riverviewlogs | [closed] Mission: Don't Wake the Deity

Entry tags:

[closed] Mission: Don't Wake the Deity

who: Akihiko Sanada, Nico di Angelo, Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric, Rin, Keith, Lyle Dylandy, Khisanth (Onyx), Jason Todd, Ava Orlova, Morgana, Takashi Shirogane, Yuffie Kisaragi, Chloe Decker, Lucifer Morningstar, Thor Odinson, Link
what: Mission: Don't Wake the Deity
when: Friday, July 28th - after the scouting party has returned and shared their information
where: The Abandoned City and surrounding woods
warnings: Violence, probable monster attacks, mind control/people being compelled, etc. Will add more warnings as needed.

[Taken from the June TDM, with some additions:]

Whether you've just arrived in the city or you've been here a while, and you have a sensitivity to the spiritual, magical, multidimensional, or anything else outside the realm of everyday normal, you've probably noticed a distinct uptick in weird feelings, strange nightmares, or daymares - hallucinations of scary things that are lurking just behind you.

You're not the only one who's noticed it.

There are rumors going around that the psychological and spiritual disturbances are due to the emergence or re-emergence of a deity. Some people say that it's something new that's come through the portal with the sharp increase in new arrivals recently, and others say it's simply an ancient spiritual presence or some ancient incorporeal monster that's been somehow awakened. Gramarye, the top-tier magic research center in Riverview Quarantine, has been studying anyone who's felt this presence, and have recently confirmed that whatever it is, it's being fed by all the extra energies and prayers and thoughts as the city's population increases. The one thing everyone agrees on is that, if the expanding community is feeding the entity, then the entity has got to go!

A scouting party recently travelled into the Abandoned City and forests outside the walls to search for leads or any other evidence of a way to solve the problem. After a day of searching, the team stumbled upon an abandoned temple. While it didn't seem like much, its exterior run-down and wood rotting amongst the centuries' old mulch and muck, it felt... unsettling. Alive, almost. One member of the party could feel a powerful presence emanating from it; realizing they were out of their depth, the team returned to the Quarantine to relay the information and obtain reinforcements.

Teams are now being assembled across the city to travel into the Abandoned City or the forests outside the walls and find this temple once more. The mission might be dangerous, though - there are the usual dangers of venturing out into the wilds, but this time, characters may also face booby traps, spectral or physical guardians, and if the entity itself gets awoken? Someone may have to kill it.

[So this log will be set up in 'stages'. The first few headers will be closed to each of the teams for initial travel meetings, camping, monster fights, etc. Feel free to post your own top-levels underneath and tag out, mingle, whatever you'd like. Headers for further 'stages' of the mission (such as once all the teams meet up at the temple/deity hideout) will also be posted so that teams can intermingle/have more CR.

Since there are so many people involved, consider this one big mingle thread in the vein of the TDMs. Here's a link to the google doc for those interested as well.]

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Ed glances up at the sound of a voice, but he doesn't let it distract him - also aware of something approaching, although not so much to detect the size of it. "I've had a little a practice." He calls back, sounding entirely unimpressed by the concept of an audience, but not yet outright annoyed by the other's presence.

When the monster is near enough that even he's aware of the size though, he realizes he might be a little in over his head. So when the creature's gaze turns on him with what appears to be full on intent to attack, Ed forgets the blade. Instead he claps his hands together again and drops to the ground, shooting spikes of rock and soil up under the thing to take it down instead. Although it lets out a rather angry cry it doesn't seem to be fatally injured, writhing against the spikes that had impaled it in an attempt to get free.

"Damn it, what do I have to do to kill that thing?!"

Rin claps excitedly, like a spectator watching an arena match. He even winces theatrically as the monster's bones crunch, as its blood spurts on the mossy jungle floor. The head tumbles over by him, and he prods it delicately with his foot.

"Most impressive," he says. He squints through the treeline, his red eyes seeming to glow infra-red in the near dark, his expression shifting from amusement to alertness. There's another one coming--an armored warthog kind of creature, with a scorpion's tail and massive, slavering jaws. It's much closer to Rin than to Nico, and this he does not like. He throws the dagger in his hand, precise and swift, and there's a whimpering sound from the brush. The monster staggers forward, groaning, blood dripping from one pierced eye.

"Ready for round two?"

"Style is important," Rin says, in a tone that suggests he's totally not judging. Not too much, anyway. He cants his head to one side as the spirit fades away, wondering what it was, exactly--an independent creature, a spell given corporeal form, something else entirely? What did the ritual with the gun mean? A symbolic sacrifice? He's rolling all those questions around in his head when the other monster, groaning, starts to shamble towards them.

Rin makes an irritated noise in his throat. He draws a dagger from the depths of his tunic sleeve, then spins on his heel, throwing it directly into the plant-man's vine-choked heart. Blood like sap oozes from the wound as the thing crumples to its leafy knees.

"So is finishing the job," he adds, stepping forward, another dagger already somehow in hand.

"Hmm," Rin says, squinting at the monster, seemingly nonchalant. It's a big one, covered with tough, slate-grey skin and sporting a vicious, club-shaped tail. Not an easy creature to sneak up on, he surmises. But Ed's spikes had pierced the monster's skin--not all the way through, not entirely, but enough that Rin can see the grey plates sloughing off as the creature struggles to free itself. There's one particular, shiny patch on its chest, a strip of skin that looks as soft and dewy as an infant's belly.

Quick as a whip, Rin draws a knife from somewhere in his vest, then throws it, aiming right for that exposed spot. The wickedly curved dagger buries itself in the creature's chest, and it howls, its dark blood spilling acidic on the ground.

"Look for the soft bits," he says.

"That's one way of putting it," Nico replied, nodding. And, he figured, in a quest like this (because it was very much like the quests he's been on), whatever worked was always the best way to go. Because demigods were notorious for not planning and for going with the flow and Nico was one such demigod. His ADHD made sure his attention span was limited, except during battles, and his blood was always pumping fast in case he was faced with an enemy. Being a demigod was a dangerous way to live, but Nico had learned how to defend himself and pulling up zombies or skeletal soldiers was one way he could do that.

So Keith had been affected by his aura, Nico realized. It just seemed he'd powered through it to face the task at hand. An impressive feat, he thought, given some people would pee their pants. It made him respect Keith all the more and wonder vaguely what he might've been through that made it easy for him to withstand such fear. It must've been a hard life, one with a lot of danger, and Nico was slow to respond, wiping off his blade before sheathing it.

"Something like a spell. It's an aura. I can expand and shrink it as much as I want, but mostly I keep it under wraps," he explained, hands moving as he spoke. "It's one of my powers. I kinda inherited it from my dad."

Making a note at the glove ( not completely uncommon, he thinks, as he recalls the Elrics and their gloves ), he gives a firm handshake as well. Then, dropping his hands to his sides, he shrugs a little. "What made you decide to join the team?" he asks, one hand settling on the hilt of his sword out of pure habit.

Raising his brows at the clapping, Nico only spares Rin a glance. Not because he doesn't like the guy. It's more that he's trying to stay focused. Which isn't actually that hard to do. Nico's in the moment, his demigod ADHD keeping him moving on his feat and ready for the next strike. When it comes, it's in the form of the staggering monster.

"Not bad," he says, regarding the way the monster's eye is still embedded with a dagger. It was a good throw and he doubts he would have such good aim. Then again, he's no son of Apollo, so he figures it's okay.

But such thoughts are interrupted as the monster staggers closer. Nico is ready, and before it can lunge, he rushes forward with his sword swinging in a wide arc. Soon enough, the monster is collapsing onto the forest floor, not dissolving into dust, much to Nico's disappointment.

"I'll never get used to that," he says, apropos of nothing.

If this had been any other situation, Ed might have joked about how alchemy was convenient in a pinch, but this was serious and the trip wasn't exactly short. Combined with the monsters, plus not knowing what could lie ahead for them all he was a little too tired for quick wit.

"No problem. Things out here can be pretty unpredictable."

Oh, it hadn't been easy to power through, but Keith had this weird ability to power through a lot of things. It was his default mode. Injuries, mind tricks, and he'd put it all to the test recently with the Blade of Marmora. Considering the trials had put him through both a severe physical challenge with the battles, but also a mental test by feeding him hallucinations that twisted his memories and the people he cared about, dealing with some of his deepest seated issues, an aura wasn't something he couldn't figure out how to muscle through by swallowing his feelings about it.

"An aura." He knew what an aura was on a basic definition level. He'd never actually been exposed to one that he knew of, unless sensing the Blue Lion's energy could be considered that. Either way, he didn't want to think too hard about it. "Who's your dad?"

Lyle certainly wasn't actually feeling something physical by, at least probably not to the level that Keith was feeling it, but there was definitely something weird going on and the atmosphere was not normal. So he figured that's what Keith was talking about and nodded.

"Yeah, this is really weird. I understand completely. Don't know what's causing something so you have to get answers."

All seriousness here. Not even joking about that. He had almost been attacked by a monster and had been saved by alchemy-created spears stabbing it quite thoroughly.

"I'll be more careful."

Yeah, he knows the long range gun part of this is useful, but if he's essentially a sitting duck that needs to be saved every five minutes, he's better off trying to club them with the butt of the rifle.

Keith nodded.

"Exactly. That's why I'm out here."

He glanced around at the woods. The feeling had been getting weirder the closer they got to their goal.

"It's like we're being watched... or stalked. I keep thinking that something's going to attack us." Like... they were being hunted. It bothered him.

Alas, Nico didn't know what kinds of things Keith had been through. For all he knew, his interactions with aliens had been rather mundane. But if he did know, he'd have even more respect for the other teen, because it would've taken a lot of guts to go through what he'd experienced. And Nico was never the type to disregard someone's experiences.

But that was a possible topic for another time. At the moment, the focus was on him and Nico felt a little uncomfortable with the attention. Still, he figured he might as well answer. For all he knew, Keith wouldn't recognize the name of his father.

"My dad is the god of the Underworld for the Greek Pantheon. You said you're from Earth, right? Have you ever heard the name "Hades" or maybe "Pluto"?

Keith frowned a bit.

"Yeah... but more in reference to the planet than actual mythology," he said. His specialty had been space pilot, not history. But, now that they were talking like this, Keith noted that the crazy cold creepy feeling had gone away, which also made him realize that he was still holding his weapons... rather tightly, too.

He forced himself to relax, both blades retracting... the dark one with the glowing purple emblem shrinking down to a dagger that he slid into a sheath on the back of his belt, and the red and white one disappearing so only the round handle remained. He held that near the two blue lights at the top his thigh armor for a moment. The lights flashed, and the handle disappeared in a flash of light.

"I uh... didn't think those stories were real."

Though, the idea of alternate dimensions and worlds was still pretty new to him.

Lyle looked around at the woods as well when Keith looked off into the distance. It was dark and eerie once outside the reaches of the fire. One could practically imagine creatures moving just outside of view.

"Yeah, it does. I don't really like that feeling, but as long as we have the fire going, we can see them... and we don't wander outside the light."

His own attention follows Nico's hand to his sword, with just a curious once over. It's not that he didn't have two friends who also specialized in swords.. he just wondered if it might have its own quirk. He perked up a bit at the question, posture a little straighter as he scratched at his cheek.

"..Good way to meet people?" A smile cracked on his face. "I just figured I might be able to help; I'm new here but it seemed like something I could do. How about you?"

i. Start

After hearing the information about this temple, Shiro had been intrigued. He still felt that it would have some answers they needed to figure out this place so he had of course agreed to come along. He had thought on it for some time, but Shiro thought it would be better if he and Keith were on separate teams because after training together so many times, they had a similar style. It was better to not have them both on the same team.

He had packed light, only what he needed but he did have his paladin armor other than that he seemed to be unarmed.

He walked along with the group, keeping an eye out for anything that might be coming their way. He carried himself like he knew what was going on whether he did or not.

ii. Camping

Shiro already had trouble sleeping on a normal basis so he knew he wasn't going to get much sleep tonight. He had camped out by the fire, sitting quietly and listening for any sounds of potentially dangerous creatures around them. It wasn't exactly the most exciting job, but Shiro wanted to do it.

iii. Monster fight
Fighting was something that Shiro was used to and when the monsters made their appearance, Shiro was ready. When something got close enough to him, his right hand activated, glowing purple, and he slashed at the creatures as though his hand were a sword, cutting through anything that was in front of him.

"Yeah..."

Keith narrowed his eyes at the darkness behind the edge of their circle before looking back at Lyle again.

"I'm Keith." He held out his hand.

Keith had taken up a position on the perimeter of the group, both his blades at the ready. The monster fighting leading up to this place had given him enough reason to be wary coming inside, so he kept his guard up as they entered. As he came near Ed at one point, he caught the familiar glint of silver from his hand. Was that...?

He'd seen Ed using a blade at certain points during the journey here, but it had just looked like a double-edge blade like his bayard. He hadn't looked closely enough to notice that it had been attached to Ed's arm... or, for that matter, actually was part of Ed's arm.

He hesitated, not sure if he should say anything or not, and decided not to for now. He knew Shiro wasn't exactly comfortable talking about his experiences, so he didn't want to get Ed potentially upset when they were going into something that might be dangerous. Instead, he had some questions about the temple.

"You guys scouted this out already, right?" He kept his voice low as to not attract too much attention from anything that might be lurking. The sensation of being watched and followed and stalked had intensified big time in here, and Keith was feeling it acutely. He almost had chills, and it felt like every little hair on his body was standing on end.

"Lyle." He extended his hand to Keith so they could shake hands. "Nice to meet you."

He glanced back at the darkness before looking over at the fire.

"Do you need something to stay awake? Assuming you're planning on spending all night out here."

"Same."

Keith considered the offer for a moment.

"No... I think I'll be okay." He was too on edge to really sleep. It would keep him awake long enough on its own. "Thanks, though."

The sword does have its own quirk, one that Nico was trying to keep under wraps. It's made of Stygian Iron from the River Styx and when draw, leeched a feeling of fear and death. That's why it's in its scabbard at his hip for the moment as he doesn't want it to affect those around him.

"Gods are kinda my thing," he explains, gesturing with his free hand. In fact, they are definitely his thing, especially fighting them. But explaining that he's a demigod seems a bit too much so he shrugs.

Akihiko stores his questions about the blade or Nico's other skills for now, knowing he can come off pushy with too many questions. As it was, it would be interesting when it did come out.

"If fighting them was a big thing for you I don't envy your back-home." His tone is amused despite the dry words, adjusting his pack to prepare to trek out. "I've got your back- though I have less experience with gods than just plain old monsters." Some of them could get really big.. he figured that counted for at least a little, right?

She's yet to get used to the strange culture of this place. How different the environment is to the hustle and bustle of LA; or, more to the point, the odd new characters she's been coming across more and more lately. Chloe eyes the armor and weapons before meeting Link's gaze.

"Kind of," she admits. "Considering I've never done anything like this before -- hunting deities or monsters and the like -- being anything except cautious seems like a bad idea. This will be my first time even outside the wall."

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[closed] Mission: Don't Wake the Deity

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