#plot drop 3

Shed down a kindly ray from above upon my life, and strength of war, that I may be able to drive away bitter cowardice from my head and crush down the deceitful impulses of my soul.  – Homeric Hymn to Ares

Ares, son of Hera and Zeus, has always had anger in his heart. It was no secret that he was the least favorite, the most bloodthirsty of all the gods. Even Hera could not curb his desire for war, or his aggression that seemed to rule his life. Dionysus, the son of princess Semele and Zeus, had garnered Hera’s own hatred due to Zeus – but at what cost? It wasn’t Dionysus’ problem, to say the least. The god of pleasure and madness wasn’t built to ensnare himself with the will of the gods. Ares, despite his tactics, found himself enraged by the happenings on earth. Was it worth all this effort that they were putting out? For Artemis and Circe to become so wrapped up in their creations; for Atropos to intervene – why must there always be a side? 

Ares created his own side of the war. Dionysus, following his brother’s lead if only to bother him, also decided this was not worth his time. Being the god of madness, Dionysus wanted to add to the fray – a side that had a choice. He’d never had one, and the punishments carried out by Hera all those centuries ago seemed trivial compared to this. The veil was weakening, it was unstable. If they were going to act, now was the time. The other gods couldn’t control the creatures that they had made so long ago, and if releasing them into Corinth Bay was a disruption? Well, they were going to do it.

With Dionysus at his most powerful during the Carnivale of Corinthia, he released his Kobaloi into the fray. Creatures of madness and trickery, of glamour and magic, they were everything Corinth Bay seemingly wouldn’t need. They had no side, and they had no allegiance, even to Dionysus himself. He wanted the madness and the pleasure, and the freedom, that came without asking his followers to abide by the rules the other gods and goddesses of Olympus had put into place. Ares, deliberately ignoring Hera’s warnings, released his Sphinx into the city. Another creature meant to answer the burning questions that most would have, but not without a price or a wager. Borrowed from an ancient civilization from before them, and a goddess of war, the Sphinx was made anew in recent years, and unleashed back into the world in 1858 after the tear. Now, both the Kobaloi and Sphinx are being summoned to Corinth Bay, to instill madness into the hearts of those who deserve it. 

But it didn’t end there. No, it never would. Hidden under the vengeful and petty acts of Dionysus and Ares was someone else. Or perhaps many others. With a combined power, they sought to harm. Tricks would do nothing but hinder them, it was true pain and madness that they were after. With a whisper of curses and combined power, the strangers gathered at the former temple of Aphrodite, now long forgotten after the parade had filed through it, and called upon the hidden power of the veil, the power that was within their veins. A fog settled in over the bay city, though the Carnivale didn’t consider itself finished. The effects of this fog, however, was dependent upon the species it affected. And this was simply the beginning.

OOC Information under the cut:

Laura sank into the corner of one of the family room couches, curling into it almost as if for protection.  Left anxious and exhausted by the press conference, she’d been half tempted to hide in her room.  She was afraid that might appear standoffish after the question she’d received, though, so she’d grabbed her book and hoped the shared space would be quiet.  

It actually took her a moment to realize she wasn’t alone.

“Oh, hello Damien,” she greeted him, setting the book beside her and uncurling slightly.  “How was your...” she knew how he’d spent the day, she realized too late. “Press conference?”

Gendry was finally heading North- well him and everyone else who had pledged themselves to defeating the undead. But he was finally going to North and so was Arya. He hadn’t been able to talk to her before everyone packed up their belongs and set forth on the Kingsroad. He had been busy making as many weapons with what dragonglass he had left before they all left for the North though he knew more would be on the way soon enough, hopefully, if the groups staying behind to mine were successful. He traveling with the rest and packed up what little he had brought with him; mostly his own tools than anything personal. One couldn’t take much on the road but Gendry never had much to his name anyways. 

They had made camp after their first day of travels and Gendry was itching to gift the spear he had crafted for Arya. They were heading towards the enemy, one of the enemies, and he wanted her to have the weapon she had wanted him to make for her. He had felt awkward asking for her around camp so he walked around looking for her with the weapon clutched in his head. He didn’t know how long he looked but he rounded a tent and finally saw the face he had been looking for. He grinned as he set his eyes on her, bringing his hands behind him so he could hide the spear for a moment. “M’Lady,” Gendry greeted, “May I speak to you for a moment.”

Happy the music store was close today, Reese gladly attended the Mayor’s speech knowing it was better than being in his apartment by himself and at his mom’s. The last thing he remembered was clapping with everyone else in agreement, then everything went black and all he could hear were screams. He opened his eyes only to feel a throbbing pain towards the back of his head, he touched it only to see he was bleeding. Feeling dizzy, he laid on the ground only for someone to put what he guessed was a cloth or something under his head due to the bleeding and an ice pack he ask for to stop the headache that came with the throbbing pain. “This sucks.” He muttered to no one. 

( @ihavetoclear )

The parade far behind, the fog settled in throughout the city – the Carnivale dedicated to Dionysus and an age old tradition finally found its end. The city would spend the next evening cleaning up the city. The lights would come down, the flower trails would be swept away, and all costumes used in the parade the weekend prior would be tucked away to be improved upon for the following year, once Spring was ushered in once more. What wouldn’t stop was the Greek pride and tradition, and the music and sense of hospitality that flowed from Corinth’s residents to those that were strangers.

For the supernatural world, however, their ill side effects from the fog had yet to go away. The gods hadn’t bothered to intervene on their behalf. Perhaps that came as a surprise only to a few, the original shapeshifters that had so much faith that they were favorites – only to be given silence. Their children were in more pain then they were, but there was nothing stopping it. Those who had committed their energy to the city wide spell were letting it linger, sink in deeper than just the physical exhaustion. 

By Friday, the effects would be gone. Perhaps they would ebb the closer they got to the day, or those who are not as strong willed might feel the same effects as they had since it began. Either way, the gods had gone silent. Whether that was because of their own volition or they simply wanted to, only time will tell.

OOC Information:

The event is officially over. You are more than welcome to continue your event threads, we just ask no new ones begin.

Please feel free to make post event open starters. After 5 have been posted, please respond to at least 3 before posting your own.

The species specific effects of the plot drop will effect all characters until 5/15, this Friday. The effects will start to ebb if your character is proactive about it, and will vanish completely on Friday.