Tarishitar: the glorious floating city. Once thought untouchable by the other nations of Parvpora, this country's capital now falls under the eye of forces beyond its control. Dreams rose up from the depths, tormenting the untouchables and threatening to engulf the surface. The thought was all consuming to the council of guilds, but not because of the compassion of their hearts. No, like arrogant kings from many a fable, Tarishitar's leaders cared only for themselves.
While Mendean and the four mortals explored the depths, eager to shut down the source of madness; the most powerful guilds, including representatives from the Len Shang Dow, met in the center of the city to discuss current happenings. They were bickering amongst themselves in the chambers of the tallest building in Tarishitar for most of the morning, and only stopped when a guard could be heard arguing outside the main entrance.
"You can't come in here!" One of the guards shouted from beyond the oaken gate, causing the chambers to fall into temporary, dead silence. The same man was quickly launched through the door by an explosive punch, sending splinters out into the middle of the room. Still alive, the guard could only grunt before passing out.
"Were my notes insufficient warning?" A darkly cloaked Natsumi walked into the room without her mask, just after she had sent her initial impediment sailing. The guards within were quick to react to her fiasco, having brandished blades and magic alike; but the Goddess was ready for them. She locked their movements with her divine powers, causing them to freeze in place until she saw fit to release them. "Is that why you haven't evacuated the city yet?"
"You've no right to be here," retorted one of the council members within the meeting once his mind registered the questions being given! No one present tried to tell the guards to remove the fox after this bold reaction, because each one was plenty aware of the fact that the woman in front of them was pacifying violence in the immediate area. They respected her power, but still refused to acknowledge her request even after she adorned her deity mask.
"Prancing about like ants, you believe there are bigger threats to deal with, so you ignore my warning at your own peril." Pausing, the woman summoned several hundred pieces of parchment into the room: one for each note she had sent in the days before her arrival. All of them held the same contents, telling the leaders of Tarishitar to evacuate the city on the 10th of Calor. It was now the 10th, and every last one of them had ignored her. No plans had been made. Not even a hint of concern was given, much to Natsumi's irritation. "You have one last chance, though I doubt you can save everyone now that you've waited so long."
It was a dire warning, but the guild leaders were having none of it. They just looked snidely at the masked woman, and ridiculed her out of the room.
"God or no, we won't evacuate the city based on your word alone. Besides, you are Secrets and not Fate. You hold no sway over the future." So it was that Tarishitar's elite chose death. They chuckled at their own peril, but Natsumi was already leaving them. She turned around and departed from the chambers, not saying anything more to the proud idiots that ruled the city.
"I've given my warning," she proclaimed just before stepping through the threshold, "It's your funeral if you ignore it." The Ice Queen disappeared afterwards, manifesting above the vortex of ravens which loomed over a distant ravine. An invisible barrier formed beneath her feet, suspended without any apparent connection to a grounded construct. From this perch, Natsumi looked down, pondering the fate of those travelers stuck beyond the dreamlike barrier. Behind her, the backdrop of chaos was already beginning. A thunderous roar echoed across the sky all the way from Bakulaw, and the sickly green tear appeared to the northeast: just as she had predicted. The gas would soon be upon the city, but not before the Goddess got in her last word on the situation.
Unsure if the five could still hear her in their dream realm, Natsumi shouted downward. "Ladies and Gentlemen! It's time to spread the word! And the word is~" Pause for dramatic effect. "Panic!" The expectant screams and maniacal laughter followed the girl's theatrics, shattering the last vestige of peace Tarishitar's people had. Foul, purple smoke rushed past the fox, held off from her by a personal barrier. The force of the winds was almost hurricane in strength, more than enough to preemptively wreck the streets.
All was as Natsumi had warned against. The fumes of the Sirena Huli Secundus had afflicted the floating city's surface with madness, and now those citizens who lived at higher altitudes shared a similar fate to the untouchables they abused. Yet even as the general Mendean had spoken to earlier streaked across the circumference of the dreamscape like a giddy twit, the Goddess knew she couldn't stay to assist. She had done all she could by contacting the Auzial Academy for the Gifted weeks in advance. Already, the guild had people outside the city, and they would see to the fate of Tarishitar in her absence. For her part, however, Natsumi needed to close the breach lest something unspeakable appear from within. And so she disappeared into a gate within the first few moments of the outbreak. The Handler's Gate, which she now sought after, was in the North, in the mysterious, deadly land of Bakulaw.
Meanwhile, the general remained behind, repeatedly shouting the same phrase at the top of his lungs as he ran nude across the landscape. "I'm a pretty butterfly! Yay!"
