally inexpressive face into a rage he hadn't felt since a certain knight had lost his life defending him. Why? Why!? Why was he throwing away his second lease on life!?

at least once more apparently

[emet_sulk]

Ah, it's them. It's a simple matter to feign shock when he turns towards Rhea'li. He had hoped not to cross paths with the Warrior but of course they would be out here saving who they can.

"I was putting them out of their misery. Even I don't have the power to stop a force of nature. Would you prefer to see them tossed to the winds, only to be broken by the rubble below?"

[lightduties]

Rhea'li had thought he'd come to know Emet-Selch better. He felt like he could see why the other man had raised the empire that would subjugate others beneath its heel, why he'd raised his hand from beyond the grave to help him despite the bitter loss. He'd thought that upon this new star, Emet-Selch would not be so inclined to pass judgement...

Rhea'li's ears flatten as his eyes narrow. "I would prefer they were given the chance for survival, rather than the choice be stolen from them."

[emet_sulk]

"Hmph. Alright, then."

He turns away again, clothing whipping about from the fierce winds as he scans the ruined streets for other survivors. His eyes quickly spot another soul hiding behind some rubble.

"Ah, there we are."

He points his finger to indicate the spot to Rhea'li.

"Shall we see whether that one can outpace the wind?"

[lightduties]

This isn't a game!

Rhea'li immediately turns in the direction pointed out to him, not glancing back even once as he sets off towards the person he can't even see. He isn't immune to the same buffetting winds but there is plenty of ambient aether (no, bios) available for him to tap into as he lopes over fallen rubble, searching for any sign of the person Emet-Selch had pointed out.

[emet_sulk]

He follows at a leisurely stroll. It's but the work of a moment to flick his finger upwards and scatter the cover that poor person had been hiding behind. Not that it would have helped, really, against a vortex like this.

"Best run quickly, Rhea'li," he calls. "'Tis survival of the fittest."

[lightduties]

He almost doesn't hear the comment.

"Garuda!" he cries as the storm surges, as the human is ripped away from their fragile handhold and both he and the human are tossed to the winds.

Power that had been locked down since his arrival, surges forth. Using the ambient, chaotic bios, the zephyr-born primal coalesces into being with her characteristic screech. The howling gales in his immediate area die, the primal creating an eye of calm within the storm. But he's just a fraction of a second too late, the human swept up far beyond the reach of Rhea'li and his magic.

As his summoned Garuda catches him and sets him down on the rocky ground, Rhea'li can only watch helplessly as the human's body quickly becomes a distant speck.

It isn't the first time he's been unable to save someone. It won't be the last. But it hurts all the same.

"To what purpose would you usher the deaths of others upon this star?"" he demands when Emet-Selch finally arrives.

[emet_sulk]

Emet-Selch takes full advantage of his superior height to look down his nose at Rhea'li. It's an expression that has only shown itself once before: in the Capital, in front of the doors to the fiery, recreation of the hell which Amaurot had become.

Instead of geometric patterns, one could almost swear there are faint, metallic gleam of silver threads spreading from his back...

"They would have died either way, Rhea'li. That rubble would not have protected them from these winds. All I did was hasten the inevitable."

[lightduties]

It has been a long time since Rhea'li has seen such an expression on Emet-Selch's face. That look of condescension, that overbearing disdain, as if he and his were naught but an vilekin found unpleasantly splattered across the sole of a boot.

The gleam catches Rhea'li's eyes, but his expression doesn't change at all. What is that...?

"And rob them of the time for aid to arrive?" Rhea'li shakes his head, the wings of the bursterfly upon his back flickering once. "You need to stop." He gestures with a hand, seemingly calm. "Help me find the source of this unnatural storm."

[emet_sulk]

"I don't need to do anything," he scoffs. "This isn't my star. Why should I go against nature's course? I thought you and your little group of friends fought against me to stop my manipulation of world events. What makes your intervention any different?"

He waves his hand carelessly as if to gesture at the storm. Subtly, he adds more ferocity to the gales. It grows more and more difficult to stand there speaking with the howling winds decimating the district.

[lightduties]

Emet-Selch is right; this isn't his star. And that's the part that sounds so wrong.

Emet-Selch is making the repeated point that this is simply nature's course, that he has no desire to interfere. But he is interfering. Even if Emet-Selch does not care a whit for the people of Magisteria, there's a feeling gnawing at the back of Rhea'li's head, Emet-Selch would not do this.

If he could not be roused to help, then he would bugger off and leave others to their own devices. The question is rather irrelevant; they have already resolved this matter one life ago.

Is Emet-Selch more susceptible to the strange pall that has fallen over the city because his body is made of Bios?

Emet-Selch raises his hand and Rhea'li's ears pin back as he reaches for his grimoire; he is familiar enough with the other man's magical prowess to recognise the careless gesture for what it is. A magical array appears before his fingertips, lengths of magic leaping from the pattern and reaching for Emet-Selch to (Tri)bind him.

"You need to stop!" he repeats, shouting over the rising storm. "This isn't like you!"

[emet_sulk]

His gaze drops to the (meagre) binding on his arm and narrows. With a contemputous look, he easily breaks the spell.

"Not like me? You think you know me? You know nothing about me!"

His expression is contorted into a rage only seen once before: at the precipice of their final, fatal battle. But unlike then, this is no raw, wounded declaration of war. This is unadulterated hate born of jilted pride.

Emet-Selch raises his hand and the winds intensify with an ear-splitting howl. They bear down upon Rhea'li, every gust sharp and cold, tiny knives nicking at exposed skin and drawing blood.