cavern explorations.

[acatamods]

I ▫ main IV ▫ premise       XI ▫ applications XIV ▫ activity II ▫ logs V ▫ rules VII ▫ bestiary   IX ▫ canon updates XII ▫ taken XV ▫ drop/hiatus III ▫ ooc VI ▫ faq VIII ▫ setting   X ▫ mods XIII ▫ reserves XVI ▫ players the depths below. exploring the caverns. All of you will have the same entrance into the caverns -- it will involve going underwater and traveling about one hundred feet through a tunnel which breaks into into a massive cavern, full of air. The breeze is mysteriously fresh, for being both underground and underwater, and before you are three massive dark tunnels. It's hard to decide which one to go toward, but inevitably, you are drawn toward a specific tunnel. For your top level comments, include what group you are in your subject line. . You will be in the caverns for roughly one week's time in order to get to the information at hand. That doesn't mean you have to stay below that long, but be prepared to pack whatever you need in order to live down there for that long There will be fish to hunt in the waters and the water itself is fresh, but sleeping on the cold marble-like surface might suck, especially if you're wet. And . . . once you get into the meat of things, what are you going to find? group a. The tunnel by which group A travels down is narrow, to the point of claustrophobia. And along the way, you will run into several obstacles. You will have to travel through underwater tunnels that, again, are narrow and claustrophobic. Stalagmites and stalacites make navigating through the waters treachorous, and getting stuck is not an impossibility. Additionally, as you move through the pathways (both water and not), you begin to notice little lights flickering in the water. At first, you think it may be crystals sparkling in the water . . . but upon closer inspection, you begin to realize that they are bioluminescent eels. How cool! However, about halfway into your journey, you begin to notice that theyre getting a bit . . . larger. And, should you allow yourself to be attacked by them, not only do they bite, they seem to suck out your energy. These eels feast on magical energy, and suffering a bite from one of these eels will completely eradicate your Astoria granted powers for five hours. Have fun with that. Finally, at the end of your journey, you will reach what feels like a dead end . . . in that you come upon a small alcove type area, with no discernable exit. And, upon the far wall, you see what appear to be cave drawings. Intricately carved into the stone, with a language surrounding the pictographs that no one understands, are what appears to be two women. One has longer hair, to her shoulders, holding a white orb in her hand. The other, with cropped hair, appears to be holding a blackened orb in her hand. Their arms are intertwined, connected, but there is a large fracture in the rock, scorched across the woman drawn in white, as if someone (or something) has attempted to blast it to bits. Eventually, upon some investigating, you come across words that you, somehow, do understand, scrawed in a messy text, carved into the stone. Those words? group b. The tunnels that Group B heads down are considerably wide, all things considered. Most of the journey in the tunnels for Group B is above-ground and doesn't involve going underwater . . . which may be a good thing, as the water pathways in this tunnel are deep. The water is still crystal clear, but you somehow still can't see the bottom of it. It looks as if it goes on forever . . . and ever . . . and ever . . . Eventually, though, you come into a second massive cavern, with a huge underground lake. The lake is full of dark shapes that dart underneath the surface -- horses, with the tails of fish, as they pop up to the surface for a gulp or two of air. But when they notice the strangers on the shores of their territory, they circle ranks and edge themselves closer . . . and if you get too close to the shore, you may feel teeth sink into the edge of your coat and an abrupt tug to be pulled into the water. To be clear -- the kelpies themselves are not particularly violent. However, they've never seen otherworlders like you before, and are definitely scared. Not fighting against them will ensure their slow trust, and they will generally leave you alone. But if you attack them? They'll fight back, and they will drag you down to the depths below without a second thought in order to protect their own. Eventually, you come across a third massive cavern, with another underground lake. The water seems to sparkle with energy -- tiny lights dance across the water, skipping across the surface without a care in the world. Touching the water will result in temporary paralysis of whatever you use to touch it -- magic, so powerful that you cannot possibly comprehend it. The energy is too much to handle, and you, too, cannot see the bottom of this lake. However, scattered across the walls, are runes carved into the marble. It's a language you do not understand, but you do come across something that you manage to understand . . . tucked amongst the runic symbols: group c. Group C enters into a beautiful crystalized tunnel, with white crystals jutting out into the tunnel. It looks beautiful, but it makes for treacherous going -- the crystals are razor sharp, and sliding through them requires elegance and grace to avoid being turned into ribbons. Move slowly -- you need to in order to make it through this maze of crystals. Eventually, you make it to a wider tunnel with various deep pools of water scattered along the floor. The pools seem to be endlessly deep, reaching to impossible depths that you cannot see. However, the pools seem to have an . . . alluring feel to them. You are drawn closer to them, curious, inquisitive . . . you want to get into them . . . and if you dip into the pools, watery arms of the sprites that live within these pools glide around you, and coax you into the depths below . . . but you feel calm, serene. Hopefully someone is looking out for you. But as you move through the tunnel with the pools, you begin to notice signs of life. Not necessarily plant life, or animal life, but signs that people are here. There are footsteps from one pool to the next, wet markings that seem to be permanently wet no matter how much you wipe them away. There are watermarks along the walls, handprints against the marble. And as you begin to walk, begin to notice messages scrawled along the walls, carved deep into the marble. Every single word is the same. group d. Unlike those below the surface, the lakeside shores of Lake Dona seem to be relatively peaceful. Nessie is lazily swimming around and offering rides to those that need it, and campfires are soon built up around this makeshift camp of those who are sitting around to wait. The network does work with those in the caverns, so keeping in contact is far easier than it was in Struxta! However, in the last days of the investigation, as Group A, B, and C begin to discover the messages in the caverns, storm clouds begin to roll in. It begins to downpour, a frightening crack of lightning streaking across the side with alarming regularity. And, on the final day of the exploration, a voice seems to float through the deluge. And it isn't Astoria's. But it seems to be . . . odd. And suddenly, a message appears on your watches. ¿ɯǝ ɐǝɹɥ ʎon ɐɔu ˙nʎo ɥǝdl ʇo ǝuǝp ᴉ ˙ʎno ɥǝdl ʇo ɐʍʇu ᴉ ¿ɯǝ ǝɥɐɹ nʎo ɔuɐ What in the hell could that be?

Comments

[fuck1ngusernam3]

u kno what they say. if monsters chase u u only have 2 run faster than the slowest guy

[p_mortem]

[ no... nobody says that, and also you're wrong, Hank ]

What if there's more monsters than us?

[fuck1ngusernam3]

hope u brought a lot of guns i guess

[p_mortem]

Just one. It'd be a disadvantage if we fought, even with guns, though. All they'd have to do is flood the caves.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

with wat their magic flood guns? dont freak urself out w made up shit theres plenty of real stuff there to freak out about nstead

[That's comforting, right?]

[p_mortem]

With a good solid kick to the walls. The caverns are spacious in places, but who knows how thin the walls are? They could easily collapse.

[ comforting! yeah! there are a thousand and one ways to die down here and Minato's been spending the time thinking through every one of them. ]

[fuck1ngusernam3]

wow ur a bigger optimist than me

[Which is. Worrying. Cool. This is a good time for Hank to worry.]

look if they were thin enough 2 kick thru theyd be gone already ur fine

[p_mortem]

I try. Time wears all things down, so I dunno. But anyways, you're right. We're fine. For now.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

mayb u shld try like positivity exercises. like. idk. deep breaths n think of koro n sunshine or sum shit

[p_mortem]

When I think of Koromaru, all I can think of is that he's mad at me for not letting him come.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

welp thats not as bad as were all gonna drown down here so. progress? wat do u like. hamster balls? think of those

[p_mortem]

You don't need to force yourself to cheer me up... I'm not upset.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

yeh well ur kinda makin me upset 4 u so cheer up motherfucker

[p_mortem]

[ yeah this makes him feel much better ]

Sorry.
Easier said than done, though. How does one just "cheer up"?

[fuck1ngusernam3]

[Hank is the best at this. He's a cheer master.]

shit if i knew that my liver wld b in real good shape. idk. positivity stuffs as far as ny1 ever got w me. goin n2 a spiral of all the shit thats gonna fuck u up dwn there isnt gonna help tho. nything u like 2 talk abt i cld distract u with?

[p_mortem]

Livers grow back, so you'll be alright. I'd be interested in your work, if you don't mind talking about that.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

they. do not. do they? i thought it was 1 liver per customer. my work tho ok. wat do u want 2 kno?

[p_mortem]

They do. I think. It's why you can donate part of it and still be alive.
A cool story. Like something out of the movies.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

i feel like i shld b more sure abt this liver shit than i am. i miss google. but ok so if u want a movie i can try 2 remember 1. but u cant get mad when its not actually abt me. all my real cop stories r either sad or boring if u werent there doin it

[p_mortem]

Maybe one of the androids know? They usually have all sorts of things downloaded into their memory banks.
I'll take a sad or boring cop story that's about you.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

ok. this 1s not 2 sad. i just joined up ok n on halloween i get this call sum noise complaint. so i get there n its real quiet. 2 quiet. so i knock and these little old ladies answer the door n theyre like. all weird? maybe this was a bad story 2 tell 2 a kid but im not deleting all that so long story short i came back 2 the station that night w a lot of 1s stuck in my pants

[p_mortem]

Uh. You know, if anything. The story does distract. Don't know if a cop's allowed to be bribed like that though. Noise complains are serious. Some people may be trying to sleep.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

they werent. bribing me. thats not what they were

u kno wat nevermind

were u bein serious i can never tell

[p_mortem]

Sort of. It sounded like a fun time either way.

[fuck1ngusernam3]

yeh the guys who set me up 2 take the call laughed rlly hard n i got a free dinner so win win. wat if i wanted 2 hear a story abt ur life wld that distract u or not a good idea