WEEK 4

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WEEK 4

READY, STEADY, GO-KARTS!

After a harrowing week of forced honesty and a surprise attack from the God of Conflict, it seems the Goddess’ “gift” has finally faded - and just in time! Today marks the date of the highly anticipated Go-Kart Race, featuring a whopping twelve teams from the Goddess’ picks and a number of teams comprised of locals. Fortunately the weather is holding up well for the event, with clear skies and a radiant sun beating down on all contestants as they wait to begin, the heat reflecting off the asphalt. Hopefully everyone thought to use sunscreen!

The local arcade has decked out the go-kart track in flags representing the different teams, and some local businesses have set up both a spectator stand area near the finish line, as well as kiosks selling snacks and drinks for the spectators and anyone who happens to wander by! There are also some midway fair game booths and portable game machines if you're not really here for the go-karts and just here for a fun afternoon out. The best part is that everyone who enters the event zone gets three free tokens courtesy of the arcade, so you've got nothing to lose~ Unless you do happen to lose, which means that you'll probably have to purchase more tokens from the distracted teenagers volunteering manning the admin booth.

ALL'S WELL THAT-- HUH?

Eventually, all the preamble is completed, and it’s time for the race! A light counts down from red to yellow to green, and the racers are off!

While the start of the race is a jumble, a few in particular begin to pull ahead of the pack: Spade of the Sea and Kururu and Schneider in particular! Tragically, Team Bloody Angels just can’t seem to get the speed they want and seem to get stalled by various traps, falling further and further behind…

In the middle of the bunch, Atem and Sunrise manage to maintain their speed, while THE CUTIE PATOOTIES, Fire’n Ice, and Aaron and Morgan all struggle to surpass each other - leaving Beautiful, Bright Knights of Lovely Radiance, and Exquisite Midnight Shimmering unfortunately trapped behind the three and unable to pass at all. Towards the back of the group, Badass Ladies compete directly with TEAM ROADKILL for their place, while Frieren and Arven have a leisurely drive by comparison.

The first and second laps go without incident. But on the third…

Something about the local teams changes. Instead of the regular frustration of losing, some of them seem to fall into, well, road rage.

Schneider and Kururu, nearly caught up to Hiiro and Jordi, find their hopes dashed as a woman in a blue bandana bumps them from behind - the impact enough to cut their engine for a moment too long, allowing Hiiro and Jordi to pass the finish line in first place without any trouble.

The middle of the pack gets the worst of it. Jesse and Mafuyu find themselves hounded by a woman in aviators who manages to ram into their Go-Kart hard enough to dent the guard, putting pressure on the wheel - while they cross at the same time as others, they are unable to steer the Go-Kart due to the damages, and find themselves ramming into guardrail. While Mafuyu is miraculously without injury, Jesse takes the brunt of the force and will be feeling that whiplash the next day.

Aaron and Morgan get a brick - a literal brick - chucked at them, and while they manage to avoid getting hit themselves, they have to do a violent swerve to do so. That’ll also be a bit of whiplash for them, too. Badass Ladies get sideswiped by one of the locals and their kart ends up grinding against one of the guardrails. Eek.

The real destruction, however, hits the back end of the group - a man in yellow sneakers manages to bash hard into Eli and Kirumi, pushing them off course. The impact causes them to bump into Aerith and Maika along the way, who lose control of the steering wheel and knock Fray and Argenti into the wall. Fray sustains injuries as he’s dragged against the wall for a moment until Argenti is able to right their path again, pulling them back into the middle of the course. Eli and Kirumi don’t get off so easily, either - the bump against Aerith and Maika isn’t enough to stop their momentum, and Eli cracks his right shoulder against a barrier as Kirumi hits the brakes to prevent further injury. Fray, Argenti, Eli, and Kirumi will be feeling whiplash the next day.

Braphine’s chosen aren’t the only victims, either - a woman with red combat boots and a man in a green jacket each crash into local competitors, and the result is a six-kart pileup.

Frieren and Arven and Team Bloody Angels witness all of this from the back of the race, though neither team can do much except to continue on to the finish line.

What should have been a celebration at the end instead turns into panic as medics are called onto the scene and emergency personnel are summoned to the track. While many of the people in the stands seem roiling with discontent and beginning to argue and fight over the cause of all these injuries, a few of the locals hurry down to the course to help. Schneider, Aaron, Argenti, Aerith, Eli, and Kirumi will find themselves aided by familiar faces - the boutique staff recognized them and are here to lend them and their partners a hand in getting treated for their injuries.

As the racetrack descends into chaos, it soon becomes difficult to keep track of everyone. However, Hiiro, Schneider, Sally, Morgan, Argenti, Aerith, Frieren, and Celeste all notice a figure in a strangely ancient hood standing among the stands, a fierce grin on their face - before the figure turns and disappears into the crowd.

Mina - having come to spectate and cheer on everyone from the stands - gets a rather panicked look on her face as she watches it all unfold. She quickly takes out her phone and begins typing frantically at it, before hitting “send.”

All at once, all of Braphine’s chosen will hear their phones begin to beep.

CALL FOR HELP.

I've added emergency commissions to the app - please take them on if you are able to/need to!

We can get through this if we all work together. So, please... look out for each other out there, okay?

COMMISSIONS

HELPING HAND

Please help the injured! Even if it's as small as first-aid or comforting a scared child who's gotten lost in the aftermath of the go-kart crash, any little bit of help would be appreciated by the overwhelmed medical staff at the scene! Unless you’re already injured, in which case, please allow yourself to be tended to!

(OOC note: For clarity, this commission reward applies both to characters who are helping the injured and those who are injured in the thread!)

HOLY HEALING

The hospital is going to need more supplies. For those who are strong enough, please seek out Archangel Shadows in the Nekyia. They should drop blessed feathers - these feathers then can be taken to Braphine’s Temple, and the priest or priestess there should be able to turn them into medicine for the injured.

RACETRACK REPAIRS

In the aftermath of the go-kart pileup and everything associated with it, it's time for people who are good with their hands to roll up their sleeves and help the locals with repairs - clear the debris off the track and make sure the way is clear for the emergency vehicles and construction crews who need to access the site!

OOC

READ ME!!!!

• Welcome to your Week 4 event log! While this log covers the go-kart race and its immediate aftermath, please feel free to use this log to thread out anything else happening during the week after and we will see you next week for the Week 5 event!
  
• Note to all go-kart participants that there has been some shuffling in the team compositions due to player drops as well as Everything That Happened on Friday. Regardless, you can claim event participation gacha rewards if you signed up and have one thread of at least 10 comments with a go-kart related prompt on this post.
  
• Archangel stats and information have been added to the bestiary!
  
• AC is due end of the month! Make sure you get that in~
  

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Comments

[vogelfrei]

[ McGillis couldn't care less that Fuyu has been killed. The two conversations he had with the guy were fine, but people die all the time and it doesn't feel all that noteworthy.

What he's more worried about is the precedent this sets - especially after yesterday he'd been forced to confess to murder himself.

The issue isn't that Argenti killed a man, McGillis couldn't care less. The issue is his reasoning. ]

Is that how you are planning on dealing with dissenters going forward as well?

[beautifulknight]

...What exactly do you mean by dissenters?

That man was pure evil. That is the main reason why I struck him down.

[ Argenti has killed plenty of times himself. Fuyu's reasons for discarding people, and even doing worse is enough for him. ]

[vogelfrei]

The issue of definition is precisely why I am asking you.

[ His voice is very level - this is a man who's used to speaking at government meetings and that is exactly the tone of voice he's employing here. ]

I wouldn't be able to judge Ushirono's personality one way or another, but I do know that he is not the only one among our number to have a checkered past. What is your line for 'pure evil'?

[beautifulknight]

[ Argenti simply patiently waits for McGillis to clarify what he means, exactly, assuming that is what he means by such a statement.

So he focuses on the question next to be presented his way. ]

I'd say that the combination of all of those acts Ushirono has done would be an example of my limit. Or my 'line', as it were.

[vogelfrei]

Murder and human experimentation? A perceived lack of remorse for those actions?

[ Well, in that case, McGillis certainly deserves to be run through by Argenti's blade right now. (His number of victims is not nearly as high as Fuyu's at least! Yay!) ]

Well, I have no interest in defending Ushirono. If this were under my jurisdiction, he'd have been punished harshly, too. But it's not my jurisdiction and neither is it yours.

cw: cannibalism mention

[beautifulknight]

...And whatever he may have done to find the cure.

[ Argenti adds. If McGillis decides to champion cannibalism for whatever reason, no matter how extreme the situation is, he'll certainly hardly look at him kindly.

Not that it matters much now. As for the last comment, he pauses. ]

I am used to exterminating such cruel evil like Ushirono was when I travel throughout the galaxy. It isn't a matter of jurisdiction.

[vogelfrei]

[ Ah. ]

It's a matter of power.

[ At least McGillis is smiling now??? ]

[beautifulknight]

[ ...One of those angry-smiles? Argenti is assuming that, at the least; honestly, deep down he doesn't consider himself all that terribly good with people at times, even if he mostly keeps that to himself. Either way, this is a pretty new reaction and he doesn't know what to think of it. ]

Pardon?

[ Asking a little carefully here. ]

[vogelfrei]

[ It's not intended as angry - nor as pleasant, really. It's like there's a private joke that Argenti is not fully privy too, and that brings forth a dark amusement in McGillis. ]

If it's not about jurisdiction of any kind, then your order's morality is upheld by your might in combat and your commitment to using it.

It's power. I appreciate having that principle so plainly acknowledged.

[ And that is true. He lives by the same rule, in the end. ]

[beautifulknight]

[ Indeed there is. It is true that they don't operate in a place where it is strictly "their influence" or a specific jurisdiction, so it isn't wrong that McGillis states it.

Upholding the code of chivalry - its morality - does require might. It does require power. Though, perhaps it isn't exactly the first word he thinks of when it comes to honoring the chivalric code. So while there is something like uneasiness, he realizes that he can't reject it. Which he won't. ]

...You're correct that it is one way my order's morality is upheld. Without it, evil will continue to lurk and persist in its ugly form; there will always be those who rise to meet and challenge it beautifully. But as long as the Knights of Beauty remain, they can lend their power to that force. And in turn by Idrila's blessing, use Her strength to also empower others in various ways.

To be a Knight of Beauty is to spread the nature of Beauty, of Idrila, across the galaxy. But to also vanquish evils in a way that is just, champion mercifulness, embody humility, and to continue to honor every oath taken.

I am glad to hear that you can appreciate one aspect of a Knight of Beauty's path. And I hope you can come to value the rest in some way as well.

[ Argenti wonders if in his heart he would say he lives by the principle of power itself in the way the other might view it, but he does think that there is an aspect of it key to the values of a Knight of Beauty. Still, what McGillis has said here has...shifted something in his point of view. Somehow, he feels as if it helps him see the picture a bit more clearly. In what way, though, time only can tell. ]