welcome to the kingdom of akvos.It will happen at random- you could be asleep, or wandering the Temple, or a variety of other options. It will feel a little strange, like a sudden warmth spreading across your skin, and then your bracelet will light up. When you blink again, everything has shifted - changed, developed, like in that blink of an eye you have advanced . . . where, exactly? A NOTE FROM YOUR FRIENDLY . . . WAIT, WHO IS THAT?But before anything too weird can happen . . . your watch flashes again, beeps once, and on it has a new message, a hologram-sparkly image with a young man who (to some individuals!) looks quasi-familiar. He is thin, with large eyes and speaks quietly, but with great purpose. Whoever this is, it doesn't seem to be a person that is a fan of much pomp and circumstance. . . but wherever he is, he is speaking on dry-land, though he looks like he's just recently gotten out of a pool.
 "If you are watching this, then you are a member of the Circle, and have triggered a protective rune that I have cast within this Kingdom known as Akvos that has activated this message. I do not have much time, but my name is Kathashun. I need your assistance, and I am not sure whether we will ever find one another again. But if you are listening to this, heed my words: take care, because you know not what your actions do. The magic in this world is powerful, and whatever is seeping through this planet may not be able to be stopped, but trust me when I say that when we meet -- "
There is a noise, a banging on a door, and Kathashun's eyes dart to the left, before a voice off-screen says, "As much as I love listening to you talk, we need to go." There's a moment's pause before Kathashun refocuses his attention on you, and his eyes (normally a deep brown) begin to change into what appears to be a liquid gold color, and the message begins to crackle.
"We will meet again. Heed my words; find the Princess."
And, just like that, the connection dies, leaving you to the depths of the ocean.
Welcome to Akvos.  ARRIVAL A: THE PALACE OF WAHINE.The first group arrives at the Royal Palace of Wahine, smack-dab in the bustling center of what appears to be the lost city of Atlantis. It is in an area of Akvos that is completely underwater, with gentle currents wafting through the water that guide people on their merry way.
There is plenty to locate here, depending on what you want to find. There are dozens of musically inclined merfolk wandering through the courtyards of the Palace, a shopping area selling intricate jewelry and other decorative pieces, and even the Queen herself. Feel free to set up threads regarding any information you discovered in the World OOC post, but here are some ideas for those needing a place to start!
Prompt Ideas:
- Are you musically inclined? There seems to be a band of colorful mermaids striking up a merry tune with reed flutes, horns made out of massive seashells, and is that a bass playing the bass? You bet your ass it is. . There's even a potential spot for the Circle to join in, if you're so inclined! They may even pay you for your services if you're really good.
- The Queen has offered a reward for any information concerning the location of Princess Kea, who has been missing for a little over a week. A band of scrappy young investigators (complete with matching uniforms) is eager to begin, and has a list of potential "clues" to track down in the Palace area, ranging from: the Princess' prized hair-comb, her harpoon, information on her favorite restaurant, and her beloved pet flounder. None of these items are actually within reach except her favorite restaurant, which will happily either (1) talk about how amazing the Princess is or (2) accept help in the kitchens to serve up a busy restaurant time. Either way, you can earn some seashells.
- The Royal Guard is looking for some mercenary work to comb the city for clues, and seeing as the Circle is oh-so-eager to help out with whatever is going on in Akvos, they're willing to give you a shot! The only problem is that you have to be ready to swim, so be prepared to swim endless laps in circles around the perimeter of Queen Wai's massive home to seemingly no avail. . . . do they actually need the help or are they just laughing at you? Dammit.
- The Palace of Wahine has an underwater library, which is pretty expansive . . . how do they have all of these materials underwater? There are several helpful octopus-libraries that are using their various tentacles to grab books, scrolls, and other materials off of the shelves to hand them to nearby patrons, and there's a lot of material here about the history of Akvos! You may also find a pretty interesting comic book series revolving around a powerful mermaid who looks suspiciously like Queen Wai, who thwarts the evils of inequality. If you ask Queen Wai about it, she will assure you that she has nothing to do with it, and her constituents are creatively minded people . . . but she doesn't seem to mind the good press.
 ARRIVAL B: THE DEPTHS OF MARKOLOS.The second group arrives in a rare pocket of air in Akvos -- a massive cavern, with multiple alcoves along the walls. Here, the population seems to be rather bleak in comparison to the rainbow-colored folk in the Palace of Wahine -- merpeople with larger eyes, sharper teeth, and darker scales. You have successfully located the hunting grounds of the Kingdom of Akvos, known as the Depths of Markolos -- an impossibly deep sinkhole that stretches into the depths of oblivion.
The local population here doesn't actually know what's at the bottom of it, but lately, there are odd happenings in the Depths that the population will tel you about. For one, dead fish seem to be appearing with increasing frequency, and the temperature of the Depths has dropped to a frigid point. Layers of ice have been found below the surface that were not there previously, and there is plenty of talk of whether or not their food supply for the Kingdom is endangered by whatever is causing this random bout of ice.
Prompt Ideas:
- Have you ever tried spear-fishing? An angler-fish mermaid, with haunting eyes and massively sharp teeth, is eager to teach the Otherworlders! She's pretty nice, despite her scary appearance, and will pay seashells to folks willing to stay in the "shallow" area of the Depths to spear pretty easy looking fish. She will also lend out fishing equipment for those want to give it a try!
- The Brig is located in the Depths, and if you violate the law in other areas, you will be brought here. The cells are small and cramped, with no beds or cots to speak of, and you are fed less-than-great quality raw fish while in here. Petty thievery and the like will be punished for two days, and once you are released, you are stuck in the Depths You can also talk to some of the prisoners here, who will be interested in swapping a surprising amount of seashells for fresh raw fish. They also like to gamble. :)
- There are some side-tunnels in the Depths along the walls that contain shellfish to hunt and scavange! The only problem is that some of them have a fairly strong current, and -- voila, it is a massive Slip-N-Slide. Sneaking into one will rocket you through a tunnel and spit you out at a lower level of the Depths, but be careful -- you might wind up face to face with a pretty terrifying looking fish that is a bit too big for you to handle, so explore these tunnels with some care.
- The mermaids here will warn against going too deep into the Depths, but there is nothing to stop you from exploring. In addition to the ice clustered along the western wall of the cavern, there's plenty of creepy looking fish in the depths. In particular, the mermaids will warn you against infuriating a creature named Honohu -- who is this beloved little Leviathian-looking monstrosity who will absolutely attempt to eat you if you go too deep. Enjoy?  ARRIVAL C: THE FIELDS OF AKOVOSIAThe third group will be deposited in a beautiful coral reef, full of color and swaying seaweed. It is an impossibly beautiful sight, and the merpeople here are equally bright and colorful, to blend in with tehir surroundings. There are no shortage of clownfish and angelfish-esque merpeople floating around, collecting plantlife, creating new clothing, or even hunting poisonous smaller fish for usage in their medicinal techniques.
However, the more you explore the fields, the more you begin to notice odd patches of dead coral. It almost looks as if certain random patches were afflicted by some type of illness that has completely robbed it of its color. The merpeople nearby will not know very much about it, but if you continue digging and asking the right people, perhaps you'll find out the source of this sudden illness.
Prompt Ideas
- Have you ever gone dolphin-racing? . . . or, well, they look like dolphins, complete with saddles and harnesses that the merfolk are entirely too eager to pass off onto the landfolk. It seems they race these dolphins in the currents for sport in between their collecting of plantlife and hunting. Feel free to ask the curator of these beings, a burly-looking mermaid who will happily lend you a dolphin for a seashell an hour.
- Batter up! You can find what appears to be a weird baseball/rugby crossover sport, in which the merpeople crack hunks of coral with sticks . . . but then tackle each other at the different bases instead of, you know, tapping them lightly to signify them being out. They're always looking for new players to join, but be warned! They take their sport seriously.
- Investigating the beautiful coral reef will garner a lot of pretty looking rocks and other types of intricate material that could be used for crafting, which is always up for collecting for money. Mermaids will be wandering around with baskets to collect various goods, so feel free to help out!
- Finally, there are a lot of mermaids just sitting around shooting the shit, gossiping, fussing about home, and collecting materials to make what's needed in their day to day lives. A few of them seem to be knitting some type of material underwater -- weird, right? But feel free to obtain some cool textiles fresh off the proverbial racks, for a price.  ARRIVAL D: THE THUNDERDOME.The last group to arrive may think that this is some type of stupid joke, as the merfolk around this area really do refer to it as the Thunderdome. It is a massive underwater cavern, filled with thousands and thousands of jellyfish. It seems that the merfolk tend to these beings for a multitude of reasons -- one, for food, two, for venom, and three, for . . . electricity?
The jellyfish in this area seem to crackle with energy, and the merfolk in this area will inform you that this is where they obtain power which they charge their weapons and lights with. The bioluminescence is pretty startling to see, and the jellyfish themselves seem to be relatively harmless. But there is a certain area of the Thunderdome that is flickering in and out of darkness . . . an area where the jellyfish seem to be a lot less bright. The merfolk don't really understand what's going on, but whatever is happening in Akvos seems to be affecting the jellyfish in a negative way. They don't seem horribly concerned, but. Here we are.
Prompt Ideas:
- The armory is located in the Thunderdome, and you can buy a bunch of cool weapons here! Glow in the dark swords, electrified knives, bows, and harpoons can be found here, varying in price. They all seem to be rust-proof, too, given their environment, and the craftsmanship here is like no other. The people here really take their craft seriously, so happy shopping.
- The main attraction here, though, is definitely the jellyfish. They deliver a rather nasty shock, and anyone who touches them will glow a weird blue color for at least three days afterwards. The merpeople seem to know how to fix this, but likely will not do so because they warned you not to touch the damn things, you stupid landfolk. Navigate them carefully, and you may even be able to earn some coin in helping shepherd them!
- A group of mermaids are looking for people to fish out the sickly looking jellyfish in order to be treated by what appears to be Akvos' version of a veterinarian. The sickly looking ones are the ones that are flickering dim, and while the veterinarian has no idea what is going on with them, they want them out. Just be careful not to touch them, though. You will definitely glow blue for a few days, even though these ones are ill!
- The mermaids in the Thunderdome enjoy practicing their skills with each other, in terms of weaponry, battle tactics, and the like, but they also enjoy their downtime too! Find little pockets of folks hanging out, chatting, and playing some weird game that involves what appear to be coral dice and flattened stones. It almost looks like they're gambling seashells or something . . . time to get in on the action, if you can learn the rules, anyway. Additionally, please feel free to write up and work with your own prompts! These are presented as jumping off points for your characters, not limitations. The idea of this world- as with all the others- is to explore. If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask them back on the various threads back in the OOC post from before! REMEMBER: For the entirety of this log, you can only physically interact with those in your group. For the first two weeks, the network will be completely defunct. After two weeks, you may send intermittent text messages to those in other groups. From this point forward, the Circle has become involved with the Kingdom of Akvos. What your character finds out, decides, and does from here on out will affect the future of this city- one way or another! But what you do is completely up to you. What you discover, explore, and uncover will be yours to discover, explore, and uncover. Who knows what you might find? :) |
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acatalepsy_logs2018-11-12 08:55 am
no subject
Nier- ?
[She twists at the waist, biting on her lip to suppress and pained noises but weirdly enough... not crying, despite how emotional she has proven to be in the past, anxiously trying to pull her leg out only for broken pieces of coral to dig in deeper with a fresh trail of blood dissipating into the water.]
Can you grab my handsaw? I think I'm stuck-
[With how jagged the surroundings are, trying to pull her leg out now might just... make it worse. And her tools had fallen to the sand just out of reach.]
no subject
so like a brute, he ascends and unsheathes his blade — before raising his sword high over his head, and bringing it down hard so that it slices through the coral.
basically, he used the force necessary to split a man's head open. ]
Can you walk?
no subject
[Konoha really doesn't like that look. She really doesn't, and then he's reaching for the sword and though she has absolutely faith that he wouldn't intentionally hurt her, even knowing that, the sight of a man raising a blade towards her with that level of determination...]
Wai-
[There's something terrifying about it. Despite herself, Konoha instinctively tries to jerk away from the movement of the sword, cutting her leg deeper in the process as she muffles a shriek in her hands, eyes clenching shut-
And then the coral is broken and her leg is freed, and she begins to list in the water to clutch it closer to her body, turning on Nier with... anger in her eyes?]
Nier, you idiot! I said use the handsaw, what are you doing?!
no subject
his eyes widen, and his expression is akin to that of a wounded puppy's. he sheathes his sword, anchoring his feet onto the coral. ]
I wanted to get you out as soon as possible. It was easier to just do it like this. [ he descends again, crouching to inspect her leg. ]
You shouldn't have gone alone. This must really hurt. Move your leg closer.
no subject
[Frustrated not only with that very reckless way of thinking and also that she'd cut herself even worse than she had already, Konoha defiantly holds off giving him her leg, knowing he'd be more inclined to listen to her that way if she withheld letting him care for it until he paid attention Blood seeps slow and ropey from several cuts along her white hock and bay leg, one of which... looks rather nasty.]
Don't you get why I wanted to use the saw?
[Unlike fear and shock or even other emotional bursts of tears, though... Konoha can handle purely physical pain, the strain showing only slightly on her features and the way she clutches the limb protectively to her body.
At least they were floating and swimming and she doesn't have to put weight on it???]
no subject
I wasn't going to let you get hurt. It was just the fastest way...
[ awkwardly, he rubs at the back of his head. ]
Come on. We need to get this treated. You can't hold onto it forever.
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... Nier kind of, because Konoha gives up. He really didn't listen, jeez, she she was going to have to tell him fifty times before he gets it-]
You can only treat my leg if you say "the fastest way isn't the better way".
[Repeat after her!!!!
... Quickly, cause the cuts on her leg do hurt.]
no subject
The fastest way isn't the better way.
[ completely deadpan. ]
Now give me your leg!
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Frowning, brows still knit together and doing a pretty decent job of hiding the pain, Konoha pries her foreleg from the instinctual hug to her body to offer it up for treatment.]
no subject
Hold onto my hand, okay? This won't hurt much longer.
[ he tears the herb into two with his mouth, using its innards as a salve before he rubbing it into her wound. it's then that he reaches for his cloth belt, one end wedged between his teeth before he winds it around her foreleg. he tightens it with a bow. ]
I'll have to ask one of the mermaids for medicine. Think you can walk like this?
no subject
Ouch, ouch-
[She hisses softly until he finishes wrapping the injury, only then pulling it back to her body again, animal instincts stronger when injured or scared.]
I can swim okay, I think... Just maybe not as fast...
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[ slowly, he rises to his feet, looking around for a moment. ]
We should find the others — but if you get tired along the way, we could always make camp.
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[Or, well, by jinba standards not big enough to pull her along that well, she doesn't think...
Carefully, she forces herself to extend her leg and move it in a slow kick. It hurt, but it wasn't like she couldn't, since she hadn't sprained anything or broke a bone...]
I just wanted to get this coral out and replant it over in the dead patch, but I guess... It can wait a little...
no subject
[ his brows knit with concern. he extends a hand regardless of what she had said before. ]
Let's see how far we get. We'll stop after a bit. Your wellbeing comes first.
no subject
[Grumbling a little bit despite herself, Konoha swats at his hand a few times... before hanging onto his elbow instead so she doesn't need to use her arms to awkwardly keep her from listing to the side in the water with only one foreleg moving right.]
We're under the sea, at least we haven't been eaten by big fish or something...
no subject
[ he moves onward, something of a sigh escaping him. ]
I have my sword with me, and it hasn't rusted yet — so we should be fine if anything happens.
no subject
... I told Mikuni you were here with me, so he wouldn't have to worry about me, but.
[Her gaze falls to her broken watch, for once on her wrist and not tucked away in her tool pouch as usual.]
I guess he didn't get the message.
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[ his eyes flicker back towards her sympathetically. ]
I tried to talk to Weiss. I got nothing but silence, and Weiss always has something to say...
I think the network's down. Probably has something to do with us being seperated. But we'll reunite with the others soon enough.
[ with conviction: ]
I know we will.
no subject
[She had to believe that. They had to believe that.
So before she can let herself doubt or think about what would happen if they didn't... Konoha tries to smile, latching onto something else.]
You must be glad that you friend came, right... ?