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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)
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:
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:
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.
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.)
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. 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.
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:
❀ 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.
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:
no subject
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?
no subject
Two kids run in the opposite direction toward the adults who shouted at them. One kid nearly falls into the bunker hole— Steve whips his arm around to grab him by the back of the shirt before he trips over the edge, pulling him onto his feet and solid ground. ]
Hey—
[ The last kid, an older girl, is standing between the critter and a much shorter, younger child clutching her arm. She picks up a rock and throws it at the hissing critter. ]
no subject
Yeah, he knows she's not gonna move. He also knows the second she releases the next rock that it's gonna hit its target, and instinct plays out the chain of events that will inevitably follow in his mind high-speed before it happens.
So he's there in a blink, metal arm curled around her stomach to catch the teeth heading straight for it. The critter latches on as best he can to invulnerable metal, and flails clawed paws wildly. Bucky curls in around her to body block it, and earns a nice long swipe down his bicep for his troubles. The little girl in his arms starts practically screaming bloody murder and pounding on Bucky's chest in angry protest.
"No, no, no! NO! Thomas, get Thomas, that's my BROTHER!"
You know what, give him six guys attacking him simultaneously. That's way easier than juggling two kids like a meat shield while a wild animal does everything in its power to get to them. He isn't familiar with Jackie Chan, but if he were, he'd relate so hard right now. )
no subject
Potential action flashes in that small space of time it takes to reach them.
Catches an open space between its foreclaws as it goes for another strike—
—the toe of his boot slams into its underside, sends its flying like a soccer ball clear across the field, toward the border edge of the base camp and beyond sight. ]
no subject
It's only after the girl's down and the creature's gone that he finally expresses any frustration. He shoots a look over at his right arm, lips curling like he's more personally offended by it than hurt by it. There's a follow-up accusatory look in the general direction Steve punted the creature.
He huffs, hisses in annoyance, and starts absently ripping his right sleeve away from his shoulder. )
That was the ugliest god-damn dog I've ever seen.
no subject
Steve glances around the area. No sign of where the critter came from, no sign of any others either. Waves the group of them off, turning to Bucky to frown at his shoulder, assessing the wound. He absently offers a hand to take the torn piece of sleeve, nodding to his left shoulder.
Might as well do that one too. As good as quality as any of the bandages down at the aid station, low as they are on supplies that they're using rags. He pulls his canteen off his belt, pops the top off with his teeth. Clean water. They don't usually need too much else. ]
no subject
Pretty sure they've done this before about a hundred years ago, back on Earth. They were running low on first aid supplies then, too. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Both sleeves are offered over, and his hand stays out, patiently waiting for his turn with the canteen so he can pour a little over the wounds. Ready himself to dress them. )
no subject
Brutus' got you worse.
[ There's a light, almost fondness to his tone, eyes still lowered on the wound.
Brutus had to have been over ten years old when Bucky's sisters first found the massive, half feral tomcat lurking around the block. ]
no subject
It's just a moment, and then it picks back up to unfold the way it's done before — usually the other way around, but not always. )
Don't say his name. You'll somehow summon him here.
( He drawls darkly, casting his eyes down to study the depth of the wounds. Three nice, deep gashes down the bicep. The rest are little knicks and scratches that won't last more than a day or two, tops. )
Still wish I would've chucked him into the canal before I left.
( But Mary loved him, and he tolerated her enough to let her pet him. Pretty much guaranteed him a safe ticket. )
no subject
He murmurs to himself wryly as he wraps the first makeshift bandage, then the next: ]
Every cat by now from Flatbush to the Manhattan bridge must be his great-great-great-great grandsomething...
[ He lets out a huff, shaking his head. ]
You know, I still got the scar from when he bit me?
[ The only time he got close enough to Brutus to get bit, seeing as how he was allergic and the cat hated anyone, even the older girls half the time.
Even the serum was no match for a homicidal ball made of fur and compressed rage.
(he's not angling here, not on purpose) ]
no subject
( He muses, dry insinuation written in there. Maybe something about leaving feral things alone so they don't stab claws into you just for trying to save them. Just saying.
Good thing for both him and the cat that Steve has less sense than a roll of paper towels.
The second bandage twinges, strikes a nerve. The muscle beneath Steve's fingers flexes, rippling tension that doesn't make it to his face or his voice. )
Wouldn't be surprised if the damn thing was still alive. Stowed away on the ship. Caused the crash. Just waiting for the right time to strike now that we're here.
( Despite the pain and his feigned annoyance over the subject matter, despite the strain between them, a few threads of amusement start twining together. They wrap themselves around the little seed of guilt that planted itself back when Sam got them all caught up to speed. )
no subject
You're one to talk.
[ Learning lessons.
The grip on his arm loosens under the flexing muscles, the notch at his brow deepening as he settles his attention fully on wrapping the next bandage a little more slowly this time, his calloused hands gentle and practiced. Their bodies have changed, but the motions are the same.
Both eyebrows raise. ]
Think that'll hold?
[ Not his best work, but it should keep him from bleeding on everything. ]
no subject
And that's the thing, isn't it?
Whatever happened-- happens-- the reality is there's no reality where Bucky doesn't forgive him. That isn't to say things are magically better; he's still selfishly sad, still selfishly hurt, there are still complicated things to process in the wake of it, but the anger and the resentment slip away for now. They leave behind instead a nostalgia-inspired reminder that Steve is Steve, and every moment leading up to him leaving isn't undone by that choice.
Maybe he shouldn't be ruining this extra time so goddamn hard, he knows he'll regret it and hate himself for it once it finally comes to an end.
So, instead of answering the question, he softly sighs. )
I'm sorry. For... being such an asshole. I don't really mean it, you know?
( The passive aggressive barbs and the ire he keeps throwing out. )
no subject
Nat talk to you? Or Sam?
[ Ask you to lay off?
He'd kinda deserve that sorta irony.
Still regrets asking that a half second after it leaves his mouth, and he glances over at Bucky again with a tight smile that's more grimace than anything else.
You don't have to apologize. ]
I know, Buck.
[ He pulls in a sharp breath, tilting his head again as he closes his eyes shut. He's let go of Bucky's arm, let his hand slide down as it lowered, unwilling to break that contact as his chest goes embarrassingly tight beneath his sternum.
You got every right to be mad.
They're not built for this. They never were. It's how so much has gone unsaid for this long.
Sometimes he feels too old to learn anything else. Maybe you feel the same.
He tilts his head the other way, lets his eyes open and fix on Bucky's shoulder, then his mouth, his eyes. Still grimace-smiling, eyes narrowed, but that doesn't stop him from blinking rapidly and being forced to look down again. ]
... I really don't wanna waste this time either.
[ They're always, always running out of it. ]
no subject
They're not built for this, but Steve somehow picks up on one exact thought running through his mind as clear as if he'd said it out loud, so whatever they were built for can't be all that bad.
He reaches out, curling the hand of his freshly-bandaged arm around one of Steve's shoulders. )
Gonna be sick of your face by the time we get outta here anyway.
( Doubtful. Hasn't happened in thirty-something or a hundred-something years.
If they get outta here, that is. Time traveling forward seems to stick for them way more than traveling back. He's not gonna say that, though. )