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

[It's a clever trick to pull on them, and Breq spares half a second to turn an approving nod on Jim, regardless of whether he'll catch it with his attention on the cultists and picking off the ones emerging from the smoke.

Then she turns her own attention to doing the same. She can't take them down bloodlessly the way Jim can, but she aims her shots carefully, going for spots that aren't immediately lethal as the cultists stagger and wheeze their way past the haze. It's not noiseless or clean, but it works.

It's only when the smoke starts to fade out with no more standing outlines of figures in it that Breq begins to put up her weapon again.]

They're downed, but be careful. Good work with the grenade.

Thanks, [ He nods, stepping out from his cover and glancing at the cultists lying across the floor. ] Nice aim, by the way.

[ It'll leave more damage than his phaser, but Jim can't help note that she aimed specifically for non-lethal areas. Some of them might have a harder time recovering than others, but quite honestly, they're lucky enough to live.

He sends a beacon so another team can come in and take the cultists into custody, then nods ahead. ] Let's keep going?

It's what I'm trained for.

[And upgraded for, but that she keeps to herself. She scans over the cultists, then, when she spots a gun one of them was using, stops to pick it up and disable the firing mechanism on it.]

Let's. We should be coming across cells soon?

[ Still, doesn't dispense praise, brief though it is. She's good, whether or not she was trained (and upgraded) for it. He believes in incentive, and in offering praise and credit where it's due.

Jim helps himself to a couple of the other weapons, as well as a few grenades and whatever else they might have on them. Anything they leave behind he makes sure to disable or break so they're rendered useless. ]

Yeah, [ He nods to one of the two tunnels ahead. He knows the way by heart at this point. ] Two chambers ahead.

May there be something to find.

[Breq nods, with grim purpose, and lets Jim take the lead this time. Since no cultists came running to give this group backup even with the extended firefight, it's probably safe to assume that they were the last line of defense on this particular group of captives, if they're still there.]

[ Jim isn't expecting to find any other cultists on the way either, but he still doesn't let his guard down. He's not stupid. He peers around the next few corners, making sure there's no movement, and eventually they make it into a small chamber, with only a handful of still unopened cells. ]

In here! [ He goes to the first cell quickly, already figuring out the best way to unlock it. ]

[Better him than Breq. The fact that her gun can shoot through a meter of anything means it has certain uses, particularly when it comes to armed cultists, but shooting out the lock to a cramped cell when there's someone in it is asking to injure the captive inside.

Instead, Breq sets herself up as a guard along the entrance, weapon raised as Jim finished with the locks.]

[ The locks aren't particularly sophisticated. Heating them with his phaser seems to do the trick, and when that fails, a well-aimed kick right after blasts the door right open. The few prisoners still inside eagerly get to their feet, and Jim helps them out, checking on any serious injuries, making sure he doesn't have to carry anyone out of here. ]

Lead them out, [ He says to Breq. ] There are still a couple more cells— I'll take care of it, and catch up to you in a bit.

Understood.

[Not her strong suit, and they both know it, but neither of them have time to be picky in the middle of this situation, not with lives at risk. At least she can leave Jim to finish up with these cells and not worry about his ability to keep watch over his own wards. With one last nod in his direction, she's off, leaving Jim to fend for himself.]

exploration mingle: CAPTIVITY

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