quest log | following rumors

[moustre]

Who: Those signed up for the the High-Risk Quest "Following Rumors".
When: 06/10 to 06/13
Where: A cave deep within the Wilde.
What: From the quest information itself: "A few of our divination experts have spoken of a cave untouched by the corruption in their scrying, which is right exciting! We'll be sending in our Witches as well, but I'd like to offer this opportunity to those who've come in through The Looking-Glass House, too. It should be safe enough for just about anyone to visit, so find a friend or two and come on! Stuff like this is a rare find, dearests - it might give us a good hint about how to combat our corruption problem, too."
Warnings: In various prompts: spiders and other insects, corpses, risk of injury or death, magical corruption, physical sickness, hallucinogenics, and other imagery that may be disturbing. Each prompt header will be labeled with the appropriate warnings, so make sure you choose what you're comfortable dealing with, either ICly or OOCly! Additionally, sign ups aren't closed - if, after reading through the log, you'd like to sign up, you can still do so and play on here at your leisure.



The Way There

Most journeys into the Wilde don't actually go too far; those that do travel outside of the city end up somewhere in the land between, with its smaller patches of growth that feel as if they should be part of a forest, or at the very edge of the massive forest that seems to be ever expanding. Even now, new sprouts push through the dirt, some even as tall as a man despite being obviously new - they're still green and flexible, without any noticeable bark. The quests the Wilders take - and have put out at the Coven, as far as last month went - go a little deeper, to where the trees become far more autumnal, colored in golds and browns and oranges.

The cave spoken of is deeper still.

As the group marches in pairs, the trees turn from vibrant summer green and lushly decorated in flowers and fruits to the tell-tale colors of fall and winter, their bark gradually becoming more and more marred by an inky blackness that's sticky to the touch - sap, bleeding from the cracks between the bark. What animal life had been at the edge of the forest fades into a hollow quiet, the air becoming more oppressive - not unlike a certain shared dream experienced not too long ago. The silence is unnerving even to those with iron-clad hearts, giving off the feeling that something is about to happen -

and then suddenly, the feeling disappears, even as the quiet remains.

The area around the cave is lush with foliage; the trees look healthier than their counterparts outside of it, their bark free of any leakage and their branches hardly out of control. Closer inspection shows this is due to scraping and trimming, and after some discussion, the Wilders and Witches set up camp outside of the cave and gather together the group. Everyone is given the same basic necessities and instructions on how to use them, in a bag containing:

• A grappling hook enchanted to return to them with a tug
• Around twenty-feet of rope
• Three spell scrolls (a light spell, which will conjure a small ball of light that shows about a radius of twenty feet around the caster and lasts as long as the scroll remains in one piece; a minor healing spell with three charges; and a single-use flare spell that can be used as a distraction or to call for help, should the need arise)
• A tinder kit
• One day of rations
• A ring that glows when danger is nearby; it's enchanted to fit on anyone's finger, regardless of size

For characters unsuited footwear-wise to spelunking, they'll also receive a pair of sturdy boots.

The mission is simple: explore the cave and report back with their findings. It isn't just those who signed up going in; other Witches are suiting up to head in as well, talking in low voices about the probability of something like this even existing, especially with how deep they are in the Wilde. It isn't as if they're anywhere close to the center, but it's still in Wilder territory - they're far enough out that a few of them are nervous about encountering one of the bigger variety of Shades. Despite the reassurances that this cave is clean, and the fresh feeling it gives off, the murmurs continue until the mission officially begins.

Smugha Cave

The cave itself feels refreshing compared to the oppressive air felt on the way here, not unlike an oasis in a desert. Cool in temperature and a little damp, it's mostly dark aside from the sunlight coming in the front and the bio-luminescent cave flora that climb the walls - though those are still too dim to really see by. Heading further in reveals sharp cliffs with stair-like structures carved into them, inviting an easy way down into the depths, and landing at the bottom of these is a wide, dark room, even colder than the last.

It's time to start exploring.

I. The Water (cw: magical corruption, physical sickness)


For a cave located in the middle of the continent and in the depths of the ever-reaching forest, there certainly is a lot of water. Damp to the point that it might be considered humid if the cave was any warmer, puddles form beneath long stalactites, and shallow pools of water pour into each other from landing to landing; they populate the floor too, making walking a little treacherous. A few of them glow and glimmer with a faint, pale blue light from the magic runes found around them - these ones, at least, can be read. They're not so different from the script used in Aefenglom itself, though the way they've been carved into the stone makes them a little sharper in shape - for those in study at the Coven, or in spells in general, it's evidently a cooling spell. That isn't so hard to figure out though, as the pools of water surrounded by them have a pleasingly cold temperature, while those without them are near scalding. A few of the latter have runes around them, but they're not glowing like the rest - feeding a little magic into them changes this immediately, and steam rises in a sudden blast as the water cools rapidly. The opposite can be done for the colder pools too - taking their magic somehow or ruining the runes will make them bubble and boil as they surge in temperature. It'd be best to mind oneself around these, as unlike in a dream, any injury sustained in the waking world is a little more permanent and painful.

Three pools in particular have to them a translucent green shimmer, made a little more blue-green by the cooling spell carved and activated around them; they're deep enough to wade into, or even just sit by and rest one's feet in - both of which feel like very attractive ideas to anyone who looks at them a moment too long. The water is pleasantly cool, and those who take a quick rest in them will feel more refreshed than they have in years. Their worries will fade, the anxieties they've held in the back of their mind seeming to slide off into the water, but in place of it something new occurs: within fifteen minutes of resting in the pool, they'll begin to feel sick, and grey spots begin to appear on any wet skin. Longer than that, and those residing in the water will find their spots turning black instead, and a lot harder, too. This affects Witches quicker than it does Monsters, curiously enough - for Monsters, it takes almost double the time. Getting out and getting dry will temper the effects back down, though the feeling of being not quite refreshed lingers.

That isn't all the water the cave has to offer - the large cavern has a sudden, massive drop in the form of a sinkhole on about halfway across the room; it leads to a similarly massive underground lake. Traveling around the rim of the sinkhole shows there's multiple waterfalls pouring into it soundlessly, pooled together from the pools of water running into one another. Thankfully, there's another way down other than just diving headfirst into the darkness - twin tunnels on each side of of the sinkhole, not quite natural in nature, lead down to the lake in a gently winding slope.

Starting shallow before getting much deeper in the middle, the lake also has an inviting feeling to it, stronger in its suggestion to simply take a load off, to let anxieties and worries simply soak and sink away in its pleasantly tempered waters - but it also has a stronger reaction in those who enter its depths. Within five minutes, those within it begin to feel sick, the grey spots showing up on their wet skin, and the rate of their blackening and hardening is quicker as well. This, once more, affects Witches quicker - and, just like before, getting dry will make alleviate the sickness and the spotting both, with the discomfort lingering long after.

In both the upper and lower caverns, there are tunnels leading to other parts of the cave - they might just be worth checking out...
II. The Upper Tunnels (cw: risk of injury, spiders and other insects, hallucinogenics)


The tunnels leading from the upper cavern stay relatively horizontal, with small hills and valleys among their turns and a lower ceiling that might have people higher than five-and-a-half-feet ducking a little; they're more like a labyrinth than anything else, with empty metal sconces beginning to appear further within them. Sharp, thick nails have been hammered into the stone as well, with leather pouches rotted and torn hanging from them - whatever were in these hasn't remained, either due to wildlife or decay. Small rooms and caverns shooting off from the tunnels hold much of the same, albeit with a few other items: jackets and other clothing, Coven robes, specially-tailored Monster wear, instruments with snapped strings or clogged holes, candles burnt to the wick. One room in particular holds a few bookshelves, though the wood is also in poor condition due to the dampness of the cave, and the books suffer for this as well. What ones can be made out seem to be standard fare: the type of books one might expect to find in the fiction section, ranging from romance to horror to fantasy, and a few Coven textbooks on spellwork, specifically basic transfiguration. Not all of this is so old, however - some of it seems newer the closer explorers get to the "end" of the tunnels, either landing them in a room or at an ordinary dead-end.

Unfortunately, the tunnels aren't as safe as they seem: giant spiders make their homes among the caverns and tunnels, made obvious by the webbing that appears before their funnel-like traps. They range from the size of large dogs to horses, but all of them have the same venomous bite that causes hallucinations, deliriousness, and fatigue. Among giant mushrooms whose spores paralyze those who breathe them in live similarly large millipedes, incredibly long and vicious; they attack in pairs, but thankfully just have very, very painful bites. Last but not least are bats - regular sized, plentiful as they might be in any cave, and just as annoying, too.
III. The Lower Tunnels (cw: risk of injury or death, imagery that may be disturbing, corpses, physical sickness)


Meanwhile, the tunnels leading from the lower cavern have higher ceilings and are mostly flooded (about waist-high) due to the nearby lake; water permeates through the rock in rivulets, darker than the lake above, and give a similar effect to the water in the lake itself. Thankfully, they're also mostly iced over - walking on them takes practice and a careful eye, considering the ice is thin in places. The air becomes more frigid as the tunnel dips down, with smaller caverns sharing the same fate: covered in ice and icicles, their entrances sometimes a little too squished to get through without breaking the ice or being particularly small in stature. Those traveling might notice a trend if they look a little too closely at the clearer parts of the ice as well: scratch marks gouging into it, as if something'd been trying desperately to get out. The longest tunnel opens up into a frozen room, as tall as the lower cavern itself, sconces lit with pale blue fire - magic, and obviously so. The walls glitter beautifully with the light, but looking down into the depths below, past the sheet of ice that allows travel, reveals something horrifying: dozens of thin husks and corpses of animals and adventurers both, held in place by the ice as it stretches down like spikes into the water. Witches, Monsters, Shades, other creatures - not a single one spared, with a mix of infected and non-infected among them.

These tunnels aren't exactly safe either: ice-breathing salamanders the size of elephants can be found resting in some of the caverns - though they might be hard to see, given their pale white and blue scales. While not infected (curious), they're incredibly aggressive and attack those who wake them or get too close. Their bites can inflict frostbite the same as their breath can, so caution is advised in dealing with these. When killed they remain intact, their blood creating an extra layer of ice on whatever it touches due to its chilly temperature, not unlike liquid nitrogen.

Unfortunately, they're not the only things those adventuring in the depths have to worry about. To be precise, Shades of Monsters and Witches also roam some of the tunnels shooting off from the larger, main one; the latter pulses brightly with white veins of magic on their blackened skin. Both types of Shades are sluggish, likely due to the cold and the lack-of pure magic, but are experts on dealing with walking on ice. The Witches in particular are ticking time-bombs, every spell they cast - primarily of snaring-type spells, desiring the magic and flesh of whom they capture - risking an explosion, but when they do supernova... It's fairly localized to somewhere between five to seven feet of the Shade in question. Those within that radius, however, will feel physically sick and find their skin or fur-scale-feathers-so-on turning into sharp, black shards of ice and infection due to the corrupted magic exploding from the Shade.

Either way, once killed the Shades fall apart and turn into thin, brittle corpses of what they used to be; they're old enough that when touched, they simply crumble as if made of ash.
IV. Outside The Cave (cw: nothing)


For those seeking a little relaxation or recovery can make their way back outside - or be helped that way, given their flares. There, Witches can take care of them, food can be shared, and in general, people can take a breather. As the first day closes, and the cave proves itself to be bigger than expected, Witches will also offer to teleport people back to the city should they wish to go - staying would be nice, but they aren't going to force anyone to stay who doesn't want to. They'll also be collecting information from those who've ventured inside, encouraging each person to share with each other their findings as well.

(Note: Essentially, this is more of an open/breather prompt, considering the heavier nature of some of the prompts above; any injuries or infection sustained can be healed here, extra supplies can be gotten, as well as anything that might need specialized storage - such as bottles, cages for small animals, and so on. Characters can be teleported back to Aefenglom in small batches occurring every hour should they choose, but they cannot be teleported back; it's a one-way trip. Otherwise, at the end of the three day stay, the same trek will be made back to the city, and the quest will be considered "completed"... Until further notice. Any questions can be asked here.)

Comments

c

[horkbajir]

[Between Toby's claws, the spikelike blades on her ankles, and her heavy tail she hasn't fallen over. The effort, and having to use her blades to clear ice from small openings, and stopping here and there to listen when she thinks she's heard something, has been slowing her considerably.

She's worked out how to put the light-spell into her blades so that most of them have a warm ambient glow and the forwards-swept ones on her head cast a good cone out before her. This turns to follow America as he swooshes past her on the slick ice, then Toby resumes her steady progress. She hasn't seen anything under clear ice but bubbles and some tortured-looking fish caught in mid twist by the time he says something.]

It really isn't. Did you see anything in specific?

[fifty]

Bodies. A lot of 'em. [America's eyes sweep the ice, studying them. Animals and humans are easily recognizable to him, but the monsters take more thought, and then there's things he's pretty sure are monsters in a totally different sense.] It'd make more sense if they got frozen after they died, but... [They're not bloated like they've been waterlogged, and they don't show signs of having been eaten by wildlife, at least as far as he can tell from here.]

[horkbajir]

Ah.

[A little reluctantly, Toby goes to all fours. Her limbs are apelike, with longer arms than legs, and her neck is long enough that she can still easily see in front of her. She can move faster over ice this way, even if she has to scratch and scrabble sometimes to control her motion.]

I see what you mean. The ones who divined this cave should have looked for longer. Or perhaps their vision was deliberately clouded?

[There's an obvious conclusion and she's got to say it:]

It's not safe here.

[fifty]

Yeah. [America is a little caught up in staring, but he looks up suddenly, thoughts snapping back to the trip there and the group that went to the cave.] Yeah, like--kids came out here with us. Did whoever checked this out first make a mistake, or does someone want people stumbling in, or what?

[There's different implications based on how all of this was overlooked. America doesn't really like any of them, though.]

[horkbajir]

The water nearer the entrance should have been a sign, but the effect seemed so limited.

[It's been a while since they all entered the caves. All kinds of things could be happening, and she can't just alert everyone on their watches - most people don't check that kind of thing when exploring a cave. She gives a low, frustrated rumble.

...The light's changed subtly, Toby's not sure when. She looks about. Is that the sound of ice creaking? Finally she notices.]

The rings are glowing. We're not alone.

[fifty]

Shit. [America scrambles to his feet, not at all comfortable with the idea of having to fight anything on the middle of a frozen lake. His wings stretch and shift as he makes sure he has his balance under him this time. Now, where...?]

Is that a salamander? [He's dropped his voice lower, so as to hopefully not agitate it more than it already is. It's definitely the biggest salamander he's ever seen.]

[horkbajir]

I... have read mentions but I didn't realize they got this big.

[A single Hork-Bajir can't win against an elephant. This doesn't have a trunk or tusks or the ability to charge quite that way, she's pretty sure she could reach its neck and eyes, she knows something about how to fight with magic, but she can see from the way frost blossoms around it that she won't like what happens if she cuts through its skin. It's got terrain advantage.

This would be a stupid place and reason to die, if it comes to that. She's so badly needed at home.]

Fight or run? I can help with either.

[fifty]

[America knows his answer immediately.] If I don't fight them, they might go after somebody who doesn't know how to fight. [He really wishes they'd been given ice skates instead of boots, though, and he doesn't like how at home those things look right now. This would be better if he knew how to fly. Or if he had a gun. Or both.] You can go back if you want, though, don't worry about me.

[Toby is still his cool alien citizen, after all. Using his wings to get extra momentum, America darts forward in a wide arc. He'd rather fight them from the side or behind, if he can swing it.]

[horkbajir]

[Toby grunts dismay as America jumps in. She can't leave one person to go do this, but she could have used another few seconds to make plans and try to coordinate something.

Well, she knows some buffs. Heaving herself upright, Toby uses her wristblade to trace letters that well with blue-green blood onto her forearm. Enchantment: enhanced protection from cold, higher grace or dexterity, paralytic weakness radiating from the touch of her central elbow blades. Abjuration: an invisible minor barrier to protect her head and neck down her chest and belly. She's picked up on these as useful and learned them, practiced them, did a lighter protection from cold as she descended into this cave; this casting isn't as strong as if she'd taken longer to do them slowly and thoroughly, or as strong as it will be with more months to work on them. It should be enough to keep her alive.

Hopefully America has managed to last the first several moments of this encounter on his own.]

[fifty]

[America's a very jump in feet first kind of guy, as is probably obvious at this point. Luckily, as becomes obvious when America collides with a salamander and sends it flying, he's got enough raw strength to make this, while still dumb, not the dumbest possible thing he could have done.

Of course, it's going to take more than bumper cars to take down these things. America still wishes he had a gun, but he's at least pretty sure that keeping himself moving will be helpful, in a "harder target to hit" sort of way. As he slides back, working off the momentum from his previous impact, the salamanders suck in air and breathe out ice.]

Whoa. [America avoided it this time, but--well, he probably should have guessed they'd be able to do something weird like this.]

[horkbajir]

[Toby wasn't expecting him to be that strong? that is plainly absurd okay. She's from a setting of only animal and machine levels of physical strength, where she's in a fairly high tier herself as an ape-analogue with muscles and bones too dense to let her swim. This is... sigh, okay then.

Naturally though that means the great beast is too strong and sturdy to go down just like that.]

Don't let it bite you. Don't touch its blood.

[Toby's scaling a wall with her claws and blades, biting into the ice to grip and progressing like it's a steep staircase. The breath effect means she's not willing to approach its more obvious vulnerable points from the front; she wants to come at it from above, or at least a high angle.]

Can you get it to come this way?

[fifty]

[Mentioning its blood immediately makes America think of acid-blooded aliens from movies. Aside from these important thoughts, though, he slows himself to a stop on the ice and calculates another angle of attack, or at least of sliding around.]

I think so.

[And with a flap of his wings, America shoots forward again, trying to lure the creatures closer to Toby's position. Every time he thinks they might be getting too close, he uses his wings to pick up more speed. Sure, he's not off the ground, but at least they're good for something.]

not sure if there are one or several salamanders here, I've been operating on 'one'

[horkbajir]

[Toby gets to a good position up near the ceiling and waits patiently. She's big and green enough that usually she'd stand out, but she's very still and America is very attention-drawing.

When the time is right she shoves off and drops onto the back of the creature's neck, bearing it down, wrapping her legs and tail around its throat as she draws lines in the back of the head with her elbow blades and reaches for tender flesh with her wrist blades. Ice flies as the salamander wriggles and thrashes, backing up.]

one works! I probably got confused, counting is difficult okay

[fifty]

[Now that the salamander is, let's say, distracted by Toby, America can get in close again no problem. Of course, if he punches it sideways again, Toby is going to go flying along with it, so instead he jumps--he can glide with his wings, a little--and punches the thing straight down, aiming for where its spine should be, if it's anything like a normal animal inside.]

[horkbajir]

[The salamander writhes quickly at first, energetically waving its head and flailing its forelegs even as its back half goes limp. Clouds of icy vapor studded with solid chunks emerge from its mouth, even as it slows and sinks to the ground. It takes almost another minute before the breathing stops.

One by one Toby unhooks her blades and limbs and gets up. Even with her own enchantments against cold, ice coats her blades and her leathery-scaly skin is frost tinged. Her jaw is set. She doesn't want to complain that it hurts, the cold and her own accelerated healing both.]