EVENT: Three Days of Rain

[applesaucemod]

EVENT: THREE DAYS OF RAIN



At seven o'clock on the morning of Tuesday, July 30th, it begins to rain. It's not a drizzle or a downpour, but a steady, soaking sort of rain that puddles on the sidewalks and saturates the ground. The storm seems to park itself over Manhattan for the morning, and reluctantly rolls out to sea shortly after noon.

An hour after the skies clear, any rifty who got caught out in the rain may start to notice something unusual: namely, that they're escaping the notice of others. It's as if the rain has washed something out of them, and they're slowly fading out of others' awareness. Afflicted rifties are still corporeal, visible, and audible - they're not ghosts. But as time goes on, they'll continue to slip beneath everyone else's notice. By the evening of the 30th, they'll find that others' eyes tend to slide right over them, and afflicted rifties will have to grab people by the shoulder or raise their voices just to get a little acknowledgment.

Over the next two days, the effects will only worsen. Unless a significant effort is made by both parties, afflicted rifties will find themselves relegated to the background, their voices on par with the ambient sound of traffic, their faces as noteworthy as any given brick on a wall, their touch the equivalent of a sudden draft. Those who were not caught in the rain will still remember their fading friends, but they'll have an increasingly difficult time physically focusing on them.

On the bright side, afflicted rifties will be able to perceive one another with typical clarity, allowing them to easily interact with one another, if not the general population. The network will also be less affected than the rifties themselves, so text messages may be more easily perceived than speech (though by the end of the 31st, text alerts from afflicted rifties will be less noticeable than usual).

Most importantly, the weather isn't done with them. There will be occasional, sudden cloudbursts over the course of July 31st and August first, and another little soaking will reverse the effects of the initial storm. By evening of August first, everyone should be back to normal.

[OOC: Initial reactions to the fade-out can be posted here. Other shenanigans can go up in their own posts using the tag 'event: three days of rain.' Whether your character is affected and for how long is up to you, though it's safe to say that as the first of August draws to a close, rogue cloudbursts will be difficult for any still-afflicted rifties to avoid (we're not saying a tiny raincloud will spontaneously coalesce above the heads of afflicted rifties regardless of whether they're outdoors or not, buuuut we're not saying one won't, either). Backdating is, as ever, allowed and encouraged. And since this takes place over three days in game, forward dating will also be allowed if you want to get right into day three terribleness.]

Comments

[wildmage_daine]

Well, this is a fine morning to be making her rounds. Daine's curls defy being entirely contained by the hood of her raincoat, and it doesn't take long for the ones flying loose to frizz, and then end up waterlogged. It's a pity she can't actually tend to the People in a shape of some kind - in this sort of weather, duck or goose shape would serve nicely - but animals don't leave off getting sick or injured just because it's raining.

Daine squelches around the park, her pockets stuffed with treats for her friends, and her mind open for any creatures that need help.


[ooc: Daine's going to be wandering around the park for most of the morning, so feel free to run into her to establish your character's soaking, or spot her patching up some creature or other.]

[jane_eyre]

Jane has not enjoyed her stay in this new world so far. Apart from the kindness of Miss Pollard, it has been a continuous onslaught of things hostile, strange, and too remarkable to comprehend. She has kept to the park, finding the Base an altogether undesirable place to stay, and this sprawl of nature being the most like her old world, though too crowded and too hot; her woolen cloak she has taken to carrying with her, unwilling to leave it behind in case some circumstance such as this should arise. As heavy as it is, even heavier with the rain, she is glad of it now.

Of course, in her eagerness to find her way back home, it seems she has gotten herself quite lost. What a dreadful bother.

She steps away from the path, crossing instead through the grass, searching for someone who might help her. She has learned that the inhabitants of his city are not inclined to offer much in the way of assistance; she would be lucky to find a fellow sufferer of this 'Rift' Miss Pollard and the so-called Rebels told her about. She has been told many of them do frequent the park, so it seems a good place to search. At the very least, the sight of a young lady dressed for the rain is a fair one indeed. She does not look to be in any kind of hurry.

"I do apologize," she says as she comes forward - it startles her to note that the young woman seems to be engaging with a squirrel, but she's already announced herself, it would not do to back away now. "I seem to have led myself astray. I am trying to return to the-" she closes her eyes briefly, remembering the address she keeps in her head, "-the corner of 59 and Central Park West. Columbus Circle, they call it. Would you be able to point me in the right direction?"

[wildmage_daine]

Daine really isn't expecting to be approached by anyone on a day like today, let alone a stranger. Most folk, if they notice her at all when she's tending to one of the People, give her a wide berth (doubtless because they think she's a bit mad). It's not a misconception that bothers her overmuch, because it means she gets left alone to do her work, which is far more important than whatever a stranger might think of her, anyway.

But it also means that she might be a little too used to being ignored, so the appearance of a young woman in a wool cloak gives her a bit of a start. The squirrel, Scamp, darts into her hood to hide in her hair, an almond clenched between his teeth, and Daine offers the woman a sheepish smile.

Whoever she is, she isn't rattled enough by the squirrel to back away, which Daine counts as a mark in her favor. The cloak is a plus, too - it's too heavy for this time of year, but its simple familiarity is an aching sort of comfort. In fact, it's a little too familiar to be local, Daine thinks, and her suspicions are all but confirmed by the woman's oddly formal way of speaking and the intersection she's trying to reach. Another rifty, almost definitely. Well, they do tend to find each other.

"No need to apologize," Daine says, her smile taking a turn for the reassuring. "It's easy to get lost when you're new to the city. You're not too far off, though. Columbus Circle is…" she turns a little, then points, "that way. Maybe ten minutes' walk."

As she speaks, Scamp polishes off the almond and then cautiously pokes his head out to peer at Jane, and then back at Daine's treat-producing hand. Greedy thing. Daine digs a peanut out of her pocket and passes it to the animal, then lifts her squirrel-free shoulder in a half-shrug. "I've a knack with animals."

[jane_eyre]

Jane turns to look in the direction indicated, nodding slightly to herself. "Thank you," she says, turning back. As horrified as she'd like to be by the sight of a rodent nesting in this poor girl's hair, the girl doesn't seem to be remotely troubled, even going to feed the thing.

"I see," she says uncertainly, though a thousand questions rise up at once. Tentatively, she asks, "Are you not worried they might bite, or carry disease?"

[wildmage_daine]

Daine's smile widens in spite of herself, as if Jane has told an excellent joke. "No, mum," she says, lapsing back into a more Gallan manner of speaking just by virtue of the woman's own dress and word choice. "None of the animals here would bite me. I look after them, and I make sure they're free of illness or parasites."

But it's clear that this woman isn't entirely comfortable with Scamp, so Daine gives him one last nut for the road and sends him on his way. She should probably be heading back, herself, but she doesn't want to presume her company would be welcome, and she can't guarantee that her walk back would be uninterrupted. Still, she'd like to know for certain if she's met another rifty before they part ways. "I'm Daine," she offers with a friendly smile.

[jane_eyre]

How queer - to take responsibility for all the animals, not simply those domesticated. And yet she seems very sure of herself. Jane is relieved to see the creature go, and returns the smile.

"Jane Eyre," she replies. Much as she would like to get out of this wet, she can't help but wonder at the comfort and familiarity of the girl's speech. More like hers and Miss Pollard's than those who seem to belong to this world.

"Forgive me if this is an - impertinent question," she says tentatively, "but are you..." She trails off, not sure of the right word. 'Rifty' is one term she's heard but she refuses to apply something so base and colloquial, and rudely patronising besides. "Are you from here?" he asks finally. A better way to go. A simple question, or a coded one, depending on the answer.

[wildmage_daine]

It seems Daine isn't the only one thinking along such lines, and she shakes her head with a wry smile. "Not a bit. My homeland is very far away." With a vague gesture at the surrounding skyscrapers, she adds, "It isn't anything like this."

She considers Jane a moment, then asks, "Are you new to the city?"

[jane_eyre]

It seems they are playing the same game. Encouraged and emboldened, Jane replies, "Very new, I arrived only four nights ago, and quite unexpectedly." She nods to Daine's gesture, spilling drops of water from the hood of her cloak to her cheek. "My homeland is quite different also. I wonder if we are of the same place?" The girl's accent and speech patterns are reasonably familiar - and wouldn't it be lovely to know fellow countryman?

"Do you, perhaps, know what is at the Columbus Circle?" she inquires tentatively. "The place I am trying to get to, are you also familiar with it?"

[wildmage_daine]

"That's as it happened for me, too," Daine says with a nod of understanding, "but I've been here half a year." Longer, really, but she doesn't like to dwell on it.

The thought of another Tortallan arrival is bittersweet, but Daine's not so sure Jane is one of them. Anyone from her universe would've been less squeamish around something as harmless as a squirrel, Daine thinks - unless she's from court, but court ladies have a tendency towards silliness that she doesn't see in Jane. "The country I'm from is called Tortall, but no one here has heard of it," she says, guessing that Jane won't be familiar with the place, either. Well, it doesn't hurt to check.

At her last question, Daine's smile takes a turn for the impish. At this point, she may as well be blunt. "If you're referring to the base, I live there."

[jane_eyre]

Oh - what a very long time that is. Jane can't help but show her sympathy, as well as trepidation. Will she be here for so long? Will it be the rest of her life? Who will look after Bertha or Adele?

The mention of 'Tortall' is similarly discomfiting - she's never heard of such a place, and the hope that they are sisters in country fades away with disappointing quickness. She shakes her head slightly, sorry to confirm the girl's words.

"I come from England," she says, muted. People have seemed to know what that is. And she knew of the colonies, of course. This world is far in what seems to be her future. How strange and lonely it must be to be from a country no one knows. She had thought this was difficult for her, but for Daine it must be even more so.

However the mention of the Base is enough to brighten her a bit. "I am relieved you know it," she says. "I live there as well. Meeting you is good fortune indeed, even if it must happen with weather so inclement."

[wildmage_daine]

"From what I've read here, my country is a little like England's medieval period," Daine offers with a gentle little shrug. If Jane's familiar with that - assuming her version of England worked about the same as this universe's version - maybe that will at least give her a rough idea of what Tortall is like (minus the magic and Immortals, of course). "But it's about time for me to head back to the base, so if you don't mind the company, I could walk with you."