: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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(Himself, maybe, but not her.)
With her help, he finally gets one to catch, and feeds it into something large enough to survive the breeze. Nobody is on fire. ]
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You packed cleverly, [ she notes. ] Are you accustomed to these sorts of excursions?
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Well enough. Not in this sort of terrain, specifically, but during Grado's invasion, my knights and I were beyond the border without supply lines or outposts. Experience is a most effective teacher, in such situations.
[ They got the idea, very quickly, about what they actually needed and what could be ignored as deadweight. ]
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Would you like to know something fantastical?
[ She holds her smile like it's the punchline of her own private joke, slight but pleased and knowing. ]
Your world exists on the fringes of my own. Magvel is a continent we have consistent lore of. [ He's mentioned Grado to her by name, and Renais. Not Magvel. It's laid out regardless, her own little card to play. ] It took me some time to put it together - you are Fado's son, yes? Many years in our past, they affectionately titled you the Restoration King.
[ Well, that won't give him a complex or anything. :D She seems wholly oblivious how odd this is, and merely excited to share it with him. ]
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He looks stunned at that, but he doesn't doubt her for a moment. Because he'd mentioned countries, but never his father's name - not only to her, but to anyone here.
And more importantly, because it's Lucina, and she's been nothing but forward and truthful, if reserved. Lying about this isn't her. ]
Truly?
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Truly. When I was a girl, my father used to tell me tales of all the great kings. Marth, yourself...
[ Assume she names at least one more
I didn't sleep at all last night so after almost ten minutes of squinting at the wiki I gave up ]
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He sits back for a moment, thinking about that. Wow. Wow?? Having his name casually tossed into a list of great kings is certainly something he hadn't been expecting to hear (take that, Father MacGregor!), but that, in itself, isn't what's significant here. Ephraim's never paid so much heed to the opinions of others as he does to his opinion of himself; someone could sing his praises all day and he wouldn't be satisfied if he still knew he could do better.
A title like "Restoration King," though... ]
It sounds as though Renais recovered well from the war, then?
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[ Infrastructure repair and economic growth... not that interesting to a young princess! Who knew. ]
And these are only tales passed down from generation. I imagine they've changed somewhat in the re-telling.
[ To put it bluntly, she doesn't know, and doesn't want to have him coasting on what may be a happier fabrication painted over an uglier reality. Who knows how things might have been lost or added in translation? And yet, finding it hard to disappoint him, she adds - ]
But you're here, and you are evidently as real as anything. If you want it to be so, you can certainly make it so.
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- well, it's not really the time to brood on that. ]
It will be so.
[ And if he says it enough times, even his innermost doubts will be forced to shut up and believe it! ]
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Lucina is silent for a moment, hands growing lighter against her hair. Her effort to untangle grows more perfunctory, something to finish only because she started it, while her attention is less divided. More given to him. ]
Ephraim?
[ ... ]
Did I say something amiss?
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[ He smiles - albeit the small, rueful one. ]
Forgive me, it's not like me to...brood, so.
[ It's the separation, maybe. Action suits Ephraim better than waiting, and were he back home now, with things in front of him that needed to be done - well, he'd simply roll up his sleeves and dive into it. Being a world away and unable to do anything to take himself back there, however...it seems to bring out the things he'd normally be able to shove aside and work through. ]
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My apologies. I thought knowing that would bolster your confidence, not make you despond.
[ hopefully they don’t get stuck in an endless loop of apologies ]
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No, you needn't apologize. I am unaccustomed to having nothing right before me, to act on rather than worry about.
[ Getting out to explore the caves helps a bit, perhaps, but there still hasn't been the sense of urgency that might be able to shove the unwelcome thoughts back into the corners of his mind. ]
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Perhaps a quick bout would help shake off those cobwebs?
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You know the way to my heart.
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Walk it off, she tells herself, although not in such particular phrasing. Sheryl may have put some notions in her head but it's Lucina's call if and when she gives them any oxygen to thrive. Here and now, she'd much rather spar with a friend.
(Just... just ignore the turn her smile takes, and how it might give her away.)
Standing up, she offers him a hand to do the same. There's a fairly clear spot a few feet away from their fire, where no bystanders are likely to get caught in their mischief.
Although, let's be real, people are going to wonder what these two weirdos are doing regardless. ]
The same rules as before, I expect?
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He hardly needs a hand to get to his feet, but he still takes it without hesitation. ]
If you've no objections.
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None whatsoever.
[ Some exercise will do her some good, she thinks, after her little near-drowning with Connor, and then this. (Unwanted dokis! The worst!) As soon as they're in formation, she strikes out quick and without telegraphing her intentions. Falchion cuts smoothly through the damp air, still as mint-sharp and shining as the day it was forged. Unlike him, she doesn't begin with a feint, but a very real and pressing attack toward his center mass.
Sup. ]
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He likes her perfectly well when they're being thoughtful, but this - this is what he really likes to see, how fearlessly she forges forward despite whatever advantages her opponent may hold.
He half steps to move out of the way, half catches the strike with a parry of his spear, seeking not to stop her movement but simply to deflect it just enough to slip past him without incident, and leave her to recover from her own momentum. The counterattack comes immediately after, a low strike aimed at her legs. ]
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His riposte works, sending her reeling and forcing her to re-adjust. She may not be directly hit by his underhand sweep but she's hardly at her most precise in the moments following. He's forced her on the defensive quicker than before, but - but that's fine, it isn't like she hasn't adjusted her close-quarters combat technique for a hundred different situations across a hundred different battles.
Lucina follows up with a two-handed attack, feinting left and slashing right... But her boots, still as damp as they are, skid a little worryingly against the ground. Hopefully that won't be important later! (It will be.) ]
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He catches her next attack, again offering just enough resistance to redirect her momentum and get an attack in before she regains full control. ]
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In sharp contrast to his graceful defeat some days before, Lucina is forced to hide the slightly fraught look in her eyes. For a moment, she's plainly back in her future, at her knees in front of a towering Risen - but then that moment ends, mercifully so, and she can easily chalk the shivering up to her lingering dampness. ]
...Well done.
[ She starts to get back to her feet, a faint - unassuming - smile lingering about her lower face, not quite touching her eyes. ]
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Bro code. ]
You don't make it easy.
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I am confident in your ability to rise to the occasion.
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I'm glad to have a partner who demands my best.
[ Does he realize how he sounds? Of course he doesn't. ]
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