(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

[backpacking]

Yeah, I see it. [ She wrinkles her nose as she squints at the sapling in concentration. ] Cool. I'll start getting some together, and then, uh - next step.

[ Arrows are more than just the body, after all! In the meantime, she uses her knife to remove the sapling from the ground, sticking it into her bag with everything else. After that, she wanders around the area in search of other options, finding a few that seem similarly-thin. ]

When'd you learn to use a bow? [ Ellie asks, as she busies herself with this task, glancing over her shoulder to look back to Joel. ]

[shivving]

[ Joel nods, wandering over to another nearby sapling and squatting down to saw it down. He's not planning on clearcutting the whole forest or anything, but this place looks like it can spare a few saplings. ]

Uh - [ He has to think about it. ] Scout camp, I guess.

Wasn't any good with it back then, though.

[backpacking]

Scout camp? [ There's an amused scoff, and she cracks a grin from where she stands, trying to picture Joel, young, in some khaki getup. ] Wow. So, they let kids run around with bows back then, but you weren't gonna let me have one when our lives were on the line, huh?

[ She's clearly teasing, and has long since gotten his blessing to use weapons, but there's still a little needling to her tone. ]

What else did you learn at camp?

[shivving]

[ Joel huffs out a quiet laugh, shaking his head. He knows she's teasing, but even so, he's not going to let her guilt-trip him that easily. ]

We were shootin' targets. And they didn't shoot back.

[ We were shooting targets, not people, he'd almost said, and stopped himself. It's too harsh, too much of a reminder of what they'd both had to do.

Either way, it's not something he wants to discuss, now or ever. Instead, he scratches the back of his neck, thinking. ]

All kinda things. Survival skills. How t'build a fire. Fishing.

[ He shakes his head. ]

Some of it's come in more handy than other stuff.

[backpacking]

Hey, that all sounds pretty handy to me. [ And it's been a lot of what's helped Joel - and then, Joel and Ellie - survive over the years. ] But now I gotta know: what's some of the other stuff that didn't make the "survival necessities" cut?

[ She's curious, for one, and...honestly, it could be funny, depending on what she says (though she isn't really able to venture a guess at what the "less handy" skills could have been, based on her own nonexistent camp experience. ]

Did you...do any arts and crafts? Maybe "the Art of Marshmallow Toasting?"

[shivving]

[ Fishing, and its inevitable associated minigame, had come in much less handy for Joel than one might predict given the apocalypse, because Neil Druckmann isn't a monster. The other things, he can't argue with. First aid. Orienteering. Lighting a fire without a match. The skills learned decades ago on nearly-forgotten camping trips, once nothing more than a hobby and a way to keep kids out of trouble, had ended up saving his life more times than he could count.

He snorts, as Ellie dredges up yet another memory. ]

Yeah, there were plenty of s'mores. Some, uh, stampin' leather, makin' wooden race cars, stuff like that.

[backpacking]

Making race cars sounds cool. [ Would that she learned such fun and frivolous things at school. ] Maybe you can teach me some of that stuff, since we have a little time to chill out here. [ Or so she thinks. ] Since we don't have a guitar to work with.

[ Maybe, when they get back to Jackson, though. Maybe. ]

Was Tommy a Scout, too?

[shivving]

Yeah, he was.

[ Of course he was. His big brother was a Boy Scout, so there was never any question that Tommy would follow in his footsteps. It had been like that, back then. Tommy looking up to Joel, almost hero-worshiping him in the way younger siblings sometimes do, eager to emulate him however he could.

Long time ago.

He hums at the idea of him and Ellie making race cars, briefly imagining something more - a real pinewood derby, all of the kids here making their own little cars and coming together for a race. Someone should set that up. Not Joel - it's too much for him. It's the kind of thing Tommy and Maria would make happen, maybe.

But he and Ellie can make cars, and race them against each other. That would be good. ]

Think we could probably do that.

[backpacking]

Cool. [ A simple exchange, but one of many small building blocks to lay a new foundation after Salt Lake. Ellie eyes Joel, bow still in hand, and considers a question. A few questions. None of which have to do with Boy Scouts or race cars.

The moment passes, though, and she drops her gaze again, pretending to scan the ground for other viable saplings. ]

I, uh - that sounds fun.