Power/Swap Event

[spoofer]

Characters: Ensemble cast, any/all characters of Xistentia!
Summary: Power fluctuations across Xistentia affect not only the electricity of the city, but also the supernatural abilities of the residents. Will you get caught up in the chaos, or try to help out the next poor bastard who accidentally sprouted telekinesis overnight? Check out the mod announcement!
Date(s): Month of March 2018
Warnings/Notes: Potential violence/accidents

Power/Swap Event

That sing the ecstasy of the soul and senses

Blackouts & Brownouts (March 10-13)

Early Saturday evening, the power goes out across Xistentia. Of course, if you were out in the woods roasting marshmallows or hunting elk, it doesn't make much of a difference until you approach the city and find the twinkle of lights has gone out. However, if you were enjoying some of the city amenities, it's immediately obvious that something is very wrong. Almost all stoves, lights, stereos, and heating systems cease to work. Television is right out. Devices running on indepedent power— such as cars, and cellphones and earpieces that relay the daemon network-- continue to work as long as they have battery power. Fortunately, by now the weather is fairly mild— dropping to a crisp 60 degrees Fahrenheit or 15 Celsius at the deepest part of the evening, but far from intolerable for most people. While some have fears that D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. may raise its ugly head while Xistentia is defenseless, F.A.T.E.S. issues an assurance that all remaining power is being routed to interdimensional defenses. Mostly, it's the anxiety and boredom that people have to contend with. So maybe you'll be part of the service passing around lanterns and candles, running patrols to prevent theft, or helping to charge up devices from the handful of people who have developed generator technology throughout the town. Some dubious genius even developed specific electric blankets that convert positive affect from cuddling and shared sympathy to heat output that can be calibrated for maximum comfort.

Or maybe you'll take advantage of the rise of community spirit in the nighttime, and come together to drink and tell stories in the one part of Xistentia that seems to continue to offer a little light— the Temple. There, people congregate to play a drinking game of truth or dare, or possibly complain about them millennials and their dependency on technology.

On the third day, residents begin to find that their daemons are malfunctioning a little. Accidental shitposts, distorted audio, and bizarre typographical errors are the least of it. It's as if your sentient personal assistants have gotten terribly drunk, though they reassure you that it's just part of the repair process...

Swaps and Supercharges (March 14-24)

On day four, the power comes back on and the daemons begin to sober up. It's awesome.

Except that that's when everybody's supernatural powers promptly go haywire.

For some, this is a sudden amplification of powers— superstrength or speed suddenly doubling in measure, or stone skin and magic swords will suddenly jolt into activation in the middle of brunch. A couple of werewolves wake up fuzzy on the morning after a new moon, whereas several wizards find themselves casting unintentional, messy spells while mumbling "shit" over something ordinarily innocuous. Arguably worse, a few people find their powers nullified. It's easier to manage, assuming you arranged your life so that a normal person could go about it. You may have to help one of our local giants escape from their seventy foot suburban home through a towering window, though.

And then there are the swaps. You'll hear about it on the network mainly— people squawking in dismay, that not only have they lost their old powers, but now they have something completely new. Keep your eye out— maybe someone will need your help, managing a terrifying set of abilities and weaknesses that you are familiar with.

NPC Swaps

Though many PCs have powers available for swap, several NPCs have also unleashed their abilities into the pool! Brief descriptions are below. Players may choose to handwave some off-screen help or instruction from these NPCs, or try and figure it out with the help of PCs.

1. Telekinesis— 2 tonne maximum left (equivalent of a player vehicle), may throw or catch knives. Special feats, such as flight, may also be available but require study to master.
2. Elemental Control
   • Hydrokinesis— 15 cubic feet of water may be moved at one time, such as the volume of a square room of 'typical' adult bedroom height. This volume may be shaped or hurled around with the force of an ocean wave (for surfing, rather than storm). Water cannot be generated, but with effort and concentration, it may be pulled from the air or smaller bodies at a distance. Bodily transformation into water is an option.
   • Pyrokinesis— the ability to generate and manipulate flames. Fires will start small, such as fireballs the size of a fist, and be fairly easy to maintain. However, with greater effort, larger, shorter-lived fireballs may be summoned for attacks, such as they may destroy 1 normal passenger vehicle in one shot. Bodily transformation into fire is an option.
   • Terrakinesis— shockwaves through stone/earth/sediment or 15 cubic feet of earth may be moved at one time. Characters may raise pillars or shields of earth for offensive purposes, generating enough destructive force to flip or destroy a car in a single shot. With less offensive goals, they may reshape landscapes. Bodily transformation into earth/stone is an option.
3. Touch Telepathy - Characters may read or affect the thoughts of others by coming into physical contact with them, with effect proportional to effort. Weaknesses will include that the target's willpower can overcome the ability, as characters learn to detect intrusion over time; they may also suffer from difficulty 'shutting out' the thoughts of others that they touch. Opt-out/consent pages will be required.

OOC Note: Changes to powers will be temporary, lasting throughout the month of March before reverting. There will however be the opportunity to make them permanent if you desire. For this, please keep an eye out for the next announcement, which will include a signup for long-term ability conversion!

Comments

Era ☘ FFXIV

[astralera]

MARCH 10th ☘ NAMEDAY

[ Era is twenty-seven summers today.

It was on this day what feels like eons ago that she chose the name that would be hers. Never has she regretted her choice. It is her identity, alongside that of the Warrior of Light: Era Ra, the Raen adventurer.

And now she supposes that Lady de Borel can be added to that list, though Era is fairly certain she will never use it.

She has never celebrated her nameday before - there has never been the time - and is left at a loss as to what to do for it. Era hasn't spoken a word of it to anyone else, deeming it unimportant for others, but that doesn't mean it is unimportant to her. Perhaps she can treat herself to a nameday cake?

Yes, that sounds like a perfect idea. A cake for her and Aymeric to share. Something to distract her from her current melancholy.

Changing out of her training clothes and into a fresh pair of jeans and a warm sweater, Era finishes up by placing a flowery hair ornament above her regrowing horn to distract from it. Satisfied that she doesn't look dishevelled she then hops onto her Chocobo, Peki, and rides back into the city in search of some manner of dessert to partake in. ]

{ run into her on her way into the city, browsing shops before the power goes out, buying a cake, or after the blackout on her way home. or even in the woods earlier in the day! }

☘ AMPLIFICATION

[ Era has always been incredibly powerful, felling gods and armies alike, but Xistentia put a noticeable dampener on the potency of her more destructive abilities. She adjusted to it rather quickly - she doesn't often use her full strength, after all - yet the past few days Era has noticed her spells have been more... impressive every so often. It is inconsistent, which has slowly been driving her mad. She likes to be in control of herself, keeping her abilities in check. Never expending more aether than she needs for a spell. Never using more force than necessary.

It bothers her enough that she cuts her training sessions short whenever it happens, which leaves Era to fill in the time with crafting, gathering, exploring, or hopping on Peki to visit the unicorns.

She notices it in other ways as well while running errands in the city, when Era frequently finds herself reacting to something someone does before they do it. This is something that has never happened to her outside of combat before and is more than a little disconcerting. Her standard abilities going haywire is something she can cope with, but if the Echo continues flaring up Era will be half-tempted to just lock herself in her apartment until it stops, lest she be shown something she really would rather not see. ]

{ can be found training in isolated areas of the beach or forest, exploring the forest, or wandering around the city. if you would like Era to have an Echo vision of a moment of your character's past please contact me via Plurk (froakie) or Discord at Era Ra#4916. alternatively if you would like her to react to something your character is about to do/say let me know in the thread itself!

feel free to contact me if you have any other ideas in mind as well - I am open to plotting. C: }

Will Solace | Camp Half-Blood Chronicles

[healingdork]

[During the blackout, Will sends out a message letting people know he's got his own personal little clinic should anyone need any medical assistance. It's more like a single exam room with an entryway outside but he's never trusted the medical facilities here, even if they supposedly do wonders. He'd personally rather put his trust in a real living being, so should anyone prefer that, he's always open and on call. Nobody's ever really needed to use the clinic before and Will has done most of his medic work out in the field during arrivals or when some other event happens - they are in the middle of a war, after all - but it's still a peace of mind for him to know he has a place he can use if need be.

Once the power comes back on, Will goes about life as normal... until he starts noticing a few things. He spends most of his time with Nico, so Nico is how he figures it out; when he holds his hand for long periods of time, he can't... sense how he's doing physically. Usually he'd be able to tell if he was tired or... or something but there's nothing.

He follows what other people are talking about and eventually he realizes with a sinking horror... his powers are gone. He really really hopes it's only temporary because he can't even begin to think about what life is going to be like if he's just a regular mortal now. He doesn't say anything about it, just says he's going to go play his guitar for a bit, picks it up, and goes somewhere somewhat secluded to sit down.

He doesn't play though, just resting the guitar in his lap. What if any talent he had with it was because he was a son of Apollo? What if he sucks now? What if he tries to play something and all that comes out is an awful twang and that's it? Or worse, what if someone shows up needing help and Will can't tell what's wrong with them because he can't touch them and figure out what's wrong? What if he can't heal them fast enough before they die if they're bleeding out?

He manages to keep his calm for the most part in that regard, because he's confident enough in his own medical know-how to help someone if someone needed it. It might not be as fast but he still knows basic medical first aid, knows how to take care of wounds and set broken bones and other things like that. There's a nagging what if lurking in the back of his brain, but he knows he's not absolutely useless without his demigod abilities.

He still can't bring himself to touch his beloved guitar though. Sure, he was never as talented as some of his other siblings but the thought that he might actually have zero musical talent and that what little he does/did? have is only because of his father makes him feel like something is breaking a little bit inside of him. He's resting his guitar on his lap with his arms draped over it, holding his hands out with one palm up and the other holding his celestial bronze dagger, eying the dagger like he's contemplating using it. He's only intending to prick himself with it for medical reasons, but it might not exactly look like that. If he's a regular mortal, the celestial bronze will go right through him, and he'd rather find that out now versus when he needs some nectar or ambrosia and tries to take some only for it to end up badly. He remembers trying to give ambrosia to his completely mortal father and... well... It'd been a good thing he hadn't accidentally killed him, let's just say. Regular mortals and ambrosia or nectar did not mix, at all.]

Marcus Wright/ OTA

[anewhero]

[b] March 11th- Power Outage [/b]

Day two of Xistentia's power outage. Marcus had been glad that nothing of his needed charging of power as his daemon was nearby.

Blaird followed Marcus in the background as he stared at the dark lights surrounding the city. He and Blaired had been glad to be carrying a candle of some sort to at least see.

A terminator with a light was a little weird to say the least. He'd fix something if he had to.

He had felt his strength wane due to the city but it was odd to feel somewhat human again.

Bardock 🦅 Dragonball Z: Episode of Bardock

[ssbardock]

[Daemon malfunction]

Bardock finds himself flying in the air only to stop having his talking scouter malfunction and read to him strange, odd directions that don't make sense.

He smacks it and growls. This is annoying.]

He's forced to land.

Barclay Odell ⛵ OC ⛵ OTA;

[disbands]

March 14+;

[To be quite honest, apart from the ambient fear going around everybody, Barclay had quite enjoyed the blackout. It felt like returning to his roots. Granted, his roots go all the way back to the 1800s, before penicillin, never mind the convenience of a microwave. He'd managed to persuade Kenzi that candlelight was sexy and romantic. It had not taken all that much persuasion at all.

And now that the lights are back on, he's out again, patrolling the beach. He's looking for new arrivals in part; he does this often, to be helpful, in no small part because he lives right up on the lighthouse that overlooks the white sand. Eager to help. Or at least, to totter around slightly tipsy on rum, singing British songs of war that no one else in this world seems to remember. That perhaps, sometimes, even he himself would prefer to forget.

But sometimes he's just out fooling around. Picking seashells.

And maybe you're the one who catches him doing this, finding his little treasures in the shiny stretch of fine grain, listening to the waves. Wandering along the gentle, wrinkling edge of the foam-hemmed waves. And maybe you're the one who notices that there's a ocean wave the size of a horse flowing along absently behind him, like a heeling pet.]

Tony Stark | OTA;

[servomotor]

electrical blackout;

[Despite the fact that Tony loves him some mechanics and technology, he's always done surprisingly well when horrific third world scenarios are foisted on him. The blackout is no different. No, that's a lie. The blackout is plenty different; there's no kidnapping, no exploitation and blackmail. Not no possibility of death, but significantly less than you'd worry about with the warlords.

Tony is helping out. He might be the one who stops by your door, clanks his metal fist against it, and calls out,] Flashlights, flashlights, read all about it. Or just get your quota. I-- also— come bearing an assortment of--
[and at this point, his voice dissolves into a mutter. you might pick out random words, like kale?, toilet paper, this can smells funny.]

power/swap;

[When the power comes back on, Tony's happy. Holding Shepard in the dark is a pleasure beautiful and strange, but its beauty leans heavily on how deeply unfamiliar it is to him otherwise. And it's good to be back in familiar spaces, doing familiar things. Specifically: building in his workshop. Fridayd is leaning over his shoulder, debating with him about the best algorithm to program into this oscillating device for better vehicular balance. He's grumbling thoughtfully, poking a slender screwdriver into tiny contacts within the little machine.] You're blocking my ligh--

[—BAMF—-]

—-ight.

[and then he stops. Blinks. Wherever you are, whatever you were doing, you suddenly have a guest. One Tony Stark, presiding with a doohickey the size of a pocketwatch and a bemused expression on his face.]