❪ event ❫ THE DESCENT: PART TWO.

[natha]

JULY 16th: THE MORNING AFTER     In the early morning, your characters' phones will buzz with a text from an Unknown ID. It contains an audio file as well as its transcription: DARMA'S MESSAGE It worked. By the miracles of all universes, you survived. It was not ideal by any means, but it was all we can muster with limited time. We hope you can forgive us for your injuries and headaches, and we thank you for working together and helping one another. But now, your journey is just beginning. You must head east to find the Outpost. That shall serve as a fine rest stop. However, there will be danger ahead yet. The beasts you encountered in the simulations are now very real. They will attack, as you are seen as meat. Please exercise caution, Refugee. This shall be my last message for some time. The Moons are protected, but I must rest... I leave the rest to you. INTO THE WOODS     Head east, Darma said— and so you do. That seems to be all you can do. Traversing through woods is not a simple task. Hopefully you have taken advantage of the camouflage outfits offered prior to the start of this great migration. Naturally, for those of you who have done the training modules, some things will be a bit familiar. Some wildlife will mimic what you've seen there. Nevertheless, it'll be crucial for one to keep on guard. While Sael selected the Outlook as the ideal place for landing due to its direct removal from Olympian or Wyver soil, it doesn't come without its own dangers as you venture east. Perhaps it's time to face your fears. PROMPT A. There are many creatures roaming around these parts. Some will blend straight in with the woods, others will be bold and loud. While traveling as a party of about 180, it's quite easy to become targets. Fortunately, that also means strength in numbers. Maybe you've got someone's back on this, perhaps they have yours. Either way, what's quicker way to bond than to face a couple of questionable beasts? Maybe you've ran into a Arache (CW link: arachnophobia), a creature known for mimicking voices, even ones they haven't heard. They weasel their way into your subconscious and pick out voices from your memories, luring their victims deeper into the strange woods with the voices of their loved ones. Sometimes, it's a cry for help; other times, it's a replay of a striking memory. Once its victim steps into its large, barely-visible web, the Arache will store them or start its feast. Or, perhaps, you may encounter a Ditz Moth, as large as a rabbit who are relatively easy to kill, but they leave an awful scent on you the moment they flee or die. Be sure to mask this scent immediately, whether by covering yourself in fresh flowers or soaking in river water for an hour, because it's been known to cause extreme confusion. You'll end up dizzy, you'll confuse your friends for enemies, or enemies as loved ones. Or, you run into something else entirely! The forest is the home for many creatures from many worlds; who knows what you may encounter? PROMPT B. You've been traveling for a fair distance. While this is by no means a desert, the sun begins to settle, leaving an unprecedented heat. Perhaps it's the contrast against the night, but you find it almost unbearable. Lucky for you, the goddess of fortune is smiling upon you. At a distance is a clean lake. One full of lush scenery, and large trees canopying the immediate area. There is lots of shade, and maybe this is just the break you need. Or alternatively, the rations were sparse last night. It barely covered a meal each. Fortunately, this area seems full of wildlife one can hunt. Perhaps, that three-headed rabbit in the distance? Maybe that frog that smells a bit like lavender and vanilla? Additionally, for those who find themselves more inclined to leaving it up to fate— ENTER: OLYMPIA'S WEST OUTPOST     After a full day of travelling, you finally make it to the West Outpost as Darma instructed. You can tell by the way the trail gets neater, flatter. There are some small shops all along the sides of the road, offering trinkets, precious stones, and food. Unfortunately, you don't seem to have the money to purchase anything. The only thing you can do is watch wearily as you approach the West Outpost Gate. Near the gate, you're expected to form a line. The guardsmen seem to be inspecting every person entering. When it's finally your turn, the guardsman seem to know exactly what group you are. He immediately calls you Refugees, then proceeds to open a folder specifically labeled Refugee Group D. You might assume the "D" stands for Darma. He seems to be happy to see your arrival — Anyway, we've been expecting you. You're in luck! You refugees arrived the day after Thesa's blessing, y'know? That meteor shower was a sight to behold! What's your name? Oh, there you are— here, take take this. It's your passport. Gonna need that to get to Olympia. Your sponsors paid for your inns for tonight, so get yourself a room. You're at the last leg before the Capital. Keep your head up, all right? It seems now you are an official Olympian citizen with this passport. As you walk around, there will be an old man about. He sees you holding your bags and passports and approaches you. He has seen the fiasco in the skies from the day before. Naturally, he believes it to be a divine sign, and you the product of that. Which translates to free food. It must be relieving to eat (relatively) normal food after so long. There's also a very special visitor at the Outpost today: a woman by the name of Lysa, who happens to be a renowned healer in Olympia. Following the strange meteor shower, she’s come out of the city and into the outskirts to see it all for herself, this divine phenomenon brought upon by Thesa. While she has no explanation for the sudden occurrence, she stays, because she can sense that her services are needed. Healthy characters will taken by the hand and brought to a wounded fellow refugee. Lysa will then urge them to stay by that refugee’s side, to care for them. Please, do not go. I need a little of your compassion and patience. PROMPT A. If the wounded party has lethal injuries, Lysa will give the healthy character a vial of Screaming Draught to feed to them. It's a strong healing potion known for its ability to regenerate cells. It can close up almost any sort of wound, no matter how large, and can even regenerate limbs. However, its ability comes at a costly price. Seconds after taken, the wounded character will experience an excruciating, constant pain as the healing takes place. Some who have taken the potion may even start to become delirious, seeing hallucinations. If asked about this effect, Lysa looks solemn, remarking that her clinic is too far away and she does not have anything gentler on the body on hand. She urges your character to help the suffering one through this, giving them their comfort and any kind of support. PROMPT B. If the wounded party has smaller injuries, Lysa will give your character a vial of some basic Proliferation Elixir, a weaker healing potion with less devastating side effects. It can heal cuts, bruises and minor fractures. Characters who take it will experience side effects such as dizziness, nausea and a persistent chill. They are still in need of attention, and Lysa will urge the healthy characters to tend to them. Warm them up. Feed them something nice. Keep them from wandering around when they should be resting. Show any kind of care and you'll make Lysa a happy woman. Characters who answer Lysa's pleas will be given a small vial of Proliferation Elixir as a token of gratitude. It's good for one-time use. NIGHTFALL AT THE WEST OUTPOST     As dusk approaches, bustling Outpost quiets down as the flea shops pack up their things to go home. But it seems this outpost is not one that simply sleeps at night. Thesa is high on the skies when the Outpost square lights up. There's music, dancing, and laughter. They seem to encourage you to join them as well. "This celebration is for you! Come, join us!" Perhaps their enthusiasm is infectious enough for you to succumb to it; perhaps you don't understand at all why they're this happy after the hell you went through to get here. It's not like you can tell them what the "meteor shower" actually had been. At least they offer free alcoholic drinks and a great feast similar to those you remember from home. You may find that the drinks are far stronger than any alcohol you've ever had, but it taste like a typical cocktail, or whiskey/scotch/vodka/your flavor drink. Nothing particularly special until you make your way back to the inn. Let's hope you won't walk into the wrong room. FINAL OOC NOTE     This is PART TWO of our three-part intro event. PART THREE will be up on JULY 22ND, at 6 PM EST. In the event of CAPTCHA, we will be providing an overflow. In the event of a second CAPTCHA, players are advised to move threads to an overflow post on their character journals. These threads remain eligible for AC, AC Rewards, and REP. The NETWORK is still down. Characters may still message each other's personal IC inboxes. REMEMBER TO USE COMMUNITY TAGS. RECOMMENDED LISTENING: Nocturn OOC PLOTTING may be continued here. PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE (coming soon) QUICK NAV premise ● faq ● world ● map ● reputation ● npcs taken ● reserves ● application calendar ● hiatus/drops ● modbox [ FULL NAVIGATION ] elnysa nysalogs nysaisles nysaooc elnyan

Comments

[coolerjunpei]

[This pause is a little bit longer, because he's drunk. It's long.]

Yeah, not the "winds up at trial" kind of detective. That part was bullshit.

[jurisdick]

[ what a pause. ]

How so?

[ no, please go on, junpei. this is utterly fascinating. ]

[coolerjunpei]

[He'd care more about dumping these deets if a) he were sober, and b) the earth hadn't been eaten by a cloud. Nothing In Life Matters: a Junpei story.]

I didn't have a license? You know those old movies where the girls with legs for miles come in with stories about cheating husbands and all the guys wear cheap suits? I can't even afford a cheap suit.

[There's an explanation in here... somewhere.]

[jurisdick]

So you're a detective for hire.

[ not officially on the force. still. he shrugs. ]

I can't blame you - if there's a market need, there's no shame in not taking advantage of it. While I may disagree with you on the scruples of some of your means [ breaking and entering? ] the end is somewhat noble.

[coolerjunpei]

Something like that. Not a real cop or a cool secret agent. Just the guy doing what nobody else wants to do.

[Dirty Jobs: detective version. Anyway, breaking and entering doesn't count if the people are criminals. That's what he really believes.]

Not sure I'd call it "noble."

[jurisdick]

[ ew. you're reminding him of akira. don't do that. ]

It's a job that has to be done, isn't it? Choosing that over fame and glory has its merits.

[ does it? ]

[coolerjunpei]

[He can't help his True Feelings...]

Does it? I can't even remember how many times I've wanted to quit and do something easier. Like become a garbageman or something. Nobody bothers garbagemen.

[But anyway now that it's getting Personal,] Where are we going?

[jurisdick]

You'd want to be a garbageman?

[ who the fuck says that.... ]

In life? Or at the moment? [ hah. ]

[coolerjunpei]

[It's peaceful, right........... Look he dropped out of college and has no marketable skills.]

I don't mind getting up early, so why not? [but REALLY,] Aren't we investigating?

[Was it all a sham??]

[jurisdick]

[ maybe he should just do stand-up comedy as a living..... ]

Yes. I figured we could start at the top and make our way down.

[ sure? ]

[coolerjunpei]

[Kids these days love jokes about existential dread, right? Right.]

Oh. Okay. [drunk......help] Uh, going up, then.

[Where are the stairs? He no longer knows, despite having come in here before.]

[jurisdick]

[ are you a fucking elevator, junpei? ]

Do you need a hand?

[ he probably should have thought to offer this assistance earlier, but junpei had been trying to scale a wall, so. ]

[coolerjunpei]

[yes shut up?]

Just point me to the stairs and I'm golden.

[No... he's not. But he's at least bronze.]

[jurisdick]

[ if you aren't first, you're last. ]

If you say so. [ not like he cares. either way, he'll lead them to the stairs he remembers seeing earlier and he begins the ascent. see what i fucking did there? ]

[coolerjunpei]

[delete this thread]

Why are we starting from the top? I missed that.

[He's still following dutifully in the way only drunks with poor decision-making skills can, but: why.]

[jurisdick]

[ negative. no can do. ]

The room I'm staying in is on the first floor. I figured it would be a useful stopping point.

[coolerjunpei]

[this is a cursed thread.]

Oh. Sure. Hang on— [He stops to fish those genuine weird metal scrap bits out of his pocket. Tada.] Okay, I'm ready to do this.

[jurisdick]

[ where's a priest to bless it. ]

Then let's begin.

[ ON TO LOCKED DOOR NUMBER ONE: a rather innocuous looking door at the end of the hall. ]

[coolerjunpei]

[cowering in fear from how cursed this is.]

Alright, watch this. [He's going to be so Cool... or he's going to do this, stoop down to try and pick this lock and remember that he's drunk and just fumble at it instead. He's getting there... getting there... He's slumped against the door and knocking on it weakly, like that will give him the secret.]

Any second now.

[jurisdick]

It's been several seconds, actually.

[ god he's enjoying the hell out of this. it's like watching a train wreck. specular. ]

[coolerjunpei]

Don't be a wiseass. [He stops his efforts in tapping so he can point, accusingly. Stop... Don't.] Come over here and I'll show you how it's done.

[jurisdick]

If you insist.

[ this ought to be good. obligingly, akechi will head over to stand at junpei's side, eying the door with his brow still arched. ]

Step one? [ well? ]

[coolerjunpei]

[Put that thing down. Junpei makes the herculean effort to sit up a little and actually take up his not-really-lockpicks again.]

Step one is not to use crap tools, but we're skipping step one. Here, you do it like this— [That's... that is his whole explanation. He's trying to work over this lock again, now.]

[jurisdick]

Fascinating.

[ he murmurs, sounding intrigued at the very least, hand on his chin. really, though, he's indulging the idiocy of it all. it's good entertainment? ]

I never knew it was that simple.

[coolerjunpei]

Not sure I like your attitude.

[He'll give this lock another good fumble, a good try... And then he gives up. Hmm.]

You try.