Event Log: In the Eye of the Storm

[hadrielmods]

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the In the Eye of the Storm event
Where: All over the world
When: September 7th-15th
Warnings: Seasickness, probably

It's cloudy most of the time on this planet, but halfway through the day, the clouds grow darker. The wind picks up, the waves start to grow, and for the first time the city starts to get more than a little sprinkling of rain. This is a storm, a real one, one that's going to last for more than just a day or two. You better tie down anything that might blow away, board up your windows, and stay away from the ocean.

There's a lot to worry about during this storm. The wind outside blows in gusts strong enough to knock you over if you're not careful, the rain will soak anyone in a matter of minutes, and there's a constant threat of lightning. Thunder rumbles regularly, making sleep difficult, and anyone too near the shore might get pulled in by the very large waves. Let's hope you didn't build a beachfront shack.

As for those on the sea - it's no easier for them, and maybe even harder. Hadriel's brave explorers will find themselves battered by wind and rain and waves, with no safe harbor to be found. Masts might break, hulls might crack, and your supplies - or your crew - might end up overboard. Good luck, hope those swimming lessons went well!

► This log covers September 7th-15th.
► Feel free to make your own logs, as well
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you get washed out to sea, please let us know here.

Comments

Connor | Open

[missiondeterminant]

[The 7th | West Island]

[Connor has see rain before, but he's never--not really--seen a thunderstorm. Not like this one, at least.

New experiences have also absolutely not worn off as far as novelty goes, and so even the simplest of things are exciting and fascinating to him. The storm is anything but simple, which makes it even more interesting, and that's why he's outright ignoring the common sense that tells him not go out in it.

Instead, he wanders around the island, finding the best places to watch the lightning and experience the feeling of the wind and rain and the rumble of thunder. He does know better than to go stand out in the middle of a flat open space, or to stand next to anything tall and metal, but otherwise he's pretty fearless; androids don't have to worry about getting wet or cold unless it's extremely cold, and even if the wind does manage to knock him down it isn't going to hurt him.

But although he's taking basic lightning precautions, he isn't quite expecting to be affected by a lightning strike that's simply nearby. In hindsight, he'll realize he was too caught up in the new experience to even bother thinking about anything that would prevent him from enjoying it, but for now all he knows is that he feels the charge of electricity in the air and then finds himself staring up at the sky through a ton of error messages flashing in his vision.

He glances through them in confusion, noting none are critical and self-repair is already in progress, but there's a corrupted sector of memory--just the last few minutes, according to his internal clock--and his logs say several systems have rebooted. A few others are clearly in need of it, like motor function considering calibration has dropped to 65%, but those will have to wait until he's not laying on the ground out in the rain.

Getting up is a little easier said than done, though, due in no little part to the calibration problem, so if anyone would like to help he could--begrudgingly--use it. Just don't startle him; his scanners definitely aren't back up in working order just yet.]


[The 9th | Various]

[Okay, let's try this again.

Connor is definitely being a bit more careful--he's not at all interested in a repeat of two days ago--but he's not going to let one bad experience deter him. Besides, he's putting his desire to wander around to good use this time by making sure other people are safe, not stranded outside or on an island they don't want to be on or something like that.

So whenever he encounters someone who doesn't look like they're happy to be out in the storm, he asks--]

Hello, are you alright?

the 9th

[myrealname]

[Jane had never been one to plan ahead, so when the storm hit, she only had a couple of days' worth of food stowed away. now that's gone and she's screwed because she's going to have to go out in this madness, make her way to a shop, and drag some more food home.

the storm is brutal. she's heard stories about hurricanes, but never thought she'd actually experience one for herself. there are times when she has to grab at the walls of buildings to stay upright. she's soaked to the bone and shivering from the cold inside her now-soaked jacket.

she can barely see another person, or what looks like another person, in front of her, so she gambles on them being friendly and makes her way over to them. maybe they'll help her get to the shops and carry some food back?

when she gets close enough to realize it's Connor and hears his question, she does her best to put on a smile]

Not exactly. I was trying to get to the shops to bring back more food, but with all this rain, I can't see a thing. Am I close?

[missiondeterminant]

[The storm makes it a little more difficult than usual to use his scanners, so he hasn't been bothering and therefore only recognizes her once he's close enough to see her and hear her voice.]

You're close, yes. Would you like me to show you the way there?

the 7th

[braveoff]

[ Drake's no stranger to storms but this sure is a doozy. And it seems to be gathering steam -- he was on patrol on another island when he saw it coming, saw the water getting almost too choppy to navigate and shot Nick a text that he needed to get back to west before it really got bad. He couldn't risk being stuck separated from Hope's temple if things didn't blow over quickly, which... it's Hadriel. This planet is new and unfamiliar to them still, but usually when weather happened it was sustained.

Starving again, potentially separated from anyone who could help, was just not an option. Nick understood, and Drake struggled through the trip back. By the time he finally moors the boat he's soaked through completely and the storm has hit in earnest, blinding rain and wind still not enough to obscure the huge lightning strikes. Yeah... he made the right call.

Still, he decides to sweep the island like a good Guardsman, in case anyone is stranded or just freaking. Make sure everyone gets inside and safe before he holes up. A strike hits close enough that he flinches back from the brightness of it, and in his peripheral vision he catches someone go down that he hadn't noticed was there through the rain before. Someone familiar. ]

Connor! Connor!!

[ Whether or not he's heard over all the racket is a crapshoot, but he keeps yelling the other man's name as he works his way over, blinking water out of his eyes. ]

Fuck, Connor, are you okay?

[missiondeterminant]

[His audio system are among those that have rebooted successfully, so he vaguely recognizes that someone is shouting, but it's difficult to hear over the storm and it takes a moment before he can recognize the voice. He's managed to prop himself up on an arm by the time Drake makes it to him, eyebrows furrowed as he focuses on clearing out error messages again so he can actually see who it is.]

I'm okay.

[He says, trying to sound reassuring, but instead his voice comes out distinctly staticy and slightly modulated, the eerie undertone of mechanics underneath how he normally sounds. Alarmed, he sifts through the errors and finds the one for his voice synthesizer--minor damage, self repair complete in 32 minutes and 14 seconds--but that only alleviates one concern; the other, that Drake heard the inhuman quality to it despite the sound of the storm, he can't do anything about.]

west island!

[dedikated]

... Got to be kidding.

( Why does she have to be away from the clinic when the storm starts, and why does it have to be so bad that she can't use her normal route across the city? Instead of the roofs, Kate sticks to the ground, close to shelter, and glares at the sky every chance she gets, as though doing so will get the storm to stop.

... Yeah, not so much. But glaring is pretty much all she's got. Her power can't control the weather. (If it could, she'd have liked it a lot more when she was younger.)

She's nearly made it through the expanse of the largest island when a lump stops her, when that lump is very definitely humanoid, and moreso, familiar. )

... You alive?

( That's... one way to announce your presence. )

[missiondeterminant]

[That's a question. Some part of Connor is still, despite everything, inclined to answer with no, he's not alive; the rest of him, though, is very sure the answer is the opposite. He also knows there's only one appropriate response, and so that makes it easier--]

Yes.

[But his voice comes out with a burst of static, causing more error messages to appear in his vision, listing out how long before the damaged biocomponent is repaired. That's much less important, however, than the fact that Kate might've heard the sound. Maybe he can just play it off by distracting her, though, and he immediately moves to try to sit up.]

The 7th

[theweakhavepurpose]

"Jesus!" Pratt doesn't want to be outside in the first place. No one in their right mind should be out in a storm, it's always safer to stay put. But he and his trusty sledgehammer are prowling around for abandoned buildings that he can knock some siding off of to fortify his own house should the storm turn into a hurricane.

He's definitely not expecting anyone else to be stupid enough to be doing the same, and he especially isn't prepared to see someone actually get hit by lightning and knocked flat. Rushing over he drops the metal sledgehammer to the side before approaching, the soles of his police issued shoes are rubber so technically he's insulated against electricity. But he's also standing in the rain so all bets are off and he doesn't want to test it out.

"Fuck are you alright?" He has no idea who this is, he's only seen Connor on the network briefly and he's not in a good state to remember that at all when he's pretty sure he's looking at someone who's been turned into human toast. "You alive?"

He squats down near him, not touching him yet in case he's still electrified.

[missiondeterminant]

Connor is, probably shockingly (no pun intended), looking pretty much no worse for the wear when Pratt gets close enough to see his face; he's a little stunned, staring into middle distance as his actual focus is on the error messages in his vision rather than his surroundings, but he doesn't look scorched or even all that unwell.

It does take him a moment to focus on Pratt's face, having to clear out the error messages in order to see him, but then places him and their last conversation pretty much instantly; his processors are fine, at least despite the lightning. At the question he nods, trying to gather enough coordination to sit up as he answers--

"I'm okay." And he is, for the most part, but that doesn't mean he's completely unscathed and that shows suddenly in the burst of static that goes with his voice. It's almost like a shoddy radio in sound; his voice itself is fine, but underneath it is the obvious sound of white noise.

Whistler | OTA

[whistlewhilstyouwork]

Throughout the Event | Whistler's Apartment

[It's like jolts to the spine. Erratic and unrelenting. A screechi of wind, a clatter of doors in the distance, a beastly belch of thunder and the rumbling shudder that follows and all these things in a cycle with no set order. Sometimes all at once, even.

It sets fire to Whistler's nerves. His breath stays too shallow, his heart beat alternating between thudding angrily against his chest and speeding far too light and quick as though it could race away to some place quieter.

He will not leave his apartment. He simply will not. Even if he runs out of food. Even water begins seeping in thick rivulets through the window panes gathering in small pools on the floor. He won't.

Perhaps after a particularly low thunderclap or one of the stronger shakes of the ground you might hear a frightened cry from behind his door, likely followed by the sound of shuffling and things getting knocked over as he tries to burrow further under blankets and under his table or bed.

Should you try it, the door is actually open. The water having warped the wood just enough that it doesn't close properly.]

Goku | OTA

[stupid_monkey]

[The 7th | Bakery]

[Goku was on the beach when the storm started to come in. He'd been on the shoreline considering swimming, fishing, or combining the two to see if he could catch a fish by hand. Rain wasn't uncommon so he ignored it at first. If he thought to go swimming it wouldn't matter if he let himself get wet first.

The change from a normal rain to the storm was obvious. He ran away from the beach, when the down-pour and lightning started. The wind almost knocked him over as he ran, and the waves seemed to chase him with how far inland they managed to come.

He was in trouble now, he was soaked and his room wasn't even on this island. He managed to make it back to the city, and he ran into the first building he saw. The wind and rain were so bad he hadn't even been able to smell or see that it was the bakery before bursting in.]

[Throughout]
[After the initial onslaught, Goku prepared himself before going outside. He gave us on trying not to get wet, but he made sure to wait for breaks in the lightning before going from building to building. He even managed to make it to different islands occasionally.

He's ready anytime he sees someone struggling more against the wind than he does, or trying to board up a building.]

Can I help?

the 12th

[puzzlingly]

「He should have stayed inside, he should, he knew it, but noooo... He had to go check on someone instead. How the hell is he gonna make it from the West island to the North one, he doesn't know but he must! He promised Nick and Rey he'd look after Tripod! But it's proving to be a little harder than he thought. Every couple of steps he needs to almost cling to the closest wall, otherwise it feels like if the wind is gonna lift him from his feet.

But there are no more buildings between the stores and the shore, he's close now, but not nearly enough for the waves to reach him yet. Until something occurs to him, how blind has he been. Atem, grabs one of the blades from his belt and stabs it on the ground, he takes a couple of steps and does the same, it seems to be working! Every time the wind gets a little wild, he simply crouches and waits for it to pass. Hopefully it'll be enough.

He's almost by the shore when he hears the voice calling him, he looks at the other in surprise.」

What are you doing here? Go home.

「Ah, look who is talking.」

[stupid_monkey]

[Goku is faring better in the wind, but not by much. He's able to withstand the worst by just crouching down and holding himself firm, but it's still slow progress when it really gets going.

He has to shout to be heard over the wind.]

I could say the same thing to you! What're ya doing out here? You're gonna get blown away.

the 7th

[outofthefire]

[Laura looks up in surprise as Goku bursts in. she's been moving 25 pound bags of flour from the floor to the top of a counter to try and keep it from getting ruined. she's soaked to the bone as she had to run from the Speakeasy to the Bakery and looks like a bedraggled cat. outside, rain pours, lightning flashes, and thunder booms, so she has to raise her voice a little to be heard over it]

Goku! Are you okay? Lemme get some handtowels so you can dry yourself off.

[stupid_monkey]

[Goku instinctively shakes his head back and forth to get the water out as soon as he's inside. He looks down at the rapidly growing puddle at his feet, and then back up sheepishly when he accepts the towel.]

Sorry, I made a mess!

[He notices how wet she is in-between vigorous swipes at his hair, and stops suddenly holding the now damp towel back to her.]

Did you get caught outside too? Do you need this?

Delmar | OTA

[imhisaunt]

West Island , Day 1

[He'd waited too late. He should have gone when it was just some gusts and drizzle but now as he stalks fretfully along the shoreline, a blanket bundled around himself as an extra layer over his coat, Delmar can see no way that he could possibly make it across the water to check on the bakery. The waves are already pitching in sharp peaks and his shoes are wet through, his socks squishing with water as he trudges back and forth and the legs of his trousers plastered to his legs with water.

Part of him knows he needs to turn back. He needs to go home and not be reckless or he'll just cause trouble, but the other part of him is twisted in knots with the image of the bakery flooding. Of everything in the basement getting ruined: a month's worth of flour and butter and sugar.... the counters and tables warping...all the hopes he'd put into that bakery and all the help he'd gotten from Seel and from Harlan and Michael and Laura and so many others....

It makes his heart ache to think of it getting destroyed.

Delmar's Apartment: remainder of the event

[As the storm rages, Delmar takes refuge in his home. A nest of blankets on the couch, warm cups of tea almost made more for the comforting feel of holding them than for drinking, and most importantly a soft robe to be swaddled in as he tries to distract himself from the horrible noises of the wind and sea slapping and screeching at the shore, the buildings, the windows....it sounds as though something is trying to devour Hadriel as a whole and now and again a gust or a roll of thunder is so strong that the entire island seems to shudder and Delmar feels a fearful pit tighten in his stomach.

His books and his pictures are his comfort. That and the mural on his wall, the one Harlan helped him to paint way back when he first moved in. He's moved his couch to face it. Focusing on the happy sun and tall buildings of New York and trying to imagine himself there with his friends.]

Day 1, Video

[outofthefire]

[the video opens on Laura in the Bakery. her hair and clothes are soaked through, caused by her run from the Speakeasy to the Bakery. she's trapped on the south island and can't get back to her home and is prepared to ride out the storm here and crash at the Speakeasy overnight]

Delmar? It's me, Laura. I'm stuck on the South Island. Don't worry about the Bakery, I can try to move all the stuff so it doesn't get ruined.

[dadyl]

7th, near the colosseum

[ It turns out the perfect thing to get Daryl reoriented in this place that he can't see to wrap his head around is a storm. He needs a purpose to not feel adrift, a task to complete, something notable to respond to, and for several days after saving Jesse he's been exploring, scavenging food, and trying to figure out where he is. And it hasn't been enough to keep him calm.

The scavenging part he's a bit used to at least, so exploring empty, dusty, deserted buildings has gone well enough, due to the fact that he hasn't run into any more freakish animals yet. Or walkers, for that matter. The feeling of guilt he gets when he ransacks the stores is new though, and, quite frankly, absurd. They're empty and abandoned, so what could he possibly have to feel guilty about? This shit clearly doesn't belong to anyone else, so why not take it? Thankfully the weird feeling doesn't seem to last long and the stockpile he's collected and squirrelled away in the broken, abandoned house that he and Jesse appropriated is growing steadily.

But when the sun comes up on the 7th (or, more accurately, doesn't), he takes a hard look at their (temporary? he's really not sure yet, hoping every day he'll just wake up out of this weird dream and be back at the farm) home from the outside and realizes his haul today has to be something different. He's going to need tools, wood, something to use to build up the damage and neglect the building has been through to keep the rain out, even if the storm doesn't get any worse.

And something about the cloud cover tells Daryl it's only going to get worse.

But tools prove harder to find than food, even after he strikes out in a new direction that takes him further from the colosseum than he's been so far. He's lamenting the loss of his leather jacket and his previous disinterest in finding new clothes now as the rain beats at him, but when he reaches a likely storefront he bends to pick up a piece of rubble and lobs it through the window, aggressively satisfied by the crash. ]

You better have what I'm lookin' for... How the hell'd these people get anythin' done around here? [ After spending most of his life alone, it's not exactly rare for Daryl to talk to himself when he gets frustrated. ]

The rest of the event

[ Just like he thought, his last-minute repairs were just in time yet pitifully inadequate to deal with the storm at its full force. But even given the lashing rain and the wind, the damage he can see being caused to the other buildings on the streets, the flooding that he can only imagine is happening in the lowest-lying areas, the steady drip-drip of water leaking into their house, Daryl is bored. So damn bored.

So he sits most days with the door to the house wide open, soaked in the rain, leaning on the doorjamb and watching the storm lash the streets. He's waiting for some glimpse of another person, something, anything that might be able to clarify for him what the hell is going on, but it's better than staring at the walls.

While the crossbow is still in his lap or within reach, Daryl has started to learn that here, he doesn't seem to need to have it at the ready as much as he did back home. ]

We'll say the 10th I guess. Rest of the event!

[theweakhavepurpose]

[Pratt is braving the storm, ignoring the umbrellas and raincoats because he's from Montana and fuck protecting himself from the weather. That's what bunkers are for. He's wearing his Deputy uniform and trudging through the rain with his trusty sledgehammer. And for once not because he's expecting to use it in self defense!

He's looking for abandoned structures he can rip apart to bolster the storm protections on his own house. There's a pause as he sees a house with a light on and a wide open door with someone standing in the opening. Watching him.

He tenses immediately, the grip on his sledgehammer shifting further up the handle should he need to swing it. But he approaches anyway, because who is standing around with their door open in a storm?]

Hello?

You're gonna flood if you keep that up.

ABSOLUTE HELL, closed to his housemates! cw for the world's worst puberty talk

[hellosirs]

[ The last few weeks have been pretty rough for Angus. Being home alone had been fine, being stranded in an empty city with two other people for company - one of which killed the other - had been... less than fine, and on top of that, as of this month, he's been stuck in Hadriel for a year. It's one hell of an anniversary, and one that has been weighing on his mind quite a bit. He's twelve now, no matter how much he tries to brush off the time spent in this weird pocket dimension as 'not counting', and getting out of here seems more difficult than ever.

He hasn't mentioned this to the others, but they've probably seen him moping around the house. At some point, after they'd returned from their boat trip, the twins had noticed that Angus was even beginning to outgrow his clothes, and had shared a Significant Look between themselves. Normally, a Look like that would have made Angus instantly suspicious and put him on high alert for potential shenanigans, but he's had a lot on his mind lately. Right now, he's curled up in a chair by the living room window, watching the torrential downpour outside.

By the end of the conversation that's about to happen, he's going to wish that the rest of his family was still out at sea, stormy weather be damned. ]

[restinglichface]

[The time has come.

Angus - poor, sweet Angus - is curled up by the living room window when Lup comes to sit next to him unexpectedly, two mugs of hot cocoa in hand. She's really gone all out on this cocoa - heaping whipped cream, chocolate shavings, even some colorful sprinkles along the mug's rim.

But having lived with the twins for a full year now, this sweet act probably just leaves Angus wondering why. Not that they don't do nice things for the kid every now and then, Lup especially, but this coming so out of the blue probably just makes the elf seem extra suspicious.]

You watching the storm, kiddo?

[barold]

[Since returning from their trip at sea and boarding up the place against the storm that rolled in alongside them, the adults of the house all decided in hushed voices that they should probably have a talk with Angus. Not just any talk, The talk. The big one. Between his moping and his growth spurt, it seems pretty obvious what’s going on with him.

Fortunately, he’s surrounded by adults both capable and knowledgeable, equipped to tell him what’s happening to his body and answer any questions he might have.

Unfortunately, they happen to be the adults. Possibly the worst people in the multiverse to give this talk to a growing young man.

Take Barry, for instance. He’s dropping down heavily into the chair next to Angus, eyes deliberately not meeting the young man’s, instead flipping through several loose leaf pages he’s carrying with him, looking like he's searching for something. It goes on for a while before he clears his throat.] So, uh. I’ve scoured th’lab and gathered some resources I think might be pertinent t’you right now. If you’re. Interested.

[pocketspa]

[It's kinda been a lot.

There's lots of times where Hadriel is slow; where they sit around, the twins whip up a meal, someone's screaming on the network about something. It's boring. As mundane as a house full of all of them can get. But sometimes its just heavy. Taako hadn't pressed Angus for details about what happened while they were gone- he can handle being alone. But he knows anniversaries. Knows that Angus has been with them for some time now. More than the elves, his changes are incredibly apparent, and Taako already knows he's going to be burning slots left and right in the next week to make sure all his clothes are wearable. If they were home, he'd take the opportunity to dress him a little better, but times are tough and he'll just have to allow Angus to be a nerd for a little longer.

That said, they've all had a Discussion. About what this means, and what needs to be Said. Taako thinks most of what they've picked to discuss is bullshit, and he absolutely knows how to do it best, so get out of his way, suckers.

He slides up behind Angus' chair, putting his hands on the back of it and peering over the top down to the boy below.]

So, starting your teen brooding sesh early? I know you're an overachiever, kid, but damn.

9/8, closed to dany and jon

[lemontree]

[ It's a miracle they haven't been swept away.

The first day of the storm is brutal, and if she believed in gods, Dany would think that they were watching over herself and Jon as they sailed. After managing to find a shard of the Door, she'd considered their luck to be changing for the better (steadily so, since the trip as a whole hadn't been bad at all). After that, as they began to make their way back to the islands that acted as their temporary home, the skies had darkened. The winds had picked up. The rain had swollen the sea and battered their boat, rocking the pair to and fro and putting them at risk for drowning in the ocean of another world.

She hadn't prayed, but she was afraid. The Mother of Dragons was no match for such water, and she didn't have her children here to fly her through the squall and back to safety. Even though they had begun to sail to the main islands, the storm - surprising as it had been - had battered them with no end in sight.

Until. ]

- Jon. [ The sodden queen speaks suddenly, out of breath as she does. Through the darkness and falling water, she can see the faint outline of land. It grows closer, and by some miracle they are pushed at least in part toward its shore, and she is thankful to no one in particular that they've survived to this point. Dany hasn't been killed within Hadriel, hasn't had the need for revival, and isn't looking to change that particular detail.

When the boat reaches the sand, when she's able to leave, Dany manages to pull herself over the edge of the boat, half-collapsing in the surf. The rain still pounds at her back as she catches her breath, and she curls her fingers tight into the ground before pushing herself to stand again, wobbling as she does. ]

Are you all right? [ She asks, hoarse, silver hair plastered to her form, eyes intense and concerned. ]

[northerndragon]

[When the storm began, he'd hoped it would end in a few hours. And when it didn't, he became glad for the buckets, for the fact that he'd thought to bring a few wool garments that he'd found in the shops (one of them a tunic made like a pair of warm socks), for his sword, for enough rope to tie themselves to the boat, if need be. They spent some time in the hold at the beginning of it, but it only served to make him sick and sicker, and it kept him from looking for a place to land.

The boat has a rudder, a sail, but in this sort of wind, even if they see a place to land, actually being able to land there might mostly be a matter of luck. The terrain on the islands they've passed on this journey isn't much kinder than that of the ones they live on.

And then, on the second day, there it is, and with fear and labor, they're able to aim the boat in the right direction, and able to keep it from breaking up on the rocks, though it beaches a little. That's for the best; they need to keep it from floating away, or they'll have to hope that other people from Hadriel can find them.

Face against the sand, rain pelting him from the other side, his hair plastered against his face, he coughs, then spits out a mouth of water.]

Daenerys. [It comes out in a rasp. He pushes himself to a seated position, as well as he can, then reaches a hand out towards her, looking for a way to steady himself.] I'm all right.

[But he's soaked through, and so is she.]

We have to get some food from the boat, in case it's lost.

[And his sword, and any extra clothing they can set hands on. His cloak will help, but past that -- ]