Flashback Surviving the Djed Storm (Alexander Faircroft)

[Amilyn]

1st of Spring 512AV
South Sunberth

Amilyn immediately jerked awake, swung her backpack onto her back, and rolled to her feet as the sounds of panic and terror began rising from everywhere. One of the nearby precariously-built buildings collapsed in a cloud of dust, old wood, and breaking stone, accompanied by more screaming and calling out for family and friends. Another building looked about to tip over, buffeted by strong winds or something of the like, and she decided that she wasn't going to stick around here. First the fire mid-fall, then whatever this was? She would probably have a better chance hanging around the Tent City or the old mines until the Slums were rebuilt, from the way things were going.

She got to her feet and hurried over to the main road, dodging and weaving and trying her best to make her way through the chaotic crowd of people running every which way in an attempt to...what, outrun whatever this was? Find the source and stop it? Run around the streets ducking and dodging debris until the entire thing was over? Who knew? Whatever the case, they could go do whatever they liked; she was looking for somewhere sturdy to wait it out and, hopefully, fare better than they would.

She was making her way towards the Gated Community's wall, figuring that the stone construction might weather this event better than the unstable buildings close to the Slums, when motion at the top of the wall caught her attention. She turned to look and cursed as she watched a stone block fall, cringing as it hit the ground and several more frantic shouts went up. She glanced between the top of the wall and the fallen block, rapidly weighing the intelligence of continuing with her original plan, but, as another block looked to be on the edge of falling, she decided it wasn't worth the risk.

She let herself follow the movements of the crowd for a moment, keeping one eye out for anything else that looked ready to collapse. With the stone wall of the Gated Community out and the Slums a veritable deathtrap in its current condition, Amilyn had to figure out where she could ride out this storm and fast. Most of Sunberth's buildings didn't look like they could stand up to whatever was causing this storm to be so bad, at least from what she could remember, which left her with a few options: she could continue on to the Gated Community and push her way inside the walls to wait it out, hopefully, out of range of the falling stone blocks; she could hide out in the Temple of the Unknown, which looked sturdy enough and had managed to survive for so long no one knew its actual story; or she could head out to the old mine entrances and wait it out there.

She ran through her options once more before deciding on a plan. She would try to get inside the Gated Community first, but, if that failed, she'd try to hide out in the Temple. Better to try inside the middle of the city first, where some of the buildings would hopefully survive, than to risk heading out to the mines and getting crushed under a collapsing building. Besides, she was currently closer to both the Gated Community and the Temple than she was to the few mine entrances she knew of. If both of the former failed, then she'd find her way towards the old mines.

"Common" | Grassland Sign | "Nari" | Thoughts | Auristics

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

He’d spent almost fifty days within the city of Sunberth, within that time he’d managed to learn three things. Sleep little, eat less, and keep quiet. The first of the three saved him this morning. He rolled out of the small tent that he and his father had pitched up. Nothing much but it was enough. Sitting in the darkness and abject silence of the stillness. He smiled, rising to head out for the day. The peace was soothing and calming. Then a loud whistling came, a roaring burst of wind followed with it. He thought nothing of it until the sound of a large crunch hit behind him. The tent which he and his father had pitched was smashed flat beneath a large hunk of stone. The building it fell from was crumbling into a pile of dust. Slivers of wood and cracked masonry all over the place.

Within mere seconds the entirety of the tent city was up in arms some trying to save what little they could. One unfortunate sod found himself smashed beneath another huge boulder, his boy instantly a fine red paste. Without even registering what had happened Alex caught sight of the incident and just puked coating the ground in a blanket of cream coloured bile. The leg of the unfortunate sod twitched hard almost like he was struggling to get out of the mess. Swallowing hard eh turned and ran. What little gear he still had on him he took with him. His dagger, bow, and quiver of arrows. His clothes in a tattered mess. His shirt in his hands along with his bow. Scanning back and forth through the streets. He rushed towards the commons. Much the same happened there. Buildings crumbled and people found themselves either trampled by the sheer panic in people or smashed beneath large fragments of masonry or timbers of support.

He darted his head around swinging his sights throughout the city and headed with the surge of people not wanting to be battered and bludgeoned to death. He ran with them towards the gated community. The high towering walls he hoped would provide some safety from this unnaturally strong wind. Another lump of stone fell from the peak of the wall. A poor man beneath it split in half. Bisected vertically such was the force and speed of the stone. The still dazed half of him glanced around for the briefest of moments before slumping dead against the stone. Alex drew short and harried breaths terror rising within him he turned and bolted just running now. Screw caution, screw quiet all that mattered in that moment was survival.

The stones surrounding the walls fo the gated community fell from their moorings smashing closed the entrance barring all from getting in. A look of wild panic set over him. He lifted his hand to the loop of symbols around his neck gripping the sigils of yahal, priskil and Lhex he bolted for the temple of the unknown. He saw people just running wildly and wondered what to do. His mind then calmed slowly as inspiration in a ray of hope came to him. “Everyone!” he called out loud as his voice would allow him barely carrying over the crowds. “Head inside! It’s safer than being out on the streets!” he called out the voice of his drowned out mostly but a few people heard him and seeing a small manner of sense headed in the same direction that he was.

He turned his heels his pack of gear slung over his shoulder his shirt now in the satchel his bow now slung over his torso as he kept running. Be bolted for the temple of the unknown. The large stone structure there was his best bet of riding out this insanity, this chaos. He put feet to stone and ran for all he could muster. His body burning in the still cool air of the day. The scar on his face still tender and stung in the violent whipping of the winds. He closed the eye alongside it and just ran. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted someone who needed his help. He ran over A man had found his foot stuck between one of the boulders albeit a smaller one and a log. He was screaming for help but no-one else seemed to care. Alex ran over. “Don’t worry I’ll get you out of there!” he roared over the other voices in the city. The man nodded and Alex put all of his body weight into the stone with the man’s help and eventually after a good half chime of pushing and shoving he managed to get him free. Luckily unhurt the man bowed his head thanking him profusely before fleeing with the rest of the people.

“To the Temple!” He called out as best he could, his voice being swallowed in the random cries. Eventually he made his way to the temple. Only to see the doors of stone fused together sealing some unfortunate souls within. No, no! It’s closed, it’s sealed shut. He dropped to his knees picking up the sloop of symbols and clutching them in his hands. Yahal, Priskil, kihala, Sylir, Eyris, Lhex, someone please give me a sign of what to do. Give me some indication as to how to get out of this mess. And how to help these people out of this mess. He glanced around looking through the crowds for something anything. A sudden spark of hope opened up to him. The old mines! Thank you Priskil! Thank you Yahal! He turned to bolt off the other way catching sight of a strawberry blonde haired individual heading in the same direction he had been. On a gut instinct he called out. “No the temples sealed! Anyone who wants to live follow me!” He was going to make it through this, and he would help as many people through it as he found he possibly could.

[Amilyn]

It was simple enough to hurry along with the crowd, since a lot of people apparently had the same idea, but the growing mass of people blocking the entrance to the Gated Community forced everyone else behind them to stop. And that only brought death upon their heads when another block of stone fell from the wall. There was no where to run for them, even as they pushed and shoved and screamed their terror, unable to do more than watch the cause of their impending death.

Amilyn tore her gaze from them, though it didn't stop her from wincing at the crunching of bones or the wailing that went up after the rock fell, and she shouldered her way out of the panicking crowd that was beginning to scatter like rats. She shoved down the urge to run around frantically like many of the other people were doing and struggled to recall the next part of her shaky plan, already hurrying onwards on some gut instinct.

What was it, what was it... She wracked her brain for the next possibly-safe place, grabbing and discarding the various locations when they didn't ring true. Wasn't the port, not the Tent City, something with a T...T, Tent, Te...Temple! Right. Success.

With her destination in mind, she picked up her pace, weaving and dodging and chasing after others who were also heading in the same direction as she was. The Temple had apparently been another place a lot of people had thought of when they'd thought of 'sturdy' because it was just as, if not more, crowded than the Gated Community's entrance had been and she couldn't even see its various entrances yet. The only difference was that there were people who'd run here after almost getting killed at the Gated Community and they were rougher and more frantic than the others; they threw people aside in their hurry to reach the safety of the Temple and she had no doubt that anyone who'd fallen here wasn't getting back up.

Suddenly, the flow of people towards the Temple slowed and scattered, just like at the Gated Community, and Amilyn began watching the nearby buildings in alarm. She hadn't thought there were any buildings as destructive as the Gated Community's walls here, so what'd happened to the Temple?

"No the temple's sealed! Anyone who wants to live follow me!" a dirty blond yelled and she hesitated for a beat as three thoughts arose from those two sentences. The first immediately rebelled against the implied command in the guy's voice, rejecting the authority he'd gathered by simply keeping a level head and having a plan; this one, she wrestled away because it was not going to help her survive and that was really all that mattered at the moment. The second marveled at the fact he was attempting to aid people at all, considering the current situation, and attributed that to being not of Sunberth. The third wondered whether he was telling the truth about the Temple being sealed and was it worth the risk to check it out herself; this, she considered quickly, and decided that she was better off taking the guy's word for it. If it was true, she'd have to fight her way out of the city and avoid more falling buildings, which would more than likely kill her.

Spinning on her heel, she paced the stranger and eyed him sidelong, even as she kept an eye on the surrounding buildings. "Okay. Temple's sealed, Gated Community's blocked off, Slums're probably rubble by now. You got some kind of plan or are we just gonna run out of the city and into the wilds?"

If it turned out the guy was just bullskyking his way through this, then she was ditching him and heading to the mines by herself. It was going to be bad enough that a lot of Sunberthians were going to be confined into such small spaces for who knew how long; she didn't want to have to deal with some clueless, bleeding heart, on top of that.

"Common" | Grassland Sign | "Nari" | Thoughts | Auristics

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

The whole city came crashing down around him. Building by building it just fell apart. Alex scanned the horizon as best he could looking for a safe path through the chaos. He breathed a heavy breath he wasn’t calm by any stretch but he was composed. It was a start. It was something. And little known to him since she’d shouted out that the temple was sealed and that he could lead people to life he found himself heading the charge of a few people. A small group maybe five or seven people had heard him and followed after. A loud creak came from a nearby tower as the whole of the watch at the top tumbled over. Thick logs came raining from above like mighty spears hurled by the heavens. He darted and weaved through the rain of wood and splinters. Out of the ensueing chaos he heard the strawberry haired one speak. Did he have some kind of plan or was he just going to run out of the city?

“Can’t leave the city, if the winds are bad enough to tear buildings down this far into the city imagine the power if we leave! No were headed to the old mines! Find some stability in the old structures!” Alex pushed through the city screams of people echoing out throughout the city. The sound horrific and chaotic but still within the chaos Alex had a plan. And he had his gods to thank for it. Though the path there was treacherous. To say the least. He darted through the centre of the city. The shortest route and far from the safest but then again within this chaotic madness what was safe? “Right stay close this is going to get dangerous!” He was constantly shouting to be heard through the whipping winds and the screaming chaos. Still his voice held an unnatural calm to it almost like he was in control.

He cut back across the sunset quarter. People smashed to paste beneath the boulders the rubble strewn everywhere in the chaos. Alex darted through the centre leading the pack of people behind him. The route he’d chosen was clear, or at least as clear as it was likely to get. Alex pushed through the mix of rubble and death. His stomach churning and threatening to spill over at any moment. Two of the people in the line with him actually did have their breakfast resurface. Still he ran though leading the way and charging ahead.

Suddenly a loud snap and a creak of stone caught his ear. One of the building had given way and lumps of stone had begun to shoot out in the speeding winds like projectiles straight towards him and his group. Alex pressed his shoulder into one of the nearby boulders urging the other people to follow and unfortunate older man didn’t follow his instruction and took a brick to the head, tearing it from his shoulders. His body slumped to the floor as his lifeblood began to spill out. Hold, hold. Give me a sign. He paused and paused as the loud slams of stone on stone hit again and again. Large jagged flakes of masonry sliding over the boulder one clipped his shoulder and it started to weep red rears down his arm. A small gash but deep enough to draw blood. He looked around and spotted an opening as a log flew over top of the boulder he hid behind.

“Right! Run now!” He took off again running towards the docks. Surely he thought. Surely it had to be safer over there, by the open dockside ports that it was in the middle of this mess. Surely. Please.

[Amilyn]

"Can't leave the city, if the winds are bad enough to tear buildings down this far into the city imagine the power if we leave! No we're headed to the old mines! Find some stability in the old structures!"

She nodded, though she doubted he was paying any attention to anything that wasn't the path ahead or falling debris. It was the same plan she'd had, so there was no reason why they couldn't head over there together with the few people who'd decided the blond knew what he was doing. She shoved down another burst of irritation as he yelled out another command and followed as he led them through the center of the city, cutting through the panicking people currently scrambling on the main thruway and into the alleys on the other side.

Buildings on either side had collapsed into piles of rubble and glances down turns that she knew were better or faster showed that many of them were blocked off by debris. Streaks of blood and bodies littered the alley, forcing their little group to maneuver around or over them to continue forward. Amilyn grimaced as the sounds of vomit splattering all over the ground reached her ears; they were either outsiders or the average Sunberthian, who didn't quite venture past the main road, and they were definitely getting left behind, if they couldn't get themselves under control. She was also beginning to suspect that this guy had no idea where he was going because they were heading towards the docks and she doubted there were mine entrances this close to the water. All the ones she knew of were more inland, though she knew abstractly that the tunnels reached even under Sunberth proper.

A loud snap followed by a creak broke her out of her thoughts and had her snapping her head around to try to pinpoint where it'd come from. She caught sight of a crumbling building, its pieces getting picked up by the winds and tossed their way, and reflexively ducked, pressing her back against the nearby remains of a wall. There was a wet crunch from behind her, in the direction of the other people, and she quickly glanced back to check the damage. An older man was lying unmoving on the ground, the back of his head caved in and leaking blood.

Turning away, she eyed the blond guy, glancing between his waiting form and the debris flying everywhere, wondering what exactly he was waiting for and where he was really planning on taking them. A shard of stone flew between them and Amilyn jerked her head back to prevent it from taking out an eye, so she was startled when he bolted with a yell to run. She made a delayed leap forwards, stumbling a bit before she managed to get her feet back under her, and chased after the blond, ducking and dodging and spinning around anything and everything she could.

As the docks came into sight, waves crashing into the wooden docks and smashing ships into them, she pulled out energy from somewhere and burst forward to pace the blond, glaring at him through narrowed eyes and reaching out to pull him to a stop.

"You have no idea where you're going, do you?" she bit out, ducking as another piece of debris flew by overhead. "What, were you planning on jumping into the sea and getting smashed to pieces in the waves?" She gestured at the Bay to illustrate her point, as though he couldn't see the chaos for himself. Maybe he couldn't, she thought uncharitably, to lead them this way in a mess like this. Anger. Irritation. Incredulous.

"What the petch have you been doing here, hanging out at Old Kova? The Commons? Maybe the Pig's Foot?" She scoffed, dancing away as another, bigger piece of debris flew past. She watched him and his dead-weights from the corner of her eye as she made her way back to the alleys again, ignoring whatever answer he would try to give in favor of making sure he didn't take the opportunity to stab her in the back or something. Foreigner, he may be, but that only meant she wouldn't know what parts were Sunberth and which were...wherever.

"I wish you luck then." Her voice was sardonic, as she used a now-nearby pile of rubble to hide from the flying debris. "Maybe I'll see you around after." She gave him a mocking nod and turned to go. You and yours first; every Sunberthian knew it. And kindness was never free.

"Common" | Grassland Sign | "Nari" | Thoughts | Auristics

[Alexander Faircroft]

Description "Alex Common" Alex thoughts "Myrian" "Fratava" "Others"

Just ahead the docks came into view the wooden piers splintering and cracking beneath the whipping of the waves and the rocking of the ships. Splinters sailed through the air whistling past everyone. He whipped his head around the blood running down his back now slowly lightly he grit his teeth and bore with it. Right from here we hook arou- Before he could even finish his thought he heard the strawberry blonde’s voice cut through the din again. He had no idea where he was headed. He paused a moment letting her words cut again. And then he roared back over. “I took us this way to avoid the worst of it! Around the edge of the city and not through the huge mass of people in the centre! If we head around the edge of the docks, we can head north from here to the blood pits! It’s a saver trek than huddling through the centre of this mess and into the middle of a panicked crowd!” He called out as loud as he could manage.

As he spoke she just turned to go, If she wanted to take her chances on her own she was more than welcome too. Though as she turned he heard a loud crack and a snap. He flung his head around. The sheer strength of the wind snapped a mast from it’s moorings on the ship and sent it hurtling towards the group. “Get down!” he screamed out in a much harder voice now. As he did he ran towards her a few seconds of time passing, he barely made it in time and leapt attempting to catch her and drag her to the ground as the mast would sail overhead. It smashed into the ground a few feet away splintering into lacerating splinters that whistled off through the streets some digging an inch or two into the stone work.

Scrambling back to his feet after he glanced around Looking at the docks. “Right we can’t stay here let’s move!” he turned to go running along the stonework near the docks fragments of showering wood flying out over the edge of the group. He wasn’t checking now to see hominy people followed him, nor how many were even listening to him. He knew where he needed to go and what better place than the old pit. It was somewhere within the city made of stable stone and solid structure. A loud scream echoed behind him as a large flake of wood jammed onto one of the trailers arms, pinning it to their chest. He couldn’t do much for them they were gone at this point. He put foot to stone and pushed. And pushed, and pushed some more, covering as much ground as he could. The hard stone edges of the docks turned into the murky mud laced streets of the northern section.

He pressed ever on watching a building in the distance black and turned to cinders crumble and sent a fine cloud of ash into the air. Whistling through the air a thick grey smog coated the street now as he ran through it hacking up coughs as he did so. He knew the only salvation and safety was out of this chaos but somewhere that wasn’t likely to be shut off or cave in. He pressed on the stragglers growing thinner and thinner behind him.