![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ximilian) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
ximilialog2023-03-05 08:28 pm
- ! event log,
- ace attorney: yujin mikotoba,
- adventure time: finn mertens,
- adventure time: jake the dog,
- alice in borderland: shuntaro chishiya,
- countdown to countdown: iris black,
- grishaverse: the darkling,
- gundam seed/destiny: yzak jule,
- justified: tim gutterson,
- mcu: yelena belova,
- mobile suit gundam: garma zabi,
- red vs blue: felix,
- star wars: cal kestis,
- star wars: cassian andor,
- star wars: finn,
- star wars: jyn erso,
- star wars: obi-wan kenobi,
- the 100: clarke griffin,
- the old guard: andromache,
- the witcher: cirilla fiona elen riannon,
- the witcher: yennefer of vengerberg,
- transformers: minimus ambus,
- yakuza: zhao tianyou
MISSION: THE BIG ONE
● ● ● M I S S I O N 1 2 . 0
You may be minding your business that day, going about your daily routines, or perhaps you happen to be participating in other gathered festivities occurring around the station — whatever it is, the ping from your earpiece is a sharp sound that interrupts the goings-on, and it is immediately followed by Viveca’s hurried voice:
She pauses, as if to gather herself, before continuing.
With this sudden and alarming news weighing on your shoulders, you have no other option but to go and collect your things as quickly as possible, and hurry to the center of the station as soon as you can.
There, both Viveca and Degar are waiting, both looking like they’ve spent the last twenty minutes frantically preparing the station for send-off. As soon as everyone has gathered around and the hum of the platform starts to grow louder, Viveca takes a step forward.
One might think that a sentiment like that goes without saying… but with this team, you never know.
That’s all you will hear before the pull of the teleportation whisks you away — for a moment, you hang in the nothingness between universes, suspended in what feels like air; in your ears, you hear the whisper of a voice, telling you what you must do…
And then, with a curious sensation like being compressed on all sides, you finally land either feet or face first in cold, damp moss.
Welcome to Ciraiwei.
The moment you pull in your first breath your lungs fill with the fragrant scent of flowers and the earthy musk of dirt and grass and moss. It smells like a world untouched by synthetic or humanoid-made materials, like something pure and rooted in the very planet itself. Keep following the dirt-beaten path before you and you’ll eventually wander into a large clearing with numerous small huts sporadically spread across moss and deep green foliage and lush undergrowth. The sound of chatter and the feeling of anticipation by the settlement’s citizens for your arrival can be felt from all corners of the clearing. Smaller Hivawei children cluster behind plant stumps and tables to peer at you. Without hesitation, a friendly face or two (or three) will approach, waving a hand to beckon you forward and usher you into the settlement. There is so much to discuss.
1.0 The arrangement made between the Hivawei and the station means that the people here have expected your arrival and have made great efforts to roll out the red carpet as it were. All manner of the Hivawei have already congregated here — including those from the neighbouring Yenat, Seriw, and Ciarv settlements — for the Springs End celebrations. At your curious, confused, or blank expressions, one of the Hivawei will excitedly sidle up to you and explain the gist of it. Taking place in Hivawa’s Meeting Spot is the O’sumgann: a celebration to express gratitude for the closure of one season while also welcoming the next. There is a bounty of harvest foods to eat and drink, and a grand dance in the clearing under the moonlight that welcomes all settlements to mingle with each other before a new season of hard work arrives. And it is a blessing that this summer brings with it new guests, they will say, because this hasn’t happened to them before. With the longer days and shorter nights, this may also mean more hands to help with the work. It’s very exciting.
You might wander around the space, speaking with locals and poking a finger at some of the interesting foodstuffs laid out over long banquet tables. These tables are made from strongly woven twigs and twine, and are covered by tablecloths crafted from the petals of the robust lamawei plant, which have been known to stand the test against the elements of all seasons. A platform has been set-up near one end of the area and a hunched over, slightly wrinkled Hivawei with a faded maroon cap (unspotted) hobbles his way up to take his place. The Chieftain of Ciraiwei, Yerek, waves his free hand, the other grounding him with his cane, and the congregation, including you, slowly quiets to listen to him speak. Without having to demand it the populace seem to respect him.
Another season passes us and another season arrives, and with it brings us a hard-earned bounty we have all worked hard for. This celebration tonight, like all O’sumgann celebrations of the past, is a time to mark our accomplishments and to propel us into the new season ahead! Our best season to come in my humble opinion, heh-heh, as the light has never been brighter on us!
But nevertheless! Tonight brings us not only good food and good drink, and a dance later — in which I expect to see you young ones in the clearing! — but tonight we must also open our tables and our hearts to our guests who have come to us from the Sciences to learn our ways and our homes. Please say hello when you have a moment.
So let us celebrate tonight because tomorrow is a new day that we fill with hard work. We thank Our Mother Light and begin anew. Now, have fun!
2.0 It’s clear that the O’sumgann is on the forefront of everyone’s mind here, but that isn’t the only thing to explore or investigate. For those who wander away from the clearing, you’ll find that daily life for the Hivawei still continues without a hitch. Moving past the festively decorated set-up brings you further into the Hivawa. On this flat forest floor covered in leaves and short grasses is an established marketplace area where several Hivawei are trading their wares, busily at work turning fiber into cloth, grasses into usable ingredients, transferring dew into stored tanks, and collecting seeds into storage to make way for a new season’s harvest. Here you’ll find plenty of places to support the Hivawei economy through eateries and shops.
While many of the Hivawei who reside in Hivawa prefer a dew-drop diet, there will be a number of different food-things to accommodate their guests. Try delicious seed salads, finely churned hot grain stews, grass blade-wrapped onigiri filled with ground nuts and rice-meal, or refreshing dew-drop beverages in several flavours dependent on its sourced location. Some have a more floral after-taste; others can be made sweet with a flavoured nectar infusion, and an addition of tiny little chewy rice-grain spheres for something different. Try perusing accessory shops for fiber-cloth shawls and scarves, little necklaces made from carved sawdust and whittled wood-scrap, or rings made from twine and empty seed pods shined to a fine polish and varnished to show off their glossiest side. During this season only, in celebration of the O’sumgann, one might also find shards of dried lamawei being sold in jewelry or find fine tapestries and rugs painted with the shape of the lamawei plant.
It is important to remember that the Hivawei trade in labour here, so any item you purchase, and any food you eat will be traded with minutes to hours to days worth of what skill you might be able to offer.
Afterwards, take your meal to go and wander towards the landing space for travellers — if you stay awhile to watch, you’ll notice all manner of incoming guests from the different settlements arrive, either on the wings of a moomytt or a hopiat, not unlike a helipad.
And if you feel the need for a little rest, there are patches of sun-dappled grass to nap beneath, and if you’d rather seek a little more shelter and privacy, the Hivawei have kindly offered several empty huts to be used as sleeping quarters for the Sciences to use while they stay here. They are each outfitted with soft feathered beds and pillows on bedframes made of sturdy sticks and twigs. Small walnut-shaped pools of water may be used as mirrors or for washing up (or both).
3.0 [ CW: DRUG USE ] As the moon slowly rises over the leaves of the trees that surround the settlement of Hivawa, the air of excitement nearly becomes palpable. Most of the marketplace has now been closed for the day, all manner of citizen congregating to join the others in the Meeting Spot where the O’sumgann is set to begin. A band of five Hivawei have already gathered on the platform from earlier, assembling their instruments to begin playing music. It’s a twangy, folksy sound that comes from the stringed and wind and soft-percussion instruments, with melodies that invoke images of close communities and feelings about a home that they’ve built. They will sometimes sing of the fields and the rain, and of the sun and moon, and the passing of seasons. There is a song about their Mother of Light and the good luck that she brings. Many of the Hivawei from the other settlements will move towards the dance floor to mingle with each other. Perhaps this is your moment to join them, or to join your fellow orber in a dance.
There will be food and drink provided here as well, not dissimilar from the menu offered in the marketplace. Salads, grains, heated stews, and multi-flavoured dew-drop drinks and desserts are on offer here. There is plenty of food and drink to go around, and the Hivawei are very generous — don’t be surprised if they try to offer you seconds or thirds.
In addition to the food and drink, any of the adult orbers might visit a speciality booth near the end of the long tables where one can try smoking a potent but very pleasantly-scented dried herb through a single-stemmed waterpipe. When inhaled, this will evoke feelings of happiness, calm, and euphoria. Colour and sound will seem more vibrant than ever. These effects will last for a few hours.
The following morning, as the Orbers awake to a new and normal day among the Hivawei, they may hear the pulsing thrum of an internal clock ticking in the back of their minds — in the whirlwind of their arrival and the excitement from the O’sumgann celebrations, it may have been easy to forget about the information that they hold of this planet’s impending doom. Nine days remain, and in those nine days the orb must be found and removed from the planet … so it’s imperative now to go and explore.
4.0 The settlement of Yenat is half a day’s travel on foot, but luckily you may ask to hitch a ride off of a moomytt’s back, or if the wind is in your favour, grab an asquerla leaf and enjoy wind-gliding. Soon, you will smell it when the air clears and the humidity increases, a unique settlement made from different terrain: large, round leaves float on top of the water, sturdy and large enough to support the houses and huts built atop them.
Once you have landed you will find that Winet is ready for visitors as well.
5.0 A few hours’ flight in the opposing direction from Hivawa will take you to the dual settlements of Seriw and Ciarv. In the former, you will find a sprawling network of tunnels built into the roots of the large trees that make up the latter settlement; the tunnels break off into small holes of their own, each furnished with moss on the floors, and a single, faintly glowing dried flower petal affixed to the ceiling, to illuminate the rooms in the absence of sunlight. But be careful, because it is not only the Hivawei you may encounter underground, but also the shrofox, a creature known to burrow into the tunnels in search of food — and while it consumes mainly the different types of fungi found underground, sometimes it mistakes the Hivawei (and perhaps you, too!) for something edible.
Outside the tunnels, you may come across clusters of luminary nightbells as you climb up the neatly-laid wooden stairs that will take you higher into the trees and the flat wooden landings built there. The settlement of Ciarv blends seamlessly into the branches, the foliage from the trees providing a natural roof for the landings, while the vines of greuin, a plant that droops from the branches of these trees in perfect symbiosis, have been entwined to create curtains around some of the landings and act as walls while also providing privacy.
If you’re afraid of heights, the Ciarv settlement may not be for you, but for those who delight in tree climbing, there will be much to see — not least when you crest above the canopy you’ll find the leaves that have been exposed to sunlight have turned reflective, glittering in all the colours of the rainbow as the sun’s rays hit them now. The sight is enough to leave you breathless… at least until you're reminded of the heat from the sun, and then it'll be best to duck back underneath the foliage to cool off.
6.0 However, there is much more to see if you leave the settlements and set out into the wilderness that covers most of Ciraiwei’s surface. North of Hivawa, there is a large meadow with grass swaying high above you, and the scent of fragrant flowers blooming underneath the sun’s watchful eye is enough to make you feel light-headed for a moment. Then from one of the flowers there’s a shriek — if you glance up, you’ll see a pair of bright eyes in the middle of a pink flower-like face peering down at you.
7.0 Past the Ciarv and Seriw settlements is the start of the vast forestland that goes on and on for miles, turning darker the further in you go. In the forest, growing in eerie groups underneath particularly heavy foliage, one may find ausarta gast — if you believe as the Hivawei do that seeing their blood-like weeping is bad luck… it might be a good idea to turn back. But if you’re not daunted by the sight and decide to keep going, you’ll find that as the forest grows thicker, so it becomes more difficult for you to climb over the slippery, gnarled roots, and push your way through the underbush.
There are other dangers, too: when you make it far enough, you may come across mortkensoom: a gruesome sight of decomposing victims make up its base, while the rhizomorphs crawl across the forest floor in search of victims… and it may have decided that you’ll be its next one.
You may also come across another less-than-desirable sight, that of Arnyek broodgrubs. If you sneak past a nest you may get off scot-free, but if there are more of you, especially making sounds they consider to be a threat, well — hopefully you have something to cover yourself with, or at least water to wash the acid substance from you before it eats away at your flesh.
However, it isn't only unpleasant sights that you might come across deep in these woods: there are many beautiful plants with enchanting flowers that can be observed even in the darkness under the trees. You may even spot a familiar-looking adventurer traipsing through the forest …
8.0 While the weather is generally favourable, the sun hanging at its highest point in the bright blue sky, and the climate like a warm blanket, there is one particular day that sees rain clouds pass over Ciraiwei, along with booming thunder and bright flashes of lightning that seem to crack said sky in half. The storm might pass quickly, but with raindrops the size of your head it is a dangerous time to be out and about with risk of drowning, not to mention being anywhere near a lightning strike.
But if you venture out after the storm has passed, you may get really, really lucky and happen upon a rare sight: with a soft glow around its silhouette, a deer-like creature known as a Heisharu seems almost more like a spirit than any corporeal beast. But if you’ve got some fruit with you, why not try to see if you can lure it close enough to try and ride it?
After spending some time within the settlement, ‘collecting samples’ and learning the Hivawei’s culture, you might begin to notice a few things in particular that stand out. There are more conversations about the lengths of the days and the shortness of the nights, the brightness of the sunlight (what a blessing!), and the way that many of the blooms that they had been expecting to grow months into the summer are already beginning to sprout. The Hivawei consider this a sign of a very, very bountiful season, but something inside you knows that there may be more to it than that.
Tick tock, tick tock.
9.0 During midday in the midst of your task, whether you are still within the settlement or exploring the land just outside of Hivawa, you might look up into the sky and notice that the blue is conspicuously absent: instead, it seems as if the sun’s brightness has spread across the entire skyline. The light seems almost too bright. If you are with a local, they might make a comment about the summer being warm and particularly prickly in recent seasons, and today of all days it seems especially hot. But they chuckle it off with an optimistic shrug, their comment accompanied by a shell-cup filled to the brim with cool and refreshing dew placed in your hands.
10.0 As the day slowly shifts into evening, it becomes unmistakable by the way the late hour does not reflect the amount of light still in the sky. You may contact your fellow Orbers by way of communications devices, or perhaps you’ll bump into a teammate along your trek — no matter the method, you and the rest of your team will need to gather together somewhere and decide your next move. There isn’t very much time left, and the clock continues to tick down the seconds.
F Y I
• If you have questions about any of the prompts or the mission in general, please direct them HERE.
• To explore a specific location or speak to any of the NPCs, please submit your search request HERE.
• And finally, your soundtrack for this log: ♪ ♪ ♪
no subject
He nods. ]
Fine.
[ The group they approach is cheerful and more than inviting, already throwing out suggestions on what to opt for them to try. Some like the sweeter smelling ones, but there are options for slightly more subdued ones if that's the preference! One smacks Minimus on the back with a laugh and an approval once he makes his choice, and hey, he'll even join him and have the same!
Yzak opts for a less sweet one himself. ]
no subject
He reclines on the backrest and takes in a deep draw. Despite the big hit he took, Minimus doesn't look like he's going to cough anytime soon. It's the mix of practice and mechanical insides.]
I don't recognize the flavor. Is this a fruit? [No, it's a blend of flowers! So say the group around them. It's an elegant mix of herbs and young flower petals that give it a mature but tasty feel.] I like it.
no subject
He lets out a small noise of consideration as he exhales. ]
Mm, it's not bad.
[ He agrees. The citizens around them seem pleased that they have new friends to chat with.
And shortly enough, things get a little more comfortable in the atmosphere around them. Stories are shared (Yzak still has his datapad with him which he refers to at times since he is still ever on top of the mission), jokes are made, and it's thanks to both them and their bit of indulgence that Yzak actually smiles at them, amused. ]
no subject
After he's relaxed and Yzak has found himself smiling does he start up a conversation:] I've always wanted to try something like this, but I never knew the right people. That, or I didn't try to find them.
[It's nice, actually. Being relaxed is actually nice.]
no subject
Did he really just think that... he sure did, accompanied by a soft little snort from his nose. ]
You have? [ He leans back in his chair, thoughtful. ] I can't say I ever. [ The occasional drink? Sure. And even then, he doesn't indulge much. Especially on a mission. ]
None of your comrades were ever interested?
[ Like look, Drift looks like he'd be into this. ]
no subject
[He takes another puff of the pipe.]
The Noble Houses don't encourage this sort of behavior at home. Out of the eyes of the higher classes, of course, but that requires knowing the right people. I didn't...network properly for that to happen. I was too busy studying.
no subject
no subject
[He pauses. It doesn't matter what he transforms into, not billions of miles away in another universe. No one here lived through Functionism. Cybertronians are simply Cybertronians. Where has that hesitancy gone? With the smoke? His eyes trace imaginary lines in the sky.
It's easy to speak freely.]My brother and I transform into beasts. The Senate doesn't think highly of beasts. That's why I wear additional armor on the ship. It's safer than drawing attention to myself.
no subject
You keep that a secret from them. [ Yzak's learned this and that about the world Minimus comes from. It's impossible not to have, given how long he's been here and how many others from that world have been here. They've spoken of wars between them, but he's never heard of 'beasts' before. ]
What's their problem with them?
no subject
[Reminiscing about the old days is irritating his mind and threatening to break the calm that came over him. Minimus waves for the pipe to be handed to him, and he takes another hit before the frustration of his brother-in-law's situation ruins his afternoon.]
There were entire classes deemed worthless, beastformers being one of them. Most escaped to colonies, but I was born after the majority left. My brother was able to get several laws passed to address these issues, but that never fixes everything.
no subject
[ He lets out a small sigh, but it's emphatic. Because from just that bit of explanation, he realizes that he and Minimus have some things in common. ]
And the ones with the most extreme views, they'll do their best to worm their way into their own government to control as much as they can. It was the same bullshit song and dance where I'm from, which is why my people primarily live off the planet and on the nearby space colonies.
no subject
...It's why I became a lawyer, in a sense. I wanted to do something, even if it would never reach the scale of my brother's work. [Sure didn't stop the war.] Perhaps it would have been safer if we both left, but we were nobles. We had everything on Cybertron.
no subject
But that seems to be a common thread in many places.
And the 'safer' route usually doesn't yield any results or change But you clearly know that judging by your actions - they're what I'd take and have taken, too!
no subject
...I mean it in the literal sense. We visited that parallel universe. Have you ever experienced such a thing?
no subject
[ He can't help but balk a bit at the thought. An answer in itself though he still replies. ]
Not in the least.
no subject