OPEN LOG; EVERGLADE, GENESSIA - do not reply until you read the ooc post

[genpcs]

The first sign that something was going on that day hadn't been at the crack. It hadn't even been in Genessia, as a matter of fact. The first sign had been a sound not unlike a window shuddering in a heavy storm. It perforated the atmosphere within Everglade first.

Only a few moments later, Fayren would hear the same shudder echo through its forests, forcing birds to flee the cover of the trees. In the populated areas of the kingdom itself, it would be much quieter, as if it were miles away.

Then it would return to Genessia. The crack in the sky was rapidly saturated, thousands more than before forcing their whole shapeless bodies against the barrier. Some of the strange aurora-tinted color seems to press into their ranks, a few of the strange creatures being forced back, but quickly being replaced by another of its kind.

And a sickening crack could be heard in all archways near and far, but it was loudest in Everglade, where a new crack had formed. Two humongous cracks appeared in Everglade's barrier like a sinister grin as if it were laughing at the town just above the clocktower. The two cracks took only a couple of seconds more before the strange monstrous creatures burst small holes into that crack, not big enough to fit their bodies through at once.

The leaked through, dripping like poison from an apple out of that sneering mouth in the sky until the first of these creatures fell to the ground. The eager, hungry soul from before, whose abyss of a stomach had been shared with the whole of Genessia when he'd opened his misshapen jaw the first time a few days ago now looked from side to side in the streets of Everglade.

The first face he saw was that of an NPC, and he only saw it for a moment before launching himself at the man and pinning him to the ground. Some would recognize him as the grizzled owner of The Rabbit's Foot. A loud scream was put out from the man as the creature opened its jaw wide, but did not eat him. Nothing seemed to happen when his jaw was opened, as a matter of fact.

The creature closed its mouth slowly before standing upright on what seemed to be a two-legged form, though if it had arms they didn't take shape. It made a gesture as if it were cracking its neck as the man escaped quickly, locking the door to his shop behind him.

More of the creatures were piling into Everglade slowly but surely, but this one in particular caught sight of a local werewolf, someone with a pendant, a soul, and repeated his mauling, but this time- this time something happened. This time a strange, glowing mist seemed to pull out of the Everglade resident's body, a faint glimmer of aurora with it, and in a short time this person stopped screaming. They were still alive, but it didn't seem like there was anything... inside, really.

A hissing, victorious laughter left the creature and he moved on, heading toward Genessia's gate along with his oversized mouth pulled up into an eerie grin that reflected the crack in the sky. Those that had made it in through Everglade's crack followed suit.

They had to let the rest of their friends in through Genessia; it was only the polite thing to do.

{{ READ THE OOC POST FOR IMPORTANT DETAILS ON THIS EVENT! }}

Comments

So much for wacky chase scenes

[youfool]

Once again, Ted's daring-do was arrested by tentacles.

"But they're getting away—", he paused as he realized that those threads belonged to yet another evil spirit. He should've guessed.

What he did not guess was the awful method of its dispatch. He brought his hands to his head as he suffered from the ambient trauma.

Time heals all wounds, right? This world was too much for him, after all. It'd be better to watch things play out and just pick up the pieces later, right?

And then he saw the pieces of pottery shattering on the ground. The destruction of the needed rescue equipment brought him back to his senses, or perhaps his nonsenses, and he made a grab for Koishi. True, if he had thought about it or knew more about mental abilities, he probably would've guessed that physical restrains weren't entirely relevant. But it's the thought that counts.

"Koishi, stop! You've gone too far! What in the world has gotten into you?"

Koishi will not tolerate any sass from emotion eating spirits!

[koishi_komeiji]

Fortunately all of the pots didn't break, and many still remained, but it still meant they were short a few. And it's likely they would have ended up short a few more if Ted had not attempted to restrain Koishi.

Trying to physically stop her was more than a little difficult. Though light, Koishi's physical strength eclipsed Ted's several times over. And that ambient psychic presence was nearly unbearable so close. The grab caught her off guard, the youkai having to turn her head away quickly, the psychic blast splintering the wood of a nearby sign and shattering some of the brickwork behind it. The mental pressure dissolved quickly after. She stood her ground though, turning back to face where the spirit had fallen.

Its incorporeal form was already dissolving, any structure and awareness it had completely destroyed by the repeated psychic strikes. This, at least, did seem to calm Koishi down a little bit. Her features did not return to normal though and meeting her gaze was like staring into empty, blackened sockets. Oddly enough though she lacked the teeth and claws Ted had seen before, her powers manifesting as opposed to her youkai nature.

"... I'm sorry." Her voice shook a little, though her words lacked the semi-riddles that were usually spaced throughout. "These creatures are... I've never met something with the desire to devour emotions but lack the courtesy or desire to kill its victim after the fact. Or at least wipe their minds. And they're... It's indiscriminate!" Her hands tightened around the sphere, several cracks appearing, the spirit thrashing and screaming inside as it was slowly cooked by the satori's mental abilities. A dark liquid dripped from her left eye as she closed it, wiping it away with the back of her hand.

"Do you know what being stripped of emotion and ego does to a mind? No. Of course you don't. Why would you? It's one of the worst experiences any sentient creature can go through and no two minds react to trauma in the same way. Especially on that level." She looked down at the sphere and, before Ted could object, sent a rather horrific psychic lance through the center, shattering both the magic and the spirit within, pieces falling to the ground and rolling a short ways.

Re: Koishi will not tolerate any sass from emotion eating spirits!

[youfool]

Ted never would've guessed he'd be pressured to tackle Koishi, of all people. Luckily, it seemed things had attained a measure of calm. A far cry from the light hearted fare that hosted their first meeting. Those were good times.

He took a look at the pots, sighing in relief when he found them to be unattached, and still mostly intact. "If it's as bad as all that, you might take better—no, never mind. I forgive you."

"Devouring emotions...you can tell all that just by being near them?" Ted really didn't understand the mental interplay going on, only that there was a lot of it. "I'll take your word for it. And you're sure nothing can be done, once someone reaches a fate like that? Suggesting a mercy killing seems extreme." He winced at the captive spirit was destroyed.

"All the more reason to get these pots to the shopkeep, and fast. By the look of things, all this will do is merely delay them. Let's go in search of more..." He stopped. "Koishi, you know I appreciate your protection. But will you fare decently? I've never seen you so worked up before."