raiamods: (Default)
raiamods ([personal profile] raiamods) wrote in [community profile] ethyraia2021-06-10 06:01 pm

EVENT #01 —

WHO: All PCs
WHAT: Guests arrive at the basecamp
WHEN: June 10 - June 17
WHERE: Basecamp Leviathan
NOTES/WARNINGS: None currently (let us know if we should update this because we missed something)


EVENT LOG 001 — JUNE ❀
CONTENT WARNINGS: None currently (let us know if we missed something and should update this!)

Please note that several of these sections have deadlines, so it's a good idea to prioritize your plotting for the earlier section of the event first.

A calendar of events and deadlines is as follows:
IC:
June 10 -
The thessyx arrive with the shell.
June 11 - Dinner with the thessyx, gifts distributed.
June 12 - Scrimmage interrupted by the formation of a sinkhole.
June 14 - Critters emerge from the sinkhole in the gymnasium.
June 13-17 - Two more sinkholes open up, with more critters emerging within the day.

OOC:
June 13 -
Last day to ask about your character interfering with the shell.
June 16 - Last day to ask about your character joining the closed-door meeting with Childe and the thessyx.
June 30 - Last day to register the way your character engages with the thessyx and the critters directly. (Mods do not anticipate replying to these comments.)
❀ UNEXPECTED VISITORS


At noon on June 10, a dozen visitors arrive. The Thessyx carry themselves quietly, moving through the base as if they were attempting to enter a body of water without disturbing it. Lightweight robes of some native skein cover their green-grey amphibian skin, but do not obscure the fact that each of them possesses four arms. Once inside the base and in the leviathan’s embrace, they will lower their hoods and additionally reveal fins of varying colors along the back of their scalps. These creatures have slit noses; wide-set, irisless eyes; and mouths that stretch the full width of their skull. With them, they bring a great shell about three meters long and as tall as a small adult human.

The security force of the Adamant greets the visitors on their entry to camp. These strange amphibious creatures inform the security force that they are the Thessyx, and that the shell is full of gifts. The security force is ordered by Chief Security Officer Rémi to lock the shell away until Captain Childe has had the opportunity to decide what will be done with the contents. If you intend for your character to interfere with the shell in some way, please reach out in the QUESTIONS thread below BEFORE JUNE 13TH — this includes if your character would try to stop others from interfering with it.

Three of their number with blue fins on their head go to speak in a closed-door meeting with Captain Childe. If your character would like to attempt to get access to this meeting, please reach out in the QUESTIONS thread below with an explanation of how they would attempt to do so BEFORE JUNE 16TH.

The next day, more Thessyx arrive, and they will remain on the base for about one week. They move around the camp fairly casually, mingling with the Adamant’s crew. They are particularly interested in the hatchlings. If your character would like to ask specific questions of the Thessyx they encounter, please direct them to the QUESTIONS thread below.

Just before dinner the next evening (June 11), Captain Childe announces that there will be a special celebration in the mess hall, courtesy of their guests — all of their guests. The announcement is as follows, and goes out on the communication devices camp-wide:
I'm sure some of you have noticed the Thessyx walking among us. In light of their arrival and the gifts they've brought with them, we've decided to have a joint celebration in the mess. They have agreed to have guards from their city patrol our perimeter, so everyone has twelve hours off. Attendance isn't mandatory, but it's strongly suggested.

They've brought gifts for our new arrivals as well. These gifts are to be distributed later. I know some of you will think it's unfair that the Thessyx are favoring them, and that in three years of being here this is the first time they've initiated contact with us. Tensions are bound to be high — but the first person who picks a fight is getting thrown in the brig, I don't care if you're a civilian or not. We could all use this break.

Don't offend them. No fish jokes.

Childe out.
At dinner, a few crew members get out their instruments, and Captain Childe even looks the other way when Senior Engineer Thorkil Bjørnson opens up a barrel of the moonshine he’s just finished. It means going without later, but they’ll share some of their modest wealth with the Thessyx. The mess hall is cluttered with revelry, and some of the tables have been pushed together to make room for people to dance.

The feast is made up of various mosses and seaweeds, pickled insects, and a few mollusks. Whether this sounds appetizing or not, it’s the freshest food anyone on the base has had for a while, and it seems it’s only intended for the Children of the Leviathan. Some crew members look on jealously or externalize their bitterness. Others may be pushier — after all, they’ve been providing for the hatchlings out of their own supplies for a while now. Still others will be surprised if any of the hatchlings offer trades or pawn the food off on them preemptively — they may be inclined towards favors and good will.

A few notes:
  • The Thessyx refer to the hatchlings as ‘Children of the Leviathan.’ They do not appear to sleep, nor do they step out from under the leviathan’s embrace when the sun is out. The three blue finned Thessyx who meet with Captain Childe are not the Thessyx’s leaders, only representatives. They prefer to ask the PCs questions about them and where they came from rather than answering questions about themselves.

  • To interfere with the shell, attempt to be involved in the closed-door meeting between Childe and the thessyx, or to ask questions of the thessyx, please visit the QUESTIONS sub-thread. These options have staggered deadlines so that we can account for each stage while responding to the next; these actions of some hatchlings will reflect on others.

  • By JUNE 30TH at 21:00 EST, please respond to the mod comment labeled THESSYX GREETING with a brief description of how your character would greet the Thessyx. Feel free to write multiple characters in a single comment. We just want to check the temperature in the room.

  • ❀ A DISTURBANCE UNDERFOOT

    On June 12th, the thessyx’s visit is disrupted by the appearance of a sinkhole in the gymnasium. The basketball court, which was already in disrepair, suffers the worst of the damage. In the midst of a scrimmage between PCs and NPCs, which the thessyx observe quite rapturously, a 5-meter hole opens in the middle, with concrete and steel and earth crumbling underfoot. Any injured PCs will have their sprains and scratches treated well by the medical team, and the gymnasium will be closed until further notice. Don’t worry! The Adamant’s engineers are on the case, figuring out how the soil’s stability gave way. This could be bad news for the entirety of the basecamp if it’s an ongoing issue. The engineers could probably use some help addressing the issue — to volunteer, reach out to us in the QUESTIONS thread.

    Over the next couple days, two more sinkholes appear — one near the Memorial Wall, and one in the showers (though it thankfully doesn’t seem to have affected the plumbing). Anyone injured by a sinkhole will also have their sprains and scratches treated well by the medical team. Cartagena shares a helpful (“helpful”) PSA about the dangers of sinkholes and how to protect yourself, which is clearly dated and has nothing to do with whatever is going on here on Ethyraia:

    Hello, Children of the Leviathan! Isn’t that a silly name? I guess it’s the most accurate, since you did come from eggs. Soon you will be one month old! Hahaha! Biology can be odd sometimes.

    It’s not just biology, though! Ecology is certainly strange and confusing, and nothing is stranger and more confusing than the ecology of Ethyraia. I’m sure you have all noticed the sinkholes appearing more and more often these days. Do not be alarmed! Not because there is nothing alarming, but because alarm leads to panic and panic leads to more danger!

    For the time being, please follow these helpful tips for sinkholes:
    1. If you see a sinkhole, go the opposite direction.
    2. If you fall into a sinkhole, try not to cry. Instead, yell for help!

    I think these are sufficient enough guidelines to follow, yes?

    Remember, be careful out there! And protect your squishy selves. You never know when you might be useful later. Then it would be a shame if your squishy self was gone. We’d all be very sad. Or most of us. Or some of us. At least me, to the capacity that an AI can be sad.

    Stay safe! Cartagena out.

    On June 14th, the first of the critters emerges from the sinkhole in the gymnasium. These creatures are roughly a meter tall at the shoulder, blind, with enormous clawed forepaws and supernumerary hind-legs that appear shrunken and shrivelled and barely provide function. These creatures have tough, armored hides and truly, truly awful breath. They are capable of tearing through metal with their claws, and small arms fire does nothing to them. Within the day, dozens of them have skittered into the base. They seem as confused and afraid to be in here as the basecamp’s residents are to have them here. However, these are wild animals; they react to their fear with sharp teeth and claws. A few perseverant critters find their way into the cafeteria, sniffing out food, while others can be found gnawing on cables that power the lights for the basecamp.

    Chief Security Officer Rémi will be quick to pursue an extermination plan. The problem is big enough that the PCs are encouraged to help out, and those who volunteer will be quickly accepted, as long as they aren't trying to offer their own bright ideas.

    A few notes:
  • To volunteer to help out with engineering, please visit the QUESTIONS sub-thread.

  • If your character would volunteer to help security exterminate the creatures, or if they would disregard the security force and go after the critters on their own, please let us know in the QUESTIONS thread so we can talk about what this would look like. Rémi isn’t well-known for liking people who subvert the chain of command.

  • By JUNE 30TH at 21:00 EST, please respond to the CRITTER WRANGLING comment with how you vote the critters get dealt with — extermination, rehoming, or something else. If someone has already commented with your characters’ IC preference, please add your +1 under other people’s comments, so it’s easier for us to sort.
  • freightcars: (ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴍʏ ɢɪʀʟ ɢᴏɴ' ᴛɪᴘ)

    [personal profile] freightcars 2021-06-16 07:52 pm (UTC)(link)
    ( Bucky's made no attempt to butter up the chief of security, so he's still a million miles away from getting on that team, probably. In the meantime, he's all manual labor all day long, especially in the theater where they're painstakingly building a bunker. He's up to his neck in dirt, practically, when he hears that yell and — more importantly — that hiss.

    He pops up out of the hole with ease and grace, and when he arrives at the scene a couple feet away from Steve there's dirt on his forehead, dirt on his clothes, dirt on his hand. He doesn't seem to particularly notice or care, just exchanges a quick look at Steve and then turns his attention back to the —
    )

    What the hell is that?
    fossils: (pic#7753863)

    i.

    [personal profile] fossils 2021-06-16 08:03 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ Unfortunately (or fortunately?) for Illumi, his near neighbor at the table is the type to answer a question like that. ]

    They've offered us shelter, clothes, food[ On his plate is the regular cafeteria fare, most of his Thessyx food's been given away already. He's not looking up at the other guy, but he's got an eyebrow raised in a silent:

    This really need explaining? ]
    sunmon: (pic#14852192)

    [personal profile] sunmon 2021-06-16 08:18 pm (UTC)(link)
    You heard that, did you?

    [ she looks skittish. hare-in-a-clearing skittish. as if she might get devoured for moving too fast, alina instead goes so still that she might as well be a part of the set herself. but her eyes fix on balthier, and her expression twitches into a careful smile.

    she can't pretend it didn't happen, and she can't take back making it sound like unai was right in his conclusion. so she needs a good reason that she'd be doing it that isn't running away from someone who everyone has seen her with the majority of the time.
    ]

    It would be good for all of us to have a place to go if the Adamant's survivors decide they've had enough of it, wouldn't it?
    sunmon: (Default)

    (cw: racism ref)

    [personal profile] sunmon 2021-06-16 08:22 pm (UTC)(link)
    Not badly. But I—

    [ this is an overestimation. it becomes clear when she tries to stand up and finds her leg won't take her weight without pain lancing straight up it. alina drops back to the ground with a hiss of pain that ends in a grunt. she takes two deep breaths.

    no one has ever helped her before when she had injuries. she'd done it herself. there were too many children to worry about in the orphanage, and all of them hated her and mal both. the one time she'd been injured with the first army, the nurse on staff had decided they wouldn't treat 'the enemy.' so she'd bandaged herself and moved on. she'd recovered from any number of untreated injuries in the stocks following fights she'd started over similar treatment.

    this is different. she can't just stay down here.
    ]

    I don't think I can climb. But there'll be ropes at the theater.
    angerberg: (pic#)

    [personal profile] angerberg 2021-06-16 08:57 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ she narrowly saves herself from a messy fall. a panel of the shower digs into her ankle before she realizes the ground is sinking, just like it had in the gymnasium. that's enough time, as the earth beneath her turns to an hourglass, for yennefer to yoke the chaos inside of her buoy the fall.

    it does nothing for the soil that continues to rain down on them as the hole widens, but it does leave her uninjured when she lands with a slap of her hand and a grunt.

    her towel dangles ten feet overhead, as if it were laughing at her. it's the least of her worries, but as she glances around and realizes she wasn't the only showering party caught at a bad moment, she remarks,
    ] Wonder if we'll get another three minutes after this.

    [ because the fine layer of dirt on her amber skin is an unpleasant irony. she looks over towards a hatchling she recognizes. ]

    Are you alright?
    angerberg: (pic#)

    [personal profile] angerberg 2021-06-16 09:01 pm (UTC)(link)
    I didn't see signs of damage to the basecamp originally. I believe you're in luck.

    [ she picks herself up delicately, considering the pipe. the end of it where vidar had jabbed at the creature was abraded, as if it had taken just as much damage as the creature had before it sent the thing flopping back into the hole.

    stunned, she thinks, not dead. not if it couldn't penetrate. she places a hand on vidar's shoulder and gently urges him back away from the hole with her.
    ]

    As am I. [ he'd just rescued her after all, more or less. she'd have been able to handle it, but men loved hearing that sort of thing. more to the point, ] You wanted to get a look at it too?
    Edited 2021-06-16 21:02 (UTC)
    angerberg: (pic#)

    [personal profile] angerberg 2021-06-16 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)
    I'm fine.

    [ she certainly isn't unruffled, picking herself up as she does, but she isn't going to flounder on the floor longer than needed while that thing is still around. it's an incredibly stupid thing, she thinks, jumping up onto its back. but ...

    a memory like a knife lances through her chest. geralt. it was precisely the kind of stupid thing geralt would do. the affection that twinges in her skin is like poison. she doesn't want it. and it leaves her snappish.
    ]

    Are you going to play with it or kill it? [ because if he doesn't kill it, she'd love to. ]
    spalten: (pic#14544826)

    [personal profile] spalten 2021-06-16 09:14 pm (UTC)(link)
    Yes. Seems like this is a new occurrence; if it were a regular hazard we would've known long ago.

    [ the sinkhole is quite sizeable; if not stopped, it'd probably extend itself, meaning a lot of the critters would come out again. what a conundrum. while he had considered the possibility that there are aliens other than them living here, he did not consider the fact that they could come out of the ground. ]
    angerberg: (pic#)

    [personal profile] angerberg 2021-06-16 09:34 pm (UTC)(link)
    How long before they blame us, do you think?

    [ she knows how this goes. the hatchlings arrived, and then the sinkholes. zealots will seize upon the flimsy association and start waxing about the end of days, she's sure of it.

    the worst part is that she can't say with certainty that they're wrong because she has no idea what's going on here either.
    ]
    spalten: (pic#14544839)

    [personal profile] spalten 2021-06-16 09:41 pm (UTC)(link)
    That'd be an interesting accusation, and if it happens, I'm fully using the apology that I'm just too attractive and this can't keep happening.

    [ he's joking, of course. he's joking even as he whacks another critter like a baseball. ]
    trassel: (Default)

    save the critters, critters reloaded

    [personal profile] trassel 2021-06-17 01:14 am (UTC)(link)
    Updated plan: Matthias will be leading the animals he can calm out of the base as far as possible, if they start coming back through the sinkhole entrance, he will still be committed to getting them out of the way while Engineering fixes that issue. He will avoid shooting them as much as he can and likely will actively interfere with anyone aiming for that end.
    lifetothefullest: (ᴇᴠᴇʀʏ sᴛᴜᴍʙʟᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴍɪsғɪʀᴇ)

    [personal profile] lifetothefullest 2021-06-17 01:18 am (UTC)(link)
    I totally forgot to reply to this oops but thank you!!! The main reasons he asks this question is to see how people answer, not just what they answer with, so this is just as interesting an answer as anything else might've been. c:
    trassel: (42.)

    matthias helvar | ota

    [personal profile] trassel 2021-06-17 01:27 am (UTC)(link)
    [ ooc: prompts below! will keep adding. if you would like a custom starter feel free to hmu via pm or plurk ([plurk.com profile] midwinters) and we'll have our own adventure c: ]
    trassel: (46.)

    save the critters;

    [personal profile] trassel 2021-06-17 01:42 am (UTC)(link)
    a public service announcement

    [ Not long after Remi's announcement to the base, there is another, ]

    Greetings all who are reading,

    The creatures do not need to be harmed. They are only frightened animals... We can remove them from the base safely - I have done so with some already. They can be calmed when you speak softly and do not make sudden movements.

    If you are having difficulty, call me. I will assist you.

    Matthias


    critter express

    [ If you're near the doors that lead outside out of the cave, you may be encouraged out of the way by the gaze of a large wolf, who's cleared the path from there to here, pushing any bystanders back. Quite a distance behind him is Matthias with two of the critters, both of them around him chittering, keeping near as he's walking. Trassel seems to disappear at once when they're closer, and if you don't look busy Matthias will call out to you, ]

    Excuse me, a moment. Can you walk in front of us? Just up to the door.

    wildcard

    [ ooc: I'm also happy to write up specific starters for this- Matthias will try to talk your character into the nonviolent option and will (LOUDLY) object trying to harm/shoot/kill them. He's also more than happy to tell you that you can even scratch the critters under their chin... or even demonstrate... ]
    trassel: (43.)

    cultural exchange; note taking

    [personal profile] trassel 2021-06-17 02:05 am (UTC)(link)
    Matthias is not anyone's choice for a diplomatic rollout — not even his own. When the Thessyx arrive, he is just quietly amongst the crowd until approached, and given his share of the food. He'd saved some of the meat for Trassel, and then given the rest away. By far, the people at the base have greater need, and anyway the protein slop hasn't killed him. Yet.

    Listening to Varric hasn't killed him either. (Yet?) So seeing a friendly (ish) face is enough to get him to stop by and obligingly take the seat. Trassel follows, curling up at his feet, resting his head on Matthias' knee.

    'What are you thinking?'
    mylawn: (pic#10641416)

    feast

    [personal profile] mylawn 2021-06-17 03:19 am (UTC)(link)
    [He shouldn't be so surprised about the aliens--given everything about their arrival here, sentient beings actually native to this planet seem like the next logical conclusion. Still, it's a lot to swallow, and he's set on edge by the fact that the Thessyx seem to be there explicitly because of them. He can see there's some tension about the situation among the base camp locals, and he doesn't exactly like the position this effectively puts them in, though he will begrudgingly accept that 'Children of the Leviathan' has a better ring to it than 'hatchlings'.

    Still, he's not about to refuse the offer of hospitality, and seems to have no real objection to the food, such as it is (gross?). The moonshine is a nice bonus, so despite his general cantankerous nature, he'll accept it when it's offered to him.
    ]

    No, but I will take that drink.

    [He doesn't really see anything to celebrate, unless he wants to toast adding to his mental conspiracy board that he's developing.]

    Some party.
    figlia_morbida: ([wannabe])

    [personal profile] figlia_morbida 2021-06-17 08:40 am (UTC)(link)
    Trish is for extermination! Not that she would be opposed to kinder options, but the fastest and simplest solution is destruction.

    Speed > being nice.
    cryptoherpetology: (001)

    Critters - A

    [personal profile] cryptoherpetology 2021-06-17 01:17 pm (UTC)(link)
    It's a miracle of timing, which is something Alex is almost too used to to notice how lucky they both are when he makes the running slide he hasn't tried since the last time he'd slid for home base, which had been PE in high school. He has to jerk him back near whiplash-fast by the back of his coat to pull him back in time- and at just the right moment that it doesn't affect the aim of the crossbow bolt.

    The adrenaline has Alex feeling like he sees in slow motion until there's a heavy THUD of one of the creatures hitting the ground far too close for his liking. Visions of lindwyrms in the Ohio woods dance in the back of his mind.

    "You know the first rule of camping is not to feed the wildlife, right?"
    cicatrize: (pic#8071196)

    1

    [personal profile] cicatrize 2021-06-17 01:59 pm (UTC)(link)
    [ not being the center of attention in this world comes with it's pros and cons. more the former than the latter, jack's finding, as he blends into the crowd of gawkers, wide eyes blinking rapidly, like the weirdness before him might clear with his vision.

    so, first there's dead dragon eggs, then space ships and acid rain, now, fish aliens. he typically adapts to new environments and obstacles quickly, but his life has never been so... sci-fi before. following the massive shell, jack's wondering where that was even pulled from, when the woman next to him speaks up. he blinks, glances down to her, and frowns with a minute shake of his head. ]


    Doubt it. Refugees don't usually look that dignified.

    [ more like weary, tired, apprehensive. maybe it's a species-specific read. fish-aliens might not show weary and apprehensive the same way humans do. but why the shell, and where the hell did they come from? tilting his head back, jack peers up to the sky, searching. ] Did anyone see a ship enter orbit?

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