(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

[mannerless]

( the words draw his attention - his eyes were closed against the glaring sun, but now they open again to find daemon where he-... floats? after a brief moment of 'gods is he tall', that's the realization wei wuxian comes to. quite a handy trick, though certainly less so at the moment than his marvelous ability to teleport himself through walls of fallen rock.

he closes his eyes against the sun again, but otherwise offers: )

Ah - no change, just progress. We've got a handful of obscenely strong men to hold the ceiling up, so the rest of us have just been clearing rocks away. Shoveling dirt and whatnot.

Lemme just...retcon his nerf right in here

[singularwidower]

Progress is good, and I am more than grateful for those "obscenely strong" among our number.

I intend to head back in and, perhaps, help from the other side. I don't know if anyone down there will want to leave before everyone can, and I don't wish to force the issue, but some of those down there are from your—[Vague hand gesture.]—I believe.

[This is said idly, as if of no consequence, as he watches Wei Wuxian and his closed eyes.

Daemon wears the Black. This kind of little disaster should be nothing. Still, he'd chipped off a hand just a little prior (though it had...grown back?) and the chipper informational pamphlet had called for their deaths, among other things. The toil seemed to be part of whatever this was.

After a considering moment, he offers:]

I didn't expect to collapse so suddenly after the first exit. Or I would have returned before this to try and ferry others out.

[Not quite an apology.]

[mannerless]

( at the general 'some of your vague-hand-gesture', wei wuxian exhales a bracing sort of huff - he already knows, believe me. in fact, he's got one of them healing the other one up because somebody just had to break his leg.

but now the man's talking about his earlier collapse, and that reminds wei wuxian to give him a once-over to see if he's more-or-less intact, which he does indeed seem to be. ) Mm, so that wasn't normal then? ( if not, he should perhaps be concerned after all. ) And how, exactly, is it going to be different if you go back in?

[singularwidower]

[He is indeed more-or-less intact. He's certainly rested more than he anticipated since this whole ordeal began. Daemon's lips twist into a bitter smile.]

Not normal at all, no. My Jewel doesn't drain that fast and yet, it did. It has. Of course, there was no way I could have expected it, since this is the first I've really tested it since my arrival.

[And, well, that sounds like an excuse to his own ears, so he waves it away as nothing to pay attention to.]

It might not be, but I will only be taking myself back in. It takes more power to move two through stone than one. If I'm conscious of this new limit, then there should be no problem.

[mannerless]

( wei wuxian hasn't the foggiest clue what this man's 'jewel' is, so he's going to mentally liken it to the golden core (except, it seems, less reliable) unless otherwise corrected.

and sure, 'only taking myself in' sounds all well and good, but - ) And if it isn't different, we're to- what, have someone carry you the whole miserable way back up the tunnel?

[singularwidower]

I am cognizant of my own limitations. [And that's an amused drawl with a hint of steel beneath it right there.] I wouldn't be going back in if I didn't think I would be, in some manner, useful to the rescue efforts. I believe it's an acceptable risk, considering the circumstances.