Event | The Decay of Tu Vishan & Rationing

[ironwood]

Afternoon, Turtle-ites! While the truth of their cloned bodies slowly works its way to the surface and conspiracies abound to the nature of their 'Foreigner' presence, other developments have continued in and about Tu Vishan that have little to do with the guests.

Well, 'little' being something of an understatement.

Welcome to the announcement and plotting post for The Decay of Tu Vishan and the introduction of rationing in the city of Keeliai! Read on for details about what's coming up. The initial framework of this event will launch March 19th until March 23rd, with a long-term impact running for the foreseeable future.

The Decay of Tu Vishan
The health and vitality of those that reside in Keeliai is tied into the health and vitality of the great turtle Tu Vishan. All mythos found and spoken of that references the turtle make vague association to this effect, but a lack of evidence to this has contributed to that knowledge falling out of common memory. Resource scarcity is attributed to mined-out mountains and overfarmed agricultural land, very much giving a scientific explanation to the state of things in Keeliai.

All this, however, will begin to change commencing March 19th, with the most abrupt changes appearing by the close of day on March 23rd. From that point, the trend will continue at a lesser rate, but short of an intervention, it will not change.

The Decay | aka What is actually happening here?
Tu Vishan is weakening at an alarming rate. All life and energy in Keeliai are tied to the wellbeing of the turtle and so the impact of this will take form in the decay of greenery, a weakening of the shell's glow, and a slow decline in the level of vitality that has generally kept the kedan population upbeat in the face of unfortunate odds. Each Sector will be impacted differently, with details as follows:

Wood Sector:
Things will start with an apparent changing of the seasons, with the leaves of the Wood Sector trees drying and falling to the ground. The highest branches will slowly turn brittle and new growths will be abandoned by the trees. Structures built into the trees, such as the suites, may notice a faint earthy smell developing. All structural integrity will hold for now, but attempts to plant or cultivate existing flora will be like paddling upriver -- first with the effort to fight a stream and culminating in the effort to beat a section of rapids.

Water Sector:
The formerly clean waters of the canal will become increasingly cloudy and the mineral content lowered, impacting underwater gardens and triggering death and rot. The faint smell of fish will develop around all sources of water until the area smells like a day-abandoned seafood market. Meanwhile, marine life that enjoyed the canals and pools of the Water Sector will start to falter and die, with approximate losses of 30% of the population by March 23rd (before it roughly stabilises).

Earth Sector:
The earthenworks of this sector, from buildings to sculptures, will begin to show a pattern of hairline cracks as time flows onwards. Paved streets will develop potholes and the resident kedan may display +10 in grumpiness as they work to stave off further decay of their works. Cold fog begins to filter through this sector every evening and, in time, black mold will develop wherever efforts are not made to clean it.

Fire Sector:
Home of the brightest and most brilliant lighting displays in all of Keeliai, the Fire Sector will become noticably dimmer in the days to come. The faux flames that decorate the suites and streets will weaken and flicker, in some cases going out completely. The ambient temperature seems to drop here, though the older kedan will complain that it's just the kids making things up.

Metal Sector:
This sector is the single-greatest source and user of power in Keeliai and will seem hardest hit at first. Anything electrical, with the exception of the consoles, will sputter now and again, though little will outright die. Attempts to tweak affected technology will show that all circuits and wires are fine, it's just not working right.

The Cause - aka What is making this happen?
There is no conclusive information available as to what is causing this. Kedan familiar with folklore will claim it to be a sickness of Tu Vishan. Some will say that the injuries sustained by Tu Vishan during the January zombie event are showing little sign of healing and, in some cases, are developing infection despite their best efforts. Others may blame the Foreigners and say that they have claimed too many luxuries and now the nature of the turtle is imbalanced. The one consistent theme is that each reason will reference Tu Vishan in some way, shape, or form.

Characters that would inquire or try to rectify this are welcome to do so. Please post specific actions or questions that they would pursue in the comments of this post (there will be a header) and one of the mods will provide you with information/impact. If you would like to have your character contact one of the named NPCs directly, feel free to ping us and we will make one available according to the situation!

The Effect - aka What does this mean for my character(s)?
The decay itself may have little effect on your character(s), but we do encourage you reading on for information about the rationing that's going to be instituted in Keeliai as a result of this decay.

That said, the kedan will be seen attempting to reclaim a great deal more agricultural land outside of the city walls for the sake of both food and fuel farming. Characters are welcome to get involved in these efforts, or even lead some themselves.


Rationing
The decay outlined above will result in lesser harvests and an even greater resource scarcity about Keeliai than has thus far been experienced. In an effort to sustain the population while building stockpiles against a further decrease in resources, all NPCs, kedan, and Foreigners (PCs) will come under the effect what we're loosely terming rationing for the foreseeable future.

This will impact, in general, the following:

The Resources
The kedan have been providing the PC population with a number of luxuries as they become requested since game launch in August. Their enthusiasm for doing this will decrease markedly as they simple no longer have access to the necessary goods or services with which to provide it. All focus will turn to production -- in particular, they will focus on tools, preserved food, and functional wares.

This is because wood, metals, minerals, food, textiles, and fuel will decrease in availability. What is available will be subject to a significant increase in price (twice or three times as much as before). All those which produce a product will also be forwarding one-fifth of their wares to the Palace of Landed Sky for stockpiling. All those providing a service will be forwarding one-fifth of their revenues in a similar fashion, which will be used to fund resource exploration and gathering both on the turtle and during landfall events.

The Work
All characters able to work in the production of goods, from seeding the fields to harvesting the wheat, will be encouraged to put in additional hours of work. These hours will be tracked and should the character come into a position of need, they will be provided reprieve sooner than those that did not contribute to the effort.

The Enforcement
The Alderwood Commander and Ironwood Emperor are overseeing the rationing effects, with the police force undergoing a partial administrative shift to assist in the enforcement of laws (which will be ICly announced; see below) that require contributions to the communal whole. Characters caught not contributing will be subject to confinement and forced labour in the mines -- previously thought depleted, the kedan will be going back into them in an attempt to find anything of potential worth.

The Stockpiling
These stockpiles will not sit merely for a rainy day. Characters and kedan that are struggling to make ends meet or put food on the table will be able to report to their sector's precinct and request supplies. These supplies will be closely monitored, but available.

This is not to say that one can only obtain them officially. Those with less of a conscience may find it possible to break into the stores and simply take what they need, be it for consumption or re-sale.

The Announcement
Within the first day of the event, a post will be made on the network by Lieuen (hazelwood) to pass on the news that rationing will be coming into effect ASAP and a number of details will be provided in that IC post.

However, he will be also noting something else of interest. The general tightening of belts across the board means that the life luxuries that he enjoys are equally at risk and so he will be offering a service to those willing to pay for it. He is well-versed in all forms of the written kedan language, such as Team Bravo's discovery was written in. This offer extends to all kedan writing, be it poetry or old scientific papers. For a fee, he will read it aloud and thusly allow the translation effect of the turtle to present the information audibly in a language that the commissioner understands.

The Landfall Impact
Subsequent to this event, Landfall events will become more frequent due to the need to gather supplies to help sustain the population. With that in mind, please note that the next landfall is in April 2013 and any requests for specific items should be made at this post

Comments

QUESTIONS

[ironwood]

Post any questions that you may have about the event here.

[backwordscompatible]

Since it was revealed that the Turtle is also a source of Power...is there any chance of its sickness having a direct effect on Foreigners and/or Keelai with special abilities?

Re: QUESTIONS

[thewaythatiam]

So something like a character-run bakery would probably have to cut down on the amount of fancy/specialty items they make due to lack of ingredient availability, and raise their prices in order to turn a profit of any sort, yes?

I mean, seems logical, but I always like to double-check these things.

[littlecousin]

Will the decay affect where the edge of the barrier falls?

Will there be any noticeable change in the sea life (aka things that are presumably not dependent on Turtle Power)?

[dracobin]

As far as Lieuen's offer is concerned--if he's offered enough, would he be willing to teach the written kedan language to Temeraire? Given the autotranslate, I don't know if Temeraire would be able to learn to speak it, but I'm thinking his natural aptitude with languages might extend to at least an understanding of what various things mean.

[wintershepherd]

SO KEELIAI have you been introduced to the amazing preservation method known as freeze drying?? /shot

Re: QUESTIONS

[alpha_squad_leader]

So how much would it cost to get a book read by Lieuen?

[cynisme]

Would it be reasonable to assume that, given the tension between the Kedan and the Foreigners during this time and the addict status of my character that he could get into a physical confrontation with a group of Kedan at some point?

Re: the metal sector

[justlittle]

Would a device taken from the metal sector to another sector start working properly again?

ATTEMPTS

[ironwood]

Would your character try to do something to fix the problem? Post here with the attempt details and we'll provide details as to it's success or other effects.

[inseine]

This isn't exactly an attempt to fix the root problem right now, but am I correct in assuming Javert will be working a killer overtime schedule so long as he's still in construction?

[onefouroneseven]

If Soranik inquires about the reason behind the decay and gets an NPC who tells her that it has to do with either a sickness of the turtle or wounds that haven't healed properly, how successful would an attempt be to either gain access to the wounds or use her ring to try and figure out what could be wrong with Tu Vishan?

[littlecousin]

Right, so. Nita is an environmental science major. Canon even suggests she's good at it, and that Atlantis has a higher base knowledge of how ecosystems work than the surface does. Were she to round up some of the science geniuses, like Tony and Reid (WRONG REED DAMMIT) and start doing stuff like soil-sampling and various other forms of...science-y stuff, would they eventually be able to figure anything out, at least as a palliative, even if the ultimate cause is mystical? Like, "Look, we built this complicated filtration system and now Water Sector doesn't reek of dead fish" and suchlike?

Re: ATTEMPTS

[thequeensown]

I'm uncertain as to how much help it will be, but Talia will run herself to exhaustion trying to keep as many as she can as calm and relaxed as possible. Shes more than happy to act as a calming influence to the masses, really. It'll keep her from worrying about Rolan and the fact that their bond is nonexistent now. :( But yeah, Heralds aren used to getting their hands dirty and want to help and are self-sacrificing and brave and stuff, so she'll be offering to help in any way she can.

So this whole confusing thing will lead me to asking if she will pick anything up with her empathy is she goes poking around places.

Re: ATTEMPTS

[disfavored]

If any characters want to...get together and discuss the problem and attempt to strategize a solution or something, Tarrlok would be up for that especially if it gets him out of gross manual labor. Pretend leadership hooray!

Re: ATTEMPTS

[relentlesstide]

Okay so... If Arthur tried to go talk to the turtle (yes it's a bad idea, he's not the smartest fish in the sea) would anything else happen besides NOPE SORRY TOO ANCIENT FOR YOU go be high for a while? Like would he be able to pick up a vague sense of anything like distress or fatigue before he went all turtle-calm / got whacked in the brain or whatever? :|a

AND if he 'spoke' to the marine life living in the water sector, would they just be upset over the dying off with no real idea of what's going on besides the water getting worse? Also how early into the event would he be able to pick up distress from them? I'M SORRY ARTHUR'S A DIFFICULT ASSHOLE.

[boselfdestruct]

Will there be any "official" attempts at restoring or cleaning the water in the Water Sector? As that's where pretty much all of his brothers are, Don will have an immediate desire to shore up the sector as much as he can and would likely try and get involved in that.

If not, he'll likely want to at least try to get some sort of water filtration system in effect over there, even if it's just something for individual use, to at least avoid contamination from the dead things and whatever else might be wrong with it (particularly for swimmers or anyone needing some sort of contact with the canals for any reason). He would also look into ways to restore mineral content to the water, again, even if only on an individual basis (Want to protect your itty-bitty garden? Add this slightly-disgusting-looking mixture to your water supply! No, trust me, it's good for it! ...Why are you walking away!?)...but that would be only after he found out what was missing in the first place and found a way to restore it, which might not even be possible with his solo resources - but he'd try.

...Not sure if this is what you meant, but I thought I'd ask anyway?

Re: ATTEMPTS

[bowarmed]

Connor will go and see if the farmed out lands outside the city wall is viable for food production. What's the damage to those lands and how likely is it to find a plot that's still okay-ish?

Also since Ollie is an eco-nut, Connor's in habit of keeping a compost and will stuff with dead fish and what not. Yay fertilizer but uh. Are there any earth worms in turtle soil?

Re: ATTEMPTS

[notamachine]

Dean's first thought would probably be a curse or some kind of ghost sickness (probably a curse), considering...everything. Being able to find out what he can about anything that might have a grudge against a giant turtle (that seems generally okay, for the most part?) would be his first point of interest. WHICH MEANS, he's first going to want to talk to kedan or NPCs about local folklore (such as it is?)

Second step, library. If I remember right, there are libraries scattered around, but I can't seem to find info on them in the faqs (I may be overlooking it, god knows that happens sometimes). I forget what info can be found in them, though, and how much of it is readable. Depending on that, how much info on folklore/local curses could Dean expect to dig out on his own?

[sophos]

UH

SO IF ANNABETH TRIED TO CONTACT EVA AGAIN....?

Between knowing she's here via the prison break and future announcement of turtle decay/rationing, I really can't think of a reason Annabeth wouldn't try to make contact sometime after that, especially since she hasn't heard from Eva herself yet. (Also the cloning facility, once that gets out, too) She's not sure it'll fix the problem, exactly, but at the very least it'll be a piece Annabeth wants to figure out.

idk if this strictly falls under ATTEMPTS exactly but w/e it didn't really fit under questions either I don't think

Re: ATTEMPTS

[gathersnomoss]

Zel might also ask to get into the palace library for information about the turtle, but he'd be more thinking in terms of a biological sickness. Which... he has no idea on how to treat, besides a bit of herb knowledge he picked up from being his grandfather's occasional go-fer.

So basic questions of the turtle's history and biology, with an emphasis on 'does this thing get sick and can we give it medicine if we can grow enough for a giant turtle'? He can also copy out anything in languages he doesn't speak if he thinks it looks helpful and can't find someone to read it for him on site.

(Then he'd probably go to actual doctors or healers for help.)

Re: ATTEMPTS

[springsforward]

Aster here is a spirit closely tied to spring and bringing new life, and as such he kind of has ridiculous green thumb powers (flowers can literally spring up and bloom from each step he takes). About how successful would he be in staving off the decay and possibly growing new plants around it? I assume he'd have to stop at some point due to exhaustion or whatever y'all decide.

On the same note, his plants aren't entirely normal either. Most of his Easter eggs are actually grown out of flowers, so... Pending how successful he is in maintaining any growth among the decay, he could at least contribute to the stockpiling effort with eggs, chocolate, and possibly other fruits and veggies?

Re: ATTEMPTS

[zerotoawesome]

Is it bad that I kind of really want Santo to be caught and sent into the mines? (Come on, he looks like he belongs there)

I'm not sure what he'd do to break the law yet. Would being caught trying to stockpile for himself (and others) be enough, or would he need to be doing something like trying to steal from the stockpile?

Re: ATTEMPTS

[idealisme]

Noooot an attempt to fix things, but Enjolras would definitely try to find out as much about the stored food and who is to be in charge of distributing it. This is to be certain that no one will be privileged and receive more than anyone else (like, say, the empress).

Re: ATTEMPTS

[una_persson]

Henry is going to be effing useless for this (and I'm trying to think of how his relationship with his employer will change; open to ideas).

However Una, like Enjolras, is going to be interested in matters of fair distribution of resources and will probably bug Evandau (and anyone else in authority who will give her the time of day) for more information. She will also ask if there's anything she can do to help directly with the work and isn't shy about manual labour. She will also be asking around a lot about history, folklore, etc. regarding Tu Vishan—elder kedan who look like they have interesting stories, booksellers, anyone who seems to have a scholarly bent, and so on.