The Earth Shakes
39. The Earth Shakes
Hi everyone! So it struck me some time ago that my descriptive blurb mentions 'destruction' yet we haven't actually seen any of that to this point. Time to rectify that. ggamgus got it first, then ROFLyoshi, and it looks like NMUspidey has it figured out too.
Region: Somewhere on the shore of the Great Sea.
Area/Tile: Cannon Beach.
Normally i don't like to photoshop my images but i can't tell this story without it.
(reminder: PLEASE CLICK IMAGES IF YOU WANT TO VIEW IN FULL RESOLUTION! ~Thanks.)
Cannon Beach. A typical summer morning...
01. A typical summer morning on the Pacific Coast. The mornings are quiet as the locals and the glut of summer tourists just start to rise to face the day.
02. Waves lap gently on the shore in an endless cycle perpetuated for billions of years. This morning only a few early birds are out and about, appreciating nature's beauty.
03. But there are other relentless cycles underway deep under the waves' surface. On this morning another cycle comes full circle. 300 years of tectonic pressure causes a massive rupture in the seafloor. With a scream of agony the earth tears, and the shock waves reverberate through the planet. Only a few miles away in Cannon Beach those yet to rise are rudely awakened by violent shaking.
04. Fires quickly start as gas lines rupture, and old buildings burst into flames.
05. The old brick buildings can't stand up to the earth's violent upheaval and soon crash down, becoming just heaps of rubble. The fires burn out of control for now.
06. Firemen don't rush to put the flames out. Instead they rush to evacuate who they can, because they know another threat is on the horizon. Clouds of stirred dust rise with the smoke. The sea retreats.
07. The foolish run down to see what is happening with the retreating ocean.
08. Those that know what it means run for higher ground. But there are thousands of people in this city, and how ever many make it up to the hill, those on the high ground know there are many more trapped in town.
09. The tsunami comes from the northwest. It pounds into the cliffs north of town, but these houses are high enough to escape the wave of death.
10. Cannon Beach isn't so lucky.
11. As the sea brutally devours the city it sweeps almost everything away from before it.
12. Piles of rubble are pushed up to the edge of the hills where the land starts to rise.
13. And when the waters retreat a town of almost 7000 people is quite literally wiped off the map. Such are the hazards of living in the ring of fire.
If you're wondering why the school survived, it's because i made an update over at simpeg that i never reproduced here and i felt rather bad about that one, so i spared the children this time. Well, some of them...
And that's it for this update. I know its grim instead of the usual, but i hope it was at least interesting, if not especially enjoyable. But if you feel like it, please comment below and feel free to poke the +1 in the bottom right. Thanks for stopping by everyone!
Also, i'm out of update material and september turned out to be much busier than expected, so we're going to have to go back onto the sporadic update schedule. I have some custom content to focus on. Until next time, happy gaming!
@IL: Thank you, sir! Interesting guess, but not quite.
@simcoug: Yes, it does work rather well for you, doesn't it? Well at least the early morning was good for beach combing...
@hammysonata: Thanks! Not necessarily something sinister, just something unconscious of what it does.
@Blakeway: All over the place!
@ggamgus: ding, ding, ding! we have a winner!
@militantradical: yes sir. /salute
@Kinderly: and now the mystery is solved.
@ROFLyoshi: also correct, sir. I bet that was quite the experience, seeing the harbor empty out. Personally i have no desire to live that one myself.
@NMUspidey: sorry, not just a low tide. That would be kind of cruel to post a teaser like that and then just have it be for low tide, though. Hmm....which gives me an idea...
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