riverviewlogs | exploration mingle: CAPTIVITY

who: everyone in Riverview!
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

captivity

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!

phase i: the abducted

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.

phase ii: distraction and infiltration

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.

phase iii: the brawl and after

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.

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.

navigation
[Asterion - Environment Art: Ariadne's Forest by Nicolas Mendoza]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Laura flinches back at the metallic ting of company — her ears are sharp again, nose re-adjusting to the scents flooding her, and she knows it's Tony Stark (Iron Man, she supposes, right now, or is he always both?), but her nerves are still shot to hell. The remnants of her injuries from before the collar was removed is mostly healed now, slower than usual but improving — but there's still a sort of uncertainty in her eyes, like she can't bring herself to trust the man in the suit.

She opens her mouth, closes it, turns to look down at her feet. There's a slight tremble to her shoulders, as if too cold. Or perhaps still a bit in shock.]

[He goes still as she flinches, watching her with maybe a bit too much intensity. For all the time they've spent together he can't say he knows Laura all that well -- he has some idea of her history, but not enough to make the kind of judgment calls he probably needs to.

But with a huff of a breath he stands back up and then steps out of the suit entirely, leaving it standing a little ways away from them both like a sentinel. Iron Man will have his back, it always does.]

You cold?

[He asks as he crouches back down, in just the clothes he'd grabbed from the hospital before he'd put the armor on. He might still smell like it, antiseptic and whatever they've been putting on the hole in his side to try to get it to heal faster.]

[She's even more quiet than usual (a true feat), unable to look at him. She's still littered with bruises and cuts that are still healing — slow but sure, they're healing, which may be a testament to how beat up she'd been even an hour before. The dried blood all over her certainly explains as much.

Her nose twitches, and her voice is almost a whisper when she speaks.]

You're injured. You should be in a hospital.

I am. [Hard to lie to someone with her nose.] But I'm okay. I'll go as soon as I'm sure everyone else is too.

[A slight lie. He may go to get checked out, but Tony's not signing himself in for another stay. He's managed this much, going home probably won't kill him.

And it's not like he can suggest that Laura go. He has vague memories that her last trip didn't work out well for anyone. Probably better to ask, in this case, instead of guessing and getting it wrong.]

Do you need anything?

[The question leaves her at a loss. Does she need anything...? She doesn't think there's anything missing — but there's no doubt a strange twist in her chest that has not left her. She looks back to her hands, popping her claws in and out again with little reaction to the blood drawn there.]

... Can you — check on Loki for me?

I hurt him. [The claws slink away. They burst out. They slink away. The pain is a good way to keep her grounded, she supposes; in another sense, it feels deserved for losing control and letting them turn her rabid for a moment too long.] It was an accident; I didn't mean to, but I...

Loki?

[Tony's eyebrows lift a little, but the look he gives her is considering.]

Sure, I can do that. But he's tough, you know. [[A short pause while Tony casts around for something actually reassuring. The fact that Loki's a literal god clearly isn't enough, and he can sort of understand that.]

You wanna come with?

[Her eyes widen at that, hesitation bright in her eyes.]

I — can't.

[The answer why may be obvious, even if unspoken:

I did that, and I'm too ashamed to see him right now.]

[Tony studies her for a moment before nodding. He's not going to push it, not when she already looks like one wrong turn and she'll come apart at the seams.]

Okay. Will you trust me if I come back and tell you he's fine?

[Of course he's fine, he's Loki. Tony has actual literal experience with just how much damage the guy can take.

But he gets it, the guilt of hurting someone without meaning to. So he lets out a breath and shifts back on his heels.]

You want me to tell him you were worried or nah?

[She eyes him for a long moment behind stringy curls that could use a bath.]

... I trust you.

Please — tell him I am... sorry. And worried.

I will.

[There's a simple solemnity to his tone, for once without the faint edge of sarcasm he tends to put on anything too serious. He's too tired for masks, and he gets the feeling Laura's not in much of a place to appreciate it.]

You need anything else?

[She looks just as tired, honestly, when she looks at him.]

For you to rest, after.

Me?

[He blinks, taken more than a little off guard. It's nothing he hasn't heard before, just generally not from Laura. Not when she looks as run down as she is.]

I'm fine.

[She looks at him like he's full of shit, gray-rimmed stare surprisingly rebellious.]

Maybe you can fool someone else, but you are not fooling me.

After everyone is safe, rest.

[Tony's mouth opens and then closes again wordlessly. That might be the most vicious stare he's gotten in a while, and for some reason it makes him bite back a small smile.]

Tell you what. I will if you will, deal?

[Laura sighs softly out her nose, but... she relents.

After all, she feels like she could sleep for days, anyway.]

Deal.

exploration mingle: CAPTIVITY

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