October Event: Crystal Clear

[lifeaftr_mods]

OCTOBER EVENT: CRYSTAL CLEAR

Who: Everyone!
What: Your exploration takes a turn.
When: October 20th - 26th
Where: The caverns situated underneath Ensō
Warnings: Character death, body horror, descriptions of illness. Please mark any additional warnings as needed!

Part I: Attack, Attack!
Congratulations! You've successfully gone where no Storyteller has gone or can go, and woken up in the network of subterranean caves buried beneath the island's mass, along with your designated supplies: a miner's cap, a week's worth of food, and both your knapsacks and their collective contents. And the further along you go, the vaster and more sprawling these almost labyrinthian tunnels seem to get. There’s certainly evidence that civilization once thrived here - old buildings hewed from the rock of the cave walls may very well contain old tools, or even salvageable supplies. Careful examination of structures and cavern walls alike will reveal sigils resembling those carved on the doors, each of which will need to be destroyed entirely at the Storyteller's behest. Whatever was down here was advanced enough to dwell without sunlight. But that raises a rather pertinent question...

If there were once people here, where did they all go?

Fortunately, one will soon discover that there's plenty of natural light underground, exhibited by the crystalline growths on the walls. None of them appear to be dangerous, and those attracted to shiny things might even find them useful for picking up or chipping away in order to better light their way. The crystal has about the thickness and hardness of quartz, and bathes its surroundings in a luminous green glow.

The closer you come to the center of the mass, however, the denser the crystalline growths seem to become, until one has to be quite ingenious in navigating them. Eventually, they'll simply be too dense to be squeezed through, even by the smallest and most agile of your number.

That’s when they it will start to become apparent.
Something in the crystal is moving.

Huge chunks of crystal are starting to detach from the center and move slowly, inexorably, toward those unfortunate enough to have explored the caverns. Unmistakably humanoid silhouettes, distorted by awful crystalline growths, most of which have completely swallowed any recognizable features.

...most.

The good news is that the creatures can be shattered, and beaten back. The bad news? Well...

Part II: Retreat, Retreat!
Those who get close enough to the crystalized beasts to get a good look at them will soon make a horrifying discovery - the fact that, underneath those thick layers of luminescent quartz, there was once something that might have been recognizable as human. These quartz monsters aren't native to this region, or indeed, to any region of the island at all. They were formed.

Formed out of the very crystal that you explorers have been touching, picking up, sleeping on, and just generally remaining in prolonged contact with ever since you set foot down here.

Indeed, anyone who has been in contact with the crystal for extended periods of time - sleeping on it or getting dealt a swipe from one of the crystalized monsters, for example - will find that tiny, quartz-like growths have started to sprout on their skin as well. Once the virus has taken root, it will spread rapidly until it has swallowed you whole. Indeed, the unpleasant symptoms will reveal themselves within twenty-four hours of the initial exposure: in addition to clusters of crystalline growths pocking the affected areas, the inflicted will begin to experience intense stabbing pains all over as the crystal begins to grow - both inside and out. The transformation is slow and arduous and painful, and vocalization tends to be one of the first things to go once the crystals sprout in the mouth and throat. Within the span of about three days since the initial exposure, the transformation will have sheathed most of the physical body in crystal entirely, sealing the victim in a humanoid cast of glasslike green.

It has not been confirmed if the inflicted are sentient and aware of their state of being once they are completely consumed. Whatever their intentions, those are easily overridden by the virus's innate desire to spread to as many organisms as possible.

As this is an event with a high risk of death, the Storyteller will impose death penalties for one week only. Additionally, deaths succumbed during the event count towards the character's total. There is no known cure to the virus, but that doesn't mean characters can't or shouldn't try!

Event Timeline

[ ♆ ] October 20th: Spelunking begins. Points of interest will be provided.
[ ♆ ] October 22nd: The Quartzalcoatl make their presence known.
[ ♆ ] October 24th: The final sigils are broken, and the Storyteller will return all uninfected to the Islets.
[ ♆ ] October 26th: All deceased will be returned at midday, suffering from a reduced death penalty.

Event Specifics

[ ♆ ] If your character perishes in this event, please let us know!
[ ♆ ] For those who opted out, please see the top-level below!
[ ♆ ] Item claims can be found on the OOC plotting post here!

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[justribbing]

Yeah. Me and my kind did. Didn't exactly have a say, but it was home for a long time.

[ He eventually stops looking around, scratching at one supraorbital ridge with the tip of a phalanx, huffing: ]

Huh.

Feels weird, after all'a that time top-side.

[ How long has it been..? He used to be so good at counting days, for some reason, and now? It's like time just keeps marching inexorably towards the future, and he finds something about it... unfamiliar.

He's probably unsettled from being back underground. He doesn't think about it anymore, and promptly feels better. ]

Pretty similar though, it's even got glowing crystals.

Howzabout you? Is it anything like this island?

[alittleditty]

[She smiles a bit.]

There's certainly a lot of crystals where I come from as well, above and most likely below ground too. From what I understand, Eorzea is supposed to be rich in aether, which form crystals. You can even grow small ones like plants!

[Hmmm... Maybe she should ask the Storyteller for some Levinlight seeds, since she was running out of Lightning Shards. But would they grow here? A thought for another time.]

Vylbrand can be a bit like here. It's the island where the city-state of Limsa Lominsa is; a nation of pirates, if you could believe it! They grow all sorts of food there, and the fishing is excellent, from what I hear.

I've been there a few times, but I was born more in the deserts of Thanalan, at the city-state of Ul'dah. Quite different from here, let me tell you.

[In more than just the local plants and temperatures.]

So... your people aren't trapped underground anymore?

[Because those comments have the sound of a story behind them, and she can't help but be curious.]

[justribbing]

Heh heh, right outta the ground, huh? You've peaked my interest.

[ Sans, that one isn't even that good. He could do without the pirates, unless they're like Sanji. But Sans is pretty sure the foul-mouthed, chain-smoking chef was truly one of a kind.

Hope he's okay, wherever he is. ]

I've never seen a desert, wouldja believe it? Are they really just heaps of sand that stretch on forever? [ Like the sea is just... an unfathomable amount of water. Now that he's seen it, trying to imagine that much as just... sand? Seems mind-boggling, but at least he can picture it. ]

And, uh, yeah. We got out. Don't really remember how. [ He admits, the tips of his phalanges scratching at the dome of his skull for a moment ] Maybe the humans decided to let us off the hook, or the magic ran out. I dunno.

[alittleditty]

Hmmm... Well, that's very fortunate for you all. I'm glad.

[Being trapped in a place like this all the time... it hardly sounds pleasant. It seems odd, that he doesn't really seem to know much of the details, but then again, there could be plenty of reasons for that.]

Some of Thanalan is like that. Especially down south, from what I've heard. But most of it is rocks, really. Rocks, and gravel, and cliffs, and little small plants, that are branches more than anything.

[justribbing]

So will I, once, y'know. If we actually go back.

[ He doesn't sound terribly convinced, but he doesn't sound too bothered, either. Actually, he's yet to sound very emotionally invested in any of this beyond vaguely amused, like he might be in on some unspoken inside joke and waiting for her to catch on.

But not really. It's just the alternative doesn't make for a good time. ]

So... looks like we got two kinds'a people here.

The folk who came here direct from wherever they call home or from somewhere else. Which camp are you in, buddy?