exploration mingle: CAPTIVITY

[riverviewmod]

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]

Comments

[bardish]

[ It's true, Jeff's a gentle person. He can't stomach this kind of violence, and he's got hardly any experience with it. That's why when the fighting started, he played to his strengths by keeping some of the abducted kids safe and out of harm's way. In a fight, his only moves are "punch" and "try to talk things out."

But that doesn't mean he hasn't seen some shit-- or gone through it, himself.

Chyler's hesitation doesn't go unnoticed. Jeff looks at her, a slight frown on his lips. ]

Sorry. It's not a good feeling.

[ Though he guesses it's kind of inevitable, in a place like this. People have certainly balked at him when he's made casual, off-handed comments about his own world. The things you take for granted as normal. But in his case, it's mostly just curiosity, or momentary confusion. And he's a grown man, anyway, so he's got decades of experience brushing off unwelcome commentary.

It's not like he's a kid-- a kid who thinks of himself as completely normal, who's grown up a certain way, where everyone else has the same definition of normal-- dropped in a brand new place, where 'normal' suddenly doesn't mean anything, and everyone treats him like he's an alien. Or worse: an object of pity.

He hasn't been there, exactly. But he's got experience being an outsider, when just about everyone around him didn't have room for people like him in their definition of 'normal.' It's not like that as much anymore; now people like him are way more accepted, and his daughter deals with way more shit for being mixed than being Gifted. But when Jeff was closer to Chyler's age, all he wanted was to make his own definition of normal and throw his middle fingers up at everybody else. ]

Are you liking it here? I mean, not this f-- [ HEY, NO. Soldier or not: teacher mode. Talk to her like one of his students. ] --messed up death cavern. Riverview.

[childofaxios]

[ Chyler bites the corner of her lip to try and hide her brief amusement. She's had commanding officers yell What the fuck do you think you're doing, cadet inches from her face. She's used the word herself often enough during some of the drills at school, mostly muttered in a voice her drill sergeant and officer-cadets couldn't hear. It's sweet, that he would change his own instinctive reaction for the sake of someone else. Again she thinks he's far too innocent to be caught up in something like this.

She wants him to get out of this place, with its sights and smells of the battlefield, the aroma of bile, blood, and shit let go by the dying. ]

I didn't at first. [ She goes back to scanning the room, her posture more relaxed now than when she first came over to him. ] I came during one of the celebrations, one with a ball in a gold palace they made with magic just for the holiday.

[ She snorts. That's the kind of thing she still can't say with an entirely straight face. ] Mamore, where I came from before I went to Corbulo, it wasn't a wealthy colony. Seeing all the... parties, the waste, I hated it. I hated everyone.

[ A smile nudges at the corner of her mouth. ] It isn't so bad now.

[bardish]

[ Trust him, Chyler, Jeff wants to get the hell away from this battlefield, too, and get to someplace he can actually do something helpful or just collapse and sleep for two days. But at least, while he's here and they're waiting for the go-ahead to head out with the last of the survivors, he's feeling... better. Ish. Just having someone else to focus on, instead of himself and the buzz of anxiety in his head.

Jeff laughs a little, a bit of a smile lingering when she concedes that it's not so bad now. ]

Trust me, I get it. I mean, sort of. [ Jeff rubs the back of his neck. God he's stiff as hell. ] I went through this period when I was... not much older than you, actually. [ SO, A MILLION YEARS AGO. ] Living in this tiny, one-bedroom apartment, with a roommate and only one mattress between the two of us. Most of my money came from waiting tables. Sometimes I got my dinner from whatever the customers didn't finish.

[ Which he's not sharing in a sob story kind of way. He was 18, freshly dropped out of high school, and determined to prove to everyone he could make it on his own with music and no diploma. It may've been hard, and he's not sure he'd recommend it to any kid now, but he doesn't regret it. ]

You get to see how many people don't think twice about wasting food or money or anything, when they've got so much of it. And you kind of hate them, but kind of wish you were them at the same time.

[childofaxios]

[ Chyler is silent, thinking it over, trying to find the words for what she wants to say without admitting to him that she died, that half her squad died with her.

Quietly: ] I didn't want to be them. Going from Mamore to Corbulo--Corbulo Academy of Military Science. Going from one to the other, having soldiers for parents, I think I just. When I came here, I just. [ She's still not sure how to put it. ] I think I just hated everything.

[ The mess, the noise, the excess, the people who weren't her squadmates, who weren't from Circinius IV, who didn't know what had happened to the planet or how many were lost. Her own loss, her own death. The selfishness of missing people who were still alive. Everyone who got second chances when no one else in Hastati did. An "everyone" that included herself.

There was a lot to hate. ]

[bardish]

[ Chyler's obviously struggling to put her feelings to words, and Jeff just listens, watching her with as much focus as he can muster, all things considered. This is a moment where he doesn't want to put words in her mouth. ]

So what changed? [ And in case that's, like, too prying, he adds with a wry smile: ] Because I'm kind of looking for reasons to like it right now, myself.

[childofaxios]

[ She runs one hand across her P-90. Even though it's a standard weapon, even though half the Perimeter Guard uses them or has access to them, it still makes her think of John. ]

I met people here who... [ Again, how to put it. Most of the time it's so easy to talk. She's sure, she's steady, she knows where she stands and why. All of that's changed. She has to think her way through everything these days. ] They accepted me. They understood me. They challenged me, too. This place is full of good people and beautiful things. They're worth protecting. I've got nothing to go back to, Corbulo is dead, the whole planet is dead--I hated this place for that. Like somehow Riverview taking me made it final, like somehow they could all come back. I hated that I was here and nobody else was. Like I deserved it somehow and they didn't.

[ She leans back against the wall, still looking the cavern over, still alert to the possibility of danger, still running her hand back and forth over the P-90 in a kind of oblivious gesture of comfort. ] I met people who made me hate being--

[ She stumbles to a halt. Who made me hate being alive less. She almost just... Chyler clears her throat and straightens up again. ] They made me hate being here less.

[bardish]

[ The whole planet? Death on that scale isn't anything Jeff can really wrap his head around, even after all the crazy shit he's seen and heard about here. It's the kind of thing that only happens in big sci-fi movies.

And she's sixteen and has to live with that? If Jeff experienced any of that, he'd hate this place, too. And if he'd experienced that as a teenager, he'd probably do something monumentally stupid and self-destructive.

...

Admittedly, that's not saying much. That was his go-to response for everything as a kid. ]

Jesus...

[ He wishes he immediately knew the best thing to say to hearing that, but he's just going to need a second to process it. The way she's stroking the gun, the way a kid might a pet or a stuffed animal, isn't lost on him. ]

It's good that you've got them. Sometimes family just chooses you, even on... another planet. [ He hesitates, because he doesn't know if he should say this, if this is the time or the place, but: ] You know there's nothing wrong with getting a second chance, right? It doesn't mean anybody deserved it more or less.

[childofaxios]

[ She gives him a genuine smile for the first time. ] No interplanetary space travel where you're from?

[ That was something else strange that she had to get used to. How different everyone's backgrounds were, how some of them accepted magic as naturally as breathing but couldn't wrap their heads around colonies in space. She thinks she's used to that now, at least. Maybe not magic itself.

Chyler exhales quietly. Nothing wrong with it. Nothing wrong. Her throat tightens, that familiar clotted feeling, like she could cough out mucus or blood. (Like she wants to cry, but won't.) ]

It isn't fair for me to be here. [ It's one of those immutable facts that hasn't been changed by the things she's seen and done here. It's one barb of guilt that she's not sure will ever go away. There are whole days, lately, where she'll be fine, where she won't even think about the cruelty of it all. The fact that of all the dead of Corbulo (she doesn't think about all the dead of Circinius IV, she can't yet wrap her mind around cities full of corpses), she's the only one here. That of all the dead in her squad alone, no one else got what she has. ] Shere, Kaye, Dima, Vickers, Junjie. They all... they all died. This place could save them if it wanted to.

[ She's getting so used to saying those names, like a litany or a marching cadence.

Chyler shakes her head. ] There's no point in thinking about it.

[bardish]

[ He returns the smile, laughing a little. ] Not exactly. We put a man on the moon! But no one's moving there anytime soon.

[ Let alone anywhere else.

Jeff wants to tell her that sometimes it's not about what's fair and what isn't. That winding up here seems to amount to nothing more than sheer, dumb luck. He doesn't think there's anything purposeful about it, no matter how much the city representatives insisted there was when he first arrived. The portal isn't divine, and it isn't all-powerful.

It's just some weird, cosmic anomaly.

But that's his own shit, which he keeps to himself. Teenagers have a hard enough time telling adults what's on their mind, as it is. He always tries his best not to undermine their feelings when they do start sharing with him. ]

It's okay to think about it. You know... keep those people close to your heart. [ He frowns a little in thought. ] Maybe it isn't fair. But all you can do is focus on the things you can change or do with this second shot, since you've got it.

[ He smiles, tone lightening again. ] But you probably don't need me to tell you this, huh. It sounds like you're doing a pretty good job of it already.

[childofaxios]

[ Chyler's smile is still there, this time aimed at nothing in particular. There's the slightest tinge of amusement in her voice. ]

You're sweet.

[ It doesn't occur to her that she's talking down to someone more than twice her age. (More than three times her age?? Anyway he's old.) He's not military. Right now he falls under her protection, as much as the kids down here do. If this were another situation, maybe, if she hadn't relaxed into John's more informal way of doing things, she might have stopped herself.

It would still be true.

She glances at him. ]

I could ask someone to cover this area and escort you out, if you wanted.

[bardish]

[ More than twice her age, but less than three, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. He's not that old, geez!

But the rest true. Jeff's not military. It's highly probable if he'd ever enlisted, he would've been in for a bad time, because as a young man, he was so not good at following orders, and he had a tendency to bristle at authority figures until, uh. He went to rehab. Who knows, maybe his parents' hippie blood ran so strong that he's got a genetic predisposition that prevents him from really getting the military, in any of its forms.

He laughs a little at being called sweet, though, because it's one of those things where he's not sure if he should feel flattered or condescended to. ]

Are you sure? I don't want to pull you away from your, uh... post. Or anything. [ Okay, you know what? He can't even wait a full beat before adding: ] But, full disclosure, that's just a token refusal, because I'm really dying to get out of this place... [ He looks around the cavern, as if expecting a cultist to just POP UP OUT OF NOWHERE. ] I'm never going spelunking after this...

[childofaxios]

[ Chyler's expression turns into a broad smile, the Rarest Form, and one that's jarringly incongruous with the mess covering her tac gear. Exactly two other people have seen her smile like this, and not within fifteen minutes of meeting her. It took months. So ya might not be a bard any more Jeff but you still have some ~magic~ going on.

Anyway, she excuses herself and goes to find another Perimeter Guard member, because volunteer fighters are great and all but she'd prefer someone with a little bit of military training. Even if the training for the PG is a borderline joke. She comes back over to Jeff, her replacement at her back. ]

Set.

[ She would offer you a hand up Jeff but you're about a foot taller than she is. ]

[bardish]

[ That's his true power: BEING RELENTLESSLY FRIENDLY UNTIL SOMETHING GOOD HAPPENS. He's glad to see her smile, though. From everything she's said, it sounds like she could use reasons to.

When Chyler returns, Jeff gets to his feet pretty easily, despite the whole every part of his body is aching right now thing he's dealing with. He can only imagine how much worse he'd be feeling right now if he didn't make a habit of hitting the gym and keeping in shape.

And he's really grateful Chyler didn't offer him a hand, because he still has some pride! Not a whole lot, but some.

Anyway! Let's go! ]

So... How deep in here are we?

[childofaxios]

Spelunking deep.

[ She's not sure how deep that is but hopefully it's deep, because that is what they are. She exchanges a brief arm-clasp with her PG replacement (an unintentionally amusing image, Chyler being as small and young as she is), then leads the way toward one of the exits. She keeps an eye on Jeff as they walk. ]

You're sure you can do this? You don't need medical transportation out of here?

[bardish]

[ To be honest, he doesn't know how deep that is, either, BUT HE ALSO ASSUMES DEEP.

So. Great. ]

They mostly banged up my ribs, not my legs. I'm fine to walk. [ He might sound a TINY BIT SULKY about it, even though he tries not to, since, you know. He's the adult here! And he's not an invalid!

...just ignore that wince as he rolls out some of the stiffness in his shoulders. ] Honestly, I'm looking forward to it after sitting on a stone floor for a few... ahh... however long I was here.

[ A beat. He looks over at Chyler, brows lifted, SINCERE: ] I'm not totally helpless, you know. [ BECAUSE IT MERITS SAYING. ]

[childofaxios]

[ An exhalation of amusement. ] Yes, sir.

[ Now he gets a 'sir'. When she is mocking him.

They enter the tunnels and Chyler's demeanor changes. Here, she's a soldier with every expectation of ambush, clearing each bend and branch in the tunnel with military precision before she allows Jeff forward.

She slows when they're about half way out, signaling Jeff to stop, silently. Whispered voices drift out of one of the tunnel branches.

The people guarding these tunnels, the people helping the kidnapped, have no reason to whisper.

Chyler is tempted to switch her weapon to full auto. She has no idea how many people are around that corner. She also has no idea if they have prisoners.

She holds up a closed fist again, another signal for Jeff to wait, and then slides forward as lightly and as quietly as she knows how.

Edging a look around the corner shows her three cultists holding a whispered argument over the body of a Perimeter Guardsman. She can't tell if the downed guard is dead. Chyler adjusts her grip on her weapon, takes a deep, silent breath, and lines up a shot at the closest target's head.

She can't pull the trigger. Finn's face is in her mind's eye, the look in his eyes when she shot that prisoner.

She hesitates too long. One of the cultists whistles a warning and the three of them fan out, all of them shooting at her at once. She yanks back, their weapons taking chunks out of the wall next to where her head was.

That Guardsman is probably very dead. ]

Down!

[ An order snapped at Jeff, one she hopes will be followed. The first cultist has already cleared the mouth of the tunnel, still shooting indiscriminately. Chyler feels impact, numbness, pain in her left arm, and shoots the cultist's knees out from under him. ]

Axios!

[ The second cultist runs out screaming. That one gets shot through the hand, then twice more, once in each leg. The third gets the same treatment.

Cultist number one is down, two is screaming and holding their leg, but number three is crawling toward their dropped weapon. Chyler strides over and kicks it out of reach, leveling her gun at the man's head and glaring at the other two downed targets. ]

You're not dead. Stop whining.

HOW MANY TIMES MUST I ATTEMPT TO RESUBMIT THIS TAG

[bardish]

[ That's even worse! Don't do that!

Luckily, Jeff is used to teenage sass and disrespect, so he goes with it. It's good to see that even kids with military training can still be kids. Kind of refreshing, after the nightmare of the past few days.

Unfortunately, their trek out of the cave is rudely interrupted by some lingering cultists. Startled, fearful (he's fine admitting that, yeah, he's afraid of them), he follows Chyler's orders, because his mind's kind of going all WHITE NOISE OF PANIC and she's the one who knows what she's doing here, not him.

Yeah, he'll suffer the indignity of following a teenager's orders and ducking for cover when she tells him to. Like, come on, if he took this moment to go all "EXCUSE ME, MISS, I AM THE ADULT HERE, GIVE ME THE GUN AND I WILL PROTECT YOU" it would just end in both of them dying.

Also guns are scary and the sound of bullets flying isn't something he's used to, so all he can really think to do is listen to Chyler. (Note to self: learn how to fight and shoot a gun after all this is over.)

When the firing stops and all he can hear is a man screaming and Chyler having none of it, Jeff figures it's safe enough to... get up and stride over to her. And by 'stride,' we mean 'walk nervously and tentatively as if afraid that an army of cultists is about to leap out from the dark any second.' ]

Holy... shit!

[ OOPS, forgot not to swear. He's just looking between the various cultists on the ground, trying to figure out how he can help. ]

Are you okay? [ Yes, Chyler, he's going to fuss over your health for a second. ] Or is now not the-- should we... what're we gonna do with these guys?

[ SORRY YOU'RE STUCK WITH THE MOST USELESS BARD IN THE WORLD. ]

TEN MILLION

[childofaxios]

[ Chyler's arm is starting to throb. She glances at it, then at the back of her arm, notes the blood seeping slowly into her shirt, and deems it a problem to be dealt with once they're in relative safety. ]

I'll be fine. It looks like a through-and-through.

[ It's gonna hurt like hell when she's not flying high on adrenaline. This is only the second time she's ever been shot, and the first time... well, it was a lot more on the fatal side.

The cultist at her feet groans, and she kicks him lightly, bracing her gun against her side with her wounded arm. She uses her free hand to grab her communicator and give the patrolling PG members their location.

Chyler looks at Jeff, sizing him up, trying to determine whether he's up for what she's going to ask. It's not much, but he's... well. ]

Can you pick up their weapons and put them out of reach?

[ She's keeping them covered with her gun.

Eventually she'll have an internal monologue again, but right now she is all business. ]

[bardish]

[ He is so about to protest her taking that bullet so casually, but then that cultist groans, and Jeff's so jumpy he actually startles at the sound and looks down at the man like a rabbit contemplating a wounded fox or something, I don't know, it's too early for literary devices. ]

Uh-- yeah. Sure. Nooo problem.

[ Said in a way that it's probably pretty clear that he's trying to convince himself that this task is no problem. Jeff does it, he snatches one cultist's weapons and tosses them aside, then the other's, then the other's, and each time, it doesn't get any easier. He's touching their guns in that cautious, unsteady way that just telegraphs his discomfort, his expectation that they're just going to explode in his hands or somehow go off and spray bullets everywhere.

btw Chyler: ]

You are seeing a medic as soon as we're outta here.

[ YOUNG LADY. ]

[childofaxios]

[ This poor man.

It's more than just strange for her to see an adult struggling so much with violence. From her parents to her Corbulo teachers to John and Finn, the adults in her life have always been relatively comfortable with and even well-versed in violence. Watching Jeff handle the guns like explosives (twitching over how he holds them and resisting the urge to direct him) is surreal.

Then comes that order in that particular tone that makes it an order but not an order and she scowls. ]

I know that.

[ GOSH. Only John can use that tone with her and have it go unprotested.

Voices in the tunnel--this time louder, and she recognizes them. ] It's fine, they're with us.

[ The guardsmen come into view, one human guy, one woman, one uncategorizable purple-skinned white-haired humanoid with giant tessellated eyes. They take charge of the cultists, one of them tying them up while the other two keep them covered.

"You need medical attention," says the woman, and Chyler does her best not to roll her eyes in sixteen-year-old exasperation. ]

I know!

[bardish]

[ Well, Chyler, while you're rolling your eyes (with expertise and mastery that his own daughter would applaud), Jeff lets out a triumphant: ] Ha! See? [ Which the PG members don't seem to appreciate all that much, coming from a civilian. ] Sorry. Sorry, shutting up now.

[childofaxios]

[ Chyler glares at the other guardsmen as severely as she was looking at Jeff a second ago. No one gets to treat her charge badly until he’s out of her care. ]

Are we good?

[ As soon as it’s clear that Chyler isn’t needed, she shifts her grip on her weapon to manage it with her good arm and jerks her chin in the direction they need to go. ] We’re past the half-way mark.

[ And her arm is starting to throb.]

[bardish]

Oh, good. Cool.

[ Cool, cool, cool, halfway out of this nightmare. God he hopes he doesn't just spontaneously combust or go blind the second he sees sunlight again. As they go, Jeff keeps casting little, worried glances over at Chyler. Yes, he's mentally fussing over your arm, still. ]

So... You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but. What does 'Axios' mean?

[childofaxios]

[ She might be sweating a little more than she was when they started the walk, her arm tucked up in the opposite strap of her tac gear to try and keep it more or less elevated. The bleeding at least is slow. That says they didn't hit anything too important.

Except, y'know, her arm.

Chyler is a little surprised by the question. She hadn't even realized she'd shouted it in the moment. ]

It means I am worthy. It was the last word of the Roman commander, General Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, when he fell on his sword in loyalty to the Emperor. My academy is--was named after him.

[bardish]

[ On the one hand, Jeff's a history teacher.

On the other, he pretty much just teaches US History. So Roman commanders aren't in his wheelhouse, FORGOTTEN TO THE SANDS OF TIME. ]

Oh.

[ HUH. ]

Please don't fall on any swords anytime soon.

[ ~trying to keep the mood light~ ]