◣ OPEN ◢ CATCH THAT THESSYX

[sunmon]

WHO: anyone signed up for this player plot
WHAT: a band of merry hatchlings followed the thessyx as they left, in an attempt to find their city!
WHEN: august 1-5
WHERE: north of basecamp
NOTES/WARNINGS: animal mutilation; for other warnings, please utilize subject lines

preparation;

in the last days of july, whispers spread amongst the hatchlings of a planned excursion north of the city, following the trail laid by the thessyx who had left before the window closed. friends of alina starkov — or anyone with skills useful enough to keep her alive long enough to get to the thessyx's underground city — might have received a personal invitation via text or in person, but anyone else might have simply jumped on via word of mouth.

there are rain shields to wheedle out of remí, food to hoard wherever possible to support the excursion, and other preparations to be made. those heading out on this journey don't really know how long they'll be gone: better to be ready for anything. hopefully, those coming along have weapons. you never know what you'll find in the ethyraian wilderness.

the journey out;

day one
to a skilled observer, the tracks left by the thessyx originally appear to meander without purpose across the desert-like landscape. the terrain is easy to traverse, dry and covered in scrub. serpentflies flutter around, glinting in the faint light that leaks through the threatening cloud cover. the tracks gradually veer over the course of the day to join what seems like a migration or herd route of some kind... almost like a well-trodden road.

the good news is that the road offers excellent visibility and makes it hard to sneak up on the group, though it is pocked by a variety of animal prints. amidst the prints of animals that use the path, the thessyx's prints run the risk of getting lost in the noise.

when they rest for the night, just off the edge of the trail, a male scorpiug plunges into the camp looking for offerings to attract a mate. the scorpiug will attack, its claws and teeth equipped with a toxin that can induce sleep and paralysis on the victim, leaving them defenseless for a female scorpiug to sniff out and come devour later. at 30 ft tall, the scorpiug proves difficult to combat, and trailblazers should team up to take out this tank!

day two
the next day, when everyone is tired from the interruption to their sleep, and once they've left the camp out of sight and out of mind, the journey takes a turn for the disturbing as they discover the next stretch of road is marked by animal carcasses. these don't look like they were merely hunted by the inhospitable wildlife of ethyraia either. mangled bat bones, discarded rat tentacles, and golden cliff viper heads have been left behind in disarray. they don't look like they were left there by the thessyx or the kind of animal that would have been hunting them in the wild...

a downpour starts in the early afternoon. light at first, but after half an hour of sleet, the mild flooding around their feet and the intensity of the rain prove too much for rain shields and shielding abilities to completely correct. they are going to need safe harbor. fortunately, in the nearby mountainous landscape there appear to be some caves, nestled amongst boulders on higher ground ...

the cave;

still day two
on the interior walls of the cave are ancient-looking paintings, wall art depicting dragons drawn to massive scale, taking up much of the wall and some of the ceiling! around them are also creatures that look quite like the thessyx themselves... and there are other drawings that don't seem to match them? taller figures with flatter heads and broader limbs. the art depicts all the featured creatures in harmony.

as night falls and people find places to settle, eivor wanders deeper into the very extensive cave. the number of tunnels and depth of the cave may be surprising or discouraging to other wanderers, but as eivor persists, she comes across an ancient, feeble, malnourished thessyx curled up in a corner.

provided she communicates with them, the thessyx explains telepathically that all elderly thessyx leave their subterranean city to go and 'join the ocean' on a final journey. however, this Thessyx does not think it will make it, and seems to lament this fact.

what they found didn't find;

day three
the next day, as the group gets ready to go, there are decisions to be made: what to do with the thessyx, and whether to turn back themselves in the face of the weather. after some debate between bringing them along and returning them to basecamp, the group settles on the latter, sending a few of their number (sam, balthier, and natasha have volunteered) back with them.

those who opt to remain continue after the trail left by the thessyx, but it goes cold later that day at the side of the mountain, as if the entire envoy simply vanished or teleported. low on food and other supplies, and threatened by rain and monsters, the group will have to decide whether to continue blindly or to turn back as well.

Comments

alina starkov (open)

[sunmon]

day 00: preparation

[ to anyone who alina knows personally and might have useful skills for the journey, she sends a text: ]

i think we should go after them.

day 02: the caves

[ alina protests taking cover under the caves longer than anyone else, with such hits as: what if the rain washes away the trail? and it's just a little rain — we have shields! this second one is at least a little more understandable, given that she is using her own powers to form a blue-gold dome of sunlight around herself, kirigan (whose side she has been glued to for the duration of the trip), and potentially one other. it's not doing anything for the splashing around their ankles, though, which is going from itchy to painful quite quickly.

and that's how she winds up in the cave, perched at the very mouth of it, watching the storm like ocean waves. waiting for it to die down just enough that she can justify demanding they go back out into it. the heat and the rainfall are oppressive, so the air from the interior of the cave actually feels like more of a reprieve, coaxing her further in, but alina is stubborn. she strips off her jacket — worn for protection, not warmth — and wiping sweat off her neck, announcing her intention to stay close to the entrance even as the sun sinks lower. ]

day 03: end of the road

[ there's nothing. whether the rain had washed it away or something else, the trail ends, and when alina gets the news, denial and outrage come first. ]

No. We're not turning back now. If we keep going, the trail will pick back up. It has to.

day ??: wildcard

[ hmu at protects for a closed starter, or drop your own based on my plotting comment! ]

00 Preparation // Private Text

[portolan]

I can bring my hovercraft -- it might be worth putting our supplies in it.

Are we alerting Childe or going stealth?

[sunmon]

We're not Childe's people. I don't see a reason she needs to know, do you?

[ all it could do is get them in trouble, as she sees it. but she can be persuaded. ]

Day 2

[unclesam]

How you holding up?

[ Sam approaches quietly, eyes on the cavern entrance. He's still in his flight suit, but he's pulled the goggles off his face for now, rubbing at his eyes a little.

Easy to tell Alina's not happy with them having to take shelter, and he gets it. That drive to keep pushing, keep looking, especially when you're forced to be more cautious than you wanted to. ]

I can send Redwing out ahead for a bit, try and get a read on the trail in the rain. Enough to get us an idea in case some of it's washed away by tomorrow.

[ It's not gonna save the whole trail if the rain doesn't let up - it's more an offer to give her something to hold onto in terms of hope. ]

[sunmon]

[ her head lifts up, and the first smile she gives him is tight, terse. a force thing as thin as their rations are getting. just enough to be civilized, but by no means a warm fire to share.

but then he mentions the trail, and the frost chips off her disposition. she loosens up, straightens. ]

He can do that? [ it assuages all at once every fear she had, sitting here. they won't lose anything but time and food — and they have the kind of people in their company who can work out food. it's tracking that's irreplaceable.

and, just a little bit, it's because the need for tracking at all has reminded her of mal. ]

3

[ulfrkysst]

[The elder thessyx has departed with its guards, much to Eivor's disapproval, but that still leaves four of them (well, five... if you include Tina, a child, which Eivor doesn't) to continue on. She's hopeful at first, but then the trail ends, and their food supply isn't far behind.]

We do not know what direction to take. Even Sýnin cannot find a trace.

[She sighs defeatedly, making a vague gesture.]

The animals in this realm are not fit to eat. We will starve if we continue. [She glances surreptitiously toward wherever Tina is doing Tina things, hoping Alina will catch on to her meaning; the weakest among them will suffer if they don't turn back.]

[sunmon]

We won't starve if we find them. The thessyx have plenty of food.

[ the outburst, full of childish passion and frustration, should humiliate her. she knows that everyone else has seen what is obvious, what she can't accept. there's no path this way.

it had been true since they'd left, since she had failed to shake kirigan at the camp. even if she found the thessyx, his presence meant she wouldn't really be free and clear.

brimming with maturity, she kicks a gravel-sized stone. it pings spitefully off of a tree and snaps back at her calf. ]

day two;

[morozova]

( they've settled in as best they can. the makeshift camp serviceable rather than comfortable.

aleksander doesn't go to alina immediately. rather, he wanders the tunnels a moment before finally moving to join her at the mouth of the cave. he sets himself against the wall, arms folded, eyes focused on the sliver of outside rather than the sullen teenager perched across from him. )

Do you ever wonder how the animals here survive such conditions?

[sunmon]

When you go your whole life drinking poison, I imagine it goes down easier.

[ she doesn't look at him. she's moody, and she does not owe the black heretic the effort to manage her stormy emotions. instead, she picks up another rock and throws it out into the rain. it vanishes, the downpour so heavy that it darkens the air and erases evidence that the stone had ever existed. ]

02

[portolan]

[ Balthier has seen the way Alina floats to Kirigan's side, only to bound off and return again, like a magnet with its polarity switched back and forth. He can't get a read on their dynamic, but he can certainly put together Alina's desire to flee anywhere else and her impatience at being bottled up.

He sees her at the cave of the mouth, ready to bolt the second it lessens. The light she summons around herself is mesmerizing. And hard to see through. He comes to lean nearby. Honestly, the sound of the rain is soothing, and he's appreciate some time to collect his own thoughts. ]

How much did I tell you about when I left home?

[sunmon]

[ feeling ungenerous, Alina says, ]

A lot.

[ as if she had not happily listened, at the time, to his narrative. she is sour now, and young enough that her present sourness is all that matters. ]

Sam Wilson (open)

[unclesam]

✪ Day 1: Open

[ Sam spends most of the day alternating between the ground, and flying high up into the sky to keep an eye further out than they could otherwise. He doesn't fly quite so high he vanishes from sight, though, always close enough that he can return to the ground fast in case anything changes.

It's not strictly necessary - they have good visiblity all around. But if one were to get the impression that Sam spends a lot of his time in the air as indication that he really, really enjoys flying... well. That assumption wouldn't be entirely wrong.

And no one could be blamed for getting the impression that when in his element, Sam can be a bit of a thrill chase. Case in point - does he just drift down to the ground gently whenever he returns to walk with the group for a stretch? No. He drops, catching himself on the wings before hitting ground. And then he brings his feet up under him, the mechanical wings smoothly folding back into the thruster pack on his back. tossing a grin at the nearest person. ]

Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you.

[ The wings aren't just for show, though, and the scorpiug attack that night shows that. The thing about flying is you can make yourself an utter menace to something tall, trying to distract it, and Sam weaves through the air, spinning, soaring and dropping in turns to maintain momentum while dodging mid-air swings from the creature, trying to leave it vulnerable for others to attack.

This doesn't always work, of course, he's not a foolproof distraction, and whenever the scorpiug's attention slips off him, he uses his drone Redwing to lay down some firepower into the creature.

And if the scorpiug takes a swing at one of his companions, Sam will drop down in front of them, catching the blow on his shield with a grunt - the vibranium doesn't scratch, but the impact shoots pain up his arms and into his shoulders. The thruster pack flares with the effort of holding against the push of the creatures weight. ]

Little help here...!

[ And if anyone's gotten hurt during the fight, Sam will make himself available to patch them up after - this is what he's trained for, patching people up in the field. ]

---

✪ Day 2: Open

[ When they encounter the animal carcasses, Sam wrinkles his nose. He's no expert on these things, and scans from his drone don't give him anything to work with. Other than that the animals are dead - thanks, Redwing, very helpful. If someone looks to be examining the bodies with a little more intent, Sam will approach them. ]

You got any idea what mighta done this?

[ In the cave, Sam uses Redwing to make a recording of the drawings on the walls, whistling low, clearly impresses by the scale of the dragons. Here's to hoping they're no longer moving - he's not much interested in tangling with something that size. Living under the shadow of one's corpse is creepy enough, thank you very much. He does take note of the other figures drawn on the walls, too, though. ]

Makes you wonder just how populated this place actually is... or used to be.

---

✪ Day 3: Closed to Natasha and Balthier

[ Sam has seen many a horror movie that starts like this, and throws Natasha an amused glance when he comments as such - Balthier and the Thessyx won't understand, he knows that, but she might get some amusement out of this. The excursion isn't a loss, in his books - they have the chance to help this one, back to their camp - and perhaps, travel distance permitting, to the ocean after all, but that will require investigating some logistics. For now... ]

And then there were four. I'll send Redwing up, keep an eye on the weather.

---

✪ Wildcard

[ If you'd like a different prompt, feel free to hit me up on inkcharm or via pm <3 ]

---

Day 3

[portolan]

[ Balthier has seen people ready to die before. Their eyes are dull, their bodies close to the undead in their dull movements. He doesn't like this, but he likes it better than leaving the creature here to starve and wither alone. ]

This isn't going to be a pleasant trip.

Let's see if the rain looks steady or getting heavier. I think there's some tarp in the supplies. I'll see if I can rig some shelter from the rain.

[unclesam]

Might be wise. My shield and the wings are acid resistant, but... that's more of an emergency shelter, not a long-term solution.

[ Wrapping the wings around and huddling under the shield, Sam can keep himself and maybe two other people covered, but it's a squeeze, and really not what they want to rely on in case of another heavy downpour like the previous night. ]

1

[ulfrkysst]

[Eivor tries very hard not to be alarmed by the fire-belching metal inventions that the Adamant survivors use so casually, and she has spent a good portion of the day also trying very hard to stop staring every time Sam just. Flies up there. It's not magic, she knows that; it has something to do with the metal wings, but Hel if she knows what.

He falls from the sky like a stone, catching himself at the last second like he doesn't have a very natural fear of plummeting to the ground.

The raven perched on Eivor's shoulder croaks indignantly, and Eivor tosses a flat look Sam's way.] You seem to delight in it, actually.

[unclesam]

[ Sam has the decency to look just a touch sheepish, swooping up a little again and then touching down a little more gently. The metal wings tremble slightly in the breeze as if they were feathers, and not an impressive metal array, looking somewhat lighter than sheets of metal this size and thickness have any right to be. And then, smoothly and within only a second or two, they move, folding inward into the slim metal pack on Sam's back, no larger but a lot flatter than a backpack. As if they'd never been there. He falls into step besides Eivor, eyeing the raven with some curiosity. She looks like a Viking, and he's got the brief and probably unwise impulse to tell her about knowing Thor, personally. Pushes that impulse aside, though. ]

Not so much the startling people. The flying, though? Nothing better. Bet your friend knows a little something about that.

[ He nods to the raven. ]

eivor / ota

[ulfrkysst]

a. THE JOURNEY.

[Walking a path in unknown territory makes Eivor nervous; she's worried about stepping into a trap or being too visible, on the chance that the thessyx did not want to be followed. Then again, this realm is almost comically inhospitable, so it's not like traversing through the brush would be any safer.

At a certain point, the prints of the thessyx become nearly impossible to discern from the prints of animals, and the group is forced to linger at a crossroads while they figure it out.

While Eivor is crouched down, studying the prints, her raven companion swoops abruptly down from the sky and settles on her shoulder. She barely seems to notice, though it might be startling to someone who wasn't expecting it.]

Did you find the way?

[Is she talking to you or the bird?]

b. THE CAVES.

Has anyone been burnt?

[Eivor is doing a head count once they've all run into the safety of the caves, making sure no one has been left behind or scalded by the poison rain.

She sighs, annoyed, and folds her arms over her chest.] I am no herbalist, but there must be a tonic to counter the sky's venom.

c. THE WIZENED.

[Some time during the night, Eivor returns from searching the depths of the cave system. Perhaps some did not notice she even left, slipping away into the darkness to satisfy a buzzing curiosity in the back of her head.

Listen with ears, watch with eyes, and each wise man will find his way forth--

The torch she's holding is dim, revealing just how long she's been gone, but the light illuminates her scarred features all the same, twisted in concern. Without preamble, she announces:]

There is an elder back through the tunnels.

[Sorry to interrupt your conversations and/or dreams.]

b

[portolan]

I'll do a round of Cure spells on everyone -- we could all use the boost. If anyone is hurt worse, I'll prioritize stronger spells.

[ It's familiar; the ritual for after a fight, after an ambush, after a bad day on the ship. He's thought less about home the past month, but when it's there, it's suddenly huge. He keeps busy to keep from grieving. ]

There's plant life outside -- thriving. There must be something we can learn from it. We should take samples back for our scientifically inclined friends. [ And for the cover story he fed to Childe, per Alina's request. ]

[ulfrkysst]

[He's right -- the plants thrive here, despite the poison in the soil, leeched from the rain. They're likely just as toxic as everything else in this realm, but they're surviving somehow...

But she's not thinking about that; he said something about spells, and she makes a mildly perplexed face.] You practice seiðr?

a

[mylawn]

[76 would probably rather be tracking humans than mysterious aliens who seem to have foretold their arrival, but at least the skill set is the same. It's relieving, too, to be out on an expedition with a group of people who seem to know what they're doing. At least, they seem like they do--all bets are off if they get into an actual physical confrontation, but they haven't lost the trail yet.

It is, however, getting muddier. The good news is that this seems to be a well-traveled road. The bad news is that everyone and everything seems to have been traveling it. 76 has (with some effort, he is Old) dropped into a squat, as if getting up close and personal with all the tracks is going to help him differentiate the Thessyx prints from that of some random alien creature.

Look, we can't all have bird friends. He looks over his shoulder and gives Eivor a sort of appraising look.]

Yeah, it's these.

[He thinks so, anyway.]

Seems like everyone's headed the same direction.

b;

[morozova]

Nothing severe.

( between the dragon-skin shield and alina's neat new party trick, he'd managed to avoid the worst of the rain's effects. this being said, eivor does raise a valid point. )

The Aid Station likely has something. ( desperate as the camp is, he can't imagine that they'd send their people out in these conditions without something to mitigate the worst of the damage.

whether or not they had the benefit of that knowledge, however, remains to be seen. )

76 | ota

[mylawn]

i. day one

[He’s mostly used to tracking humans, not wildlife or aliens, but the good news is that the skill set is the same. 76 is not so easily confused by the sets of tracks, because it looks like everyone in these parts was heading the same way. Some information to file away for later, perhaps.

None of that changes the fact that tracking someone or something is often very boring, and they spend most of their time trudging along. He’s not really one for idle conversation, and it’s difficult to turn off his hyper vigilance, but the reality of it is that a long walk through the alien landscape gets a little old after a while.

Maybe he. Will try. To be sociable.]

Well.

[Just give him a second.]

You got any good stories?

ii. day two

[This, however, he’s not at all a fan of—a trail of animal carcasses signals some kind of larger predator (and one that seems to be killing for no reason, at that). Given this information, hiding in a cave that may house these creatures seems like a bad idea, but when it starts to rain they’re left with no choice.]

Watch your step.

[The visor doesn’t pick up anything, but he’s still on high alert. He’ll go first, possibly pushing his way past someone else to do so (sorry not sorry). It doesn’t seem like he’s interested in getting some rest, so he spends most of his time either keeping watch, or exploring deeper into the cave—he won’t say no to company either way.

The paintings, of course, are of the most interest, and he can be found studying them, puzzling over the unfamiliar figures.]

Not sure I want to meet these guys.

[The history of the planet is interesting, sure, but the Thessyx are enough alien for him, it seems.]

iii. day three

[76 has no real preference about what they do with the Thessyx beyond not leaving it alone to die. Despite his stern demeanor, it seems he does have some concern for the well-being of sentient life, so when the decision is made to bring it back to basecamp, he doesn’t argue. He’s not in a rush to get back, even despite the weather, so he’s more than content to continue following the trail until it goes cold.

Which he expected to happen eventually, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating. It’s the strangeness of it all that gets to him, like the Thessyx vanished into thin air. He takes it upon himself to take a little walk through the surrounding area to see if they’ll get lucky. They don’t.]

It doesn’t pick up again.

[He says that matter-of-factly, not necessarily to dissuade the group from continuing on, but instead just presenting the situation as it is.]

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I don’t want to push our luck.

[For someone whose ulterior motive may or may not be gauging the possibility of surviving out here by himself, he seems to have a fairly realistic read on the situation.]

iv. wildcard

[anything u want. feel free to hit me up on plurk at whitticus.]

i

[portolan]

[ Balthier is a decent tracker from the sheer number of hunts he and Fran and later the rest of the crew went on, sometimes to pay the bills, sometimes for fun and profit, but there are more skilled here, and nothing seems to be pursuing them. The opportunity for a break is all too alluring. ]

I did promise riveting tales of piracy, didn't I?

[ Let's see. He normally uses some of the audience's expectations to get extra drama, but he doubts 76 knows much about his world. ]

I once robbed the most famous tomb in all of Ivalice. [ He's not sure why he picks this one, but as soon as it's out of his mouth, he's committed. ]

the darkling, ota.

[morozova]

🌘 ᴊᴏᴜʀɴᴇʏ ᴏᴜᴛ

[ A: ]

( aleksander drops into a crouch beside one of the carcasses. the animal would be unfamiliar to him, even if it weren't rendered nigh unrecognizable by the damage it's been dealt, but that doesn't mean it doesn't offer some interesting insights.

the size, for one.

the damage itself, for another.

and then, of course, there's the fact that this far from the first thing of its like they've seen on the journey. that, if anything, the space between bodies seems to be tightening. )

Should we be concerned, do you think?

( ”are we being hunted?” hangs in the air, unspoken. it's not an unreasonable thought considering just how many things on this planet seem determined to kill them. )

[ B: ]

( in some respects, the attack is almost a relief—though the scorpiug calls to mind the volcra and the fold and that sense of crippling, chilly helplessness.

fortunately, he has never been one to hesitate. and the cave is dense with the kind of shadows that flex and thicken, rising to meet his call.

he could hit it with the cut, he thinks, if only it could be kept occupied long enough. )

🌘 ᴄᴀᴠᴇꜱ

( the dragons are difficult to mistake, although the scope of the designs are impressive enough that he wonders if the size was down purely to whimsy. after all, they live in the — mostly — hollowed-out corpse of one of them, with room to spare. )

I wonder how many more there are? Or were, ( he amends, quickly. expression thoughtful as he turns his head, tracing the line of a tail back to a fearsome looking head. )

🌘 ᴡɪʟᴅᴄᴀʀᴅ

( hmu at resurrectionist if you'd like a custom starter, or feel free to take a peek at my plotting comment and see if it gives you any ideas! )

A, possibly transition to B or even caves if it makes sense?

[portolan]

Clearly you've never hunted beasts as your day job.

[ Balthier has had an eye on the General and Alina; she'd mentioned him, a few times, but he's noticed the odd mixture of tension and conversation between them. He isn't sure how to read it, but brings it upon himself to snoop.

As for the beasts, he's not not concerned, but he has his pistol and his quickenings, if it comes to that. He's certainly seen worse. That said, he doesn't particularly want to get caught facing whatever did this with a group whose skills and experience he doesn't know. Sam and Nat will probably be fine. The others -- he isn't sure.

And he hasn't fought without Fran in...years. He's worried about his own blind spots. ]