Chaos in Cassandra ( OPEN )

[bardbarous]

Who: Anyone caught in the violent fallout of an attempted execution
What: Chaos in Cassandra (Player Plot info here)
When: July 28th
Where: Hamlet Crossings, Cassandra

Content Warnings: Attempted public execution, near-suffocation, flaming middle fingers

Chapter I: Out-cooked at the Cookout

For somebody about to get torched in front of a blood-thirsty crowd, Vyng is remarkably calm. You might even think he's got everything under control. After all, each time somebody in the mob tries setting the straw beneath Vyng's feet ablaze? It promptly goes out, as if somebody smothered it with an invisible blanket.

"Knock it off!" Ethan — a zealous Disciple tasked with burning the heretic — hisses. "Accept the punishment being meted out to you with dignity, so that justice may be done."

"You mobber-fuckers call this justice?" Vyng retorts, defiant. "You dog-pile onto this blind, injured guy — uhh, me, just so we're clear — and tie him up? What does this accomplish?"

"Reckoning," Ethan declares. With a wave of his hand, fire crackles beneath Vyng’s feet once more. And Vyng, with the long-suffering sigh of a parent waiting for their tantrum-throwing child to tire himself out, closes his eyes...and the flames snuff out.

“Reckoning!" Ethan insists, louder. The fire roars back to life. Vyng puts it out again. "R-Reckoning!"

This time, when the fire comes back, it's shaped like a human hand. Flipping the crowd a flaming middle finger. Vyng, pleased with his own handy work, throws his head back. And starts laughing.

That's when somebody in the restless crowd gets tired of his shit. "Kill him!" they shout. "Kill the Waste!"

Vyng can control the elements. He can withstand the heat of a volcano. But he is not immune to bludgeoning damage. A boot (a freaking boot!) sails from the crowd, clocking Vyng in the side of the head. Stars explode behind his eyes. Smoke pours into his gills and nose. His lungs begin to burn.

And that's when he realizes...he might actually be kind of fucked this time.

"A boot to the head?" he grouses to himself as unconsciousness begins to claim him. "What a lame way to go." But if the townies want to make him a martyr...then, so be it. He accepts his fate.

He just hopes he’s the only Sleeper who gets targeted.


((OOC: Vyng is currently blind, but he’s watching the proceedings from the eyes of a raven circling overhead. Feel free to have your character get caught up in the mob, become a target themselves, or alert other Sleepers to the blood-thirsty crowd congregating in Cassandra. Tuck will be saving Vyng, but he will need help in Chapters 2 and 3.))

Chapter II: Save the Flammable Damsel

Like a demon bat out of the Outer Dark, there is nothing stopping Tuck now as the front of the crowd finally split open from the force of his fellow Sleeper. His thundering stomps shake the very earth under them all as he makes a beeline for his best friend and the father of his son, tossing aside any dumb Trenchies that think they have any shot of blocking a seven-foot behemoth from his duty.

His giant hands rip apart the ropes binding the half-elf to the pole stabbed into the ground. It likely took several people to beat down, but it only takes one Tuck to pull it up and thrust it out into the sea of Trenchies and Sleepers alike to keep them at bay with one hand. The other holds Vyng like a wilting damsel curled against his chest. Boy would it make a great metal album cover.

"You want him so bad?" Tuck bellows out into the bloodthirsty crowd with his new wooden pike. "Come and get him!"


(( OOC: Tuck and Vyng need a path out of the chaos from Hamlet Crossings to a secure location, or at least a place to lay low until the mob can be dispersed. Your characters have the opportunity to scout out a better location, to lead them and other Sleepers through the mob by force or by cunning, or distract what you can of the crowd! Ultimately in Chapter 3, Tuck and other Sleepers will defend Vyng from inside an abandoned building. ))

Chapter III: Defending the Sanctuary

What's that saying, "Out of the fire and into the abandoned building with no discernable means of escape?" Those Sleepers who bravely led the charge to save Vyng from his fiery fate and cut a path through the outraged mob now find themselves in this exact situation.

Tuck has claimed this abandoned building a sanctuary in spite of the loud naysayers in the crowd pointing out it is, in fact, not. The Pale Sanctuary is on another corner of Cassandra, but that's beside the point! It is their safe haven against the rising riot that threatens to overwhelm them and take back Vyng as a heretic.

Until reinforcements arrive to disperse the mob or they find a way to escape, it's up to the Sleepers to defend themselves. Everything still left in the three storey building is fair game to keep these crazed Trenchies at bay. Ways a Sleeper can interact for the Sanctuary or against it:

• Defend the house (either from inside or outside)
  
  
• Set inventive traps to ensnare or slow down intruders
  
  
• Go vigilante or full-on beast on Trenchies in the mob
  
  
• Or, go vigilante on anyone defending the Sanctuary*
  
  
• Be Evil and spread C H A O S (if that's your bag)
  
  
• Collect and share intel about possible escape routes to the nearest lamp location
  
  
• Crowd-thinning (peaceful or otherwise)

* Note: If your character falls on the Trenchies' side of The Roastening, they will have to contend with either a housecat-sized child (with a serious bodycount) or a 7-foot-tall, 5-foot-wide warrior (with a semi-sentient axe). Alternatively, you will likely make a friend for life if they see you helping even a little bit.

Comments

[onerthes]

She settled in a little closer, sighing and giving him a level look. "I don't entirely know how much of this is the Reckoning, and how much of this is because of what's happened recently. After all, for all its flaws, the Reckoning is about reprisal for something you've actually done, and you did nothing to hurt these people." Her gaze narrowed and she was reaching for a small pouch with salves and ointments. It wasn't going to be as good as magical healing, but hopefully it would help some if he'd take it.

"I have suspicions what this might be about. They were railing about something, and if it's what I think it is? It has nothing to do with you. If anything, if further harm came to you, the Reckoning might come after them." The Emperor was damned lucky the Reckoning didn't find them first.

[spiritwalks]

"I interfaced with Mariana during a ritual," Vyng softly explains. His eyes still linger in Vira-Lorr's general direction, though they fail to make contact with hers. "From a devout Disciple's perspective, it's no different from whatever shit what's-his-face pulled. I mean, I get it. They blame the storm on Sleepers' hubris, and I'm a convenient target right now."

Nothing personal, in other words. Vyng doesn't regret what he did. But he wouldn't regret handing himself over, either. Especially if it spared other people — including his family — from getting hurt.

Of course, he hadn't thought about how the Reckoning might perceive the mob.

"What do you think we should do instead?"

[onerthes]

She snorted and growled. "Fucking Disciples," she muttered, spitting as she did. "They're going overboard this time. Burning you won't appease the ocean. She'll have her temper tantrum and either it will end or it won't. Nothing we can do will stop this. If she wanted your head, we'd know it by now."

Oh, there was the Arcane Scholar in her. She had no tolerance for the native disciples. It's why she didn't come to Cassandra unless she absolutely needed to. Frowning, she looked around and then back at him. "I think we need to get you out of here, somewhere safe tehy won't find you, and we need to find Michael and calm him down before there's more damage. Their rage won't burn forever."

[spiritwalks]

Vyng wouldn't go as far as spitting on the ground — he reserves that kind of ire for people like his father — but Vira-Lorr has a point. Too bad the townspeople are too far up their own ass to be reasoned with. That's mob mentality for you, though.

"Obi-Wan's on his way, I think," Vyng said. "At least there's that. But you're right. He needs all the help he can get. And so do we."

He pauses, considering their options.

"What if we could thin out the crowd somewhere? Without hurting anybody."

[onerthes]

Yeah. Sadly, this was one of the moments when it was bad that they were actually real people. Real people had to deal with the consequences of their actions. She glowered and sighed. "If he's coming, good. That will help. I still have some flash bangs, so we could use that to mess with them. It will definitely disperse some, and my omen can knock those out while it has the chance." It was at least a start. And it certainly seemed like a viable option if heavy hitters were on their way.

[spiritwalks]

Vyng would rather not kill any of the locals if it can be helped. (How was life somehow simpler when everything was the figment of a dying child's dream?) At least Vira-Lorr seems on board with avoiding unnecessary casualties.

"Flash bangs?" he echoes. "Are those made with something like black powder? Or are they magic?"

[onerthes]

"They're made with simple chemicals. It's just an explosive shell that makes a very bright flash and a loud sound. Similar to a grenade like that. As long as I hit the ground right around them, it won't permanently hurt them." There was a pause and a momentary thought.

"They'll have a headache and throw up for the next few hours though. Serves them right." Nope, not killing, but she'd definitely make their day awful.