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riverviewlogs2018-05-15 09:50 pm
- !mod post: exploration mingle,
- dc comics (rebirth): wally west,
- imperial radch: breq,
- marvel (616): steve rogers,
- marvel (mcu): loki,
- marvel (mcu): tony stark,
- marvel (mcu): wanda maximoff,
- once upon a time: victor frankenstein,
- rivers of london: peter grant,
- star trek (aos): james kirk,
- star wars: cassian andor,
- star wars: jyn erso,
- voltron: keith,
- ✖ dc comics (rebirth): jonathan kent,
- ✖ gundam 00: tieria erde,
- ✖ persona 5: makoto niijima
exploration mingle: WHAT LIES BENEATH
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 beneathOne 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
no subject
[Breq steps forward, gesturing him closer and holding the gun so he can look it over. It's not the same as an explanation, though, so she keeps talking.]
It is. There's a loud noise when it fires, but as long as you're not between me and what I'm firing at, you'll be fine. I'll warn you, but you shouldn't have to worry. I'm a good shot.
no subject
[ As they approach the next juncture, though, he perks up and puts his arm out to stop them both. Tucking his journal back into his pack, he cranes his neck, trying to see something-- anything. ]
Do you hear that noise?
[ A soft shuffling, though the direction is hard to discern, with the acoustics of the cavernous maze. ]
no subject
She nods to Ryan.]
Hunt, or leave it be?
no subject
[ The shuffling turns into a distinct skittering, as Ryan inches the way ahead. ]
...I think it's got more than four legs.
[ Only a few seconds later does the giant spider round the corner, stopping as it spots the two of them, and hisses. ]
no subject
and immediately she's reacting, bringing the gun up to fire two shots-- the first of which hits the creature square in the joint of its' front left leg. The second goes wide of the intended target (the creature's head) because of the odd way the creature's balance shifts as it takes its weight off of that front leg. Instead, the bullet leaves a crease along the creature's chitinous exoskeleton.]
Stop it from moving!
no subject
In retaliation, the spider tries to spit a glob of web in their general direction, but Ryan manages to dodge out of the way just in time to get to the creature's left side, bringing down his halberd to take out two more of its legs. ]
That should-- [ He jumps back as the spider tries to swipe out with one of its right legs, throwing it more off balance. ] --do it!
no subject
[It's not pinned like an insect to a board, but it'll have to be good enough-- it is good enough for Breq's tastes. Her next shot hits the meat of the creature's body. She doesn't expect to hit a heart, if the creature even has anything resembling human organs, but there has to be something vital in the creature's mass.]