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

[She looks over at Breq and the corner of her mouth twitches oh so slightly.]

On the contrary, I was part of the infiltration team.

Ah.

[Not just a doctor, then-- or a doctor with steel as a core. She should probably give up on trying to walk without assistance, because this makes it even less likely that Beverly will believe her.

But no one has ever accused Breq of not being stubborn enough.]

I must have missed you in the chaos.

Understandably. I'm just glad I've found you now.

I'm sure you have more important things to be looking after.

[All this despite the fact that she's leaning a lot of her weight up against Beverly, at this point.]

I'm a doctor and you're my patient, so right now there is nothing more important.

[Medics and their sense of duty. Admirable, but it makes Breq huff the slightest irritated sigh out of her nose, before nodding in resignation of her fate and letting her expression slip back into something more neutral.]

Where to, then?

[She can huff all she wants, Beverly's heard every protest in the book.]

We've set up a makeshift medbay in one of the larger abandoned rooms.

[Fortunately, it's not too far of a walk to get there. The room is large and open, with rows of cots set up for patients. There are curtained off portions and side rooms dedicated to more serious cases, but for people like Breq, whose injuries can be quickly tended to, there's less privacy. Still, Beverly does her best to select a bed away from anyone else.]

[It's a kindness, and one that Breq finds she appreciates. Not that she's self-conscious about the need for an examination, or her medical history, but rather there are some lines of questioning that could come from this that she would much rather be handled discretely.

She doesn't lie down completely, though she does help Beverly get her up onto the bed enough that she can relax.]

Don't bother with the leg. It's not recent.

[She's definitely still going to bother. Must be thorough about these things.]

Oh? What happened to it before?

I fell off a bridge.

[Understatement, but it sums up the situation well enough. It just ignores the few days she spent in the hospital dealing with it, the breaks she'd dealt with, the fact that it was only her armor, a lot of luck, and Seivarden who got her out of the canyon the bridge was over.

...And nothing to do with her recent flirt with death in a vacuum. She really does spend more time in the hospital than she wants to.]

The rest was taken care of by correctives, but the leg never healed quite right.

[Beverly nods and hums thoughtfully. If they were at home, she possibly could correct the damage left by improper healing but as it is, Breq is right that there isn't much to do about it.]

I'm guessing then that you have a tendency to favor that leg which over the long run... [She draws a line from Breq's leg to her hip] will put your hips out of alignment.

[Breq shrugs, largely unconcerned with that assessment.]

How long will that take?

[She's been living on borrowed time for twenty years now, coming closer to twenty-one. This may be her one body, but sometimes it's still hard to think beyond putting one foot in front of the other.]

It's not going to happen all at once. I wouldn't be surprised if the process has already started. The good news is that there are exercises you can do to help mitigate it. For now, though, you need to rest it and if you want pain medications, I can give you some.

[Resting one hand on her leg, Breq nods. That's honestly about what she expected to hear.]

I'll take them. For now-- How long do you want me to sit?

[The real question is how long Breq will be willing to rest.]

Let's give it an hour, see how it's doing then.

[The corners of Breq's mouth tense, but she nods tersely.]

Very well. I won't keep you from your other patients, then.

If I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to get rid of me!

[Breq's gesture isn't exactly one denying the accusation, though she doesn't seem particularly guilty about it.]

I promise not to go against a medic's orders.

All right then. Is there anything else I can do for you before I leave?

[She waves off the offer with one hand, settling herself gently on the bed to make herself more comfortable.]

I'll call out if I need anything.

All right. [She gives her an encouraging smile.] Rest well.

exploration mingle: CAPTIVITY

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