July Event: Riding the Wave

[lifeaftr_mods]

JULY EVENT: RIDING THE WAVE

Who: Everyone!
What: The Jormun reappear to allow some transformative fun...and potentially some underwater exploration as well
When: July 10th and onward
Where: Ensō and the ocean floor around it
Warnings: Potential (and fully optional) body/transformation horror may arise when undergoing shifts from land-based to sea-based shapes, and vice versa. Otherwise, tag as you go!

I'll See You on the Other Side
The Jormun resurfaced to greet their old allies on July 8th, bringing with them the offer to explore the ocean floor alongside them. They're not the only old friend that's made a return, however. The kaleidoshells, placid, rainbow-tinted creatures reminiscent of sea turtles, have also made their way to Ensō's shores for their nesting season. For much of the month of July, you'll have to tread carefully around mounds of sand hiding delicate heaps of kaleidoshell eggs. Those of you uninterested in sea exploration can remain on the surface, if you like - the kaleidoshells can make for a stunning sight if you're glimpsing them for the first time as their shells throw off vibrant rainbow swirls of light reflected into the ocean waters.

Predators are always keen to feast on easy prey, and kaleidoshell eggs are no exception. If you feel like protecting them from any hungry slypers or pterax, you'll find that some of the Jormun are happy to stick on the surface with you and assist. They'll even lend you a schlacknorkcvic, which is the Jormun equivalent of a simple driftwood training staff, to help keep any thieving creatures away from the nests of kaleidoshell eggs - though they recommend that you do so peacefully, if possible.

Get Carried Away
Or you can brave the sea waters with the Jormun, instead. With the help of the sne'akleriad pendant, your new, aquatic shape will allow you to navigate the waters just as easily as they. Whether you intend to make use of this new skill to go roaming about and explore some of Ensō's uncharted ocean squares, take a look at that underwater structure that's been sighted before, or just have a joyous time beneath the waves with your new scaly, tentacled, flippered, or be-gilled form, the choice is yours.

---

In the meantime, the following links may prove handy:

[ ♆ ] OOC Event Info and Plotting Post
[ ♆ ] Underwater City Exploration Page
[ ♆ ] Jormun NPC Information
[ ♆ ] Ensō's Locations Page

Event Timeline

[ ♆ ] July 8th: The Jormun and the kaleidoshells return to Ensō's shores
[ ♆ ] July 10th: Underwater exploration begins
[ ♆ ] July 17th: Part Two of our second year anniversary Test Drive Meme goes up
[ ♆ ] July 20th: Monthly Storytelling occurs
[ ♆ ] July 22nd: The final island in this voting round appears
[ ♆ ] July 25th: The Jormun return to their home beneath the waves

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[hyperlit]

"Recharge." This, in conjunction with his underwater form, is confirmation that Horatio is, indeed, mechanical. This had not been as obvious from the outset as first anticipated - not everyone who is mechanical looks it, and vice versa. The Drifter does not comment on this, but they do note it silently.

have found automatons before
may find them again

...they were all dead, but that's beside the point.

[sonsofhorus]

Horatio would be quite taken aback to know that anyone had thought him even a possible organic - not that he hasn't confused the species of others left and right, because he absolutely has, and still does. But for himself, if only out of habit, it would feel rather more like blasphemy.

"Oh? Now that could definitely be something to watch for, yeah," he says, and then: "Ah, hang on a minute, though-"

And in the ever-dimming sea he switches on one of the lights set into his side, opposite Drifter. "There. Don't need anything sneaking up. Let me know if you need more, I don't know how good your vision is."

[hyperlit]

A single blink of their dark eyes is their sole indication of surprise. It's useful that he can light himself up like that, and they weren't expecting it.

thank you
very useful

That sort of function would have saved them many headaches, and even more deaths, back in Buried Time. A thought not worth considering once it has crossed their mind; they focus on the now. Not the then.

Without further hesitation, they begin a calculated descent.

[sonsofhorus]

Between the twin beams of his eyes and the additional light to the side, they now have something closer to the sphere of a proper lantern's glow. Horatio normally prefers not to go out in the dark at all, but if one must go, and without the aid of moonlight, then a wider field of vision is definitely preferred.

"No problem. Of course it might attract attention too, but there's no avoiding that sometimes."

His long frame follows along, snake-like, and ever watchful.

[hyperlit]

They have no way of knowing, yet, that the creatures scuttling on the seafloor are the same as those that were encountered when the sun died, all those months ago. Those were beings that avoided light and heat, and would likely not want to confront a creature that radiated so much of the former.

They have no way of knowing that this may very well be why their descent is undisturbed. The lower down they go, the more the Drifter requires Horatio's presence to pick out the silhouettes of whatever exists below.

Eventually, the dark bulk of silhouettes start to loom out from the watery dark.

The Drifter draws their blade with a hum of hard light energy, and uses it to point. There are shapes ahead. Perhaps buildings.

[sonsofhorus]

It would be a relief to him to know that some dangers might be driven back without violence - he had once protested even the slaying of a mindless shell that hadn't attacked yet - but of course, for now at least, he proceeds in ignorance. In fact, when Drifter draws their sword again, he tenses with the thought that something must be upon them...but wait, no.

"Oh, yes, that might be it," he murmurs, slowing a little as they approach so he can get a better-lit look at them for details. The outlines do seem increasingly artificial the closer they get, though worn and broken in places like any other ruined city, and once the closest is fully in view:

"Huh. Looks like it's built entirely out of stone. Or mostly, anyway."

[hyperlit]

age unknown

They can't say how long it's been here, is what they mean - in their clipped, laconic fashion. Still, once there's a destination in mind, the Drifter starts moving forward with much more interest, clearly keen on investigating the buildings as much as possible. Perhaps, if they're lucky, there's still a way inside.

Sunken as the place is, it probably wasn't meant to be down here.

looks like surface building
sunk now

[sonsofhorus]

"I'll be crashed if I know how something like that gets down this far, though...think maybe one of those sky islands broke down and dropped?" Or some other unfathomable act of this 'magic' he can't make sense of, he supposes.

He peers closely at the ancient stone-block structures, as much on the lookout for promising ways in as for anything that looks particularly likely to topple over on them as they pass. Though some of the structures seem to have done that already; cracked surfaces, parts of roofs fallen in and left where they landed. It doesn't seem likely, to him, that there have ever even been any submersible people along to try and patch this place up.

With any luck, there won't have been other scavengers either.

[hyperlit]

The Drifter pauses. It may or may not be clear from the amount of time it takes to respond, but they turn to him with the realization that this hadn't occurred to them.

possible

One of the islands had crashed on Ensō once before. It's possible that the same could have done so here...though in that case, it may very well prove dangerous. Those islands were prone to glitching, after all.

stay alert
landscape may behave strangely

[sonsofhorus]

He stops when Drifter does, assuming that it's a matter of a momentarily busy processor. And then indeed there is a new message, and he says, "Ugh, that's all we'd need. An ocean's strange enough to begin with."

In the Dunes, he'd always been in his element. And then Metropol had...well, not been that, but he understood ruined structures well enough and the weather wasn't much different. This, though? This is perpetually wild.

Then a little further on it's his turn to pause, himself, and he lets out a faint hrmm. "Here - this one looks like it was built from different stone than the others around here. I don't know what's a good sign in a city like this, but maybe that's something?"

[hyperlit]

Nothing seems to be glitching, or tearing through the seams of reality. No stuttering of pixel-like fragments of light, or jolting surroundings. All physics seem to be behaving as they ought to be, at least given the fact that they're underwater.

possibly built to stand out

They start moving closer with slow, methodical pumps of their tail. Gloved hands, fingers slightly pointed at the tips, run over the contours of the building's exterior.

building
may have an entrance

[sonsofhorus]

"Hopefully one we can both fit through without knocking anything else loose and bringing more of it down." Suffice it to say that not all of Horatio's adventures in the apocalypse have been particularly dignified.

It's a strange thought that on this new excursion, transformed as he is, underwater as they are, he is now able to move in all directions and would be the one to slip through spaces too narrow for his travel companion.

"Though if we don't find a doorway around one of these corners, maybe we can make the old collapses work for us. It'll be a lot safer to check for holes in the roof now that we wouldn't have to climb for it."

[hyperlit]

agreed

It would be best to exploit any pre-existing gaps in the structure, rather than form some new holes of their own and risk bringing what remains of the building down. The Drifter looks back at Horatio, who is a good deal larger than the they are, and considers leaving him behind to find a smaller way in.

He's their primary light source. They disregard the idea. Besides being impractical, it also seems rude.

stay close
may be inhabited

[sonsofhorus]

"If it is, and they're self-aware, they don't seem to have worked on the place in a long time. But I guess that's always possible." His own home - his real home - is hardly lovely, but you would at least know to look at it that it has been cared for. He can't imagine living somewhere and not trying to patch things. Still, some people don't.

That train of thought leads to several uneasy others as he swims alongside the old stones, never straying far.

"Still...if it turns out there are people in there and they want us out of their home, I'd prefer to turn back."

[hyperlit]

people
creatures who may wish harm
undersea dwellers

The Drifter evidently isn't expecting anyone as articulate as a sentient being. The Jormun did warn everyone about this place, after all. They mentioned that it could be dangerous.

The Drifter has taken that to heart.

jormun issued warnings about place

[sonsofhorus]

"Yeah. And sure, it might only be..." What? Something like the groaning shells in the Underworks, maybe. You couldn't say a shell owned anything; there was no one left in there to conceive of ownership.

"Not people. That's one thing. But if the unlikely thing happens and there is a person, that's where I stand, that's all."

They round another corner and - is that a doorway? Or something that might have been a proper and welcoming doorway once, if half of the frame hadn't broken and left the opening as jagged and uneven as a toothy maw.

[hyperlit]

The Drifter is of the solemn opinion that they've no reason to attack anyone unless they attack first. Most enemies, where they come from, make their intentions well known from the moment they lay eyes on an interloper. Unless they see fit to attack the Drifter first, or make their hostility evident, there's no reason to attack anyone unduly.

They regard the doorway, or what used to be a doorway, with only mild uncertainty in the form of a pause, an up-and-down sweep of the damage - and then they continue forward.

yes
if peaceful
no reason to attack

[sonsofhorus]

"Or to take things. But I don't see any recent signs of intelligent life yet anyway," he says quietly, his slender frame snaking into the foyer and coiling in a slow circle to properly cast his gaze around the room. Rubble, ruined furnishings, a few bits of old glass...

Oh.

"Oh, crash me."

He's never been unhappy to find a book before. Several books, no less! But here are a few already, perhaps either dragged by the sea or carelessly forgotten at some long-ago time, and the covers certainly don't look right. Horatio's old Gospel had turned out to be waterproof, but the look of these doesn't fill him with confidence.

"I better leave these to you. I don't think any tool this frame's got is delicate enough to try interacting with them."

[hyperlit]

The Drifter floats a little lower to scrutinize the books carefully, with the practiced air of someone who knows better than to simply pick up something that might very well fall apart at the slightest touch. Badly damaged. They doubt they'll survive being moved.

unfortunate

As dispassionate as the response is, their disappointment is nonetheless evident in the way their gloved fingers hover a little too long over the disintegrated spine of one of the books.

not meant to survive water
likely to fall apart if moved

[sonsofhorus]

He hovers close by, both to peer mournfully at them and to aid Drifter's examination. It's fortunate he'd practiced movement control so much earlier; he suspects if he ran his propellers too near the old texts, even that minor extra force in the water might do them further harm.

A sigh. "What a waste. Probably more proof these ruins came from up there somewhere, though. I mean, who would just throw books down here, otherwise?"

Even in anger Horatio has never really been one to actually call another being a wicked heathen - his old teacher might, but not him - but if he were ever going to do so, someone actually destroying books might qualify.

[hyperlit]

A pause. The Drifter is about to agree, but -

an island before
civilization prohibited writing

Among other things. The Drifter's heavy cloak, bright and colorful apparel, and visible weapons had them more or less arrested on the spot for innumerable crimes beyond the counting of it. Ai'tuoh had not been a kind place to very many of them, and the people there...they disliked the writing of things.

their only books were their laws
their author condemned after

outages will be the death of me x_x

[sonsofhorus]

This serpentine form has even fewer means of physical expressiveness than his usual self; no hands, most of the time, and no shoulders either. His head might still tilt this way and that, but it would take a good portion of his long body with it. And so he only looks up slightly, staring blankly at the far wall-

He contemplates a version of events where that book of his had not been waterproof, where the records of Metropol were not only maliciously altered but gone, where even precious, vital things like engineering manuals were put to the torch.

Not a world of scraps, but a void, wiped clean. Forever.

"That," he begins. Stops. Begins again. "That might be one of the worst things I've ever heard. I've known people to ban specific things they didn't like, but almost all of it like that?"

"Crash me," he mutters again, at the end of it. Because what else can he say?

IT'S ALL GOOD i'm an infinity backtagger!

[hyperlit]

yes
not a good place

One of the few civilizations that they encountered since the start, and it was that. Is it any wonder that people trust the Jormun? Their appearances might be a hair unsettling to some - though not to the Drifter - but their consistent friendliness and generosity was a welcome shift from others.

not sure if this is the same
structure sank
may just be collateral

[sonsofhorus]

"Yeah." A sigh. "Yeah, may be."

He moves himself away from the unsalvageable texts with as much care as he'd taken in approaching them; if they really are dead and lost, he won't be the one to disturb what's left of their remains. Beyond even recycling into something new - what a tragic waste.

"Just hope it's not all ruined paper in here...looks like we've got paths left or right, you like one better to take first?"

[hyperlit]

Staying together is wisest in unknown territory. The Drifter is also just...too accustomed to operating on their own. Still, with the number of groups they've explored uncharted territory with in the past two years, they've grown more used to waiting for a group to come to a consensus.

less damaged path first
minimize risk of cave in