KA-KOOohm! - the walls of Orion shudder and quake, the air trembles, and it is like a great breath has been exhaled through the massive cave. The quadrant abruptly fills with a strange light, and the pressure in the air is unbearable - but then it subsides with a gust. There is no telling where the blast originated or why it happened, only that it did - and as the air currents shift, gasp, roll, and gradually settle, a massive wave of power cascades from one side of Orion to the other. It passes through the wall of Tunnel I and, strangely, redirects itself and funnels towards Polaris.

The air calms, pressure returns to what it was before - but something is different. Perhaps the gembounds will be aware of the shift, perhaps they won't be. It is like an EMP has pulsed through Orion.

The magicka - it's g o n e ?

Join this Quest

If you would like to participate in this quest, post with your character in this thread.

Be aware that characters present at the time of this event will (temporarily) be without magicka. Effects will vary dependent on where a character is positioned within Orion.
Effects will continue beyond this thread, and specific symptoms & such things will be posted once the quest has participants.

This occurs concurrently with this thread.

Something had stirred Septiezal from his deep slumber...

Awoken by a bright, stinging light, the massive serpent shielded his lidless eyes behind his body, only to be buffeted by dislodged pebbles from the massive pressure change. Angry, but still groggy, all he wanted was more sleep. A hiss rose in his throat, it was all that he cared to mustered.

By the Spire, one more time and I'm going to eat the Gembound responsible for this.

Suddenly, every fiber in his body was hit with a stranger power. A surge of unbridled fury snapped Septiezal to full awareness, and he spat with rage. That was it, he was going to strangle them. His head shot through darkness of one of the strange, rectangular holes pocketing the side of an ancient, crumbling building.

"What'ssss the meaning of-!!"

Septiezal stopped mid hiss. His lungs struggled for breath as the chaotic currents snatched the air from them. He twisted in a writhing spiral, panicking, as his heavy body spilled onto the floor with a loud thud. Just as he caught his breath, he witnessed the immense wave of power surge into Tunnel I like a mighty river. Then, just as fast as it started, everything returned to normal. Septiezal, coiled tightly in shock, stared at the tunnel for a few heart beats before the realization hit him.

His magick was gone...

__________________________________________________________

"Listen"
Tag: Name || OOC:

Of all the days to leave Eridanus...

The mostly feral thing had wandered away from home for the first time ever in her long life. It wasn't curiosity that drove her out. It was need. She wasn't seeking company or friendship but prey; Eridanus had been harder to hunt in since the return of those large things with horns that'd moved back in.

So after a few days of failed hunts, she'd headed instead for Orion. She knew it was there, knew its name from echoes in the caves, but had never been.

What a stark contrast to Eridanus! So alien! Bare stone and a ceiling visible only by the starlit stones embedded there. Towering structures that were carved of stone as well but shaped and sturdy, worn by time alone but still an image of what it'd once been. A great and massive city under stars.

She'd been admiring the beauty of this new place when sudden,

KA-KOOoom!

She screeched, the sound muted, as the blast knocked her clean off her feet and tumbling against the wall she'd been tucked by. As the ringing resided and she found her footing again, she puffed out her fur and hissed instinctively, eying the area for her invisible assailant, rattling the tip of her tail against the ground just hard enough to drum out a warning.

Nothing appeared.

Something still felt off though. Had she been attacked? Was it magic?

She tried to coax her own magic to check, and level out her nerves, with internal control but...

Panic seized her.

Her magic was gone.

That couldn't happen, that was impossible, no it couldn't be happening--

Hyperventilating, she turned to look back towards Eridanus. There was no magic in these caves! She'd been hit with a curse! She should never have left her home! This was what must've happened to her Dizzy! Oh, Dizzy, no!

Wailing out in her panic and sudden grief, Dazzle backed herself into a corner.

This existence wasn't fair!

She had felt it; the raw power surge electrifying every ounce of her body. It hurt. Made her body spasm in its otherwise comfortable bearings. Forced her from the home she had become acquainted with over the many cycles she had been here. Ever since she fell from that tower with a calamitous wail. Air flowing in and out was so unfamiliar to her—she coughed wetly as her lungs suddenly rejected the membrane that had filled them for so long. (Who was she?) Spilling liquid across the dusty blue floor, the little gremlin was momentarily dazzled by the stars above. (She was Dizzy.) It seemed she had forgotten where she had fallen asleep at. Fitting, considering the stars were made of what her stone was. But they couldn't match up to the one she had missed most.

Her beloved, a face mingling with the throes of conciousness. Ingrained. Already, a scent wafted companionably into her nostrils, beyond the reek of afterbirth. Shrugging off her membrane and stretching sore limbs, Dizzy blindly followed after that smell. Because she would follow her heart to the ends of the Caves. Her gait was stiff at first, but it soon evolved into a jaunty little waddle. All to get home (to where her heart was, of course).

And there she was—cowering in a corner. Despite this, the Tasmanian devil squealed grossly. "Daz-azle," her voice crackled from disuse. Tears pricked at glassy rubies and she rushed forwards, reassuring herself in repetition: "Da-dazzle, Dazzle, Dazzle." Without hesitation, Dizzy smushed her face against her beloved's and whinnied between sobs, "my Dazzle." Little gremlin hands grabbed at the quoll, grounding herself in reality. How convenient it was that she would awaken and find her beloved right here with her.

@Dazzle <3

From the moment he found that he could, Phenex had set off on wandering. It was a bit of a slow wander, with his struggles from legs that were too big, but he had made it into a new cave. And, as he finally made it, what an adventure he would turn out to have. Maybe wandering from the cave of Cetus had been a bad idea. When he had made it into a new cave, one with something hanging from the ceiling, the walls of the place began to shake, not long after a loud noise. Fear filled him at the sound, and his ears flattened as a warning to whatever had just happened.

Before he could do much else, however, there was something else. A new light, one that hadn't been there moments before, and suddenly the room felt wrong. Even with as young as he was, Phenex knew that something wasn't right here. He wanted to flee, to do something, but it took a few moments for the shock of it to pass. When he did, everything was still again, and, hesitantly, he moved forwards. There were others here; maybe they would know what happened. That's what he hoped, at least.

Before he could do anything, a new arrival came, pressing up against one of the creatures like they had met. Curiosity in his gaze, he spoke, word broken and hesitant."D-Dazz?"Maybe later he could find the words to ask what happened. That wouldn't be just yet, however.

coding by wulf for template purposes

The Aftermath

The dust has settled, and it is clear that the blast originated somewhere along the south-east corner of Orion - maybe in one of those decrepit old buildings, maybe a segment of the wall - but the fluctuating energy pulsed out in a wide cone (encompassing the entrance to Tunnel M, Tunnel I, and bisecting the short Tunnel N) before redirecting towards Tunnel I and sweeping violently through it.

Individuals within this thread will be without magicka for seven threads. Please keep a tally somewhere in your future posts! It will be a struggle for those more strongly affected.

The scale of alternative symptoms goes as follows:
[ Light > Medium > Strong > Severe ]

@Septiezal STRONG: Assuming he's close to Tunnel I because he's watching it, Septiezal is hit with a direct blast!
Muscle spasms, disorientation, nausea, and short-term amnesia.

@Dazzle SEVERE: Arriving from Eridanus puts you in a direct line of fire!
Cataplexy (paralysis); when that wears off there will be strong bouts of disorientation, vomiting, short-term amnesia.

@Dizzy MEDIUM: Thankfully their location is far enough West that they are hit with a narrow wave of energy - their symptoms are bad but not the worst.
Strong disorientation & nausea, mild forgetfulness.

@Phenex STRONG: To reach Orion from Cetus you'd have to travel through Polaris or Eridanus; either way, the route Phenex took results in a direct hit from the blast.
Muscle spasms, disorientation, nausea, short-term amnesia.

As the initial burst sunk in, she could feel her limbs losing sensation. "Dazzle!"

She knew that voice. Had she died? Had Dizzy come for her?

She was in the other's arms in moments but slumped and limp, heavy dead weight as sensation left her entirely. All she could manage was a shrill keening whine. Barely conscious she allowed her other half to cradle her,mostly because she couldn't help but lay there, motionless; but also because despite the absurdity of the situation, she had her Dizzy back maybe?

Confused and frazzled, the paralyzed quoll accepted her fate in the way only small game could, and in her acceptance, found a sort of peace. Her mind faded into unconsciousness as she did.

_{OOC: Dazzle's immobilized; Dizzy has permission to PP. Exit Dazzle via Knockout.}

A bout of nausea rolled through Dizzy as she drew the now-smaller quoll up into her little gremlin arms, delighted squealing quickly turning to disoriented and panicked yelping. With the keening wail, everything broke in her. Tiny ears shifting back, the Tasmanian devil struggled to come to grips—something was wrong. Wrong with her Dazzle. "Hey," she managed to squeak out, mitt reaching up to her beloved's cheek. "Dazzle, please. Say something!" Anything to reassure her that she was okay.

Her jaw cracked open in distress, an adscript plea slipping, "anything." It was too soon to lose her beloved again. Even as she felt the world spin and morph around her, the greatest priority was making sure Dazzle was alright. It was unfortunate that the leopard would be ignored in her distress.

As the muscle spasms gained intensity, Septiezal's body slipped into erratic spirals. With his mouth agape, he twisted and writhed on the dusty floor. Confusion and dread, wracked him. Was he dying? Thankfully, the worst of spasms ebbed away shortly after it started, however his tail was locked in a corkscrew, and it was causing him mild discomfort.

All that spinning made Septiezal feel a bit queasy, or was that the effect of the blast? He could not tell, his mind seemed to be in a fog, but he pushed it down when he felt the air vibrate with the sound of pleading. The large serpent clumsily crept towards the source, hoping he would come across answers, or at least other Gembounds.

Septiezal slithered towards the others, they were three Gembounds he had not seen before, all warmblooded. One smelled like a feline, the two others looked like large, mutant rats, but their scent did not taste as such. He saw that the rat-creature cradled the other one in her paws. It she that he "heard" pleading. Septiezal flicked his tongue inquisitively at the pitiful scene. Her companion appeared dead, but she was not. He could still sense her body heat and it wasn't ebbing away like a fresh kill. The huge python turned his gaze to other Gembounds, who seemed concern.

"Do not worry," He said in a soothing hiss. "She is still alive."

Septiezal shook his head as dizziness shrouded his train of thought. He withdrew head back to his coils in an attempt to relieve it. "I..I believe she is." He said one more time, to cement it in his memory. The serpent muscles began to twitch uncontrollably under his scales, tugging his skin in small patches. It was then that Septiezal began to look ill and bit droopy. It was true, he felt like crap, especially within his guts.

__________________________________________________________

"Listen"
Tag: Name || OOC: