END OF ARC 1: DAY 168 BATTLE

[asgardmods]

[The grey dim light of false dawn has just settled on the city when the sirens sound. The piercing shriek of a modern warning system begins, and within seconds is joined by the low, haunting wail of wood and bone horns from the Elven camp outside the Gate of Fire. A minute later, there is Thor's post to the network.

And now, as the sun slowly rises, the light reveals clouds of dust in the distance, far off to the North and West. In that time, the city will be awakening with a start. Anyone with connections to a god-supported group or to the elves will be roused and rushed off to their jobs. Folkvang comfort house will open its doors, revealing an interior cleared of equipment and converted into a shelter for those who must flee the incoming violence.

The whispers on the streets are of disbelief and fear. Is it really the end of days? Surely the walls will hold against any mundane army. Surely it will all be over soon... right? Healthy natives are saying goodbye to their loved ones "just in case". Perhaps you should be too.

Later, the armies arrive. First the enemy, made up of humans, monsters, and five dragons. The lesser giants look almost human, except for the flame or frost in their eyes and the warm or cool tint to their colouring. But the king of the fire giants is something else. He is tall and broad and strong, riding on a huge, splendid black boar. The queen of the frost giants is equally intimidating, in armor that looks made of glacial ice itself, seemingly too ornate to be practical but clearly worn as if it is. Her mount is a great white serpentine creature that radiates dangerous cold. The other kinds of creatures are uncountable in their variations, but all well armed.

They dwarf the small forces of Asgard and the forward units of the elves, but just as battle is about to break the sound of a great number of clockwork machines heralds the arrival of the full forces of Alfheim. They are joined soon by the modern outfitted soldiers of Utgard, and then the masses of people collide like conflicting waves of water. Above them fly the dragons, and one great flying ship that seems to have come from nowhere but fights on the side of the gods.

What will your characters do? Will they join the front lines? Hide in the shelter? Man the Arena-turned-war-hospital? There are a million things to do in a battle, but not even those hiding will escape the smell of gunpowder and metal and the sounds of battle.]


[ooc note: your characters are welcome to come up with any frost/fire themed monsters you like! They may not directly combat the giant king or queen. They may not fight dragons without first checking in with the mods in this post (and two dragons are already claimed). Try to consider that there will be a second battle, so you can vary what you're doing. Also make sure to read the plot post thoroughly, especially with regards to character death.

Make sure to include the rough time of day in the subject of your top-level comments, as well as if your thread is open or closed. This whole log will only cover Day 168. If you need mod participation/NPCing, please ask us asap and give us some allowance to be slow, since there's a lot going on.

There is a log for the downtime on days 169-170 here, and a full-event log for those staying in the shelter at Folkvang here. There will be a second pair of battle/downtime logs for the second battle (Day 171-172 with downtime on Day 173) posted on Nov 8.

Important note! There will be a lightning speed commentspam thread for taking down the most familiar dragon in this post beginning today at 6pm CST. At that time there will be a mod plurk to let everyone know we're starting. We will also ask those who can to join the AIM chat (asgardchat) at that time so we're all on the same page. It's a thread we want to get done from start to finish as fast as possible/within two evenings, due to mod business. Please don't feel left out if you can't participate in that thread. It's partly an experiment in seeing if this kind of thing works for us, and there's lots else you can do!

Have fun, everyone! If you have questions, please ask on the event post so that everyone else can see them/the answers. Thank you!]

Comments

[Early Day 168 (but Watson is available here for any time of day -- just specify when!)]

[the_good_doctor]

[Before a field medic tent can be manned it must first be assembled. Fortunately Watson has had a lot of experience in keeping his head in dangerous and unexpected situations. The spot is chosen for the tents, supplies are set out and orders issued. Watson's assurance gives confidence to the team working with him to put together the medical base and it's not long at all before the tent is up, Watson conferring with the elven engineers over the lines to transport supplies in and injured peoples out.]

Dawn, when they're setting up

[samantha_grey]

[Samantha was right there along with the others helping to set the tent up. The light of the sun is barely starting to peek over the horizon and she grunting, making sure her lines are taut. Occasionally she looks at the sky, almost absent-mindedly, and frowns.

Once the first tent is set up, she grunts and looks over at him.]

I've got as much of my stock as I can here. When nobody reports trouble coming to the arena, I'll take the stock the elves have and help make more. I'm betting Euri and Draco'll be around some for that too.

What else you need, Doctor?

[the_good_doctor]

Bandages and stretchers. There's never enough bandages and stretchers, or volunteers to carry the injured out of here.

[samantha_grey]

She nodded. "I'll keep rolling them and cutting them from the fabric we've got. Some of them will be kind of slapped together, but when we're out of the gauze from the hospital and clinic, we're going to have to use something," she said, motioning for a couple of the natives to join in.

The demon simply plopped down by a box while the siren was still going off in the distance and started cutting and rolling strips of fabric. "At least... it's something we can see this time."

[the_good_doctor]

And the field tent is simply a triage centre, to stabilise the worst before they're sent back to the Arena for healing and recovery. We'll be better using the make-shift bandages than they will.

[samantha_grey]

Once the fight actually starts in full swing, I'll be headed back to the arena, probably with the first wounded. Until I'm sure 'she' isn't coming into the picture, I don't want something going wrong on the field. I know there's people who can take care of me back there.

For now, though I can leave you guys the poultices. They aren't as good as a real healer, but they can stop bleeding until you get the ones who are worst off back to where we can tend to them.

...honestly, I think that's the best use for mine. Euri's are better.

[She was better at making... other things, she was starting to find.]

[the_good_doctor]

A good suggestion. I'll see it is acted upon.

[Tent set up, Watson's moving on to the serious business of assembling his guns. As he does he glances at Samantha.]

You'll see that you're well looked after?

[samantha_grey]

I'm nothing if not a survive, Doctor. You don't need to worry about me in the end. If you need me before things get too hairy, give a holler. Otherwise ...

Well, hopefully I'm buying you a drink one of these days soon. That's a lot of uglies forming up on the other side.

[But the way that she motioned suggested that he probably had things to take care of. She would only take his time if he needed her. One thing she liked about Watson was the fact that he trusted her enough to just leave her to her work.]

[the_good_doctor]

Please, Miss Grey.

[Watson looks affronted momentarily, though he doesn't pause in the assembly of his rifle.]

As long as there is a bar left standing on this accursed world, I will be buying the drinks.

[samantha_grey]

Hah. Fine. You're buying, but I drink bourbon and vodka most nights if I'm drinking at all. Wine's good some days, but I prefer a bit of kick if I'm getting rid of memories.

[That and it usually took a bit to really affect her.]

[the_good_doctor]

Bourbon and vodka. I'll remember that.

[Anyone else would have gotten a clap on the shoulder then but being Sam she gets a quick bow instead.]

Take care, Miss Grey.

[samantha_grey]

You too, Doctor. See you around.

during the action

[ironclad]

[ Jasmine knows she cannot show fear or distress, even when faced with injuries the like of which she's never seen. Perhaps it was fortunate the disease struck when it did - perhaps the death and unpleasant side-effects was to prepare them for what was to come. War is very different from anything she's seen, but she must bear it.

There's a heavily injured man brought in, placed on a stretcher. Jasmine calls over to Watson: ]

Uhm, this person-! What should I...

[ He has severe burns, which she begins to heal with her powers. Funny...they seem to have increased. The scarring starts to disappear, but he still remains in pain. Jasmine finds it hard not to fret. But she mustn't worry the Doctor... ]

[the_good_doctor]

((ooc: what are the NPC's actual injuries? Cheers!))

[ironclad]

(( ooc: burns (caused by fire monsters I guess?) all over his body, including face. On parts of the arms and legs it's third-degree stuff. The upper body has more second and first-degree burns. ))

[the_good_doctor]

((ooc: thanks!))

[the_good_doctor]

[In a few quick strides, Watson joins Jasmine. The extent of the man's injuries give him pause but he is adept at assessing a patient's condition.] Concentrate on the chest and face. There may be internal injury.

[He beckons a NPC helper over to start applying bandages and salves to the man's lesser injuries, scanning the crowd for a second healer or a power lender. This may be a two-person job.]

[ironclad]

Chest and face. I understand. [ Yes, it would make sense to focus on those. After all, you can live without a leg...no, that's a very dark way to think! ] It seems his face isn't as badly damaged... [ That's lucky. There's still a lot of painful redness, so she tries to get rid of it as soon as possible. ]

[the_good_doctor]

There may be smoke inhalation. Damage within.

[As Jasmine works, Watson takes the man's pulse. He is relieved to notice signs of a steadying and regular heart beat.]

You're doing well. Keep it up.

[ironclad]

Thank you. [ She's relieved to hear that. Now if she can keep up this pace, he should be able to recover... ] Will any internal damage take longer to heal?

[the_good_doctor]

Depends how serious the damage is. At any rate, once he's stablilized enough to travel safely, we can send him to the Arena to be thoroughly healed.

[ironclad]

That's where most of the healing should be going on, isn't it... [ She should go there later herself. ]

[the_good_doctor]

That's right. The field is not the place to heal anyone, not without endangering medic and patient both.

[ironclad]

And you're sure it's safe to take them there? To the Arena, I mean? [ She worries that any patient being transferred over there might be intercepted by the enemy. ]

[the_good_doctor]

That's why we have our medical guard, Miss Jasmine. Their job is to protect patients and medics alike.