Constellation Promenade :: Middleton This is the center of town; it's a hub of activity at nearly all hours, though in the evening, it quiets a little. A large, public square is located here, with an open-air amphitheatre dominating most of the central landscape. Announcements, festivals, and plays are all staged here, as well as the occasional town meeting the summer. A few buildings dot the landscape, but for the most part, its open green and the great bowl in the center. At each branching road into the various districts is a great gate, hung with the symbols for Earth, Water, Wood, Fire, and Metal engraved into silver plaques, each leading to other places with their own purposes in mind. Contents: Mirage Nanashi The Sun Arcia Shuyin Corigan Obvious exits: Earth District Water District Wood District Fire District Metal District Ain Soph HQ During the actual battle, Nanashi had lain dead. Fortunately, none of the people... or at least very few of them... had known. And from the sound of things, it was exactly what they needed. His first question on awakening was whether they had made certain to keep Mirage held in the city. The second, alas, was 'why not?'. But at least from the sound of things, she's not left the city. Which is good. Because the mayor actually has some _protecting_ to do, as opposed to punishing. Still, there's some solemnity in Nanashi's cast as he watches (so to speak) over the partying in the streets. Winterheart is gone, which is good. Celes and Tai'en both had to fall for it. Which is not so good. And the images that he had awakened with... well, let's say that they were _very_ not good. Still, he's doing his best. He's out here and honestly, seriously, _trying_ to relax and enjoy himself. Sitting back and listening to the music, picking up the subtle scents of various foods that people are bringing out. And even the Velvet Room gets involved: it might cost more in the long run, but several good bottles were pulled off the shelf and out of the back to contribute to the party atmosphere. Mirage spent the battle at All Gods Temple and the early part of the aftermath trying to understand the dreams that have troubled her nights recently. Once she was sure it was over, she slipped out and joined the cleanup as random folks. Just another townsperson, changing identities as she moved about and always trying to help when she can. She's never anyone important for this stuff. Rather, she's the guy that was always trimming his hedges into something neat or the woman that brings cookies when she comes for tea. Someone everyone knows but can't remember the name of. When the party begins and things seem to be in good spirits, she slips off to actually become herself and resurface. After all, she heard the Mayor's name passed around and that's who she needs to see. It might take a little, but she's not hiding any longer as she tries to find where said mayor is. It's sort of a crippled victory, as far as the wraith is concerned... most of the town has gone silent to his senses, and he waits, somewhat unhappily, for their return. On the other hand, the town has not been burned to the ground, Winterheart is gone, and overall, Shuyin counts it as a success. His only regret as not being a bit more vigorous against the heads of the invasion..although... there's one exception. In a fit of either pride or morbid enthusiasm, he's stuck the half-crushed head of the female captain of Winterheart up on the gables of the Velvet Room and left it there. It might've been to inspire the defenders, or possibly horrify the invaders, but either way, it's still there... and chances are, he's forgotten it's up there anymore. A halo of iridescent lights swirl down out of the bare trees and darkened sky, trailing over the heads of the celebrators and fanning out briefly across the gathering. Enough people now know what they pyreflies mean...the watchful (if somewhat er...overenthusiastic) presence of the Metal Point; it's his way of giving as big of a hug to the populace as possible. ... at least it's -harmless-, right? It also lets him home in on Nanashi after a moment, the light-motes banking like a swarm of fireflies and swooping down toward the Mayor, only collecting and reforming once he's quite close. Shuyin is lucky in that regard...familiar people are really easy for him to find. "Hi!" It's nice to see people being active and having fun, after all these months of tension and fright. Mary is not much of a one to be active and party hard, though, so she's simply sitting off to the side, watching the goings-on with her hands clasped together in her lap, smiling lightly. The old miasma of death and violence is not /quite/ masked by the celebration going on on the surface, but it's enough to dull it with a veil of joy, so that she's not incapacitated by it. She might feel in more of a mood to make merry, if it hadn't been for her dreams. There's nothing unusual with her dreams being troubled, but of late, it's been worse than usual. Part of it has to be the battles, but those are now past.... and while it's not unusual for her to see the past via dreams, either, it doesn't feel like the trouble she sees now stems from that. She doesn't know, though. Her sight has not been so clear since coming here, with its shifting, changeable, unchanging time, and that concerns her slightly. There's... two people approaching him. One of them, that ever-familiar 'smell' of peregrine that hovers around Shuyin: one of the few who are in Middleton, so he stands out quite nicely. And the fact he's Metal Point helps out quite a bit as well. "Ah. Metal Point. Shuyin. It is good to see you. I hope the party goes well. And I am glad to hear of how well you fought in the war. You have helped us win a great battle. Your victory will not go unremembered, I can assure you." And that's probably something Shuyin's not used to hearing. And the second one? Cuckoo. And a priestess. There's _definitely_ no mistaking that one to Nanashi. To those who know what Mirage is like, though, they may find it surprising that Nanashi's smile is turned equally to her as it is to Shuyin. "And as for you, I am glad you did not leave town. It would have been all the worse for you, from what I heard." He doesn't mean for it to sound like a threat. He's just letting her know what the situation stands with right now. "Do you plan to stay? Or will you be moving on? I cannot promise, obviously, that you will be welcome in Middleton. Such is the way of your god." And notice: he doesn't mention Mirage's patron out loud. Because indeed, such is the way of her god. And war or not, Nanashi _does_ hold honor. Mirage nods to Nanashi. "I'm used to making my own welcome when I need. I'm hoping to stay a while, at the least." she says. "It's good to see you though. I wanted to talk to you before I decided anything. I told some folks that you'd help clear things up a little when you could, and now there's finally some time. I know how hard it was before the fighting was over." Being dead and all makes it hard, yeah. "I'll probably be going back to the Temple soon too, if that's alright. It's been... I've had some weird dreams. Wanted to see if you're better and figuring it out than me. If not, I think maybe the Temple is the place to be until I do." Shuyin has had his share of disturbing and/or horrifying dreams. However they're an unfortunate factor of his existence rather than the weight of his God's favor. Peregrine doesn't -need- to champion him as a Priest... he already represents the Wild Raptor's intentions well enough without prodding. Although it can't be said that Shuyin rests well in the aftermath of the fighting... it isn't any worse than it always is. When Nanashi greets him, though, the wraith breaks into a warm smile. "You too! I was worried about you." This may or may not be comforting, but Shuyin never really believed that Nanashi was dead. Therefore, he fell into the dubious distinction of SomethinG Shuyin Worries About. When Mirage wanders up, he turns his attention to her as well, though he lets the mayor do the talking. He's just going to peer at her rather intently. And not blink much. The show of sparkly lights that swirls down near the Mayor and forms into a man catches Mary's attention. It's hard not to, after all; had it been day, it might have escaped her notice, but at night the pyreflies show up pretty well. Blue eyes widening slightly, they close again in a smile. "Ah, that was lovely!" Although the man himself reeks of death. But she doesn't hold that against him. The blindfolded man gets a curious look; she recognizes him, at least by description, but she doesn't recognize the woman speaking with him. She's a little too far away to hear what they're speaking of in such low tones, and she doesn't want to interrupt, so she simply offers a smile to him and a light, "Not joining in the dancing?" to Shuyin. Nanashi isn't completely sure which of the group are being asked to dance. He figures, though, if it's him? Someone will give him an elbow and let him know. Then he can apologize for rudeness. But there are so _many_ things to catch up on while he's here! I mean, when you're dead, things just sort of happen when you're not around, you know? "Oh, there was no need to worry about me. I promise you that. Simurgh watches her own, and Simurgh guards her city. And I suppose now, I'm the very symbol of both of those." And if Simurgh wants to take that as bragging, he can apologize later. For now, though, he's just giving reassurance to the man that, nope, he's not going to be going anywhere. Not really aware that Mirage is getting the hairy eyeball from Shuyin, Nanashi turns back to the shapeshifter with a smile, inclining his head toward her rather politely. "Of course. So long as the temple stands, all priests will be welcome within it. As it has been, so it will be. Unless Simurgh demands otherwise, the only fair thing is for the temple to be open to all who would come to pray and challenge. It is a place of sanctuary, and I intend to keep it that way." Yeah. Keep looking for the hunchbacked guy to be ringing the bells? "You say you have had weird dreams. I may be able to help. I am no master of dreams, but I have been deciphering images for many, many years." He sets his fingers where the deck of tarot cards lays. "If you wish, I can see if they can be analyzed. but it may be that your god is speaking to you. And if I may be quite frank..." His smile is somewhat rueful. "... The Lady is not very straightforward with her gifts, as I'm sure you've noticed by now." Mirage laughs. "No kidding. I'm never going to complain when she wants to play Hot-and-Cold again. It might not be as comfortable as weird dreams, but when I finally get it, at least I know." She takes a deep breath and lets it out. "Some of it's pretty obvious. A chess board being kicked over is probably about all the chaos stuff. Next was stealing the king off the board before a checkmate. I got a guess about that." After all, a Mayor was shot before the last battle for the city. "It gets weird after that. The board turning to liquid. A vision of the temple. Some bells. Lava." She shakes her head. "It's a mess. If we could go somewhere quieter, I could fill you in in detail, but that's most of it right there." Shuyin pauses, distracted away from the conversation by someone talking to him. "...dancing?" the wraith asks, looking lost. There's dancing? What so...oh, right! "...Um." Awkwardness. "I...uh...forgot how," he admits, somewhat embarassedly. Well, it -has- been a really long time since he had the opportunity. He does reek of death, but it's a cold, dry death... centuries old. And despite that, he -looks- normal enough, if you can discount the offkilter look in his eyes. After some period of just sort of peering at her, he observes, "... I don't know you. Do I?" It's a genuine question, which in itself might seem odd. With Shuyin distracted by the dancing invitation from Mary, Nanashi turns instead to Mirage more fully. That way, he doesn't quite feel so pulled in two ways at once. Thank you, Miss. He'll have to make it a more formal thanks later. "Alas, Simurgh's not been able to offer me much in the way of explanation," he says to Mirage. "There's many things she has warned me about. But so few of them she can be certain of, because even her visions are helpless against true Chaos. He is here for the sole purpose of ruining the board. And there is no way to even begin to guess how he could do that." He stops to listen to what Mirage has to say, nodding thoughtfully at the images. "The lava," he says, "could possibly be the Moonmount. It is the only place I know of lava appearing. But the rest... the board melting? Bells?" You know that whole 'Quasimodo' thing was a joke, right? "The Temple? ... I can only make guesses. And with how she does so love her confusion, it would be difficult to tell what is and isn't true. But, I must admit." Nanashi turns in that direction, 'looking' over toward the temple even if he can't truly see it. "... if there is any place that would be somewhere for Thunderbird to strike," he murmurs, "it would be All God's Temple. It has great meaning to The Gameboard, after all." What an intriguing week Howl has had. When he poked his aching head out the door on that fateful day, he had no clue that he was going to die, and when he finally awoke from that heavy slumber, he certainly was not expecting to find himself in the Temple of Peacock. He's still not sure if he was supposed to be a prisoner there or not, but considering the circumstances, he's got other things to think about. Those 'other things' happen to be a pair of lovely brunettes--twins, by the look of them, and both slightly tipsy--clinging to either one of his arms. Howl has been regaling them with tales of heroic exploits (both real and fabricated), up to and including his recent daring escape from the bowels of Winterheart. He's even changed for the occasion: he's dressed in a pristine white suit with sleeves even longer and more extravagant than usual, added a tinge of gold to his hair, and smells of violets. And of course, he's grinning from ear to ear, flashing that bright smile at anyone who happens to glance in his direction. Yes, ladies, the wizard is back, and he's looking at -you-. Attention whore much? Mirage shakes her head, then pauses. "I was going to say that can't be. The images all make it seem safe, but knowing her... style I guess you'd call it, that might just be to make it really stand out and it's the biggest target." she says. "The last image is me in there." she says though. "So I kind of hope it's as safe as it seems. And yeah. The board melting and the pieces drowning. Then there these little tinkling bells. Kind of makes me think of an ice cream truck." The embarrased admission elicits a laugh from the girl, though she tries to half-hide it behind a hand. Slipping off her seat on an upturned barrel, she approaches Shuyin, holding out her hands. "It's quite simple, really. At least, very basic dancing is." If he doesn't dodge, she'll take his hand, and arrange him with impunity until they're more or less in a 'dancing' configuration. "If you step like this, and this, and follow my feet--no, that way--" The question as to whether he knows her is met with another laugh. "No. But does that matter? I'm Mary." And then, she suddenly stops, eyes going wide and hands going to her mouth. The feeling of uneasiness she'd had all day? It suddenly thickens, overwhelming her with urgency and the certainty that something--it's going to happen. Now. "The temple!" she cries. "He's coming!" Shuyin lets the girl drag him a few steps, anyway, going through some exceedingly uninformed attempts to dance. "Like... this? Am I doing it right?" Maybe if he were trying to mosh, it might be 'right', but for a waltz? Not even close. At least he doesn't step on her feet, though; his natural grace will cover for that. But then, she stops, and he can feel the dread wash over her and outward like a tide. It's not faked, that much he can tell, and...well... the Metal Point is fairly well response-trained. He lets go of the girl in an instant and starts running, bolting off toward the temple. Who's coming? What about it? Hell... you think he cares? Once more into the breech, my friends... full steam ahead! ...Someone else is going to have to move the people, though. The wraith isn't stopping. "I don't think an ice cream truck has anything to do with it," Nanashi informs Mirage with a slight smile. "Mind you, it's probably better than any guess I could h-..." It's not just Mary's yell that catches him off-guard. He's got his own feeling going on right now. A chill running down his back and a tingle in his senses. He can _see_ it in his mind's eye... so to speak. Feel it as deeply wrong as it is. And there's simply no way it could be anything else. His expression is firm, his head turns slightly toward Mirage. "Go." he tells her. "Start pointing people toward the borrows. They're underground. They'll be the safest place. Then get yourself somewhere safe. Hurry." And he's striding forward, trying his best to keep from crashing into anything or tripping over anyone, reaching to grab hold of Shuyin's wrist or shoulder if he can find it. Peregrine. Easy to track him, as was said before. "Metal Point. Prepare for battle. Summon any of the other Point Guard if you can." Two dead. One still busy with healing. Tokaki... possibly too busy. There might not _be_ any Point Guard to help with this, but he has to. Another strong arm is grabbed by the blind man, groping to yank the man in toward him. Whip-poor-will? Good. "Please. We'll need magic. A lot of it. Prepare yourself. Now. If you can." And finally Mary. Poor, sweet Mary who was the first one to say something. To her, Nanashi barks, "Keep the people calm where possible. We need to make sure that they don't panic while they're being ushered somewhere safe." There's no sign that Nanashi's looking to fight this. Calling some defense? Yes. But only because that might be the only way to survive some of this. Damn, and damn again. Where the heck has the bandaged Corigan been? He's been living it up partying with the locals. While he is proactive good he's not one to turn his back on non evil people in need. he's got a mug of ale he's downing as he dancing with someone for a moent but it shortly comes to an and. Now where to next? Mirage nods to Nanashi and her form flows. Suddenly, there's no need to wonder where Tokaki is. He's right there. "Everyone! Listen!" he calls as loudly as Mirage can make his form bellow. "Everything is under control. Settle down and Come along. We're going to the borrows." Simple demands for discipline and expecting the figure of a Point Guard to have the commanding presence to lead them along. "Just stay calm. Everything is under control." And so on. Typical soothing crap. It might not be proper Tokaki, but it's more what the people need. Howl's attention is vaguely caught by what seems to be a disagreement elsewhere in the ebb and flow of people. Whatever it is, it's ended with that blond fellow bolting off at full speed. Howl snickers to himself; probably some poor drunk idiot who realized that the pretty girl he was hitting on was actually a man, or something like that. Or maybe he just really, REALLY had to answer the call of nature. A parting in the crowd briefly reveals Mary to him, and his grin only widens at the shocked look on her face. Poor girl--probably wondering where her boyfriend is running off to. "So, anyway," he resumes, picking up yet another outrageous story where he left off, "I was chained hand and foot in the dungeons, but I was sure I--what?" He doesn't have a lot of arm available to grab, considering the way the women are hanging off of them, but Nanashi has managed to do it anyway. "Oh, it's you. What's the matter, do we need fireworks?" He starts to chuckle indulgently, but the laughter dies in his throat as he senses a shift in the mood. "...Not again." He sighs, then starts to extricate himself from the grip of his two admirers. "I'm sorry, ladies, but it looks like I'm needed elsewhere. Why don't you two run along and find a nice safe place to stay, and I'll catch up with you later..." And with that, Howl falls into step beside Nanashi. "Never a dull moment, is there?" he comments to the blind man, his casual tone belying the grim look on his face. The day had been clear, but as the sun set, clouds gathered to blanket the sky and conceal the stars... but perhaps no one notices, with the coming of night. A low rumble of thunder peals off in the distance, though, drawing a few concerned looks; no one wants to be driven inside by rain, although a few people think silently that rain would be welcome for other reasons. Then, a few seconds later, another roll of thunder rumbles, shockingly closer. The wind picks up, suddenly gale-force, hot, smothering winds blasting across the city, and a flicker of lightning gleams overhead... and in the next second, the world goes white and the air fills with an avalanche of sound. A thick bolt of lightning lances /horizontally/ out of the sky, punching a hole in the clouds, and travels impossibly across the sky until it crashes into the high spire of the All God's Temple, sending snakes of white lightning crawling down its side and enveloping it in crackling energy. The noise that follows the lightning bolt is titanic: the sound of mountains clashing, or the very air being torn apart. Unable to stand the force, the spire crumbles, slipping off the main mass of the church and falling to crash into the ground and shatter into hundreds of pieces. Impossibly, the lightning bolt remains, arcing a hundred smaller lightning bolts off it, almost seeming to outline a shape--an impression confirmed when the lightning retreats. Slowly, almost painfully so, it crawls up, revealing first a pair of enormous yellow bird's feet tipped by four long, black, curving talons, the flesh rotting off in places and molting giant yellow scales and a puslike substance from the open rotting flesh. The next to show is the underside, patchy and mottled erratically with scales and heavy, leathery feathers of a sickly yellow-green, veined in black, then the angled wings folded in tight against the sides, then the head, one enormous, mad yellow eye visible from the way the bird's head is cocked. Thunderbird. Angling his head down, he peers with a mad curiosity at the little beings screaming and running around below, then sits back and spreads his wings wide, flapping them once, twice, claws digging deep into the stone of the temple to keep his balance. A foul stench comes from the winds whipped up by the wings, and more--with the motion, more of those enormous feathers drop off, landing heavily on the ground and digging deep furrows where they land, or impaling people through with the razor tip of the pinions. Rearing back, his beak opens, and he screams, a sound that rips through the sky with even greater volume than the thunder that heralded his entrance. Shaken out of her first stunned moment as the realization came over her as her erstwhile dance partner dashes off, she glances after him for a moment before Nanashi catches her attention. She hesitates for a moment, before nodding. "I... yes." She can do that. Provided people can actually hear her voice. Glancing at the suddenly-revealed Wood Point, she doesn't waste time wondering where he came from, and just step forward. "If everyone could please follow the Wood Point's orders and head to the Burrows," she calls, pitching her voice into an almost sing-song rhythm and projecting calm as much as she can. "It will be safe there." That much, she is certain of. Which works all right, until the lightning crackles down out of the sky, and the thing she'd seen manifests itself. Or himself. And calls his horrendous call, the sound of which pierces her ears as the ordinary thunder could not, and sends her reeling back again, struck by the essence, the very chaos of it, down to her core. It might take her a moment to recover. Shuyin would call Tokaki, but... well...he doesn't have the means to aside from bellowing at the top of his lungs (which admittedly, -is- more or less what he's doing). The lightning doesn't faze him. The falling spire makes him evade the splintering rock and wood, but it doesn't slow him down. The big mucking fiend-bird from HELL? ....Yeah, okay. That makes him stop. It's probably a good bet to say that once Thunderbird is eyeing the square in front of the Temple, there's not likely to be anyone in it /but/ Shuyin, who stands there looking up at the horrific thing with his maces in his hands. You ever feel that maybe...just maybe... you're doing something really stupid? Like, oh, attack Sin with a couple of metal sticks? Not that he ever met Sin or anything, but the sheer force of the madness boiling off the thing is enough to stall the Metal Point in his tracks. Shuyin is insane, yes. Card carrying. But this is like comparing your neighborhood cat lady to a convention of Dahmers and Bateses. And that's -saying something-. He's supposed to be doing something, he's vaguely aware. But in the shadow of that much chaos, it's a real struggle for him to not have some kind of fugue-state conniptive fit, or even turn on his citymates. A feather lands right next to him, shaking the ground, and he doesn't even react to it. "Don't fight it!" Nanashi's yell breaks across the city. "Just get people to safety! Defend the people, do what you have to to keep them alive, but don't fight the bird. Mages..." And this is where Nanashi gives Howl a light press, to let him know this is why he'd called on him. "Healing spells. Protection spells. Anything. Guard the people. Let them get into safety." By Simurgh, he can already smell the blood of those who didn't make it there in time. But he's trying to keep the tone to one of urgency, but not panic. Yes. People need to get to safety as fast as possible. No, they shouldn't do it by trampling one another and ending up all the more dead for it. It doesn't take him long to guess where the bird is attacking, either. He knows this city like the back of his hand, and in that direction is the Metal District. And All-God's Temple. "If the temple has to fall, so be it," Nanashi says, sounding dry-throated as he calls to the people. "A temple can always be rebuilt. Soul-dead can never return. And if anyone is capable of rendering beings soul-dead, it is Thunderbird." Simurgh, forgive him for saying that. Mirage as Wood Guard sees it as well. "Screw you too boss." she mutters under her breath. Yeah. She knows where that is. "This way!" comes the shout as the Wood Guard form moves to lead people along. "Carry your children and MOVE!" comes the shout as Miri walks the path others are running on, trying to show them someone calm to help them focus while still getting a little more distance. Please don't let anything fall on her. Howl staggers back a step or two at Thunderbird's sudden appearance, and brings one arm up--first to shield his eyes against the sand and dust being blown into his face by the wind, and then to muffle his nose and mouth in his sleeve to avoid breathing too deeply of that hellish stink. "Dear god--!" ...Which is rather an appropriate comment, given the situation. He changed his clothes for - this-? Healing spells? Not his forte. Protection? ...Slightly better, but that would involve a lot of him standing in one place, and he doesn't think his little wind-barriers will do much to protect the people from the God of Storms Himself. And he'd rather not do any more shapeshifting for a while, at least not until he's had some more time to fix his human form more firmly in his psyche. If the door of his shop were working, that would be a perfect way to get people out of the city--but sadly, that's not an option either. Which leaves Howl with one other possibility that he hasn't tried yet. It's not what Nanashi asked for, but it's certainly better than nothing. "You might want to step away from me," he advises Nanashi. "This could get ugly." And it does. Howl spends a few moments in concentration, his head bowed but his eyes still open. Then, the air around him seems to darken and...thicken, somehow. Shadows flicker across the ground where no shadows should be, and a thick slime begins to gather around the wizard's feet. It drips from his skin and hair and soaks through his clothes in sticky green globs; it pools out around him and reaches gelatinous tentacles towards the sky, gradually curving and melding with one another in a vaguely dome-like construction that doesn't smell much better than Thunderbird Himself. Corigan looks up and drops his booze, holy snap that's one big bad monster there. and he's not got his weapon here. He looks up and now narrows his eyes behind his shades. "So... he's come." Mercifully, the sound of Thunderbird's roar draws off to silence, almost more thunderous for the absence of sound--save for the screaming, of those within the Metal District and out of the reach of Nanashi's directions. Those in the Promenade, calmed by the presence of leaders who appear to know what they're doing, are going in a more-or-less orderly fashion where Mirage as Wood Point directs. More people are streaming in, from the Metal District, from the other areas, whether fleeing from Thunderbird or just out to rubberneck before fleeing themselves. The party forgotten, food and drinks and instruments lie on the ground, as people pick up their children or cling to their loved ones and hurry. Thunderbird has no interest in the ants crawling on the ground, though. Drawing his wings in tight against his body again, he scratches at the temple he perches upon, ripping blocks out of the top and sending them tumbling to the ground. Where his feet touch, the stone smokes; where he scratches, flames spring in their wake, flames that spread and burn the stone. Then, suddenly, shockingly, he leaps in the air, and comes down again, landing heavily on the broken remains of the All Gods Temple's spire. The ground shakes, and the roof crumbles. Another leap, and he lands lower, heavy claws raking through the stone. The roof there trembles, as he uses his erstwhile perch to secure himself as he buffets at the remaining spires with one heavy wing, sending the towers flying, to crash into the street or into the surrounding temples. Mere breaths before the roof collapses, he crouches again, and springs up in the air, wings beating heavily. In his going, the pillars that support the walls buckle, the walls falling down with it, and the screams of the priests and the worshippers inside there are drowned beneath the wind of his passing, shedding scales and feathers that drive through roofs and ground alike. Another raucous roar, and he disappears behind the heavy cloud cover. All Gods Temple--the mark of Simurgh's favor, the shrine erected to all the gods of the Dream--lies in fire and rubble. Corigan wishes his old compainions were here. He oddly doesn't have the sense to fear Thunderbird as much as he should, he's knows something akin to him got its tail kicked by mortals. Sure smart thinking ones but how to stop it, humm normal attacks wouldn't do much so for now? HE's going to get innocents out of the way. This is horrible. Kyoshiro tends to mind his own business, even in this city. The battles that tore this land apart gave him plenty to attempt to heal with what medicines he had on him. But even then, seeing such a thing is not at all what he would have expected. The appearance of a large bird is rather shocking in and of itself, but the feathers that fly down from the sky, towards people and the damage caused by the mayham. The young medicine seller, his case refilled from a night at the Healing Hand. His reaction is actually quite fast, for someone who is otherwised shocked. He's heard so much about the monsters! As a feather comes towards him, he lets out a girlish scream and dodges to the side, it missing him by a very small margin. He drops the medicine case to the ground, and hears the call of the blind man he so admired and... protect. He has to protect people! ...He can't just sit here and do nothing. Grabbing the sword from his medicine case, he pulls it out and breaks the cloth peace-seal on it with a twist, drawing the katana with it's yin-yang tsuba from the sheath. "Mumyou Jinpuuryu Ougi..." he mutters under his breath, voice lost in the roars and the crashing of the building and the things falling from the sky. "Genbu!" ...And as he swings his sword, a darkening wind stretches out around him, forming an odd impression of a shell that covers the area above him and a little around him. It only protects a small area, but the people in that area are likely grateful as the big nasty thing goes away. ...And just ignore the strange writhing white ethereal snakes that happen to reach out towards the stones that fall nearby, crushing them in their grasp. As Thunderbird's cry dies down, the sense returns to Mary's eyes, and she shudders slightly. It takes all her strength to avoid swooning right there and then--but there are people who need her, or at least what she can do, and it's not over yet. Pulling herself up from her half-collapsed position against the wall, she quite simply breaks into a flat-out run for the Metal District. There's people who will need healing, and aid, and to be dug out of the ruins. And, quite simply, it's also where she feels like she's supposed to be. The priest she works for, he was supposed to have stayed in the Temple of Canary tonight... Shuyin is still not moving, even as Thunderbird throws his temper tantrum on the roof of the temple, stone and feather and scale flying every which way. By the third jump, he's finally in motion, though, initially jarred virtually off his feet by the impact and then operating entirely on autopilot. And what does Shuyin do on autopilot? Attack. Duh. With an incoherent howl, the ex-blitzer charges Thunderbird as he lifts up off the roof... only to end up completely buried as the last walls and towers fall. Ah well, so much for the effectiveness of the Unstoppable Metal Point Guard... but one supposes the bar was awfully high this time around. No pyreflies leak out of the heap of rock and wood, either, which could either be a very good sign...or a bad one. There's a reason that Nanashi said not to attack the bird, Shuyin. Oy. We'll just have to hope the Point Guard is surviving, and not getting crunched underneath all that rubble. It would be just Nanashi's luck to have yet _another_ of the Point dead. Particularly when they're really in need right now. He nods quickly at Howl's comment, stepping aside from the spell as it's made, his sleeve coming up to try and shield his nose against yet another foul smell that infuses the city area. What's going to be left of Middleton after all this is over is _really_ going to stink, isn't it? "Keep the people going to safety." he calls as best he can. "Thunderbird might come back for another go." Likely not. He did what he was expecting to do, as far as Nanashi can tell. He tore down the temple. But still, one can never tell with beings of Chaos. "I need strong arms. Power. Come and start digging through the temple rubble. Hurry. There are people trapped within." The temple, the buildings around it... "Healers. Three groups. One to the Healing Hand. Water Point will meet you there, I'm sure. One to the temple. Heal people who are in too dire of straights to be moved. One stay here. There are people under the feathers." He can hear their yells. He _knows_ there's still people here. Mirage gets the people she was escorting to safety and then returns. By the time Nanashi gets a look at the shapeshifter, it's likely to be interesting. She's wearing a form she knows from before being drawn into the game. No sense of a god about this one because of it. "I've got muscle." rumbles the redheaded bear of a man she's become. Battalion for the folks that would know, not that that's likely. "And leverage. I'll help dig folks out. Cheese! what a mess." The turtle shell of wind dissipates, as do the writhing snakes, as the danger subsides, and within seconds the sword is back in it's sheath and quickly wrapped back up as if Kyoshiro wishes to hide the fact that it was drawn. And then he starts to hurry along the street, stopping at people who are injured and pulling out bandages from his medicine case and quickly applying salves and wrapping the wounds. Field treatment. Fast and messy. And the wounds caused by the feathers don't seem to be as responsive as they should be, he notices. The scales are actually worse. "It will be all right. I'm sure you can get to the Healing Hand and be just fine. Just don't try to move. It's over now. Nothing will hurt you," he says, quickly, looking rather paniced as he moves to the next person. So many people. He'll never have enough bandages! ...Things were easier when the only things hurting people were other people and natural disasters. The idea of monsters is just... WRONG. Someone needs to put and end to that creature. ...Someone not him. The green slime clings to everything it touches as the dome expands steadily outwards to encompass those still fleeing to safety. More and more of the sticky gunk drips from Howl's body; by now, the wizard is coated in the stuff, his eyes blank and staring behind the thickening layer of ooze. One might wonder how he can breathe in there, if one wasn't busy trying not to get killed. The slime is thick enough by now that anyone trying to wade through it would have a very difficult time of it. Fortunately, the only significant puddle of it is collected around Howl himself; the rest forms a glistening patina on the ground, which isn't really as slippery as it looks. The muck continues to build up even after the dome as closed overhead. One of Thunderbird's feathers pierces the green wall; with a slurping, sucking noise, the hole slowly closes itself up. Another feather penetrates--but the third sticks, held quivering in place. And still the slime thickens. It drips in places, which means a few people might end up with a dollop of unwanted hair gel on their heads. Finally, from the top of the dome, more tentacles sprout in a cluster and stab skywards at the rampaging god. Whether this is intentional on Howl's part is difficult to say; buried in glop as he is, it doesn't look like he's even in control anymore. Perhaps the areas protected by the wizard and the kenshi only cover a small area, but nonetheless, they do help--the feathers and stone that rain from the sky with Thunderbird's passing deflect from the shields raised, leaving a relatively clear space where the people packed in the Promenade are. But the main area of destruction seems to be in the Metal District, though given the Temple's proximity to the entrance to the Promenade, there's definitely some carry-over. In the District, though, stone from the destroyed temple lies everywhere, some of the pieces still burning, somehow; at least it doesn't seem terribly prone to spreading, not to other stone, although wood and other already combustible substances are fair game. A few people pile out of the entrance of All Gods, the arch of the double doors somehow still standing; a very few of the bravest turn right back around, to try and assist those still inside, or to tug the pieces off the fallen Metal Point. Some of those who hear Nanashi's words--the farm laborers and hired hands, the mercenaries--nod and break away, to head toward the Temple and begin work, though with a wary glance cast up to the sky now and again. A few others-- healers, probably--begin to make their own exodus. It's a little confused at first, until they sort out who is exactly going where, instead of all randomly picking a point and going with it. The feathers, if moved, prove far heavier than they appear; it takes a team of two men to lift just one of them, though pushing and dragging proves a little easier. Those that Kyoshiro stops by vary in injury, from those with naught but a few scrapes to those bleeding heavily. For the last, it might be more than he can do to help them completely, although staunching their bleeding until the full-time healers come would no doubt help. Some of them hardly seem aware of him, their eyes dilated in shock, but a few have the sense to thank him, or even the power to get up and slowly, slightly dizzily, begin to help others. Those within the dome created by Howl back away nervously, the impact of Thunderbird's appearance temporarily overridden by the more immediate yuck of the green slime spreading toward them. A little girl begins to cry, far more unnerved by the goo at her feet than the loud roars whose source she couldn't see; some of younger kids are having fun with the mess, though, playing in it. The scene, once she gets into the Metal District, makes her lips tighten. There's nothing she can do about it now, though, and (unlike a certain later apostle) she can't simply heal everyone in one go without touching them, so she does what she can--working from person to person, seeing if they can be fine on their own or not. If they wouldn't survive without healing, she does what she can, mending their wounds to the point where it's no longer life-threatening, and moving on. "Help if you can," she tells those she heals back to full health. "Remove the feathers, or the stone, or dig people out, and if you can't, try and help the people that are dug out." The feathers and rubble, she cannot do much about; she doesn't have the strength for that, so she simply heals, and reassures people. In the midst of moving from one person to the next, she bumps into Kyoshiro, already at the side of the next person. "Mr. Kyoshiro," she says, throwing him a slightly strained smile. "It's good that you're around, for the people that aren't immediately in danger... did you see anyone who might not make it with just bandaging?" Shuyin can be found if one digs studiously enough, underneath part of the facade of the temple wall. More than a few of the stones are splashed with red when they come off him... not perhaps as much as might be expected from someone being squashed under a ton of rock or so, but while he might be tungsten-durable, if you make too big of a dent, there'll be a split at the bottom. Once the weight's off him, though, the blond stirs, issues a somewhat wet- sounding growl, and gets up... mostly. He actually gets more or less upright, clawing his way out of his brief prison, but when he stands up, he simply falls over again, his leg too mangled to support his weight. This doesn't stop him from getting up again...wobbling...falling over again, even resorting to climbing up people that are trying to help him. If anything, he looks like he's pissed off and frustrated due to the injuries he's sustained, and hasn't registered anything more than the fact that they're impairing his pursuit of the mad god. /Eventually/, though, it sinks in that Thunderbird has, in fact, Left The Building(tm)... he has to get at least -one- mental cylinder firing again to have any idea when to quit. But something does finally start firing correctly once the birdgod's out of view, and the wraith sits down heavily with a thump, and shakes a fist in the vague direction Thunderbird went. "AND STAY OUTTA MY CITY!" the Metal Point bellows after it. Grr! Or he'll show you again, he will! Mirage uses her new and vary large from to have a bit more muscle than her ordinary one. She's not superhuman though, even if the person she's pretended to be is. Still, she's digging in the area she remember the evils gods priests to be. She's had a good bit of time with those folks recently and someone has to dig for them too. "Mary-san!" Kyoshiro calls out, seeing the pretty woman. And for a change he doesn't even notice her considerable bosum in the least. "Yes, some of the wounds are really bad. I can usually fix so much but..." He looks visibly upset by his inability to fix everything that he sees. Again, he's working in such a rush to try and help EVERYONE that there's very little he can do for most of them. Rub on a mixed elixir of some kind, wrap a bandage, move on! "Can you maybe help them, Mary-san?" She seemed to know a lot about the Healing Hand, maybe she knows something that he doesn't. "This way! The worst one is over here!" He grabs onto Mary's hand and leads her back towards the one he was sure would die before someone will get to him, hoping that maybe the blonde woman has some mysterious knowledge that he doesn't have. After all, he's a self-taught medicine-man. Howl's control over the 'evil spirits' that make up this green goo was never very good to begin with; in addition, this is the first time he's ever used this particular spell for anything even remotely resembling a constructive purpose. As such, the protective dome is short-lived, and it starts to fall apart almost as soon as it's reached full integrity. And yet, even as it destroys itself, it still seems to have a mind of its own. Rather than collapse into the section it's been protecting, the walls curve outwards, raining gobbets of slime in a wide ring around the area of safety. At least it doesn't hurt; it's just gross. And it'll probably take forever to wash off. As for the wizard himself? He remains where he is while his spell dissolves around him, still wrapped in a quivering green cocoon. And his suit is -ruined-. The people being climbed right up exclaim a bit, one of them shouting repeatedly, "Metal! Er, Metal Point, sir! You should sit down and rest, I'm sure the healers will be along in a moment...!" Which they are, those that have arrived so far, but they've been delayed by attending to the people in the streets first. Most of those who dug Shuyin out, upon seeing that he's fine, move inward to continue digging or calling to see where survivors are located; some of them, struggling with a slab behind which soft groaning can be heard, spots Mirage in her bigger form and calls, "Oi! Can I get a bit of help here, there's someone stuck behind this one!" One person remains with Shuyin; taken aback by the bellow, he asks, a bit hesitantly, "Do you need a healer, or some help getting out?" "Mommy, why is the man covered in green slime not moving?" a kid asks, staring wide-eyed, while the parent of the crying girl picks her up and hurries away as soon as the dome curves outward. In fact, most of the people protected by the dome do as well. At least there's one boy who sticks around to poke tentatively at the wizard encased in his own slime. Corigan is still here helping where he can. Mirage almost snarls and answer at the person, but instead comes over to help where there's definitely someone to help. Still, even as the large form bends to the task, the rough voice lifts. "There are usually priests in that area!" To try and guide at least a few more people toward the folks she spent the most time with and has the best idea of where to find. "I... if you show them to me, I probably can," Mary answers, a bit cautiously--but he appears not to have heard, or perhaps she simply spoke too quietly, as Kyoshiro grabs her hand and ushers her along to the worst wounded. She goes willingly, though; at the least, she can see the person, and if she can help them, then she will. As they reach the critically-wounded man, she sucks in her breath slightly, seeing the ugly hole opened in his chest and the crushed ribs--probably from the stone lying not too far away. "Oh..." Dropping to her knees, she lifts the torn cloth of his clothes away as gently as she can, before slipping a hand to lay her palm against the skin and gathering her power. Face intent, she focuses, and a soft light gathers around her hands. It travels up to the wound and his chest, slowly working on knitting flesh and bone back together, straightening ribs back to their proper alignment--until, in half a minute, the man's restored to almost as good as new. Not quite; the ribs are still tender, probably, and the gash isn't completely gone. But she wants to save her energy to pull more people back from the edge, and people don't need to be healed all the way to be all right. "There," she says, sitting back on her heels. "If you could salve or bandage him, he should be fine now." She, alas, doesn't have any supplies on her--she hadn't expected the situation to arise, after all. Shuyin is not, in fact, okay. Most people in his condition would have passed out from the pain of moving with broken ribs, or an open compound fracture of the leg, or a concussion, or any of the rest of what the Metal Point is suffering. As the brazen sheen of his Point blessing fades, he starts bleeding a bit more, but the damage has already been done and nothing worse seems to be inclined to happen to him anytime soon. What makes his situation deceptive is that even now, he doesn't seem to really grasp that he's hurt.... yet another attempt to stand up is thwarted by a healer that gently grabs his shoulders and pushes him back down to wait for medical attention. "I'm /FINE/," the wraith growls, though he's lacking a bit in volume at the moment. "Just...need a bit to walk it off." He's not dead yet! He'll go for a wal...er...faceplant. Eventually, he registers at least as much as the fact that he -can't- walk, and ends up glaring hatefully at his crushed leg and foot for betraying him. Stupid things, feet. Wow. Uh... look at all the blood. Where'd that come from. Eventually, he asks, "....What happened?" As she starts to glow, Kyoshiro watches in awe, having rarely seen a power to match. A few shamans that he knows of, some even prized by the Mibu Clan, but to see that this beautiful woman can do such a thing... it's lovely! "...Amazing..." is his first response, too busy staring to remember that he has to work. When he finally does snap out of it, he glances up, surprised and says, "What? Oh! Sorry." He gets to work bandaging and adding ointment, "Mary-san has an amazing gift! To be able to help people... it's wonderful." The smile on his face is a bit sadder than it should be under normal circumstances, but then again so many people dying and dead around them, is that any wonder. And once he's done with that, he stands up and holds out his hand to the woman, "Come on, Mary-san, let's go find the worst ones who are still breathing." Now he has more to appreciate her for than just her boobies (though those are great too, and he would likely give them a moment's glance if there wasn't so much suffering all around). The one who'd called Mirage over looks startled for a moment, but nods, looking slightly shamefaced. There's not much love lost for those on the side of Evil any more, not after the occupation by Winterheart, but they are still people, and it was no doing of theirs that got them stuck under the slab. As the pair of people caught under the slab are lifted out, he and a few of the other free people trot over with her to search the area, shifting pieces of stone gingerly lest it all come crashing down and calling out to find out exactly where peopel are trapped. One of the ones protected by Howl's dome eyes him dubiously, still stuck there in the goo. "Do you think... we should do something to help him?" she asks the boy who'd poked curiously at him. "He did help us..." "Yuck," is the boy's elegant contribution to the conversation, as he watches the slime drip from his fingers. "It seems to come away pretty easily, though." "..." Man, she doesn't want to do this. But it wouldn't be nice to just leave him there after he'd helped them. So the girl sighs, and grits her teeth, and wades into the slime to begin hauling it off, cupping her hands to use them as paddles. Seeing what she's doing, the boy helps as best as he can, too, scraping the worst of it off. Looking around, he spots a pitcher of water nearby on a table that escaped being knocked over, and hurries over to fetch it and pour its contents over Howl. Eyeing Shuyin skeptically, the one who'd stuck around him shakes his head. "Er. If you'll pardon my saying so, sir, you don't look fine." He glances down once, then looks back up quickly again--the sight of crushed limbs is a rather queasy-making one, after all. The question of what just happened is met with a blank look, before he answers slowly, "You... ran into the temple as Thunder--as /he/ leapt off, and got buried in the falling walls." Unspoken is the question, You don't remember? Mirage continues to go where people need her large form's muscle, and then back to the area of the evil gods after each trip. She doesn't bother with the ones that can't be helped. Just the ones where they're still alive. The 'hopeless' work is for the ones that are getting the least help anyway. Looking up, Mary catches Kyoshiro's response and colors slightly, looking down again. "It's not much," she demurs. "There's so much I can't help with... I'm just lucky that I happened to have the ability to do this." Her smile is a little sad as she says this... there is so much, most of which she sees and can do nothing to prevent. Against that, a gift of healing doesn't seem to be worth much, as she'll only reach the people that fate decides she can reach. "At Touching the downed man lightly, unconscious from shock and blood loss but looking better already, she adds, "I think someone should be able to take him to the Healing Hand eventually, if not right now--and he's fairly visible. Right. Let's go." Taking the proffered hand to help herself up, she moves off, slowly making her way toward the Temple and the wounded there as they check on those not yet attended to by the other healers. Shuyin shakes out of his malaise enough to look up at the healer sitting next to him with a faint frown. "Eh? Oh." Pause. "Well, that was stupid," he mutters vaguely, as if talking about someone entirely else. Does he remember? ....no. There's this big wall of empathic residue that the blitzer's shattered mind is sidling way clear of, and it's not like any of it makes any sense to speak of even if he were to poke at it. But while the wraith has, in fact, been dead for an exceedingly long time, and generally considers himself to still be that way... the Dream has granted him a real body when he's not forcing it into pyrefly state out of habit, and currently, -it- has had enough of this crap even if the animating consciousness remains generally unaware of its current state. And, it behaves as overtaxed bodies do when they're pushed beyond any sane limits. "....I'm really tired," the blond asides conversationally to the healer sitting next to him.... about thirty seconds before he simply topples over onto his back with a thud. He's not in danger of dying (again)... but he -is- shocky and likely to be out of it for awhile. Able to see when the life is low on someone (not quite literally, but hey, he is used to seeing people hurt), Kyoshiro goes immediately to the closest fatally wounded person and starts to work to ready to bandage, looking up at Mary to do her thing. "Healing is very important, Mary-san. I can't think of a more wonderful thing in the world, than being able to make people better when they are hurt. That is why--" he touches his medicine case fondly, and trails off. He'll keep moving on and helping until he runs out of bandages or until Mary gets tired. He was once said to have warm hands that could fix any wound, but he knows quite well he never had the ability to do this.