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ximilialog2022-08-05 11:19 am
- ! event log,
- doctor who: river song,
- fear street: ziggy berman,
- fullmetal alchemist: edward elric,
- grishaverse: the darkling,
- gundam seed/destiny: yzak jule,
- marvel comics: gwen stacy,
- mcu: natasha romanoff,
- mcu: peter quill,
- naruto: kakashi hatake,
- pacific rim: newton geiszler,
- supernatural: dean winchester,
- the 100: clarke griffin,
- the old guard: andromache,
- the untamed: wei wuxian,
- the witcher: yennefer of vengerberg,
- towards the terra: soldier blue,
- yakuza: zhao tianyou
MISSION: WISH FULL, PART 1
● ● ● M I S S I O N 8 . 1
After two weeks of much-needed rest, there is once again the unmistakable ping of the earpieces, alerting the team to a new file — and before most of you will be able to read through the file, Viveca’s voice interrupts you.
I’ll see you on the platform tomorrow morning, so go pack your things… just not anything that’ll rust.
She ends her speech there, and then the comms go silent, allowing you to get a better handle for the new mission file and to start packing. Whatever it is you do to prepare — whether it’s training intensely, sleeping the day away, or focusing on what to take with you — you still have a bit of time.
The next morning, it is not just Viveca but Degar, too, waiting for the team on the teleportation platform. The hum of the machine is loud as always, but not quite enough to drown out Degar’s voice.
Just close your eyes and try to imagine your fishiest form, and I guarantee you’ll blend in with the rest of the Xrisora just fine. Good luck everyone.
The golden light of the spell mingles with the bright white from the teleportation machine, bathing you in what resembles the first rays of morning sun. You’re sent off to a chorus of murmuring voices, barely discernible except for the words whispering your personally catered goal—
And before you so much as open your mouth to respond, you can feel it: a splash of cold that feels almost welcome as you breathe in the water that surrounds you, feel the oxygen from it go through the gills you now have.
Welcome to Qruria City, orbers.
In front of you, the mighty gates to Qruria City rise up, carved into the rocks of the ocean floor, shaped by years and years of sea currents. Behind them, you can peek at the tops of lotus-pod-like buildings amidst gently swaying seaweeds and corals that climb up on the sides of the buildings. Grains of sand move underneath your legs, or tails, or perhaps both — as from around the gates, two guards come forward, one a shark merman, one a woman with the lower body of a shrimp.
You nod — and so do some others around you, and that seems to be enough for Xriom.
With those words, the gates creak open, letting you swim into the city.
1.0 A series of tall, dark grey twisting towers carved and created from sedimentary rock form a border around lush park-space full of brightly coloured flora that can be found draped across the queendom and its structures like a living blanket. Nestled into crevices and shrouded in coral and plant-life are a series of market places and residences, large swaths of farmland, and places where any citizen of Qruria can thrive in their day-to-day life. The queendom is large and there is plenty to explore, with friendly faces to greet you as you pass them by. All you need to do is … do a little swimming to get there.
The entertainment district is cluttered with underwater grotto taverns, stages for singing, dancing, and gatherings. These spaces are lit by way of bioluminescence, blossoms that have become permanent fixtures and begin to glow the moment the waters become dark. They do lend themselves to creating a certain mood.
Just past the taverns and performance centres are stalls and shops selling simple, practical, and beautiful items: garments, pottery crafted from hollowed out shells and coral, jewelry. You may walk past a stall selling beautiful, luminous necklaces made out of flaming pixie cups — these sparkling plants are bright like diamonds, and famous for imbuing their wearer with a feeling of happiness if worn for over one hour. There are herbalists selling healing tonics and medicines; and just past these shops, cafes and restaurants. Some are no more than holes in rocky caverns, but others are up high in lotus-pod-like structures sitting on top of rock pedestals, grand and famous with large dining halls and sparkling dinnerware promising you the meal of your life.
Beyond the pomp and the circumstance are quiet farmlands where mer-farmers keep their herds of Zavos, caring for them. You might instantly recognize some of these creatures simply by consulting the bestiary that is downloaded into your communications device the moment you arrive in Qruria.
2.0 Even from afar, the royal palace is a sight to behold: made from a marble-like material much more refined than the roughly-hewn towers past the palace’s walls, the structure seems to glimmer as the water currents circle around it, with spires that stretch towards the water’s surface, the entire palace area is lit with bioluminescent-powered lamps. It’s a must-see for any tourist from out of town, and certainly for any foreigner, and some areas of the palace itself are also open to the public with designated tours free to join.
If you join one of these tours, you’ll be led past the entrance gates and into a courtyard (one of many, and one of the few open to the public to view). Depending on the time of day, you may also catch sight of the Queen’s guard training by the barracks with long silver spears in hand. They look fierce, and their weapons look sharp. And while most of the tour is in the service of viewing the architecture and understanding how the royal family live their lives behind the palace’s gates, on the very rare occasion, you might sight the small royal princess swimming past a row of columns, giggling and chasing after her sea dragonling; or making a concerted effort to hide from whatever lessons she’s meant to be in that day.
3.0 There are a variety of different species of fish that also share the city space with the xrisora — a school of mackerel that move around in a synchronized cloud; whales that drift above the city, casting shadows onto the buildings … and even larger creatures, bioluminescent markings on their skin, swimming slowly towards the surface. Some xrisora stop and bow to their direction whenever they are seen.
One species of sea creature, one that faintly resembles a plesiosaur, sticks mostly to hiding behind rocks and coral reefs, shying away from the xrisora and the orbers… except for one of them. It sways its head back and forth as orbers swim past, as if sensing something — and when it sees Finn, Peter, Daisy or Clarke, it makes chirping noises and starts to swim around them, clearly excited.
4.0 As you wander — perhaps seeming a little lost or a little bored, maybe — you hear a little something that sounds suspiciously like pspsps. Looking around you don't see anything, at least not right away. But, then a sprigtly looking little guy bubbles up directly in front of you.
He's a fast talker and an even faster swimmer. He circles around you, no matter if you're still or moving.
There is no card.
Where, exactly, is this place? Well, if you watch him swim away, you'll be able to spot a small stall in the distance, in the city but right along the edge of it. If you miss it, you can inquire about it to be pointed in the right direction by any passerby. And once you visit him, he'll make an offer promising great rewards.
5.0 There is a different kind of excitement that can be felt all across the queendom of Qruria City, a feeling of anticipation that bubbles and gurgles in the hearts and gills of every citizen. Twinkling bioluminescent lights are hung like streamers across archways and around pillars of coral and limestone. Bright flags made of different coloured kelp wave and flutter with the current. Shops have started to pull out thematic wares — crowns and flowers, preciously crafted jewelry, small glowing sticks of light, iridescent fabric meant to drape over one's shoulders, or around one's waist all in celebration of something that unifies the whole of the queendom.
If asked what it is that calls for the occasion, one of the xrisora will cheerfully exclaim, “The festival, of course!” before they carry on. The festival they speak of is the Caerulea Festival, and it is the one time of the year when the light from the surface stretches its reach, touching the ocean floor and bathing Qruria with its bright glow.
Some might ask for your help in putting out the finishing touches to the fronts of homes or the frontages of a store. Or, depending on how buoyant they may seem, an excited xrisora might drape a free chain made of small shiny shells around your neck, or weave little corals into your hair.
You’ll find that the energy is the same across the city. Find a way to be helpful if you can, or simply find a place to sit and float, watch as the city around you is transformed throughout the week in anticipation for this festival of light.
6.0 In the middle of the City, there is a protected ‘park’ of sorts, a cluster of coral and plant-life in every colour one can imagine. With tendrils of gold, blooms of bright pink, and curling stems of blue and green, some multi-coloured, others a solid deep shade of its chosen hue, this ocean’s forest will be the main attraction of the Caerulea Festival, the best vantage point for the reach of the surface’s light. A stage with the delicate texture of a giant clam-shell has been set at one end with the park as its backdrop, and it is here that a congregation of xrisora have gathered to hear the Queen speak just a little before nature performs her very best number of the year.
She swims towards the stage in a gauzy gown of pale violet that compliments the greenish hue of her skin and shimmers with each motion of the water’s current or her own movement, her guard and handmaidens trailing behind her in straight lines. Each one of them is adorned and decorated in coral and pearl and jewels not unlike the Queen’s.
7.0 If you haven’t already been roped into joining in the festivities, you’ll find yourself wanting to do so on your own accord. With stalls and shops open to browse, new foods to try, and music being played all across the city on small sound-stages and in the city’s square, it’s already too difficult to resist, and it would be a shame not to take part. Even under the water, the smell of warm food manages to waft its way into your senses, with market stalls that offer an assortment of savoury platters and sweet delights in bright and appetizing colours of pink and red and rich warm brown. The shops you may have swam past earlier seem brighter and more energetic with their wares and vendors beckon you to try a shawl or look closer at some of the jewelry pieces. At every corner of the city, there are small groups of musicians and dancers twirling with the water’s current, singing beautiful songs that have a hopeful energy to them. It doesn’t take long before the tune is stuck in your head, easy enough to follow along, daring you to sing aloud. If you want to, performers are more than happy to rope you in and let you join them.
You are not the only foreigners who have come to Qruria City for the Festival either. You’ll find during your explorations that the city feels fuller now, with more people in the city’s streets and hanging around the shops.
8.0 After the main event, Queen Xephia opens a large gala that is expected to last until the next morning. The city’s centre is transformed into a space for dancing, singing, and merriment with musical acts that span from energetic ditties, and big band numbers to slower, calmer ballads that sing of love lost, or love regained again. They are tunes of hope and longing and discovery, and the melodies are not unlike the ones you might have heard earlier … only now there is a larger, more unified gathering. As the waters become darker and evening settles, more and more lights begin to glitter around the kingdom, reflected in the flora and the water itself. It transforms Qruria as though she has become a completely different city, but the feeling of awe and magic never wavers.
All manner of fish-folk can find a partner here, whether it’s someone they might know already, or seek someone new. It wouldn’t be a bad thing to learn about the different cultures on Xrisora, and perhaps in your own way learn clues about the possible whereabouts of the orb while you’re at it.
The next morning, you may be slow to rise after an entire day of festivities … or maybe you’re one of the partiers that haven’t even had a wink of sleep yet, dancing until your fins ache and until the rays of sunlight start to slowly filter through the water again, cascading like falling stars.
This magical calm is broken by the clanging of alarm bells in the palace, the sound reverberating through the city, soundwaves echoing from large bells so low you can almost feel their vibrations.
The closer to the palace you go, the more you find it to be in complete chaos: guards swimming to and fro, barely even paying attention to the early visitors.
Before you think to ask what exactly it is they are searching for, you see the king himself, swimming out into the palace entrance. A small sea dragonling swims around his head in rapid circles.
It is this shocking announcement that ends the merriment of the festival in one swift strike, the information traveling from one onlooker to another — Queen Xephia and Princess Xoria are missing.
F Y I
• If you have questions about any of the prompts or the mission in general, please direct them HERE.
• To submit a search request regarding exploring a specific place or speaking to an NPC, please do so HERE.
• To sign up for a quest, please do so HERE. Characters will get the choice of two quests that Levi has prepared for them, and after hearing the first one, can ask to hear the second if they don’t like the first. One character may sign up for multiple quests. Quests can be done in pairs or larger groups.
• Take note of the bestiary that is downloaded into the communications device the moment characters arrive in Qruria. It is accessible to all orbers, and will update as the mission progresses.
• And finally, your soundtrack for this log: ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
no subject
My country has been at war since before I was born. There has been no peace in my world for centuries. Even the ones living in privilege, those who hide behind the poor and the unlucky, suffer.
[With each year, the harvest is less than the year before. Crops dying and forests depleted of wildlife. There was the Bone Road, and the fish living deep in the darkest parts of the ocean. There were the Jurda fields in Novy Zem, the drug to calm a tired mind and keep you alert for days.
But there was no peace.]
We are here because we are willing to suffer to get something better - for us, or for the people we left behind.
[And the one not left behind after all.
The one he would miss the most...]
Which makes the fact that we all bicker about the best way to do so, bitter-sweet. After all, once all is said and done, we might not even remember one another.
no subject
[Really, truly. His own world has an abundance of conflict, but most people manage to live happy lives during times of relative peace. A nationwide war that lasts for centuries would certainly make an awful lot of people desperate, full of hurt and need for revenge.
As for the rest...]
I think about that, too. I'd like to remember my time here, but I won't count on it happening. More important to do what's needed to be done here so we can all get back to our own worlds safely. I suppose I'm all right with the bickering in the meantime, though. Thinking things through is better than crashing into them headfirst, and what might look like arguments so far has turned out to result in some pretty well thought-out efforts.
[Mostly. The chaos and destruction... not ideal, but they can't undo their mistakes. Just got to keep trying for better.]
Do you work much with other people at home?
no subject
That the arguments and the angry words could be anything but a distraction - an unwelcome one at that. The urge to strike it down and demand obedience, even when the world was going up in flames around them and emotions were running at an all time high- to step up and lead them.
It was always there.
The temptation.
The lure of power, a never-quieting whisper in the back of his mind, as he watches Rosi bob gently on the ocean current.]
I'm not sure if I want to remember any of this- [hard-earned lessons and the fact that those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it, but remembering might be worse.
Remembering might be ultimate sacrifice, and a price that was more than he could possibly pay.]
Not directly. I am the general of the Second Army of Ravka. [His spine straightens automatically, head tilting back until he looks down his nose while still keeping his eyes on Rosi.] I usually work alone, or under orders from the tzar.
And you?
no subject
[Not that he's being especially apologetic or formal here, but he does mean the note of respect in that "sir". Might not be his military, his general that he's speaking to, but he knows the sort of dedication and ability it takes to achieve a rank like that, it's no walk in the park.]
I'm a Commander in the Marines. But, I also mostly work alone under orders from my commanding officer. This place has... been a challenge.
[Now, Rosinante has to wonder what a general is doing, working alone. That strikes him as strange. Isn't it a general's job to command units?]
no subject
[As his lips twitch up in a smile. It's been too long since he'd heard something like it. Not moi soverenyi but closer than 'dude' and 'hey you'.]
Your world has a branch of military dedicated solely to the sea. That is actually quite clever, if your country is surrounded by it.
[Not a bad idea, even if the sea he wanted to rule was the Unsea. Too bad volcra didn't follow orders or his regret would be... less. He would have the luxury of looking for something more personal than what he wanted.]
It has, yes. Mostly for the reasons we've talked about before, and here -[a wide gesture at the ocean around them] breathing under water took me a while. How are you settling in?
no subject
Oh, I meant - well, here is fine. The ocean is fun. Can't help but love getting to swim and seeing all the different types of people. You know how many of our companions come from worlds where humans are the only people?
[Still so weird to him. Sounds so lonely, so isolated. He may not hang out with merfolk or fishmen on a regular basis at home, but they're still part of the greater world, and their histories intertwine regularly, for better or worse.]
no subject
[Stories and legends warping over time, like they did in his world.]
Most people in my world think that we are alone, that the tales of merpeople-- we call them sildroher, are nothing more than superstition or exaggerations. They are wrong.
[As they were about most things Grisha-related. But this wasn't the time to start talking about politics of his world, the tragedies that plagued them and decimated his people.
The wounds that would never heal and the reason why he was here, the one thing he would sacrifice everything for.
That he would give up her for.]
Fun? I have to admit, I never really thought the ocean in those terms. I never liked water all that much.
no subject
[And he does know to take Earth-folks' proclamations with a pinch of salt, especially since a few of them seem to come from different versions of the same place somehow. But it's likely true that some of the things they profess to be fact are not fact. Nobody knows everything about entire planets, no matter how many years they spent living on one. He wouldn't claim to know everything about his own, after all, and he's met plenty of well-intentioned but ignorant folks back home.]
Never liked water, though? Really? [He's clearly puzzled, with an eyebrow arched under his drifting bangs, and his head tilted in slight skepticism.]
Not to say you can't like or dislike whatever you want, but I guess it's such a constant back home it's hard to imagine someone not caring about it. It's like... not liking land much. Or not liking air.
[But the smile growing on his face shows that yes, he's aware it's not exactly the same thing, and maybe he's poking just a bit of fun.]
no subject
[Steering away from Ravka legends and the false stories paraded around like truths. Away from the cold water of a Fjerdan lake and Annika.]
This is... better than I expected it to be.
[Mirroring Rosi's smile, he shakes his head.] Not by much, granted. But, a little better.
Have you always like water?
no subject
The question continues to be the amusing sort, but he's not laughing, just smiling. It's been made abundantly clear how different his world is from the rest.]
I come from an island, just like nearly everyone else in my world. There's more water than land by far. I like water well enough, sure, it's nice to look at, but it's also useful. It's where we find our food, and how we get from place to place.
[Hence why it seems funny to just talk about liking or not liking it. Because it simply is. It's a fact of everyone's lives.]
But, I can't swim, normally. Devil fruit eater, we sink in bodies of water normally. Degar has some powerful magic.
no subject
[As far as curses go, that seems like a particular strange one. Or a bizarre side-effect of indulging in delicious fruits...]
That is... possibly the strangest thing I've heard in a while. [a beat] And I've talked to Newton on the network more than once.
no subject
That's the gist of it. I don't know the science behind it, but something about how the fruit changes our lineage factor reacts badly with still water. Rivers are all right, lakes and oceans and bathtubs aren't.
no subject
[Echoing the laugh, but for a different reason. Because laughing builds and emotions are contagious and he needs--
allies.
Even if talking about Newton brings none of the guilt some people wanted him to feel.]
... when you were told that rivers were safe, did you believe it at first?
no subject
I was told by someone I trusted completely, but even so, I remember just barely dipping my toe in at first. It was slow-moving and not too cold, just right for a swim in summer, but it took a few minutes to want to go all the way in. Can't have been more than ten, I guess. It's funny how something as simple as that can form some really clear memories.
no subject
[Thirteen years old, and watching his first and only friend freeze the lake around him. Her near-silent footsteps on the ice and the heavy rock in her cold hands before she sent it crashing against his skull.]
I don't think I'll ever start to like water like this. Showers and tubs are enough for me- [He shrugs, smiling wide as he looks around] When we're not here, of course. A tub under the sea would be silly.
no subject
[Anyway, he shrugs. It's not something he's going to invest a lot of thought into.]
Point is, I'm sure these folks are smart. They've probably been here long enough to figure all sorts of clever things out. They might even know all about the sun, and have a festival for the light anyway out of tradition.
[Which brings them back to Kirigan's original question, and that's Rosinante's point. They're surely no more primitive or ignorant than any of the folks on the Ximilia, especially within the context of their sea. They have lights that work down here, and a really beautiful city, vibrant and thriving.]
no subject
[Bringing around to the traditions of his own world and the wealth of information he's received since boarding the station.] my world doesn't actually know that much about our own sun.
But we celebrate it.
[Since the dawn of time, before written history was possible and the traditions were handed down around the heat of a blazing fire or told in whispers in the dark.]
no subject
[He chuckles a little. He knows how to navigate by stars. Didn't really know the first thing about what they are, though. It's not that he wasn't curious, it's just not easy information to get, in his experience. But probably astronomers must know the basics now, surely. Right?]
Turns out we go around stars, instead of the sun going around us. Really cements how important they are, right? They're the things keeping us anchored in all that black.
no subject
[The moon celebrated in the dark woods, naked bodies dancing to the light of the full moon and the glittering of distant stars. The music flowing like wine under the canopy of leaves.]
We've named ours after the saints that used to walk the land. Perhaps we know, even if we don't actually know, that the stars are bigger than us. Older.
[With a flick of his tail, the Darkling smiles.] This is lovely, but I need to hit the market before all the good fruits are gone.
no subject
[Try not to get KOed by city leaders, in other words. He gives a wave of his own before parting.]