The Start of the Storm

[shardofwinter]

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?

❅-❅-❅-❅

((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 

Comments

[bitterguardian]

Horvath listens to the groan, and leans forwards with a soft creak of the chair under him. A heavy hand lands on Steve's shoulder, and he gives a couple of weary pats. There just might be a subtle painkilling spell that comes with it, partly because he suspects Steve is not being entirely truthful about the level of pain, and partly because he knows the other man won't see the glow of his ring when he does it.

"I think I have enough left in me to deal with frostbite, and I'll take another look at your eyes in the morning. I'm not sure what to advise in the meantime, but I think if you're willing to ask for help, you'll find plenty of it here. You've brought together some good people." The way that they banded together and bolstered each other in the uncertainty following Steve's injury did not escape his notice.

[shieldborne]

If Steve were aware of the spell, he'd have to tell Horvath off for it, but he's oblivious for the moment. And honestly, any subtle change in his condition can be chalked up to his healing factor if the question does arise. For the moment, he's going to have to focus more on finding workarounds.

There is one good thing about an eidetic memory, though. He knows where literally everything in this place is, so he can still help prepare food, get out supplies, and generally guide people around the place.

"How bad does it look? I'm not interested in scaring anyone." He's got sunglasses, but they're going to be in the upstairs room he's been bunking in, not the med closet.

[bitterguardian]

Horvath isn’t about to enlighten him, so he’ll never know. “It looks a bit as if you came down with a sudden case of cataracts, and the skins red around them. I think if you mostly keep your eyes closed, it shouldn’t bother anyone too much.” That’s a kind way of saying that if he leaves his eyes open, yes they are kind of freaky looking.

“I will take another look, in the morning. And I’m planning to teleport between here and the clinic where you found me. I can spare the power to take myself back and forth, at least.” Transporting the whole group they brought here, especially after a busy day of healing, was just a little too much. Maybe if he’d rested up first, and then they might have avoided the whole mess with Steve’s eyes, but it’s also trickier to get somewhere magically that you have never yet been to, so they could have been diverted and ended up who knows where. It’s pointless to think of what might have been.

He’ll probably struggle to fall asleep, thinking about it anyway.