First Day of Spring, AV 512
A beautiful day emerged from the Winter's veil, announcing the fanfare of Spring as the light of the Watchtowers had changed. Syna's love beamed across the City of Stars, glints of sunlight bouncing and spreading across its entirety. The tone of day was set as shopkeepers swept their thresholds and Shinya patrolled. Amongst the otherwise day to day activity, there was something happening at Zintila's abode. The Seiza were out in number, along with a sturdy contingent of the Shinya. The Anchorite looked through the glass dome of the temple, his eyes to the skies.
Upon the many peaks which surrounded the city, Okomo grazed, happy to eat new grass and stretch their legs. Their heads turned to the cloudless sky above them. Birds by the hundreds were passing over, flying south. Whatever senses the birds had also was passed to their earthbound cousins, as the Okomo began to herd and migrate back to the protection of the City. The resident animals, lacking in the presence that Zintila's herd had only fled mindlessly down the peaks, escaping something.
A few moments later, all of the peaks shook for a moment at once. It was brief and inconsequential in terms of structural damage, the skyglass unwavering. Now the humans and Ethaefal joined in with their Okomo neighbors, all glances turning skyward. Babies were crying ,dogs barking, but all was well. Shinyama Pavilion was evacuated and the Shinya began to coordinate, covering each peak with at least one of their number in each shop, surveying and aiding where needed. The Ascendant had called for one of the Devoted to appear, commanding that two Clouds, each a unit of one hundred Shinya exit the City. One hundred moved to herd the Okomo into the protection of Lhavit and gather any stragglers and patrollers in. The other Cloud split, one moving quickly to the base of the peaks to aid the farmers and laborers at the bottom of the pulley system which brought the entirety of Lhavit's imports up, the other half at the top, gathering the loads already delivered and escorting the Autava to safety. Ominous violet and azure clouds covered the sun, as lightning of every color began to streak from the heavens.
The majority of the city moved to its heart, to the constitution of the buildings for aid and safety. Zintila had always provided and this day would be no different in their minds. Orderly crowds began to move across the spans connecting the peaks as multicolored rain began to fall, a delight to the children. The winds behind this colorful light show began to rise and howl through the peaks, carrying power unbound within its own heart. A bell later, the streets were quiet, short of the nervous neighs of Okomo as Shinya moved them inside. The howling winds only gained in strength, thunder echoing and rumbling along the valleys, strangely reverberating through the city with a tonal quality.
The storm carried a massive amount of Djed within itself, its presence first known to the peaks and those who had not come out of the rain. Frequent and anxious calls bleating from the Okomos came at once as they broke free of the Shinya who attempted to wrangle them. They ran with all of the strength in their massive bodies toward the City. A large stag remained, tethered with Projected limbs by the stalwart protectors, who all turned their heads to the northeast, seeing what no other living person did or would again. A great massive flow of Djed rolled over the peaks like a waterfall, pushing through the valley they held. With no reason to run, they released their hold on the great stag, whose horned head turned also. In the passing of the wave, one hundred Shinya lay dead along the valley floor, their Projected bodies vomited from their bodies. One hundred ghosts remained, looking on to the stag, who did not die. The flora of the area was stripped bare of all life with them, leaving only a barren strip of sand and rock in its wake.
The Autava and Shinya inside waited as the winds slammed into the walls of the city. Roofs flew free and anything not tied down in the streets was tossed about at the whim of the storm. Short of children and idiots, the mood was fairly calm. Zintila had provided and protected those in the city since its birth. The snow capped peaks quickly sloughed off their winter coats with the heated blasts inside the storm's angry stomach, the detritus and the rocks which held it began to come down all over the peaks, boulders shattering the buildings beneath them, though thankfully uninhabited. Short of the trouble of getting the cargo of the pulleys in line, there was nothing to fear from the storm.
Or so they thought. Its silent messenger, the fuel of the fires of magic, could hold no root among the Divine skyglass. However, much of the buildings lived in wood and earth as well, the initial waves harmlessly traveling around, but as each greater wave of Djed slammed into the buildings, things changed. Masters of true sight, the Aurists were the first to witness, as expected. Screams echoed through the halls of their tower as nearly every one of them, save the lucky novices, bled freely from their eyes. Some could see every aspect and nuance of Mizahar and Lhavit, the sheer volume of information driving some mad. Some were stricken irreversibly blind, both from light as well as the conception of auras. Later, some would see their curse as a blessing, when compared to the others.
The Twilight Tower groaned, a mad symphony of roars, hisses and howls echoing through its honored halls. Once human, now pure artworks of flesh as well as nightmarish mishmashes stormed from the hall and out into the streets, their bodies out of their control. Some things flew, some things ran, some slid across the ground leaving rainbow slime trails. It was if a river of flesh and bone traveled out of the mouth of the tower, spilling out into the violent storm and the hardened city.
If this was all there was to be, it would be tragic and hard to recover from, but it would be manageable. The stalwart and honorable people of Lhavit would band together and clean up the messes, moving on. Unfortunately, one tower remained. Its cry was heard as its dome crown exploded, lifted from the forces inside and landing among the expensive shopping district a peak away. Fiery flying boulders ripped themselves free of the peaks and began to slam into the skyglass walls, frozen lightning sheared down into houses, their remnants then crashing into the streets once the Djed slipped loose. The elements were as chaotic and insane as the Magi wielding them, each cackling with an insane glee, throwing greater and more powerful spells to top the ones last thrown.
Knowing the risks involved, the Ascendant sent another Cloud out into the City to bring the chaos down before it brought the City to its knees. A war raged in the streets as any use of Projection brought the same price it did outside the City, the astral body of the user merely ripped free of the flesh. Fortunately, the majority of the Shinya had many more weapons in their arsenal. They would need every one.
