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

[She approaches the door without hesitation, though rather than immediately move one of the tiles, Kara draws a small knife from her belt and lightly taps it on the tiles, trying to see if there's any difference between them.]

Would prefer a trap.

[Traps are relatively easy; spring them and deal with the consequences then move on, but puzzles can be endless if the solution is too hard. Kara knows she's fairly quick on the ball, but her strong point is strategy in battle, not silly little puzzles.]

You good to move quick if shit goes south?

[If it's a gas or arrows or fuck knows what.]

[That little muttered comment earns Kara a raised eyebrow from Breq, but she doesn't try to stop her from poking around at the tiles with her knife. It's rare to meet someone who'd rather chance poisoning than just spending a little extra time on a puzzle, and it resolves Breq to keep an eye on her companion for the duration of this.]

I am.

[Better than a human, but she doesn't say that, just keeps an eye on Kara as the pitted tiles of the door are poked and prodded at. If Kara's looking for it, she might see the sheen of silver flash around Breq's form as she raises her shielding.]

[Kara's always looking, and though she isn't sure exactly what the attribute the flash too, she assumes it's something protective. That's good to know.

Her first thought is that they need to align all the tiles to lay flat, that they'll likely move in certain ways if one is depressed, so she starts with pushing one of the tiles in. It moves without much resistance, but two other tiles jut out from the wall even further in response.]

Fuck.

[Seriously, this is why she prefers the monsters or poison or whatever.]

A puzzle indeed.

[Breq doesn't sound particularly disappointed by the revelation, but she's been keeping a particularly bland tone through all of this. She certainly doesn't mind not having to cart Kara to find medical attention-- she could do it, but her hip would ache, and it would be a stupid way to get hurt.

Instead, she steps up next to Kara, reaching out to touch the wall lightly, not moving any of the tiles just yet.]

Let's try pushing those ones in.

You're the boss.

[Sort of a joke, sort of genuine, considering Kara is willing to defer to expertise when she comes across it, there's no reason not to use whatever resources are available.

So she pushes in the tiles that Breq suggested, watching the wall carefully as they move.]

{Breq watches as well, as a number of new tiles pop out of the wall, rather than the single one that Kara had pressed before. Clearly there's some sort of pattern to it, but considering the number of tiles on the wall, any solution is sure to be complicated.]

I hope you brought food.

[Breq says it dryly, but her expression is still intent on the panels. There may be a faster way to simply calculate the solution without pressing all of the panels, but she doesn't have the computing power necessary to do that in a particularly timely fashion any more. So...]

Do you have a knife?

[Kara sighs, frustration seeping through because she might be real fucking old but that doesn't mean she wants to waste her time on puzzles. She was trying not to brute force her way through this, in case that made it worse, but she's considering it right now.

Still, Breq seems to have some kind of idea, so Kara offers her a knife (handle first, she's not an animal).]

What're you thinking?

Easier to pry off the tiles and work from the mechanisms underneath.

[They might not be able to see all of it, depending how the door is designed, but it can't be any worse than what they're dealing with now. So Breq takes the knife with an appreciative nod, and starts to wiggle the blade of it under one tile that looks particularly loose, patiently prying at the thing until it pops free.]

Makes sense.

[Slow going but not as annoying as trying to work out the specific ways to press the tiles in to get the door open.]

You good with puzzles?

[She seems more confident than Kara is.]

I've learned a few tricks over the years.

[With the first tile popped out of place, Breq holds the knife out to Kara (handle first, she's not an animal either). With an opening, she's fairly certain she can use her hands to remove the surrounding ones.]

It'll go faster with the two of us working.

[Wryly:] I'm better with the creatures.

[But hey, this she can do; Kara pops out the first tile near her side of the door, buries the knife back between two more in case Breq wants it again, and then gets to work pulling them out.

It goes quickly and easily, because sure, there's a little resistance, but Kara could lift a couple thousand pounds, a few tiles are nothing. At least she feels more useful, now.]

[There are a few tiles Breq has to return to the knife for. Some of the things are more stubborn than others, and she doesn't have the same sort of strength that helps Kara along in this situation.

As soon as they've pried the last tile away from the wall, Breq steps back to look at their handiwork. She uses her boots to nudge away of the pieces now lying scattered on the floor. The mechanisms underneath are in surprisingly good condition for having spent untold years below the river in the damp and damp. Everything appears to be in working condition, as much as can be told. They're rater intricate, with levers and gears criss-crossing the once tiled surface.]

Hm. [Breq reaches out, touches some of the components.] Any thoughts?

[Somehow that makes it seem even more complicated, with all the intricate machinery.]

Could fuck it up, see what happens?

[She has a very good sword.]

[Somehow, she expected a response like that.

It's not a bad one, though. Worst comes to worse, they just have to return to the surface for some explosives to set the door off, instead.]

By all means.

[For the first time since coming to this particular door, Kara smiles. It's a little thing, but there all the same as she draws her sword, eyeing the door to decide where to strike.

In the end, she decides to keep it simply; Kara presses the point of her sword at the top of the metal and slices down, cutting through the mechanism like it's-- well, not butter, but certainly not metal. There's a slight unpleasant sound from metal on metal, and she has to put in a tiny amount of effort in, but the sword is too magic to really have much trouble.]

Easy.

So I see.

[Breq nods her approval. She's glad she stepped back, even though it didn't help her avoid the brunt of the screech of the sword grinding through the pieces of the door.

Were this home, she would assume technology- a diamond edged blade, or nanofilament, but here, she's learning that magic isn't out of the question. She doesn't ask. It's not the time for it. Instead, they have a door to investigate.

And, even better, as soon as Kara finishes her stroke, there's an echoing click, the sound of a mechanism releasing. Breq looks to Kara, lifting her own gun to the ready.]

Are you ready?

[Locked or not, there's no telling what might be behind there, but if the rest of these caverns are any indication, there's a good chance it isn't pleasant.]

Always.

[She shifts her hold on the sword, a more defensive position than she had before considering all she was doing was slashing through some metal, and kicks the door open.

A faint growl echoes from the dark tunnel and Kara grins again.]

Are you ready?

Yes.

[She certainly looks it, as she begins to edge her way into the room, her attention caught by the growl, as she hunts in the darkness for the source of it.]

Don't get yourself eaten.

[If Kara's intending to fight this thing with a sword, it might just be a distinct possibility. The common feature the monsters seem to have, in Breq's experience, is a propensity for impressively sized mouths with a ridiculous number of teeth.]

I'll do my best.

[That's maybe just a bit wry, though this plan to rush in and stab something is slightly hampered by the fact that Kara cannot see in the dark.

Keeping one hand on the sword, she takes out her phone and quickly swipes to turn on the flashlight, tucking it into her pocket so the light pokes out the top. Barely a few seconds after she's done, something comes barrelling out of the tunnel. Kara ducks low, sliding forward to slice her sword across its left leg, down to the bone.]

Don't worry about hitting me!

[With the bullets.]

[It's hard to see in the dark just what that creature is-- Breq can make out spines and teeth and bulging, strange eyes, and from that point she stops trying to fit it into a mental framework and starts simply looking for vulnerable targets.

She has augments to her vision, but those only go so far. They don't let her see in the dark, or see infrared-- the best clue she has of Kara is that light in her pocket. Kara may tell her not to worry about shooting her, and she's fairly certain she can catch herself before she sends a hail of bullets straight into Kara, but but that's no reason not to avoid it. Instead of aiming at the section Kara slashes at, she shoots toward the head, though in the dark it's hard to tell where her shots might have missed their mark.

The creature breaks off, but Breq doesn't lower her gun, just turns her head, tracking the sounds of growling and scuttling.]

It's going to come back around.

[The creature swipes her with its tail as it flees, but Kara barely feels it, rolling with the movement to get back to her feet. She backs up a little, closer to the light source so that she doesn't have to rely too heavily on the small source of light.

There's a blue tinged blood on her sword and hands, but not enough to make her think they've fatally wounded it.]

Wanna take a couple shots? I'll hold back.

[Still in the front, using herself as shield, but she can hold her position to give Breq a chance to shoot.]

Doesn't matter so long as we take it down.

[They're here to kill the thing, as far as Breq is concerned, not take trophies. Nevertheless, she steps forward, gun at the ready, sighting down the length of it to wait for the creature to come forward again.

It doesn't take long-- Breq catches the flash of movement and the reflection of light against the creature's eyes, and braces.]

Don't move.

[And she fires. Not the direct hit to the head she might have wanted, but a solid one, from the yelping wail the creature lets out. It's not dead, but it's an easier target now, one that can't flee so easily, if the blood running down its leg is any indication.]

[Don't move is an incredibly easy instruction to follow; Kara barely even breathes as she waits for Breq to take the shot, watching where it hits, making an assessment based on the sound the creature makes.

Hurt, but it's not a death wail.]

Got it.

[Kara launches herself forward into the dark, not too worried about what she hits now, since any blow will likely bring it down. Her sword sinks into flesh and she pushes until she feels it scratch against bone. There's just enough light that she can make out the creature's head as it snaps at her leg, teeth sinking it, but she isn't worried. She just drives her sword in deeper and waits until the jaw goes slack.]

You fought well, whatever you are.

[That's directed at the creature as she nudges it away, before holding her phone back up to give Breq some light. There's blood trickling down her leg, but she doesn't seem worried about it.]

Think we're all clear if you wanna come through.

[Breq nods. She doesn't put her gun away, though she keeps the barrel aimed at the ground as she steps forward. It's not that she doesn't believe in Kara's ability after that demonstration. It's simply better to be prepared.

She examines the creature dispassionately, even kneeling down to examine the body, before nodding and standing again.]

Good work.

[She glances over at Kara, her eyes drawn to the blood trickling down her leg.]

You should get medical attention for that.

[Kara takes a moment to pull a rag from her pocket to wipe the blood off her sword, though she doesn't put the blade away, keeping a loose hold on it in case they run into more trouble.]

You too, and it ain't an issue, gimme an hour and it'll be healed.

[She uses the same rag from the sword to wipe down her leg (gross, but she can't get infections), the bleeding has already slowed enough that she isn't concerned about the injury. It's only worth doing something about if she can see bone.]

Ever seen one of those before?

exploration mingle: WHAT LIES BENEATH

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