acatalepsy_logs | cavern explorations.

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cavern explorations.

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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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[ If it weren't for these beans, the only other things Minato would have eaten this entire week is a single apple and he licked the wall in another thread. So thank you for these life-sustaining beans. He will make these last and savor them by stabbing each with the tines of the fork one by one. ]

"Spelunking" sounds a lot cooler than what we're doing. Which I don't know what that is. [ Spelunking at least sounds like exploring and running around and enjoying some breathtaking scene, not trying to traverse a crystal death field and camping out near drug fume pools of water. ]

What sort of place did you used to live in? Caves aren't what I think of first when I imagine where ostriches live. [ or chocobos or whatever ]

[ To be fair, Prompto's usual version of spelunking includes a lot of Cup Noodles and getting kidnapped by snake ladies, which is definitely a thing that happened to him once. But retelling it, it sounds much cooler than it seemed to be at the time.

With less finesse than Minato, Prompto scoops up a forkful of beans and jabs them into his mouth, talking through his food. ]

Eos? Oh, it's...amazing. You have to see it to— [ His eyebrows fly up, and immediately, he reaches for his back pocket. That's right! They were supposed to talk more about photography when he wasn't plague-ridden anymore. ] Actually, you can see it! I've got tons of pics on my camera, dude.

[ Yeah, he'd pass on the kidnapping, but living off cup noodles is something Minato thinks he can handle. But maybe it'd be worth it if they got kidnapped to somewhere interesting, as he has full expectations the ostrich wilderlands will be when Prompto sings his praises of the place.

Eating can wait- Minato sets his can down next to him so he won't accidentally dribble anything over the camera. ]

I want to see. I can't believe you actually brought your camera. ...I can't believe I left my phone behind. Pictures here would turn out pretty cool.

Heh...yeah, this miiiight not be the safest place for a camera, but I just couldn't leave it behind. It's paid off, too!

[ The sights in the cave are quite breathtaking, after all, even if it is a little cold and damp. Besides, Prompto's camera survived the likes of the Vesperpool and the Rock of Ravatogh. One simple cave should be no problem! (Is it waterproof? Is it flameproof? We just don't know, but it goes with Prompto everywhere.)

As he leans in, Prompto tips his camera towards Minato so he can get a better look at the screen. It takes him a moment to flip past all the pictures he's taken since he became a part of the Circle, but finally he reaches those from his homeworld. Minato will see the likes of these as Prompto scrolls through. A lot of scenic landscapes and smiling faces, just the way he likes it. ]

These don't really do it justice, but...Eos is a pretty incredible place.

[ "Incredible" is probably an understatement, but it's the only word Minato can come up with when he looks through the pictures, eyes chasing after each one as Prompto scrolls through them, and he's even lucky enough to see some familiar faces in unfamiliar places in the other worlds the Circle had gone to before his arrival.

Eos is beautiful, but it's the people in the pictures that really make it. ]

It looks nice and warm.

[ The general atmosphere of the picture, and the place as a whole, with everybody standing there as a group. ...It looks hot, actually, but maybe that's just him thinking about ostriches and remembering they live in the desert. Maybe it's because everybody's wearing black leather and Minato would die wearing leather. ]

These are your friends?

Yeah. Not to brag or anything, but they're kiiiiinda the coolest friends a guy could ever ask for. You might see Noct and Gladio around the Circle, too.

[ And up until recently, Ignis, too, but he's recently departed back to home and Prompto doesn't draw attention to the fact. Better to focus on positive things right now, while they're in this cold, dank hole in the ground, eating cold beans. There are seldom better times to talk about cherished friends, anyway. ]

I got to travel all around the world with those guys...pretty amazing, huh?

[ It wasn't easy. It sure as hell wasn't easy. But Prompto wouldn't trade those experiences for anything. ]

[ Those aren't names that Minato recognize, but he stows them away as a reminder to keep his ears out for them in the future. ]

It is pretty amazing. [ It's hard to think anything otherwise, even if he's sick and tired of moving around so often and never staying anywhere for more than a handful of months at a time... getting to do that with friends doesn't sound too bad at all. ]

So, is your buddy the king one of these guys? You gotta be rich to go on a road trip all around the world... hotels are expensive...

[ That wins an easy chuckle out of Prompto as he sets his camera down again to retrieve his beans. ]

Heh, yeah, that's Noct! [ That's right...Prompto had mentioned being friends with a king when he was sick, hadn't he? That whole conversation is something of a blur, but he remembers most of it. Just...not in what order things happened. ] But we were actually pretty much broke when we hit the road. The main form of currency outside the crown city is totally different than what's used inside.

[ Which makes no sense, okay, but video game logic. ]

That's why we started hunting monsters. Gotta pay the bills somehow!

[ A broke king... Maybe he was exiled? It doesn't seem like a proper thing to ask, especially given that it's in the past and really doesn't matter anymore, aside from satisfying Minato's curiosity. ]

Bounty hunting monsters. That's funny.

[ Not in the "haha, very funny, I don't believe you" sort of way, but the exact opposite. He picks up his beans again too. ]

My team and I used to do the same thing.

Whoa, really?

[ It's not that he's surprised to hear that there are monsters in Minato's world - on the contrary, he's pretty convinced that monsters are in every world at this point. But he hadn't really...pegged Minato as a combatant. No offense, dude.

Then again, most people probably wouldn't peg Prompto himself as a combatant, so he doesn't have room to talk. Still, he wears his surprise openly. Maybe Minato picked up that stabby crystal for a reason... ]

...So, you more of a swords guy? Knives? Polearms? Guns?

[ He's partial to guns. ]

[ For the most part, he's a summoner, preferring to hit elemental weaknesses when he's able to and stay back so that he can watch the entire battlefield without something something in his face. But if Prompto's curious about weapons... ]

Swords are easiest to use, since they leave my other hand free to summon. But I've used other things too- axes and spears and bows and arrows.

[ Bus stop signs, boxing gloves, basically everything except the most basic of weapons that is a gun, but he would rather not have two guns and mix them up. ]

[ Wow, that's quite the armory. Though he's occasionally swung a blade, Prompto usually has his guns a-blazin' at all times when on the battlefield. There's something else that Minato mentions that catches his attention more, though. He has heard about summoners from different worlds before, but it's still a fairly special power, as far as he's concerned. After all, the only ones who can summon in his world are of the Lucian royal line, and his BFF, specifically. Could Minato summon something like the Astrals like Noctis can?

He leans forward, his eyes light with keen interest. ]

Whoa...you're a summoner, too? Can you, like, call on spirits, or something? [ ... ] Do you use a deck of cards?

[ He saw it in a TV show once... ]

Spirits? Yeah, among other things. [ But some of his favorites are spirits. His ghost dog, for one, but also gods and goddesses and demons and angels. Then things like pumpkins and blobs of slime and whatever too. ]

I don't summon from a deck of cards, but the power can be represented as cards. It's kinda hard to explain... I wish I could show you, but I don't really want to do it out in the open.

[ He shrugs, somewhat apologetically, and returns to his beans. Maybe if they get lost in one of the tunnels and there's nobody around to see, then he'll feel a little more secure about doing it. ]

Seriously? Man, I was sorta kidding about the card thing...

[ But it's good to know that anime has basis in real life, even if it's not real life in the world he comes from. They just have, you know, monsters and daemons and scary gods that help his friend when he needs it. ]

If our powers're still on the fritz when we get back, maybe I could take a raincheck! What d'you say?

[ Because he'd love to see it, if he can. He's been learning about all the cool things his friends can do lately. ]

There's magic circles involved somewhere too.

[ He's just not the one that uses those circles. But anyways, those are more expected in monster summoning than cards, probably, and Minato doesn't claim to understand how any of it works. So long as it does work, and works when he needs it to, that's good enough. ]

But yeah, I'll show you sometime later. Hopefully this magic thing stabilizes soon.

Yeah, no kiddin'! That'd be nice, wouldn't it?

[ Not that Prompto has much of a reason to bust his weapons out here, but the Armiger is useful for more than just stowing weapons, too. It's just convenient! Means he can stash his bag away when he doesn't need it, though he's hesitant to put anything in there for too long, in case he can't access it when he needs to.

So, yeah, some stabilization would be nice. ]

You think we'll be able to keep 'em, then?

It would be nice...

[ It's not like he needs his powers, or has used it at all since coming here even in those brief times he was able to, but his powers come with a full soul and he feels less alone. ...Nobody needs to hear him admit that out loud. ]

I don't know if we'd keep them, but talking with some other people, it looks like whatever "magic"s associated with this place, it could be undoing Astoria's magic. The one that's suppressing ours.

Undoing her magic...?

[ That's the first he's heard of it — or, at least, the first time he's heard it put this way, but given a moment to reflect on it, it makes a lot of sense. Astoria didn't really...seem to know a lot about this world, even though it's their home base. Who's to say there couldn't be some kind of magic within it fighting her? ]

This place...almost kinda seems to have a mind of its own sometimes, huh?

[ Minato nods numbly, because it really does feel like that and it's not something that bodes well for any of them. If the supposed creator of this place can't even keep track of a plague or newly discovered caverns, what can she be relied on for...? Then again, Astoria is a witch, not an omnipotent god, and that just makes Minato want to help her all the more. ]

Not only this place, but other worlds... Bad things happen and things will run its course- that's not something people usually meddle in, unless there's a reason to. Like somebody- something- messing with people's magic and causing things to go awry.

[ Gods, what a thought. Did their very existence in this world mean others might be thrown off course as well? Or was this always how things were meant to unfold? All this timey-wimey business is beyond him, and with a little shake of his head, he runs a hand through his hair before picking his beans back up. ]

There's gotta be something way bigger at play here, huh? Or...someone.

[ He's not good at this theorizing stuff, but even he can tell that much. ]

Hope it's someone.

[ That's all he says before he goes back to finishing off the beans. Something is just so vast and abstract and hard to grasp- but someone means the potential to talk and understand and work things out, and Minato is sure that if it's a person, they can manage just that.

Nothing to worry about now, though. He's not starving for the first time in a long time, and the blanket is warm and dry and doesn't make falling asleep on the rocky ground impossible. He can feel his eyelids drooping already. ]

We'll deal with it when it comes, so I'm not worried. Probably I'll get some sleep now, and tackle the rest of this place tomorrow. You should rest too.

[ Making sure his friends are fed and warm...this must be how Ignis feels. Prompto should take after his friend more often, though he...still has a long ways to go before he can match him in cooking skills.

He shoves them empty cans of beans into his bag — it won't do to litter, even in a creepy cave! — and moves to stand. He's got a few other people he wants to make sure to check on before he conks out himself, but it looks like his work here is done. ]

Don't worry about me. I'll grab a few winks in a bit. Just gotta — [ STIFLING A YAWN ] — tie up some loose ends. You need anything else, man?

[ ...The last time Prompto valiantly fought off his exhaustion, he'd lost and dunked his face into a bowl of curry; Minato can't forget that. But there's plenty of people around, and they're all looking after each other here, so he feels more assured that Prompto won't pitch head-first into one of these pools if Minato isn't keeping and eye on him. ]

I'll be alright, thanks. If you could wake me up the next morning once we start moving again, that'd be great. If I get up before you do, I'll do the same.

[ At his request, Minato will get an enthusiastic, if a bit weary, double fingergun salute. ]

You got it! Sleep tight, yeah? Don't let the, uh, cave bugs bite.

[ And then he turns to go. ]

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cavern explorations.

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