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

[scholiast]

I noticed. What happened?

[mistyday]

They caught me unawares, a whole bunch of 'em. If I had had time...

(She could have done so much worse to them than she had.)

But I didn't. Wasn't really thinkin', just reacted. Threw one of them across the street and that got all of them pissed off of course- (She nods at Lucretia's single cuff on her wrist) came at me with a cuff like the one you got on there. Didn't know exactly what it was, but I could sense there was something... off about it, you know? Like... I can normally feel magic everywhere, the rocks and the trees, in people, but this was like some sort of void.

[scholiast]

Same here.

(Lucretia's expression twists into a scowl.) They knew to interrupt my concentration. I don't...

(How had they known that? She doesn't exactly broadcast the fact, and it's really irritating her that the two men sent to capture her and Zelda had been so well-versed on exactly how her magic works. Makes her wonder if they had an in with Gramarye, some how.)

Anyway. I know what you mean, it– uh, felt like having a blanket thrown on me. Like being smothered. (Even now she can feel it, the incapacity to connect to her magic. It's like having dispel magic cast on you, but all the time.) What do you mean you can feel magic everywhere? Can you feel it now, or have they blocked it?

[mistyday]

(That's exactly it! Like being smothered. She's glad someone else understands, though judging from how many other people are wearing the power suppressors, it looks like they're not the only two in this situation.)

I'm a green witch, so most of my magic has to do with nature. Plants and animals and healing and life and all that. But I can't feel any of it now. Not even you - and I can always tell another witch when I see her.

(Or, whatever Lucretia calls herself. Misty's only ever known the terms witch or warlock so that's what she uses.)

[scholiast]

Like... a druid?

('Green witch'? What. Lucretia's nose crinkles a little in amusement, and she shakes her head slowly.) No, you're mistaken– I'm a wizard.

(There's a difference, apparently.) Why do you specify the colour of magic that you use? And how can you feel if other people have magic?

[mistyday]

I ain't ever heard of a druid so I don't know. And the colors aren't like... literal colors. Just a way of classifyin' the type of magic different witches us. As for feeling people's magic.. I don't know, it's just part of me, like seein' or hearin' or tastin'. A sixth sense, I guess.

[scholiast]

(So it's like casting 'detect magic', except it remains permanently... Lucretia is silently envious of such power. As for Misty being unfamiliar with 'druid' as a term, that doesn't surprise her. She's been here long enough to know everybody has different terms for magic, and magic users.

... But she for sure sounds like a druid.)

Where I'm from, a druid is a magic user attuned specifically to nature and working with animals. Out of curiousity, do you have a colour assigned to protective magic? Shields, and wards?

(She's thinking... white, perhaps? Maybe purple. She's never thought of classifying magic by colour before, but it kind of makes sense.)

[mistyday]

I... don't know.

(She ducks her head, a little embarrassed.)

I didn't even meet any other witches until recently, so I didn't go to school when I was supposed to. There's a lot I don't know still.

[scholiast]

Oh.

(Lucretia fails to hide her disappointment, but swiftly follows it with:)

That's okay– I'm self-taught, and there are entire schools of magic I know hardly anything about. Have you ever gone to school? Or are you self-taught as well?

[mistyday]

Mostly had to teach myself. I went to the academy for a little bit but then...

[She shrugs as best as she can.]

Then I came here.

[scholiast]

Academy...

(Lucretia's hands jerk awkwardly, aborting the motion of reaching into her jacket for something... it's upsetting to remember that she doesn't have a journal on her in which to write this little tidbit of new information. The cultists took her things before leaving her in here.)

I went to an Academy too, one that specialised in magic. I know it was a brief attendance, but how did you find it?

[mistyday]

It's kind of a long story. Weird one too.

[scholiast]

(Lucretia gestures at the cell around them.)

I've got time.

[mistyday]

(Fair enough. Ain't like they're going anywhere any time soon. Misty settles back as comfortably as she can, given the situation.)

I take it you ain't from Earth?

[scholiast]

No, though I have heard a lot about it from an array of people. Your version... has magic?

(She hasn't heard of an Earth with magic before.)

[mistyday]

Yeah. Not too many people know about it though. Ain't too many witches left anymore. I didn't even know about it either, not 'til I was older and my powers started manifestin'.

(She looks down at the ground. This part's always the hardest.)

There was a bird, all broken, lying on the ground. I've always had a soft spot for animals of all kinds and I had to help it, any way I could. When I picked it up, I realized it wasn't just hurt, it was dead. Then, at the same moment, I felt this... power surge through me, all warmth and light and life and suddenly the bird lifted up its wings and flew away. I thought it was a sign from God, a miracle.

[scholiast]

(She nods as she listens, rapt.

Lucretia knows enough about Christianity from her own research and from listening to Cisco talk about it once before: she can piece Misty's story together easy enough. It... makes sense, in a way. After all, some people who use magic do draw it from deities, so it's only logical that Misty might presume it came from a god that she knows.)

Was it?

cw: witch hunts

[mistyday]

(This is... not going to be a happy story, Luce.)

Guess it depends how you look at it. Nobody else seemed to see it that way. When they saw what I did, they hunted me down, sayin' I was doin' the devil's work.

(She pokes at the dirt of the cave floor with the toe of her sandal.)

Reason I asked if you were from Earth is to see if you knew about witch hunts. They used to have them all the time. Wasn't just angry mobs neither - the courts were part of it too. Would sentence you to hang or to burn at the stake. That's why there ain't many of us left.

[scholiast]

(Ah. So it isn't.

Lucretia listens carefully, glancing down at her interlinked hands when Misty looks down and away from her. Now she's back to not understanding, and it's frustrating to her as it always is. That, and she's uncomfortable with the idea of being hurt for performing magic.)

I... don't understand, (she confesses, glancing up,) who is 'the devil'? And it's– illegal to cast, on your Earth? Why?

[mistyday]

Well... God is goodness and love and light and the Devil... he's the opposite of all of that. There are people who think that the only way a witch can do magic is if she sold her soul to the devil, when the fact is, witches are just born with it. Which ain't to say there aren't witches who align themselves with evil and who do sell their souls for more power, but that ain't really a witch thing, now is it? Lots of people, magic or not, do evil things to get power.

In any case, because people thought all magic was evil, they outlawed it. But that was centuries ago. Ain't enough people that know about magic for anyone to make laws about it anymore. So that part's better at least, I guess. But that didn't stop people from turning on me, once they saw what I could do.

[scholiast]

(Istus. How horrible.

Lucretia absorbs this all dully, reaching out to gently lay her hand on Misty's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze.)

You're not doing anything wrong. (This, she feels very strongly about. Misty probably already knows this, but another voice adding to the mix couldn't hurt, right?) And I'm sorry, that you have to face persecution like that. It isn't right.

[mistyday]

No, it ain't. But I had to do what I had to do to survive, so I went into hidin' out in the swamps - which is why I didn't go to the Academy when I was supposed to. Didn't even know it was an option and the other witches in the coven thought I was dead.

[scholiast]

Of course. And– that's when you came here?

(Maybe it's good that she did. Maybe this can provide Misty with a bit of reprieve from it all.)

Attitudes toward magic aren't the same here as they are back home.

[mistyday]

Not quite. One of the other witches... well, her boyfriend died, and she tried to bring him back. But she fucked it up and he didn't come back right at all. I could feel him, creeping along that border between life and death so I found them and brought them back with me, to heal him best I could.

[scholiast]

Necromancy, (Lucretia murmurs, and shivers, torn between revulsion and curiousity,) what... happened to him in the end? Could you heal him, or was he lost?

(What a horrible spell to have gone awry. Lucretia would never attempt such magic: for this and many other reasons, of course.)