Broken Sky: Dread Mist Fallout Tracker
Posted: Fri Jul 22, 2022 2:09 pm
P A R A G O N
It came with a warning.
One that was publicly ignored but quietly investigated. From the sudden purchase of numerous warehouses, to the quiet tip that had been given to the Bank, to the strange resurgence of activity in the Old Mines. The machinations of the growing unrest building in the Knob, nor the actions of the those setting to work to prepare as word was spread via mouth and paper, go unnoticed.
War is a breeding ground for fear and atrocity. A machine that churns out as many lies as it does insurmountable truths. Zaichaer knew these truths perhaps better than most. Such knowledge was now to be tested. Quietly, the city’s authorities set in motion defenses that had been prepared for just such an attack. Lessons learned from events that played out not so long ago.
The explosion came suddenly. From within the confines of a small apartment building located in the Smokestack area of the Knob. There was little in the way of debris in the initial blast as stone, metal and wood were incinerated within moments. The surrounding buildings were ripped apart in the initial wave of the explosion and as the blastwave tore through the area with a force that demolished everything in its path. Further and further the blast spread, shattering glass and causing the foundations of building to shudder and collapse. But that, was the least of the worries that were now unleashed.
Into the skies climbed a cloud of prismatic dust and ash. Violet-blue and green flames screamed toward the heavens as the sky itself cracked open. The very fabric of the skies writhed and screeched as though attempting to rebel against its own natural order before shattering open with a dissonant roar. From out of this yawning tear in the skies poured the nightmare of any living person in Ransera…the Dread Mists. Like a waterfall of chaos, they tumbled down from the rift in the skies and began blanketing the area in a downpour of eerie fog and crackling prismatic energy. Bolts of power lanced out from the clouds of mist that moaned forth from the hole in the sky. In a matter of minutes, a quarter of the city was covered.
Sirens across the city began blaring in alarm. And from the towers of the Presidium, a defense array was activated. The glittering shields built by the Order sprung into effect, covering the seat of the city’s government. That was not all. Canons rose up from various key towers along the walls around the Presidium, each of them aimed at the mists that had now begun barreling forth into the city. When the first cannon fired, many would be baffled at the sight of the city firing blinding into its own streets but the reason why quickly became apparent. The shells struck the clouds of Dread Mist and immediately broke apart, releasing a pale green gas that became electrified as soon as it touched such raw manifestations of aether. Instantly, the gas began to eat away at the Dread Mists, slowing their spread.
As the towers of the Presidium launched their shells at the mists, for a moment, it seemed as though the catastrophe might be contained.
For a moment.
Streaking down from the heavens with meteoric force, a terrifying blast shot out of the hole in the skies. It struck the ground, sending quakes thundering across the city and causing buildings in even other places to crack and collapse.
The Dread Mists rose to new heights and the anti-magic shells and gas being released by the cannons of the Presidium were soon overwhelmed. What precious relief they offered, the ten or so minutes that they bought, evaporated in seconds.
A Category 4 Chaos Storm had come to Zaichaer.
Screams erupted across the city. Panic, shock, disbelief, awe. Emotions all across the spectrum radiated outward through those who witnessed the devastation.
Many screams went silent, becoming a gaping hole of deathly quiet.
Some screams rose higher as minds broke under the weight of the spreading insanity.
Some screams…became something else entirely.
34 Searing 122 Steel
Population: 3,000,000
11:00 AM - Initial Blast - Death Toll: 2,000
11:01 AM - Blastwave - Death Toll: 1,300
11:03 AM - Cracked Sky - Death Toll: 800
11:05 AM - Dread Mists Blanket 1/4th of Zaichaer - Death Toll: 73,000
11:10 AM - Presidium Array Defense - Dread Mist advance and destruction halted.
11:20 AM - Second Blast - Death Toll: 4,000
11:21 AM - Cat 4 Chaos Storm - Death Toll: 90,000
11:25 AM - Cat 4 Chaos Storm - Death Toll: 171,100
11:28 AM - Divine Assistance - Abominations destroyed by Warriors of Light across the city.
11:30 AM - Divine Light fades - Abominations resurge across the city.
12:17 PM - Various arcane vortexes activate across the city.
12:18 PM - The arcane vortexes draw in the Dread Mists...and anyone too close to them.
12:19 PM - The intensity of the Chaos Storm lessens.
12:22 PM - A terrible earthquake rumbles across the city - Columns of crackling energy erupt.
12:24 PM - The barriers of the Presidium fail. The Presidium is destroyed.
12:25 PM - A beam of power shoots into the skies and tears open a second rift.
12:26 PM - The two rifts expand to create one massive chasm in the skies.
1:00 PM - A mega rift now hangs over Zaichaer - Death Toll: 1,203,000 - Population: 1,797,000
2:00 PM - A wave of light cascades out of the mega rift. The rift seems frozen in the skies.
2:05 PM - The chaos rift remains in the skies. The terrible storm it unleashed continues to rage but for the moment, no more Dread Mists pour out of the rift.
8:00 PM - Witches across Zaichaer, primarily Sunsingers, have begun assisting evacuations for the common people of Zaichaer.
35 Searing 122, 7:00 AM
The chaos rift continues to hang in the skies, however no more Dread Mists pour forth from it. For the moment, it seems to have stabilized. Evacuations continue.
Population: 1,790,000
Evacuated: 7,000
The Category 4 Storm continues to rage but shows signs of more sporadic activity, leading to lull periods allowing for evacuation. Abominations created by the storm and anomalies still remain a danger.
36 Searing 122, 10:00 AM
Word reaches the remaining military forces in Zaichaer that the only surviving member of the high ranks of leadership is General Overmann, who is deployed with the army to the Kalzasi Front. Rumors abound that there have been calls for the army to surrender. More rumors contest that General Overmann is redirecting the Zaichaeri army to Kathiid.
With the storms still threatening everything however, it remains unclear.