exploration mingle: branching out

[riverviewmod]

who: everyone in Riverview!
what: exploration mingle: branching out
when: August 15 - October 15
where: the quarantine, the delta, the jungle, and the forest
warnings: threads may contain violence, body horror, and discussion of injuries and illness; please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines

branching out

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 the government is really focusing on exploration objectives, in order to unite citizens in expanding, securing, and supplying the city for everyone's benefit.

the story so far

Exploration & Expansion Progress Report ● Plotting & Questions ● Reward Submissions ● First Teams

It's normal to see drop-ships hovering in the sky over the Quarantine, of course, since the city is not self-sufficient just yet, and receives regular shipments of supplies, technology, merchandise, food, books, movies, and all sorts of other things from the Capital World. However, the number of drop-ships coming down has recently started to triple in frequency.

On August 10th, an announcement started being run on the Quarantine's networks, television stations, and on digital display boards throughout the city explaining the situation - Mayor Dichard explained in an official mayoral address that the Quarantine is in the process of taking in refugees from a planet in the solar system which recently became uninhabitable due to a massive natural disaster. Hundreds of people are flooding the city, and many of them are wounded, sick, or otherwise in acute distress.

How is a city already stretched to the limit for population capacity going to handle all these new arrivals...?

how it works

● ADDITIONAL OOC INFO: The refugee aliens are called the Frysh; they are humanoid mammalian and have a similar internal physiology to humans, however, they look somewhat insectoid, with mandibles, slightly shiny skin that is smoother and harder to the touch than human skin, and delicate wings that aren't capable of carrying the weight of the body (they cannot fly). Their skin ranges from pale to dark gray, and they have mottled or spotted/freckled markings in a wide variety of warm earth tones on their faces, necks, backs, and the outside of the thighs; their blood is dark rusty brown and slightly more viscous than human blood; eye colors are very widely varied. Average height is 6 feet, and doesn't vary based on sex (the species has male/female/neutral). The aging process is similar to that of humans, and refugees come in all ages. The species is very high-tech, but the tech is mostly related to entertainment rather than weaponry, medical, etc. as the planet the species lived on was quite utopian and basic needs were always taken care of by tech that was left on the planet when it was destroyed.

● 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 the next 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.

● Thread Rewards: For this mingle, I have created five different items as rewards - two for the first prompt, and three for the remaining three. Any character participating in a completed thread with at least one other character, for any phase prompt by October 15 will be able to pick a keyword corresponding to one of these rewards when they submit the thread at the link above. Every character participating in a completed thread will be eligible to receive an item. Completed threads must take place on this entry.
ETA August 20th: New characters who complete a thread on August's Test Drive meme with the Tent City prompt, and who are accepted into the game are also eligible for a thread reward for Phase I only.

● Entry Reward: The reward for completion of this month's exploration objective will be expansion of the City, a more reliable electrical and power grid, and some new setting features as the Inhabited City grows in size.

phase i: tent cities

Unfortunately, this influx of refugees is going to be causing a serious overpopulation problem - for now, since it is summer, the new arrivals will be housed in makeshift tent cities set up in Riverview Central Park as well as other smaller parks around the city, any spare empty lots, along the banks of the river, and in a few of the sports fields. The resources of the city are going to be taxed to their limit, and while the Capital World will be contributing funds and helping to get together building supplies, Riverview's intrepid citizens are going to have to find ways to supply more space to build shelters for the refugees, and more power to supply the electrical grid in the city.

However, it's not just the explorers that are able to help out with this particular problem. Any citizen who wishes is more than welcome to attend the tent cities where makeshift field hospitals have been set up with as many medical amenities as possible. While serious and life-threatening injuries or illnesses are taken to the Riverview Hospital, people who need first aid or more minor or moderate tending can attend the field hospitals and recover in their temporary homes. Volunteers are requested to help with many different tasks - medical staff to help heal the injured and ill, anyone capable to cook and serve at soup kitchens, members of the Perimeter Guard, police, or other capable fighters to secure the tent cities and make sure there's no violence or theft happening, and drivers and laborers to help bring supplies from the drop-ships and other parts of the city to keep the tent cities supplied. Of course, there are going to be a lot of other jobs that come up on the fly, so everyone is welcome.

phase ii: the delta

With fall rapidly approaching, and with it the colder weather, it's urgent that housing is set up for these new arrivals, and with new housing comes a need for more electricity. The electrical grid is already stretched to its limits with the current population in the city, and is essentially being held together with duct tape and hope - with all these new arrivals and their needs, there's no way the current grid can handle it.

Thankfully, during a recent exploratory fly-over, an electrical installation set in one of the massive waterfalls near the edge of the Abandoned City was noted. While at the time it seemed too far away from established civilization to risk a large expedition, things have changed with the new influx of refugees, and the installation seems like the best hope to bring more energy into the city. Characters who participate in Phase II will be taking watercraft down the river to the delta just above the waterfalls, finding the installation, and checking to see if it can be restored to functionality so the power it generates from the waterfall can be used in the city.

The dangers faced by people taking on Phase II will be primarily related to the long trek needed to get to the installation, down the river - a relatively straight-forward, old fashioned adventurous exploration mission. While using watercraft will help speed up the process, the river is heavily populated by monsters and predators who have flourished in the absence of civilization. Expect mutated piranhas, crocodiles, carnivorous fish, and just about anything else that lives in or near a river to try to take a swipe at the teams making their way to the installation. Once inside the installation, there will be the hazards associated with a damp building that hasn't been used by people in over a decade - it's in poor repair, will have structural damage, and the likely-malfunctioning tech means that electricity and water are almost guaranteed to meet at some point. This prompt would be well-suited to engineers, skilled laborers/construction workers, and fighters; people who can fix the damage to the installation and those who can protect everyone along the way.

For any thread completed under this prompt, whether or not characters made it to the delta, all participating characters will receive rewards.

phase iii: the jungle

The second line of exploration will be into the jungle north of the city, where fly-overs have located a series of skyscrapers and flat ground, overgrown with plant life and obviously left empty since quite a while before the Abandoned City was left behind. Despite being long abandoned, however, the buildings and land seem to be pretty well-preserved and would be usable with a bit of work and maybe a touch of magic. With the flat area cleared out, it would make a perfect helipad for transport and with a temporary fence that could be easily built up after the area is cleared, this could be the start of a smaller city that could eventually be connected by transit or cleared land and fences with the Quarantine proper! Adding this extra space would easily house all the refugees and some of the excess population from the Quarantine, which would be a major advantage for everyone in the city.The government wastes no time in dispatching teams from the Perimeter Guard and welcoming the inclusion of regular citizens with a taste for exploration, to head out into the jungle and see whether this could be a viable solution.

But why would what looks like such an easy area to inhabit have been left alone and outside city walls for so long?

Well, exploratory teams will soon find out - as they make their way through the jungle toward the buildings, characters will start to notice that the animals and monsters in the jungle are getting increasingly...strange. Rather than otherworldly creatures that still make sense, they look like weird, mutated combinations of animals, a mashup of teeth and eyes and fur and scales and claws that don't belong together. As the teams move further, they'll start to notice that some of these creatures are taking on plant-like qualities as well, vines winding into flesh and extending like tentacled appendages from monsters that are increasingly larger and more misshapen. After a point, they're almost incomprehensible blobs of melded flesh and plant life that can't move, can only sit and snap or swipe or grasp for prey.

It isn't just the monsters either. The trip out to the skyscrapers will take at least four days on foot for the fastest and fittest people in the Quarantine, and going by foot is the only way to get there, considering there's no cleared space large enough to land craft, and due to the unknown nature of the area around the skyscrapers, magic is not to be used to travel there. Day One of the trip will be pretty normal, aside from the surroundings starting to get weird, but on Day Two, characters will start to feel and see changes. Whether they're taking on physical traits of other members of their teams, or the creatures and plants around them, they will start to subtly change, whether it's eye or hair color, scales or claws or even superpowers or abilities, they'll start to 'trade' traits with people and creatures around them. On Day Three, it gets significantly worse, with characters starting to meld together with animals and plants around them, becoming more and more amalgamated with the world around them, whether it's vines under their skin or growing a tail, or any combination. By Day Four, characters will be experiencing intense changes to the very fabric of themselves, their physical bodies morphing and twisting into things that are completely alien while their minds stay mostly the same.

The level of transformation experienced and the amount of physical pain and damage that the transformation causes to individual characters is up to player discretion, and characters that feel unable to handle the effects of the jungle route are more than welcome to turn back whenever they want. However, if any teams make it to the skyscrapers they will find that the buildings are inhabitable and the area would be easily cordoned off with fences, though the buildings are covered with mosses, fungi, and leafy herbs that seem unaffected by the mutations. Teams will find that as they turn back toward the city, the effects wear off as they leave the area, in exact reverse to how they appeared.

For any thread completed under this prompt, whether or not characters made it to the skyscrapers, all participating characters will receive rewards. The first team that makes it to the skyscrapers, collects samples of the fungi and moss, and makes it back to the city should respond in this thread to receive the "solution" to what is happening in the area and how the area can become inhabitable.

phase iv: the forest

The jungle isn't the only option for new areas to inhabit. The same fly-over expedition covered the deciduous forest to the south of the Quarantine, and discovered a sprawling, walled compound, overgrown with thick, lush vegetation. The compound seems to have its own water sources, an orchard, garden areas, and places to keep farm animals, as well as ample space where wild game can roam - just about any herbivorous creature you can imagine seems to have found a home here.

The most important part? Despite looking like plain old tall, thick stone walls that could easily be stomped down by some of the bigger predators in the woods, they are obviously doing their job. There isn't a single break in the walls and despite being in ill repair, the whole area looks pretty safe. On top of that, it's big enough to house the refugees and then some in relative comfort and self-sufficiency, enough that they could easily survive long enough to build a safe method of transport out to the compound so residents there could access the city with ease.

Just like the jungle skyscrapers, though, one wonders why no one is living there anymore. Unlike the jungle, however, the day-long trip out to the compound is relatively uneventful. Besides the usual predators in the area, there's nothing untoward, no unspeakable horror like what's going on in the jungle. At least, not until the team makes their way to the compound and opens the heavy gate to let themselves inside. Once they're there and exploring to make sure the area is safe to inhabit (a task that will take at least four days considering the amount of ground covered by the compound) is when strange things start happening.

It starts on Day One, with team members noticing strange apparitions out of the corners of their eyes. Like ghosts, they flit in and out of peripheral vision, make the sound of footsteps behind the person on night watch, touch an explorer's shoulder from behind when they're not looking, and immediately disappear when looked at directly. On Day Two, the apparitions will start to stick around longer, and look familiar, with explorers seeing things that trigger bad feelings, like fear or anger or grief. By Day Three the apparitions will be an almost constant presence, hovering around, visible to everyone, exposing the worst of every member of the team - images of dead loved ones, the scent of perfume or death, the sounds of an explorer's most guilty memory, all of it is there, ready to expose their darkest secrets to everyone around them. On Day Four, the apparitions will start to become more than that, physically attacking characters, enticing them blindly into dangerous places, and otherwise trying to kill them.

The types of apparitions experienced and the amount of exposure of dark secrets is up to player discretion, and characters who are unable to handle the events unfolding are more than welcome to leave and go back to the city. Teams that remain in the compound and explore for the full four days will eventually find a building near the center of the compound, with heavily riveted metal doors that have the words "Central Hub" spray paint stenciled on them and complicated electronic deadbolt locks.

For any thread completed under this prompt, whether or not characters made it to the Central Hub, all participating characters will receive rewards. The first team that makes it to the Central Hub and gets the doors open (in whatever way possible) should respond in this thread to receive the "solution" to what is happening in the area and how the area can become inhabitable.

phase v: 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 credit by submitting it for the Progress Report.

visual inspiration

click on thumbnails for larger view

Credit: image i: Daniel Gstir; image ii: Steven Cormann; image iii: Tom Nemeth

navigation

Comments

Re: Exploration Team 6

[wit_and_sword]

She moved closer to where he stood, as though the angle and position would make all the difference. The result was the same. "I see nothing out of the ordinary."

Atleast, nothing that would or should spark such an alarm; not outside of the usual emptiness of such a place.

Once the lock to the gate was broken, Elizabeth turned back towards the doctor. "Would you take the middle, between myself and Captain Rogers?" Masculine pride be damned. Something had clearly disturbed him, and if there was any way so as to ensure his safety or piece of mind, that was going to take precedence.

Re: Exploration Team 6

[bestsir]

Fortunately, Goodsir is sufficiently aware of his own limitations that masculine pride is not an issue, and he is happy to be flanked by more skilled fighters. "Certainly—I shall try not to get in your way or his." He glances back at where he'd glimpsed the apparition, but still, there is nothing there.

Re: Exploration Team 6

[wit_and_sword]

She follows his gaze, frowning when she still didn't see anything. "You will warn us if you see anything."

They would all keep an eye out of course, but clearly he saw something. Elizabeth herself, she could only note the state of the compound-and how nothing seemed amiss.

When it clearly should.

She used the rifle to pull away any clinging vines or debris in the way. "Something about this place does not look..right? I am seeing no signs of violence."

No sign of struggle, but how else could a place be left this empty.

Re: Exploration Team 6

[bestsir]

"It is most curious," Harry agrees, turning slowly in a circle to look around. He ventures a short distance away—nothing too far from his compatriots—and peers into what seems to be an overgrown fruit orchard. Fat overripe fruits similar to plums lie on the ground where they have fallen, and others hang thickly from the limbs. He reaches up and pulls one down.

No, he isn't going to eat it. But he does inspect it very carefully.

"It is as if the inhabitants simply left."

Re: Exploration Team 6

[wit_and_sword]

"Perhaps, they left for larger shelter?" A weak reasoning if she ever heard one, but it was her only way to see things. No signs of struggle or violence, and she had seen old body parts enough to recognize the scent or appearence of them-this had none.

If a group of people left a perfectly sound fortress, it must have been to search for a better area. "Perhaps we should check the workings? If people have no means of providing for themselves, that could be a reason for them to leave."

An orchid proved nothing. All the signs pointed to this place being deserted for years, and she knew well enough that not all years were good for harvesting, especially when the climate wasn't so predictable. The orchid could have faced a bad year after several, and they all decided to leave.

Re: Exploration Team 6

[bestsir]

"Perhaps there was some failure in the systems," Harry agrees. "The water supply, for example." He gestures toward a small building not far away—a utility shelter, perhaps related to the orchard. "Shall we inspect that building?"

Re: Exploration Team 6

[wit_and_sword]

"Let us hope so." A failing system could be fixed in time. Better that then this happening for more nefarious reasons.

She followed him towards the outbuilding. Though it was difficult to tell, its design didn't lend itself to anything but perhaps a mill or a generator of sorts. Given how it, like everything else, was covered in overgrowth, they would have to get a better look inside to even tell.

Setting her rifle aside, she began to help clear a way inside, all while keeping an eye out for the Doctor. "Are you sure you see no one about?"

Re: Exploration Team 6

[bestsir]

Harry starts clearing overgrowth from one of the windows.

"Nothing," he says. He rubs his sleeve against the glass to clear away the dirt—and then lurches backward so quickly that he falls flat on his arse.

No, no, impossible—Cornelius Hickey could not possibly be inside that building. He must be imagining things—or there's someone else in there who looks very like, and if the latter—

He turns to warn Elizabeth back, but then of course she's seen him react; she's probably already responding in her own way.

Re: Exploration Team 6

[wit_and_sword]

She was working on one of the other windows when she heard him pull back, and to see through her view, she thought she saw..something..or someone. Whoever it was, they were shocking enough to cause such a reaction in Goodsir. Between the expression of terror on his face and the direction of where he was looking, Elizabeth could only imagine who it was.

Reaching for her knife, she rushed over to the door, expecting it to be locked. The door moved with a stiffness of disuse rather than being locked-once more a sign of not being simply leaving.

"Wait here." She said, before starting inside, bracing herself for any sort of attack.

Re: Exploration Team 6

[bestsir]

Harry didn't need to be told twice. He was still on the ground and wasn't even sure that he could get to his feet if he wanted to.

"Be careful," he whispered. "He's dangerous."

If, indeed, it was Hickey. If it was anything at all, Harry thought.

sorry for the delay! tag was lost

[wit_and_sword]

For a moment, she turned and debated helping him to his feet, but if there was a threat and she turned her back to the house, they would both be vulnerable.

She paused in the doorway at his warning, affording him a slight smile even if she didn't turn her head towards him. "So am I."

The next ten minutes were spent in a quick sweep of the place. All the more unnerving and upsetting, the place looked uninhabited, but not unlived; there were tools and papers in all states of disorder, as though no one set bother to tidy them. Surely such documents would be better protected in proper form, and not just left to disintegrate.

But as to any other person, she could see no sign.

Elizabeth sighed and headed back out. "I see no sign of anyone inside, not even in hiding." The frown deepened. "Are you hurt?"

np! it happens.

[bestsir]

Harry managed to get back on his feet whilst she was looking, and when she emerged, he let out a deep sigh.

"No—not hurt, thank you." He frowned. "But now I begin to wonder if there is something about this place that plays tricks on the mind."

Re: np! it happens.

[wit_and_sword]

She didn't like the sound of that, and it was all too clear on her face that she didn't. Something physical wasn't a problem, she could deal well and good with that, but something of the mind was trickier.

"Magic, perhaps," It wouldn't have been the first time, and it didn't really reassure her either. Neither of them had any skill in the art.

"I suggest we take notes and pictures-evidence. Perhaps there's something that requires a more in-depth look. There's certainly no sign of anyone here, and all signs point to a sort of...casual disorder, as though whoever was here left everything with the intention of picking it up or taking care the next day-only to never get the chance."

For one reason or another.

[bestsir]

He nodded agreement.

"We may as well start here, then. If we can restore order to this building while we're at it, it may also serve as shelter for the night—it seems sturdy and defensible."

[wit_and_sword]

Shelter seemed a good idea. Their journey was half a day, and to travel back at night in this environment was just asking for trouble.

"Hopefully we will also find clues as to what happened." She took out her device with its camera function and proceeded to take pictures.

"You are from a time later than myself. Is electricity such a thing in England at your time?"

A rather daft subject to talk about, considering where they were, but she was considering more a sort of diversion.

[bestsir]

"Not in my day." The comment reminds him of the lantern that he packed, so he takes it out, turns it on, and manages to hang it from a ceiling beam. "That is to say—it has not been implemented in any practical or widespread manner."

He starts looking into cabinets and drawers to see if there's anything to suggest what happened here, but it's all mundane things—tools, ledgers, and so forth—but he does find a box of seed packets, which cheers him up a bit.

[wit_and_sword]

The rest of the day passed relatively uneventful, much to Elizabeth's relief. Between the abandoned state of the compound and Goodsir's visions, she would rather have no more surprises. Better than their energy focus on evidence and finding shelter than to worry about any conscious threat.

Mechanics wasn't entirely her strong suit personally, but she could assist, and by the middle of the next day, the generator had actually become functional. Atleast, it could function, but more time would tell before it could generate power.

That left the rest of the place to explore. Breakfast was a quick meal in the first of the smaller buildings they found (the one where they set up camp at the start of this exploration)before moving to explore more of the area.

cw: gore

[bestsir]

Harry's dreams had been restless and he had slept poorly, which he tried to conceal as best he could from Elizabeth as they made their way through the compound. When he started seeing things again in his peripheral vision, he tried to convince himself that it was just sleep deprivation, and that worked for a while.

And that was when he turned a corner around another building and found himself face to face with John Morfin, half his head gone and yet standing.

"Dr. Goodsir," he slurred, and took a staggering step forward. "It's the pain in me head, sir. It's getting worse. Dr. Stanley said you'd have mandragora, sir."

Harry stood rooted to the spot, all but faint with terror but unable to do so much as scream.

Re: cw: gore

[wit_and_sword]

Exploring and looking for hints as to what happened wasn't entirely Elizabeth's strong suit. She could read signs for prey and if someone was near, but to figure if and how people left, that was why she was glad the doctor was here.

She'd collected some notes earlier, searching for him, and when she found him-the look on his face, she knew that look. Then there was the man across from him..his head.

Her hand was immediately at her rifle. "Doctor..?"

Re: cw: gore

[bestsir]

Harry took a step backward, and Morfin followed, shambling, slurring.

"You're dead," Harry said. "You died in the Arctic. You cannot be here, not like this."

"Not very kind of you, Dr. Goodsir," Morfin replied. "Changed, have you?"

Harry staggered backward and fell, trying to flee.