OPEN POST: THE ANNIVERSARY

[gentleidealist]

THE ANNIVERSARY

[It's been exactly two years since Mithos took over Paradisa. That's two years of delightful massacres, scaring people into the Dead Zone, and manipulating former friends with the ageless face of a Kharlan hero. Two years of your character struggling to hold onto life as they know it while under the shadow of a fearsome ruler from another world. Two years of scraping to get by, cowering in the Dead Zone, waiting for a chance to go home or a death that Paradisa can't-- won't-- give.

There is nothing planned for today, though there are a few whimsical sort of changes that Mithos called for. The angels are on security detail as usual, policing the grounds; however, Mithos and his closest subordinates may be stepping outside. There is a grand feast set up in the ballroom... but angels don't eat, so it's really just for show. The place has the air of a graveyard party where even the dead decide not to attend.

There is an undercurrent of anxiety tonight, a breath held in anticipation. Something is about to happen, and even the insects are quiet.]

CASTLE GROUNDS
INSIDE THE WALLS
THRONE ROOM
BASEMENT
THE OUTSKIRTS
TOWN
DANY'S CAVE
DEAD ZONE SETTLEMENT
THE FOREST

[ooc: HUGE OPEN MINGLING POST for characters who either reside in the castle as angelic little zombies, or people who are returning for whatever reason. Please don't threadjack something without notifying the muns in advance!

You are free to make your own sections if you'd like and I'll add them to this post :)]

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CASTLE GROUNDS

[angelzombies]

[There's been no letup in the amount of angels patrolling. If someone is properly equipped, they can definitely hack their way through, but they have to do it without setting an alarm. And they have to dispose of the body. Plus, do you really want to kill someone you used to be friends with?

It might be better just to use stealth here.]

[gentleidealist]

[The patrol in the garden today is a little... shorter than usual. Having exerted his power and influence with success, Mithos is comfortable enough to walk the grounds of his perfect kingdom. He is the boy who never grew up, and he is content with that. There are many things he is not content with: the vandals who steal and run, the fact that his sister was taken from him, the holdout of survivors somewhere beyond his reach. But for now, this night is cool and peaceful. He has made many improvements to the place since he moved in.

He touches the petals of a tapering white iris, his face full of apathy. But he pulls back, looking around. He might've heard something.]

INSIDE THE WALLS

[angelzombies]

[There's a banquet full of delicious, Castle-granted food just sitting in the ballroom waiting for you to take it.

Unless, of course, you're going after the personal belongings you left behind while fleeing in a hurry.]

[gentleidealist]

[Lloyd can smell the food halfway across the castle, but it does nothing for him anymore. He's a seraph now, as his father was. He walks through the castle at a quick pace, searching for someone. Or maybe he's running. It's hard to tell.

There is a small canvas bag tied to one of his belts, half-hidden beneath a sword sheath. He touches it every once in a while to make sure it's still there.]

[heliotroping]

[Everything is quiet, but it doesn't hurt to be too careful. If Django wasn't, anything more stealthy than he would easily get the drop on him.

He has a small bag and the intent of retrieving personal belongings that others asked for. Of course, even if they didn't, he was still going for things in his room. He got tired of having one gun with only one setting.]

THRONE ROOM

[angelzombies]

[Mithos is mysteriously absent, but that doesn't mean he won't come back. Two thrones remain where there once were none, and the smaller, plainer chair has a broken chain still laying on the floor.

The rest of the room is decorated as one would expect of an angelic god. Rich drapes, flickering lamps, alien shades of white and green and gold, bread and ambrosia that remains untouched.]

BASEMENT

[angelzombies]

[Long since cleared out with the dissolution of the Peace Patrol, there may yet be something here that could help your character gain an edge. A forgotten piece of technology, or precious inhibitor ore... or maybe nothing at all.]

[spongetastrophe]

[Peter almost forgot about this place after so many years. He wasn't exactly a member, but he did know about them and what they tried to do for the castle. There's always the chance something was left behind, so he's going to hunt for it]

THE OUTSKIRTS

[angelzombies]

[Eventually, everyone must retreat. There is a decisive line where the patrols stop and the forest begins. It's too difficult to simply plow through, and Mithos has lost many search parties within the trees while trying to recover his sister.

There are still animals lurking within the forest, and perhaps some shelter. It's only safe to stay here until the next hacking and burning, or the next Seraph visit-- whichever comes first.]

[someoneto_carry]

[Zoe is up in the treeline, hidden away from sight due to the wonders of stealth. There's no doubt about it, whoever is running the castle now is out of their gorram minds. No one sane would go near that place]

[However it's hard to deny the food looks mighty tempting. So there she is, trying to get a lay of the land and figuring it out if it's worth the risk]

[whichwayyoulean]

[The Once-ler, ever the best at keeping somewhere safe, is leaning on the tree, looking in the general direction of the castle, a frown on his face. Another year of cowering in the shadows, getting their friends back in fragmented pieces.

It wasn't fair. He sighs, taking a drag of his cigar, before heading off towards the town. As unsafe as the place was, he needed supplies, and at least with the celebrations, he can get them without too much trouble]

( CLOSED TO BUNNY )

[wolfchild]

[ Meat for Drogon. Instead of three small dragons to feed, she now has to find enough for one big one.

Arya would have preferred the three.

Nymeria sniffs the ground ahead. They haven't yet found anything, but that's not so surprising. With the amount of predators around, prey is scarce. She has no fear of them; she's only frustrated it makes feeding her own so much harder. Arya twists her bracelet around her wrist. A bad habit, she knows, and one she gets scolded for every time she's caught doing it. Around and around she twists it as they walk.

The direwolf freezes. Her ears prick forward. Arya stops where she is. She cannot hear anything. But that doesn't mean anything. She always hears or smells the animals before Nymeria does, but Nymeria is always aware of angels before she is. Arya reaches for Nymeria, slipping into the direwolf's body with the ease of a hand in a well-worn glove.

Of all the things she expected to see, a massive stricken-looking rabbit was not one of them. ]

[heal_theworld]

[The aforementioned sister is currently sitting up in a tree a bit away from the tree line, though she can see the city and the castle easily with her angel sight.]

Two years... it seems like forever.

[But at least she was free now. And the patrols had been stepped up, but the angels weren't exactly good at finding her. They stumbled through the forest, lost, and hacked and burned the trees, but she always sensed them coming and drew back, farther than they would travel.

She almost wants to go into town to try to get some of the food but she knows she can't risk it. Not without someone else. So it's back to foraging for food again or maybe waiting until someone who knew she was out here to bring her something.]

THE TOWN

[angelzombies]

[Per usual, it's full of ruins, the occasional house with some supplies and angel patrols. Unfortunately, it did not get decked out for Mithos's crazy holiday. What a jerk.]

[wilder]

[Zelos doesn't have the courage to go near the castle, no matter the day. Too many faces he recognized as ones who once had expressions, too much fear that going near means he'd be caught and won't come back. Even stepping close to it's grounds make him feel a wave of panic. ]

[The town isn't too much better, if he could eat he'd probably want to lose his lunch every time he walked it's streets. But it had supplies and it was a bit more bearable than that castle. ]

[So he can be found around the city, raiding empty houses for any supplies that haven't been picked over. His golden wings are out in case he needs to make a quick escape or blend in with some angels, and his hair is still cut short and somewhat messy (there's not exactly mirrors in the wilderness okay). He doesn't bother to look over his shoulder like most survivors, he can hear people coming a mile away. ]

[mors]

[Two long years. Things haven't changed completely beyond recognition for Ryoji in that time; he hadn't spent a great deal of time in Paradisa in this form before things went to hell, and as such, there are few who know that he spent two years in the Castle prior to it becoming what it is now.

Two years to grow to love the people of Paradisa enough to fight for them for the next two years when things went to hell. If the Castle would not permit the natural order of things, would not permit his duty, then he had to go about things by other means. If that meant protecting instead of taking, then he could live with that.

Hah. The jokes about living never get old.

It took Ryoji several months of darting around the Castle grounds and the ruined city before he'd even consider going out into the Dead Zone, but now he's mostly used to it. He's grown accustomed to being human at least most of the time, though he isn't particularly fond of it.

Tonight though he's in the ruined city, walking the empty streets. Headed for the empty and probably falling apart mansion that was on the outskirts of town, and had at one point belonged to a man with bright red eyes.

Feel free to come say hello. He'll never mind company, even if the company isn't exactly on the same side as him.]

ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴜɴᴛᴀɪɴs ─ ᴅᴀᴇɴᴇʀʏs' ᴄᴀᴠᴇ

[draca]

[ For some time the cave Daenerys took shelter in is empty, dragons nor the queen herself in sight. An eerie silence fills where once was the sounds of young dragons fighting with one another.

That is until the day a loud roar echoed from deep within the cave, ungodly heat emanating from the entrance. Something had happened, that is for sure. Sound had returned to the refuge of the dragon queen, sound and fire and a threat to any who dare come too close.

Three have become one and the remaining liked it no less than his mother. Ever since their return some days ago he thrashed angrily in the cavern he made himself, a dark place save for opening allowing the entry and exit of a dragon near grown enough to ride.

Daenerys worried, for her city, for her children, for the attention her wild child undoubtedly would bring to them. The only solace she could take is the knowledge that two of her children are safe from the angels' clutches, and the remainder would never be cowed. He is too wild, too fierce, they would burn before they could reach him.

At least today, Drogon's raged subsided. He took to sulking in his nest, huffing clouds of smoke and fire. Soon he will grow impatience and hunt, but for now her worries remain still. ]

[queensconsort]

[It's not often that Krasus comes up here. That can be blamed on all the things he has to handle with the resistance. But today, he has been drawn by the struggle during his hunting passes, interest piqued by something evidently alive and thriving within the rocks.

He approaches the entrance, not wearing scales himself, but the form he's more comfortable with. He is cloaked in the same dark crimson as usual, and hugging the side of the cliff with gloved hands.

He thinks this cave used to be claimed by the dragon girl, but it has been so very long since he checked on her. He's not even sure if she still exists within Paradisa.]

[wolfchild]

[ Arya hovers by the cave entrance. Her fingers card Nymeria's fur. ]

Magic is stronger here. He makes it.

[wilder]

[After leaving Lloyd with...oh lets say Yuan, Zelos had come up onto the mountain to check on things. He felt anxious, letting Lloyd out of his sight after finally finding him again- but he knew it for the best. He trusted Lloyd, but it didn't mean Arya did- and more importantly, Nymeria. He was not dumb enough to bring his recovering friend near an unstable angel girl with a direwolf's safe spot.]

[Of course, being lost in his own thoughts about Lloyd, he didn't notice the new occupants of the cave until he was at the mouth of it. Then he sure noticed one of them.]

...Wow. That's..definitely a dragon, and it's sitting my stuff.

Great.

[WHAT THE HELL]

DEAD ZONE SETTLEMENT

[extremes]

[Here, there is a settlement. It isn't much, but they've had some time to build it up in spite of the Dead Zone's lack of both magic and technology. There is shelter here, and homegrown food, and safety from the angels who are aware they'll lose their powers if they cross the barrier. Some survivors live here permanently, others come and go, but it remains a sanctuary for those who need it, guarded and kept by some practical souls willing to step back from the fight in the name of supporting those still on the battlefield.]

[extremes]

[It is here that Yuan Ka-Fai can be found. Unwilling to face Mithos' celebration, he's elected to make his way out here and crash for a few days. The fact that he has trouble sleeping anywhere that there's even a chance angels might possibly find him may also have something to do with this decision. Right now, he's sitting on one of the beds they keep for guests, staring blankly at a wall.]

[devilmarked]

[ Hey assholes, guess who just showed up after about two weeks of effectively being MIA? That's right, this dick, and he's back with a bunch of stuff that people may or may not have asked for. Maybe. Look he got a purposefully distracted and had a few arguments with some angels.

The violent kind of arguments.

Anyway this is Dante, sauntering his way in decorated with blood here and there but there isn't a wound on him (he waited by the barrier until all his wounds healed) with a heavy bag in hand.

Trying to shake off the unpleasant feeling the Dead Zone gives him he whistles sharply, alerting anyone in earshot. ]

Delivery for Camp Shanty.

THE FOREST

[angelzombies]

[For all you people who decided not to get too close to the castle on this...fine holiday. The forest is the same as ever today, but watch out. There are still plenty of dangers in the forest, or maybe you'll get lucky and it's a peaceful day! Who knows! ]

[save_the_souls]

[Allen could sense the activity going around the castle and decided today was not a day to retrieve supplies from it. Even if his eye could sense angels coming, there was too many close together to be worth the risk. ]

[So after a quick run to the city, he can be found in a clearing about a thirty minute walk from the Resistance's base. He's got some make shift targets hung up on tree branches and is currently working on his target practice with his crossbow. He's by no means a Robin Hood, but the years training have made him a pretty decent shot- even if he's clearing trying to achieve perfection]

[You can't avoid killing if you don't have a perfect shot, after all]