nexus_crossings | The Start of the Storm

The god hosted Yule party left the Nexus in the state of beautiful Winter Wonderland. With the snow falling softly and steadily, and the beautiful festive lights twinkling in the darkness, the Nexus is left with a sense of serene nostalgia hanging in the cold air. This peace and joy clings to the streets for several weeks, buoying everyone’s mood as they look back on the past year and forward to ringing in the new one.

It starts in the Wilds, and the outskirts. The cold air suddenly feels like it freezes everything it touches in an instant. Light doesn’t quite pierce the gloom. Gentle snowfall becomes thick and falls hard. One or two people looking for shelter from their uninhabitable homes isn’t too noticeable. People can still enjoy their pretty Winter, blissfully unaware. Pipes freeze solid, paths become impassable, power cuts out, simple walks become baffling in the poor visibility. Soon it’s not one or two people, it’s many, it’s families. There are people coming in, bloody, bruised and scared, saying they were chased. Eventually the kindness of friends and strangers becomes strained. Spare rooms are packed to the brim and the storm that stays just shy of the bizarre torches somehow seems to have a slow, but unmistakable march closer towards a point where the Plaza, Industrial sector and Downtown meet. On top of that, people are complaining about PINpoints acting up or portals freezing over.

Streets are becoming packed full of people with far more problems than solutions. Huddling together and whispering about ghosts and monsters moving about in the shadows. In a place with no government, no organisation, no collaborative emergency services, chaos and confusion reigns supreme. And with chaos, comes panic. With confusion, comes frustration and anger. The Nexus is a powder keg waiting to blow.

That’s certainly how one Durant sees it. As a manager, Isidor is keen on organisation and order. Both things that are lacking in the Nexus at the moment. Groups pop up to help, but struggle to communicate effectively, or work together. Some people get free food twice, some people are still waiting for some at all. It’s madness, and Isidor can’t stand it. Particularly because she, her brother and sister-in-law are stuck here. So, when nobody else takes the mantle, Isidor Durant takes it upon herself to inject some order into this scrum.

In her fur hat and long coat, leather gloves and thick boots, Isidor can be seen directing people this way and that. There’s something about a confident person taking charge that means people instinctively defer to them. She becomes the point of contact quite easily, with people soon taking her direction regardless of whether or not they know her. Under her instruction, people are directed to a building that has tables set up, queues in front of them, and volunteers behind them taking names and telling people where to go. It might still be chaos, but at least now it’s organised chaos.

The question is: Where will your character go?

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((Below are comments for each desk. Tag any of them, threadhop, or post with your own character. I suggest putting your character’s name in the subject to help keep things clear. Comments marked with a snowflake ( ❅ ) have been coordinated with the mods and I as official event comments. The OOC Post is here! If you have any questions, feel free to message me or one of the mods!))

Threads of Note
Medicine/Illness | Shelter/Heat | Food | Security/Crime | Lost items/people | Misc resources/Donations | Volunteers | Expeditions | Planning Table/The woman in charge | Drulb's Deelz | A Ship in the Outskirts

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It requires me to cast the spell. And it can be large enough to cover an entire castle." Hermione explains. "The spell creates an impregnable magical protection barrier."

She makes some calculations in her head. "And if I combine the Protego Maxima with an Impervius charm, I could also keep our buildings waterproof."

"Isidor also noted that you might need other methods of communication. I am able to summon a Patronus, to send message to those outside of the building."

The pen in Lyall's hand is flipped and rolled and squeezed while he listens. He can't help the small fidgeting motions. When it's his turn to speak, he rolls his hand. "Does 'casting a spell' require you to be at the location at the time? How much time does it require? Does it require materials? Does it protect against physical projectiles, magic, weather? Can people walk through it? Can it be dismantled? Does it have a weak spot? I'm going to need all of these details."

"What I really need is a way to communicate between several people at once to coordinate," he tells her. "Like a radio. You got anything like that?"

"I need to be at the location, or within sight of the location. It only takes a few seconds to be cast. No. This spell does not require any materials."

"It projects against magic, and I will combine an Impervius charm into the spell to protect against weather. Since magic in my world works on the same frequencies as technology... I can not promise that it will protect against any technological projectiles. But it will disintegrate other organic materials and projectiles."

"It is meant to be used to keep people out... but I could cast the charm with a doorway, to allow people access to an entrance."

"It can be dismantled by a stronger wizard than myself who knows the counter spell. My magical potency is quite high, so that reduces the risk of someone else breaking my spell." Hermione explains.

"I do not have radios on my person. But if we were to find a number of them... I could cast a Protean Charm on the items, increasing a strong bond between the objects. So even if they lost power or electricity, we could still use the magic to communicate with the person holding the object."

Everything she says is written down, along with his own thoughts on the matter.

"Intel suggests there's a risk this whole thing is being instigated by a spirit. If that's the case, your spell might be at risk of being dismantled. I don't know if spirits know counter spells, but if there's one can do all this to the Nexus, I imagine that they pack a wallop magically."

Pushing that piece of paper, he pulls another over to write down her information on the Protean Charm. "I want you to test it on five radios from the boxes behind me. See if it works. If it does, then make another ten. When you're done, report back here so I can tell you which buildings need the shields. They'll need doorways where the physical doorways are. We don't want to hurt our own people."

"Do we know what kind of spirit it is?" Hermione takes a slight interest in the information.

"Which one is yours? I will need to cast the Master Protean Charm on it first, so the others are connected to your radio."

Heavy shoulders rise and fall in a shrug. "A spooky one that causes snowstorms. I don't know. I don't really care except about knowing what they can do."

"I'm not precious about it. Just throw me the one you enchant first."

Hermione heads over to the radios to get started. She casts a Master Protean Charm on the first. And then starts with five other radios to cast the same charm. She goes back to the first radio to test the connection between the charms. And nods satisfied.

It works. So she casts it on the next group of radios.

It really doesn't take her long. So she takes a moment to bring out her Runes. Glancing around the room, surveying the people who are here, and noting which ones she recognizes, she starts a quick Arthimancy equation. She wants to determine more information about the spirit that is causing the snowstorms, and perhaps the Arthimancy equation will help her. And perhaps the Arthimancy equation will provide her details on who would be best to find out more information on the spirit. The cause of the problems.

Of the people around them, Hazel is heads above the rest in regards to having information about the cause of this. If there are questions, it's most likely that she has the answers. In that regard, there is no competition that comes close.

Hermione notes what her runes tell her, and then saves the equation, before recalling the runes back into their pouch. She decides on keeping them in her breast pocket, so she can add more information to her equation as she gathers it.

She reports in with Captain Kirk, as also recommended by Isidor, and casts the same Protean Charm on his radios. And since the Impervius Charm was also a good idea for those radios, Hermione makes sure the radios kept by Lyall are also charmed to be waterproof.

Hermione will have to touch base with Hazel in a bit, many questions on her mind. First, she reports back to Lyall. "Your radios and Captain Kirk's radios are now all magically connected with the Protean Charm. With this radio..." She sets it on his desk "...You have the Master Protean Charm, and can send written messages back and forth. You just need to hold your hand over this spot here, and think of the message you want to send, and it will appear on the rest of the radios."

"The Protean Charm will also keep the radios magically connected, so that with the Master Protean Charm you can track where the others are located."

"After conversing with Captain Kirk, I have also cast an Impervius Charm on the radios, which will help keep them waterproof."

"Now, which buildings do you feel need the Shield Charm?"

"Thanks." Telepathic communication. Uff. That's tricky. But it's better than nothing. He'll just have to be careful not to accidentally send messages like damnit people!

Bringing out his map, he points to a building that's been circled in blue. "The hospital is a priority. This building and several of the shelters and outposts too. Focus on the hospital first, and then come back to me and I'll make sure you get an escort to the outposts."

The Start of the Storm

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