asgardmeridiem | EVENT LOG: LOCUSTS!

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EVENT LOG: LOCUSTS!

Who: EVERYONE
What: the LOCUSTS! mingle log
When: Days 431-434 ( Apr. 10-17 )
Where: all across the city
Rating: PG-13. Anything higher than that should be taken to a private log, please!

Day 431 ( Apr. 10/11 ): Any early risers that head outdoors as the sun is rising will find a somewhat strange sight: hundreds of earthworms, scattered all across any available loose earth, squirming around on the ground. What caused them all to dig their way to the surface isn't clear just yet, but they aren't the only creatures behaving a bit strangely today.

Just as the sun breaks the horizon around 7AM, a single stag will come charging through the city coming from the north and heading straight through the Gate of Frost. Mere minutes after that, a whole herd of deer will follow his lead and stampede their way south without care for anyone or anything that might get in their way. Smaller animals like wolves, foxes, rabbits, and the likes will follow at their feet, birds flying overhead in great flocks - all headed the same direction. Any pets or animals within the city will be irritable and anxious, some trying to escape and follow the same path outside and away from Asgard.

In the midst of the mass exodus, the bracelet's SOS function will blare loudly as one of the gods summons the Travellers to the castle.

The Travellers will have less than an hour to get themselves to the heart of the city where natives will already be ushering people indoors with a nervous calm. The whole of the city will be rushing their way through the barrier, and it will be made obvious fairly early on that not everyone can fit inside the castle. Jockey for a safe position and keep a strong hold on your loved ones so that you don't get separated in the chaos, but be fast about it.

After that hour mark, a wave of water will come crashing through the city from the north, flooding the streets at a height of approximately 10ft / 300cm. Anyone not within the castle barrier by that point will either drown or be swept away in a violent current that will carry send their bodies into whatever solid objects might stand in their way. Those safely within the barrier will see Heimdall at the front gate with his hands raised as though pressed against an invisible wall; if they look closely, they will be able to make out all city structures glowing with a faint shimmer - either royal blue, pale green, or amber - before their view is obscured by the water pounding against the barrier. The dome over the castle will be made visible by the flood encapsulating it as it washes anything that wasn't rooted down through the streets. It will be an awesome sight, though grim enough, as nature takes its course through the city.

The flooding will continue for several hours, during which time the Travellers will be largely left to their own devices as they wait out the worst of it. Sigyn, Freyr, and Freya will be going around with castle maids to make sure that no one in harmed and to try to keep people relatively calm. Hel, Fenrir, and Jormungand will be doing their level best to intimidate people into compliance by coordinating the immediate relief efforts that will take place as soon as they are able to leave. This means that, for the few hours it takes for the flood to die down, the castle will be largely unmonitored as the gods try to minimise the damage.

After the worst of the flooding passes, the residents of Asgard will be free to return to their homes. There will still be a foot of water to wade through, but it will be slow moving and relatively harmless. Thanks to Thor, Baldr, and Loki's protection spells, all buildings will still be structurally sound, if not wholly intact. Glass panes may be shattered and wooden doors may be splintered; anything that wasn't firmly tied down may be displaced somewhere down the road or otherwise destroyed. But for the most part, the damage is minimal. Now just to do something about this pesky water ...
Day 432 ( Apr. 12/13 ): By now, the floodwater has lowered to a scant inch or two, leaving the city streets littered with debris but otherwise safe for travel. Natives will be setting up booths to help coordinate the return of lost possessions or missing pets, reporting any property damage, and recovering any bodies of those that might not've made it to the castle in time. Travellers are welcome and encouraged to assist in the relief efforts. There will be district clean-up sign-ups below, but these are not mandatory to get involved, they're more of a way to see who will be in your district to make plotting easier.

Later in the day, while everyone is still trying to rid the streets of the lingering water and put everything back to rights, the first survivors of the flood will begin trickling into the waterlogged city. Outlying villages and encampments were destroyed in the disaster and are now seeking refuge with their gods in the capitol. Despite the stress Asgard is already under with the supply shortage and the damage from the flood, the Prince Regent will not deny his citizens the aid they require and will welcome them into the city until they can revive the land to health.
Days 433-434 ( Apr. 14-17 ): Relief efforts will now be split into two different areas: recovering the city and creating space for the new arrivals. The natives will need help setting up temporary housing, like filtering families into unused housing and setting up tents for the remaining numbers. They will need to ration out food and general camping supplies, and when Asgard is currently in a supply shortage, making ends meet will be a bit of a struggle. We would really love to see some player created groups banding together to do this! Things like donation collections or fostering an NPC or anything at all, you guys should work together to help facilitate the arrival of these refugees and their temporary(?) stay within the city. There are some player projects already up here if you’d like to take a look and get involved!

On the other side of relief efforts will be cleaning up the streets, boarding up broken windows, things like that. Sigyn will be working to rebuild the wall and could use some assistance in not only construction but the magic of her barrier as well. More player coordination here will help put things back to rights, so if your character has an idea of what they can do to help, please comment below to start up some relief projects! It'll basically be two days of everyone trying to dig themselves out of the mess and get settled again.

[ OOC NOTES: This is the mingle log for the LOCUSTS! event. All of the gods ( except Odin and Frigg, naturally ) will be out and about during the first day of this event, so if you’d like to plot with any of them, please contact either the NPC handler or the mods and we’ll help facilitate some plotting for you. As a reminder, all deaths during this event count towards your death consequences. Please put [OPEN/CLOSED] along with the time/location of your character in the title of your comment. Let us know if you have any questions! ]

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Hamel was never happier about his flight powers. He drifts around slowly, floating two feet above the water and scanning the streets for any valuables that may have drifted in the flood and are yet unclaimed for.

At level two, he still can’t quite control his flight other than going in straight lines, so when Yosuke bumps into him, he’s thrown to the side.

“Crap - “ Hamel spins helplessly for a moment before grabbing the nearest fence. He glares at Yosuke.

“Watch where you’re going! What is it, what do you want?”

"Uh -" Yosuke flinches back from both the glare and his own surprise. Geez, how distracted was he, if he didn't notice straight away that what he'd walked into was more of a leg than a shoulder? Well, he knows the answer to that, he supposes. "I said sorry, okay? I'm just looking for a guy..."

He intended to go on while he had the stranger's attention, but he ends up nervously trailing off; he seriously doesn't feel like getting snapped at right now.

Hamel considers Yosuke backing off as him being properly apologetic, so he eases up somewhat, dropping the hostile attitude and settling for a neutral expression.

He quirks an eyebrow when he realizes Yosuke stops talking.

“And? Go on." The guy obviosuly wants to ask something. "What’s he look like? Maybe I’ve seen him.”

Sensing that he's no longer about to have his head bitten off, Yosuke rallies. "Hey, I was getting to that! Do you know Souji Seta? He's another one of us - grey hair, pretty tall..." He gestures just above his own head, aware that the effect is slightly undermined while he's talking to a dude hanging like a metre in the air. The shimmering bracelet screen, which he forgot to dismiss, floats lazily upward to remain within reach. "He heard that SOS thing too, but the last time I saw him was this morning."

Hamel shrugs. “Doesn’t ring a bell.”

He drifts closer to Yosuke and give him a scrutinizing look, measuring him up. Troublesome, but not too much, not unless he carries something small and heavy in his pocket…

“C’mon, I’ll get you to a higher ground. You’ll never find him if you keep plodding around and bumping into people.”

Yosuke, who was expecting to thank the guy anyway and move on, instead finds himself wilting a little in Hamel's calculating stare. "Huh?" he says dumbly. "Yeah, that's where I was heading, but... what do you mean?"

A small part of his blankly nonplussed mind can't help but wonder just how bad that offer was supposed to sound, too. He wasn't plodding, was he? There's only so much grace to be had when you're wading through a foot of water! And it's not like it was a head-on collision or anything, right?

Oh, that comment was definitely meant to be snide. Hamel has no problem rescuing people from monsters, but offering help with any other matter is still new for him. If he doesn’t go about it in the worst way possible, people might start to suspect he cares.

He ignores the question and floats behind Yosuke. Instead of explaining again, he’s just going to demonstrate. Actions speak better than words.

“Don’t freak out, it’s really annoying when people do that,” is the only warning Yosuke gets before Hamel grabs him and flies up. When he said “high ground”, he meant high.

"Wait, where are you - "

Hauling Yosuke up before he can react turns out to be a lot easier than stopping him from freaking out about it. The sound that accompanies this launch is nothing more than a surprised gurgle, but he doesn't stay quiet for long. "Hey, hey!" he yelps, his gangly legs scattering water droplets below in their frenzy of useless kicking. "Dude! I'm gonna be sick...!"

He's not actively trying to squirm out of Hamel's grip - even he has slightly more sense than that - but in his panic, that might not matter.

One kick hits Hamel in the shin and he stops mid-air. “Ow! Cut it out, didn’t I tell you to calm the fuck down?” People these days, no appreciation. His grips tightens and he adds: “And don’t you dare puking on me or I’ll drop you.”

His tone makes it impossible to tell if he’s just annoyed or making an actual threat. But it’s probably the former.

He starts ascending again, and if Yosuke won’t struggle too much (or throw up), it will be a perfectly safe flight to one of the higher buildings, where Hamel will unceremoniously drop Yosuke on the roof.

Yosuke is much more inclined to complain about throwing up than do it for real, but he also has a sense of self-preservation, stunted though it may be. He clams up, letting his arms and legs dangle limply with only the odd, quiet whimper as the two of them float higher.

The roof puts an end to that - an unnecessarily loud end to that, because no sooner do Yosuke's feet touch the tiles than the rest of him crashes down in a crumpled heap. "Gah!"

Pathetically, he unfolds, although for some reason he doesn't feel up to either standing or peering over the edge just yet. "Sheesh, some warning would've been nice... Um, why are we up here again...?"

Hamel lands a few feet away, taking a moment to admire himself. Look at how nice he is, bringing the guy all the way up even though all he did was whimper and complain… ahh, he’s such a saint...!

He doesn’t offer Yosuke help scraping himself off the tiles, though. That’s too much.

“Isn’t it obvious?” His tone implies he thinks Yosuke is a bit slow. “We’re here so you can look for your friend. The view is much better up here.”

Unfortunately for Yosuke's self-esteem, he's not too slow to pick up on that kind of subtext. Fortunately, it's used to the bruising, as is the rest of him - and there's the small issue that if he pisses this stranger off more than he apparently did after less than a minute of talking, he won't be able to get down. With staggering restraint by his standards, or in other words just an obvious grimace, he wobbles to his still uncomfortably waterlogged feet.

"I dunno," he says, a shade indistinctly. "It's not gonna help much if he's indoors..."

There’s a long, long pause before Hamel answers.

He didn’t even consider the option the guy might be indoors. All that effort might be for nothing! Now he feels like an idiot, and when Hamel feels like an idiot he reacts flippantly.

“Seriously? That’s the thanks I get for trying to help? Who’s gonna stay inside in this situation, everything’s flooded and everyone’s looking for everyone!”

In retrospect, Yosuke should probably have used that pregnant silence to brace himself. He jumps. "Sorry! You're right, I'm sorry!"

But when he finally steels himself and peers over the edge at the streets below, it occurs to him that everyone being out and about is kind of its own problem.

An idea forms. "Um..." he starts to say, and falters. Wait, he doesn't know the guy's name, and now he's more than a little nervous about asking. He coughs, instead. "Were you keeping an eye out for anyone? I could, you know, see if I can spot them, too..." If only to double his odds of spotting anybody.

Hmph. This guy is rude and ungrateful, but at least he can back off. Hamel approves of pushovers.

He answers Yosuke’s question with a shrug. “Not really.” Travelers come back, he’ll run into people sooner or later so why get himself worked up when he can do the healthy thing and repress? “Just focus on your buddy. I’ll look too, ‘cause to be honest I don’t think you’re very good at this.”

So much for that. Yosuke all but pouts. "Come on," he says, "I didn't even start looking yet..." Not that the guy is wrong, which might be what stings the most.

Hoping to stall the vague but annoying feeling of dizziness creeping up on him the longer he stands at the edge of the roof, he crouches down and tries to scan the area below again. None of the figures he can see are yet pinging his partnerdar, and it's not as if Souji exactly blends into a crowd, but between the crowds and the detritus left by the flood, he can't be sure.

He lets out a little sigh. Okay, forget his masculine pride - or what's left of it. "Well, anyways... I said what he looks like, right? Grey hair, bowl cut... Grey clothes too, when I saw him this morning. Umm, I'm... really grateful...?"

Hamel nods impatiently. “Yes yes, of course I remember.” The truth is that he already forgot what the guy’s supposed to look like, but he wants to make himself look good. He hovers toward the edge to look before Yosuke is done speaking.

Then he irritation creeps into his voice again, because wow that was one insecure gratitude.

“Are you asking or saying? If you’re really really grateful intone it properly!”

"Urk." Yikes, this guy isn't good for Yosuke's heart. "Yes, I'm really really grateful! ...I'm sorry!!" The second half of that nervous squeak spills out a lot more naturally than the first.

To get a better view of one of the streets off to the side, but certainly not for any other reason, he surreptitiously begins to edge away, though he's still reluctant to stand.

Hamel's eye narrow and stares at Yosuke silently.

And stares.

And stares.

Then he nods, still a little huffy but generally pleased with the squeaky statement. "Good."

Then he stares at Yosuke's careful movements some more.

"Relax. I'll catch you if you trip over yourself."

Trying not to make his wilting too obvious, Yosuke just nods dumbly. For all of his professed gratitude, he doesn't look convinced. Still, he manages to haul himself back to his feet without any mishaps for now, and picks his way over to the other side.

There, he stops and peers down again. "Okay, how about -"

Wait, is that Sigyn district over there? Yeah, that must be the hospital with all the people swarming around, and... "Huh," he says to himself. "I never realised our roof looked that weird..."

Hamel, who was looking in another direction, is promptly distracted from searching for whatshisname.

“What roof?” He follows Yosuke’s gaze. “Oh, that. That’s nothing. You can see much weirder from this height…” He points to a building in Heimdall. “This one’s got a dick shaped turret.”

It’s a very… creative interpretation, but sort-of plausible if you, like Hamel, are mentally ten and squint hard enough.

Yosuke doesn't end up squinting hard at all. "Oh," he says, "I guess it kind of -"

But he cuts himself off mid-sentence, hastily waving his hand. "Um, but we're looking for Souji! Let's look for Souji. He's not going to be on a roof like that. Probably," he adds conscientiously, because his only real reason to believe it is that it'd take a while for someone without the appropriate superpower to climb high enough.

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EVENT LOG: LOCUSTS!

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