riverviewlogs | exploration mingle: WHAT LIES BENEATH

Entry tags:

exploration mingle: WHAT LIES BENEATH

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: exploration mingle: a dungeon crawl
when: May 15 - June 15
where: The River and what lies beneath.
warnings: likely violence; please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

what lies beneath

One of the major and most highly-valued cultural concepts in Riverview is that of exploration, expansion. Especially now that, with the recent influx of new arrivals, as the portal kicks into high gear for reasons not entirely known, the Inhabited City, already comfortably full, is rapidly becoming overpopulated. With all the refugees from other worlds pouring in from day to day, the city's safe space and resources are being taxed to their breaking point.

Right now, exploration and expansion is key, and each month, the government has decided to focus on a particular objective, in order to unite citizens in expanding, securing, and supplying the city for everyone's benefit.

the story so far

Exploration & Expansion Progress Report ● Flooding in Riverview ● The Guardians of the Deep ● SUBMIT YOUR THREAD

After a successful completion of last month's goal - an initiative to clear out and clean up the amusement park, the Government has turned its attention to slightly more practical matters.

For the past couple of months, there's been some serious flooding in Riverview Quarantine that's resulted in the evacuation of many riverfront properties, leaving many residents in emergency relief shelters. In April, the reason for the flooding was discovered, as the Guardians of the Deep emerged from the swollen river and communicated with mages from Garmarye Magic Research. As April wore down and May began, the Guardians have been gently guided out to sea in the first yearly migration they've had in the many generations before awakening from hibernation.

That's all well and good, but one wonders...if they were called Guardians...what were they guarding?

how it works

● Phases: Each prompt is a different phase of the operation. Characters may partake in whichever part of the operation they choose, whether it is a large and prominent part, or a more of a backseat or support role. Characters may participate in as many phases as they wish.

● Completion: When next month's exploration mingle goes up, the mission featured on this exploration mingle will be considered complete, and game canon, providing the entry has 200+ comments on it.

● Submissions: If your character and/or your character's team has threaded something out to completion, or if you have added and solved a complication to the mission via player plot either on this log or elsewhere in the game, please use the "submit your solution" link above to submit that information so it can be added to the Progress Report.

● Thread Rewards: This month, I have created five different items as rewards with three power levels for each item. Any character participating in a completed thread with at least one other character, for any phase prompt by July 15 will be able to pick a keyword corresponding to one of these rewards when they submit the thread at the link above, threads in each phase corresponding to a power level. Every character participating in a completed thread will be eligible to receive an item. Completed threads must take place on this entry. Details of what the reward items look like can be found at the submission link for use in threads.

● Entry Reward: The reward for completion of this month's exploration objective will be a piece of worldbuilding/lore about the Portal and the first people on the moon.

phase i: the labyrinth

Teams of mages and divers have managed to find what the Guardians of the Deep were guarding. It turns out that underneath the river, there is a labyrinthine maze of tunnels and caverns that appear to be created rather than natural. Divers have managed to bring up a few pieces of rubble that have been dated back approximately 1.8 million years, which is around when historians of the Quarantine theorize that the first sentient people came through the portal and ended up trapped on the moon. Not much is known about these First People, but it is theorized that whatever structure is under the river was created by them, originally beside the river and lost to time, buried by a change in the river's course.

And obviously, everyone wants to explore it!

With a bit of construction and magic, a barrier has been created in the river that splits the flow and allows access to the entrance to the waterlogged underground structure, and initial drone exploration has given explorers a very rudimentary idea of how it might look inside. Circular and at least as wide as the river (perhaps wider), there is a series of labyrinthine tunnels that surround two layers of inner chambers, one in the shape of a ring and one circular.

Phase one of this month's mission is to make it through the labyrinths, mark a path through for anyone following, and clear that path of any remaining monsters or barriers. Characters who complete this objective and hang back to guard the exit route for those going further in will be considered as having completed Phase I for a Level 1 reward.

phase ii: the inner ring

Once the way has been cleared, a smaller group of explorers can move inside the ring-shaped chamber inside the labyrinth. The area looks like it is divided into rooms, living quarters that contain the remnants of lives left behind. A picture of the type of people who lived here emerges through the artifacts that explorers may find - clothing and stone relief carvings not worn away by the river water show what looks like a peaceful reptilian people, druidic and in tune with nature; bipedal with long, serpentine necks, they seem to have achieved peace on their new home before something happened to wipe them out.

Phase two of this month's mission is to make it through the inner ring to access the central chamber, and it's not all safe and peaceful. These were, after all, the homes of the First People, and even in a time almost 2 million years ago, people locked their homes before leaving them - and in this case, they seem to have known they were leaving for a long time and seriously wanted everyone to stay out. Expect every door in this ring-shaped chamber to be laced with traps both magical and mechanical, ranging from rock falls, pits with spikes, poisons, magical thorny vines, and potions or spells that induce hallucinations and elaborate illusions. Pretty much anything you might think of can be found there, as long as it is somehow related to nature, plant life, earth or water or wood or stone. Characters who make their way through the inner ring and stop to guard the entrance, or characters who are felled by a booby trap in the inner ring and have to turn back will be considered as having completed Phase II for a Level 2 reward.

phase iii: the central chamber

Once the inner ring has been mapped out and the traps safely sprung, the way is cleared to the central chamber, the deepest and most protected level of the structure under the river. It seems obvious to anyone who looks at the layout of this place that the whole thing was built to protect the center of the structure and lead people toward it at the same time - to what purpose? There must be something valuable here.

Phase three of this month's mission is to get through the door to the inner chamber and find what treasure might lie inside. The catch? Not only is the door guarded by complicated puzzles that shift and change for each new group that attempts to get inside, ranging from a riddle to glyph reading to games of shape and pattern, but once the door opens, intrepid travelers face another Guardian.

Much like the puzzles, the Guardian inside the central chamber changes form for each team facing it, and quickly adapts to counteract that team's greatest strengths. Whether the team is comprised of regular people or gods, the Guardian will be strong enough to give them an excellent fight. Summoned through magic, the Guardian will take on a different form each time, but has the intelligence level of a dolphin and the ability to understand some speech. Whether the Guardian is fought or tamed is up to each party's discretion, but it must be conquered in order to reach the center of the chamber, where a tantalizing, glowing blue orb sits on a heavily-decorated pillar at the center of the room, along with enough reward items for every member of the party.

Anyone who tries to take the orb, however, will find themselves knocked unconscious for a period of 10 minutes with no ill side-effects. Unfortunately, the orb itself will need to be extracted and studied by a team of senior mages from Gamarye Magic Research - but they couldn't have got there without the help of this month's explorers!

Characters who solve a puzzle at the door to the inner chamber and either tame or conquer the beast in battle, or who are felled while trying will be considered as having completed Phase III for a Level 3 reward.

phase iv: wildcard

Have an idea for a mission-adjacent plot, or want to make up an unexpected plot twist or problem and solve it with your character? Just write up a starter, and don't forget to give yourself props by submitting it for the Progress Report. Your mod will respond to any wildcard submissions with the power level of the reward the character can claim for the original content.

navigation
[Ancient Civilizations: Lost & Found by Alex Feliksovich; bonus inspiration artwork: The Secret Cave by Maxime Delcambre]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

phase ii: the inner ring

[At first, Misty is simply filled with awe as she walks around the ring. The place is pulsing with deep, ancient magic, not necessarily malicious, but... wary. Defensive, secret, something she can certainly understand. Part of her even wonders if they should be disturbing this place, yet she knows too that they can't just leave the city to the mercy of whatever lies at the heart of this labyrinth.

She stops outside of one door and gently traces the outline of the reptilian figure carved into it. Alien though their images are, they're still beautiful. Turning to her companion, she says:]

Should we go in?

[Hiccup knows little and less of magic, but he's fascinated by the architecture, and the carvings. His fake leg taps quietly on the stone floor with every step he takes, compared to the near-silence of the leather boot on his other foot. He's openly gazing in awe at the surroundings, the archways and the images, one hand on Toothless's neck as the dragon basically acts like a guide to keep him from walking into anything.

The night fury's ear fins are back, his eyes slightly narrowed, wary of this place and the secrets it might hold, the uncertain tension in the air. Glancing back down to Toothless, he smiles at him reassuringly.] It's okay, bud. No monsters so far, see?

[He looks back up to Misty, paused in front of a door, and nods.] We should at least try to. It feels like there's something deeper than this, even, we just- have the find the right entrance.

[She can't blame the dragon for being nervous. Even if this place wasn't laced with magic, he's used to flying up in the sky to protect the city, not crawling around dungeons. She nods in agreement with Hiccup.]

I feel it too. And the Guardians had to be guarding something, right?

[Looking for a way to open the door, she continues to run her hands over its surface until she finds a crescent shaped hole, the perfect size for a claw.]

Here! I think this is it... I think my fingers are too small though.

And if they left it to migrate out to sea, maybe that means it's time for the people to find these things. It could be important. [This is definitely different from the network of caves they explored a while ago with a small group. Down there, the worst they had to deal with was monsters; here, the whole place is specifically rigged to keep intruders out. But it could be very important that they find whatever's down here and bring it back to the surface.

Hiccup leans in to get a better look at the hole, wiggling his finger into it to test the shape and the size.] Maybe it's like those locks that read fingers. The first people here were reptilian, judging from the carvings, so they would have claws, like-

[He brightens, motioning for Toothless to come closer.] C'mere, bud, can you get a claw into here? [And then to Misty,] Stay a little bit behind him, just in case. If something happens, we'll pull you out.

[Misty nods and steps back to let Toothless do his thing. His claw is not a perfect match, but it seems it's close enough, as the door starts to open with a loud, grinding noise. Behind the door is a large pile of rubble. Whether the rocks and bricks and crumbled mortar are there on purpose or not is impossible to say, but either way, it needs to be cleared.

Misty stretches out a hand and focuses on one of the larger bits of debris, sitting on top of the pile. It takes a moment, but finally the stone starts to wiggle its way out of position before coming to float in front of the trio. Misty laughs.]

It worked!

[It must have been keyed for reptilian claws to open. It makes sense, it jives with all the engravings of long-necked lizard-like people that used to live here, hundreds of years ago. When the door starts to grind open, Toothless jumps slightly, eyeing it with a wary look - that expression of Grave Concern only grows when a rock levitates out of the rubble.

Toothless delicately plucks it out of the air, and tosses it somewhere behind them. Hiccup laughs.]

I don't think he's a fan of this place. [Too much weird for the dragon.] Geez, I wonder what happened to put the debris there... [He's glad to help, but you know, he's just moving rocks with his hands.] Some kind of collapse?

Can't say I blame him. Here you go, Toothless! [She floats another rock in his direction so he can toss it for them. Teamwork!]

Probably. We oughtta be careful though - I've heard this place is full of booby traps. Hopefully this ain't one of 'em.

[Peter is wary. In part because there's so much vestigia in this place that it makes his head spin, and in part because he does not really have great associates with being underground these days. But he's made it this far on the sheer glee of getting to actually crawl a dungeon, and it seems a little ridiculous to stop now.

There's another flash of magic from the door, something scaly and twisting, but he glances over at the woman he's come across and nods once. Peter shakes is right hand out, ready for a fireball if needed. He's played enough D&D to know what's usually beyond doors like these.]

Whenever you're ready.

[Her back up assured, Misty concentrates on the heavy door, willing it to open. If nothing else, these dungeons have given her plenty of practice with her telekinesis. No way she could push this thing open without it.

Even now though, something is resisting her magic, causing the door to grind and creak with the strain. She grits her teeth and pours more force into it and without warning, the door breaks, splintering under the pressure. Before she has time to react, a glowing tentacle whips out, wraps itself around her ankle, and yanks, pulling her down with a shout.]

[Luckily, Peter's been trained to respond quickly. He whips the fireball he'd been keeping ready at the tentacle the moment it goes for her, catching the thing just enough to make it let go. What exactly he's planning to do from there, he isn't sure, but Peter steps up to cover Misty anyway.]

Can you see the rest of it? [He calls as he throws and impello this time, trying to let the pure force knock the thing back farther.]

[Though she's grateful to Peter, Misty still instinctively shrinks away from the flaming bit of tentacle as the creature slinks back into the darkness with a shriek.]

I can't see it but... I can feel it.

Feel the magic, you mean?

[He's sort of assuming the thing was magic anyway, anything that glows like that and isn't currently living at the bottom of the ocean is probably at least slightly unnatural. Peter hasn't gotten any sort of sense off of it, but then again there's so much magic in this place that it's hard to differentiate unless he's paying close attention.]

Can you tell if it's coming back?

[Misty stands up and peers into the darkness for a long moment. There is a lot of magic to sort through, but even still, the creature is obvious, in its pain and anger. Eventually, she shakes her head.]

It's moving away, for now.

[She walks over to the tentacle that was severed by Peter's fireball. The glow has disappeared and now it's nothing more than a charred hunk of calamari.]

Poor thing.

[Peter can't help but shoot her a slightly disbelieving look, considering that poor thing nearly just took her leg off, but he just shakes his head.]

Alright well, give a shout if you think it's coming back for us.

[Though at least now that the immediate danger has passed, Peter straightens a little to look around the rest of the room. Or. Cavern?]

You think it was guarding something?

Probably.

[Misty turns on the flashlight she brought with her to get a clearer look at their surroundings. There are more carved images of the lizard people who once lived here on the wall.]

Hard to say what, though.

Yeah.

[He moves to bring up a werelight, then stops himself before the spell takes effect. Best to start conserving things now, if Peter is going to be spending more time throwing fireballs around.]

Should we keep going, then, or do you want to take a look around?

Don't see much else here except the carvings... and we can't read those.

[Peter eyes them for a moment, then exhales something that sounds like an agreement.]

We keep moving, then. And hope that thing doesn't have cousins behind the other doors.

[Misty nods, then leads the way with her flashlight, her senses on high alert for any sign of the creature. So far, all they've got is a trail of glowing slime leading into the darkness where it fled. As they go further down the corridor, she begins to notice something.]

Is it just me or is this hallway gettin' narrower?

[It pulls a sharp glance her way, because Peter hadn't actually noticed, but now that she mentions it. He pulls ahead a little, trying to peer down the corridor.]

Does seem like it, yeah.

[Enough that they're not going to be able to walk side by side in a moment. Peter pauses long enough to eye the torch she's holding.]

Want me to go first?

[She nods.] If you don't mind, yeah. Closed up spaces kinda freak me out.

[They didn't used to. But being buried alive has its effects on a person.]

Fair enough.

[Peter's not too wild about them these days either, but he eases himself in front of her and slowly makes his way down the still-narrowing tunnel. At one point it's practically scraping his elbows before he makes himself push through into a chamber that widens out again.

He might give a slightly relieved sigh as he turns back to see how Misty is doing.]

[It's... a little oppressive, but she manages, popping out of the end with a sigh.]

I wonder what that was for anyway?

Keeping out unexpected visitors?

[It is a good question, though, and Peter heads back towards the opening they've both slipped out of to peer at it.]

Looks natural. Maybe we've just come in the back way.

Maybe.

[She frowns at the opening, still confused by its presence.]

If it is, maybe that means we don't have to go back through there.

exploration mingle: WHAT LIES BENEATH

Misty Day | OTA

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

ii

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)