(event) WAY DOWN WE GO

[vestigemods]

EVENT LOG: WAY DOWN WE GO

AUGUST 14TH - 24TH

► THE BASICS

Not halfway into the month of August, the lake starts to recede - slowly at first, but then in great leaps and bounds until only a foot and a half of sun-warmed standing water remains. The lake going dry is concerning, for certain, but it's hardly the least of our problems... because on the lake bed is a hatch, askew and emblazoned with an unknown but eerie insignia, and beyond that hatch lies nothing but trouble.

Over the next few days, a brave and reckless team of explorers delve into the cave beyond - what is later revealed as a maintenance tunnel, just before the ceiling of that very tunnel caves in and traps them from both sides. Their supplies are limited, and phone signal is shaky at best. And what's worse, not more than a day or so later, the lake begins to fill back up, water pouring down into the open hatch. Can those who remain stage a rescue in time to save the explorers from drowning?

► MOD NOTES

• This log is a general dump for all log threads pertaining to August's Way Down We Go event - and in lieu of the lack of catch-all for August, you can feel free to do non-event log threads here as well! Go ahead and utilize vestigenet for any event-related network posts you'd like to make.
  
• The main chunk of the event takes place between the IC dates August 17th (reveal of the hatch) and August 22nd (the latest the spelunkers can be freed before they drown). No rush leaping on this event post, since I know most folks are honestly still plotting about it.
  
• All event information can be found on the July Event Infopost!
  
• Please take special care in this event to label your top-levels with identifying information such as the IC date, any prompts specifically pertaining to event roles (spelunker, rescue efforts, etc), and/or 'non-event' for any non-event prompts you may include. Just trying to keep things organized!
  
• I'm going to help solidify the plotting efforts over the next few days to help make sure everyone's on the same page, but none of it will be set in stone just in case latecomers want in too. If you want in, chime in on the spelunkers, rescue efforts, or support roles top-levels as applicable!
  
• Any questions can be directed to this top-level or, for a quicker response, to Trace on discord/plurk.

Comments

parker ryan | open

[shittalk]

[ one day i went aspelunking ]

[ It's a hell of a way to wake up, bleeding out and cussing and grasping wildly for your gun. Parker is slow to calm down, but ... the sight of a dark and damp tunnel all around her kinda helps. There's no one she needs to kill down here, as far as she can tell, and the guy who shot her in the gut seems to be long gone.

She takes a quick inventory: rubble all around, what looks like a totally busted-up elevator peeking out of it behind her, and ... a long, dark, spooky tunnel before her. And not one single Sarah in sight. Well, fine, she's been left unattended before, maybe she'll only burn a couple things down before Sarah finds her again. She hops to her feet, grimaces about the gutshot (gonna have to take care of that at some point), and skitters down off of her rubble throne.

That's about when the faint sound of activity reaches her. She's quick to duck behind a few larger rocks from the cave in at her back, and listens carefully. Well, sort of carefully.

Alright, she barely listens at all before she comes to her decisive conclusion: she's gonna do ghost noises. ]

Ooooo... ooooooohhh! [ Does that sound like sex noises? Maybe. Damn, she's bad at this. For authenticity, she adds: ] Oooooo, I'm deeeaaaad!

[ rescue me! (set me free!) these are lyrics i promise ]

[ The cave in gets serious before Parker has much of a chance to look around, and in a rush of noise and force, she finds herself pinned. Actually, it's possible that both of her legs are crushed? She can't feel or move them. And that sucks.

This is shaping up to be one of her weirder days, she would say.

Ghost noises probably aren't going to help this time, also the pain has kind of killed her mood a little. She shoves at the rock still pinning her down, but -- there's too much rock on top of it. She's gotten really fucking strong lately, but apparently there's a limit to these things.

Okay then, zombie noises: She groans, because it seems like the most natural thing to do right now. It turns into words, a low mumble that echoes around fallen and still-settling rocks. ]

This fucking blows. [ And then a little louder: ] Yo, anyone there?

[ anything else! ]

[ Something after they make it out again? On the way up? Three weeks later? Here is my excuse to make this a catchall post and also here is a wildcard option! ]

the lyrics one, this tag is garbage but idc

[mannerless]

( since i'm going to assume she's still bitching by the time he makes it down there about fifteen minutes later, her answer comes solidly from a quarter-sized gap in the rubble. )

Hey, hello? Can you hear me?

( wei wuxian is restless to get to work - to start digging, or he supposes first to find some means by which to support the ceiling, good thing wen ning is not far behind him - but digging is going to be loud, so it's probably best to see about making contact with those inside before it begins. )

spelunking

[kinkprofessor]

[ While those are the least unconvincing sounds of death he's ever heard- ]

That's a pity. My condolences on your likely recent passing. [ He mourns you, Parker. Truly. For approximately .3957375793 seconds before asking the wildly inappropriate question of- ]

Would you be willing to donate your body to science?

[ Him. He's science. ]

Spelunking

[coolmotivestillevil]

[ Someone else being down here isn't strange by itself, because there's no reason Geralt would be the only one intrigued by the appearance of the hatch. It's not strange, either, that the person's first instinct when they hear someone else is to get in cover, especially when he breathes in the sharp and familiar smell of blood.

What is strange, is that the person then decides to make noise. Noise that he can't quite place until she decides to claim that she's dead. Is she trying to sound like a ghost?

Surely, she knows that wouldn't fool anyone?

He stops, turning a blank face towards the caved in tunnel the noise is coming from. ]

You an idiot, or do you think everyone else is?

river tam 🌠 open 🌠 non event starters

[enchangement]

→ @ the gas station 🌠

[ What is River doing at the gas station alone? No matter; she's found the clothes and underwear, gathering up slips to use as dresses and several sizes of underwear for everyone in her household. She's also giggling at the assless chaps, imagining the look on her stuffy older brother's face if she offered them to him to wear.

Other things of interest to River in the gas station includes ice, chocolate candy, leftover weird flavors of ice cream that have some freezer burn on them, fruit cups, batteries, flashlights, three of those giant bug zapper thingies, and every first aid supply she can get her hands on (they're for Simon and she's sure it'll come in handy eventually). Feel free to run into her during her first (or third) trek to the welcome haven of cool AC and ice solo. ]

The sausages are dry, [ she'll say by way of hello. ]

→ @ the lake's edge 🌠

[ She sits in a tree near the edge of the water, frowning out at it several times per day. ] Suction and disappearing, [ she announces, whether or not you're aware she's above your head, ] a whirlpool towards the center in a few solar days' time.

[ And then, if she's ignored, she might just lob a pinecone at your head. ]

→ @ the porch 🌠

[ River is on a porch. Is it the porch of the house she lives in? No, probably not, but it is a porch, and River is feeding blackberries or whatever they are to the little hands under the floorboards, cooing at them quietly. There's also dried fruit ropes from the gas station at hand if the little hands get angry and want to eat something else. ]

→wildcard 🌠

[ Want to run into River elsewhere? Throw me a top-level! ]

the gas station

[facelikeyours]

[He'd tried not to panic too much when he woke up and River was gone. She'd returned in a few minutes anyway, with an armload of -- well, with an armload.]

River, what on earth is all this? [Most of it seems to be clothes, which is nice. And clothes he can wear, which is even better. He'll settle for not having his waistcoats as long as he has some sort of trousers and a long sleeved shirt.

But then his sister is off again, and he follows after.] What store is even open at this time?

porch

[shivving]

[ It's Joel's porch, as it happens, and he's not expecting a stranger to be on it. He slows as he approaches, watching as she picks up blackberries and - what is she doing with them, exactly? He can't quite see. ]

Uh.

[ He clears his throat, trying to get her attention without scaring her. She doesn't look like a threat, at least. ]

You, uh, a friend of Ellie's? She ain't here.

The porch

[theprezident]

[ So, you know, life here isn't super great and all, but for the most part it's pretty chill. Some weird stuff going on, but isn't that just what life has always been? So Rhys is in a decent enough mood, minding his own business, when he passes by whatever porch River is on and glances in her direction and what the actual hell is going on.

He stops mid-step, eyes wide and mouth agape at the sight. The super creepy tiny hands eagerly reaching out to take the berries offered, and the woman just talking to them like they're some kind of cute pet.

What the hell? ]

Are you--? Are you feeding the hands?

[ Okay, so it's pretty obvious that's what she's doing but why is she doing that. Why is any of this happening. ]

ellie ; ota ; event and non-event below

[backpacking]

001. supporting roles

[ There are people trapped below the lake. It's a pretty terrifying thought, and Ellie doesn't share some of her more private views - "I mean, it DID say not to go down there" - when it happens. Instead, the teen is lingering around the edges of where the water used to be, ready with some bandages (and a joke?) for those who make it back up. ]

Any updates? [ She'll ask of others who are lending a hand, should they pass by. For any spelunkers who make it back up without deadly harm, she approaches and glances them over to assess, offering a bottle of water, if they'll take it. ]

You hurt at all? I can help. [ She can! Ellie has become very good at patching people up, whether they be herself, or, say, a man who has been impaled with rebar... ]


002. into the woods

[ What is Ellie doing? Oh, nothing. Just practicing with a bow.

If you've yet to met her: a 15 year-old girl with freckles and an eyebrow scar is drawing a wooden longbow and firing into trees. Perhaps surprisingly, she's a good shot. ]

Damn. Gotta make some more of these. [ Back to scavenging and crafting! Ellie sighs when she finds her backpack out of arrows and wanders over to the trees she'd lodged them in, yanking them back out with a grunt.

If anyone who approaches isn't being particularly stealthy, then she'll note the crunch underfoot and draw her bow on them instead, albeit warily, rather than violently. ]

...Somebody there?


003. choose your own adventure

( ellie can be found just about anywhere within reason, so feel free to leave your own starter! otherwise, hmu for plotting at kairaptor )

Into the Woods!

[porndealer]

[Whenever he's not sure how to handle things or just wants to get away from the new reality they're all in, Huaisang takes to the woods. Probably not smart since he has nothing to defend himself with, a paper fan is useless in fighting, but the woods calm him.

Mostly though he's here to bird watch. The small different colored birds fluttering about on tree branches bring a soft smile to his face, until they're spooked by noise nearby.

Trying to be quiet and sneaky. Huaisang, peeks at the young girl with her bow through some brush. Obviously he's not as sneaky as he thinks, not when he's got an arrow aimed at him from across the way.

He'll duck down with a little tell, but holds his hand up. Just one. He's kind of missing his other arm.]

Don't- Don't shoot! I'm not dangerous I swear!

[He'll keep his arm up as he stands and comes round the bush. He's probably not much taller than Ellie, a ton of dark hair up in the messiest of man buns and wearing a t-shirt too big for him with jeans.]

I was just talking a walk and heard you practicing. Sorry for startling you.

001.

[mannerless]

( it takes entirely too long for wei wuxian to come to terms with his his increasing need for a few minutes' break in a well-ventilated place, but here he is, emerging dirty and weary from the hatch. in fact, he manages to wade most of the way back to the shore, but his eyes cast off to his distant cabin and he at once decides that's much too far to walk.

'any updates?' eyes turn sharply to the girl now (how had he not seen her there before?), and he exhales a reassuring smile. ) Good progress, ( he says, and right then and there he sits directly in the foot-and-a-half of remaining lakewater, letting the cool of it wash over him. ) Biggest problem's the ceiling, but - ( nope, sitting isn't enough, he's flopping back into it supported half-upright by his elbows. ) - what with the confusing number of hideously strong men that crawled out of the woodwork since yesterday, we've got that, ah, quite literally in hand.

woods

[shivving]

[ Somebody is there. It's rebar man himself, making sure to make plenty of noise as he approaches. Better that than sneaking up on her, startling her and meeting the business end of one of those arrows. ]

Just me.

[ He emerges from the woods - on the opposite side of the clearing than where she's been shooting, thanks - holding his hands up in surrender and glancing at the bow, then at the arrows she hadn't yet pulled out of the trees across the way. ]

Huh. Not bad.

quintalian. ota. event + non-event.

[kinkprofessor]

dark depths (cave-in/spelunking)

[ He's woken up in worse places. There was that one time on some hick planet that he'd been coated in mud and other questionable fluids with spotty memory of the night before-

But this is different. He wasn't under the influence of anything. Or was he? Sometimes it does kind of blur together. Regardless of the how, he decides to try and discern the where. Likely a backwater world he was assigned to in search of some obscure magical artifact. He'll try to contact Zenith in a bit to fill in the gaps in his memory, but for now...

He decides its time to stretch out a bit. That's quite literal, really, as he pulls his arms out as far as they can go lengthwise. He stands on the tips of his toes. The man sighs and flexes the muscles of his back before there's suddenly a gaggle of tentacles slither out from under his clothes. They're bioluminescent, too, so easily noticeable in the dark. While not quite a good source of light, they do help him navigate his way a little easier at least. ]

Mm, now let's see what we can find... [ Probably not a whole lot, honestly, but he's determined nonetheless. And if he happens to slide a tentacle your way? Well, hello! ]

the woods

[ Fresh air.

He really does take the little things for granted. Also, he might be detoxing and being cramped in a cave with little to no room to breath wasn't helping matters any. He feels very zen out here in the forest, even for as unsettling as it is, and takes a moment to meditate.

Of course, his version of meditation includes all of his limbs. Don't mind the man in the middle of the forest suspended from branches by tentacles and doing breathing exercises. Completely normal, rest assured. ]

wildcard / plot with me!

(( ooc the obligatory hmu option for if you have any other ideas, want to plan something specific, etc. you can find me at soulblossom or discord @ Rose#7613 ))

The Woods

[timetoplaynow]

[Jon is also trying to clear his head. When is he not? Most of the time his head feels too crowded, dark whispers haunting him. Lurking at the back of his brain.

He was thinking of what direction his research might take when quite suddenly he comes upon -- this.]

Well it's not the strangest thing I've ever seen, but it's up there.

the woods.

[mannerless]

( funnily enough, they've found themselves in the woods for quite similar reasons. perhaps wei wuxian isn't out to meditate, but some time amongst the trees seems like the best proper remedy for spending the better part of a couple of days working in the overhot bottleneck end of a dirty, dank cave.

he plans to find somewhere out-of-the way to sit, perhaps even nap... but what he finds instead is a man dangling from a tree by some sort of squid-like limbs?

his brow knits, a perplexed sort of grin spreading across his face as his hands find his hips. ) Those truly are attached to you, aren't they? ( rather than bewildered, he seems fucking fascinated by this. if the man ignores him and chooses to keep on meditating, he'll certainly take a hint and excuse himself politely, but if he seems like he's being acknowledged by so much as a glance: ) Can you move them each individually?

The Woods.

[porndealer]

[Here is one Nie Huaisang just trying to have any semblance of normalcy in this godforsaken place, out in the woods bird watching. Spying. Stalking.

Same thing.

Appreciating the winged beings of the woods, as one does, when he happens upon something very much not a bird nor winged.]

Wha-!

[The exclamation of shock escapes him before he can stop himself. He does attempt to hide behind the nearest tree, hoping he's not been spotted.

There will be a one armed short young man huddled behind a tree in a too big t-shirt and some jeans, with too much hair pulled up into the messiest of buns on top of his head.

Huaisang slaps the one hand he has left over his mouth and nose, hoping to muffle any more noise.]

The OA | event prompts (rescue efforts) | OTA | (cw: description of drowning for the last prompt)

[hierophante]

xi of swords - everywhere i go you're always right there with me - (17th)

[She hesitates on the threshold. The hatch yawns open before her, a mouth in the earth, hungry and waiting, slick with tracks of lakebottom mud. Some buried part of her is flung violently elsewhere, carried away on the currents of cool, damp air wicking up out of the opening: in another life, she descends a staircase spiralling down, a hand at her elbow, cool railing under her hand, into the smell of rock. Elsewhere, in another memory, she crawls, bare knee against chill, wet stone, through a tunnel to a baptism, a drowning, a rebirth.

A tunnel the side of a coffin. A curved, double-sided staircase. A rose window.

So the OA is to play Orpheus again. She's to walk down into the underworld again, a thanatonaut, arms open to the possibility of death.

It has a pleasing resonance. It's exhausting and infuriating too. She takes in a long, shuddering breath, and aims a tenuous smile at the unfortunate soul about to walk into the dark along with her.]

You ready?

xiv. temperance - i flirted with you all my life, even kissed you once or twice - (18th - 19th)

[It's almost like being... home. Not the home of her choice or the home of her heart, but the one she'd occupied nonetheless for seven long, dark years. In the still moments -- and there are few -- she sits, immersed in the smell of the dust, wet rock, something vaguely metallic, and some cruel, hopeful part of her almost imagines that if she just turns her head she'll find Homer there, hand pressed to the glass between them, waiting for hers to mirror it.

OA swipes at her forehead with a clammy, dusty forearm, leaving a smear of dirt clinging to damp skin. Their sparse lighting sources cast strange shadows on the walls of the tunnel, flickering and intermittent, misshapen forms of bodies in motion executing a menacing shadow-play on the slick stone. She tries not to rely on it too heavily. Down here, she knows, they're going to need all their senses.

That's how she knows. The ragged edge to a rescuer's breathing, the way their footfall hitches and catches on the floor -- she pushes herself to her feet and moves, careful to make plenty of noise. She hesitates only a moment before laying a hand on a slumping shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze.]

Hey. You're exhausted; come sit down. Someone else will take a turn.

[In the strange, harsh light, there's no missing the weariness about her eyes, but her smile is warm.]

It's okay. You don't have to carry this alone.

vii of wands - oh death, really, i'm not ready - (20th)

[It doesn't end when the last living body is pulled free: they still have to make it out. Sore as they are, battered as they are, it should be reasonably trivial -- but trembling legs and numb feet are not the only obstacle.

Once, the OA had stared death in the face as he'd filled her helmet, her mouth, her nose, her lungs with water. She'd stared and stared until he'd broken her gaze, until the last desperate spasms had wracked her body and her vision had burst into brilliant colour and then been devoured into an impossible dark, into the absence even of black.

It would be a lie to say that isn't what comes first to mind at the first growing trickle of water. It seems like rain at first, a spill, but swiftly enough there's no mistaking the current for what it is: whatever magic had parted their little sea has been dispelled.

They've tracked mud in; the rock is already slick -- the climb becomes a hardscrabble slog, gravity and inertia and banged knees. Nothing to do but keep trying.

It's at a particularly steep segment that someone slips. She grabs a fistful of whatever clothing she can, holding tight even as the weight pulls her exhausted body flat too, even as they're dragged back a spare handful of feet by gravity and the current. Her arms and legs are trembling as they come to a halt and she pushes herself to her hands and knees. Water soaks into her clothing, flows sluggishly over her hands, tugging gently at her wrists.]

It's okay, you're okay. I'm with you.

[As long as it takes. If this turns, maybe until the end. It wouldn't be the first time.]

When you're ready.

wildcard.

(( Surprise me, or feel free to reach out to me at v__ or viveri#0501 to plot something specific! I'm always happy to write starters for folks. ))

Geralt of Rivia // OTA

[coolmotivestillevil]

A. Spelunking - If you want people to leave something alone, don't tell them to leave it alone

[ As soon as the Technicians send out a message to stay away from the hatch, the hatch immediately becomes Geralt's primary interest. This means he's probably one of the first people there, and he's wasting no time going down there.

As soon as he spots someone else, whether it's someone following him or someone already there, he'll send them a look that could almost be seen as concerned. ]

Might be dangerous.

[ And he won't assume that he's the only one who could handle that, but also ... might assume it a little bit. Because he often is the only one who can handle a problem in the near vicinity.

Of course, that problem usually involves monsters, and he doesn't know if there will be any here. ]

B. Cave-in - Why can't things ever go smoothly

[ The ceiling gives in, and Geralt's first thought is of course. Why wouldn't it?

Instinctively, he turns towards it even as he backs away, and tries to send some rocks away from him and anyone else around him with Aard. And it's not that it doesn't work, because the first rocks falling do end up landing a good distance away from him, but that's not about to stop the rest of the ceiling. And, unfortunately, backing away isn't as fast as running straight ahead, and he's a little bit too slow with turning back around.

A rock strikes him in the shoulder, and he gives a grunt of pain as he stumbles forward a few steps, trying to regain his balance but ultimately loosing it. He manages to land on his shoulder and roll onto his back to try and get up quickly, but the ceiling falls over him before he gets that far, covering most of his lower half and trapping both legs.

Which looks pretty bad, but his reaction is pretty resigned. Just an annoyed grimace and a heavy sigh as he drops onto his back completely.

Of course. ]

C. Wildcard

cave-in;

[deferences]

[meanwhile, sizhui somehow narrowly misses getting trapped beneath any rocks when the ceiling starts dropping. a stone or two strike his shoulder and some shrapnel cuts his left cheek, but he stumbles forward, tosses himself aside where he lands safely out of the way at the risk of falling on his elbows. which is fine, he'd rather they get scraped up instead of being crushed—

everything finally settles and he exhales a breath he'd been holding, lifting an arm to cough into his sleeve. after he lowers it again, through the haze of dust he spots geralt, lower-half stuck beneath a decent-sized rockpile. well, that's not good; perhaps he should've paid better attention to his surroundings and the fact there was someone else nearby that could have used his help sooner.

too late for that, but it isn't too late to offer now!]

Hang on, I'll come help you! [then he clambers upright, rushes toward the man and moves to start pushing stones aside. goodness, hopefully his legs aren't broken...] Can you, ah, still feel everything in your lower extremities?

Rhys // OTA

[theprezident]

A. Cave in - Remember to hydrate!

[ While Rhys thinks that managerial skills are useful and important, watching people clear out rubble and holding a freaking cave up from collapsing more does make him feel a little bit less useful than he did while, say, rebuilding Promethea and protecting it from a siege. Which is why, when some supplies arrive in the tunnel, he eagerly takes some of it to help distribute.

So, with a bottle of water on hand, he looks around to see if anyone seems like they need some. ]

Anyone thirsty?

[ People stuck behind the cave-in are free to answer and he'll pass it through the small hole they've managed to secure by now. ]

B. Also cave-in - He's a workaholic and all but he tries not to go too hard

[ When he's not helping with distributing supplies or directing people where it seems like they're needed, he keeps an eye on everyone to make sure no one looks like they're about to fall asleep or keel over. If he does catch someone overworking themselves, he'll approach and reach out to put a hand on their shoulder. ]

Maybe you should take a break. Maybe nap, have something to eat.

[ If it happens to be someone holding up the ceiling, he'll make sure to send for someone who can take over. ]

C. Wildcard

A.

[mannerless]

( as it turns out, wei wuxian is just barely tired enough to lose the concept of time in the deeply repetitive task of moving rocks and dirt - so when a voice calls 'anyone thirsty?', he lets the rock he was starting to move settle back into place to turn in search of the voice. )

Me, definitely me, ( he says, tone relieved and grateful. he spots rhys (or more specifically, the bottle) and reaches out to accept it with a moment's appreciative eye contact, then uncaps it to take a decent-sized swig.

but he doesn't know how much more water this man brought down, so he's not going to hog it all. it's capped again and offered back, wei wuxian's eyes already casting off down the cluster of diggers and ceiling-holders. when they return to the man, they're a bit more serious. ) Can you keep this up? I don't think anyone down here's drinking like they should. ( the guy doesn't seem like a 'digging' sort of person, but he sure as hell looks like he could be a 'holds the entire project together by making sure nobody dies of dehydration or heatstroke' kind of person. )

Simon Snow | Not Event Related and OTA

[notpunkjustdaft]

➼ i. GAS STATION

---

[ Simon comes across the gas station more by chance than anything else. He’s glad for it, either way. Simon Snow can and will eat anything, but even he has to draw the line at some of the spoiled food in his little cabin.

As he steps into the door, he realizes he hasn’t got any money, and suddenly he’s nervous. He hasn’t got it in him to steal, he thinks. The hesitation goes away (a little) when he sees there’s no one actually there to take his money.

Is it still stealing?

With some trepidation still, Simon starts to load up his arms. He’s not really caring about what he’s taking. He should be thinking more about Actual Meals, but he ends up grabbing several packs of beef jerky and sweets he’s never heard of. ]


➼ ii. CABIN NOT REALLY IN THE WOODS

---

[ This would be so much easier with magic.

The door to Simon’s tiny cabin is open, and he’s sweeping the dust out the door. He’s never done any sort of major clean up, but he likes it. He doesn’t have to think, he just has to do it. Maybe he’ll learn how to repair things the old fashioned way while he’s here. He hopes he doesn’t have to, because he misses home.

When he sees you walking by his lakeside shack, he decides to wave his hand and give an awkward sort of wave. ]

Hi.

ii. cw: mentions of past drug use

[kinkprofessor]

[ The sun hurts. Sound hurts. There's a bird chirping nearby that he wants to tear the voicebox out of. This isn't the first time he's had to detox, but it's never a pleasant experience.

He tries to do some semblance of work to keep his mind occupied. Research. There's a lot of unanswered questions still and- Oh. ]

Hello, [ he answers, smiling now despite himself. Nothing cures what ails him more than cute boys crossing his path. ] You must be new here too, I presume?

Jiang Cheng | The Untamed | OTA

[legbreakings]

Open and closed prompts below, hit me up if you'd like an individual starter. He is on the spelunking team and will get his leg broken in the initial cave-in.

After the cave-in - open

[legbreakings]

[ Out of all the people to be stuck in a cave far below a lake with, a Jiang Cheng who is in pain from his shattered right leg will probably be pretty low on the list.

Currently, he is laid out near the collapsed area, his shattered leg stretched out to rest after Lan Sizhui has spent some quality hours on mending his bones, resting while he awaits his next healing session.

He should be meditating and working on healing himself but instead, Jiang Cheng is glaring at everyone who watches him too closely, never mind dares approach him. ]

I'm doing fine! There is nothing to see here! If you'd just let me help we could be out of here already!

[ Because of course he's going to be lugging stones on one leg. That makes sense.

There's a tightness to his clenched jaw and around his eyes, and a thin layer of sweat to betray that this bluster might not be all bad temper. He is trying to distract from exactly how dire his miserable his situation is. ]

Lan Jingyi | Network - Text - @jingyi | Immediately after the Cave-in on the 17th | OTA

[gusumouthcannon]

[Jingyi's topside for everything going down, so he does the first thing that he can think of: frantically text.]

?! - OTA!

What happened? Are you okay? Can you read this?

[The text is blasted out to everyone that Jingyi can remember hearing might have gone down into the tunnels--and he might be mistaken about some of who those were. At this point, he is panicky enough getting second-hand information that even if someone is in his direct line of sight, they still might be getting a text from him.]


This is LITERALLY the last time I let you out of my sight... - Closed to Sizhui

Are you dead? PLEASE ANSWER.

text; un: lan.sizhui

[deferences]

[w o w, jingyi, what sort of text is that supposed to be!? sizhui's device pinging softly does catch his attention and, despite his exhaustion, he manages removing it from his pocket long enough to reply:] No, Jingyi, I'm still very much alive. [then he drops the phone against his chest and slumps back once more.

he should be meditating, regaining his strength so he can be ready for jiang cheng's next healing session, yet all he wants to do is sleep.]

wei wuxian (event + other!)

[mannerless]

BREAK TIME, event

( while the vast majority of these couple of days are spent down in the cave, even stealing the occasional couple of hours' sleep in nook a few yards from the digging efforts, there's a point midway through the second day at which the heat and fatigue are enough that a bit of kicked-up dust catches in his throat and he can't quite find the air to properly clear it. and so wei wuxian admits surrender, retreating with a tight-throated 'be back' to whoever's nearby and climbing his way back up to the hatch.

compared to the phone-flashlight he used to navigate the tunnel, the sun is downright blinding, and he drapes one dirty arm heavily over his forehead to shield his squinting eyes as he coughs a bit and finally manages to dislodge the dust, all the while his way out into the foot-and-a-half of lakewater remaining between he and what aid awaits on shore.

but that's silly, honestly, because he doesn't actually need the aid on the shore. food, water, all of that has been delivered down the hatch. what he really needs is to cool down, and so anyone watching from shore will see that he seems to have changed his mind entirely about heading their direction, lowering instead to sit heavily in the refreshing cool of the shallow lakewater. no, even better: he's letting himself lean back into it, though not without carefully holding his phone above the surface. the looser bits of two days' digging grime washes from his robes now and clouds the otherwise crystalline water around him, but he couldn't possibly care less. if the lake wasn't supposed to be dirtied, perhaps they should've thought better than to trap people down a godforsaken hole.

anyone on shore is welcome to wade out to him, or call to him from the beach. alternatively, anyone coming up from the hatch behind him will find him floating gratefully like some sort of dead fish. )

WILDCARD, event

( go ahead and do a wildcard for any part of the event not prompted - i skipped past a lot of parts that were difficult to prompt for, but i'm very down for interactions while digging (he'd definitely be down to chat while he digs, to pass the time), or while he's helping organize, or while they're magic-ing the ceiling in place to evacuate the strongboys. )

COLLAPSE, event, closed to current cr

( they did it. they made a hole big enough to get everyone out of the cave-in without the ceiling coming down on them any more than it already had, and they even managed to fasten that ceiling in place long enough to get their plethora of overly-strong men out from under it to escape as well. wei wuxian hadn't doubted they would, but there's something oddly surreal about it regardless.

or perhaps that's the fatigue. or maybe it's the blood loss. as it stands, he hauls himself from the slick-floored tunnel purely by the distant firelight (or maybe phone light) of the last retreating forms ahead, more on autopilot than anything. gods, is he tired. he very much would rather have slept before making the journey up, since it has been days since he's had more than a few scattered hours of it and between the physical exhaustion of digging and the spiritual overexertion of a thick-enough stack of talismans to secure the heavy stone ceiling briefly in place - but he assured lan sizhui that he'd be just behind them, wen ning as well, and he won't make a liar of himself.

this time when he crawls out of the hatch, it's against a waterfall of lakewater pouring into the hole from all sides. the lake is deeper now, because of course it is, now coming up past his knees. too deep to lie down in this time, to his brief flicker of dismay, and so he pulls the hatch closed behind him and dutifully makes his way to shore this time - not in the direction of those who gather for aid, but off toward the shore nearest his cabin. there, wei wuxian wades up out of the water, trudges across the dry lake bed and then the proper sand,

and promptly collapses in the grass.

sorry y'all, that's legitimately as far as he's going to make it. he's perfectly content to rest there for a while, but i get the feeling that's not gonna fly for long. )

SEARCHING, everywhere, aug 26th

( two days. two days since jiang yanli has been seen, since his shijie has gone missing, and what with so many others disappearing in the day or so prior, wei wuxian is low-key losing his fucking mind.

and by 'low-key' i mean at great volume and with no sense of decorum whatsoever. over the course of the day, there isn't a part of the containment zone that he doesn't come power-walking/jogging through with a sharp worry creasing his features, calling - ) Shijie! Shijie?! ( and casting a dire searching gaze all around the area. sorry about your peace and quiet, literally everyone. )

SCAVENGING & COOLING OFF, gas station, aug 31st

( the wei wuxian of today is much more chill, and i mean that both figuratively and literally:

anyone in the gas station will see a pile of (non-refrigerated) supplies haphazardly dumped outside of one of the freezers, looking very much abandoned until one drifts close enough to look inside the freezer and spot the whole ass human being inside, lying lengthwise along one of the mid-height shelves once occupied by various flavors of ice cream.

no, it's not a corpse - in fact, the way his arms are crossed behind his head, he looks very much like he's napping. or perhaps you've caught him before his nap, and the man in the freezer lies there tapping away at his phone as if such a thing is entirely normal freezer behavior.

what do you want from him? it's fucking hot out. )

Collapse

[porndealer]

[Once the lake started filling back up those up top had waited as long as they could before the water threatened to swallow them up. So most everyone had moved to the shore again and Huaisang is there as well of course. Fanning himself and watching for any sign of his good buddy and pal who'd been down the hatch.

Thankfully Wuxian does appear at last and he figured he'd come join everyone, but he ends up wandering off away from everyone before just collapsing.]

Ah- Wei-xiong!!

[Huaisang rushes to run along the shore till he finally reaches his friend. Some what out of breath he'll crouch down beside Wuxian and shake him by the shoulder.]

Wei-xiong! Wei-xiong, you better not be dead!

[He's not actually serious, he's clearly breathing, but still. It doesn't mean he's not still worried.]

Tuuri Hotakainen || Non-event

[skaldish]

[ August 30th before noonish? ]

[ Pine needles. That's the first thing she smells when she wakes up. The first thing she feels however, is concerned dog licking her face. ]

Nggh....Han? [ The Puli dog snuffs in response. He's done his job and made sure Tuuri is alright. ] What... Happened?

[ She vaguely recalled recording a hologram and suddenly the next thing she knows she's here... Wherever it is. She sits up and brushes errant leaves and debris from herself before noticing she has something in her hand. ]

What's this? [ She shakes it experimentally, as the screen goes lights up from the movement. A moment of clarity strikes her. ] Oh! It's old world technology! I wonder why I have this... [ She pauses. ] ...Er...How do I use it...? [ She starts fiddling with it almost immediately only to have Han barking softly to get her back on track with the current situation. No idea where she is and in the woods. ]

Oh, right.. I should figure out where I am. If Lalli was here he'd be able to get us back home! [ She looks expectantly around as if her cousin is going to come bursting through the woods. When nothing happens, she sighs slightly and stands up. ] I guess it's just you and me, Han.

[ She cycles mentally through her knowledge of what she's learned about the woods as a skald. Ok, moss grows northward right? As long as she knows where north is, it should absolutely be easy to get her bearings.

If she knew what direction home was.]

At least you're here. [ She starts vaguely walking Eastward. She has to bump into someone, right? ]

[snowflicks]

[The barking had caught his attention from a bit away at first. Song Lan had only been here for just under a week and was mostly getting a good look around their surroundings. The woods had been next on his list and he'd made some progress. He'd found a few interesting things, like the barrier and now some one else in the woods it seemed like.

Heading in the direction of the barking, he tries to stay quiet, just in case it's something unsavory he'll have to deal with. As he draws closer there's talking... someone talking to themself? No, no to the dog he'd heard. No doubt the dog will hear him approaching or smell him since he's getting close enough, so Song Lan decides to make himself known. Not with words, but by pushing through the trees to show himself to the young woman and her dog.

No doubt he must look strange, a very tall stranger in dark black and gray robes with two swords sheathed across his back, but he won't draw either sword, not yet at least. Holding a hand up as if to try and signal to her that he means her no harm, Song Lan will offer a tight smile as well, bowing slightly with his arms out in front of him in a circle. After he ponders how to communicate with her best, as usually he'd use his sword for this, but... grabbing for his sword could scare her, so he picks up a stick nearby and writes in the dirt a few simple words.

just wake up?

Forgive his sad squiggly question mark. Writing neatly in dirt isn't that easy okay. Song Lan taps at the dirt near the words then looks up at her.]

gilia st. loe | open

[seaboard]

i. wandering aimlessly
Gilia has no sense of this place. It is not home, it is not anywhere she knows, and no building in it makes sense to her. But as time goes on, and she calls and calls and calls for her brothers and sisters, her fathers, and then at last to the Sea-Father himself, she begins to realize, no one is answering her. There is no one at all that she knows.

So then she must swallow propriety and the deep dislike of talking to people to whom she has not been introduced too and with a light touch get their attention. Turning her eyes on them - though she is an imposing woman of herself, not that she would ever think so. Dressed in plain colours and her hair tightly wrapped back, she is a stiff-looking woman, holding her skirts in one hand as she speaks so very softly.

"I do not mean to intrude upon your space. Or speak to you out of turn, but I am quite without hope or reason - please, I am looking for my family? I cannot find them. They would not have left me, and I do not know how I wandered so far from them."

ii. by water's edge
Of course, it becomes apparent, no one knows where her family is, and she is left right back where she started, hours later. Now hungry and lost. But she can't ask for help twice, that would simply be too much.

There is a lake, however, and that means she isn't totally helpless. It's unseemly, but she doesn't have much of an option unless she wants to wade in her heavy silk and wool gown, so instead she sheds it down to her thin white undergarments. Taking stockings off after it, folding them all neatly so she could retrieve them afterwards. Her wimple and veil done away with the reveal her half-wild hair. Unbound curls that spiral in every direction. Shivering against the cool air, she has everything set up, she turns to the water and begins to wade in.

Up to her knees and then a little bit further as she lowers the rest of her body. Letting the water lap up her body as she swirls her fingers into it, her shift clings to her thin frame, the water ripples in dark circles and with a shift in the air. Gilia closes her eyes and curls her fingers up. Lifting her palms skyward.

With her, pockets of water rise. Bubbles of water that suspend themselves aloft. Gilia pants to hold them, and the purpose of them is plain: inside one or two of them, is a fish. A healthy trout by the look of it.

She tries her hardest to keep it, but she has control of the water - not the fish. They are obviously terrified, and thrash about and in one flick of their tail - "No! No, stop! I just want one! No! Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please - just one - !"

The fish throws itself out of the water bubble and back into the lake. Her control breaks and all the pockets of water suspended in the air lose their hold and splash back down. She knew she should have learnt to do this as well as Nikolai did. She knew it.

Covering her face to get her bearings, this time, she lowers herself down again and sinks lower, like she might get a better grip on the water itself to hold it.

iii. resting
When all is said and done, if she has eaten and if she hasn't, she goes back to land in her shivering thin dress and goes about making a fire. That she can do far easier. The maids couldn't always be up earlier enough for her and she'd never ask them too, so she had learned that well enough. Gilia builds it to something as well as she can and sits in front of it, letting it dry off her clothes and hair.

And in turn, she never would think to take a house for her own, just not her nature. Instead, she finds home is best when it is near to the water, regardless, and going further away from the water now that she can't find her family, seems terrifying.

So by the fire, near the lake edge, feet half in the water still, curled up against plants and her clothes, half sodden, she makes do. Curling up on her side, dress underneath her, she lays there saying her nightly prayers. "Father, please hear me, take me back home. I am your servant, I am your daughter, take pity on my lowly state, and return me home. I am lost without you. I long to lay in the salt of your embrace."

iv. wildcard
Want to mush things together? Please go ahead. Or send me a message to this account or at aeneia!

gimme that wata

[fishbreath]

Gilia has an observer. Maria's been unable to help herself from investigating the lake upon her arrival, and that's what she's at when she feels -- something. Something prodding at, capturing the water. It's an alarming sensation, so Maria makes it her business to swim quickly to find its source, and ... huh. A human. A human? Someone doing something strange with the water from a shallow depth, anyway. It's a reassuring finding.

The water bursts, the fish go quickly on their way, and Maria rises from the lake smoothly and quietly, like a remarkably inoffensive swamp creature. She's naked -- nearly. She wears some version of a bikini bottom, as well as a tight-fit mask around the bottom half of her face. Water runs down her not-quite-hair, and a few locks of it are brushed aside with a webbed hand.

She tilts her head at Gilia, and eschews any kind of greeting to leap straight for, "Have you never learned to fish?"

Honestly. This seems like so much more work.