: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
no subject
Umm... Sorry— [ daylight looks sheepish here, his tone apologetic while rubbing the back of his neck. he hates not being useful to someone, especially someone nice as minato, so the burn of embarrassment is sharper than it usually is. ] I don’t have any pictures on me.
Meddy might but they’re been sulking ever since I told them they couldn’t follow. [ because his meddroid can be a sulky meddroid if they feel like they can get away with it, sheesh. (and even if meddy was here, there's a chance they don't have any since they never got to meet his parents at the same time.)
day hums under his breath, trying to think of a solution for this. he doesn't like simply saying, 'no' to someone if a solution is within- ] Oh! I could draw a picture of them. I have some of my art supplies with me. Would that be alright?
no subject
[ In either case, artwork is just as good as a photograph, so he nods at the question when posed. He's imaging Daylight whipping out a 52 pack of colored pencils from who knows where, btw ]
no subject
daylight does have a cobbled together messenger bag by his side, allowing him to whip out his equally cobbled together sketchpad and charcoal piece to begin his sketching.
while he works on the drawing, he cheerfully begins to babble away, something he does when at ease with somebody. ]
Yeah! They’re my friend! [ realising how random that might seem to blurt out, daylight adds, ] Meddy, I mean. They’ve been with me since I was a beeper and have been looking after me ever since.
They can act pretty grumpy but they mean well, I swear. [ so if you ever meet a floating little bot who is grumping like no tomorrow, don't mind it!! that's meddy being meddy. ]
no subject
I'll take your word for it. If you've known Meddy that long, you know them best. Maybe you can draw Meddy too, so I know who to look out for?
no subject
not too far off in what day looked like when he was born, honestly.]Ohhh! That's so cute! [ daylight’s winglets wiggle in excitement at the suggestion, his drawing becoming more frenzied as he tried to add the new addition to his current canvas. ] I promise I'll do that after I show you my parents. That’s such a great idea. I can't believe I didn't think of having Meddy join in.
[ he promises himself that he'll correct the mistake; afters showing his sketch here. he gives the drawing a few more strokes and a shade here and there, then he decides he's finished with the sketch. it's sloppier than he'd like any draft of his to be, more so when he's preseting it to someone for the first time, buuuut it'll have to do. he'll have time to refine it later.
daylight triumphantly presents the sketch to minato, making sure to bend down so his new friend could get a better look. it's a ted messy - noticeable with how there are smudges here and there and quick scribbles to cover up mistakes in the lines or shades - but it's surprisingly well-done, all thing considered.
his mom looks human, for sure - daylight depicts her as being solemn and stately with how she carries herself in the drawing. her shoulders are squared out, and her chin is lifted up so she can stare down the viewer with her piercing gaze. she doesn't seem to be the friendly type, given her cool and impassive expression.
and, right beside her, it's... it's... hmm...
the one next to her must be daylight's dad, considering both the conversation and the process of elimination. but- but it's hard to describe what his dad is, honestly. the most one can say is that he's most certainly robotic in nature. his body - floating shapes clustered together to form a suggestion of a body, more or less - are clearly made from metallic-looking material. it's difficult to tell much else beyond that, given the strange sphere of fire(?) that surrounds the. beyond that it's difficult to tell much else. being covered a fierce sphere of fire(??) and smoke does that.
(it should also be noted that daylight has noted his parents' heights next to their drawings. his mother is around six feet and his dad is over fifteen(???) feet?
his dad is over 15 feet... ]
Soooo- What do you think?
no subject
I'm kinda jealous of your dad. I wish my parents had given me a little more height.
[ It'd be nice to be at least six feet tall, and being surrounded by flames(?) means he'd never go cold either.
He hovers a finger over the drawing of Daylight's father, careful not to actually touch the page and smear anything. ]
Is this him... casting some sort of magic? Or...?
[ Or, please explain wtf this is, Day ]
no subject
apparently daylight has no fear of smudging his drawing, given how excitedly he taps the head(??) of his father as he speaks. ] Oh no! That's not, um, magic at all.
I mean- He could have tried to use magic - I think had potential for it? I should ask Meddy later - but he couldn't since his fire would have burned it all away anyways. [ what now. ] That's what he looks like all the time!
From what I can tell, when they were kindling his core spark, a dying star happen to spark above the sky when. Apparently his core spark absorbed that quality and it reflected through that.
[ does... does any of that make sense to minato? does it? ]
no subject
[ It absolutely does not, even after stalling for some extra processing time with those noncommittal sounds. ]
So... [ uh ] Does his fire nullify magic? Just sort of cancels it out by default?
[ That's something he can relate to, somewhat, or at least enough to imagine and understand how it works. ]
no subject
[ he had seen the videos of his dad using his fire during fights. it was so cool...!
but that's not what has him smiling nostalgically, his expression wistful and sad(?). ] It took a lot of effort for him to not burn something, often exhausted him, but he was always tried and then some when he wanted to 'kiss' or 'hug' mom.
no subject
They're incredibly lonely thoughts. He hopes Daylight's dad had found a better solution than that. ]
I hope he's out there, exploring to his heart's content. The universe is a big place and all. [ There's a lot of space out there in the universe, and it's lonely out there too. At least Daylight's dad had a starship, the people in them. ]
We should probably get going too. This lake's already so big.