EVENT 008

[larkers]

WHO: The Displaced.
WHERE: New Cairo, Mt. Everest, New Oslo, and New Rio de Janeiro.
WHEN: Late February IC, with some handwaving of time!
WHAT: Travel to the gates. Time to be Indiana Jones!
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Abduction, mention of IVs, tampered-with food, violence.

> EVENT #008

Preparation for a trip can sometimes feel like the storm before the calm: packing bags, getting hotel arrangements in order, and ensuring that hours and shifts are covered while going out of town. It doesn't help that little about the trip ahead is known. Where are they going and why? What's the purpose of this, except for the vague promise of answers?

Anyone leaving for Mt. Everest will need to leave earlier for their trip. Make sure to have hiking gear on hand or a plan to pick it up in New Beijing. Going empty handed will make customs wonder about the trip ahead. It's a long one, with the Displaced stopping briefly in New Beijing before heading on a fishing boat toward Mt. Everest. It would be wise to hire some sherpas to guide the way.

Trips to New Oslo will take a lot less preparation. Tell customs it's a vacation, that it's time to take a good chance at being away from New Amsterdam after the way this past year has gone—tell them anything but the truth. That might stand out.

The mercenaries hired to monitor these trips will move into position as the Displaced head toward their destinations. Their roles won't always be obvious. Are there several sherpas leading the expedition to Mt. Everest? One of these sherpas is a mercenary in disguise, paid to keep an eye on the excursion itself. This is just one example. Anyone can feel free to find gaps in this mercenary's knowledge and may feel justified in being suspicious of them.

These mercenaries are here to both direct the trip and ensure that some of the Displaced are detoured toward a different destination altogether. They know little about the reason why they're on this trip, and little about their bosses. They just know that they have to chaperone this band of Displaced: drugging them heavily and following instructions where needed. One by one, some of the Displaced will begin to disappear, picked off and sent to different locations. Anyone who stayed back in New Amsterdam will be ripe for the taking: why would they need to worry about their safety when staying home?

> NEW CAIRO

The abducted Displaced will arrive in New Cairo via a commercial train with no identifying characteristics except that it's clearly meant to carry goods from one destination from another. The Displaced will be kept on uncomfortable stiff seats for the entire ride, bound in place and unable to move. Before they were restrained, they were drugged and set up with an IV to keep them that way (though the drug in question won't have any compulsory effects). The drug will keep them sedated, and anyone who shows a resistance to the IV drip will have a stronger dose moving through their veins.

New Cairo is entirely underground, largely due to the water restrictions with the diminished precipitation nourishing the Nile and the scorching heat. The people building the region got creative, bringing everything below ground and creating a cool, bustling city. As the Displaced leave the train, they'll see multiple AR displays announcing where they've arrived, as well as reminders about water rationing, ones that don't seem to have an end date in mind.

They'll only be in New Cairo for a short period of time before they're piled into a service elevator that takes them up to the hot and dry desert surface above the city. No matter what time it was when they were abducted, it's late in the afternoon just outside of New Cairo and miserable. As they're boarded onto a large bus, there will be a hint of AC fighting with the unfriendly conditions outside. Their IVs will flow with more drugs before the truck takes off.

◉ When the Displaced next come to, they'll be within the Great Pyramid of Giza itself, just outside a vault that was discovered in 2017 and never explored. Unlike the rest of the pyramid, this area hasn't been touched in centuries. If they attempt to run an image search of where they are, they'll confirm that this area was simply tagged as a void, and it likely houses numerous secret chambers. In recent times, the area has been disturbed only briefly, and most likely any disturbances were directly related to this trip.

◉ Each of the Displaced will have a backpack full of goods: a sleeping bag, a better pair of boots (if they were lacking them), as well as rations that should last up to a week. There are also several containers of water.

◈ The rations themselves may be tampered with, making it difficult for the Displaced to know what is and isn't safe to eat, as well as what is changing them and the others around them.

◈ These status effects will begin with nausea and fatigue before evolving into a feeling of rage and a misdirected sense of vengeance. They will also run the risk of their eyes turning golden and long canines forming in their mouths, as well as hallucinations and false memories of bloody displays of violence. They will struggle to tell the difference between fiction and reality, thinking that these memories belong to them.

◈ Any Displaced under the influence of this tampered food will be able to heal from any injury quickly. They will not be able to regenerate limbs or retain their life if their head is chopped off, but any bumps and scratches will quickly heal up. Once they are cured, this effect will go away.

◈ This status effect can be cured by touching the affected Displaced's skin for five minutes. This "cure" will cause a searing pain before transitioning to a feeling of peace and then sadness.

◉ The mercenaries are around, but act as little more than guards for what lies ahead. They're free cannon fodder for supplies. Feel free to take them out! They'll bark orders directing the Displaced toward the unknown part of the pyramid in front of them, insisting that whatever lies beyond that is up to them to figure out.

◉ As the Displaced come closer to the untouched area called the "void," the walls will light up in response to them, showing a story not unlike the ones they may have seen on shrines around New Amsterdam. Only this story is a little different: in golden, blue, white, and indigo colors, there is a tale told via pictures of the pharaohs of old descending into this forgotten section of the pyramid. At the center of their chest is a bright light, varying between an unnatural dark light and a golden one, before they place their hands against the wall to head inside.

◉ For anyone familiar with Egyptian ruins in other versions of Earth, some of the symbolism around the lit-up drawings is the same. The Eye of Horus, Eye of Ra, Ankh, and Uraeus are all present, adding some of the familiar to the unknown. The Eyes of Horus in particular glow with a bright, brilliant golden light, shining the way.

◉ There will be five indentations for right hands, pointedly lit by the glowing Eyes of Horus. Once the Displaced touch these indentations all at once, they will be let inside the "void" to explore the ruins within.

◉ The path down into the ruins is a steep, yet surprisingly well-preserved staircase that leads deeper and deeper into the pyramid. The walls are tight around the staircase, and covered in those same golden eyes, leading the Displaced inside. When the mercenaries begin to follow, these lights will dim, as if they're not welcoming the other interlopers who have decided to arrive. (Assuming, of course, that they weren't all knocked out or killed before the Displaced headed down. They can definitely be taken out.)

◈ In general, the mercenaries are not going to find themselves welcome inside of the ruins. Anyone who's tailing a mercenary may need to watch out for themselves as the ruins will have various security measures built in to reject their presence.

◉ Once inside the ruins, it will be brightly lit and welcoming to the Displaced. The walls are covered in beautiful art, the oldest of which is a dedication to the relationship between Khufu and the earth deity Khnum. Much of the imagery around their relationship is looped in dark (even black) and golden lighting, with the other Egyptian gods drawn into the imagery itself. Ra, Osiris and Horus act as patrons of the relationship between Khufu and Khnum in this art, with all of them appearing in several forms to act as guardians.

◈ Ra is connected to light and the sun, with the golden lights in the wall seeming to shine brightest around his images. Osiris is connected to images of Khufu in life and in death: as a bird in life and a moon in death. Horus overlaps with both, being both the sun and the moon, and a bird as well.

◉ There is a general sense with the art, Khufu, and the imagery itself that this was a private chamber celebrating Khufu's time on Earth, as well as his connection to the gods and how he created a bond between them and the people.

◉ There are many different passages and doors. While untouched, that also means that the chambers within the ruins haven't been explored or maintained for hundreds of years—perhaps even thousands of years. While many objects remain undisturbed, the walls, doors, and floor beneath everyone's feet will not be fortified in any way.

◉ Beyond that, the ruins act as a labyrinth as well, inviting the Displaced inside—so long as they can decipher the imagery. Some of the imagery is well-preserved, while others seem to be missing instructions. Several of the chambers within involve puzzles and tricks to get inside. Some will have full, visual instructions with hints that can be drawn out via touch, while others will be ruined, showing signs that they once held clues to help someone go deeper within.

◈ Be cautious of touching any symbolism that seems disconnected, as it may lead to a trap. The ouroboros is a definite sign for danger ahead, as if it's a hint to the fact that there is no difference between life and death for the divine.

◉ Getting through the ruins without falling through the floor will be just one of the many challenges, aside from the ruined puzzles. There will be unique creatures moving throughout the temple to act as guardians. They will have vivid golden eyes. Many of these creatures are dangerous and ferocious, as well as weird blends of Egyptian animals on the walls themselves. How are they in here and alive? How is a serpent moving with a cat's head? No matter what, these creatures intend to test the mettle of the invading Displaced.

◉ What's the point of a dangerous plundering mission without stealing some goods along the way? Unlike the rest of the pyramid, these chambers being untouched means that a great deal was left behind. Anyone can feel free to pick up vessels (clay and stone vases), amulets, jewelry such as beaded necklaces, bangles, earrings, and small figurines. Many of these figurines seem to show god-touched people, with an indentation in their chest for a familiar glow.

◉ The eventual goal is the gate itself. After trawling through the various and seemingly endless chambers, the Displaced will come upon it, ringed in seven different colors: blue, gold, indigo, white, black, red, and orange. These colors appear in the same order around the gate, lighting the way. As the Displaced draw closer, the blue lights will shine the brightest, responding to them.

◈ It's very apparent that whatever the gate is, it's not activated. For now, it looks like an unfinished piece of art, with the creator surrounding it in various lights that seem to float in open space, inviting the Displaced closer.

> MT. EVEREST

After a stop in New Beijing (linked for informational purposes) and a surprisingly uneventful boat trip to New Delhi, the Displaced will be sherpaed up to the protected region around Mt. Everest. For the first twelve hours, they will need to sit in quarantine and prove that they have the supplies and guides at hand to help them head up the mountain. At this time, the sherpas will be available for questioning about what they might be looking for given that they're seeking out an old religious site. The mercenary sherpa won't know much about this, as he'll have been directed to say nothing that would give him away.

Once the time in quarantine has passed, it's time to head up the mountain. The sherpas will insist on stopping at Rongbuk Monastery, and anyone who does a preliminary search online will likely see that this is a solid plan.

◉ Before heading out, the Displaced will have to spend 24 to 48 hours acclimating to the elevation (it's 16,340 feet). For anyone who's struggling, they will be advised to return to the quarantine point and wait for the Displaced to finish their trip. Anyone who's not eager to wait that long can take a hover truck back to New Delhi, and then take the reverse trip back home to New Amsterdam.

◉ There are lodges set up to help with this acclimation to the environment. The sherpas will frown on anyone who decides to set out on their own. Trying to head up a mountain will be tantamount to suicide and the sherpas may order that they go back to the quarantine station.

◉ Anyone who's observed the sherpas during this time will find that all but one of them have their arms covered in familiar tattoos, with a large protective bird covering several of their backs and stretching outward, the symbols themselves nestled within the feathers. The odd one out is the mercenary.

◈ These tattooed sherpas are here to help. Feel free to ask them questions about the road ahead, as well as the meaning behind their tattoos. They're a very spiritual bunch eager to talk about their beliefs, though they seem unaware of the worship surrounding the Displaced in other locations.

◉ The monastery ahead is a sacred site. On the morning before it's time to leave for the site in question, the sherpas will give a lecture about what lies ahead, and how they need to be cautious about where they step. The sherpas will be unaware of the Displaced's goal in going there, and will see the monastery as a typical step in heading up the mountain.

◉ Rongbuk is in disarray when the Displaced come upon it, as it was always built into the stony region. Despite being a frequent stopping point for sherpas throughout the centuries, its religious usage has long since fallen by the wayside, as the United Nations government made it difficult to maintain a civilization this far away from any of the megacities. The sherpas take great care as they tread through the monastery, and seem to be eager to take their time to clean it up. It appears that expeditions like this are the only time they are allowed to do this.

◈ Once the Displaced are at the monastery, they will see a beautiful view from the monastery itself. While their journey will end here, they will be able to vividly take in the rest of the mountain range that could have lied before them.

◉ There are numerous hermitage meditation caves throughout the monastery, allowing further isolation from the outside world. While some of these are standard, there are four that will lure the Displaced inside, with a symbol of spread wings lighting up in blue and white light when they draw close. Four of these meditation caves will open up the ruins below, with the Displaced activating them by joining together in each of them in pairs and initiating their empathy bond.

◈ There will be poorly maintained mani stone walls and reliefs throughout the monastery. While many of the words are sacred syllables and prayers, within them there are patterns that only the Displaced can perceive, laying clues to how reach the ruins within.

◉ When the ruins open up, the entire monastery will rumble and shake in response. What will feel like a major seismic response will not be felt by the outside world. Any checks in to social media will show that there aren't any concerns for what just passed within the remains of the monastery. The tattooed sherpas will stand in shock, while the mercenary sherpa will be shaken by what happened. Most notably, they will not see what just happened, as that's for the eyes of only the Displaced.

◉ Thanks to the meditation activation, the Displaced will find themselves heading down into a lost, hidden valley that has been untouched for years. To the sherpas behind them who can't follow, they will see a cloud of snow and mist, and snow leopards will step into the path between the Displaced and their once-guides, growling and warning them away. If the fake sherpa is still alive at this point, he likely won't be for much longer.

◉ The descent into this hidden valley will be treacherous, though it will be a matter of leaving higher elevation and heading deep into rocky, uneven terrain. Heading down won't be easy, but it also won't be impossible. There will be odd blue and white lights overhead, casting clues along the way to ensure that the Displaced can head in deeper.

◉ At the end of this treacherous terrain is what appears to be a monastery not unlike the one that the Displaced left some time ago. Time itself seems difficult to ascertain. The deeper the Displaced head down into these ruins, the more difficult it will be to track the passage of time. It may even feel as if they've just slipped from the realm of the waking to the realm of the sleeping—though they are most certainly awake at this time. Aren't they?

◉ The trials themselves will vary. Some will be metaphysical in nature, hinting toward faith and belief in others and in themselves, and will require the Displaced to share a memory with a stone relief. Others will be physical in nature, or seem that way, asking for the Displaced to succeed at a particular feat of strength—or falsely leading them down that path. These trials will vary from Displaced to Displaced, and there will always be a way around them.

◉ Throughout the hidden valley's ruins there will be numerous relics associated with Buddhism, as well as ones that depict the large bird that was tattooed on the backs of the sherpas. There will be large vases, as well as ornamental plates, pearls, and smaller figurines. Most notably, there will be no relics in the shape of weapons throughout the valley.

◉ As the Displaced travel through the craggy terrain and into the valley itself, they will come up against numerous creatures with golden eyes set to protect the area. Many of these are misshapen yaks, some of which stand as still as statues before someone passes. While the Displaced are welcome inside the ruins, these guardians don't seem as if they're happy to see them.

◉ Pass enough trials and there will be a loud, whirring sound at the end of the valley, beckoning the Displaced closer. As they reach it, they'll find several indentations in the ground and a gate. The gate will be lit in blue and white, with hints of red, gold, orange, indigo, gold, and black fading through in a gradient. The gate itself isn't activated entirely, and there will be more mani stones in the area to direct them the rest of the way.

> NEW OSLO

Aside from anyone who may have been taken along the way, travel from New Amsterdam to New Oslo is, by and large, relatively painless. The trip only takes three hours by maglev train, and there will be no stops between New Amsterdam and New Oslo as a result. By the time everyone arrives, they will first see the vast, green land that makes up the surface before diving deep into the city itself. Much of New Oslo is beautiful up and down, with every aspect of it designed to be pristine in nature. Beautiful, ivory pillars appear to hold up parts of the city, and it's clearly not as heavily populated as the rest of the megacities that the Displaced have visited up to this point (as it only holds a million people in comparison, and they're spread out over a larger expanse of land).

Settling in will be priority number one for anyone on this trip as the coordinates pointing to this city only directed them to its center. Since that's a geographic default for a location, the Displaced will need to begin to dig in and ask questions. What are the historical sites? Has anything managed to survive on the upper surface? Before long, they will have a few leads, with the most notable of these being a statue on the westward side of the city. The Displaced will need to use public transit to access the other side of the island.

Along the way to this information, the Displaced may feel as if they're both being watched and dismissed by the locals. The people of New Oslo aren't particularly spiritual, and any lost religious sites seem to be more significant to their governor than them. Unfortunately, the governor isn't the easiest fellow to reach, so they'll have to go it without him.

◉ The monument on the west side of New Oslo is in a portion of the country of Norway that was once underwater called the Five Wayward Virgins. It currently stands in a reclaimed part of the city, and as the Displaced draw closer, there will be sigils along the pillars indicating that they have reached the correct spot. These sigils glow red and orange, inviting them closer.

◈ Activating the pillars is step one for finding their way into the ruins and on their way to the gate of New Oslo. In order to do it, ten of the Displaced must touch the pillars at once while activating the empathy bond between them. When they do, their chests will briefly glow a different color: red, then orange, and then back to blue, and a floating set of lights will show the way to where they need to go.

◈ For anyone who looks up this monument, they'll find digital images of St. Olaf, a long renowned king of Norway who chastised them for offering themselves sexually to the king and followers. However, the guidance this monument offers should put this specific legend in doubt.

◉ Eventually the orange and red lights will lead them to a secret subterranean passage, one that appears as if it should be doused in water. Oddly enough, the longer the Displaced move through this passage, the more aware they'll become that they've left the constructed underwater portion of New Oslo and have gone somewhere else entirely. Even though the passage isn't underwater, it will smell musty as if it is, and putting their hands against the wall itself will lead to them coming away covered in a thin layer of dew.

◉ At the end of the passage, the Displaced will come upon a large, seemingly never-ending maze with walls covered in mildew. The imagery here harkens back to medieval Norway, with the coat of arms for St. Olaf pictured near the entrance. However, the imagery is also contradictory in nature: Near the entrance, the picture of Olaf is incomplete, while other images have been scratched and scraped off the wall and left as little more than gashes.

◉ There is limited lighting within the maze itself. The air will be thick and humid with mildew, yet it will still be chilly as well. The orange and red lights that guided the way will act as overhead lights, but their tone and coloration provides little clarity on what lies ahead. Hopefully someone brought some flashlights to get them through this particular trial.

◉ There is a narrative throughout the maze, and it's a narrative connected to the maze itself and the history of the people who built it. The maze appears to act as a trial of some sort for those who entered it before, though it's unclear on who these people might have been apart from kings. Along the walls, there are numerous coats of arms, some hastily painted over others, and the adept may be able to pick out a story: a nation at odds with itself.

◉ This imagery eventually gives way to an idea: that those shining with red and gold could unify the country, unify the people, and unify themselves, building a bridge between the gods and humanity. Norse gods like Thor and Freyr are pictured walking tall behind the kings of Norway, guiding them as they look down over vast, beautifully ornate pictures of their people. Thor carries a large hammer and Freyr walks among tall stalks of grass, the vines cutting in close to him.

◈ While St. Olaf and King Harald appear most frequently among these images, shown clearly by their red and blond hair respectively, numerous other kings are pictured to dictate the tumultuous history of the Nordic kings.

◉ In time, the imagery revolving around these two figures gives away to a story: that the kings held a great deal of power, and that this power may not have been natural in some way. In some, St. Olaf's chest glows with a red light, illuminating the way down another path within the maze itself. The tumult in Norway may have been caused by a desperation to gain this power for themselves, while only a few rulers proved worthy.

◈ Whoever created these drawings reused two forms of symbolism a lot: the shape in the chest of each of the kings is always five sided, and there is often a union of land and sky, as if they hope to unify the two.

◉ In fact, unity is a large part of these images. Unity leads to healing, and when the king comes into power and has proven himself worthy, he can heal his people. Unity leads to love, romance, and passion. Unity gives these kings the power of the gods and their people, making it so that they can strike down trolls and giants.

◉ There will be creatures prowling throughout the maze. Many of them are large and shaggy in nature, easily upset buffalions with bright golden eyes that light the way even within the darkest parts of the maze. They will be snuffling a fair amount, the musty, dewy nature of the maze unsettling them as well. It doesn't appear to help their moods anyway.

◉ The trials in this set of ruins are largely based on shows of unification and perseverance. At some point, someone may feel as if they're drowning and encouraged to give up. Another time, they may feel as if there is a crushing weight on their lungs. Asking for help is a key way to get through struggles here, though finding a way around facing these trials by finding rusted and weakened sections of walls won't hurt.

◉ Before long, it will become apparent that whoever had the means to access these ruins treated this as a burial site. Many of the relics littered throughout are heavily ornamented axes, broadswords, spears, and jewelry. Any shields are covered in orange and red jewels, the hue given off by them shining with an unnatural light.

◉ As the maze opens up bit by bit, the Displaced will find themselves alongside an unnatural body of water under a dark, ink-colored and similarly unnatural night sky. Several boats will surface, inviting them to get on. As they ride the boats over, time will seem to be little more than an illusion, just before they come up on large, steep hill that moves up toward a large, glowing fixture that's awaiting: the gate. The glow itself is bright from a distance, but it takes shape in time, that of a triangular doorway with a iron frame. It glows various shades, but when they leave the boat, it will shine blue, inviting them forward. Like the other gates, this one is not yet activated.

> NEW RIO DE JANEIRO

Like with New Cairo, travel to New Rio will take place in an uncomfortable commercial train, with the seating and positioning being less than pleasant, especially with the IV in the arms of the various Displaced splayed throughout the train car itself. Some sit and lean against hard metal benches, while others are left on the floor, haphazardly sitting up. Whoever was appointed to this particular leg of the journey put far less care into the Displaced on board. It's as if they're nothing more than cargo.

After the Displaced leave the train, they will only see scant portions of New Rio, and will notice how much of the continent that they're on is covered in water. This will be all the more apparent when they're carried on a bus over to a part of Mt. Corcovado that's been excavated for the purposes of this journey. Throughout all of this, they will be sedated, and that sedation will continue until they're carted off the bus and left near a construction site. It appears that whoever started this excavation wasn't happy enough with their progress to finish it. That may even be why the Displaced are here.

For anyone who's trying to grab snippets of conversation from their captors, they will catch word that their means of reaching their site is less than legal because it's a protected area. Hover buses like this one aren't meant to be able to leave the city limits, and yet they did all too easily. One of the other mercenaries will bark that their boss has contacts in "high places" to ensure this all goes smoothly.

Once off the bus, the mercenaries who act as their unhappy armed guards will try to force them into action, roughhousing them soon after the IV is removed to "get to work."

◉ Before they do, the mercenaries will be "kind" enough to leave a bag at the feet of every Displaced. Each of the Displaced will have a backpack full of goods: a sleeping bag, a better pair of boots (if they were lacking them), as well as rations that should last up to a week. There are also several containers of water.

◈ The rations themselves may be tampered with, making it difficult for the Displaced to know what is and isn't safe to eat, as well as what is changing them and the others around them.

◈ These status effects will begin with nausea and fatigue before evolving into a feeling of rage and a misdirected sense of vengeance. They will also run the risk of their eyes turning golden and long canines forming in their mouths, as well as hallucinations and false memories of bloody displays of violence. They will struggle to tell the difference between fiction and reality, thinking that these memories belong to them.

◈ Any Displaced under the influence of this tampered food will be able to heal from any injury quickly. They will not be able to regenerate limbs or retain their life if their head is chopped off, but any bumps and scratches will quickly heal up. Once they are cured, this effect will go away.

◈ This status effect cured by touching the Displaced in question for five minutes. This "cure" will cause a searing pain before transitioning to a feeling of peace and then melancholy.

◉ No amount of roughhousing is going to make the sedative leave the bodies of the Displaced easily. It's cold and uncomfortable up here, with a cool breeze hitting the skin of all the Displaced present. They might want to settle in, grab a meal (oh no), and wait until they don't have a foggy brain.

◉ The surroundings will be familiar to some people who know Brazilian geography and landmarks. While the statue is no longer in the condition it was in during the 20th century, the landmark of Christ the Redeemer clearly stands overhead. What remains is only a faint shadow of its past self. It stands without a head or hands, with moss growing over it freely. The statue is now a much darker hue, as restoration costs proved too expensive to continue to use concrete and soapstone. While it does seem as if this landmark stood for some time after the AI war, the last 300 years have seen it fall into disarray.

◉ Wildlife around the Redeemer statue is thriving, with a lot of hefty overgrowth. Large trees extend outward, making themselves unlikely points of safety for anyone who wants to climb up one and ditch all the excitement below. There is moss and underbrush everywhere, making it difficult for the Displaced to move. It doesn't help that only the mercenaries have machetes on hand, and they couldn't be bothered to do any of the work that the Displaced should be doing.

◈ There are also giant columns of mushrooms. While some of the mushrooms are a normal size, others grow as tall as seven or eight feet. Most are porous and uncapped.

◉ Unlike the other ruins, the wildlife around the Redeemer appears to be native and natural to this area and not touched by any of the strange golden eyes and ferocity that the others will be facing (at first, anyway). It's time to remind those who've wandered into the forest that they're at the bottom of the food chain.

◈ There are oversized insects with long, threatening stingers. These aren't just for show: these stingers are poisonous, so it's better to avoid them altogether. They'll cause large, red welts on the skin that will remain swollen for 48 hours. Too bad there isn't any bug spray.

◈ There are beautiful, multicolored snakes with poisonous fangs. Being bitten can cause muscle spasms and temporary paralysis of the limb or body part targeted. Luckily, this poison can be sucked out locally before it spreads, but it needs to be done quickly.

◉ To top off the horrible foliage experience, the weather is deeply unpleasant up on the mountain. In the ride over, it will be raining heavily with frequent bouts of lightning shooting across the sky. That downpour will only seem to get worse as the Displaced try to move through the large stalks of grass and mushrooms as they try to get close to the statue itself. Unfortunately, the statue is more of a clue rather than their final destination.

◉ Underneath all of the underbrush are the hints of a monastery that's been lost to history. Finding it won't be easy, and it may be little more than an accident for the Displaced who do come across it. How? Well, they might just fall inside, hurtling down a 25 foot drop until they reach the bottom of what was once that monastery's basement.

◉ There is a ladder inside of the monastery, but it's rusted and brittle. Taking it down might mean that there's no obvious way back up.

◉ The imagery inside of the basement itself is heavily Catholic in nature, with the walls painted and somehow unnaturally obtaining the appearance of stained glass. They shimmer with the same reds, blues, and yellows that might be visible on ornate Catholic churches. Down here, these walls seem to be oddly well-preserved, as if the outgrowth outside had done well to keep it safe.

◉ Hidden within these "stained glass" paintings on the wall will be familiar sets of symbolism. Triangles that need to be turned, as well as pieces that look as if they're out of place. Before long, it will become clear that this is a puzzle. Once the mercenaries join them, it'll be apparent that only the Displaced can move these puzzle pieces. Of course, this is assuming these mercenaries are still conscious. They deserve to be knocked out (or worse?). Really.

◈ Go ahead and take them out, Displaced. Why would someone send such heavily armed cannon fodder otherwise?

◉ Once they solve this first puzzle, the walls will give away, grinding loudly and sending a mild shaking through the area to let them inside.

◉ If the stained glass puzzle impressed, the bright light that shines through the ruins here in an unnatural way will certainly astound anyone, especially if they have an appreciation for art. The walls are painted from top down in beautiful, ornate shades, along with a metallic sheen that's unnatural in nature. None of the paint seems as if it could be of this world, especially given the imagery itself.

◉ As the Displaced move through the ruins, these images will alter and change, showing new pathways. There will be a number of obstacles and climbing puzzles along the way that are required to be solved before they can make it to their destination.

◉ Not helping matters, there will be golden-eyed creatures trotting on through like they own the place, looking for prey. Unlike the creatures at the other locations, or even the wildlife just outside, these creatures seem to be slender in appearance and half-starved. Their hunger is palpable as they draw closer, cutting the distance between themselves and their prey in a flash. Their unhealthy appearance appears to do nothing to hinder their strength.

◉ Throughout this abandoned portion of the monastery, there are relics galore. The problem is: Catholics loved their relics, so it will be difficult to parse out what's legitimate and what isn't while escaping hungry monsters and trying to be a real-life platformer. There are skeletons, crucifixes, teeth, and caskets, many of them filled with ornate but heavily damaged metal pieces that may have once been something else altogether.

◈ There are also endless reliquaries filled with teeth, bones, and more. Some of these will be coupled with manuscripts dictating the names of various explorers who traveled to Brazil, and after they died, they were split among these different reliquaries.

◉ Once the Displaced have traveled far enough, they will hear the rumble of thunder outside and it will strike the statue of the Redeemer, sending a volt through where they stand. At the same time, the walls will light up, indicating a puzzle for the next step. The gate isn't visible, but the weather overhead might be a clue as to how to get inside and activate it.

> FINAL OOC NOTES

Please refer to the OOC EVENT POST for this event for all OOC info, including suggestions for directions on how to engage with the event. Given the spread out nature of this event, as well as the amount of additional details provided here, please direct all questions to our QUESTIONS thread below. We do encourage that all of our players use the event planning post for any additional ideas and for touching base!

The outcome of this event will depend on whether or not the characters will activate the gates! We will have an OUTCOMES THREAD below, where you can decide on success or failure for your respective gate. This is an IC decision and will depend on what your character wants, as well, so please keep that in mind.

There is also an ARTIFACTS THREAD to inform the mods of what your characters will be taking so that we can be on the same page! We'll work on what these do or what they are in the aftermath!

Please make a note in your subject line for the location your character is at!

Please do not begin to thread out any aftermath until February 8th, which is when we will put up the aftermath log and OOC post.

As a reminder, there is one power level up available for this event. This will be granted for a thread of at least 5 action/log comments containing your character inside of the ruins. This will not count for any action outside of the ruins or in transit to the ruins themselves. They will need to reach the 5 comments required by MARCH 6 to be eligible. Submission will be handled on the wrap up post.

Our Activity Check will be posted FEBRUARY 1 at 12 AM UTC. It will run for seven days and close on FEBRUARY 8 at 12 AM UTC. We will not post a warning list.

> NAVIGATION

Comments

QUESTIONS

[larkers]

[realists]

does the five minute displaced touch cure work on the animals or nyet?

OUTCOMES

[larkers]

NEW CAIRO

[larkers]

ARTIFACTS

[larkers]

Re: ARTIFACTS

[ibelieveintruth]

Clark will pick up several figures, as well as an amulet, and some less gaudy pieces so he can give them to Diana, who he knows is a museum type person, figuring she will know what to do with them.

new cairo | goro akechi | ota

[impede]

i. cargo and arrivals

[The feeling of being treated as little more than cargo has Akechi feeling ill at ease. His time in New Amsterdam wasn't meant to be cut short, and the haze between leaving the train, cutting through New Cairo, and then heading out to the pyramid had all been relatively unwanted occurrences. He hadn't wanted to be here and hadn't planned for it. When he's finally left with the bag of belongings and set up to do things, his first instinct isn't to begin to solve the puzzle.

No, that can come next. Whenever Akechi went trawling through Palaces for information to use as blackmail, he never let it get in the way of his public persona. That would be foolish. No, he has to ensure that his life will still be there when he returns, so, in a fatigued haze, he calls out of work. Or, rather, sends an E-Mail.

As he begins to meticulously go through his belongings, he glances toward the others there, making stock of who he's been left with.]

I assume none of you intended to be here. Make sure to call out of work before we proceed.

ii. opening up and heading inside

[As one of the few who didn't have a proper pair of boots to start with, he changes into them even if they otherwise clash with what he's wearing. It's not as if he can sculpt a suit that fits him via his power here. As he's tying his shoes, he eyes the mercenaries warily, taking stock of them. Anyone who's seen this behavior before will undoubtedly recognize what he's doing. But that's not all of it.

They're here in this pyramid for a reason. There's no reason to think this is anything less than reality, so they haven't entered some version of the metaverse. Once his boots are ready, he stands up and trots closer to the entrance to where they need to get inside.]

I don't suppose any of you care to give us a clue as to where we're going? [he asks the mercenaries, but he doesn't expect to receive an answer.]

iii. destabilized (status effects)

[The effects of the tampered food start to kick in as he's doing reconnaissance within the labyrinth.

(Mentally, he keeps calling it a Palace, and can't help but think of them as being very similar in some way. Only there are no shadows: instead, there are creatures with golden eyes who pose a threat, standing not so different from what he's seen and heard about in New Amsterdam.)

Akechi has a gun in hand thanks to one of the mercenaries. Simply put? He used mind control to ask for it, and the man handed it over. It's stuffed inside his jacket, one that proves to be far too warm given where they are, but has to be kept close anyway. Sweat trickles down his forehead, hitting his brow. It doesn't help that nausea stirs his stomach and does little to motivate him to keep going.

It's only when he thinks he sees someone out of the corner of his eye that his violent instincts kick in. A laugh rumbles low in his throat. He takes out the gun, holding it in hand, and he looks in the direction of who's on to him. Who's here to cause problems.]

Come out! If you think you can follow me, you can face me, too.

iv. wildcard

[Otherwise, Akechi will be solving puzzles while moving through the labyrinth, trying to find his way. He'll reach out to people in their inboxes if they aren't in New Cairo. He'll also be happy to kill a mercenary if it proves necessary, will try to mind control the monsters, and may even try to do that to his fellow Displaced.

My plotting and planning thread for Akechi, as well as his inbox.]

Wildcard

[unlucky7]

[There's nothing reassuring about a series of platforms, narrow ledges, and columns of questionable stability all jutting out of or positioned over a dark pit. Ginia is confident enough in her physical ability to get across everything, but why really take that chance?

She's in the process of setting up a makeshift bridge with her barrier power when someone enters the room. There's a slight wave of acknowledge as she turns. Ginia doesn't know the teenager in front of her, but she remembers seeing him in the greater New Cairo group.]

I can help us get through with my power, but if you don't like physical puzzles, I suggest finding a way around.

new oslo | jyn erso ✧ open

[realists]

obligatory train thread ✧

[ the train ride is short, shorter than new tokyo and new beijing, at least, but jyn has an inability to sit still in general so she prowls the train like a restless loth-cat. she'll greet people she knows and on the occasion she does sit down, she twists the ring around her finger, leg jumping up and down. she isn't claustrophobic despite her time in prison, she is simply impatient. ]

painting the town red ✧

[ did her math pan out? the world may never know because jyn doesn't look like she is following any set path, though she does seem to follow a pattern. the pattern is that she's stopping at all the food trucks while she searches. she can be found munching on fiskeboller or cloudberries or many many tiny herring. she was raised on coastal and islands planets, the animals may not have the same names or appearances, but jyn loves seafood -- poached, smoked, battered, grilled, pickled. give her the fish.

obviously she is asking the vendors questions to draw out where she might need to visit for the gates, but it's mostly about the food because jyn only cares about the gates via a friend, not because she actually cares.

she actually cares about food. ]

What if I want to visit somewhere historical?

once more unto the breach ✧

[ once in the maze it is puzzle time. jyn is good at puzzles. all slicing is, after all, is a puzzle. slotting things into place is something she has excelled at since she was a child, her father taught her to look for the details. a maze will be fun. adventure awaits.

she doesn't have the respect to not steal from the dead so here she is, doing just that. there is a tiara on the floor and jyn picks it up, settling it on her disheveled hair. catra called her a princess, now she is one. she'll bring this back for mr princess leia.

if anyone needs extra socks or, even better, someone to suck the dew from their clothes like a human clothes dryer, jyn is the one to ask. she isn't stingy with her power, the proximity of water makes it come all the more easily and she has never hid it from the displaced in general. ]

petting the buffalions ✧

[ prompto and clarke learned first hand that jyn has no concept of these animals being wrong because it isn't as if animals in her own galaxy look like earth's animals. experience tells her now that they are all the same sort of chimeras, complete with glowing golden-eyes, but she still doesn't see them as looking particularly wrong. front feet pawed and back feet hoofed? seems normal.

catch her experimenting with trying to hold on to an angry buffalion for 5+ minutes, catch her bleeding from being gored after trying to hold on to an angry buffalion. she isn't proud enough to decline help, she'll even ask for it. ]

You mind, uh. [ she gestures at the blood, fresh or bleeding again through bandages, pulling gauze out of her bag. ] Just hold this here, I can tape it down.

[ or maybe catch her blasting a buffalion into a wall with a pressurized jet of water. the waterbender is surrounded by water so... get wrecked, basically. she's got all kinds of tricks now. ]

wildcard ✧

( go where your heart takes you or hit me up via discord @ baleinette#3692 or plurk @ baleinette )

buffalions aren't your friend!

[strove]

[Somehow, it's incredibly unsurprising that Jyn would end up engaging with an animal that's naturally violent and then doubly violent, somehow merged together with another creature that's bad news. This is the same Jyn who decided to bring a hippopotamus into her dream. Or maybe Clarke did that? Truthfully, it's all still a mystery.

But either way? It's not surprising.

It is, however, worrying. Worrying that Jyn is this hurt. Clarke draws her gun as she comes closer, warily looking around before she crouches near Jyn.]

How about I do all of the care for you and you just sit tight? It'll be better that way, and faster, probably. [Clarke begins to rummage through her bag before Jyn even gives her an answer.]

wei wuxian, mt. everest.

[laozu]

( NEW BEIJING )

[ the first thing that he does, is take a head count. ]

Oh, [ sigh, is the second thing that he does; matching faces to the memories of who had been on the train that was whisking many of them them to new beijing for the second time in their experience as "the displaced". ] We're missing people. Did anybody see where they went? Did anybody see what happened to them? We need to get into contact with anyone as soon as possible, to ensure they're okay.

[ it's the worst thing that could happen, he thinks; especially after he'd essentially taken it upon himself to watch over the displaced, mostly so that rey (and nate) could focus on the technical aspects of the journey. the difficult parts: morale and mountaineering. ]

Even not knowing their fate for now, we have to keep moving towards our own goal.

( MT. EVEREST / QUARANTINE )

[ for someone so energetic, he's surprisingly good at being patient; the trip along the river had been ground zero for a lot of chaos: enthusiastic storytelling, musical compositions, the general half-crazed shenanigans one would expect from a bardly-type character. yet, while being held in quarantine, wei wuxian is markedly calmed. from time to time, he can be seen tending to one of his so-called countrymen, but is otherwise finding anywhere he can be in solitary company, his digital field visible to any of the other displaced --

he's drawing. completing scenes from the river trip, starting new pieces that resemble ink and wash images, fluid and dripping watercolor-esque scenes of the natural world, and some portraits of the displaced themselves that he hastily thrusts his hands through to try and disguise before the displaced-in-question notice. ]

We're meant to be doing things like this, [ his voice is full of unshed laughter, fingers swiping across the digital canvas the way he had learned to in his youth. ] And since I was formally trained, I figured - why not put it to work? Do you want to try?

[ they all have time, why not create something together? ]

( WILDCARD/S )

[ wei wuxian is playing a supportive role, as usual. he refers to rey and nathan drake as the "team leaders", in fact! he's able to hypnotize people via music and is willing to use that in any capacity, including and up to information-gathering in new beijing or grilling that fake sherpa/mercenary for any available details they might have. if any of the displaced come into dangerous situations or are attacked, he's a good combatant to have at your side - give him a sword or sword-like object though, he's never touched a gun!

his planning comment is here with other ideas, and his inbox is here for anyone who wants to reach out! i'm doing closed starters, so feel free to hmu with a blank comment if your interest is piqued. ]

new beijing

[lighthearted]

[ All the plans have been put in place. They've got supplies, they've got guides, and they've got a boat to take them closer to the mountain. Sora's wearing a winter jacket that offers him plenty of warmth without being too bulky, and a pair of hiking boots. He feels ready, except for one thing.

People are missing. Not just people, but Riku. It doesn't make sense, something doesn't add up here, and he can't shake the feeling that something is wrong. Riku can take care of himself, but this world has a way of throwing unexpected threats at them when it's least expected. It's impossible not to worry.

When Wei Wuxian insists that they need to continue on despite the loss in numbers, Sora's face falls as he bows his head. One hand clenches into a fist. ]

I know that, but... he isn't even responding to my messages. Something must have happened, and it can't be good.

[ Riku can handle himself. Riku is strong, he's capable, and he's survived so many ordeals before this. Sora keeps repeating these thoughts in his head. ]

new rio | riku | ota

[inherited]

i. humidity and rain and bugs, oh my

[Believe it or not, Riku's not too bothered by what's happened. Well, to be accurate: he can handle it. The humidity where they are sucks, but it's the kind of humidity that he's used to thanks to growing up on an island. The bugs? That sucks. The mercenaries who are useless jerks? That also sucks. But that doesn't mean he'll let it get him down. He's gotta keep going, and looking around, he's got a feeling that other people might need a calming presence.

Enter: him.

What he doesn't like is how they drugged him, or how he's going to take a bit to feel better.

Riku stretches his hands out in front of him and then flexes his fingers into fists, trying to get a sense of how he feels right now. He's dressed in his canon outfit—which is a good thing for some reasons, like the fact that he's just wearing long shorts, and a bad thing for other reasons (the exposed skin).

Not trusting himself to move too much and not wanting to look weak in front of the mercenaries, he struggles to properly sit up and looks around.] Hey. How's everyone doing?

ii. taking out a merc—Disney style

[In one of the brief breaks from the rain, Riku climbs up a tree. Of course he climbs a tree. While he wishes he could be off this mountain and down on that ocean, allowing the ocean breeze to hit his face, he knows he doesn't have much of a choice. He's kind of pieced together why they're here, what they're meant to be doing, and how to accomplish it. He just also doesn't want to deal with those jerks.

If anyone joins him in the tree, he'll bring a finger to his lips to indicate that they need to be quiet. For now, anyway.] What do you say we give them a nap like the one they gave us? [he asks softly, eyes measuring the trajectory for a leap off the tree itself, like the distance should bother him but doesn't. (And it should, because … it should.)]

iii. curing a status effect

Hey—wait! [Whether they're already in the ruins, trawling around outside, or somewhere else, there's one thing that can be stated clearly: Riku definitely notices yellow eyes. They're kind of a Thing back in his world, and a sign of bad news. He knows that they mean something else here, but he's hypersensitive to it, so seeing someone with them when they may also be acting funny? Yeah, he's alert. He can't help it.

So, he runs in the direction of someone who has those eyes.] What happened? [Because he assumes it has to do with where they are and not … any other list of reasons. He also hopes that it's something like that, anyway, and not the people around him turning into 1. Xehanorts or 2. monsters. He doesn't know which one would be worse, honestly.]

iv. puzzling the puzzles

[So. Puzzles.

Things Riku's good at: platforming puzzles. Figuring out what needs to happen in a specific location. Knowing what to hit to keep going. It comes to him naturally, but he knows better than to head through these ruins alone, and he gets the sense that this is a … unity thing. Teamwork and all that. He doesn't mind. As much as he used to duck out even during his Mark of Mastery exam, he's gotten better about socializing. Working together. Hurrah!

He stops before a painting puzzle and draws his hand to his chin, considering it.]

Maybe we should see if they all happen to change and move in a row. What do you think?

v. wildcard

[Riku is good for fighting monsters, sending out shadow clones of himself, arguing about whether to kill the mercs (he's anti-killing), and just general RPG puzzle stuff. Also: camping and not being bothered by the environment, because it's a Lot Like Home.

I'm open for just about anything, though, so hit me up for any additional questions here and his inbox is here.]

iii.

[variate]

[ from the start Ren had done his best to keep their ragtag team of abductees together: taking down mercs, gathering supplies and keeping watch at night. as tireless as he seems as a leader, he's also still susceptible to the ill effects that come with their trip. so, when he eats the tainted food he tries to force himself into believing that he can keep going until, well—he absolutely cannot.

his eyes brighten to gold beneath his dark hair (not a sign of a shadow, but it almost feels like it). the rage that sits quietly in his stomach bubbles up to the surface, making him snap at whoever might come by him.

when he realizes what's happening he tries to redirect himself, but it sinks inside of him like claws. ]

Go back. [ it's low, firm, as if he won't accept any questions. ] I'm fine.

[ he's short. ]

"tsera vel", new rio.

[bivariant]

( NEW RIO DE JANEIRO / ARRIVAL )

[ cheris doesn't awaken in increments; in one moment, she is unconscious and bleary. in the next, she has exploded to her feet, one hand seizing the IV in her arm in order to ease it out and apply pressure to the injured area. needles are archaic, barbaric medical instruments - they simply aren't utilized in the hexarchate anymore, despite that they refer to many things as "injections" even still. her eyes, unfocused as they are, still work out the situation with purposeful method - taking each element in, piece by piece by piece, until a picture begins to form.

she steps, wobbly-kneed, towards the nearest person she sees and reaches for their shoulder, giving them a rousing shake to test their awareness, how quickly (or slowly) they are regaining awareness. ]

Get up, [ she says, forcing calm and control into her voice; even tsera vel would do this, because tsera vel cares for people: ] I need you to get on your feet now, I need your help.

[ give them something to focus on, as the sound of two bags hitting the ground behind her causes her to turn sharply and nearly pitch over on top of the other member of the displaced she's trying to rouse. it's undignified, but what can you do, really? instead, on strangely sharp reflex, she thrusts a hand out - skins the exposed pads of her fingertips, and does her best not to drop her bony frame onto the poor sap she's trying to help. ]

Sorry. Ow. Fuck, are there two of you? Did you get a twin in the last few seconds, wowsies.

( NEW RIO DE JANEIRO / THE REDEEMER )

Hey, keep your head on swivel.

[ even as she speaks, her hand darts out to seize the serpent that has begun to fling itself in deadly trajectory towards the other displaced. she strikes, faster than it, seizing it behind its skull with her fingers pinching the sides of its jaw. for a moment, she holds the little beast at eye level, observing it with curious, cold eyes before she turns back to the other: ]

Do me a favor? Get in my bag and pull out the bottle I've got out.

[ the bottle itself is a spare water bottle she'd snagged from the construction zone. biodegradable plastic and everything, and she's secured a little strip of cloth over the mouth of it with some twisted wire. inside, there's - uh. well, she's definitely not keeping water in there. ]

Cool, now hold it steady, [ and she spreads the poor little snake's jaw open and attempts to stuff a fang in through the cloth. ]

---

[ inside of the ruins, there is a moment of eerie, pure silence.

it breaks, to the tune of a screaming hellbeast and one deathly-silent woman bearing down upon it. there are claws and teeth, golden eyes full of the promise of death and one (1) tsera vel moving with inhuman agility and reaction time, fending it off in defensive formation. in her hands she holds what are obviously some of the scattered catholic relics, wielding them as makeshift metal shields and gauntlets. in one moment, she is on her back on the ground, a metal-clad arm caught in the maw of the monster bearing down on her and in the next, that same arm is bloodied to the elbow and the beast is missing an eye.

while it thrashes and howls, she flicks her gaze back - further down to where the movement of the other displaced has caught her attention. the scrape on her cheek begins to knit, fading along with the bruise blossoming under her eye. her hand fishes into her pocket, removing a slightly-rumpled packet of rations.

rations. the same rations that may or may not be tampered with.

she downs the mouthful and says: ] Get the HELL out of here before I lose my fox-damned mind on you next!

[ and back at the monster, goes a monster. ]

---

[ bloodied, but finally calmed by the touch of another displaced, she can be found sitting among the reliquaries and caskets, rattling teeth around in a cup before casting them on the floor at her feet. her fingers sort through them, then gather them up into the cup once more and begin anew. ]

Just taking a break.

[ rattle. clack. ]

You ever consulted with bones before? I'm a fan of jeng-zai cards, personally. Don't see any of them here, though.

( WILDCARD/S )

[ her planning post is here and her inbox is here for any of your needs. cheris also has a permissions post regarding her ability to cold read a person down to their microexpressions, as that may be a thing that happens during this event!

while she is a VERY vocal minority in regards to not killing the mercenaries, despite their asshole-ry, she isn't against roughing them up or taking their equipment. equipment can be replaced, lives cannot. if you'd like, she's always available to stand against a character who wants to eliminate the mercs or fight/subdue anyone who is suffering status effects from the food. i love combat threads A LOT. ]

arrival

[handsomefoil]

[ he stirs at the force of being touched on the shoulder. his first response to being in a room with another human being while he'd just been asleep seconds prior is jolting awake in a panic, thinking he'd been ambushed. which is, to be fair, true. they did ambush him and kidnap him, then drugged him again which only makes his blood boil.

it's an uncomfortable awakening, that's for sure, as his adrenaline spikes at the unfamiliarity of the situation and that there's a woman nearly falling atop of him. blinking rapidly, he attempts to rouse himself into action. the iv needle is his first area of focus, as a gloved hand (their captors had been kind enough to leave those on, it seems) reaches up to fumble at the needle. he removes it with a slap that was about as well-timed as a drunken slap on the knee and he winces at the pinch of pain traveling up his arm. ]

I already have a twin...

[ in his stupor, he mumbles the first nonsensical thing that comes to mind. he rolls up his sleeve in tired, clumsy motions, trying to cover as much of his skin as possible and groans in discomfort. his back aches like a motherfucker. ]

I mean— wait, what? Who else is here?

[ then he finally has the right mind to look up and instinctively reaches up to provide stand-by support should she need it. she seems stable enough though, fortunately. as his focus sharpens to its usual level (or at least close enough to it), he looks around to assess his situation. right, he'd been pissed about being drugged again just a minute ago, hadn't he? heads are gonna roll when he gets a hold of whoever it was. ]

new rio | lee jongdae | ota

[itsjiaheng]

↳ { i. walk it off }

[ IV ripped out, the next thing Jongdae's aware of is having a mouthful of dirt and grass when that 'roughhousing' ends up with him flopping face down onto the ground. He's gotten a pretty strong dose of the sedative, having needed to be given extra on the ride over. In this case his tendency to be resistant to these kinds of things has done him no favours.

The ground is where he stays for awhile because his limbs feel like jelly and he's sure if he moves around too much he's going to start sweating. Why is it so sticky here? Why are they here at all? He has a lot of questions.

Eventually he rolls over and sits up, but his movements are still uncoordinated and done one burst at a time like that's all he can manage. Unlace one of his new boots. Get the boot in position. Take off the shoe he's wearing. Get his foot inside the boot now (which takes a few tries). Maybe one day he'll manage to lace the boot up.

Despite all of this he's glaring daggers at the mercs. Usually he doesn't let himself be this vindictive about stuff, but the situation seems to call for it. Justify it. Plus, they have machetes. He has no idea what a machete really is -- if you ask him, he couldn't tell you what it's called. It's a big knife. -- but he feels like it might be really useful to have one. He's eyeing them whenever the mercs aren't paying attention, which is pretty often actually.

For someone with zero fighting skills whatsoever, he looks like he's doing a lot of quiet planning. Probably something stupid. ]

Totally gonna do it. They'll never see it comin'..

[ This might be more promising if he wasn't outright slurring his words still. ]

↳ { ii. a bad feel }

[ Alright, so he'd gotten hungry. He doesn't know when something's been tampered with. He doesn't know the signs. It's not that he's especially trusting either.. it's more that he can't imagine why anyone might mess with the food supply. If they went through all this trouble to bring them here, why would they do something stupid like that?

He's working his way through the overgrowth and the horrid climate, sweating and miserable and bringing up the rear when whatever's in the food starts kicking in for real. He hadn't been feeling good for a little bit -- which was what was making him particularly slow -- but now it's gotten worse. It was like a weird hangover that wouldn't quit but this is some next level nonsense.

Jongdae stops and wobbles a bit where he is, pressing the heels of his hands over his eyes. He's afraid to open them again, because he's sure he's seen something and that something is awful. When he lowers them, slowly, he sees it again. It's terrible and bloody and very much Not Real for anyone else, but to him he could easily just reach out and touch those horrors if he wanted to. It doesn't seem to occur to him that what and more importantly who he's seeing can't possibly be in the middle of this sticky, awful rainforest but he doesn't care. Whatever's going on in his head makes it impossible to know the difference.

Why doesn't anyone else care?

He's completely freaking out now. He'd been quiet, not one to whine about his sour stomach, but now he's yelling. ]

No, no! I'm not going I won't go! What is wrong with you people? Don't you see it?!

[ If he's approached, he backs away and swings wildly. He's untrained but he can hit harder than your average human, weirdly strong for someone his size. The rest of the time he's pressing his fingers against his lips. It hurts. Why doesn't anyone get that either? That his teeth are growing into sharpened fangs is not a thing that occurs to him. He hates this, he really really hates this. ]

↳ { iii. powers }

[ He's trying to be careful once they're inside the ruins, but perhaps to something on the hunt he stands out as one of the smaller, weaker individuals that can be picked off. The golden-eyed beast is upon him in a flash and it's only because he manages to get his hands up in time that it's not biting his face off.

He's no fighter, but his strength is enough that he can keep the creature's teeth from biting down, at least at first. He's not gonna be able to keep this up forever.

Jongdae really just wants out of what's happening. He can't run, not pinned down like he is, but he wants it badly enough. In the moment, he can't see the blue light starting to glow from his chest nor is he aware anything's changed until he's not struggling with the hungry beast anymore. The creature seems as confused as he is when its prey suddenly vanishes.

Only, he's not really vanished at all. Rather, there's a person-shaped shadow on the ground where there wasn't before. There's not even a person there to be casting it! ]

H-hey? Guys? What's happening?

[ His voice is unchanged and it seems to be coming from the ground, which would explain where he's gone.. ]

{ iv. wildcard }

Jongdae's planning post is here and his inbox is here. I'm also on plurk at koutenko and on discord at koutenko#5884.

He's mostly gonna be in a support type role through this. He'll try to help with puzzles and such. He's also going to be in agreement with those who are more willing to kill the mercs if necessary, so he's another voice to add to the argument against those who want to take a lighter touch in that. Normally he's not super on board with killing, but another round of being drugged and kidnap seems to justify it. I'm up for just about anything so if you need someone to derp around anywhere, hit me up! I'm super excited to get any and all CR during this event!!

iii

[handsomefoil]

[ puzzles be damned, it's way easier to focus on the simpler things in life. such as beating creatures off with a lonely machete that found itself separated from its previous mercenary owner. definitely wasn't wrenched from their bloody fingers, no sir-ee bob.

it's hard to tell what exactly is going on, but he acts on instinct. he barely knows the guy, only recognizing him as part of 'the group', but the less displaced casualties are, the higher their chances of getting through this excursion through the ruins.

with a hard, upward swing of the blade, it slashes through the beast's throat. he hasn't used a proper steel blade in a long while, so his hold on it feels novice at best, but it being distracted by its suddenly disappearing prey makes it easier to hit. with a yelp, it staggers off to the side, legs wobbling beneath it as it attempts to gather itself. ]

Keep still—

[ though it's unclear if he's speaking to the creature or to jongdae at this point. with a practiced thrust, he jams the curved end of the machete deep into the wound again. it makes a horrible squelching noise, but the creature is finally quiet, only allowing a shuddering exhale of a breath escape its lungs as it collapses into a bloody heap. ]

Oy.

[ he eyes the strange shadowy area on the floor. ]

(EVEREST) Rey - ota

[forcevisions]

ACCLIMATING

[ Rey doesn't look great, admittedly. They're not even at the monastery yet, but adjusting to the climate isn't actually going well for her. Her lips are chapped and purplish and her fingers are red. She shivers all the time.

The sherpas approach her with concern -- it looks like elevation sickness. But she smiles them away the first few times, ] I'm fine. I'm just cold.

[ And eventually piles on another jacket, looking the part of a well-stuffed teddy bear for her new girth. She hides her pink cheeks and blue hair with a knit hat, and that's the end of it. It also hides the metal cylinder of Luke's lightsaber hilt, clipped at her belt now. She hadn't known what they'd find, and it was a useful tool to have with her, even if she's wary to ignite it without the Force at her disposal.

She preoccupies herself with getting to know the people on the expedition to avoid giving the sherpas the impression that she's too under the weather to be here. ]

I'm so glad you came. [ But given that she says it to just about anyone, she might just be relieved that anyone followed at all. Rey put a lot into this. ]

OPEN SESAME

[ Wei Wuxian calls Nate and Rey the leaders of the trip, but across the bulk of the hike, Rey certainly doesn't act like one. She goes ahead on her own too much, and seems to be in her own little world. When people are injured or slow, she may shoot a concerned look, but she's more likely to let a sherpa handle it.

What would she be able to do about it, anyway?

She does take interest in the sherpas, though. The tattoos are familiar, and she takes it upon herself to chat with them about their gods, about the festivals in New Amsterdam that she's seen similar at.

A. When she pushes the mercenary sherpa, though, he's less kind than every other member of this group has been, and she's left frowning as he pushes ahead. ]

What'd I say?

[ Admittedly, she was being quite nosy, but he seems ... evasive. She frowns and looks at nearby Displaced for an answer. The other point she'll invite conversation on is the tattoos: ] Familiar, right?

[ B. Her relentless push forward only intensifies as they approach the meditation caves, and coming upon the blue and white light symbols seems to convince her of something.

Anyone curious will get a firm explanation: ] I think it's a sign from the Force. We're supposed to be here.

[ To Rey, blue light has become synonymous with the Displaced. This is proof that these spaces knew they were coming, and wanted to guide them.

She just doesn't immediately know what to do with it. ]

THE TRIALS

[ The snow settles into the valley, giving off the impression of something untouched and serene. There aren't even many animal prints in the powder yet, but Rey knows she'd seen huge cats prowling around. She moves slowly, as if reverent in considering where to place her steps. She doesn't want to disrupt something meaningful.

A. That changes when she steps wrong on the new rocks masked beneath snow and nearly goes tumbling down further into the valley, but for grabbing onto a tree. She lets out a huff of breath.

This isn't as straightforward as a Star Destroyer with its clean lines and dependable construction. She's breathing hard when she catches herself, acknowledgment of the danger showing in the whites of her eyes.

B. Down in the rockiest part of the valley, where the snow is lighter and the terrain is more visible, lies a statue. The bird is enormous, at least twenty feet high and forever frozen in a position ready to take off for flight. It has brilliant green jewels for eyes that natives to Earth Might recognize for emeralds. The path, inasmuch as there is a path, seems to lead through its feet, but its feet are closed and blocking further passage. ]

Where's the gate? [ Rey frowns. ] This can't be the end. We'll have to climb over.

[ C. Beyond the bird is a second puzzle, a stone pillar with a space big enough for a human hand to fit in. A larger hand than Rey's, to be sure, but it's a large circular imprint in the stone and she's quick to supply her own fingerprint.

Except that when she places her palm there, nothing happens. She frowns and tries again, like waving a hand in front of a faucet with a busted motion sensor. ]

Come on. [ She knows this should work -- she can feel it. And she believes they're meant to do this. So why won't it work? ]

WILDCARD

[ ooc; if you want a separate prompt or unique starter you can feel free to dm me on discord for something or hit me up at protects. ]

acclimating

[lighthearted]

[ Sora is also bundled up for the sake of this trip. He and Riku had made sure to go into this prepared, getting the right clothing, boots, and other supplies to ensure they could handle the elements. He's tried to make sure that he's warm while still having ease of movement, and has hit some kind of happy balance.

Though for once, there may as well be a rain cloud over Sora's head. He'd planned all of this with Riku, and now Riku isn't here. He didn't make it in time for the boat ride and he hasn't responded to any of Sora's messages so far. Even though Sora's certain that Riku wouldn't have wanted him to abandon this plan on his account, the twisting and turning in Sora's stomach won't go away.

So when Rey greets him, all Sora can offer is a halfhearted nod. ]

I just wish I knew where he was. He still hasn't responded to me.

[ Rey and Sora had already commiserated during the boat ride, but the lack of any clear answers is making the upcoming climb that much harder to face. ]

(RIO) Faith Lehane - OTA

[watcherless]

COMING TO

[ The sedatives start to wear off around the time the guys who've kidnapped them remove the IVs, and immediately, those same kidnappers are upon them, giving them packs but also demanding work.

One of them orders Faith to clear some underbrush, and at first, she gets to her feet, heading that way. The sedative doesn't make her complacent and obedient in the same way the drugs had when she first arrived, but it keeps her level. It's only when she's wobbly on her feet that she recognizes the bullshit for what it is.

She stops midway through the movement, standing in the midst of the construction area, staring blankly into the distance of the jungle. The mercenary puts his hand on her again to try and push her into action, and --

Her movements are sluggish. She turns to box at him and he's able to grab her wrist. She knees him in the groin. Somehow, men seldom expect that. He doubles over, but she does too, collapsing to the ground and retching because it makes her suddenly dizzy and light-headed to try to fight too much.

Someone might want to encourage her to cool it until they've gathered themselves. ]

STATUS EFFECTS

[ By the time the rain starts, her head is cleared, and she's made a dent in the rations that the mercenaries brought her -- for better or worse. The boots have helped with some of the hiking. It's enough that when the mercenaries order them to work through some of the foliage, Faith's temper boils over.

A. She finds another Displaced who is working through the overgrowth, and in a quiet voice, asks: ] What's your power?

[ B. Whether or not she found someone with a fitting and useful power to help her, the next time a mercenary gets too close to her, Faith catches him in the chin with her elbow.

She's surprised that even without drugs, these men are trained fighters, and by now they know to be wary of her. The scuffle persists long enough for her to get pinned against a mossy tree, choking under the weight of the mercenary's forearm while she grapples for the machete he holds. When she snarls at him, her teeth look suspiciously pointed.

Help her? Discourage her from trying again?

(Note that in either of the above cases, Faith is likely to lash out at Displaced as well as the mercenaries because she's suffering from the status effects.) ]

INTO THE MONASTERY

[ Inside of the monastery, Faith seems to find her footing. The way she maneuvers around the old space is like it's familiar territory for her, like she's meant to be here. ]

Churchs, tombs, they're always bad news. Keep your eyes peeled.

[ It's the only explanation she readily offers for her savvy. Along the way, she plucks out whatever relics look expensive, or big enough to use as a bludgeoning tool. One is a giant golden cross inset with jewels, as if from one of the gaudier periods of Spanish Catholicism.

She hefts it in her hand, considers it and tucks it awkwardly into the back of her pants. Better to keep it handy. ]

WILDCARD

[ ooc; Don't see anything you like? DM me on Discord or at protects and we can set up a closed starter. ]

monastery

[itsjiaheng]

[ Jongdae has undoubtedly only managed to get this far on dumb luck and people willing to carry him strategically balance his lack of skills by compensating with their own. For the good of the overall team!

He seems to have a similar idea about potentially weaponising the larger, gaudier relics. He has what looks a lot like an ornate gold candle holder, except for the jeweled crucifix at the top rather than base to hold a candlestick. He's also wielding this a bit like a baseball bat which -- given his complete lack of knowledge on the cultural or religious significance of any of this stuff -- he never stops to consider if it's in poor taste. ]

Sorta had that feeling when I saw the first box of human teeth, so good to know I'm not just imagining it..

[ On edge and on guard, because there's things shuffling around in here and he's sure it's only a matter of time before they run into another one. ]

Do you know which of these might actually be important?

[ Ideally, not the box of teeth. ]

lan wangji, mt. everest:

[wangxian]

>> QUARANTINE (ROUTINE).

一. 若用一生等候:

[ some may have learned that lan wangji is a reliable clock. he rises at five, sleeps at nine. and, without use of alarms, keeps this pattern going throughout the entire duration. at least, that is, when there are not other things to otherwise occupy his attention.

in the hours of quarantine, lan wangji spends most in the company of his "countrymen." when he is not, it is to carry out his usual routines and to work upon the items that will guarantee their cover. sometimes, it would seem, these occur simultaneously. and it is notable, very notable, if one should wake early enough.

lan wangji has always known training. he has always known the importance of it, had taken to it since he was young. the mind, the spirit, the body— he knows techniques for each of them, which may be what is at play when he is spotted in perfect posture for one currently upside-down. with his back straight and feet pointed, there's no flaws to be found in his handstand even when said handstand is one-handed. the other hand, it appears, is preoccupied with a projection of his visual field.

should any displaced get close enough at the crisp hour of six in the morning, they would note that he is practicing calligraphy, entirely unperturbed by position he is in. ]

Good for clearing the mind, [ he might say eventually, if one just idles there. it might be as good an explanation as any, but the rhythm of his digital "brushstrokes" would imply that this is by memory. whatever it is he is writing, it has gone on for a good while now if the way he lifts his fingers to scroll over is any indication at all. ]

二. 盼你一次的回眸:

[ should one not be an early-riser, lan wangji too can be found focused upon the stiff backs of mountains against more tangible canvases. small as these scrolls are, it appears he has made good use of fabric and handmade (traditional) ink sticks. any such brushes seem to be molded by hand as well, though the faint crease between his brows seems less for concentration and more for how the strokes need a heavier hand to make deeper shadow than what he is accustomed.

either way, it would seem he has a good amount of know-how in the arts, considering that he captures the low wash of trees that cut across the mountain with little more than a glance or two to confirm the accuracy of their bends and bows.

or, perhaps, they have captured in the middle of tuning his guqin. settled upon his lap, the gentle tip of his head is a good indicator that each open and closed note is not yet to his liking somehow. his fingers, as he moves the strings, seem deceptively delicate. ]

>> TRAVERSING (RUINS).

三. 梦醒时不愿一无所有:

[ lan wangji is a quiet man.

he tucks himself at the sides of his "countrymen," does not assume and does not complain as their footfalls lead into darkness. instead, he provides aid where it is needed. whether by the sword that he keeps tucked against his hip (an ambient glow, unsheathed as it is) or his thoughts upon a puzzle they've come across— he is a calm, stable presence. calm, even when there is a significant weight (an awkward shape) along the path they've agreed to take without answer of how to move it. and further, perhaps, where to move it to.

there may be argument or there may be quiet rumination. either way, lan wangji has placed something together without planning to state what it is he will do. which is, it would seem, to approach it and wedge the fingers of one hand just beneath and work it (somehow) against the meat of his palm and the crook of his arm as though it weighed nothing before straightening up again.

he does not sway at all as he stabilizes it further, presses the rest of its peculiar body against the square of his shoulder. if asked what in the world possessed him to act now, he only answers when he reaches a shallow divot in the floor along the opposite wall. he pauses, tucks a strand of dark hair behind the shell of his ear with hand that does bother to assist the other.

it doesn't need to. ]

Your feet, [ he says. his eyes flit to the impression he intends to place the weight in to where it is they might stand, their toes near the lip. the message is pretty clear.

he doesn't want to crush them. ]

>> FREE GAME.

[ ooc: have anything in particular you want to do with lan wangji? please refer over to the comment for him here! he's a great resource for getting information vis-a-vis his power of truth compulsion as well. just get him to touch someone and he can while you're chatting them up. he also has an ic inbox for whatever shenanigans you want to get up to! he's a great call-in for bouncing ideas off of, since he's a good listener.

otherwise, lan wangji is very skilled with a sword. conveniently, he has one in the form of his chest weapon. it gives off an ambient glow, which is useful for dark areas too. he's also got some really great arm strength and likes to help solving mysteries, so make use of him! i'm also very open to writing closed starters, so reach out to me however you want (through comments or through plurk @ famigerato or whatever) and i'll write you one up. :9 ]

二. 盼你一次的回眸:

[interminably]

( It isn't as if Klaus is an early riser as much as, he is a riser. He is not nearly as uncomfortable as others here on their journey. It comes from not being impeded by these conditions. While the air is thin, not having to breathe is an asset. He still dresses the part, however, his warm, sherpa-lined coat "keeping him warm," as he steps out into the morning sun. He has a hot beverage, no doubt shared tea from a sherpa. The wafts of steam from above won't last long, but Klaus will sip nonetheless.

He spots Lan from afar first, approaching and much peering over his shoulder as he follows those brush strokes with his eyes. A real artist and one possibly Japanese in origin. He appreciated all art, really, from across the globe - all the art he knew. Art here was harsh, bright and forced. Or, recreated and therefore, forced. Or, Kovacs' case, faked. )

And here I had heard no hair or hide of parchment or paper. Perhaps there is simply a scarcity. Your technique, I must say. ( It is with a steady hand. Taught. Cultivated. ) How are you faring here on the mountain?

new cairo | nill | ota

[culver]

i. now you're on your knees [arrival; closed to olivia]

[Nill considers herself to have an excellent memory. She remembers every trial, every horror she'd faced on the ship, and every hour she's spent in New Amsterdam. So when she loses the time between the city and the train, she knows something is wrong, even before she realizes she's tied up with a needle in her arm. Grogginess gives way to a frantic panic, and she thrashes in her seat--but it doesn't do any good. A man moves over to her, and through terrified eyes she watches him twist a little knob on an IV beside her. She loses more time.

The train has stopped, she’s pulled to her feet. She thinks about where she's supposed to be, and knows that this isn't it. Her mind is sluggish to process what's happening, each step she takes feeling delayed. But eventually she's bombarded with notices on her neural desktop, letting her know where she is.

New Cairo. Not New Oslo.

Her heart races. Again, panic cuts through the haze of whatever drug is running through her system. It isn't much, but it's enough; she lags behind the group being herded around, and the moment she sees an opening, she bolts for the closest hiding spot: the threshold of a door set deep into a building. It isn't much cover at all, but it's something. It won't be long until the mercenaries notice she's gone, but she doesn't have the energy to make a full run for it, not yet. Instead, she doubles over, arms wrapped around herself and wings pressed close to her back, heaving for breath and trying to arrange her jumbled thoughts.]

ii. with your head hung low [into the pyramid]

[Nill is, understandably, on edge the entire trip to the pyramid. She tries never to let the guards out of her sight, but until she's worked the drugs out of her system, that's basically impossible. Eventually, she knows she needs to eat and drink something--the desert is hot, her wings itch from the sand, and starving herself isn't going to help her get away from it all.

Hardly ten minutes after she eats one of the unlabeled protein bars in the bag she didn't pack, she starts to feel an undeniable sense of vertigo. One moment she's fine, and the next she's leaning heavily against the nearest sandstone wall, taking little huffing breaths and trying not to throw up. Her vision doubles, then blurs, and a few rapid blinks don't help much. Once again she lags behind the group, but this time it isn’t to escape.

Despite her own discomfort, Nill will try to offer any first aid to anyone who is also suffering from the effects of the tainted food or sustains any injuries during the trip.]

iii. big man tells you where to go [the ruins]

[Nill doesn't miss the symbols and pictures on their way down; while she doesn't recognize their origin, she notes the lights depicted in the figures' chests. The colors aren't quite right, but she can tell that these pictures are old, and existed long before any of the displaced here now ever arrived. It makes her skin crawl, but she knows she can't turn back. Not only are there guards following them, but the mystery surrounding their powers and the blue glow isn't something she can ignore. If there are answers down in this vault, it doesn't feel right to not look for them.

When they finally make it inside, Nill is almost mesmerized by the pictures on the walls. She steps closer to one in particular of Osiris in bird form, and reaches out as if she's about to touch it, but stops short. She glances to the person closest to her, asking:]

Have you seen anything like this before?

[Along the way, she'll find a small figure of a woman with a little dent in her chest. It doesn't take her long to realize what the dent is supposed to represent, once she takes a closer look and sees some faded paint along the inside. She grips it tightly in her hand, almost like a talisman, as they venture further into the ruins.]

iv. tell them it's good, tell them okay [the gate]

[Despite the beautiful colors, the gate itself sends a chill down Nill's spine. She doesn't know why she feels so drawn to it, but she does her best to resist moving into it, though she does hover around the outside. She reaches out to gently touch the rings of color, especially the blue ones. But almost as soon as she puts her fingers on the stone, she snatches her hand away, afraid of triggering... something. She asks, seemingly no one:]

Well, what now?

v. don't do a goddamn thing they say [wildcard]

[ooc; i am, again, down for anything! nill will take part in solving puzzles, and might suggest using her phasing power as a shortcut. she’ll also help fight any monsters they come upon with a knife she snatched off a guard. my plotting comment is here, so please let me know if anything catches your fancy. additionally, here is her ic contact page for checking in. as always, feel free to pm me or ping me on plurk at watchet for anything specific!]

arrival

[dunhaming]

[ This is the second time in "too soon" days that Olivia has been kidnapped, and she is not happy about it. At least this time she's in better shape for it. They seem to have just used regular sedatives, so when she comes to she starts taking inventory. There's a group of them, people she recognizes from the safehouse, other Displaced. Well, at least she's in good company?

As they're milling around outside the train, waiting to be shepherded to whatever is next, Olivia drifts to the side, taking a closer look at the group, making notes in her file about who she recognizes, the location, the guards. She has no clue what's next, better safe than sorry to do this now in case they tamper with her memory.

That's when she notices a small figure dash from the group and run into a nook. Giving a quick glance to make sure the guards aren't paying attention to her either, she moves swiftly and quietly over to the hiding spot and crouches down, as out of sight as she can be. Takes a moment to look at the trembling girl in front of her, recognizes her from the safehouse even though they haven't spoken before. Still, she gets it.

Olivia speaks softly and calmly, letting her voice be relaxed, puts on a gentle smile. ]

Hey, my name is Olivia. I've seen you around the safehouse before. What's your name?

[ No point in asking if she's alright, obviously the answer is "no." ]

mt. everest | diana prince | ota

[monomachy]

i. soon it will all be over [acclimating]

[Just a few months ago, she wouldn't have thought to heed the sherpas' advice; changes in elevation like this had never bothered her before. But as she is right now, she makes to settle into one of the lodges, willing to wait a day or so until her body has adjusted to the thinner air. During this adjustment period, she can be found checking supplies to make sure she has everything they'll need, practicing yoga in whatever free space she can find inside the lodge, getting to know the sherpas and asking about their route and what they might find, and making the rounds to the other climbers to make sure everyone is ready.]

ii. and buried with our past [rongbuk monastery]

[Diana has always known that this world was a beautiful place, but the view from the monastery serves to remind her. She's spent so long living in cities that sometimes it slips her mind how breathtaking the natural world could be. For a little while after they reach the ruins, she simply stands near a cliff to take in the view. There might be tears in her eyes, and it isn't from the frigid air.

Soon enough, she decides that this is as good a place as any to begin searching. They might have to climb further up to find the mysterious gate, but there is still plenty to see in these ruins. Eventually, she notices the symbols; some are what she'd expect, but there are some that don't seem as if they quite fit here. Diana studies these closely, opening up her neural desktop to trace some of them in the air, trying to find a pattern or a clue that might help them on their way.]

iii. we used to play outside when we were young [into the valley]

[The ground trembles, the monastery crumbles, and Diana is almost certain Hades has come to claim her at last. But then the path becomes clear, and the only thing to do is to descend into the valley below. She tries to make her way to the front of the group, drawing her lasso from her hip and holding it at the ready in her hands. She's left her jacket behind, and while the chill feels more prominent than it did when she was at her full strength, she prefers the increased mobility of just a few layers. Her bracers are strapped on beneath her sleeves, providing just one more layer of protection for whatever they may find.

As they travel, Diana begins to notice the relics along the way. Though she tries to catalog them in her mind, there are simply too many to keep track of. One of them in particular catches her eye--a figurine of curious knot, no bigger than her finger. She reaches out to touch it where it stands in its little stone alcove, unable to stop staring at it. After a while she'll pick it up, and after leaving the ruins, if the sherpas are still around, she'll try to return it to one of them.

When they come upon one of the gold-eyed monsters, she shouts a warning, and moves to put herself between the nearest person and the creature. She doesn't have any weapons save her lasso and bare hands, but she doesn't look as if that's going to stop her from taking the beast on.]

iv. and full of life and full of love [the trials]

[The further they'd gone into the valley, the stranger Diana had felt. Eventually, she'd come to recognize the sensation: it's almost as if she's having a lucid dream. She can still think and act on her own, but the world around her feels as if it only exists in that liminal space between sleeping and waking. It makes her uneasy, but vigilance isn't enough to keep her from falling into a trial.

She stands frozen in front of an image in relief, unable to tear herself away. She's entranced by the eye of the statue, caught up in the age of it; and it seems to whisper to her, in her own head, asking her to share what she's seen. If someone tries to shake her out of it, they might get caught up in her mind as well.]

v. some days i don't know if i am wrong or right [wildcard]

[ooc; i'm down for literally anything! my plotting comment can be found here, and please let me know if anything on it catches your fancy. also i'm down for diana to share any of the memories on the linked post, just go ahead and link the one you want in your reply! additionally, here is her ic contact page, in case anyone wants to let her know they’re safe. as always, please feel free to pm me or ping me on plurk at watchet if you want to plan something specific!]

iv

[lighthearted]

[ Sora has traveled through enough dreams, both here on this world and through others before it, that he has to wonder if that's what happened here. Was their descent into this valley a descent back into the Sleeping World, too? He can't be sure. Even now, trying to summon his Keyblade leaves him with nothing. If they're not fully asleep, maybe they're somewhere between the two realms. Either way, something about it feels off.

They have to find the gate, though. If they don't then this entire trip was for nothing, and Sora won't let that happen. Not when it had led to Riku being abducted for reasons they still don't really understand. Sora's sure Riku will do fine in New Rio and that he'll be a big help there, but he still takes issue with how it was done.

For now, though, he needs to focus on the task at hand.

When he sees Diana paused in front of a carved symbol, Sora's quick to move to her side. It's been a strange comfort to have her on this journey with them. She'd only been his fake mom, but there are some lingering feelings that he just can't kick, similar to what he feels toward Rey.

Right now, Diana doesn't seem like her normal self. She's been trying to lead the group and make sure everyone stays safe, like she's in her element. But now she looks as if she's in a daze. ]

Hey -- you okay?

[ He studies the symbol she's staring at with a frown. ]

new oslo | clarke griffin | ota

[strove]

i. navigating new oslo

[Frankly, this is a vacation for Clarke. Looking for a way to the gates? She's not the type of person to be obsessed with the past—beyond what is needed to know on a need-to-know—but the fact that she's away from her busy life in New Amsterdam means she has a single task rather than many. Running a business, having a volunteer gig, and then also a full-time paying job on top of taking classes via her neural implant is a lot. Too much, some might say, which is why cutting it to "find the gates" and "doing homework" is a lot less. A lot less.

The worrying part is where her headcount hadn't panned out. People aren't here. One or two have mentioned that they didn't make it. Others? She assumes they're here, but it's hard to tell or know. It's hard to be certain. And Clarke is worried. She can't help it.

She'll be hitting the historical sites of New Oslo first. Clarke's entire theory is that it's something beneath the surface of the city, but that doesn't help much … and is both right and wrong. She doesn't think it can be something new, but that's about it. How old? When could it be from? She doesn't have a clue. History to her world is uniquely different from history in this one. Plus, deities and gods and all of that are just myths, often utilized to build up a following.

Anyone can spot her there. She'll be dressed … well, not like someone from this world. Clarke's wearing a black leather (real leather) jacket with a bunch of can tabs attached to the back. She looks serious, like she's debating whatever she's looking at, though she'll brighten … somewhat if she sees a Displaced pass by.]

Do you think this is a way? There's a triangle.

[Whatever she's looking at, she's probably wrong.]

ii. the five wayward virgins

There's something here, I think. [Clarke doesn't end up at the five statues immediately, but when she gets there, she ends up crouched down, trying to examine the current pillar that she's closest to carefully. She's touched it, but doing it alone obviously won't come up on anything major.

The whole thing is frustrating. Being given coordinates. Not knowing why she's supposed to have them. Where they'll be headed next afterward.

She stands back up and motions for whoever's closeby to come closer.] Can you take a second look?

iii. trials (unification and perseverance)

[Clarke's connection to spirituality has always been as that of an observer. By the time she was born on the Ark, most people believed that faith was a thing that they had to have in themselves. When she hit the ground, her respect for the faith and spirituality of the grounders was borderline nonexistent, almost to the point where she allowed herself to be elevated as their leader to stop a war to save their lives. Desperation and manipulation colored her interest and understanding, rather than truly appreciating what it was that they believed.

Within the ruins, she can see hints of what Lexa went through, and what Madi's people tried to keep her from. It's not the same tradition by any means, but it's dangerous in here, and some of the trials are ones that she can't risk facing herself.

As she stops before a painting of a trial—incomplete, or lost, it's hard for her to tell—she calls out,] I think I need some help with this one.

[Honestly? Unity is something that Clarke believes in and has been raised with as an ideal. Unity Day was a lie in truth, but it's a concept that matters. Yet at the same time, she's believed that the Displaced can't fall into the trap of believing that their situation makes them the same. The people on the Ark fell into that trap countless times over, and her conflict with Bellamy early on was proof of that. And then, of course, there were her own mistakes in handling the grounders. Her desperation.

Perhaps this will change some of that for her—and for them. But it's hard to say.]

iv. wildcard

[Clarke is around and will try to get a clear idea of who all did make it to New Oslo. She'll also take on some monsters, and she'll also be eager to activate the gate, since New Oslo was her initial quest. She'll be keen to persuade people to proceed if they're likely to give up.

Otherwise, plotting! Clarke is here for that, and her inbox is here. I'll also be having her contact anyone who checked in to say they'd be doing New Oslo but didn't make it.]

Wildcard

[unlucky7]

[For someone who was pretty upfront about going to Everest and helping out, maybe it's a bit strange seeing her on the train to New Oslo. Ginia offers a friendly wave as she spots Clarke on the train. There's a backpack at her feet. Though the collar of her jacket hides it somewhat, there's also a large bandage on one side of her neck.]

Hope you don't mind one more joining in on the trip?

roxas | kingdom hearts | mt everest

[recompleted]

nice boat;

[Okay. Okay. Roxas knows he's been down in the dumps lately, honestly a mopey mess, and it's time to kick himself out of it. If that means traveling across this world to a giant mountain, well, sure, he can do that. He's up for it. The transit is less convenient than a dark corridor or even just a train, but it can't be so bad, can it?

...it's not great. To his surprise, Roxas finds that boat travel doesn't sit well with him. It sits pretty bad, in fact.]

Sorry, sorry!

[Suddenly struck by a feeling, he dashes by whoever's there in order to get to the side of the boat and puke over it.]

Ugh...this sucks.

[He wipes his mouth. Later on in the trip, he'll have adjusted and mostly be okay, but for the moment and the next hour or so, whoever crosses paths with him is going to find one green teen.]

on the way up & at the monastery;

[He tries to talk to some of the sherpas, but the beliefs they talk about don't make much sense to to Roxas. Maybe that's just him, though; he'll gladly team up with anyone who can people better than he does. Once they get there, he steps to take in the view, going a little ways away from the group but not too far off.]

Wow...pretty amazing, huh? [His voice is quiet, a little awed.] I like going to high places, but never anything like this.

[Inside the monastery, Roxas drifts for a while, taking in whatever he can. In the back of his mind, he notes that it feels a little like when he was in the Organization, preforming recon and collecting as much information, but the pattern he suddenly realizes is there pushes that thought away.]

Hey. [He frowns.] Can you see that? It's like...a code or something?

into the valley & trials;

What the heck?

[Did they do this, make a whole valley from what they did in the monastery? It's not the weirdest thing Roxas has ever experienced, but...huh. Okay. He's tense as they make the descent, liable to seek out anyone he knows to have their back if any worse, more dangerous surprises are sprung on them.

In the trials, he'll excel at anything involving dexterity, athleticism or climbing stuff, while the more emotional and metaphysical ones will be tougher. He's not giving up, though. They've come this far. They'll just have to work together.]

Want to give this a go?

wild card;

[I'm up for anything! See here for plotting, but new ideas are good too.]

trials

[lighthearted]

[ Through this entire trip and ordeal, Sora's been relieved to have Roxas at his side. Really, he's kind of lucky; he knows a good chunk of the people who are on this trip, and so even through the difficult parts, he's been surrounded with support. Roxas had been one of the people to convince Sora that Riku would be okay, and Sora had done his best to return that favor by rubbing his back as he puked over the side of the boat.

(Strange that his Other would be prone to seasickness, but that must not be the kind of thing that transfers over. Sora's sure that Roxas would get used to it eventually, if he had to spend more time on or in the ocean.)

Now, though, they're high up on a mountain (or is it deep down in a valley?). The way that Sora's felt since they descended into this strange place is that they're not quite awake anymore -- yet maybe also not quite asleep, either. It's an odd sensation, but he knows they need to push through these puzzles and find their way to the end. With this, at least, he's got experience.

While traveling down into the valley together, Sora and Roxas come upon a stone wall that extends far above their heads. They'll need to scale it, but without their powers that would have made this a cinch, it's going to take some teamwork.

Sora turns to Roxas and sets a gloved hand on his shoulder. His face is pink from the cold, but he's not shivering as much as he had back in Arendelle. He came prepared this time. (Take that, Donald.) ]

Want me to give you a boost? Then you can pull me up.

New Rio | Hama Sun

[devilsun]

Arrival

[ This is a bad dream. It has to be. One moment she was walking down the street, enjoying the novelty of sidewalks and a sky not contained by walls, and the next someone grabbed her. The world went dark. She woke up later, feeling sick, and thought it was like the festival all over again. Being jerked out of familiar surroundings and dumped somewhere entirely new.

Except that she’s dumped out on the grass, and not brought to a table in civilization. She makes a small sound, covering her head with her arms in case it comes to violence. Who knows, right? Someone took her and Kol isn’t there to protect here. There’s not even Diogo to threaten people with knives. She’s on her own and she feels sick, queasy all over, and she’s never been in a fight before. What happens if she has to fight?

Slowly, very slowly, Hama sits up straight. She sniffs, wiping at her face. There’s a pack at her feet. She grabs it and hugs it to her chest, tight. ]

Do you know where we are?

[ It’s not safe to be out in the open. This she knows. And they are certainly out in the open. ]

Bad Weather

[ It’s begun to rain. Hama is miserable, huddled under a tree and watching one of the hired mercenary — and his nice raincoat — with envy. ]

Do you think they’d share? If we asked nicely, I mean.

[ Or maybe if they didn't ask nicely. ]

It must be strange, escorting people like us out in this weather. I wonder how much they've been paid. Or what was promised in exchange.

Reliquaries

[ This time, Hama is in her element. She darts from artifact to artifact, constantly taking pictures and measurements with a makeshift ruler — really a belt she stole off one of the mercenaries. She reaches out to the nearest person, grabbing for their arm. There's so much she wants to look at. ]

Look! I don't know this symbolism. What do you think?

Wildcard

[ While Hama is not a fighter herself, she’s more than willing to try and brain a mercenary with a rock if given the opportunity. Or, conversely, very ready to convince people not to kill any of the mercenaries outright. She would also love your characters forever if they help her figure out a clue or help her examine artifacts. Hit me up for plotting at her comment or mirrorfaded ]

arrival

[itsjiaheng]

Noooooope~

[ The entire ordeal of arriving in this world and then spending days in the safehouse was probably a blur for a lot of people. If Jongdae managed to be at all memorable (unlikely), he'd spent a good chunk of that time on his cot either sleeping or otherwise not being very social at all.

He seems to be taking a very different approach with the whole second round of drugging and kidnapping bit, though not because he's happy about this. Mostly he figured out along the way that wherever they were going he was probably not going to be able to lay there and mope about it.

So no moping. But he's managing to lay around just fine?

He's sprawled out on his back not far from where Hama's sitting with her pack, arms and legs out like a starfish while he stares up, presumably at the statue. ]

Somewhere that was really into.. uh.. you know, that guy..

[ He throws a hand up toward the Redeemer to point and then his arm flops down back into place. He's feeling very rubbery while the sedative's still wearing off. He also obviously has no idea what the statue's about. Jesus is a not a concept for him. ]

The air feels gross. So a humid place? A swamp? I hate it. And I hate that I even thought of swamp first.

[ His head rolls over and he peers across at her, squinting a bit. ]

Don't be scared though. There's more of us this time. I bet at least some of us have our shit together.

jason todd | titans | new oslo

[overrate]

> TRAVEL TO NORWAY

[ the train ride is relatively uneventful. except for the fact that this stupid teen’s got his eyes glued on the outside, both watching transfixed, and using it as an excuse to say nothing to anyone else.

or maybe he’s just dizzy, who knows.

but his neck is bandaged up, too, which is a curious thing. hm. ]

> INVESTIGATION

[ Jason’s used to being ignored. but this is weird. compared to New Amsterdam, the vibe is completely off. There’s being ignored, and then there’s being disdained. this is clearly the latter to some extent, and he doesn’t like it. He looks over at his closest partner, and mutters, ]

The hell crawled up their asses and died?

> THE GATES

[ what. no. he refuses. The empathy bond has low key been one of the things he’s dreaded the most about these new powers. He’ll copy people all day, every day. that hasn’t required activating anything.

but this? this was awful. to literally move forward, so many of them had to hold hands and shit.

And Jason wants nothing to do with it. ]

No fucking way. There’s 10 people that will, but count me out.

> THE TRIALS

[ honestly, it hits him slowly at first. the atmosphere is heavy and muggy— whatever. that feels like a small price to pay. but the feelings of drowning, and giving up hit him suddenly— almost like a stack of bricks.

or maybe like hitting the pavement.

his movement forward stops, and he knows he should keep moving forward. but he can’t— knowing that he should give up. he isn’t quite sure what to do, or how to shake the feeling.

just that he doesn’t like it. and his inclination is to pretend it doesn’t exist. ]

(OOC: wildcards available! message this journal or PP me at hypothetical to chat)

TRAIN TIME

[evocation]

[Kyna will never, ever admit it, because she knows Jason will be a total dick about it, but she's already gotten attached to him. Apparently being a brat is the way to her heart. It means, though, that the second she spots those bandages on his neck, she's displeased.

Ever subtle, Kyna flops down next to him and elbows his arm.]

Hey. New fashion statement?

New Cairo | Terrence Ephemera/Sharkface | Red vs. Blue

[requiemshark]

Vault — (closed to Ginia)

[ It could be worse. As kidnappings go, this one was almost gentle. Sharkface spent some time earlier puking his guts out as the drugs wore off, along with his hangover, but he’s mostly past that now. Mildly dehydrated, probably, but he’s just going to suck that up and deal with it.

This wasn’t where he expected to end up. But now they’re here. Might as well deal.

The air is hot and dry, even on the outskirt of the ruin proper. He leans against the wall, letting his good eye adjust to the dark, and considering their options. ]

Could be worse. At least we’re not out on the sand.

[ At least he’s got Angela at his side to back him. ]

Armor

[ Some time after entering the ruins, Sharkface saw an opportunity to get his hands on some better gear — and, more importantly, some armor — and took it. There’s a mercenary some feet away, currently unconscious and thoroughly bound with rope. Not dead. There might be questions later.

Sharkface has already taken the man’s gun and is in the middle of a detailed examination of the armor. ]

Don’t shoot him. Yet.

[ He doesn’t look up, thoroughly engrossed in his work. ]

I’ll do it, if it comes to that.

Traps

[ He promised to take pictures. Maybe even a souvenir or two. Sharkface has snapped a couple pictures with the camera app in his neural implant, but the second part of that will have to wait until he’s absolutely certain that touching something won’t spring a trap that’s going to ruin his day, and potentially everyone else’s. Ruins like this are death traps, and while he’s currently wearing the merc’s armor, he’s fully aware that he’s only had it for a short period of time. Not nearly long enough to understand how to move properly in it, or know the full capabilities.

Caution is the name of the game, in this case.

He’s crouched down, examining a mural on the wall. And very pointedly not touching anything. So far he’s figured out that the glowing pictures tend to light up even more, and lead to more, while the dark ones tend to spell traps. This is one of the latter. ]

You got any idea how this thing is triggered?

Wildcard

[ Sharkface will be up for fighting monsters, fighting and robbing the mercenaries of their gear, and assisting with puzzles. Hit me up at mirrorfaded or his ooc comment for plotting. ]

[unlucky7]

[They grabbed Ginia on the route to New Oslo, and while she put up a fight, it was more of a calculating move. A dangerous calculation, but she recognized the armor the mercenaries wore. What better way to figure out a source than to follow along? That they took her to New Cairo works out even better. That Ephemera is there too means the mercenaries better watch their backs.

She's tried to stay as close to him as possible or at least sit where she could keep an eye on him. They hit her with a double shot of sedatives when they realized she was moving a little too well. It's all worn off now thanks to time and her tech, but she still keeps her movements a little slow. Ephemera vomiting is worrying. Once there's a chance, she's quick to dig out some water and food from her pack for him, working on some water herself.

If her head feels a little dizzy and her stomach keeps churning, it's probably the heat. Ginia keeps the discomfort to herself as she drinks her water, covering Ephemera's left side.]

They saved us some time by transporting us here. I wouldn't say they're on our side, but they're certainly invested in us accomplishing something.

[She glances at the mercs guarding the area, armored up and weapons ready. A few guns, a few machetes and clubs. Ginia can't imagine they're going to shoot to kill, but a gunshot wound would be real nasty out here. No easy access to a medunit either.]

Feeling okay?

Mt. Everest | Nathan Drake

[nonscriptum]

࿇ acclimation

[ It's tough going from the start, something he knew would be an issue with as many inexperienced climbers as they have at their disposal. It's not the stones, the act itself, the physical exertion - all those things are normal, and with everybody relatively fit - but the altitude. It starts to choke in a few thousand feet up for most people, and Rongbuk is somewhere around sixteen-hundred feet above sea level. Since being unceremoniously designated a team lead by Wei after their discussion on routes, Nate is all the more concerned with maintaining morale and general well-being.

Especially when the air - arid, cold, dehydrating - pushes past them at speeds that tear prayer flags to shreds in a matter of months. Optimism starts to drop without frequent check-ins, something he remembers from the expedition he led across one of Hadriel's tundras, so he makes a point of making the rounds. ]

How ya doin'? You all right?

࿄ the monastery

[ Nate knows this place. He's been here before, visiting Tenzin and Pema the second time around, another trek through Nangpa La that didn't include a train, or a train wreck, or Nate himself bleeding out in the snow.

After all this time he was worried it might not look the same, but it's managed to survive the centuries with some minimal adjustment, renovations and reconstructions that crumpled with time, deteriorating the way everything eventually does. It occurs to him that buildings he once knew to be thirty, forty years old are now half a millennium. Not ancient, but certainly historic in their own right for lasting this long in a world wracked by critically terrible climate change. No more pilgrimages, too remote to access easily, too far away from civilization for anyone to have a hand in upkeep or maintenance. Tenzin once told him it was a good place to be alone. Looking at a small out building whose walls have fallen into disrepair, into rubble, it certainly feels that way.

He moves through the complex with familiarity and evident purpose, the lingering weight of ghosts pressing in on all sides. What he pauses to draw in a beaten sketchbook are mani stones, the ruins of the monastery and its meditation huts, the symbols on the walls. Mandalas and auspicious wheels, worn by time and the arid climate. Nate is largely quiet moving between the buildings, a far cry from his comparably chatty attitude on the way up to their requested pit stop, and his occasional pulls away from the group lead him into niches and caves, picking up relics with obvious contemplation before pocketing them.

Before their timely break ends Nate takes a moment for surreptitious observation, having being suspicious from the start about the ease of their progress. Leaning up against one of the old guest houses he watches the sherpas mill with the rest of the group, eyeing one of them with a particular scrutiny. ]

You notice anything off about that guy? [ Comes the casual question, accompanied by the briefest flicker of eye contact. ] 'Cause I don't think he's supposed to be here.

࿅ the valley

[ Should have known better.

Should have fucking known better, after everything he's seen in the Himalayas before, after Shambhala, after Agartha. Another hole opening up in the dense earth, a yawning chasm to swallow them whole, to lead to a seemingly untouched valley. He's on-edge the instant the way is parted, the excitement of discovery superseded by the understanding that very little lasts that long without good reason.

The blue and white light casts an eerie, sickly glow over them, something that reminds him uncomfortably of the resin Marco Polo once wrote of, the little vibrant chunks of explosive material sitting in a vial in his attic office. Was there another place he missed, another city lost in time? Something connected to the sprawling tree in the crater of the mountain, thick streams of bright blue sap at its base? ]

Hey, stay sharp, okay? I've been in a place like this before, and last time the locals weren't very friendly.

[ Understatement of the decade. While he's relieved by the distinct lack of indigenous ancients with murder on their minds it doesn't mean he's any less guarded, even when he occasionally scales something with deft and practiced ease to get a better look at the carvings on the steep cliffs around them. ]

I think- yeah, this is the right way. Unless it's a trap.

࿈ the trials

[ For all that he tries to be objective, as they venture further Nate can't help but drag his fingertips along the rocky walls, taking less and less care with his own personal safety.

He draws more quickly, too much catching his attention, noting the placement and similarities in design, the lack of anything more sufficiently dangerous than a plate. The descent into the valley is pocked with renewed talkativeness and an interest in the lumpy yaks, with eyes as bright as the creature that attacked him only weeks ago. He veers around them more carefully, albeit distractedly. Like wandering through the same fog as he had back in Yemen, something that slows motion and contact. Like being drugged. ]

This is ancient. [ He stresses, quick to compare symbology to his notes. ] And a lot of this is familiar, but I can't- I can't tell if this bird is a garuda, or something else. And if it is, then- are they supposed to be guarding the gate from us, or...keeping something in?

[ OOC: Wildcards also available for puzzle-solving, fighting monsters, anything you feel like, so feel free to hit me up at uncalendula or Nate's plotting comment, or Nate himself at his inbox! He'll want to open the gate, and will expend a lot of energy once they reach it trying to figure out how to activate the ding-dang thing. ]

the valley

[lighthearted]

[ This trip has been grueling, both physically and emotionally taxing in Sora's case, but this also isn't the first time he's been high up on a mountain. The strange, otherworldly valley is new, but the dreamlike sensation it's filled him with isn't.

They're getting close to the gate. They have to be, right? Those lights are guiding their way. Sora's been following them down, down, and further down. He has no idea how they're going to get back, but the most important thing is finding the gate and whatever answers it might hold for them.

A gate isn't that different from a door, after all. And he knows how important those can be.

Nate has been taking care to watch over everyone during the climb, and Sora's been appreciative of it, though they haven't exchanged more than a few words so far. Sora had been affected by Riku's disappearance and had stuck close to people he already knew, though he's feeling more like his normal self now that he's heard back from his closest friend.

He watches as Nate expertly scales that wall, sizing it up for a moment before he races forward to do the same. Sora doesn't have the Keyblade-induced agility that would have made this a piece of cake, but he does manage to get enough height on the wall that he can reach up and grab the top edge of it with both hands.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, he then takes on the not-so-easy task of pulling himself up. ]

gabriel reyes | new cairo | ota

[gravemistake]

i. arrival

[This is not the first time Reyes has been to Egypt, though he wasn’t exactly expecting it this time. He’s getting a little tired of being drugged and kidnapped, if he’s being perfectly honest, and he’s not exactly in the greatest shape to be hauled off on a train. Hell, he’s barely recovered from his ill-advised foray into brain surgery, and now this is happening.

The good news is that whoever brought them here had the sense to keep him and Jack together, though that doesn’t stop Gabriel from giving the whole place a quick once-over. Though he can’t exactly read all the symbols on the wall, it’s easy enough to understand what they’re talking about, if the bright light on the chests of the carved figures are any indication. He frowns.]

This goes back further than we thought, huh?

[He says that out loud to anyone who might be listening. It’s all very disconcerting, and Gabriel isn’t about to keep his displeasure a secret.]

ii. mercenaries

[He supposes that it was nice of their kidnappers to give them some supplies, but what Gabriel really needs is weapons. Armor would be nice too, but he’s a little sick of having to rely on Morningstar to get his hands on a gun, so he’s most certainly looking at taking some of this gear for himself. Just from some basic observing, it doesn’t seem like the mercenaries are out to kill them, so he won’t use lethal force, but it’s clear that he’s going to make a move when he turns to the nearest Displaced, something of a smirk on his face.]

You want to make this a little more interesting?

[Granted, he’s going to start a fight no matter what—are you in?

Deeper into the ruins, Gabriel seems to take a long moment to stare at the hieroglyphs on the walls. He’s not usually one to wear any emotions on his sleeve, but he’s unmistakably contemplative, as if he’s either trying to make sense of it all or just taking a moment to look at something familiar.]

iii. just some light grave-robbing

[From there, it’s all about navigating the ruins, which Gabriel seems fairly casual about. He often doesn’t have much interest in solving the puzzles, letting other Displaced do most of the grunt work—though he will most certainly jump in on the occasion of monsters. It seems that’s where his talents are.

In fighting, and in digging through the deeper chambers, searching for anything valuable or useful or both.]

What do you think about a souvenir?

[Gabriel seems to be most interested in the figurines, holding one out, his fingers curled around it in such a way that he can tap at the indentation in the chest. Look familiar?]

iv. wildcard

[I will do whatever you want. Hit me up on plurk at whitticus.]

II

[unlucky7]

[Ginia matches his smirk with her own. It was really a big mistake of the mercenaries to not keep them cuffed or otherwise tethered. The drugs are long gone for Ginia's system. Her neck is bandaged, but now it's more for obfuscation than to keep the wound clean. Her baton was taken by someone and she wants it back, but she's to pragmatic to not go for any of the other weapons or armor.]

Maybe I'll find out how bulletproof my barrier is.

[A light joke. It could get bad if bullets begin flying. Best to take everyone down fast and hard. Ginia keeps her signs smaller and closer to her body, reducing the chance of one of the mercs catching what she's signing.]

What do you have in mind?

new cairo | silena ♥ open

[chocolateries]

→ silena beauregard and the temple of doom

Does this make us pharaohs? [ asked as they descend into the void itself. the paintings had shown pharaohs entering, not common people. ] I want to be called Cleopatra Selina.

[ dibs.

outside of imagining her life as a ptolemaic queen of egypt and a brief spurt of panic she was talked down from, silena seems unperturbed by her kidnapping -- helena is here, her friends are safe, and cryptic god assigned quests are an annoyance she got used to back at camp. this is just a part of life and she seems oddly suited to going on a quest, fishing a granola bar out of her bag. ]

Don't forget to drink water.

→ silena beauregard and the emperor's tomb

[ silena is good at finding the disconnected symbolism, reaching out to grab people before they touch the ouroboros symbols. ]

Wait! That's not right. [ it's not wrong, but it's not... right. it doesn't fit the rest of the pictures or stories. ]

Lemme just... [ pulling the other displaced back out of the room, silena picks up one of the clay vessels and hurls it at the wall. a huge granite slab drops down from the ceiling, enclosing the chamber with a resounding crash that echoes though the ruins. ]

Holy crap.

→ silena beauregard and the last crusade

[ blue, gold, indigo, white, black, red, and orange.

silena's forehead wrinkles in thought. this whole pyramid was a puzzle, meant to be solved by those worthy and silena doesn't think this is any different. sure, all they need to do is walk forward to reach the gate, but it feels too easy. there has to be something else and her eyes skate over the chamber holding the gate, trying to sort out her thoughts. ]

The picture of the old gate was red. Khufu's chest is gold. [ she points out the colors in the room as she speaks, semi-distracted and almost to herself. ] Ours are blue. Seven colors, seven gods, five hand prints, four gates, that doesn't make sense. Four's not even a sacred number.

[ she looks at the person next to her. ] That gate picture was old, do you think there's been seven generations of displaced?

→ untitled silena beauregard movie

( go where your heart takes you or hit me up via discord @ baleinette#3692 or plurk @ baleinette )

avoiding doom in the emperor's tomb

[unlucky7]

[Iconography, symbolism, and the deeper meanings and references are definitely not Ginia's area of expertise or understanding. She's noticed the different symbols, but the meaning isn't clear yet. When someone stops her from touching one of the symbols, Ginia nods and quickly draws back. Their group isn't that big, it's easy noticing who the other kidnapped Displaced are.

Her eyes widen a little as the granite slab crashes down, internally sighing as her hearing protection kicks in, dulling the sounds around.]

Thank you for stopping me.

[Ginia turns to the young woman, quickly signing in ASL her appreciation.]

The round symbol, do you recognize it from something else?

soldier: 76 / jack morrison | new cairo | ota

[personalwar]

i. beast mode, take two (closed to ginia)

[ The sedatives have only just worn off and they're now in the middle of the desert, surrounded by armed guards (though they're not UNA soldiers from the sound of things) who have unknown intentions. Jack's situation is compounded by the fact that his vision hasn't yet come back, and when a backpack of supplies is shoved at him, he finds a corner off on his own to sit down and sort through everything. The sleeping bag makes it obvious that this trip might take some time, and that the mercenaries don't really know what's in storm for them.

Much as Jack doesn't like it, eventually he has to eat some of the food that they're given. The lack of real food while they'd been transported here along with the fact that he hadn't been eating well before all this leads to an unfortunate combination. He knows it might just be paranoia on his part to question if the food is laced with something, but in this case it ends up being entirely justified.

The effects creep up on him at first. He starts getting irritable, snapping at people when they offer him help, and initially he could blame it on the heat. It gets worse. He can't see right now, but horrific images sear into his mind's eye. Walls covered in blood, his own hands painted with it, even half-memories of racing through the woods in search of prey, and then digging into still-warm flesh with sharp fangs --

When Ginia approaches him, it's hit a critical mass. He senses her presence and snarls at her. The unnatural sharp canines and yellow eyes make it pretty obvious that something isn't right here. Despite the fact that he's missing one of his major senses right now, he's gearing himself up to lunge at her. ]

ii. gearing up

[ Jack's had some time to recover after being snapped out of the frenzy that the bad food had inflicted on him. Word is that he's not the only one who suffered the strange side effects, though the even stranger part is what it had taken to cure it. This wouldn't be the first time that he'd been transformed into some kind of mindless beast, although this time the physical changes had been minimal and it hadn't lasted that long.

Suffice to say, recovering from this experience is a little easier when compared to what he went through on El Nysa.

Back to his senses again, he takes some time to get a lay of the land. It isn't long before his attention lands on the mercenaries who are with them. They don't appear to have much in the way of answers and Jack doesn't have the resources for a proper interrogation, but there is something else that could be gained.

Unfortunately, it's not something he can do alone. Not when his sight is gone. He doesn't want to miss out on the chance to finally get his hands on a gun and some other gear besides, but the thought of asking for help is giving him pause.

He doesn't know most of these people.

When he hears someone walking near where he's leaned up against one of the ruin walls, he waves them over. ]

Some of those mercs are still hanging around, right? [ He keeps his voice quiet, almost a whisper. ]

iii. flying blind

[ Against all odds, Jack's got some body armor and a gun lifted off of one of the mercenaries, and their entire group has pushed deeper into the ruins of the pyramid. Temperature-wise it's much cooler down here, and also quiet. He can't see, but he wonders if that doesn't make much of a difference at this point; what kind of light source could exist this deep down?

The problem is that nothing about this is straight-forward, literally speaking. It's a labyrinth, he gathers, though that may actually not be the worst thing. ]

Isn't it that you just keep following the left wall until you find your way?

[ That much he could manage even blind, assuming there aren't further obstacles.

Alternatively, if Jack comes upon someone else in the group who's scratching their heads over one of the trials, he'll clear his throat and speak up. Admitting to his current disability isn't something he's eager to do, but coming across as completely useless is even worse. ]

Describe what you're looking at to me. Maybe I can make some sense of it.

iv. wildcard

[ I'm pretty much open to anything that's described within the New Cairo stuff, so feel free to throw whatever at me! You can contact me at demonology or at demonology#1725 on Discord to hash things out, if you'd like. ]

ii

[dunhaming]

[ Olivia is wandering about, restless for all that she's outside the safehouse. Outside the city! On a grand adventure! She's discovering that she doesn't like grand adventures. This is far outside her scope of expertise and it frustrates her. If she had Lincoln here... but she doesn't, so she has to make the best of it.

She's contemplating just going down one of the paths and seeing what happens when another one of the Displaced catches her attention. She moves over to him and gives a glance around at his question, answers in a hushed voice. ]

There's three nearby. Two down that way [ she nods her head towards the north hallway ] and one the other way. [ nods her head toward the west hallway ] Why?

[ Their presence has been bothering her, but she's not yet willing to make a fuss all by herself, though she'd probably feel a bit better if she had one of their guns and could get some serious answers. Just asking nicely didn't get her anywhere, and really she'd feel better if she could just punch one (or a few) of their smug faces. ]

klaus mikaelson — everest

[interminably]

QUARANTINE

( Klaus is in no need of acclimation, as he has no requirements for breathing, but he appreciates that others do. For the most part, Klaus either keeps to himself and checks in with others, or he checks in with those he knows, especially those that are human. It's a larger expedition than he expected, especially one of this scale, of this mountain, so throughout the 48 hours those he doesn't know get an inquisitive, but well-meaning, vampire approaching them. )

Hello, I don't believe we've met before. Klaus Mikaelson, at your service if needed. ( By what he means from that, he's not exactly forthcoming in that moment, but maybe he might be if asked. He's no tattooed sherpa, but he does have a rather special skill set. )

RONGBUK

A. ( He does bask in the view outside of Rongbuk, taking in the sheer beauty of the land below them. He's seen beauty like this, but not on this world. )

It's a wonder that here on this Earth, something as grand and majestic as Mt. Everest has survived global warming. ( He knows the state of the Earth he's ended up on, and just taking in New Beijing's bastardizations of their monuments, this really is a sight. Truly.

B. Before heading inside proper, Klaus can also be found sitting cross-legged on the ancient stone outside, just taking in the sounds and the air. It is a monastery and most monasterial activities involve a form of meditation and even silence. So, in the same vein. He takes a beat.

C. Finally, he explores the monastery's depths, up and down stairs and finds himself in an old abandoned bedroom. One of the shared rooms with the floors covered in tattered, brittle blankets, dust and snow. An ex of mine spent quite a lot of time in a monastery much like this one, but that was more to quiet the insanity inside her mind. Her brother's idea.)

MEDITATION

( In exploring the monastery Klaus, too, is drawn to one of the meditation chambers bathing in the blue glow. He knows others in their expedition have found similar rooms, but this one he has to himself. He reaches up into the light, feeling more cold, crisp, thin air. Moving further in, he gets an idea, but seeing as his power is tied to his daughter's pain (or he believes) he's not in any position to bring out any of his own blue glow.

Someone joins, sets foot inside, and he turns. There must be something here that reacts to the glow of their chest plates. ) You feel that. And you see this - this otherworldly blue. Do you have an active power? I believe if we activate a chest plate, if we glow. ( There are four other rooms and others who have the ability to as well. )

TRIALS — CLOSED TO TIMOTHY

( Klaus has no idea how long he's taken down this path. Somehow, it seems he's lost track of some and met up with others. It's as if these tasks are more metaphysical and theoretical than physical, even when they are physical. He comes up to a stone formation, one blocking his path. But on the stone ahead of him are two empty hand prints. )

Well, it can't be that easy.

( But trust him to move forward and place both palms in the indentations. Nothing happens, as it shouldn't. No, everything yet takes a second or third hand. It's about teamwork and bonds. Is that it. He lifts his hands and tries again, tries thinking about Hope, tries to not tap into any physical pain he might harm her with. But, even the memory of agony in that chair doesn't cause a reaction and he steps back.

The empathy bonds opened their way originally, is that the key here? One hand each and then - maybe making physical contact with another. He can't move until someone joins him, to test his theory. He hopes it isn't someone he wishes not to share something with, and who is willing to take everything he's feeling and vice versa. If only temporarily. )

RUINS

( At one point, Klaus stops and inspects a relic, and then another. The Relics, and the Sherpa's tattoos... he thinks. Someone steps beside him and he speaks, quite quietly as a sherpa passes them. )

They're Buddhist in origin, which makes a sort of sense considering our monasterial origin. But, if those that worship us, or guide us are Buddhist in origin, then they believe that there is a natural cycle. Perhaps they believe us to be reincarnated, ourselves.

👀

[snipedt]

[ Tim didn't want to come in, at first. Something about that empathy bond, the fear of having to touch someone to get this done; back home, he never really enjoyed touch the way other people do, but since he got here he's been actively trying to repel it. And he isn't really sure why he ended up following the others inside, taking his own path – if he'd tried to explain it to himself he would've come up deliriously empty, a feeling not entirely unlike the strange, unafraid calmness that comes over him whenever he has to fire a weapon, whether it's up close and personal in a firefight, or from a distance, hidden at a high vantage point in amongst the foliage.

Maybe it's just that he doesn't want to be a coward. He's not scared of the things that terrify other people, and it irritates him that he can be so easily felled by something as simple as some kind of human connection. It's that thought that bolsters him as he heads inside, and by the time he's lost it again, he's already too far in.

Finding Klaus is a relief, almost. He knows Klaus, and even if there's something complicated about him that Tim can't reckon with, it's not enough to make him peel back. Klaus asks a lot, but not really too much. He stops a few paces away with his hands in his pockets, watching with a hint of amusement. ]

Hey, Shakespeare. You need a hand?

Kyna Medina | New Oslo

[evocation]

exploring

[Kyna has been practically vibrating since she set foot on the train. She's hoping, desperately, that the gates will be something she's familiar with. Something she can work with. All this cyberpunk shit isn't in her wheelhouse, and with her magic gone, she's felt worse than worthless.

Back home, myths and legends were rarely accurate. It took digging to get to the truth behind all the metaphors, and so she's assuming the same will hold here, too. Kyna's always been better at the whole "putting theory into practice" part of her job, and this sort of historical research isn't really her thing, but... Hey. She's trying.

She's been digging through whatever she can find about the folklore around Oslo and Norway since this whole trip got announced, and any time they run into something of historical significance, she's quick to drop some sort of trivia, as though speaking it out loud will help her parse this whole puzzle better.

So, when they run into a statue of St. Olaf, the first thing out of her mouth is:]

Hey, you know that Olaf guy was supposed to have like, protective powers? You think there's anything to that?

[She pauses.]

I mean, I guess they also said he killed giants, so...

[Maybe not.]

pillars

[For a mechanism for a secret holy site, or whatever, these pillars aren't exactly impressive. They're pretty ugly, actually. But maybe Kyna is just projecting how much she hates what they have to do to open them. She crosses her arms, posture rigid, staring at the glowing glyphs as though that might convince them to unlock all on their own.]

Can't we just sing kumbaya and say we're bonding instead?

maze

[Once they're inside, Kyna doesn't settle much. There are worse things than mazes, but her mind instantly goes to Indiana Jones style traps, and despite all of her google university cramming, she's afraid she's missing something when she looks at some of the images. She wants answers, but none of the scenes are giving her the details she wanted. Kyna pauses at one wall, wrinkling her nose as she wipes the mildew from a figure's face. Lots of implications of unity and togetherness, but no dissertations on what the fuck is actually happening.

She didn't actually expect one, but it would have been nice.

So, they move on. The deeper they go, though, the more Kyna starts to sense that something is wrong in a way she can't articulate. At first, she thinks it's the humidity making it hard to breathe, but the more she ignores it, the more she feels a weight on her chest, an odd constriction against her ribs.]

Does anything feel, uh... [She trails off, struggling to take a deeper breath.] Wrong to you?

maze

[strove]

[As much as Clarke buys into this whole thing, there's a certain level of spiritual nonsense that can lead her to her breaking point. It bothered her when she dealt with the Flame, and it bothered her when she dealt with Sanctum. Knowing Loki means she believes in gods and believes in all of this, but it's all a kind of pragmatic belief. It's factual, based in reality. Pictures of unity and togetherness strike a chord with Clarke, but they don't act as answers.

They also don't act as confirmation.

Kyna's question startles Clarke out of her thoughts. Her hand draws back from the damp wall, fingers bending toward her palm soon after.]

What do you mean by wrong? [Her mind begins to catch up, to parse out what it is that Kyna could mean.

(Her mind also realizes that Kyna is without a clear answer. Clarke feels a bit of guilt at that.)]

I mean, medically or—otherwise. We can stop if you need me to look you over.