❪ 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

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[revlon]

[ She nods at his question, tapping a finger lightly to the side of her glass. Whiskey, or something like it. She's about to warn him about the potency of the liquor they're being served but she bites back an amused quirk of her lips when he learns about it soon enough. But given the past few days, they've all earned a good stiff drink. ]

Good point. [ Peggy lifts her glass and angles it to the light, thoughtful. ] Given everything we've left behind on Thesa and at home, that's certainly cause for celebration. Although I don't know if anyone around here knows the finer details of how we've arrived. [ She takes a sip, savouring the burn. ] And I'm not about to offer them to just anyone who asks.

[shashka]

[ given his high tolerance, the alcohol is certainly... something else. he notices the slight attempt to bite back an amused expression, and gives an apologetic look in turn. maybe it was well-deserved. ]

You know, it makes me wonder where they think we came from.

[ and what power the orbiters have over the locals, for that matter. he takes another sip of his vodka, this time more careful. ]

Do you trust our saviors?

[ a simple enough question. but, it was hardly like any of them had a choice at this point. when it was between the deaths of everyone you loved, and uncertain survival, it was clear what had to happen.

but that didn't mean there couldn't be some lingering doubts. ]

[revlon]

[ A simple enough question, true, but only on the surface. Just as Peggy isn't about to tell anyone how they came to arrive here, she isn't about to tell a relative stranger her innermost thoughts on this entire situation. It was both a choice and it wasn't, coming here. Perish or save the handful you can and offer your services in return. Wars are won on compromise, that's a lesson she learned very well, and a hundred times over.

So she hums in answer, at first, and takes a sip of her whiskey. Then: ]

They haven't given us any reason not to. [ But I'm also not one for blind loyalty, she thinks. ] Do you?

[shashka]

[ he observes the look on her face, as speaks again. he can't help but note that she hasn't answered the question. Ocelot takes a smaller sip out of his drink, a smile still on his lips. ]

They've done a lot for all of us. [ and no one is truly that altruistic. ] If nothing else, I'm grateful for what they managed to save.

[ really, the way things were going back home, they were probably in a better state to just start over here. ]

I guess it doesn't really matter, does it? They hold all the cards.

[ So we all have to play along, remains unsaid. ]

[revlon]

[ She doesn't answer the question but neither does he. Interesting, and certainly something to note — and admire, as well. Not everyone can weave their way around a conversation so neatly and Peggy suspects that most people who aren't well-versed in reading between the lines would even notice. But she does. And so, she's sure, does he.

She raises an eyebrow then glances just off to the side, murmuring against the lip of her glass, ]

No one can ever truly hold all the cards. [ The side of her mouth curls in a smile, there and gone. ] But appearing to do so is just as important.

[shashka]

In the end, sometimes a good bluff can even beat a royal flush.

[ to carry on the poker metaphor. he decides that he finds her interesting, if nothing else. and for a moment, is reminded of a conversation he'd had back when they were still on board the Thesa. ]

By the way, you can call me 'Ocelot'.

[ yes, they might've spoken over the devices, but the disadvantage to that was that it didn't exactly have either of their pictures readily available. ]

[revlon]

[ For being a spy, Peggy does have her moments of absolute transparency — in this case, it's the naked surprise in her expression, the way her brows raise and shatter the mask of polite curiosity. ]

Yes, [ she says with a small laugh, extending her hand to shake, ] of course. How silly of me to forget. [ She hasn't forgotten; but their first meeting hadn't exactly been textbook. ] Peggy Carter.

[shashka]

[ a smile begins to creep across his face. he'd suspected a little, but one could never be too sure. ]

I remember. From Omage. [ figures she wouldn't recognize him right off the bat. his American accent is almost impeccable. he takes another sip from his glass. ]

A few more of these, and I'll start to sound sound every bit the perfect Soviet "comrade" again.

[ the word comrade, of course, said with a thick Russian accent. ]

[revlon]

[ It's a strange thing, being on such civil terms with someone who is meant to be the enemy in the time and place she comes from. But this whole situation is strange and she's slowly making her peace with it. As she'd decided when speaking with this man on the station, there's little room for lines drawn in the sand when their governments don't even exist here. ]

Oh, dear. [ She knew a Russian who never let on she was anything but American. Flawless accent. Dottie Underwood, the sweet ballet dancer from Iowa, was also a highly trained Soviet assassin. ] But I happen to be fluent, so if the liquor sets in, don't worry. I can keep up.

[shashka]

[ For Ocelot, things were considerably less strange. he'd never exactly been what one would call a completely loyal patriot (it came with being raised as a spy, after all), not to mention the fact that he counted an American Dog as his closest friend.

as for the English... despite past circumstances... and one man that they'd all thought they could trust... he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. good conversation was hard to come by, after all. ]

What's the saying? "Keep your friends close, and enemies closer?" [ he laughs. now what reason would an Englishwoman in America have to learn Russian? well. he could think of a few that don't matter now. ] I know a few different languages myself. [ he takes a sip of his drink. ] Just don't ever ask me to speak French.

[ he was completely fluent. but it was the worst language known to man. ]

[revlon]

[ Peggy could spin her war record any number of palatable ways — her father could have been a diplomat, she could have grown up travelling the world. But she has no need to offer a cover story here and amongst the locals, it doesn't much matter. Still, she's not about to offer up the finer details of her service for just about anyone, no matter how nice it might be to talk shop with someone who "gets it." The life.

She doesn't know Ocelot shares her occupation. But the truth may show itself soon enough. ]

Mm, something like that, [ is her agreeing hum to the first bit. Then she grins, amused. ] What's wrong with French? I happen to find it a rather elegant language.

[ She'd spent some time with the Maquisards during the war. And so she's fluent as well. It's her Italian that's a little more rusty, although passable. ]

[shashka]

[ at some point, the topic might be bound to come up. but he's not in any hurry to reveal that just yet. keeping your cards close, after all.

but as for the French... ]

That's the problem. All that Catherine the Great aristocratic bullshit. [ pardon the language. ] The tsars were so obsessed with the French and their so-called "enlightenment" that they forgot all about the common man.

[ he might not be what you'd call a "good communist", but this was definitely something that got him. well that, and the fact that from the technicality of being born in Normandy, some idiots might say he was technically French. ]

I'll take almost anything else over the French and their language. Spanish isn't so bad, though.

[revlon]

[ There's nothing to pardon. She served alongside soldiers for about five years and a hell of a lot of them stopped caring about minding their language once the bullets started flying and she proved herself more than capable. ]

Oh, yes? [ she still sounds mildly amused. ] I'll hazard a guess that you're well travelled, to have such strong opinions on the matter.

[shashka]

Of course.

[ he's laid a little bit of information out there for her, just to see what she might make of it.

looks like she's as sharp as she looks. but he's not about to give up the game just yet. ]

I'm a Soviet officer. We often travel more than your typical "comrades". And, I happen to be particularly persuasive, given my experiences.

[ to say the least. ]

[revlon]

[ A Soviet officer. She raises an eyebrow rather elegantly, tapping a fingernail against her glass. ]

And what experiences might those be?

[shashka]

[ his expression remains as calm as ever, and almost unreadable. ]

I've done a few tours of duty around the world. Helped out with training some troops in Vietnam, back in the early seventies. And right before the Storm hit, I was overseeing operations in Afghanistan.

[ all matters of the public record back home, of course. ]