EVENT #01 —

[raiamods]

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.

Comments

[sunmon]

I've been doing my best dancing bear impression.

[ she says this boastfully, like it holds any candle to nina's news. it's a sort of self-effacing pride, though, that seems too aware of the fact that actually, alina has been in the salt mines. ]

The kids are rehearsing a show called Peter Pan that mostly involved me carrying Nivea around in the air while she pretended to be covered in fairy dust. I think The Slant of Sun Hitting a Water Lily will like it.

[neversmall]

[ Nina is almost happily derailed at this: ] Fairy dust? Why should that make any difference?

[ It is a bit of a Grounding Tactic, but then she's had rather an extraordinary day and could use the grounding. ]

[sunmon]

Supposedly, it makes children fly.

[ her nose crinkles like this is OBVIOUSLY ABSURD and what kind of domovoi would do THAT??? but her expression melts into one of amusement and affection because, well, kids. she's not going to be the one to point it out to them. ]

[neversmall]

[ ...that's oddly terrifying. Because the only reason she can think of for something to make only children fly is to steal them away. ]

And this comes with no warning to keep them away from the fairies? [ A quick flicker of amusement. ] It's certainly not a Ravkan story.

[ No dire warnings, just pleasure and adventure? No monster in the closet or under the bed? What a pleasant fantasy. ]

[sunmon]

Neverneverland, [ she says this like she's reciting something she was told, ] is a wonderful place free of adults and responsibilities.

[ absurd. truly absurd. a little lopsided smile and she says, ] Sounds alright, doesn't it?

[neversmall]

[ Nina gives Alina a wry smile in return. ]

I suppose we all want to run away sometimes.

SO I LOST THIS NOTIF

[sunmon]

Do we?

[ her smile only looks a little less sincere. ]

Did you ever try to run from the Little Palace?

all good!

[neversmall]

[ Nina blinks. ]

Run away from the only place in the world that allowed me to live as a Grisha? No. [ Nina doesn't smile, but her lips press together in a hard line that curves up, like the curve of a knife. ] No, by the time I'd got there and learned what it was that I could do, I was far more interested in learning enough to make it so people like me wouldn't have to run away.

[ Although she realizes, with a prick of conscience, that this is still true... it is no longer the whole truth. She supposes-- ]

But I suppose I have run away now.

[ And she would have, whether or not she was here. ]

[sunmon]

It's not running away if it wasn't your choice.

[ she says this like it's reassuring. the last thing alina wants is for nina to feel guilty and msierable about where hse might want to be instead of here. but ...

she did want to run away. it was her choice. she'd do it again. ]

[neversmall]

[ But she had made her choice.

And it was one she couldn't afford to advertise. She knew the make of the thread that held the general back from killing Matthias.

It is very easy to give a small smile and lie with the truth. ]

No, I suppose not.

[ She'd do much harder things to keep that thread intact. ]

[sunmon]

I wanted to.

[ it's not a secret. kirigan had heard her talking to genya about it early on. ]

But Kirigan kept his oprichniki everywhere. I think he must have known. It's silly to imagine, isn't it?

[neversmall]

[ Nina tilts her head slightly, her gaze steady on Alina. Then she shakes her head. ]

No, I don't think so. You had a life and then suddenly everything about it was taken away from you. Not even your body was yours in the same way anymore. I think it's understandable that you'd want to fight to go back to the way things were.

[ You can't, of course, because you can't just stop being a Grisha. But Nina doesn't think she needs to say that, considering the circumstances. ]

cw: fantasy racism reference

[sunmon]

There is no going back to the way things were.

[ alina rubs at her arms. she doesn't like admitting it. speaking the words aloud is like breaking a spell. the scar on her hand is gone and mal is gone and she has no allies. only a power she can barely use. ]

I don't even know that I'd want to. Being Grisha is the first time I've ever felt like I belonged anywhere. [ she'd had to carve a place out for herself and mal in the orphanage, in the first army. even when he'd become charismatic enough to be desirable and fit in, and alina had been the only perpetual outsider, his side was not enough for her. it never had been. it couldn't erase the pain.

she smiles tightly at nina, awkward. ] For obvious reasons.

[neversmall]

[ Nina gives a slow nod of assessment and agreement. ]

Well, knowing the rest of the world is out to kill you, enslave you, or cut you up into little pieces does tend to foster a certain kind of bond. [ She hesitates, then: ] The Little Palace is too full of politics to ever feel like a home, for me. It's a function - a tool, to make us better tools. But it does give us the opportunity to find a place with each other. [ She does not touch her locket, but a wry, painful expression flits across her face. ] If we're very, very lucky, anyway. And - just for the record - you do belong.

[sunmon]

[ a smile breaks out on alina's face like sun peeking from behind clouds. full and bright and genuine. it's hard not to. despite the grim subject matter, nina has offered her something she's always wanted. it doesn't stop feeling good just because it's complex, just because she has a hard time accepting it. ]

Thank you.

[ it's the kind of affirmation that makes her want to set everything else aside and worry only about chasing more of that feeling. alina could escape into a kind of life where she belonged. but that precise thinking had been what got her into trouble that baghra had tried to sneak her out of (or murder her, she wasn't quite sure yet which). so though she wants to set everything else aside, alina does not squander the chance to prod at that explanation. ]

... The King's tools? Or the General's?

[neversmall]

[ Oh, Alina, that smile. How you show your pain even in your joy, it's the iron framework for the stained glass.

But then -- Nina winces. ]

Politics. [ A sigh. But. Okay. If Alina's getting back - and she'd better - and Nina's staying with Matthias here - and she very well might - then maybe talking about things that Aren't Talked About is actually the better way forward. She shifts her posture to face Alina more directly and speaks very seriously. ]Anyone with power is going to try to take us and make us their tools, because our power makes them stronger. But we are not tools. We are people, with whatever stuff makes up people inside of us.

I serve the general, and I serve the king, but more than that I've tried to serve Ravka -- and more than that, I want to make the world a place where Grisha are viewed as people. Where we don't have to be separated out of fear, or pressed into service, or limited to where we can go and what we can do because of who we are. I think that's what most Grisha fight for. And the best way of doing that seems to be winning the war, and the best way of doing that [ she hesitates, because, treason, ] does not always seem to be following the king.

[sunmon]

[ treason, then. nina doesn't say it lightly. it wells out of her like water from a broken dam. alina lets herself get caught in the flood, lets the words wash over her, filling in every little crack that baghra's lecture had left.

alina has not been a grisha long enough to know deeply what nina describes. but she has been on the other side of it, the side that fears and even hates them — less than fjerdans and shu and anyone else hates them, but still hates them. she knows it to be true.

which is how nina's ideals sound good, promising, righteous. and that's how she finds herself asking, not arguing. ]

What would you be willing to do to get a world like that? [ would she weaponize the shadow fold? would she kill all the women and children who'd been innocently swept up into the merzost that created the fold in the first place? would she watch more otkazat'sya die to the volcra, even the innocent or ambivalent? kirigan would. ]

[neversmall]

[ Her brow furrows. ] I'm not sure what you mean.

[ What has she already done? Killed, lied, betrayed, manipulated, even hurt enemies when fear needed to be her weapon. She's also starved, been captured, lost friends, grieved and kept going.

Now she's taking the risk to build something instead of fight, and it isn't The Reason, but it's not as though she can unsee what she's seen, and what it would mean for a former drüskelle to accept that Grisha were not evil, and learning how to reach others as opposed to simply having to defend. She'd much rather try to change a culture by leeching out the hatred somehow than have to work to defeat it. ]

[sunmon]

How far would you be willing to go to ensure a safe place — freedom — for all Grisha?

[ it's a noble goal. or it might have been, once. but she doesn't know that it's truly at the heart of what kirigan is doing. how could it be, if he was willing to do so many terrible things to get there? baghra's voice beats like a drum in the back of her mind. ]

East and West Ravka are fracturing. West Ravka tried to have me assassinated. Would you go to war with them? [ she grapples for more specifics, something that at least brushes up against the real horrors in question. ] Would you support the King if he put their cities to siege, and innocent people starved no matter how they felt about Grisha?

[neversmall]

[ Nina looks horrified. Her instinctive reaction is to cry: ] No! [ and she is just enough inside her own skin with Alina to actually do so.

But then -- to be practical. ]

Innocent people starve in war, civilians get killed, but it should never be a goal, an acceptable loss. [ She doesn't know all the consequences of her actions, as a soldier, as a spy. She can only speak to what she's done with her two hands -- and they're red enough already, but she has never directly harmed a civilian and she does not intend to. Especially not her own people, what a horrifying thought. ] It happens, but it's one of the worst things that happens. It's not an acceptable method. We don't prove them right. Gaining our freedom by losing our humanity only looses monsters on the world.

[ Would she go to war with West Ravka to keep it from seceding? ...she would, though she'd hope that would be the last resort. And that was only because East Ravka would be doomed without it. But that wasn't what Alina was asking, not really. This is a clarification, an example to How far would you go? Nina can't help but wonder why this is what she asking. ]

[sunmon]

[ alina shows no such horror. rather, her gaze probes nina like fingers digging into a wound. does she trust this reaction? nina is a spy. she could invent whatever reaction she wanted. alina's pulse ticks up. she's out of her depth. she's so out of her depth.

after too long in silence, alina nods. she accepts the answer. it's uncanny, really. the way that her stoicness bears shadows of kirigan himself. like, absent anyone else to model her reservations off of, she has inherited from him that eldritch calm which he had cultivated over centuries. ]

Hopefully the King finds a better way to stop West Ravka from seceding. [ that's all she says. ] He may tolerate our presence, but he already sees us as monsters and weapons. It's no wonder which tools he would use if he decided to prove a point.

[ she had realized at the winter fete that if she was not a jewel in his crown then she was a weapon in his hand. perhaps the war could be won with diplomacy. but alina's presence seems to have terrified the worst out of everyone. she averts her gaze to the ground. ]

If things escalate further, I'm afraid it will be my fault.

[neversmall]

[ To be someone's friend is a progression, this is something Nina has learned. You can say that you're friends when all you do is wear the same kefta color and sit at the table, and though you share no secrets you still find harbor with the likeness there against the blast of distrust and envy of the rest of the Grisha. Heartrenders are, after all, the general's favorite soldiers.

You can say that you're friends when you stand shoulder to shoulder against an incoming foray of bullets, raise your hands together and inflict death over and over again.

And you can say that you're friends when someone has you by the shoulders and is not quite yelling, not quite not yelling at you to stop, to come back, to be better than this... and you do.

So Nina won't say that this testing proves that she and Alina were not the friends she thought, she won't allow the rejection and fear she's experienced to have a louder voice than what she can see with her own eyes -- Alina is afraid. She's asking these questions because she's looking for something, and whether or not she found it in Nina's honesty is beside the point, because whatever it is was not enough to quiet her fear. And Nina is a monster and a weapon and fear isn't something she can ignore, not after this, not when she's seen it in Alina too many times. ]

Is that [ there is not enough emphasis to warrant italics on the word 'that', but the emphasis is nonetheless present ] what you're afraid of?

[ And she waits, she makes the question like an open door. ]

[sunmon]

[ slowly, alina nods. it's a barely perceptible thing. a mere inch of movement. like she's worried somehow kirigan might see her make the gesture and figure out what she knows. she's been teetered on the edge of a knife since arriving here. ]

I'm afraid that if I go back to Ravka, I won't be in control of what my power is used to do. [ the words stagger past her lips. ] I'm afraid that I haven't been in control of it since Kribirsk.

[ but she still can't trust. not completely. she reels it back, hides behind the safest sort of treason. nina is obviously more loyal to the grisha than to the king. there seems to be a lot of that around the little palace. ]

I'm afraid of what lengths the King might make me go to. And I won't have a choice. You know what happens to deserters.

[neversmall]

[ This is a mix, then, of hesitancy, truth, and deception. Nina is beyond attempting to ignore the signs from Alina at this point. She's good at this sort of thing, she could even figure out which parts were true, which a lie. The fear is real, though, and the fear is enough to make her teeth ache.

She takes a breath, though, because it doesn't make any sense. The fear should not be this acrid, this acute, if it was a fear that was that far in the future.

It's a balance, a choice - how do you become a friend? And what kind of friend will you be if you don't act? The sort that just shares a kefta? How long do you wait for someone to show themselves to you and when do you push? It's different if you're working with a mark, than with someone you are trying to be a friend to.

She lifts her head slightly, meeting Alina's gaze squarely. ]

You probably haven't been. To be fair, how could you have? As you gain more control of your power and learn to understand the politics... I'm sure you'll be able to have more of a say. We all bow to the throne, but being the Sun Summoner gets you a lot of leverage. You're not replaceable. You can work with that.

[ And Nina says you and not we, because yes, she knows what happens to deserters and even though the choice tears at her, she would not unmake it.

She takes a half step forward, puts a hand on Alina's shoulder. ]

Don't let the future haunt you, Alina. We've got enough to deal with here.

[sunmon]

Right. Here.

[ the sharp breath she draws suggests all of nina's assumptions are true: the problem is very much not back and ravka, but present with them. she can't simply let go of it. but alina can't think of a good way to address this without revealing too much, without risking it getting back to kirigan.

she's probably already said too much.

fortunately, all of these things keep her from taking much notice of nina's focus on how alina can recover things back in os alta, and not how they can do it together. the self-involvement of adolescents. ]

Thanks for talking with me about this. I feel better. [ a little. it's not entirely a lie. she feels at least she can trust nina to have a line. kirigan doesn't. ]