Welcome to Gaia! ::

(( You can give the report to Lacine, who'll be around the front of the clurch, or go down and find Lorika directly

The practise rooms, library and hall were unaffected, HOWEVER maybe a couple of bookcases on the wall nearest to the blast couldve had their books knocked out due to the force. The boy's bathroom is basically gone, extensive plumbing damage, part of the dining hall and some of the connecting walkway to the kitchens..

Bleh, rping storm is a pain >3>; Anyone else feel like doing some mind control?

((IDEA! I have an example outcome for Storm: 'An acolyte was throwing rocks at the damaged Clurch. It destabilized a chunk of flooring, which smashed onto Storm's head and knocked him out' there, done))



Was the work finished, or only beginning? For some, it was a peculiar combination of both. For the damage-reporting Xeiashi, it was most assuredly the former. Almost 3 hours of work had uncovered such atrocities as 'Numerous shattered vials, flasks, and spellcasting tools', 'Obliterated restrooms on the 2nd floor, pipes currently spilling contents onto rubble', and 'At least 2 tons of nonusable building materials.'

Work finished at last, Xeiashi wandered in a fatigued daze around the Temple. Eventually, he spied a slightly familiar face. "Lacine? Here are the preliminary damage reports. I estimate the materials cost at around 300,000 gold, and I sadly cannot estimate the labor cost to match. If it is any help, I and a few other Spellcasters are quite skilled in the Transmutation arts and may be able to help...and to whom it may concern, I could not find the body of Professor Panda." he reported tiredly, fighting to stand. "Will I be needed in the near future, or may I rest?"

A breeze brushed past her face, taking the smells of burnt rubble up into the sky, teasing the smoke into playful tendrils as it slowly dissipated.

The Overseer walked into the temple, seeming to vanish amidst the last of the smoke. Feline stood blinking the tears from her irritated eyes. The Overseer had finally come back and it was during a time of their greatest need since the war had ended, but was it all too good to be true.

Hopping to a random piece of rubble she carefully made her way up the pile of rock and glass that used to be a corner of the temple. People were still milling about in shock, but most were walking to the entrance of the temple following Lacine like a huddle of lost puppies.

As the area cleared out, Feline crept into the rubble that had once been Panda’s office. Magical energy lay strew among the rocks like a wild spider web. Some was residual from various magical artifacts that lay under the rubble, but most was left over from the magical struggle that she had felt while in the void.

Sending her consciousness out she tried to find Panda, but there was nothing to be found. It was like he’d been erased. Tears came to her eyes again. This time it wasn’t smoke that brought them, but sadness.

He’s gone. She thought numbly. I can’t believe he’s gone. The great Professor Panda deserved better than this.

The breeze flowed past, picking up bits of dust and swirling them around. Eddies of magic followed along creating small whirlwinds that calmed as soon as the breeze past.

There is so much power packed in among these rocks. Enough to tear a whole in the fabric of space. Feline sniffed and wiped away the tears that refused to stop, causing her to smudge the soot that had covered her face. At least it was in a battle with what seems to be a worthy ally. He may have been grumpy and unmanned, but he was a magical genius with great power. It would have taken someone close to him to take him out.

With one last sniff she left seeking clear sky. Thrusting downward with her wings and jumping up at the same time she quickly gained height. Feline passed over the news trucks that had arrived unnoticed. She would be back to see what was going on, but had a more important destination in mind.

It was not long before the tree that held her amethyst came into view. She lightly landed on and branch and pulled it out of the hiding spot that had kept it safe for so long.

The jewel called out happily to her as she unwound the protective wrappings around it and carefully placed the silver chain holding it on her head with the jewel resting over her third eye. Her magical reservoirs felt immediately charged. With Panda gone there was no longer a need to hide that she had the jewel and if that magical battle was any sign, she was going to need all the support she could get.

With that taken care of, Feline flew back to the temple. There were news trucks to be checked out, but more importantly, there were magical signatures coming from under the rubble. Maybe one or two other pieces of the set that she had stolen this jewel from had survived the magical explosion.

Lorika shut the door to her room behind her and let out the deep sigh she'd been restraining for the past few hours. Having put the Overseer to bed in the room next door, her day's work seemed to be over. Her long, long day of work.

She rested her forehead against the cool wood, and soon found herself sliding to the floor, crumpling like a rag doll. What people seemed to have forgotten in this past month was that... when the Overseer was whole... she had never been an authority. She had been his assistant - a face, a spokesperson. Never an administrator, a leader. Now, she was all those things, and without his help and guidance things often felt too much.

They never found Panda's body. They did, however, find traces of the explosives which had caused the obliteration - explosives which Panda himself had been brewing. The camera crews had gone home, content with the report of "Accident - One Fatality." Fortunately, the rakshasa had been re-contained by Storm before his presence hit headlines, and the acolytes had behaved themselves in front of the lenses. The police had dispersed and reopened the port in the early afternoon, finding reports of a terrorist attack false.

An accident. Unintentional. Not a terrorist attack. Not an inside job. Cold truths which had racked her with guilt all afternoon. However, facing the crowd of shaken worshippers, renewed in their demoralisation, was the task which had truly broken her anew.

She hadn't been able to mask an apologetic tone as she explained to her flock that she had been mistaken - that whatever rumours were flying around due to her rash words were untrue, and had no foundation. They were not the ones she truly needed to apologise to, but... the drow were long gone, and no one knew if they would ever return. Two leaders down - one due to her own stupidity.

She'd placed wards around the Captain's house herself, so that if he ever did return, he would find his possessions intact. It was one small thing which was owed to him. Nevertheless, there were still so many things to be done before the world could be set right. A small part of her felt it would never be the same again.

Slumped on the floor as if in prayer, Lorika could not even retreat into her sorrow. She'd passed through her barrier of pain and come out numb, just as she'd used to. It was a feeling she'd thought she'd never experience again.

All she wanted to do was sleep...

Oh, wonderful. The LAST thing she needed was someone to intrude on her misery. She couldn't let Storm see her like this AGAIN after that morning. Yet... part of her, and not a small part, wanted desperately for him to come in, hold her and never let go.

She reached up to the doorknob - but instead of permitting him entrance, clicked on the lock. "Storm," she told him, trying but failing to keep her voice even, "I have many arrangements to work on before I go to sleep. Please leave me alone. I'll talk to you in the morning."

There hadn't seemed to be much point continuing the search for Panda's body, but that is exactly what they did the entire day after the explosion. The hours dragged by, and Lorika found herself wishing something would turn up - a scrap of cloth, a lock of hair, a smear of blood, a disembodied limb, a charred skeleton. (As you can see, her hopes grew increasingly morbid as the situation grew more impossible.) The search started fresh in the morning, but there is only a certain number of times a group of people can pick over the same stones within an hour. Most had dispered by lunch time, leaving Lorika and a few devoted acolytes and spellcasters amidst the ruins. Lacine stood at the priestess' side as, unnoticed, her eyes began to run freely with tears.

The combat division was reticent. Only a handful of souls turned up to help, and they were not his favourites. The rest were god knows where - presumeably at the training grounds - dealing with their own loss in their own way. She wasn't going to check on them. There seemed too much to do, and they could look after themselves.

As the evening closed in, Lorika gathered her flock again to inform them that no, there had been no recovery of a body. Tomorrow, there would be a memorial service for the lost Professor.



~~~~~~~~~



All water and gas had been turned off to prevent leaks, so most enjoyed a cold cereal breakfast and no morning shower, except those who could rely on magic to provide otherwise. They HAD drawn enough water into a tank to supply them for a few days, but a freak accident involving Oswald and a toasting fork the previous night meant the supply had been totally drained before its time. Until the contractors had come to survey later that day, the supply could not be turned back on. It really was just one thing after another, wasn't it?

It was cold and dreary for the third day in a row. The dismal weather was bad for trade in the town, but it certainly seemed appropriate for the Order's proceedings. Lorika just hoped that any rain would stave itself off until the afternoon, with what they were about to do in mind.

As each BOOian passed out through the front doors, they were handed an unlit candle and herded down to the grey and white shore, where the Priestess waited. She wasn't sure if everyone was there or not when Lacine finally took her place beside her. Her vision was strangely, or perhaps not so strangely, blurred. Too blurred to pick out faces as she usually did. She wasn't sure how she made it through giving the service, and occassionally caused Lacine to glance up with worry as her voice quavered. Nonetheless... she managed it.

Evelyn, recovered from her injuries, had been given the small job of lighting each of the candles upon conclusion of the speech. To her credit, they all sprang into life at once. Her work, however, was outshone, as from the back row of mourners a hundred incandescent lights suddenly streamed into the sky like muted fireworks. A few people looked behind, startled... and amazed. That certainly wasn't part of the programme.

Lacine placed her arm around the Priestess' shaking shoulder as the mourners stepped forward to the edge of the sea. If the green-haired woman could have seen the impromptu display, she would have found it appropriate. Air and water, both givers of life, both under the domain of magicians and holy men - the Overseer, and her, and Panda. A tribute by sky, and a tribute by sea. Really, what more could they have done?

They had spent most of the night enchanting the candles with water-walking. As each glowing, white stick was set down on the withdrawing waves, it stood to attention, an indominitable force. A hundred pinpricks of light floated towards the horizon, mirroring the hundred drifting in the sky. Perhaps, where sky melded into land, the would eventually meet again.

After setting their gift onto the waves, everyone turned to go. Soon, it was only the two women, and a well-spaced group of mourners with eyes turned out to sea. Each were lost in their own thoughts. The last person to set her candle, to the surprise of any who cared to notice, was the olive-skinned Gloria, black hair tousling in the bitter breeze. She'd held her candle carelessly at her side all along, one hand on her hip, but upon placing it she knelt with the utmost respect, and continued to crouch long after her contribution had been lost amidst the waves and the others.




~~~~~~~~~



"Almost there, Chi-chi!" Zain cried, lashing breathlessly through the water with the air of an athlete having run a marathon with every possible injury incurred. "Muhgawd, this island is WAY further off than it appeared! You doin' okay back there, sweety?"

Yeah, maybe this was one race which had proven to be a mistake. He seemed to realise it at that moment, all determination abandoning him. With one final stroke, the young prince allowed himself to drift forward limply through the water.

"Gauuugh, whatever, you win," he huffed, literally rolling belly-up. Eyes closed in a picture of martyrdom, he continued to drift in silence for half a minute or so. Then, apparently growing bored with his own fatigue, his bright, light eyes opened like a pair of curtains flung apart to welcome in the morning breeze.

He blinked, tilting his head quizzically at the ceiling of his underwater world. Then, he sat bolt upright, eyes fixed on something truly facinating. Well... fascinating to merfolk, anyway. "Oooh, look! THINGIES!"

Zain swam up with his companion to examine the strange, floating white thingies with acute interest. "Iunno...!" he replied, watching them bob around as if mesmerised.

Shinichi thrust the bitten stick into his hand and he examined it curiously. Experimentally, he released it to see whether it would sink or float, and to the shock of the mermen it immediately leapt back to the surface and stood bolt upright without something to drag it down.

"WOOOAH," he cried, "AWESOME!"

Excitedly, he grabbed a second one, yanking it down forcefully through the surface. The light on top was immediately extinguished, and he shrieked upon noticing this, releasing it in horror. He stared at his friend in angst, expression torn by child-like guilt and shame. "I broke one, too!"

Feverishly, he pulled down another two, only to jettison them again. "Why is this happening to us?!" he panicked, spinning around fretfully in his distress. "We're killing them!"