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- !mod post: exploration mingle,
- almost human: dorian,
- critical role: mollymauk tealeaf,
- dragon age: iona lavellan,
- dragon age: relm hawke,
- halo: forward unto dawn: chyler silva,
- imperial radch: breq,
- logan: laura,
- magnificent seven: billy rocks,
- marvel (616): billy kaplan,
- marvel (616): cable,
- marvel (616): loki laufeyson,
- marvel (616): teddy altman,
- marvel (616): tommy shepherd,
- marvel (mcu): gamora,
- marvel (mcu): loki,
- marvel (mcu): mantis,
- marvel (mcu): peter parker,
- marvel (mcu): peter quill,
- marvel (mcu): steve rogers,
- marvel (mcu): tony stark,
- marvel (mcu): wanda maximoff,
- marvel (tv): skye,
- once upon a time: victor frankenstein,
- original: jeff calhoun,
- original: shigeru miyata,
- osomatsu-san: jyushimatsu matsuno,
- rivers of london: peter grant,
- star trek (aos): james kirk,
- star wars: finn,
- star wars: poe dameron,
- the adventure zone: taako taaco,
- the black tapes: alex reagan,
- the black tapes: richard strand,
- the terror (tv): harry goodsir,
- voltron: keith,
- ✖ dc comics (rebirth): damian wayne,
- ✖ marvel (616): thor,
- ✖ original: sage abernathy,
- ✖ osomatsu-san: osomatsu matsuno,
- ✖ shadowhunter chronicles: alec lightwoo,
- ✖ stargate atlantis: carson beckett,
- ✖ stargate atlantis: elizabeth weir,
- ✖ the adventure zone: lucretia,
- ✖ the adventure zone: lup taaco,
- ✖ the adventure zone: magnus burnsides,
- ✖ the covenant: chase collins,
- ✖ the witcher: keira metz
exploration mingle: CAPTIVITY
what: exploration mingle: rescue mission!
when: June 15 - August 15
where: The River Structure
warnings: violence and/or torture; please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

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 ● The Guardians of the Deep ● What Lies Beneath ● Plotting & Questions
After some serious flooding at the banks of the river, the cause was discovered to be the Guardians of the Deep, creatures protecting a circular labyrinthine structure underneath the river. Residents of the city explored and mapped the structure, and dealt with a good portion of the traps and other dangers, until they found a little piece of history in the Central Chamber of the structure, revealing that it was inhabited by the first people to live on the moon.
While this news has been exciting scholars and historians in the city, something a little more pressing has been bothering the average citizen - an ever-increasing number of missing persons. People have simply been disappearing all over the city, and only now are residents starting to realize why...
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.
● Entry Reward: The reward for completion of this month's exploration objective will be...well, the safe return of everyone who was kidnapped. And some sweet hurt/comfort.
● IMPORTANT NOTE: Having observed how the pacing of exploration mingles has been going and how they are tagged, I have noticed that posting one exploration mingle each month has been a little hectic, both plotwise and for me as a mod (writing three mingles a month has been tough!). I have decided to space them out a bit further, and post an exploration mingle once every two months, starting with this one - the next exploration mingle will be posted in August!

People don't simply go missing, they don't disappear into thin air, they have to be somewhere. And while those who are missing people keep frantically searching, those who have been kidnapped are the only ones besides the kidnappers who do know where they are.
Abducted by a group who have taken up residence in the structure under the city after last month's exploration died down, the missing are trapped in the Central Chamber, in fear of the kidnappers. Their abductors are a group of people that is starting to slowly take on cultist tendencies, believing that the remaining spirits of the First People still live in the structure, that it is a temple, and that those First People need offerings of host bodies to inhabit so they can return and bring their wisdom and magic back to the moon. Things are getting a little hairy - there's no agreement among the kidnappers as to how 'intact' the host bodies have to be and whether or not the sacrifice is in the form of alive or dead captives. Even worse, some of the kidnappers are only with the group to enjoy having power over others and using it to hurt them.
Captives are held in the Central Chamber of the structure, with next to no amenities. Blankets, food, water, and other necessities are in short supply, and they are kept huddled together, constantly guarded and either restrained, wearing or in the presence of a power suppressor to keep them subdued. But the captives haven't lost hope - they are working on getting a message out, finding a way to contact the outside world so their loved ones can rescue them...
This prompt is to play out interactions among the captives before they are rescued, and may include violence or other character suffering. It is also to enact plotted plans for the abductees to find connections with the outside world to summon help.
Once would-be rescuers become aware of where the captives are being held, they start making plans to rescue them - whether someone they love has been taken, they're just a good person, or they just want to feel like a big damn hero, there are lots of people willing to take the plunge and jump into the rescue. But the cult group has been in control of the structure for a while now, they definitely have the home team advantage. They know the lay of the land and where the traps are, and have used some of them to their own advantage.
It's not going to be as easy as storming the castle.
There are two parts to this phase of the rescue: a distraction and an infiltration. Distractions are planned to draw as many of the kidnappers away from the hostages being held in the Central Chamber as possible, while those who are stealthily infiltrating will try to find another entrance into the chamber so they can surprise and surround the remaining kidnappers.
This prompt is to play out any plans for distraction and infiltration. If you have plotted something out on the plotting post, feel free to post up a header for specific groups for threading rather than an individual character top-level.
Distractions only last so long, unfortunately, and so eventually the whole thing is going to break down into a big fight. Rescuers versus kidnappers, on the kidnappers' home turf, and surrounded by traps left over from the First People, while pieces of stationary tech throw out auras and waves of power suppression. It's going to be a doozy of a fight, so prepare for an epic throwdown!
And once the dust settles, there's going to be a lot of injuries to tend to, a lot of people traumatized and hurt and frightened. A lot of hungry, suffering people will need to be transported out, given medical care, and brought supplies.
This prompt is to play out the final fight between the kidnapping cult and the rescuers, as well as anything in the aftermath of the fight.
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.
phase iii; bonus god of mischief
It's no surprise to Jim that they'd use the captives to protect themselves. It is a surprise, however, when he takes a sharp turn and comes face to face with two cultists practically dragging Laura down the hallway.
It's not that she's a kid, mind. They did take Lucy too, after all. But the state she's in, bound and chained, weak and injured, practically a dead weight as they hold her up and use her as a shield... now, that sets him off almost instantly.
Even with the risk of getting Laura in the crossfire, Jim doesn't hesitate. He lifts up his phaser and starts shooting, aiming farther away from the group first, until one of the cultists steps far away enough for him to stun his ass. Then he points to the rest. ]
Let her go!
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Little hellion.
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"Run, children! Run! Don't stop — go, children, go!"
And they had. It feels like yesterday; maybe it is just yesterday.
Laura flinches under Loki's grasp, and judging from her distant stare and the rather large lump on the back of her head as he checks her over, it's possible the child is concussed on top of injured and checked-out. The chains linking the two power suppression bracelets cling as she staggers, pushing away Loki with an untrusting and wild stare. Her spanish is slurred but furious.]
Yes, yes — I am a hellion, I am not a good host.
[She scampers backward until she hits the hallway wall, breathing heavily, hands out in front of her to defend herself, however unsuccessfully, against the potential for more violence. The last thing she wants is another incident like the one-armed man, who no doubt still roams these halls.]
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No, you're quite terrible.
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He rushes towards the pair of them, kneeling next to Laura, and placing a hand gently on her side. She probably has more wounds than the ones he can see, but maybe now without the bracelets her body will start healing itself.
He's not so good with Spanish that he'll manage to answer in the same language at a time like this, but he does get the gist of what they're saying. He'll have to make do with English, though, and hope she has enough presence of mind to hear him or at least recognize who he is. ]
Hey, Laura. It's alright. You're safe now— I promise.
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Jim's hand reaches her vision first, deceptively kind — it will surely end in pain, it will be kind at first and then become a fist in her face, or the electric sting of a prod.
"Do not trust your enemy. Take lesson from the pain. They will try to trick you with mercy, and this is what happens."
Her body reacts against her will, and she pulls her hand back the moment the cuffs are gone with her two claws springing out — and then she swings it forward, aiming for Jim's heart (the most delicate, other than the brain, or the neck, the heart is the most critical, the hardest to fix); she screams rabidly, pouring out her desperation in the motion.]
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Loki!
[ He's shrugging off his jacket already. It's not much but the fabric is absorbent, and he intends to use it to help with the bleeding as soon as Laura's claws pull out. He's not entirely sure how gods with injuries work, granted, but he'll likely have to take him to a doctor outside. ]
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None of that! I don't have time for trifles.
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[ Okay, granted, he is a god, but he's still bleeding. He wouldn't exactly call that a trifle. ]
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[ Just one more wound that means little in the sum of all things. He bites back his own frustration and anger. He grunts, his side throbbing. ]
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He picks her up carefully instead, holding her small and frail-looking body in his arms. Her injuries have started to heal by now— the physical ones, anyway. Then he nods towards Loki. ]
Lead us out.
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But for now, Jim's more worried about making their way out this time around. Loki may be a god, but evidently he can be hurt— and if he can be hurt, then he can be killed. ]
Do you need to stop? [ Jim can't possibly carry the two of them. If Loki passes out now, he doesn't know what to do. ]
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I — A second is all I need.
[ You're weak is all he can think of. Too weak for Thanos, too weak to fight off inevitability. ]
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[ A brief look around the corridor, and Jim finds a dark nook where they can hide. Shifting Laura's weight so he can carry her with one arm, he uses the other to steer Loki towards the hiding spot. ] Sit down. I'm patching you up, so we can at least get out of here.
[ Gods are stubborn, he's learned that much. But he sure as hell can be worse, so it's best for everyone involved if Loki just does what he says. ]
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And how do you intend . . . to do that?
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Been dating doctors for over a year now, [ He explains with a vague smile. ] You grow certain habits, I guess.
[ Namely, always carrying something with him that can patch up a wound. ]
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You have a type.
[ He can't talk. Loki has a very definite particular type that raises all kinds of questions about him. ]
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Yeah. So I've been told.
[ While talking, he peels Loki's torn clothes away from the stab wound, then immediately presses the torn fabric of his shirt to it. It's still bleeding, and Jim has no hopes of stopping it here. He's just hoping to slow it down for long enough to get Loki out of here without him fainting too. Jim's not sure he'd be able to carry two out of here— though he would definitely try. ]
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Enough. I'll be fine.
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Alright. Come on, then. [ Just for good measure, he lifts Laura's weight with just one arm, so he has the other one free to hold his phaser, in case Loki can't manage to keep up his illusion all the way out of the compound. ]
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Tell me if she wakes.
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[ Not that Jim would have to. No doubt that Laura would kick up a fuss the moment she was conscious again. Quite honestly, Jim's hoping she won't wake up until they're out of here. If only because he would very much like to not get stabbed. ]
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You should take her and go. I'm only slowing you down.
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