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]

dropped
lost

Someone brought it here, perhaps. If that's the case...

perhaps
not the first ones here

Which doesn't seem possible. The Jormun stayed away from this place for a reason, and there has been no sign of any other living creature. Who else could have strayed this deep, and why? It's more likely that it was dropped, or discarded from above, surely.

It still doesn't answer who might have managed to get it all the way out here.

[sonsofhorus]

He revises his theory of the unknown actor's behavior accordingly, considers the result, and finds it reasonable.

"Could be, yes. Actually, if it was an accident..." Come to think of it, what had he said in a previous room? Like someone running through with their bag open and just never looked back. His processor mulls all this over.

"Or even if it wasn't an accident. Wouldn't there have to have been multiple people before us? If that porcelain's newer than the rest, and if someone carrying things explains how the books got to such a weird place too...it wouldn't make much sense to be at the same time. Seems they would have brought non-waterproofed books someplace already under water."

Which could happen, he supposes, but that's still terrible.

[hyperlit]

too many pieces
nothing connects

Most ruins, most bits and pieces of old civilization, they have a story that can be derived from the remains. Here, toppled furniture and cracks in the edifice that suggests an altercation or a massive physical shift. Here, a body splayed and crumbled away, not as old as the rest of its surroundings, which indicates that others have crossed this way before after the building's fall.

There is always a narrative, and one that makes relative sense.

Nothing here makes sense at all. There are too many variables, and none of them add up.

[sonsofhorus]

"Not a single thing," he mutters in agreement, and hovers off to finish checking what he can of the room for any further evidence or usable material.

If it were the unchanging Dunes, he thinks as he picks through more broken furniture, more than one scavenger passing through an area over time would hardly be worthy of note - except to curse his luck at being beaten to something useful. But here? What went on in here?

"I would say it's at least a good sign we haven't found any remains of these people, however many there might have been, but that's no guarantee. You see anything else?"

[hyperlit]

They're about to respond to the negative, sweeping the area one final time, but a peculiar shape poking out from the rest of the debris catches their eye. They swim closer, picking it out from the wreckage.

It's a cage. Small, crumpled, and clearly in just as poor a condition as almost everything else down here, but nonetheless - one final piece of a very abstract puzzle.

also old
broken

[sonsofhorus]

At their sudden movement in place of an answer he sets aside another bit of ruined wood-scrap and raises himself to better observe, watching with interest. But once the item is pulled into view, he can tell at once, even from here, that its metal and mechanisms are in absolutely terrible shape.

A pity.

"Looks that way...shame about the rust. At a glance I'd say it's too far gone to restore. Is that as weird a thing to find here as the others? It wouldn't have any use anywhere where I came from, unless you wanted to take a really tiny robot prisoner."

[hyperlit]

does not match surroundings either

The Drifter's quiet confirmation comes with the closest they get to a furrowed brow - a pinching of the strip of bluish skin between helmet and cowl. Yes. Like everything else they've thus far discovered, this little cage is very much out of place.

may have contained pet
or possessions
cannot know

[sonsofhorus]

"I guess if there was ever any evidence of what was in there, the water would have taken it." The peculiarities of organic material, large amounts of water, and a generally thriving ecosystem are really murder on work like this. It is becoming a wonder that anything lasts at all.

"Well, if there's no figuring that out for now either, then I'm ready to sweep the next room when you are - whether we get any answers or just more questions."

[hyperlit]

ok

The Drifter turns the cage briefly over in their hands. It's too awkwardly shaped to be stowed away in their cloak, which they continue to wear, even underwater. In the end, they simply hold onto it with one hand while keeping their sword out in the other.

ready

They don't expect answers. But they're ready regardless.