london ♔ when the gusts came around to blow me down

[wynn]

  iron sky - paolo nutini

WHO || Everyone and their dog.
WHAT || In the aftermath of the attack, the Knights attempt to recover
WHERE || Knights HQ, etc.
WHEN || Dec. 1st-8th, 2015
HOW || Actionspam

As darkness falls all around the castle, the remaining Knights straggle out of their broken castle to survey the damage and count the dead – of which there are three: Rose Hathaway, Kali, and Killian Jones.

What began like any other day for most quickly descended into a nightmare, after Wynn and most of the Section Heads were lured out to downtown London to face a threat of dual dragons, who turned out to be only clockwork creations of deposed Andres dictator Dimitris Sarandis, robotic menaces that were nothing but a distraction from the real threat. Having rallied support from some of the Knights' other enemies, Dimitris sent an army of chipped creatures, Shadowkind, robots, and a giant tank to destroy the Knighthood's headquarters, dropping part of the roof down onto the training room and med center in the initial explosive blast. Sarandis' alliance with a mysterious hacker named One (who turned out to have been the man who invented technomagic in the first place along with Zero) not only downed the Knights' communications, but also their defensive and surveillance systems (with some help from a mentally dominated Eleven). Whatever preparations Zero had made for an attack by One were undermined by the sudden but inevitable betrayal of the humanized robot GlaDOS, who introduced a learning virus into the system before taking off, likely having made some kind of deal with One to restore her robotic form.

The Knights rallied under the remaining sect leaders – Lis'sa and Koraith – to make a plan to fight back and try to take down Dimitris, who sent a taunting message out across the Drakenet, announcing his intentions to leave the castle as a smoking crater littered with corpses. Fearing that the attack might also be meant to target Myri and Vi's children, a group moved them to the Round Table Room, perhaps the most secure location in the building. The attack was a smokescreen of sorts, something Vi realized, taking Elena, Des, and Faith O'Keefe with her to the library in hopes of saving the elven mage, Lazarus, whose blood the villains required to unleash the nightmare god Malaak'a upon the world. The library, however, was already in shambles, thanks to a fire-slinging red half-dragon who had confronted some Knights there (and led Kate Beckett to discover something strange about herself...). Des remained in the hallway to confront a demon, in the same place where Skye had nearly died to an ifrit pyrokineticist named Serafina, one of Dimitris' chipped experiments. Sawyer Kelly and Alex Karamazov butted heads when it came down to sparing the enslaved ifrit, but in the end, Alex made the decision by putting a bullet in her head when Mars wouldn't act – much to Sawyer's horror. Things went to hell pretty quickly when the villainous Mind Master drove into the library on a motorcycle and proceeded to almost slaughter Vi, Elena, Faith, and Gar, making vicious comments to the former about going to see her deceased husband again. When Elena grabbed the Mind Master, she abruptly vanished, and Elena's whereabouts remain unknown. The Mind Master proceeded to make her way into Lazarus' secret chambers beneath the library, slitting his throat and collecting the magic that coursed through his veins in lieu of blood, the lasting effect of his having survived the ritual that sealed Malaak'a away in the first place.

Meanwhile, downtown, while Carol Danvers and Clark Kent played superhero around the city, Sam and Buffy ran into the archangels Raphael and Zerachiel, who were assisting the wounded of London, and Buffy cut a deal with Raphael after he cautioned her that some sort of big demon was also involved in the attack. In exchange for allowing Hell's forces further freedom of movement (the necessary cost to maintain the balance of the universe), Raphael transported Buffy right into the middle of the fray. The demon already gone, the angel advised her to go and protect the children – which turned out to be necessary indeed, as Sarandis had sent chipped, invisible raptors after the babies. Will Graham nearly died in the attack, but no children – or dogs – fell prey to the beasts.

Outside, a number of Knights armed to the teeth with grenades, rocket launchers, and flame throwers took on a towering seventy-foot tall Colossus that was ripping the castle apart. However, when Steve Rogers cut its head off with an expertly thrown shield toss, the monstrosity fell into the front of the castle with all of its three hundred tons, (and on fire, courtesy of Baal) and many barely escaped with their lives. Wolverine was the only person trapped in the ensuing rubble, but Nathan Young and Amy Pond dug him free as his body healed up the massive wounds suffered.

A strike team was sent out to take on Dimitris in his tank, and Spike and Dean drove Archer's car straight into the oversized military vehicle as a distraction, while Cora Hale, Rose, and Kali disabled the tank and its weapons and broke their way inside. What they found, however, was merely a projection of Dimitris taunting them, as Cora's werewolf senses alerted her immediately to the fact that no one was actually inside but them. Too late, the girls tried to escape – as the tank exploded in a volley of shrapnel and gout of flame, that also caught Christos La Krail and Grant Ward off guard, who had just arrived at the gate so that Ward might meet with Wynn for his official Knighthood interview. As everyone scrabbled to save the injured, a bag of grenades that Kali had dropped caused a secondary explosion, that took Rose and Kali's lives. Dean and Spike proceeded to look insane when the archangel Michael showed up to collect the souls of the dead, and they were the only two who could see him, but Cap stood his ground anyway with them. Dean angrily refused to give up on Rose's life, despite the fact that the death of her bondmate Lissa less than twenty four hours prior had left her connection to life weakened already. Michael cautioned him against doing 'something stupid', as Dean stalked off with her body.

Meanwhile, after realizing Zero's role in all this and helping return him to his senses so that he and Skye could restore communications and defenses, Lila Zacharov-Gray took off with Alex to the upper floor to find Amara. They discovered the homo magi using her powerful magic to keep the ceiling from collapsing into the entire castle, and while she entreated them to evacuate, Lila refused to leave her, prompting Amara to use her most powerful spell to repair the structural damage that was threatening to capsize the castle, at the cost of alerting her father to her exact location.

Just when it seemed like all might be well, Emma Swan, cursed by Poseidon to turn into a flesh-eating kelpie if she wasn't in water by sundown, came across the body of Lazarus and found her monstrous hunger awakened. Dissatisfied with the bloodless corpse, she decided to make a meal of Killian Jones, magically teleporting him into the pond behind the Knighthood, where in spite of Faye and Alex's best efforts, Killian was drowned. Luckily, however, they prevented Emma from eating her true love.

The other Knights fought bravely against basilisks, clockwork mages, and giant scorpions, while trying to assist the wounded, rescue the trapped, and do everything they could to protect the Knights' assets from falling into Dimitris' hands. With the smoke cleared, their home – thanks to Amara – remains standing, but the damage to it is substantial and won't be repaired overnight, even with magic at their disposal. More lasting will be the emotional scars of watching the only home some of them even remember ever having broken around them, their illusion of safety shattered, and their peace violated – not to mention the looming possibility of the Nightmare God being freed.

[ You are now free to make top posts for your characters in the wake of the attack. These top posts may include multiple sections (with different instructions for whether you want them to be open to multiple threads for that scene or closed to a single thread with multiple participants), that deal with anything directly after the events of the event post, and in the week following. I recommend using letters or numbers to indicate each section, so that those responding can put what they are doing in the subject line, to help others quickly know where to go to jump into any single threads.

There will be a thread about Wynn's return and a subsequent Drakenet post addressing IC-ly where people will live. Those with rooms in the Dragon's Tongue, Dragon's Hide, Dragon's Hoard, and Dragon's Fire wing will find their rooms almost entirely undamaged and still livable, but there is a percentage chance that anyone in the Dragon's Light or squire rooms will have their room destroyed. Please ask me for each of your characters this applies to and I will let you know the extent of the damage. Your characters are free to try searching the rubble for their personal effects – just include it in their top post with a search check please, and I'll let you know how much of their stuff is recoverable. Rebuilding efforts will commence within the week, so if your character has any way of contributing to putting the castle back together, that's also top post fodder. There is limited space in the Knights' downtown London office for some Knights to stay, while others may have their own apartments, etc. Other options may open up eventually. If your character is no longer living in the castle, please use your top post to establish this! I will put up top posts for each potential resurrection attempt, as rezzes take multiple days IC-ly to even be attempted.

Destroyed/heavily damaged sections of the castle: front hall/lobby (the Colossus is still there)/stairs, but there are currently ladders to access the second floor; the Dragon's Light wing/office/small library/bathrooms; the chapel; the med center; the training room; the armory; the bowling alley; the piano room; billiards room; parlor; the Dragon's claws bedrooms; parts of the dining hall; the library is intact but heavily damaged, many of the books destroyed by fire. After the first couple days, additional doors have been added to the castle at the far west end of the horizontal squire bedrooms hall, and beside the Dragon's hoard wing to enter the building, and a door has been installed at the southwest corner of the dining hall to allow people to cut through it to circumvent the Colossus still taking up the lobby and blocking access to the main hall. ]

Comments

emma swan / ota

[uncurse]

A. single thread

[ In the immediate wake of the tragedy, Emma flings herself back into the lake where she sinks, devastated by her actions and what she's become but finally back in her right mind.

In fact, she doesn't resurface the next morning. It's the second morning after the attack that she finally pulls herself out of the lake, her need to seek Hook winning out because she loves him more than she hates himself, even if it took killing him for her to see it.

So she strides into the castle and heads for the med center, only to find it collapsed and in total, unusable disarray. Blinking, Emma steps back, stony expression masking surprise. ]

B. multi thread

[ Once she's back in the castle, she spends every waking moment from sunrise to sunset hovering over Hook. She brings a book most of the time, and keeps one hand resting over his where it lies cold and stiff at his side.

More than once, she makes her best effort to heal him, light magic futilely glowing around him to no effect, but she can't stop herself hoping that it might work. That she should be able to fix what she destroyed.

She still can't imagine what there is to say to him once he wakes. ]

b)

[unlost]

[Snow comes soon after Emma starts hovering over Hook, knowing full well that she'd end up here. She isn't even entirely sure what happened or how, but she can take a few guesses, and none of them are good.

Her expression is full of grief as she catches the tail end of Emma trying to use her magic to heal him. Her heart breaks in her chest, eclipsing every other negative emotion surrounding this whole attack, because she knows that this was indirectly caused by the attack, even if her daughter feels like she's the guilty one.]

Emma.

[She says her daughter's name softly from a short distance away, as if she's afraid to spook her. She wants to comfort her, but she's not sure how, and that hurts as much as everything else.]

[uncurse]

Mom?

[ Emma's voice as she looks up is both tired and frightened. She's been through enough over the years to have a preprogrammed response to encountering a parent after doing something terribly wrong, and this really takes the cake. But she works through the instinctual fear a moment later, distress winning out and claiming her expression.

She shakes her head, as if confirming that her magic won't do the job, but she doesn't budge from Hook's side—can't throw herself in her mother's arms like she wants to because she doesn't feel that she deserves that kind of comfort, not when she's the one responsible. All the same, her expression crumples, tears welling fresh in her eyes while muscles in her mouth and cheeks contort to try and keep them back. ]

[unlost]

[All it takes is that one little word and Snow is rushing across the room, putting her arms around her daughter and holding her as tightly as she can, because she never, ever wanted that kind of expression to ever cross her face.

Of all the ways to hear her finally call her that, she didn't want it to be like this.

She smooths a hand down her blonde hair, gently rocking back and forth, tears spilling over onto her cheeks as well.]

I'm so sorry, Emma.

[She should have been there. She should have been able to do something.]

[uncurse]

[ Sinking into her mother's embrace, Emma comes apart, tears falling freely in a steady stream over her cheeks, dampening Snow's shirt sufficiently.

It's hard to think about anything other than how undeserving of this support, of her mother's sorrow and sympathy she is. All Emma can think about is what a piece of shit she is to not be able to stop herself from killing the one person who'd never abandoned her. ]

I don't know what to do. I don't know how to make it right. I have to make it right.

[unlost]

[She doesn't care in the slightest. She'd gladly take a soaked shirt if it provided Emma with even the slightest bit of comfort.

There's nothing she can say that will fix this, she knows, and there's nothing she can truly do to make things better. But she'll try, because what else can she do except attempt to give her daughter hope?]

You're doing exactly what you should be doing. You're here. The rest is in the cleric's hands until he wakes up.

[The way she says it leaves no room for an 'if.' He has to wake up, for Emma's sake.]

[uncurse]

I don't even know that he would want me here after what I did.

[ The self-disgust rises thick in her voice as she draws away from her mother to look over him, expression contorted by the tears that roll down her face. Inexorably, her eyes hold on the still, stiff form of her lover, as if burning that image into her mind to further feed her misery and abuse herself of the deed. ]

This never should have happened.

[unlost]

He never left your side, Emma. He wouldn't want you to leave his, either.

[She wouldn't have been in control of herself, if this happened. Snow knows that, believes in that. The person that did that wasn't her daughter at all.]

You're right. It shouldn't have. You shouldn't have gotten cursed for simply trying to help someone. And you shouldn't have had to try and fight against it when a madman destroyed our home, preventing you from dealing with it. This isn't your fault.

[uncurse]

I wish I could say that was true. But Sarandis' lackeys were dealt with before it happened. He didn't do this. I did. [ Emma shakes her head. ] He is dead because of me.

a }

[generaldavideus]

[David is on a run for the clerics, trying to see if he can fish out any undamaged supplies from the people downstairs. He's carefully lifting up a fallen piece of drywall (strength 14), when he spots Emma and frowns.

He knows that Hook is in the ballroom, and that he's not breathing. He would have assumed that Emma would know where to find him, but his tone is gentle when he finally speaks. He doesn't know that she's responsible.]

They relocated in the ballroom during the attack, before the med center collapsed.

[uncurse]

I ... [ She seems to lose her thought, gaze distant. Detached, in a way, like she's not all here yet. Like she doesn't remember how to speak to people. ] ... Thank you. I must have missed the announcement. [ On account of being underwater for four days. She glances at the drywall he lifts. ] What are you doing here?

[generaldavideus]

[He watches her carefully, before glancing back to the rubble for a moment.]

Trying to see if I can salvage some of the supplies that got left behind. My odds probably aren't high, but the rubble has to be cleared from here eventually anyway.

[uncurse]

Supplies for the clerics? [ She pauses to consider. ] Let me help you. [ Except she'll start using mage hand. ]

[generaldavideus]

Thanks.

[David will nod before doing his best to stay out of the way of her magic and give her room to work. Unfortunately he also crit failed his search check, so most of the stuff on his end of the med center is too destroyed to do any good. Too much rubble and dust to keep the sterile things sterile.]

[uncurse]

[ As it turns out, mage hand is an excellent search tool. Emma finds a reasonable amount of useful shit (search 16). And as she uncovers it, she guides it over towards David to collect. ] I couldn't help but notice the worst of the damage is already repaired. [ Something, at least, kept the roof from caving in. ]

[generaldavideus]

[David takes the stuff she finds easily, organizing it into a batch that's easy to carry as he does.]

It was Amara. She did this huge spell that helped keep the castle from coming down.

[uncurse]

Why would she do something like that?

b)

[wynn]

[ wynn comes to find her as soon as he's able, considering alex ... broke the news to him about how she muRDERED SOMEBODY. it's fine. this is all fine here. ] Sir Swan. [ his voice is cautious as he studies her, but laced with evident concern. ]

[uncurse]

[ With a wisdom check of 17, Emma knows what this is about. She can't imagine another reason for Wynn to visit her personally. Her misery chills into a cool reserve, and she turns her attention up towards him, unflinching. ]

What is it?

[wynn]

I imagine you know, Emma. [ he meets her gaze just as unflinchingly, but there's sympathy behind his words as well. ] We need to speak about what's happened.

[uncurse]

If you're here to kick me out, [ she says it as if the discussion has already been had and that's not up for debate, ] you're going to have to wait until they bring him back or bury him. [ Because nothing will get her away from Killian's side right now. Nothing. ]

[wynn]

I won't deny you the right to learn his fate. But I am here to ensure the safety all my Knights.

Including yourself.

[uncurse]

It's a little late to be worrying about my safety. [ It was compromised in Atlantis. She hasn't felt safe in her own skin since it happened, no matter what she does. She's a liability. A time bomb. And she just went off. ]

[wynn]

It is never too late, Emma, for that, not while they live. Or have a chance to live again. [ if he's not gonna give up on hook's dead body yet, he's sure not giving up on the living knight standing in front of him ]

[uncurse]

[ well that just makes her suspicious and confused. ]

What do you want from me? I didn't plan this. I can't control it.