moustre: (Default)
moustre ([personal profile] moustre) wrote in [community profile] middaeg2019-06-10 02:10 pm

quest log | following rumors

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.)
auguryofinnocence: (In Eternity! Unknown unprolific!)

[personal profile] auguryofinnocence 2019-06-15 03:50 am (UTC)(link)
This may only be the second time they've crossed paths since the feast, but Vergil is quickly finding he's all the less thrilled to do so each time. He stops largely in hopes of going unnoticed. Maybe he should turn back and find another path to take, lest he be tempted to confront her. Or much worse, if he knows his own temper. Until recently, he would have attacked her without question, but that just can't be an option now.

Except that before he can leave, he finds himself looking her in the eye and scowling for it. "Well, well, this cave truly must be cursed."
guillotine: from the swiftest of melodies (see me run)

[personal profile] guillotine 2019-06-15 05:06 am (UTC)(link)
Nel's been cursed, but this would be the first time anyone has called her a curse.

"How rude," she replies, soft-voiced. Water and rock amplify the exchange with eerie aftereffects, but that's much lower a priority than sizing up the man in blue. Her blood runs quicker. "Last time we met, you'd killed me. Come to try again?"
auguryofinnocence: (And gave him a place in the north)

[personal profile] auguryofinnocence 2019-06-15 05:26 am (UTC)(link)
"Hm." He steps forward, hand on his sword. "Maybe I have. No one would blink if you didn't come back from this, creatures crawling all over the place... You would only be one of many to find their end." No, that isn't why he came here, and that isn't what he intends to do now either. But he would like to, so as much as what he says is just a bluff meant to intimidate, there's a certain element of truth to it. He doesn't have to pretend, because there truly is nothing he'd like more than to take revenge for their shared dream.
guillotine: they think they've found the new messiah (you have set them all on fire)

[personal profile] guillotine 2019-06-15 05:40 am (UTC)(link)
Her face is unreadable. A block of ice would be more expressive and affected by the violence he promises. They're surrounded by it, so maybe he could try.

The game of magic she's played with the layers underfoot will have to be put on hold. Vergil has taken that first step nearer, the sound of it cracking through the air like a whip, and Nel drums her fingers thoughtfully across the sword hilts behind each hip.

"Not exactly, but the one whose protection I'm owed doesn't need to know we met." Wherever her bonded is in this vast tunnel system, she's loathe to test Belial's sworn guardianship.

"Once is fine, but twice means you're greedy. Or are you annoyed that I killed you, too?"
auguryofinnocence: (Hath form'd this abominable void)

[personal profile] auguryofinnocence 2019-06-15 06:09 am (UTC)(link)
"Just greedy, mostly." Evidently enough to continue his approach even with noting the pair of daggers. In fact it gives him more reason to, he can't just step down, and if she's up for a fight then who is he not to give it?

Although what she says doesn't exactly sound like she would fight, more like she's willing to roll over and take it. He frowns as he stops not a foot from her, plenty close enough for either of them to make a move. "It just isn't satisfying in a dream. You understand." Really it's just that he's still pissed off about her insistence on getting rid of the merrow. That she killed him too doesn't matter at all when it only resulted in waking up. He wasn't done listening to that voice, even knowing it was false. The creature didn't deserve to take his mother's form, but in that moment he wanted it to stay. She doesn't get to decide for him.
guillotine: my skin was soaked (my head was warm)

[personal profile] guillotine 2019-06-15 06:29 am (UTC)(link)
Something she's done or said has made him unhappy... unhappier. The grudge this man holds (they were never properly introduced and she does not know his name after getting acquainted in the most intimate way) could burgeon into something inconvenient.

Like a bladder stone. Like their slippery footing if this escalates.

"I don't understand, no," she says dismissively. "Whether killing me was satisfactory is besides the point." Her gaze scorches an unforgiving path up from his hands to the last eyes Nel had seen before their dream-death. "You dug the root of me out and we were free. For a time."
auguryofinnocence: (Self-closd all-repelling: what Demon)

[personal profile] auguryofinnocence 2019-06-15 06:42 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm beginning to suspect you want me to - but you won't be waking from some dream, you realise." Whether it was satisfying is precisely the point! How would it help him be any more satisfied if that's exactly what she wants for some reason?

Which is a stupid thought. He doesn't intend to try to kill her, that's already been decided. And yet, that she seems apathetic about the threat only serves to make him angrier. Not for being ignored, but that he can't grasp the idea of rolling over and dying. What the hell's her problem.
guillotine: as much, as much as he saves you (you know (you know he betrays you))

[personal profile] guillotine 2019-06-15 06:52 am (UTC)(link)
Vergil mistaking her composure for apathy suits Nel fine. Saying aloud that she wants him to kill her? Less fine. Too close to the truth of an ideal end, even if he can't be the one to provide it.

She reacts then, glaring with a deadly light in the violet of her eyes. The foot or so of space keeping them apart is the furthest thing from empty; it's charged with intent and potential. "Precisely because we are no longer dreaming is why you wouldn't get half as far as before. I've been patient with you.

"Realize that."
auguryofinnocence: (To unfold your dark visions of torment)

[personal profile] auguryofinnocence 2019-06-22 07:44 am (UTC)(link)
He sighs, rolling his eyes. "Do you think that doesn't go two ways? In the end we're in the same place, both holding back. The only question is what you're going to do about it." Please, as if he's intimidated by her empty threats.

In fact he'll show her just how unimpressed he is by taking his hand off the handle of his sword and simply staring down his nose at her.
guillotine: keep 'em on a leash (tame your demons)

[personal profile] guillotine 2019-06-22 08:00 am (UTC)(link)
Rage flows in cool streams from scalp to tailbone. Worse than Vergil's provocation is his dismissal. His nose hairs are as gray as his eyelashes, she's displeased to discover.

"Do? Who was it that stopped and came to me?" Nel crosses the invisible line, craning her neck to glare directly up mere inches away from the front of his jacket. "Are you that desperate for a rematch?"