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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 winks, flashing a grin. This is fun -- and easy. This is the way they blew into towns and dazzled taverns or diplomats while looking for marks. This is how he tried on a hundred personalities when his didn't seem to ever fit quite right. ]
Some of us are simply born great. But act a little mysterious, offer a few choice details, dress a little strange -- others will start fanning the flame you began, and soon you're a legend.
[ A legend that provides anonymity and plausible deniability. You're never the one telling your own lies. ]
no subject
[ she smiles with genuine affection as she says it, even as it finally melts and gives way to something sad. she rubs at her neck, ducking her head a little as she lets the fantasy go and actually admits, ] I'm trying to keep my footprint a little smaller than legend at the moment.
[ it doesn't really sit right, though. that desire. like it's somethings he's doing out of obligation and not out of personal drive. ]
no subject
[ That was part of why he changed his name, ran away. Anonymity has safety and peace. People who want you when you're nothing mean something different.
Is that why he's building up a persona here? Vulnerability takes effort. Brings loss. Part of him still thinks he'll see his loved ones again, but there's a more sober part that's already accepting he won't.
But, skies and stars, he isn't ready to go through that again. ]
Hanging around such an illustrious figure may be counterintuitive to your goals, my dear.
no subject
[ she scoffs. it's not like she hasn't thought it, though. hanging around her is a good way to get inevitably dragged into her problems. it might be to balthier's benefit to do what mal did and run the other way. but alina's not quite selfless enough to send him packing. ]
no subject
Point being, I'm terrible company for avoiding legendary status. Excellent for tea and cards though.
[ Balthier doesn't actively notice her shutting down, but he's socially savvy enough to intuitively steer the conversation to something lighter. ]
So, my dear, are you too respectable for me? Because I am a pirate with a heart of gold and a moral compass like orichalcum. I could not possibly corrupt a gentle young lady who only wishes to preserve her humble and modest life out of the limelight despite her excellent penchant for piracy and mythmaking.
no subject
[ more accurate, she thinks, is that she's not the bastion of modest morality that he makes her sound like when he says gentle young lady. but this will do.
anyway, the army had been a humble life. her life at the little palace had appealed far more than that. it wasn't that she wanted to leave life there behind, to stop being something wonderful, to stop feeling celebrated even if it came with the double-edged sword of being criticized, feared, and heaped with expectations.
but she couldn't. she could not be the sun summoner and stay safe from kirigan, and if she was not safe from kirigan, then ravka could not be safe from him. ]
Anyway, it's not like I idealize a humble life of no renown. It's ... [ she snaps her fingers. ] Do you have martyrs in Ivalice? People who are well-known because they're miserable? I think I'd rather be a farmer than a martyr. And I hate farms.
no subject
Touché. I ran away rather than become a martyr. [ Or a tyrant. ] I would also prefer a farm to that, and I quite hate dirt and repetitive manual labor.
Not piracy, not farming, not spending your ample years in abject mystery. What do you idealize?
no subject
[ she scoffs around the word, trying to think of it. alina doesn't know that she can think of a single ravkan ideal. the crown idealizes strength and money, and the boyars too. the peasants idealize the lives of those same boyars who bicker over little things and fear the day they'll lose that power. the army ... ]
I guess ... Peace. It doesn't matter where I am in the equation. I want peace for my country. [ then, as she probes the thought deeper. ] And for my people.
[ the grisha, she means. she hasn't called them that before, but it's the truth. there is no peace for grisha without peace for ravka. both require the sun summoner. both might demand she martyr herself, no matter her highest wishes. responsibility writhes like maggots in her stomach. ]
no subject
But he can't go back to the one place -- the one group of people -- he wants to protect. ]
Peace is beautiful dream. And safety for those we love.
[ For all his bravado, all his recklessness, wasn't that what it was always about? For Fran too -- they weren't safe at home; not truly. No one who is leaves. ]
no subject
[ she nods. if alina has an ideal, that's it. she isn't sure she knows what it looks like. the war is older than she is. older, stronger, better, more patriotic grisha than her have fought in it. but they all see her light as the light at the end of the tunnel.
maybe it's selfish to hide that hope, to refuse the shackles that kirigan would put on her. ]
Can I ask you something? [ she studies balthier. he's a reasonable, moral person. alina doesn't necessarily trust her judgment in people right now, but no one who's so honest about being a pirate is worried about hiding their worser qualities. she believes, at least, that he won't pretend to be something he's not, or mislead her. ] What would you do to get it? Wars are fought all over the world in pursuit of peace. It justifies all kinds of atrocities. Hate. Death. How much is too much for your hands to touch?
no subject
He was manufacturing a material that was later used to decimate an entire city. Hundreds of thousands of people, gone in a moment. [ A material Balthier now has stashed in the Leviathan because he has no idea how to safely dispose of it and is afraid of keeping it too near to camp. ] I say that like I'm justifying it. Maybe I am. He'd been...less than fatherly for a long time. Drove my mother away. That's not why I killed him, though I'd certainly fantasized about it after she left.
[ He knows he should stop. Alina doesn't need to hear any of this. It could come back to hurt him. But it's been over a month since he talked about any of it, more than a month since he lost Fran and the others. More than a month he's been stewing on these questions. It's as though being asked has burst a dam he barely knew he was holding. ]
He made me a Judge -- a sort of government official and solider -- when I was 16. A huge honor. I had the power to change things. The people of Archades, the people I was born into, were attacking the countries around us, killing thousands and putting thousands more into poverty. I thought I could stop it. I thought I could show my mother that it was worth coming home. But I was young and naive. I had little political affiliation; my appointment was a gift to my father to keep his research going, research that I didn't realize was dangerous. I should have seen it. But I was too busy missing the freedom of boyhood and clutching my pearls that I'd bloodied my hands by agreeing to a vote that led to the bombing of a city.
I don't know what the price of peace is. I ran rather than face that responsibility. But the war got worse -- directly as a result of my father, and from the council that I left. I had given up what power I had to stop it. Or at least I told myself I had. I went and robbed tombs and fought bandits and ate and drank my way across the countryside. I had no obligation to any of them. Just to myself, and my partner. Other people got to live small, selfish, private lives. Couldn't I? [ He knows he's rambling. Does he have a point? She doesn't need all these details. ]
And then I found myself suddenly in a position to help someone who did have an idea on how to make things better. I wanted to walk away; I wanted to maintain this aloof persona I'd bee building for years. I found myself finding excuses to stay. Treasure. Payment. Fulfilling promises. They got thinner until we all knew I was lying. It feels good, to work for a cause. And it feels good when someone else is making the hard decisions. I think I would have done things Ashe had asked me, if I really believed they would help, even if they were terrible.
Maybe I am more like my father than I realized.
cw: just ... darklina ... idek how to describe. grooming??????
but balthier is different. he'd killed his father to stop atrocity, the likes of which kirigan had committed. that has to be different, right? but as balthier continues, she can only think of the king, and fjerda, and shu han, and the fate of the grisha without the black general. without a united ravka that protects its grisha instead of driving them out. ]
I'm sorry about your father. [ that's the first, most important thing to say. that loss is the most personal of all of it. ] Not just that he died, but ... it sounds like you lost him before that. To power. [ there's a shadow in her eyes. can she have lost kirigan to power, when the person that she'd grown so attached to had never been existed? it was a mere act. but even now, his softness seems real.
shame hits next. once her condolences are dealt with, it crashes down on her. wasn't that what she had wanted, fleeing os alta? a small, selfish, private life? but she is the sun summoner. she has the power to do something about this — or she could, if she'd just train. she might be the only person who could stop the black heretic. who could keep ravka safe for grisha. who could keep ravka whole. it sounds so arrogant to even think it, but ... maybe baltheir was right. maybe she couldn't run like he had. ]
Did you help Ashe because you regretted running away? Or could you only help her because you'd run away?
no subject
I told myself I helped her because I wanted the treasure of Raithwall, and then because I was guilty about my father, but honestly, I think I might have helped her because I believed it was the right thing to do, and that Dalmasca deserved a bright future.
Terrible pirate, I know.
[ He feels whatever moment of vulnerability they've had pass with his own closing off. It's both devastating and relieving; at least he has a face for this. ]
Besides, Ashe was stunningly radiant. What kind of leading man would I be if I left the dashing princess-warrior in her time of need?
no subject
[ the oversimplification is an extended hand, freedom from the very dour conversation that alina had walked them into. an apology of sorts too. she's well aware that she's not winning any awards for social behavior anytime soon. (do they even have commendations for that? 'leadership,' maybe.) ]
no subject
I did indeed like her. Like-liked even. [ A ridiculous phrase he picked up on the network from the youths. ]
no subject
[ if it were a story, it'd have a happy ending. he wouldn't have wound up trapped here, separated from her. but the simplicity of fairytales has a certain appeal for alina, right now. moralistic. clear lines. things she misses. ]
no subject
[ it is a nice thought. maybe it would have worked, if he'd been less of a coward. or hadn't ended up here. in all honesty he'd been meaning to say...something after things wrapped up. this hadn't been part of the plan. ]
But I am the leading man. I'm sure the next chapter will be just as illustrious and heart-pounding.
no subject
[ she laughs, though. there's something bizarre and comforting about the way that balthier boasts that kind of egotism, but then extends a surprising softness and understanding — interest in others that no real egotist would be capable of.
well. she thinks of kirigan's concerned expression. that no true egotist wouldn't be faking. ]
no subject
[ It's easy to slip into this bravado. Enjoyable even. But there's a pang of loneliness in it. Years spent under this shield. Even as it's soothing, there's something about it he doesn't want anymore, but he doesn't have anything to fill it's space. He lost those people when he woke up here. ]