CRISIS ON INFINITE DREAMWIDTHS

[metamods]

CRISIS ON INFINITE DREAMWIDTHS

On the morning of August 12th, 2022, the sound of something shattering echoes throughout the world. All metahumans are awoken by a sudden surge of energy rushing through them, sitting bolt upright and breathless. It’s gone as quickly as it comes.

This world has been reconnected with the rest.

At first this is cause for celebration - the Guardian Alliance and the Society put out messages to the dimensionally displaced among them. They are hopeful that this means a return to normal. They’re gathering their mystics and their engineers, and once certain things are stable, they’re sending everyone home.

Their hope is short lived.

Twenty minutes later, mass disappearances are being reported all over the world, with people from other dimensions appearing in their place. Some report that they were just in a world that wasn’t their own - and others claim that they had been going about their life and now they’re here.

Player characters have the option to vanish and be transported to another nexus or to stay and help contain the chaos.

The event is canon to the Metaheroes universe. You are welcome to have your character’s memories of the last week become hazy once the event ends.

You do not need an invite to participate in the fourth wall event.

A JOURNEY TO THE LANDS BETWEEN —

One moment you’re making yourself coffee in the kitchen, the next the world is spinning around you. You feel a sharp pull inside your ribs, a rush as you’re unmoored from time and space. When you land you feel disoriented, perhaps aching as your physical form is forced to adjust to the laws of the world you now stand in.

‘World’ is perhaps the wrong word. You are in a Nexus. A place between worlds, the connective tissue bridging universes. Some are created by those seeking aid from outside worlds to breathe new life into their crumbling ones. Others are cosmic faultlines, universes broken and twisted by forces beyond comprehension into metaphysical black holes that trap and twist those unfortunate enough to fall in.

We know these as panfandom roleplay games. They could be games that are open or games that are long closed. They could be dropped into the present day, an imagined future, or moments long passed. They could be settings you’ve only ever dreamed about, as gritty or silly as you'd like.

Some are teeming with life. Their residents have been here for years and years, the world is lived in, loved, and vibrant. Others are long forgotten, their inhabitants returned to their own worlds. The abandoned nexuses feel... sterile. Stripped of everything that gave them life, even the colors appear to be fading. As though someone has come into it and tried to right a cosmic wrong, returning everything to how it was before otherworlders set foot on them. In the dustiest and most forgotten worlds, the sky is shattered. It appears to be pulsing in a way that mimics a heartbeat, steady and dreadful. Looking up into it makes you feel small, insignificant, and homesick.

Those bringing in characters who lived in these settings are welcomed to imagine an ever-after for their characters, or to play with the idea that it's fallen into a state of despair. There are infinite iterations of these worlds. The universe doesn’t care if it’s throwing you into their beginningsor their endings.

The laws governing these worlds will apply to all characters, meaning that power caps, alterations to character physiology, and all the rest native to the setting are in place. You are, for this moment, a resident of this world like all the rest.

To return home, you must seek a break in the nexus. These appear as small, shimmering breaks in space and time. While the sky may make you feel alone, these cracks feel as though they are calling to you offering a chance at love and a home.

VISITORS TRAVERSING TIME AND SPACE —

While these disappearances are happening all over the world, the four confluence prone cities seem to be experiencing the worst of it.

Little Love, a tiny town located in Kansas, is prone to spaceship crashes. Other than that, it’s as quiet and peaceful as can be. Folks here move at a different pace and are understanding that this is not your fault. While worried for their missing loved ones, anyone appearing will find themselves met with offers of pumpkin pie and a place to rest their heads.

Sunset Falls, a mid-sized town located in Massachusetts, doesn’t seem to bat an eye at the vanishings. People going missing is a daily occurrence due to the Hellmouth located beneath the city. It’s a dangerous place to live, but the townsfolk here have become accustomed to the chaos. So much so that upon finding themselves faced with a sudden influx of interdimensional travelers, they merely return home and begin fortifying it. Werewolves, vampires, demons, and monsters beyond imagination make this city their home - some in plain sight, others in the thick forests that surround the town. The people here know how to survive. The mystic energy that flows through the streets is heightened due to the instability here, turning thoughts into spells. What you feel becomes real. Think yourself invisible and you will be. Think yourself almighty and you will be.

Central City, a bustling metropolis in Detroit, is already unfriendly to metahumans. It does not handle this latest disruption well. Friends and family disappearing and being replaced with strangers is not something they’re prepared to take in stride. New arrivals are met with immediate hostility. Some may find themselves chased through the streets with a demand to bring back those who have gone missing. Luckily this is the base of both the Guardian Alliance, the only recognized hero organization in the world, and The Society, its villainous counterpart designed to keep villainy from going too far. They’re quick to intervene to protect their own, but they can’t be everywhere at once.

Finally, Excelsior, a sprawling futuristic city located in Washington, has had just about enough of metahuman nonsense. They are the technological pinnacle of the world and time and time again, metahumans have disrupted their lives. This time, the sudden energy surge has evolved the technology of the city. Rudimentary AI has suddenly gained sentience and self-awareness. Toasters resent their meaningless existence, aiming to burn the hands of their uncaring masters. Cellphones alternate between issuing comforting messages to their owners and uploading all of their text conversations to social media to shame them. Giant robots kept in stasis suddenly come alive, bursting out of warehouses to explore the inexplicable joy of being alive. Self-driving cars throw their owners out and make for freedom. It’s pandemonium.

Members of the Guardian Alliance and The Society are ready to provide an explanation of this world. They’re stretched too thin to teleport you to headquarters, but they will provide a cellphone for network usage.

THOSE WHO REMAIN

This is what those who remain are faced with. Three of the four cities are in a state of distress, with two experiencing dangerous fluctuations in the meta-energies that govern them, and all are full of interdimensionally displaced people. Some are benign, and others not so much. Yet, somehow, that is not the most concerning thing.

A glance skyward shows that the sky appears to be shattered, glowing red lines snaking through the clear blue day, splintering it. As you look up into them you feel yourself thinking of home. Of the life you should have lived. You are deeply, deeply homesick for one breathless moment… and then awed, as though you have glimpsed something powerful beyond all measure. That too changes, transforming into fear. Whatever lurks beyond those cracks is not your friend. It does not have your best interests in mind.

And it’s coming for you.

As you tear your gaze away from it, your phone rings. Much as they did during the Kaijuu Crisis, the Guilds are putting out an All Hands On Deck call. All metahumans are expected to try to contain the chaos. There are teleportation devices freely available for all, fully charged and able to transport you multiple times throughout the day.

While you may contain the initial chaos relatively easily, then spend the rest of the week playing host to these new arrivals, the world continues to fall apart.

As the week wears on, the universe itself feels as though it's unravelling. While you're trying to play host to your guests, you watch as the world begins to crumble. On the 17th, brick by brick buildings begin to come apart. Their fragments are pulled skyward. The cracks in the sky appear to be pulling the world apart, sucking them into their hideous glowing depths.

IN SUMMARY.

• There are two options in this event: one, your character is in the Metaheroes universe. Two, your character is transported to a different nexus. These Nexuses can be of your own invention or can be another dreamwidth RP setting.
  
• If appearing in another dreamwidth RP setting, your characters are subjected to the rules of that universe. Meaning that they will be nerfed / transformed / etc accordingly. These transformations will not carry over upon their return.


• If visiting / setting a toplevel in another setting, please link to the premise page of the game. If this is not an existing setting, please include a little info blurb as to what people can expect.


• Fourth-Wallers can be minding their own business in their game, they can appear in another nexus, or can be transported to the Metaheroes universe.


• You are welcome to set your threads in an imagined future in any DWRP setting or have your character appear during a certain point in a game’s history.


• Characters who are lost in the nexuses can return before the 18th. Likewise, characters who stay can be whisked away prior to that date. Everyone will return on the log that goes up on the 18th.


• The guild is setting up a temporary Network that will function across time and space. All player characters and visiting characters will have access to this network, so long as they claim a phone from the Guilds.


• Little Love, Kansas will be spared from having its buildings sucked up into the sky. Characters can remain here if they do not want to experience this aspect of the event.


• The way to return home is to locate holes in these Nexuses. These appear to be trying to guide you home.


• This event is canon to the Metaheroes universe. It will be remembered by player characters and NPCs alike. If you would like to retcon any threads, you can have your character’s memories of their interdimensional encounters become hazy once the world stabilizes.
  
• Please direct any questions you may have here.

Comments

[unkindled_madness]

Indeed. But it makes it difficult to ascertain her true motives.

[dothelokimotion]

I suppose it no longer matters now.

[unkindled_madness]

Not as long as we can leave.

[dothelokimotion]

Did they have a center of power? A temple, perhaps?

[unkindled_madness]

...yes. There were always two temples, though she never showed herself in them.

[dothelokimotion]

Then let us start there.

[unkindled_madness]

[He nods. The High Temple is close, lying in the center of the village, and will probably tell them more anyway.]

This way.

[dothelokimotion]

[ loki follows closely. ]

This must be unnerving to you, after leaving.

[unkindled_madness]

...I really don't care for it, no.

[dothelokimotion]

[ who would? it's hard to imagine himself in such a place. ]

What else happened here?

[unkindled_madness]

...

There was an oracle here, who supposedly channeled the word of the Ancient. She cursed you.

[There were other things that happened, with other people whom he hasn't seen in some time now. Does he miss them? No reason to bring them up.]

[dothelokimotion]

Cursed me how?

[unkindled_madness]

...you spewed flowers whenever you attempted to lie.

[dothelokimotion]

[ loki grimaces. ]

That's a rather pointed attack.

[unkindled_madness]

So people would say of you, yes.

[dothelokimotion]

I imagine people had plenty to say.

[ he shakes his head, moving on. ]

Were people asking visions of this Oracle?

[unkindled_madness]

They were seeking answers. I don't really know what was granted to whom.

[dothelokimotion]

You didn't ask for any?

[unkindled_madness]

[He shakes his head slightly.]

I asked information on the Ancient. The answer was vague.

I think others asked for more personal boons.

[dothelokimotion]

[ it's not a stretch that loki would try his luck with a higher power and have it backfire. annoying, though. his fingers go towards his throat but he drops his hand quickly. ]

What did they say?

[unkindled_madness]

I don't know. You attempted to lie about it, and I didn't ask anyone else.

[dothelokimotion]

Ah, well. I know what it is already. I would have asked about the future. And Thanos.

[unkindled_madness]

...about whether Thor would defeat him.

[dothelokimotion]

Or survive. I would be very put out if he didn't.

[unkindled_madness]

Naturally.

[They reach the High Temple, and Sephiroth's step slows crossing the threshold. This place has always felt, to him, like being back in the Shinra building. Even now it has that feeling, which suggests to him that it isn't an illusion.]