Sabra La Tau

Who: Cepheus
Where: Cepheus
When: King's Year 199, Summer
What: Bad things

[In the days directly following that terrible flash, things begin to go awry. Machines overheat more easily, fires plague the outer districts of Corehaven, and the Core itself wobbles mightily, its systems dangerously overcooked as the Old Woman makes her wrath known. Fountains flood at first, then dry up as the mechanics powering them fuse under the day's heat. Nothing major has happened ... yet. However, each minor crisis saps away from the bustling energy of the great Cephean cities.

The worst of these minor omens comes less than a full week after the first flash. A bolt of fire streaks across the night sky like a too-close shooting star. Then another follows it. And another. Soon the night is lit up by these streaks of light crashing to the ground. Upon closer investigation, the cause of these fiery lights become clear: the bibliowls have caught fire and are falling to the ground.]

Who: ANYONE coming or going
Where: The Delphinian capitol of Dulfim
When: King’s Year 199, springtime (before the flash in the sky)
What: End of the world's a'comin' time for a BAR POST \o\ /o/

[Many people from the richer landlocked nations like Cygnus and Pavo, or neighboring nations without their own ships, like to make their way to Delphinus to seek passage to the northern countries without having to pass through the deserts of Canis or the treacherous swamps and forests to the west. It is generally a more comfortable and speedier journey, more suitable to people who either travel a lot or others who are less used to a wanderers life.

Usually at Dulfim (the capital) there are a lot of comings and goings through the canal and port. However recently, due to the unpredictable tides, more ships have been coming in than going out, and many of Delphinus's larger and more famous seagoing ships have been put to harbor. Walking around the city you notice that there are rumors about how more than several ships met their unlucky ends on the rocks when an unexpected current carried them and smashed them into the islands and reefs that line the mouth of the Delphinian gulf.

AS FOR THESE BEACHED SAILORS... well, what else is there to do but find a tavern until they're reassigned to a smaller ship? It might be somewhere you'll want to head too, as the inn's are filling up quickly with travelers dealing with unexpected delays.]

Who: Pavo, and those of Cepheus and Delphinus it may concern
Where: All along the banks of the great canal, from Delphinus to the very heart of Pavo
When: King's Year 199, Early Summer
What: Flooding

The waters of the canal, contained as they are within stone and crafted earth, have long been a pleasure to sail. Slow enough that a well-set sail or a few oars can take a boat upstream all the way to Pavo’s borders, and with enough pull to ease a ship back down to Delphinian soil, the canal’s fresh water has been a training ground for many too old or young for the sea.

And this night, only hours after the false dawn flashes through the sky, sailors resting along the banks, boats anchored and those still on course, feel something that speaks to the bones of any Delphinian —

Boats heave. The tang of salt touches the air. At the edges of the canal, water starts to overflow, spilling out onto ground, flooding careful irrigation systems with liquid that means death to the orchards and farms on either side.

Here, now, as if the sea herself was crawling from her bed and seeking a new berth . . . the tide is coming in.

And the waves have only just begun.

Who: Bunnycorn
Where: Lepus and Monoceros
When: King’s Year 199, summer
What:

[It’s always a shame to lose one or your hideous abominations of science. They were created not just with long nights and spare parts, but with hopes and dreams. From the “It’s alive!” moment to the first peasant it devours, each monster carries many fond memories of its own uniquely accursed existence.]

[But they’re all dying now; not due to angry mobs or plucky heroes with swords going snickety-snack, but simply poor environmental adaption. You really should have weatherproofed them better. And with Lepus’s primary predators on the decline, a new creature has stepped up to fill the niche: the Lepus lepus, a soft, woobie-eyed bunny with large ears and big feet and sharp, pointy teeth. These days it seems like you can barely walk outside without stepping on one (or two, as there is a reason for their rapid reproduction rate).]

[They’ve invaded the neighboring country of Monoceros as well, but Monoceros has a far greater disaster on their hands. Before they knew it, they had the greatest supply of vinegar in all the land. That’s what happens when all your booze goes bad.]

Who: Vulpecula, Hydra, (and Pyxis, Canis if you wish)
Where: Vulpecula
When: King’s Year 199, Early Summer
What:

[It is hours after the great flash at midnight when those in Vulpecula, in their shelters, as they may be, may have heard the second, terrible sound of the night. A strange sound, somewhere between a roar and a keen, voice thick with pain, accompanied the terrible sound of wings and the howl of wind pushed by them.

The world shook with a great tremor as something massive fell to the ground. The creature, clawed and screamed once more, before all was still in the night. At that moment, the four remaining great dragons lifted their heads and roared. Their voices shaking the land once more, filling the air of Pyxis and Canis, and sending a rattling warning through Vulpecula, Orion, Hydra and Lacerta.

In the morning light, the form of the dragon Luthaxin, known only to the Vulpecula people as "That Bastard" lay like a small mountain on the Vulpeculan plains, his wings burnt nearly whole from his back, and still as death. To either side of him are the massive green and black forms of Venna and Farquip, both too deep in conversation to notice the puny forms of any lesser creature around them.]

Who: Everyone
Where: By Location
When: King’s Year 199, Early Summer
What:

[Since the mysterious traveler visited each country and rule, the months have passed slowly. While the world held its breath... little seemed to happen immediately. The spring was pleasantly warmer than usual, days passed with few visible events. Though, there were little things for those who cared to watch past the initial clamor, such as the strange behavior of beasts and monsters... or the slightly erratic patterns of the moons... The tides also became difficult to predict and the waters dangerous.

Until the night after the festival of the Trickster and the Waiting Maiden.. as if a great joke upon the sky itself. The midnight sky lit like the blazing of full day, a false dawn searing up into unimaginable light on both horizons and then … merely faded.

When the Old Woman rose again... The sky was red, the moons were missing in their path entirely... and she herself was wreathed in a dress of orange fire.]

Experts from The Theogony of Shodisé Bookman the First, written 1231 BTR (Before Theological Rejection)

Sing to me oh Weaver Kolotha, oh Queen of the Gods, and Lady of Truth. Pull back the curtain on this brief life and let me see the holy pattern beyond. Let me fathom only the tiniest threads you weaves. I pray you let this fool speak other than foolishness. I invoke thee in the name of truth.

Sing to me as well, oh Storyteller, oh many-tongued. Let my words be sweet. Let the telling of this tale ease the suffering of all we sad mortals. Make clever my tongue and lovely my voice. Let this ham-fisted prattler sing a song worth hearing. I invoke thee in the name of beauty.

Once, once, long ago, there was nothing. Then, in this nothing, there was dust. Then, in the nothing and the dust, there was a heart. This heart had a wish, but what that wish is not for we mortals to know. But to fill this wish, the heart must create. And so the heart called all the dust in the nothing onto itself. The dust came unto a heart, and the heart had a body. Pleased with this, the heart warmed. It warmed and warmed until it became fire, and its body of dust became fire. And so it became the first life- what we call now the Old Woman.

But a heart alone is a lonely one, and one heart yearns for another. In her own awareness, she learned that her yearnings became a call that even nothing responded to. So it came to be, that in that darkness, there became dust, and from it, another heart. This heart knew nothing but the love it received from its maker, and grew. It did not seek to compete with her warmth, merely to receive it, so he did not burn. The dust became soil, and he became the second life - what we now call the Old Man.

From her, he had learned, and yearned himself. He called as she had, and created two beings to circle himself. They were named Lunox and Lundia, the blue and the red daughters, but their affection did not please him. They were always out of his reach... so he turned inward and called.

His call became the water, and from the ground - just as he had come from her warmth - grew those who began from their love.

First called from the ground was Regelus- who named himself King. He looked at the beast in the ground, the sea and sky, and he named them. When he had named them he said "I have created this."

Second called from the ground were the Twins, Kolotha and Corpus, she who weaves and he who cuts, fate and form. They together understood the two sides of Truth and she was found most beautiful and mysterious by Regelus. He named her his Queen and thus it was so. Everything flowed from them, onwards, until the Old Man was brimming with life, whom he loved as the Old Woman loved him.

While the Old Man held so much life in his arms, the daughters of the sky became jealous and forever tug at his attention, pulling it back at forth between each other as siblings will.

The swell and ebb of the tides are their yearning and loneliness.

Who: Dei, Alfaet, whoever
Where: a hive of scum and villainy The Sableglen village bar, outskirts of Orion
When: King's Year 194, late winter
What:

[The border between Orion and Cepheus is often a perilous place, with refugees going to and beastmen going fro. Still, there are some places where the fighting hasn't yet reached, and if you know where they are and how to reach them it can be a pleasant respite. Of course, when your village is in the treetops and so is the local bar, getting drunk up there could be slightly hazardous, but it's your own damn fault if you fall off.]

Who: Dexter, Lucky
Where: Corehaven, Cepheus
When: King's Year 196
What: Tonight's the night

[it's the middle of the night, and a young man is creeping down an alleyway, finding his way in the dark with the assurance of practice]

Who: The crew of the RDS Scarlet Ravenna + PIRATES
Where: Entering the Delphinian Gulf
When: King's year 197, early winter
What: SEABATTLE

[The ship has finished it's second circuit around the continent for the year and is heading back to the royal port with their collected goods from around the continent. In order to reach port they have to safely pass through the treacherous islands that line the mouth of the gulf. Those islands are always lousy, despite how often the royal navy cleans them out >8|]

Who: Nibs
Where: Monoceros, Lepus, Lacerta, anywhere works really.
When: aaany time
What: Lost and found??

[If you've lost something and Nibs found out about it, he'd be more than happy to help. He's very good at finding things. That or just chat up the guy from the land that doesn't exist. He travels occasionally on odd jobs]

Who: Relevant persons
Where: A second-floor apartment in Central Corehaven, Cepheus
When: King's Year 197, late spring
What: Spam Fushigi mysteries

* for what may be the first time in almost two years, the Core's Head Engineer hasn't reported in for duty in the last two days. *

* what do. *

Who: Anyone
Where: Anywhere
When: ???, ????
What: Childhoods, Part 2

Who: Buttercup and Altjira + folks in Lacerta
Where: Feramis' cottage
When: King's Year 196, Spring
What: Kidnappings~

[it's a beautiful spring day in the Lacerta neighborhood. Ter is sitting in his garden chair with a ball of yarn, which he is carefully knitting into socks. nothing unexpected could possibly happen today!]

Who: Guests, invited or otherwise.
Where: The Nest of the Royal Family, Crystal City
When: King's Year 198, early spring
What: The annual Flight of the Swan ball is opening…

[As the air began to warm, the invitations went out: a pair of pure white swan feathers, tied in a ribbon of royal pink. And now, the night of the ball opens up, inviting young and old from near and far to the ballrooms of the Royal Nest. As is common since King Charles ascended the throne, a good number of the invitations have been received by those judged worthy but of common ancestry. Of course, there's always the party crashers or being part of the extra staff hired to accommodate the number of guests, if you weren't lucky enough to rate one of the special invitations…

Whoever you are, as proof that you've been invited, you have obtained one of the swan feathers from the private aviaries of the royal family (or had it given to you as part of your uniform) and worn it as a sign that you definitely belong at the opening of the social Season of Cygnus. And now, brilliant harps sounds softly under proud trumpets and soft flutes, as the doors of gold and crystal open to admit the guests into the great crystal chambers and into presence of the Royal Family…]

Who: All, eventually
Where: Various
When: King's Year 198, early fall
What: A messenger approaches.

[A tall, gaunt man walks across the plains alone approaching a small gathering of Pyxis tribes, with little fear or hesitation. He seems to have appeared out of almost nowhere, and unphased by the pre-monsoon winds. He swathed in the black uniforms of an Ophiuchus priest and uniform is lined with red. Though his cloak is drawn over his face, you can see something of a tight line of his lips and his hands, when he speaks, are slow moving and expressive.

He stops just before the first tribesman approaching him.]

I seek the chieftain of all the tribes, and then the clan with the greatest speed and experience.

((OOC: ALL THE COUNTRIES will be visited to speak with a regent, king, leader or whatnot. If you don't have a player character who is suitable, feel free to use sabra_la_au to speak for them. If you're stumped and want us to whip something up or off screen it, let Nishi know and we'll work something out.))

Who: Unfortunate travelers
Where: The Pyxis plains
When: Late Fall, King's Year 197
What: Sandstorms.

[For most of the year, the Pyxis tribes will more than happily boast about their land; endless plains that stretch as far as the eye can see and sometimes further, open and wide and always active. Tribes moving, tribes fighting, tribes celebrating, travelers crossing through to the south or the east - the Pyxis lands may be empty compared to most other countries, but it's always a hub of activity.

But not today. Today, the lands are practically empty - the isn't an animal around, and as for the few makeshift homes you can see in the distance, there isn't not a soul in sight. The wind begins to blow, and you can't remember a time when you've witnessed it like this, picking up dirt and sand and only seeming to grow stronger by the minute.

And then you realize what season it is. Better find shelter soon - Pyxis' sandstorms are just as dangerous and unrelenting as her people]

Who: RDS Scarlet Ravenna, her crew and passengers
Where: On route from Delphinus to Monoceros
When: King's Year 195, early winter
What: Just your standard trade voya— don't let the Pavo touch that!

[It may be a long trip.]

Who: Albert and YOU
Where: Hydra? ... Probably.
When: Whenever you want, up to Year 197
What: LOVE!!

[Who ever you are, where ever you are (in Hydra), however recently or long ago you want this to be, Albert wants to talk about LOVE!! Maybe he's asking for your advice on girls. Or maybe he's asking about your own love life. Whatever happens, if you comment to this post THERE WILL BE LOVE TALKS :B.]

[... You can specify where/when this is taking place too if you want or I may just make something up on my own, your choice 8D.]

Who: Relevant people
Where: Great Core, Corehaven, Cepheus
When: King's Year 196, midsummer
What: Shenanigans???

[ while the building itself is far from open to the average passerby, the Inner Core section and the delicate machinery it houses are the domain of a select few, with at least three layers of security checks and other countermeasures to prevent those who would enter uninvited--

[ --and judging by the sirens kicking up, someone has just gotten in anyway. ]