Scourge

"Scourge" is a [SEASON NUMBER] thread written on [IRL DATE].
==Summary==
[Write a summary of the thread's events here, including spoilers and important plot details. Check the Order of Threads to see if the thread you are placing already has a summary, to make less work for yourself.]
==Full Text==
The area above Central darkened the way the sky did whenever a storm was brewing.
I thought I could withstand this…be patient with this… 
A thick, gigantic, hand of black matter rose from the ground and gripped down on the cap of a nearby mountain. 
But I saw what was to come…
A second arm reached around, its movement like a howling wind.
And I will tolerate this no longer…
Hel’s massive form began to cast a shadow over the land, shrouding High Central and its factions. Even though she was near countless miles away, the entirety of her image could be seen by whoever looked her way. Her fingers dug into the earth as her eyes flared. 
Enough…
She lifted her head as she starred down at the nations, her towering self visible from nearly all locations on the continent. And then a light rain began to fall over Central, and only Central. 
Hel’s mouth opened as she stood rigidly in place, and words echoed in the minds of the people. To some it was a mere whisper. But to others that it pertained to, it was a command. “Release them…”
hubwalker1
Ai Kauri, leader of the Crows of Crestwill, Pirate Queen, and, in her own mind, intrepid entrepreneur. She lounged on her throne in her quarters aboard the Howling Cutlass, the lead ship in her armada, one leg draped over one of the arms of the chair, her back resting on the other and a goblet of wine in her hand, drinking it leisurely.
One of her crew came rushing into her cabin. “Boss you have to see this!” He says.
Ai sighs and clicks her tongue, like a disappointed mother. She knew they weren’t under attack as the alarm bell wasn’t clanging overhead. “Now Hondo, what did I tell you about entering my cabin unannounced.”
“Well, yes but-”
“No no no, no excuses go out and try again.” She says before taking a long sip.
Hondo didn’t like it but disobedience invited pain and death. He sighs and walks out before quickly knocking on the door.
“Come in.” She calls, swirling the wine in her goblet. As the pirate enters again she smiles and says. “Hondo, to what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Boss there’s something you gotta see, there’s like this… Gargantuan woman you need to see.”
“Well why didn’t you say so?” She says sounding irritated. “Come come, let’s have a look at this woman of unusual size.” She takes a drink as she walks out onto the top deck. As she looks up at the goddess, visible for all the world to see she lets out a low whistle. “Well that is and unusual size for a woman to be. Haven’t seen something like this since, ohhh 20, 30 years now?” She swirls the wine in her goblet, the entirety of her crew on deck and staring up at it, with the exceptions of the slaves of course.
And then the words came as did the rain. “Release them.” Hearing this caused fear to rise in her crew. But for Ai, a chuckle bubbled up in her throat, growing until it became a full laugh. “Well then! It seems we’ve caught the attention of quite the powerful person.”
“What are we gonna do boss?” One of her crew asks.
“Well I tell you what we aren’t going to do. We aren’t going to stop. Letting them go would cut quite severely into our profits. And you all like to be rich don’t you?” She raises her glass and is met with cries of agreement. “We’re pirates! We’ll weather this storm just as any other!” She is again met with cheers and cries of agreement.
She walks over to her helmsman and murmurs. “Bring us into port. I don’t want to be out here when the storm inevitably gets worse.” The helmsman nods and starts barking orders as Ai retreats to her cabin once more. There was much planning that needed to be done. She took a sip of her wine and stuck her tongue out. The rain water had mixed with the wine and no longer had the same taste. Oh well, wine was wine.
moe-lazyeye
The sweet smell of rain and wind filled the air as soft, but oddly steady and rhythmic streams of air cut across the land.
The words and feelings of the inhabitants of the continent swirled around in Hel’s mind. Her whale like mouth opened an inch further.
“Empty…your…camps…you will no longer hold ownership over any child…”
The rain remained the same. Light, and consistent.
hubwalker1
Joseph checked over his shoulder as he began to undo the shackles on the various slaves in the brig. “Come on we have to hurry before-”
“Before what Joseph?
The man froze as he heard the voice of the captain. He turns slowly as Ai comes down the steps, her cup of wine gone. He gulps nervously. “C-captain. We… We have to let them go.”
“I see… This, giant woman has struck fear in your heart, hm?” She asks as she approaches slowly.
“Captain have you seen the shit this thing can do? Now I am loyal to you, but if it is telling us to release the slaves, we have to do it. Anything else is just a bad bet.”
“Mmm, and this is how you really feel?”
He nods firmly.
She sighs. “Very well my friend.” She wraps her arms around him and he relaxed, feeling safer from the giant in the sky. He suddenly stiffens and cries out in pain as a dagger is thrust into his back and twisted in. Cries of fear from the half-breeds followed.
She sighs. “Oh Joseph, if only you had just followed me along you’d be rich. Now you’re just dead.” She says as she rips the dagger out of him. He falls to the floor swiftly, dead before he hit the floor as blood begins to pool beneath him.
The captain begins to walk away, wiping the dagger clean on her pants before casting a glance over her shoulder at the cowering slaves. “Clean this up.” She says before walking back up stairs.
moe-lazyeye
The rain continued to fall…
And the wind blew just a little bit stronger than it had a moment before…
hubwalker1
The ship soon docked and everyone on board made their way to the bar or whenever the slaves were kept.
central-is-growing
“Whole network is lit up like a Snoggletog festival,” Tasha muttered, the tail of a suture between her teeth as she finished up the emergency stitching in Vidar’s mangled side. He had been magically healed to a point, but was still suffering, looking feverish and shaky. Fire still burned in his eyes. His attendant fussed over the finishing touches, and then sat up and froze without warning, her eyes gazing through him. “Oh sh–”
Vidar saw it, too. Hundreds of mental lines linking to his at once, showing him a broken, hashed-together image of a massive, dark figure surrounded by a billowing stormhead, its head blocking out the moonlight as it towered above the Jaw. 
“Get me outside,” he hissed harshly, and Tasha knew better than to disagree on account of his safety. She attempted to help him up off the fur-covered cot, and he made it to the stairs, causing the guards to hastily step aside and let him through.
He reached the surface, but heard the warning gongs of the Conclave first, echoing through the air and vibrating underground, a constant backdrop to the chaos that had ensued due to the supernatural appearance of the being that now towered in the sky. Vidar knew better. He strode out into the street, his gait hindered because of his injury, but he still made a cutting figure against the concerned townsfolk. They looked at him with wide eyes, but he didn’t acknowledge them or their fear. He made it to one of the larger plazas, a hand clutched to his waist, and a cautious trail of his people followed, shocked to see the Jarl in such a state–lacking his cape and half his armor, tied up with bandages and ragged with bloody rips and stains, clearly in pain but refusing to admit defeat to it.
He paused, and pointed to the sky, at the otherworldly being. “This,” he growled, in a carrying voice that stilled any current conversation, “is a fancy illusion, a trick meant to intimidate us.” Vidar’s bloodstained hand slashed towards the ground. “I have seen the demons that mean to stand against us, the very devils that tried to kill me and failed!” Everyone chattered, joining in pointing up at the sky and beginning to jeer. “They believe themselves strong, but they are weaker than dogs, for they let half-beast scum order them around and choke them by their leashes! Least of all, that treasonous Haligan bitch with the nerve to call herself Chief.” At this, the crowd’s approval grew into a roar. Across the Jaw, Vidar’s contacts were broadcasting the message to those around them, and Nio watched silently in their hiding spot, biting their hand hard enough to feel a spike of pain through their glove. Their heart was hammering quickly at seeing the image of their old patron deity towering above them, and hoped that they wouldn’t be struck dead where they stood for leaving as they had. “She decays on her island while we grow ever stronger!” Vidar continued with a raw bellow. “The Rebellion strikes old, failing dungeons without truly facing the heart of what High Central was always meant to be!” He thumped a fist against his chest, amidst another wave of rallying cries. Rain fell around them in misty sheets, but it didn’t stifle anyone’s energy. “No one in their precious revolution has the guts to deal with their true enemies, not with their King fallen from their ranks. We need no such tyrants, nor dying gods, nor a seat of power in a crumbling city.” He faced the massive image claiming the sky. “Neither do we bow to demons who feed starving causes instead of standing beside us in true domination. In time, they will know what we can do. And all they can do to us in the meantime is scare us with useless pictures from children’s stories.”
moe-lazyeye
As the time slipped by…the rain began to fall harder, the skys darkened, and the seas churned with grey water.
Hel’s eyes were wide as time and imagery circled in her mind. The rebellion might succeed. Other forces may succeed. But if they didn’t.
I…cant…let this happen…I wont let it happen again…
Water poured off of her in sheets as the storm eminated from her.
“Let…them…go…”
central-is-growing
Of all the deaf, arrogant, loathsome monsters I’ve met–
“Get me a half-breed. Now.”
In the few minutes it took to extract one of the prisoners from the troughs, he faced the image that had spoken again. “You’re simply a coward,” he pronounced. “You can show us whatever you like, but until you take action, you mean nothing to us. You want me to release them?”
A woman’s voice cried out along with the hard impact of a body being thrown on the ground, and Vidar turned on his heel to see one of the Conclave’s slaves on her knees before him. She had the long ears of a doe and was practically skeletal. An iron collar hung heavy around her neck, leading to chains around her wrists as well as a simple harness mechanism to keep her mouth gagged with a cold bar between her teeth. She kept her head bowed, shaking from head to hoof. Vidar drew his broadsword, and the people moved restlessly, eagerly, to see what would happen next. There was a manic glint in his eyes. A stone-cold confidence in his stance.
“Force me to. Else she dies.”
Nio caught their breath. “No, no, no,” they whispered frantically. “Don’t…”
On the horizon, a gleam of scarlet flashed as something approached.
moe-lazyeye
This was not the only instance like this that was happening across the land. And Hel’s eyes watched them all at once.
“I will do nothing towards you…you chose the shape of your soul already….”
Her fingers crunched further into the earth with a ear popping snap, as her mouth opened wider.
The rain suddenly began to come down in torrents. Wind howled and dust filled the air as the storm whipped up into a frenzy.
More images flickered in her eyes.
“You may stay lost…but I wont permit the same for those who still have a chance.”
There was only a quiet murmur among the crowd, as they looked back and forth between the supposed deity and their Jarl. He rolled his neck into his shoulder and started to lift the sword to his side, raising his blade above the half-breed. The wind battered his figure, now dripping with rainwater. “Shame. You really are powerless.”
An extremely odd sound made him pause, and everyone around him turned to look at the side of the Jaw, the organic structure that made up the very foundation of their home. The noise was similar to a rock skidding over a lake of ice, only magnified and deepened, with an added keening ring of a metallic blade, and it cut through the noise of the storm like a dagger through warm butter. It calmed, and then a different echoing, female voice rang out across the Jaw.
Hel may not see it fit to pass judgment. But I hold no similar reservations. You have made an unforgivable mistake. You will pay.
At the base of one of Fenrir’s long, shining canines, there was a flash of energy, something so quick it was missed by most of the Conclave. A darting line of dark red light, zipping right through the anchor where bone met ancient ivory, and another earsplitting crack added to the deafening storm.
The fang shuddered, and then began to fall towards the city. 
The realization was slow, but thunderous. People began to scream and scatter. The Jarl took several unconscious steps backwards, tracing the extremely slow arc of the mountainous tooth to where it might land, and then clenched his jaw and began to turn and run as well. The forgotten half-breed tried stumbling to her hooves, but she was weak, and tripped and fell to her side, crying out in terror. The shadow of the fang began to darken over the miles of buildings, its groaning structure almost drowning out the howling wind tearing across the land.
Beneath the doe, a splash of white, glowing water suddenly appeared beneath her, and before she could react, she fell through and landed in the arms of a heavily-coated, white-haired person in a completely different part of the Jaw near the entrance, who began to sprint away, towards the canals meant to water the crops and fields. “I gotcha,” they panted, looking over their shoulder as the fang continued to fall, headed to collide across dozens of blocks of buildings.
Mornings would fade to nights, and then back to daylight again. By now Hel had practically become part of the scenery, as if she where a mere mountain in the distance, save for the part of her breathing if one looked closely enough. 
Despite her physical manifestation though, her mind and spirit were elsewhere. They were among the layers of time, space and reality. The images, outcomes, and sounds of so many different realms flipped before her eyes like a deck of shuffling cards. 
In the infinite numbers of them though…there was no comfot.
Too many…
The skies darkened ever further over the Central ruled territories.
Too many good souls will fall to ruin…
Just the smallest of orbs of white light lit the blackened pits of Hel’s eyes, and water began to fall from her mouth like a river over the rim of a cliff. A wind of deathly quiet and speed came across the land, and then a clap of thunder that rattled buildings for miles around sounded. The storm had grown from persistent, yet light rain, into the beginnings of a maelstrom. 
The lands of Central were soggy, and deep with mud. There wasn’t a dry spot to be found. The rain fell and thunder rolled loud and often enough now that conversations and called orders began to become challenging. 
“Do not doom the helpless by your misdeeds…release…your…brethren… release my children!”
Dec 2, 2020
Ai Kauri sat in the pub, the storm still raging outside. She sat in a booth hunched over a map, a goblet of wine in her hand as she considered various strategies. The shore leave had been nice for a few days, for her men at least but soon it would start to cut into her profits.
"Um... C-captain?" One of her men called.
She glanced over at the door where he stood, staring out the door. "Hm? What is it, what do you want?" She asked, somewhat annoyed.
"Something's happening with the giant woman." He said.
Ai sighed as she got up. "This ought to be good." She says as she sets her glass on the map.
She approached the door and leaned against the door jam and watched, listening to what Hel said and the water that began to pour from her lips. "So the gargantuan woman seeks to drown us!" She calls to her crew. "It seems she doesn't know we can swim!" She lets out a raucous laugh and the crew did the same, mirroring her confidence.
She went back inside and back to her booth and sighed as she stared over the map when suddenly an idea struck her. She called her first mate over, a half-breed herself. "Have the crew start prepping the ships. We're going on a trip." The pirate queen stared at their destination and hoped that her plan would work.