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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
What's gotten into Alina's head? ]
That's not possible. The Dark Heretic made the Fold hundreds of years ago. No one lives that long.
no subject
but she can't bring herself to. she is too sure. especially now that he had admitted to his own longevity, to baghra being his mother. out of the horse's mouth. ]
It is possible. He's — He's ancient.
[ she shivers. ]
Think about it. For Grisha, using our powers makes us stronger. It keeps us healthy. A Grisha with enough power... [ the word squeaks out in a whisper. ] He told me himself. Not about the Fold, but the rest.
[ she doesn't meet nina's eyes after that. the rest of the conversation was ... complicated. the shining hope that she'd seen in aleksander that there might be someone else with just as much power, the kind of power to survive that long. he'd put that hope into her.
and she was betraying him. ]
no subject
It still seems impossible. That the man who'd guarded the Grisha of Ravka was one of the reasons why they were so despised. That the man who fought so hard for them had also created that which made their lives infinitely more miserable - had left her with only memories of her father, snatches of scent, an off-key hum of a tune. The Fold had taken so many lives, for the man responsible for it to still be alive, and not only that, in a place of honor and power and position -- and for no one to have known? For him to have gotten away with it for so long? ]
Someone would have noticed. You can't just -- stay in the same place, unchanged, for centuries. People are blind, but not that blind.
[ But people can be disposed of. And the Dark Heretic would have plenty of ways of doing that.
Alina said he'd told her as much -- why would he do that? Why would he risk that, if it were true? She feels her stomach sink, sickened, as she considers the implications. ]
no subject
[ the words sputter over her tongue. alina knows nina is only asking the same questions that she'd had. she knows it. but it feels like an assault on the one thing that she's been bottling up since she's been here. there's a frantic edge to her reply. ]
Stop. Stop looking for ways to defend him. [ she takes nina by the upper arms. ] I'm telling you the truth. Just— [ a pang of something, there, in her face. ] Believe me.
[ who would?
who would believe the frightened girl who had needed to be dragged to the little palace by force, who had immediately set about searching for ways to escape? the girl who had hidden away from the fact that she was grisha for years? over their own general? this was why she'd needed to flee. she couldn't trust aleksander, couldn't trust baghra, couldn't even trust genya. if she didn't have nina, she had no one. ]
Please.
no subject
[ What she says is reflexive, and not gentle, but neither is it cutting or cruel. Nina would like, very much, to completely dismiss this. It's much larger than she can afford to deal with right now; it takes all her much-sacrificed for priorities and smashes them into little tiny pieces, if it's true, like a madman with a mallet loose in a shop of porcelain dolls.
She does not want it to be true.
But Alina's desperation cuts her. Her terror is more convincing than her logic, and Nina can sense how badly Alina needs to be believed.
She wants to take hold of Alina's arms and forcibly remove them from her arms and walk away. She wants to cut the fragile cord she senses reaching out from Alina, something that is keeping her from spiraling, and just leave. She's deserted. This isn't her problem.
...but she just can't do it. ]
Damn it. [ She rips herself away from Alina and turns her back, staring up at the wings of the dragon to say an emphatic: ] Fuck.
[ She turns back around. ] If I say I believe you, do you have any idea what it means we have to try to do?
no subject
[ it feels achingly cowardly in the face of nina's nobility, her refusal to abandon alina to her loneliness. in that moment, alina feels anything but saintly. she should be the one giving hope and instead she's robbed nina of that, and for what? so that she can say 'thanks, nice knowing you, i'll be going now' and leave grisha problems to the grisha? it doesn't satisfy. guilt wells in her gut like blood from a wound. ]
no subject
Again, the temptation to just walk away was overwhelmingly sweet. Should she allow her whole world to be turned upside-down for the sake of a frightened girl? She certainly can't discuss an inkling of a plan or a commitment with Alina now, not when she sees that the girl's been withered away to the wick. Fight, flight, scream - fear is pouring off of her in torrents. There's a determination there too, that same fear she'd alluded to earlier - Alina doesn't want to be used. And she doesn't want to expand the Fold. Running would seem like a good option, at that point.
Except Nina was able to look into the eyes of her drüskelle captors and tell them that the Darkling would come for them because of what they'd done to her. And she knew it was true, and so did they. He let no Grisha death go unanswered. How much more would he pursue the Sun Summoner, even if what Alina said was not true, even if it was only what she knew about Kirigan?
Run, then. That was all she needed to say. All she needed to do was nothing, and she'd be giving Alina more help than she deserved on the tenuous grasp of her word in the face of all that Kirigan had done for Grisha, for her.
...she still can't do it. ]
If I were to believe you, then I'd feel compelled to warn you that's a terrible plan. Run away if you have to, but for Saints' sake, make it a trap. Don't run and keep running and let the person pursuing you chase you down and be the one choosing the ground of confrontation. [ Nina takes a half of a step closer, her voice low. ] And you have other options now. We're not in Ravka.
[ She looks away and takes a deep breath. She exhales, low, still not looking at Alina, not looking at anything, really. ] I need to think about this.
no subject
she hasn't won herself an ally, after all. the first if had not been a reluctant admission of belief — she was still weighing it. alina backtracks. ]
Please don't tell him.
[ nina had made that promise before she'd heard the truth — to not report on alina's fear. it could all be for naught now. nina might willing to give a crumb of wisdom on how to best evade him, but that didn't mean she was turning her back on kirigan. what grisha would?
alina, then, was exactly as alone as she had feared. the only difference, she told herself, was that she knew it for certain now. but the pain remained.
and maybe she deserves it. after all, she can't bring herself to say things like 'i understand' and 'take the time you need.' she doesn't want to give nina those things. she accepts them only because there's no way to force nina to help her. ]
no subject
Nina looks back at Alina, her heart wrenching a little again at what she sees. But -- the Black Heretic? If she was truly dealing with someone hundreds of years old, someone who'd committed abominations, then...
She was way out of her depth.
And Alina was already drowning.
She meets Alina's gaze and sinks a little bit of steel into her tone. ] I'm not going to tell him.
[ Because if he was the Black Heretic, then Alina's fears were well-founded, and it would be a betrayal of everything she was and wanted to be to see the Fold be weaponized, to honor the man who'd marked them all for death in his selfish pursuit of power. And she didn't really think Alina had lost her mind - something had happened to convince her of this, and it was too frightening, too big, to be dismissed. And if Alina was wrong, nothing would be gained from Kirigan leaning about what she believed - what could the man say, 'No, I'm not,' and expect Alina to just go, 'Okay'? No.
But it was too big, and Nina was not prepared to fully confront it. She needed the added distance of the word if, she needed space - and she had the dangerous luxury of it here. ]
I'm not walking away from you, Alina. I'm just wondering if you've completely lost your mind. But I'm not walking away.
no subject
but she doesn't. nina needs time. it wouldn't matter what else alina said just now — that it was baghra who told her, that she was his mother. it's impossible to see it for yourself. alina knows that. sometimes she still looks at him and wants to believe that baghra was lying, that maybe it was baghra who created the fold and she was hiding behind her son. that any number of other things might be true.
she breathes out slow, nostrils flaring. ]
You know where to find me. [ and until alina gets some help escaping this place, so does he. ]