(Super)Natural Disasters in Creation

[Isator Levi]

It was super weird.

Come to think of it, I think I could also draw inspiration from that sight of the sun for describing the person of the Unconquered Sun himself, as I found it both awe-inspiringly beautiful and profoundly terrifying, plus how it was painful to look at directly but cast its glow for a significant distance surrounding it.

Maybe also make a metaphor or simile out of the actual associated hurricane... the idea of the illumination hinting at an enormous destructive power being held at bay, that to be in the presence of the sun god is to feel as though there's an enormous pressure being held in balance but ready to explode at any time, or that to look at him gives the impression of vast ruin that has accumulated in his wake.

I'm afraid it's very tangential to the subject of this thread, but I just wanted to record for posterity.

[MoroseMorgan]

Just thought of another one.

A raging battle between Water and Air elementals is wreaking havoc, spinning off hurricane after hurricane hurtling towards coastal areas.

Our intrepid Exalted need to split their focus, defending against whatever storm is immediately about to hit, handling the fallout from the last storm, and trying to get to the deep ocean battle sites to cease hostilities one way or another.

Then bump it up to 2017 levels, not only are the Water and Air elementals battling, but the Fire and Earth are teamed up against the Wood, causing Earthquakes, Wildfires, and rampant allergies and poisoning (IDK what else would the fallout from Woods attack be?). Who or what is stirring up such trouble?

[Epee102]

Just thought of another one.

A raging battle between Water and Air elementals is wreaking havoc, spinning off hurricane after hurricane hurtling towards coastal areas.

Our intrepid Exalted need to split their focus, defending against whatever storm is immediately about to hit, handling the fallout from the last storm, and trying to get to the deep ocean battle sites to cease hostilities one way or another.

Then bump it up to 2017 levels, not only are the Water and Air elementals battling, but the Fire and Earth are teamed up against the Wood, causing Earthquakes, Wildfires, and rampant allergies and poisoning (IDK what else would the fallout from Woods attack be?). Who or what is stirring up such trouble?

Hm...Thatd be an intreasting plot. I'd say it would be hard to place geographically such a confluence of natural disasters...maybe in the South East?
Or did you want hypothetical answers?

[Epee102]

I had a group of spirits that were storms of red lighting, which spread war and wind where they went (possibly children of hegra). While the storms proper are gone, flecks of infected soil by there blood can still cause war-winds. Seasonally, these times have become raiding periods.

[MoroseMorgan]

Hm...Thatd be an intreasting plot. I'd say it would be hard to place geographically such a confluence of natural disasters...maybe in the South East?
Or did you want hypothetical answers?

I was envisioning the conflicts as separate, although possibly sharing a devious origin.

Air/Water would be in the vast western ocean, so the hurricanes could be flung off all over the place (kinda like they are now), The Blessed Isle, An-Teng, Western Islands, Northern coast whathaveyou. The Earth/Fire/Wood conflict could also be in An Teng, possibly spilling across the inland sea to the Blessed Isle, but that is just because I want to do more on the Blessed Isle in 3e.

edit: wasn't looking for answers, just sharing, although if anyone can come up with a good Wood related natural disaster I'm all ears and eyes.

[The Unsung Hero]

if anyone can come up with a good Wood related natural disaster I'm all ears and eyes.

M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening.

[MoroseMorgan]

M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening.

I dunno, that just gives me Chaya flashbacks.

Although, thinking about it, does fauna fall under wood too? Would a massive surge of insects or arachnids fall under the essence of wood? Like an actual biblical locust or frog plague, or those terrifying spider blooms where everything is spiderwebs.

[Baaldam]

If hay fever season can be bad, imagine how it is in places with trees that produce firedust pollen or resin....

As others have commented any natural disaster of our world - earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, sandstorms, avalanches, conflagrations, tsunami - can be generated by an appropriate elemental or vice versa, with a change in natural conditions "randomly spawning" short-lived elementals, demesnes and such.

Beside this, there's the fact Creation has a lot of weird stuff that might be hiding just under the carpet before some event brings it to surface, like long-forgotten ships or temples sunken in deep marshes, large rivers, or long shores full of hungry ghosts & treasure, cavern systems leading to the abodes of earth elementals, subterranean deities, rogue demons and far less identifiable beings, sands of ground yasal that bring the mutterings of long-imprisoned mad spirits with the wind, ephemeral green blazes of sunlight as the day starts or ends, auroras of song, fire or what-have-you and a bunch of other weird variants one might come up with.

[Matt the Bruins fan]

Fungus would probably fall under the dominion of Wood, right? Imagine clouds of spores that cause mold to spring up everywhere, including granaries and wells.

[MoroseMorgan]

Also, just read about The Centralia PA Mine Fire that has been burning for over 50 years now! Just one of the many ways elementals can ruin your day.

[Baaldam]

Also, just read about The Centralia PA Mine Fire that has been burning for over 50 years now! Just one of the many ways elementals can ruin your day.

Now that's some serious hot date between fire & earth that just can't seem to stop itself...

[Zealot_Vedas]

How about "anti-thunderstorms" with low lying fog that spits flecks of fire into the air. Occasional flashes of intense darkness are followed by high-pitch shrieking sounds.

[Prometheus878]

I had a plot idea some time ago for a super-calamity in the North. Every five or six thousand years, Air essence builds up in the Northern Pole to the point that when it eventually spills out, it creates a concentrated Ice Age that consumes the entire Northern direction.

We're talking glaciers touching the Inland Sea. Blizzards in the season of Fire. If you get caught outside in the season of Air, you die. Plain and simple.

And it will last for at least a century, possibly longer.

The gods of the North are tearing their ethereal hair out, pouring all of their resources into preserving life in the north. Of course, they can't save everyone, and Heaven is willing to let human and other sentient mortal communities die out to preserve the lifeforms that are less widespread.

So, you're on your own.

The actors in such an instance will have to do everything they can and more to survive. They'll have to find shelter in a world without a sun, food where nothing grows, and succor when noone is in any position to share. They'll beg, borrow and steal for any advantage, and if they do find the means to see tomorrow, they'll have to defend themselves from others who are just as desperate as they are.

Oh, and the Fair Folk, Undead, and other terrible things aren't bothered by the cold in the slightest. So good luck with that.

[Baaldam]

I had a plot idea some time ago for a super-calamity in the North. Every five or six thousand years, Air essence builds up in the Northern Pole to the point that when it eventually spills out, it creates a concentrated Ice Age that consumes the entire Northern direction.

We're talking glaciers touching the Inland Sea. Blizzards in the season of Fire. If you get caught outside in the season of Air, you die. Plain and simple.

And it will last for at least a century, possibly longer.

The gods of the North are tearing their ethereal hair out, pouring all of their resources into preserving life in the north. Of course, they can't save everyone, and Heaven is willing to let human and other sentient mortal communities die out to preserve the lifeforms that are less widespread.

So, you're on your own.

The actors in such an instance will have to do everything they can and more to survive. They'll have to find shelter in a world without a sun, food where nothing grows, and succor when noone is in any position to share. They'll beg, borrow and steal for any advantage, and if they do find the means to see tomorrow, they'll have to defend themselves from others who are just as desperate as they are.

Oh, and the Fair Folk, Undead, and other terrible things aren't bothered by the cold in the slightest. So good luck with that.

True, though the distinct diminishment in mortal population might turn into something a tad inconvenient for them too. just a little bit, i guess.

One might ask itself about the matter of the northern gods lack of preparation to deal with what should be a (quite) forewarned issue too, but then bureaucracies everywhere are notorious for failing to deal exactly with that kind of quite predictable weather & enviromental issues, no?

[Prometheus878]

True, though the distinct diminishment in mortal population might turn into something a tad inconvenient for them too. just a little bit, i guess.

One might ask itself about the matter of the northern gods lack of preparation to deal with what should be a (quite) forewarned issue too, but then bureaucracies everywhere are notorious for failing to deal exactly with that kind of quite predictable weather & enviromental issues, no?

Indeed. As I see it, this was a disaster that First Age civilization struggled to bear, and it is an established fact that after two apocalypse scenarios and the extended absence of the Executive Divinity, divine competence has massively degenerated at all levels.

I also felt it important to highlight the naked cowardice, gross incompetence, and callous disregard of the nominal authority figures in the light of recent events. (U.S.A. citizen here, if you're wondering. No, I don't know how long we'll last.)*

*If this statement is too politically charged, I will remove it at mod request. I don't want to ruin the thread.*