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stellafortunalogs2021-10-15 09:36 am
stellafortunamods) wrote in stellafortunalogs2021-10-15 09:36 am
october mid-month event
October Mid-Month Event
Welcome to Teyvat - a vast magical world of adventure.
Two weeks after the Travelers arrive in Inazuma, the conflict between the Shogunate and the Sangonomiya Resistance begin to intensify. At Forneus' behest, you venture west to survey the battlegrounds and consider your next move.
Heading west from Narukami Island will bring you to Kannazuka, the location of the Mikage Furnace. This furnace uses the power of the Tatarigami to produce high-quality swords for the Shogunate. However, sabotage by members of the Resistance have led to the furnace becoming unstable. The Shogunate's soldiers and the Shrine Maidens have set up camp on the island, but the two factions cannot decide on how to address the problem. That's where you come in. Unfettered by the chains of bureaucracy, you can act as you wish. Venture into the Furnace and stabilize it before it blows the island away.
Yashiori Island lies even further west. Its position means that it is currently the middle ground where the Shogunate and the Resistance skirmish. However, the fighting has died down due to torrential rain that blankets the island, as well as the intense Electro energy within Musoujin Gorge. Once, this island was the battlefield between the Raiden Shogun and Orobashi, with the latter defeated and sealed. However, someone broke its seals during the civil war, and the lingering resentment of the Serpent has possessed soldiers on the island, turning them violent.Once again, a stalemate that can only be broken from the outside. This isn't anything new now, is it?
State of the World
The Sangonomiya Resistance have declared civil war on the Shogunate after the establishment of the Vision Hunt Decree. As you travel through Inazuma, you will eventually meet them, as well as their leader. It becomes evident that the two sides are locked in equal balance, and that the civil war does nothing good for anyone... which is why the overseer of the Narukami Shrine has asked you to come. You are unbound by any destiny, and thus able to tip the scales. But to do that, you will need a complete picture of the situation, and to solve problems that no one is willing to face.
No one has seen the Shogun out in public for quite a while. It seems that only a sufficiently grave danger will provoke her from within her castle. The enemy of eternity is change, and you are just that.
Questions about this event can be asked below!
no subject
Still doesn't change that most of our world died out because people got too self-absorbed fighting for their ideals. [It's hard to think of sometimes, now that he knows the truth. Just how many cities were now eroding under the ocean because of hubris?] You have to have backbone to take action as a leader, and that means conflict. But as soon as it stops being for the better good of your people, then it's lost its point.
no subject
...I can only assume that man has a point to it and it's not all just a power grab. [The "that man" is laced with venom.] But he certainly doesn't give a damn what happens to the people.
[Rean shakes his head.]
But that's why we're here, on the ground. Forneus can want whatever he pleases, but at the end of the day, we're mortals. We have no right to be deciding these people's fates, but we can at least try to help them.
Just... wish it wasn't like reading and rereading the world's worst book in order to do so.
no subject
I mean, it sounds like you've made up your mind how you want to think about his motives, regardless of whether he has a point or not.
What do you plan to do about it?
no subject
[He sighs at the question.]
That's where I'm a bit stuck, though. I'd love to just be able to talk this out, but if that was going to work, we wouldn't be in this situation at all, would we? But I know I'm not okay with just killing all of them like Forneus wants.
[He looks over to Lutha.]
And you? What's your take on all of this?
no subject
His expression doesn't change at the misunderstanding, however, letting Rean speak his piece. His take, huh.
He turns it over in his head, trying to trim out the snark that he's just too exhausted to expel.]
Killing a god was what killed our water supply. Despite what Forneus says is true or false, I'd rather not repeat that kind of mistake, especially not in something like blind faith.
[Only then does he meet Rean's glance.]
I wasn't asking that about Forneus, though.
no subject
...Goddess. I hadn't even considered something like that as a possibility.
[And now that he's heard it, it's never leaving his brain, thanks. He's pretty rightfully horrified!
But oh. Right. That man. Ugh. Does he have to talk about his sperm donor? Rean looks away, more of that anger from before washing across his features. It doesn't seem like it's something he's really in control of.]
...As for that man...
I don't know what his endgame is. At this point, it's hard for me to care. I understood his motives when he was just trying to help the commoners, I could even back him up then. But what he's been doing to expand the Empire's reach is just going too far.
[His eyebrow twitches, his lips forming the barest hint of a snarl.]
He doesn't care who he hurts, who he kills to get his way. And he's too much of a coward to even do it for himself. No, he just commands the rest of us from his throne of blood and iron, and I have to bear the blame while he touts me as some kind of war hero to our newspapers.
[Crow died to rid Erebonia of that man, and it was all for nothing. It's worse than ever, now. And sure, Elliot knows where the future leads, but Rean is too afraid to ask.
He tries so hard to tell himself that there has to be a way where things work out. But with this, it can only get worse before it gets better, and with everything here in Teyvat, besides? He's not ready to hear what the "worse" is.]
no subject
Empathy, huh.]
Trying to help doesn't always mean doing what's right. Sometimes you stay blind to that sort of shit going sour until it's too late to go back.
You're important to him. So do you plan on stopping him?
no subject
"I'm not saying the Chancellor was evil or anything..."
He's not evil, but he was— is?— trying to help. Trying to help doesn't mean doing what's right...
Ugh, he's absolutely not in the mindset or mood to try to make sense of that man's actions right now.]
Tch, I'm important to him as a tool.
[...Maybe accidentally letting on a bit more about that relationship there...]
Of course. But I can't exactly do it alone. It would be me against the entire Empire's army, and no matter how strong of a weapon I have on my hands there's no way I'd survive that.
I don't have much of a choice but to play along for now, until I can work together with the people I trust back home to find a way to put a stop to all of this. No matter how much I hate it. At least if I play along, I can try to end his wars faster and see that less people get hurt in the crossfire.
no subject
[It's an easy train of thought to follow, like retracing his own footsteps in the sand. But the flame in his palm dissipates, just so he can fiddle with a string of wooden beads hanging off his wrist just under his sleeve.]
Still. What exactly are you going to do if you do stop him? Whoever he is. A friend, or mentor, or your dad, whoever this jackass is.
What happens if you do it?? Or what happens if you can't? Would it really matter if there was a whole army waiting for you after?
no subject
He's been on the receiving end of a lot of talks he doesn't like recently. Lutha would probably find some sense of solidarity in that if he knew.]
...It's not my place to try to put countries back together. I'm just one man. I'm barely even an adult.
[He just sounds tired with that, vulnerable.]
I know some people who are way better equipped for that job than I am. So... the ideal solution is that we depose the Chancellor, and get them back into the positions of power they need to be to make positive changes.
If I fail?
[...]
I don't know. A world war, probably. Things are already tense with the other big nations in Zemuria... all it's going to take is one spark for those embers to light.
no subject
[His voice doesn't raise much. What force comes is with emotion, though he has to struggle to put together his words in little more than a rant.
What would Alfonso have done, had he been sitting here, and heard this shit out of his mouth?]
So you can't put a country back together. So what? What do you do?
What happens to you and all that salt on your wounds if you get what you want?
no subject
For a very long time, that answer would have been "I don't know." But where he is now...]
I want to be able to teach my classes. I want to be able to take my students out on field studies where they won't potentially be roped into missions that could very well kill them.
I want to spend time with my friends where I can. Go out into town without having to try to disguise myself so people don't fawn over the "Ashen Chevalier."
I just want a quiet life. That's all.
no subject
...]
Don't fuck it up before you even get to that, then.
You're furious. You showed your damn hand to me without me even trying, which means you'd be twice as bad when faced with it. And if you can't pay attention to what's more important, between what you want or what you're furious towards?
It's going to bubble over, and it's going to tear you apart. [To quote some dumbass protag he just met.]
So yeah, maybe you are a damn hypocrite. But don't turn into one that's gone completely blind on top of it.
[Is that the point he wants to make?? He isn't sure. He isn't sure why he bothered with any of that. But his Vision glows hot as he withdraws his posture again, letting that flame flicker back up.]
1/2
How can he not be furious? That man, who takes and takes and takes until there's nothing left, until he's trampled everyone and everything in his way. It doesn't even matter how he uses Rean, really— what he's done to Crow, what he's doing to Rean's students—]
2/2
It doesn't matter what he wants, in the end, and it never has. It never will. All that matters is that everyone else makes it out okay, that everyone else is happy. It's the same here in Teyvat as it ever was in Zemuria.
And he wants to argue the point for Lutha. Because, like him or not, Lutha is among "everyone else," and Rean wants him to make it out of this okay. He doesn't want to see him miserable.
No matter how he goes about this, he's still a hypocrite, isn't he?]
...I'll keep that in mind.
[He absolutely will not.]
But... it seems like you're pretty much done with me, here. I can take a hint. [He pauses, trying to figure out how to end this. What else can he possibly say?] ...Still. If you ever want to talk about anything else...
I'm here if you need someone, I guess. Even if they are a hypocrite. That's what I was really trying to get at.
[...]
I'll leave you alone, then. Stay safe out there.
[And with that awkward, defeated little goodbye, he'll be on his way unless Lutha wants to stop him]
no subject
[It's immediate, and only now does he LEGITIMATELY sound frustrated.]
You and Elliot don't get to spit that empathy bullshit on me only for you to absolutely miss my goddamn point.
no subject
...Then, by all means, enlighten me. Because all I'm hearing is that you're right, I am a hypocrite, and anything I say to try to help you is only going to make it worse.
no subject
[He is stupid, but please, he is trying not to be THAT stupid.
He holds up his singular hand, one finger at a time.]
First, if I was fed up and needed you to leave me the fuck alone, I would have said so.
Second, sometimes it takes a hypocrite to know one, so if you're about to start on some batshit line of talk of how you'll make it worse just by answering questions, then stuff it. The only person deciding that you're doing it all wrong is yourself.
[He hesitates before continuing.]
Look. Do you want to turn into a miserable shit like me, or do you want to actually get your life back?
no subject
[Thanks, Crow, you've ruined him forever.
Speaking of Crow... as Lutha talks, Rean can't help but hear pieces of him in there. He wonders, if Crow saw him like this, if he wouldn't get the exact same sort of talking to.]
That's the thing, though, isn't it? I could say the same to you: The only person deciding it's all wrong is you.
You don't have to resign yourself to this.
Yes, you have made mistakes— actually, no. I'm not going to try to sugarcoat it: you have royally screwed things up. If people are angry and distrust you right now, you have earned it.
And I know you already know that. But I just want to make it very clear that what I'm about to say isn't because I'm childish or naïve or whatever else you might want to call me.
You can change. You can mend things, you can form bonds anew. And the only person deciding you're a "miserable shit" is you.
[He takes a deep breath, then sighs.]
And as for me?
Of course I want my life back. And I intend to fight for it as hard as I can, in whatever way I can.
But if it comes down to protecting the people I care about or chasing that dream? The people I love come first. No matter what that means for me.
That's the decision I've made for myself. I've accepted it. And if it comes to destroy me... I guess that's that.
no subject
Open himself a little bit, try to parse exactly what Elliot asked, and of course this is what he gets in response. Of course.
Why does he bother.
His expression slowly, surely closes up, going cold.]
You're an idiot.
no subject
[Rean's response isn't cold, just... matter-of-fact. It is what it is.
He'll die someday, probably soon, probably his own fault, and it's fine. It's fine, so long as others can be happy.
Sorry, Lutha. Rean is, in fact, an idiot, and he's far too in his own head about things sometimes to even stop to think that maybe other people really do have a point.]
Should I go, then?
no subject
Go if you want.
I don't care.
[It's still cold, almost numb, as he stuffs away what vulnerability he'd tried to crack open. He should say something better. But if Rean's expecting him to be resigned, then he's answered that question all his own, anyway.
Maybe he's the true idiot, getting his hopes up.
Dammit.]
no subject
But... no.
Sitting around and awkwardly hoping won't make things better. He'll just have to try again some other time.
With a nod, he turns and goes.]