:quality(75)/curiosity-data.s3.amazonaws.com/images/content/thumbnail/standard/e08157f8-0b8b-495b-ba6e-af374c49d84b.png)
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?
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acatalepsy_logs2018-10-04 09:55 pm
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Well, I hope all this weird shit doesn't make me finally lose my marbles, but I despair that it probably will. So am I at 'eternal night' or 'weirdly long evening' or 'five minute noon'? Where's that fall on your fancy foreboding poetry scale?
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[What is this conversation even turning into at this point.]
Sorry I guess it was pretty literal. But it does make me wonder...did she mean all humans despairing or something else?
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[Naoya doesn't answer right away, preferring to mull over Hank's words.]
A lot of things back home didn't make much sense.
[She wasn't a fairy either. The fairy he knew overcharged to heal them. Best not to talk about that now, however.]
Well...whatever happens here, I hope you're around to remind me not to charge in, my only gun blazing. I don't always have that voice in my head to use common sense.
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[Hank says it dryly, looking deeply unconvinced. Who needs common sense when you can just summon your demon lion bullshit to eat people?]
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I don't know, especially if--[He pauses there, about to say something they decides not to.] -- actually never mind. I might have been the leader of my team back then but I was nothing if I didn't have the advice of others. What if I rush at something without thinking and they just wipe the floor with me? Us old-timers need to stick together, right?
[It's a joke but he is technically older than Hank in birthdates.]
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[Hank draws back a little, just looks at him.]
Oh yeah, I see it now. Look at all those gray hairs.
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[Still disappointed by the lack of flying cars.]
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[Your friends suddenly decades older, totally different people? That would suck.]
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No, we didn't know each other at all. The only thing that makes us similar is our powers...they don't even know about the SEBEC incident at all.
I guess it makes sense, but it does make me the old and busted model.
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[Hank considers him, then shrugs.]
Well. Welcome to being outdated. Happens to all of us eventually. Do they have better uh, better magic tricks than you or something?
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[At least he's good enough to talk to Hank on his magical trick level instead of pulling out Personas and alternate universes and all of that.]
What about the person who is here with you? Are they someone you know or knows about you?
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At that, he can only smile.]
Well I guess I now know where you stand in the boxers vs briefs debate. You're pretty tall...must be harder to get outfits your size. Reiji walked around without a shirt at school so they nicknamed him Captain Naked.
[Six feet in Japan is like a giant.]
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That's a good one. Not super creative, but it's got pizzaz. Just what you want with a nickname. Thank god I had a shirt though, that would have been... too much. Those uh, ghost butler guys seem to do okay at making clothes, though. Not great, but okay. Better than anything else I have here.
late tags ahoy
[He may have tried a few times. Ahh, friendship.]
Maybe I should ask them to make me a superhero outfit. I could go change it behind a tree when I use my Personas or something.
[He just wants to look snazzy too. Before he can say anything else, a bolt of lightning streaks across the sky.]
Geeze, this is getting intense.
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Don't worry, if I get crispy fried you can always just say 'I told you so'.
[He sighs, staring up at the sky for a second before rubbing the rain out of his eyes.]
You know, hearing about that creepy power shit almost doesn't freak me out anymore? I mean, I don't love it, but.
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...You start to tolerate it, yeah. I didn't have much time to think about it when it happened to me...it was a use the power or die. [He looks down at his hand.] But once I used it...I can't even begin to describe what it was like.
[He looks back at him and shrugs.]
Still I'll try not to talk about it too much when I can!
[Thumbs up, even as more lightning strikes in the background.]
Are you sure you don't want to go back to shelter?
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I’m sure I want you to sit the fuck down. What the hell are you doing?
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[Hank as a lot more strength than Naoya would have given him credit for and he falls right back to the ground.]
I was just worried if lightning struck, I figured I could stand up and take it so it doesn't strike you, that's all.
[Yes. That's all. Just being a human lightning rod, nbd Hank why are you freaking out so much?!]
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[Hank sounds less than impressed. Like, a lot less. He is negative impressed.]
First of all, you're not far away enough from me for that to matter. Second of all, if you take that as constructive criticism I'm going to tie you down. Is getting struck by actual lightning just not a big deal for you? You really trust your fancy stupid superhero powers that much?
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I would have walked off a little...it's not with the right Persona. [But as he says that...] ...ah. Hmmm. You might be right.
[They disappear briefly as another bolt strikes. Right. Not always active.]
I guess it might be better to sit down.
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Yeah, it might be. Not that I got any of that other stuff but, you know what, that's fine. Just sit here and wait it out with me, okay? If you really want inside you can roll there, none of that lightning rod shit.
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