[closed] to dungeons deep

[thisisamazing]

who: Team Intrepid Explorers: Hiccup Haddock, Christian Fischer, Dave Stutler, Keith, Yuri Plisetsky, Jon Snow, & Freya Vaughn
what: Mission: Cave Crawl
when: Late February
where: A network of caves out in the wilderness.
warnings: Uhh. Spooky cave stuff?


Hiccup originally found the caverns on a solo jaunt into the jungle with Toothless. Well, he found the entrance - they didn't go much deeper inside than a handful of yards, to be safe. Now that they have a full party, complete with some actual fighters, they should be able to go quite a bit deeper.

The group takes a truck as far out into the jungle as possible, loaded with equipment, and between the dragon and the lion, manage to get most of it up into the cave entrance itself. The first 'chamber' they come across is large, oval-shaped, branching off in several directions. It's dimly lit with bioluminescent algae (or clusters of worms, maybe?) and small clusters of softly glowing crystal dotted across the ground and walls, protruding from stalagmites and stalactites. There are a few shallow pools of clear water, filled with blind, pale fish. At points, the scurrying of small creatures in the distance can be heard echoing through the room.

It's set up as a base camp, of sorts. A place to go back to, to keep from getting too lost in the maze of tunnels and caverns. Some pop up tents and some electric lanterns provide light and make it a little more comfortable for rest periods. At one point, some firewood is brought in, and a nice fire started in the middle of camp for heat and light.

It doesn't take more than a day to get out there and get the place set up, and then the real exploration can begin. Team members are encouraged to always go down the branching tunnels in at least pairs, if not more, and to mark the cave walls as they go to keep from getting too lost. The only goals are to discover and to learn, and, of course, to stay safe.

[ooc: Feel free to use this post like a 7 person mingle log! Post top levels, tag around, thread hop to your heart's desire, find cool shit, etc.]

Comments

[thisisamazing]

Maybe. I wish I knew, you know? The- the not-knowing. I wonder all the time what brought him to Berk, if there are others out there looking for him. [It seems sad, to Hiccup, leaving your family after such a short amount of time to go start your own. They don't do that on Berk. The farthest he will likely ever go from his father, besides his year on the Edge, is across the village.

But more importantly, they're coming up on an opening. Hiccup nods and holds the lamp a little higher. Toothless approaches it first, peering into a wide chamber curiously, then he looks back and lets out a soft roar.] Looks like it's not occupied. I wonder what's down here. I can see light, farther ahead, it's dim but it's- Oh, wow, what is that?

[luckyescape]

Yeah. Not knowing kind of blows.

[There are a lot of things that Freya doesn't know but,unlike Hiccup, she doesn't want to know. They were all unpleasant events and she spent most of her time trying not to think of them. She lets her life distract her from her past.] It smells like something has passed threw here but it was over a day ago.

[Freya holds her nose to the air to try and catch what scents she can. Toothless probably has an easier time since he can put his nose on the ground without looking unusual.]

Is it like the crystals we saw before?

[She follows behind him and then pauses.]

[thisisamazing]

[Hiccup pauses to look at her curiously, when she says that it smells like something passed through over a day ago.] How can you tell? Is this like- is it magic, or something? [Or does she just have an enhanced sense of smell like that?]

Uh, yeah, maybe? If it is, there are a lot of them, though. Different colors, too. We could definitely bring some of this back. I bet they could be used in lanterns or something, maybe.

[luckyescape]

No. I can't do magic. I just have a very sensitive nose.

[Which is super gross sometimes.]

I like colors. If we find a purple one I call dips. I'm also hoping to find a vine of metal or something. I'm curious what we'll find. This isn't quarts or anything but some other material. I wonder how well it holds or conducts energy.

[thisisamazing]

A lot more sensitive than mine, then. [She would hate Berk. She would hate it so much.]

New metal would be amazing. I need more materials for some metalworking projects, and I bet anything we found in here would be pretty unique. [They make their way into a widening, open cavern, caked in the glowing crystals in natural patterns on the walls. There are a few different colors, the light coming off them persistent and brighter here, with so many clustered around.]

I wonder, too. Even if they don't conduct all that well, though, I bet people would pay for jewelry made with these.

[luckyescape]

That's what I'm thinking too. [Freya has a lot of uses for metals and crystal's, specifically with her current project. She needs to breath life into a machine which means it needs a power source like a heart. She's hoping to find something like that here.] I don't generally think of frivolous uses like that but I guess that'd be pretty cool. [You know, if people are into that kind of thing.]