PM to join Everything Burns (Seisyll)

[Tarukko]

8th Day of Fall, 514AV
The Fallen Hammer, Taloba
14th Bell

The blast knocked him off his feet and he plunged into a pool of swimming blackness. No unconsciousness; he was aware of his limbs, his flesh, his senses, but they were all dulled. Everything was heard and seen through a thick, choking pressure that was... warm. Comforting. Weightless.

Then reality rudely reasserted itself and Tarukko felt the pain. All of it. Everywhere.

Screams beyond the roaring flames. Rushing shadows, grown long and loping as flames belched into the sky. Ageless stones and centuries-old trees, now all immolated as their longevity was revealed as a temporary fragility. He blinked, ash falling from his eyes, hunks of scorching rock and droplets of mud, baked to liquid by the blast.

He blinked again, the world eerily noiseless as his brain fought to catch up with his body. The Fallen Hammer was a broken, erupted ruin. Not one brick was left on another, the plethora of weapons and ironmongery its owners held so proud now scattered around the street like chaff in a hurricane. Tarukko tried to swallow, and his throat clenched with smoke, heaving, sobbing retches following.

They never got a chance to get out. Their cosy site of industry was now their tomb and their pyre. Strong hands tried to drag him upright and his legs refused to work; his eyes stayed fixed on the shell of the blacksmith's that had gained renown amongst all Myri's Children.

Now nothing was left. Nothing but a few chunks of blackened bone and simmering flesh, and arms that were already twisted by heat like a lava flow.

Someone was shouting his name. He blinked again and looked up. The sight of Ulax's mouth moving seemed to spur his ears into action. As if through a great distance he heard the whispers of the screams, then they battered his mind like sparring blows-

"Taru?! Taru, are you injured?!"

"In... Inside... They-"

"They're gone!" Ulax shouted over the din, coughing like an Elder instead of the spry young Warrior he was. "The fire is our... our business now!"

As it had been all day and then some, Tarukko wanted to add. But it was not one single fire; it was a whole network of conflagulations, always spreading and shrinking, ebbing and flowing, almost as if it had will and purpose. In darker moments, Taru feared that perhaps that was the case. Had Ivak, the barbarian god of fire and upheaval, cursed Myri and her people? Had he visited this apocalypse among them?

He stood on shaky legs... and when he beheld the thick pall of smoke above Taloba, the same one that had not thinned by a tendril in days, that awful suspicion suddenly had credence.

But that was no reason to lay down and let their home burn.

"L-Leave it!" He managed to bark, choking on the words and swallowing his bile, gesturing at the young Fang members running for the Hammer. "It's gone! Concentrate on the next buildings! Douse their walls and thatch, make sure the flames can't spread!"

"Taru, there are still people inside-"

"Then get them out, but remember what we are here to do!"

"The Pottery Stalls, if the Hammer was so easily-"

He groped wildly at the voice to his side, sputtering in Rama's face as he spat his orders. His head rang and his bones ached and he was black as an Eypharian's slave, but he had his duty to Myri this day. They all did. Only by that would Taloba survive.

"Go, now, and have the smiths put their fires out! Tell them to leave their tools and goods, to douse their stalls and evacuate with the rest."

"They will not leave their livelihoods, Taru-"

Any other day and such stubborn defiance would have impressed the Blackened Claw; this was not such a day. His lined face contorted inwards as he scowled, heavy brows pushing down on brown eyes, thick lips curling up in a brutal, ruthless scowl.

"Then Myri will be with them... for no others will be. Our duty is to Taloba as a whole, not the stalls. Their... Their places are kegs of fire, if they are left unattended. Don't believe me?"

He stretched a hand out to where Visia and Amurr lay together in death, bodies unrecognizable, livelihood destroyed, mercifully freed from this waking nightmare.

"Ask them! Now go to, boy!"

Rama sped away and Taru breathed in deep, senses now working in overdrive to compensate for his collapse. He'd been running for the Fallen Hammer and the shadowy, frantic figures within when the heat from inside had finally become too much to bear. He remembered flashes of the explosion as the smithy had cooked and curdled its metal wares into... some manner of fiendish explosion he didn't understand. Syna had bloomed anew with flame and vicious wind for a single instant... and hurled him across the street in the doing.

Now he was back. Cut, bruised, bloodied... but alive. And all around him, rushing Myrians were doing what they did best.

Going to war again an enemy, only this one was built of flame and smoke and destruction.

"Ulax?! Where are the others?!"

"Two streets over! A grain silo! They need to protect it!"

True enough, but that left them undermanned to evacuate and prepare the rest of the stalls. Taru's frantic eyes dashed around as his chest heaved, finally alighting on-

"You?!" He barked at a running figure, a woman with hair as black as the smoke pouring from what seemed like half the city. "With us!"
c

[Seisyll]

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It was not the loud noise - which was somewhere between a crack and a bang - that alerted Seisyll to the danger. It was how the ground shook beneath her feet. The lights and the heat had already been obvious: a fire was ravaging the Myrian fortress that she had only just arrived in. For this reason, when the ground shook, as if the very earth of Mizahar wanted to divide, Seisyll had not been engaged in some personal activity. No. Eyes wide, she had been running and staring, much like many native inhabitants if the city.

With her natural habitat being primarily water, Seisyll did not find herself loving the dangerous, unpredictable nature of fire, and she wanted little more than to flee the city. It occurred to her that she would lose little... some money perhaps, and quite probably her harp, but she would retain her life. But the noise and the tremors of the ground frightened her more than the fire, and the ploom of smoke which was illuminated in the sky by the even brighter yellow fires that ravaged one particular building not far off caused the Ivyess girl to gape.

Screams and shouts told her that either people had just been incinerated, or they were trapped because of the explosion, and she winced as more people forced their way past her in order to salvage what they could of the structure. It was now that Seisyll felt that she could see the true nature of these peoples. After her bothers' death, she had wondered. But she could see many rally to the support of each other, working in unison to save what they might,and her heart was warmed. Whatever ruthless nature she had thought of them before, Seisyll could now believe that this nature was not mirrored in their treatment of one another.

Briefly, it occurred to her that she might use her gift from Matsuki, and call rain forth. But she reminded herself that there was no guarantees that the rain would fall soon, nor that it would last for a long enough period to make a difference. But she needed to help, if she were to remain here for any period of time.

Racing forth, Seisyll's feet pounded on the ground, looking for any whom she might approach and offer assistance. All around her, harsh voices screamed and shouted. Most, the foreigner could not understand; the speed and volume, over the crackling flames, it was too much. But there was one voice clearer than others, and the language was simple enough for there to be no misinterpretation. The Dhani turned to face a dark-skinned man, who stood mere feet away. She didn't hesitate before she nodded, "Yes!" Even over the cacophony of noises, the accented word would have been evident, "Tell me what to help!"

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[Tarukko]

A lifetime of conditioning by a fiercely matriarchal society of warrior-women was obliterated by the (quite literal) heat of the moment. Taloba was burning, building by building, and unless some semblance of order was maintained, all of it would become their pyre. Any other day, Tarukko would have never barked so at a female... but that day?

"Come with us!" He managed to growl as he found his balance, the remainder of his fang still around him. "We need to clear the stalls. Get the people out and take anything that can feed the flames. Anything else, douse it!"

The rest of them didn't need to be told where the water would come from: one of the many creeks that wove through the city, bridged in a dozen places by rough bridges, was on the other side of the square, and at once they leaped away to find buckets, jars, cauldrons, anything that would carry water.

But beyond them, rushing round the stalls and stands, Tarukko could see dozens of proud merchants stubbornly refusing to leave. They beat at the flames with blankets or their bare hands, heedless of the scorching flames that grew and spread like mindless, implacable destruction give form.

"Come!" He barked again, eyes fixed anew on the stall closest to the flames, laden with fresh fruit and hung with skinned jungle hare. "With me, barbarian!"

Tarukko didn't bother augmenting his speech. Even over the din of the crackling flames and screaming Myrians, he could hear the odd, lisping accent the female spoke with. Any other day... Goddess, how often would he think that over the next few bells?

Other days did not include Taloba burning to the ground. If barbarian hands can aid us in her survival, so be it.

OOCSorry for the wait!c

[Seisyll]

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New to the city, the matriarchal nature of Taloban culture was not something that Seisyll was overly aware of. She had been exposed to a little of it, and seen signs, even been told of it by nap her brothers, but it was not something she associated the city with yet. However the Dhani's own birth community was heavily matriarchal and, as she allowed the initial wave of shock at the events to wash over her, she couldn't help but consider calling the male out on his impertinence. Even her brothers, clutchmates who would tease and play with her, wouldn't dare impose their will on her or her sisters.

But her surroundings quickly allowed her to remind herself that she wasn't at home - she was a new visitor in an entirely foreign land, and she held little power here, even if she did belong to the more powerful sex. When the man spoke again, ordering her to clear out the building, Seisyll nodded, and also rushed forward, wasting no optima in tripping to usher people away. Some were stubborn, intent on salvaging stock and possessions, but Seisyll cared little for the material items they wanted to secure, valuing life over any object, and some people she even shoved in order to get them moving.

Coughing from the creation of the flames, Seisyll took a moment to properly look at the structure. It didn't stand a chance. Contents aside, the outside of the the building was constructed from various strong, straw-like materials with almost pathetically thin strips of lumber which acted as some form of support for the peaked roof. This fire did not look like it would ease soon, and this particular building would be incinerated within a bell.

"Not a hope..." she murmured under her breath, careful that the man would not hear her, but then she thought better of it, and voiced her opinion louder, "The buildings cannot get through a fire. Look at what made it." Of her pale complexion had not been hint enough, her poorly constructed sentence would now make it clear to the Myrian that she was a foreigner. Her grasp of the tongue was mediocre at best, and it was made worse when she actively sought to avoid sibilance,given her thoughtless slip up earlier.

Yet, peering inside, she guessed at the purpose of the building, "A forge..." she breathed out, eyes widening as it occurred to her what also might be in there. The young Ivyess tore her eyes away from the flames, which were not far from devouring the stalls, trying to search out the man who had summoned her to help, for now she needed him. "The fuel! We have to remove it!"

OOCMe too <.<

Also the two people in the Fallen Hammer die, so if Tarukko decides to acknowledge Seisyll, we have to fail

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