Day 6: "Monster Arrival"

[wizardseason]

Afternoon: 12:00noon - Evening

[ IRL Timeframe: November 13th - November 20th December 4th, 2019 ]

Following the events of the morning, with the Wizard and Protector locked in a heated duel, Gyre has paved forward with his plan to gather all the heroes to show them something. Be proud of him, he texted EVERYONE!

The fight between the two powerful entities continues, they won’t be joining anyone just yet. Sxicq, meanwhile, is… somewhere. No one really kept tabs on them, even social media has lost sight of them.

Monster Arrival: Far Haven: No one! Six is preparing to “arrive” in the evening.

---

The Weather

• Clear with a few clouds.
• 52°F / 11°C
• Bring your heater, the chill continues!

---

Prompts:

• 12:30pm Mounain, General Post:
  
  I.
  Gyre arrives early to the main hiking trail at the base of the mountain. There’s a big sign advertising where it starts, and he sits against one of the legs of the sign. His legs are neatly folded, his arms crossed over his chest. As people begin to arrive, he greets each of them, standing after a second or third has arrived.
  
  Once they’re all gathered, he raises a hand to get everyone’s attention. “Is this everyone?” he asks, clearly counting heads. A flicker of angst crosses his face as he realizes how much smaller they look without Rory and Web and Gail. As he counts, he realizes Zafika and Joanna are missing as well. He wasn’t able to talk to either of them, so he supposes he’s not surprised, but there is a little bubbling concern in his chest. He’ll have to address it later.
  
  He waves at the lot of them once he’s done counting, gesturing for them to follow, “We’re going to the top. I’m going to move quickly so we can get back down before dark. If you need help, ask me. Rely on each other,” is all he says before he turns and heads up the trail.
  
  The ground is worn enough to make the climb relatively easy, but it’s still climbing a mountain. How is everyone taking it? It’s a long trip. There’s time to catch up now that they’re all together again.
  
  II.
  This is the top of the mountain. When the heroes arrive, they’ll find Five and Ten seated at a small foldable table playing cards. Five is wearing jeans and a black hoodie with a computer error screen printed on it. She looks at the group of heroes arriving, giving a small wave once she’s seen some familiar faces-- but she immediately moves to hide behind Ten when she sees Luka.
  
  Ten, meanwhile, is wearing a shirt with a picture of himself wearing a shirt with a picture of himself wearing a shirt-- you get the idea. How did he pull that off? The shirt is printed with a picture of him here, on the top of the mountain, outside this cliff door. Did he plan for this? He gives a wave at the group, greeting them with a Microsoft Sam voiced phone message:
  
  “All around me are familiar faces. Ha ha, hello.”
  
  Did he just reference a song? He definitely did. That was definitely “Mad World” by Jary Gules.
  


• 12:30pm Onward: Mountain, The Mountain Cave Entrance:
  
  When the heroes decide to descend into the cavern, what they’ll find is a strangely winding corridor that’s barely lit at all. The ceiling is rarely higher than six feet, sometimes shrinking down to four feet and even three feet near the bottom, and most of its length is only wide enough for two people to fit through. The floor is slick with water, the slope of it acting as the perfect place for water to drain into from above. This means the descent is cramped, dark, and slightly slippery.
  
  Good luck, heroes.
  
  The corridor suddenly opens up at the bottom into a wide-open cavern, the walls spreading out too far in every direction and disappearing into the darkness of the cavern. The walkway into the space narrows as it crosses over a massive pit that surrounds a central circular platform. There aren’t any other walkways leading to the middle.
  
  The circular platform in the center has twenty-seven metal rings that make up the floor, smaller ones in the middle surrounded by one massive ring around the outside. It'd take a lot of counting to see the 27 rings but, believe me, they're there. What the heroes will be able to spot, though, is that a few of the rings on the floor are rotating very, very slowly. It would be easy to miss, but once noticed it’s clear that there are exactly ten rings moving and seventeen that are not.
  
  Surrounding the center platform are twenty-seven raised platforms in a big circle around the center. Floating above four in a row are bright yellow blobs with one, two, and three eyes respectively. The fourth and fifth have the slain bodies of Four and Five. Four is wearing the game show garb they’d worn on the day of their games. Five is wearing a set of heavy black robes, not the assassin garb she’d worn on her day. The other side has five occupied platforms each with knights floating in them. Web, with Aqrisqi floating above them. Rory, with Sefaq floating above her. Gail, with Giqra floating above him. Joanna, with Fius floating above her. Zafika, with Muraj floating above them.
  
  Wait. When were Joanna and Zafika defeated? Both of them have a single red mark above where their hearts are like they’d each been stabbed with a blade.
  
  Five and Ten have followed everyone down to this room, looks like they’ll be able to answer questions… maybe? But everyone knows that neither the Wizard nor the Protector will be here, they’re still fighting up on the island’s beach.

---

Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

---

Activity Check: November 2019

[ IRL Timeframe: November 1st - November 31st, 2019 ]

Comments

12:30pm Mounain, General Post:

[sustainer]

I.
Gyre arrives early to the main hiking trail at the base of the mountain. There’s a big sign advertising where it starts, and he sits against one of the legs of the sign. His legs are neatly folded, his arms crossed over his chest. As people begin to arrive, he greets each of them, standing after the second or third has arrived.

Once they’re all gathered, he raises a hand to get everyone’s attention. “Is this everyone?” he asks, clearly counting heads. A flicker of angst crosses his face as he realizes how much smaller they look without Rory and Web and Gail. As he counts, he notices Zafika and Joanna are missing as well. He wasn’t able to talk to either of them, so he supposes he’s not surprised, but there is a little bubbling concern in his chest. He’ll have to address it later.

He waves at the lot of them once he’s done counting, gesturing for them to follow, “We’re going to the top. I’m going to move quickly so we can get back down before dark. If you need help, ask me. Rely on each other,” is all he says before he turns and heads up the trail.

The ground is worn enough to make the climb relatively easy, but it’s still climbing a mountain. How is everyone taking it? It’s a long trip. There’s time to catch up now that they’re all together again.

II.
This is the top of the mountain. When the heroes arrive, they’ll find Five and Ten seated at a small foldable table playing cards. Five is wearing jeans and a black hoodie with a computer error screen printed on it. She looks at the group of heroes arriving, giving a small wave once she’s seen some familiar faces-- but she immediately moves to hide behind Ten when she sees Luka.

Ten, meanwhile, is wearing a shirt with a picture of himself wearing a shirt with a picture of himself wearing a shirt-- you get the idea. How did he pull that off? The shirt is printed with a picture of him here, on the top of the mountain, outside this cliff door. Did he plan for this? He gives a wave at the group, greeting them with a Microsoft Sam voiced phone message:

“All around me are familiar faces. Ha ha, hello.”

Did he just reference a song? He definitely did. That was definitely “Mad World” by Jary Gules.


[This is a place to mingle freely while everyone climbs. One-on-one threads or smaller groups, whatever you wanna do. Here’s the place to catch your character up on a week of stuff]

I. & II. Gyre -> Anyone

[sustainer]

Gyre takes the lead up the mountain, keeping them moving fast. He’ll take breaks occasionally, but he’s clearly a man on a mission. Mostly he’s up front, a few feet ahead of everyone so he can keep an eye on the path, moving fallen branches out of the way, and calling out difficult spots as they move.

Every now and then though, on the easier bits of the trail, he falls back, moving to check on each person individually, “How are you doing?” or, “Do you need a break?” or even just, “It’s good to see you here.”

He’ll also slow down a little if someone breaks from the path to come talk to him. He’s really just trying to keep everyone working together at this point.

I.

[disguiseself]

Yo. [Olivia had easily made her way up to the front of the group as Gyre lead them, catching up and walking alongside him with her hands in her hoodie's pocket. She wonders whether she should mention the Luka face-punching, or the monster-sympathizing, or perhaps the walking corpse rumors. Maybe she could just congratulate him on successfully learning the mysterious ways of the cellphone.] You've been busy.

What's at the top, then?

II. Ten -> Gyre

[wizardseason]

There are some knights that Ten has met a lot, some not at all, and then there's knights like Gyre that the other monsters have met and commented about but he hasn't had a moment to really touch base at all.

But the big question was how he was supposed to start a conversation when he'd just arrived with the entire crew. He decides on the simplest solution, which is:

"Are you hungry" Comes the robotic voice of microsoft sam.

And he's holding out a stick of dried jerky. Five had said that would probably work.

[sustainer]

Gyre jumps a little at the mechanical voice, looking around first for Seth before thinking to look down. When he sees Ten, his face brightens a bit. He's been looking for this dude!

"Hey, uh, oh... sure," he says, taking the piece of jerky. He looks at it for a moment, considering whether this is good jerky or the insanely salty shit that normally gets sold to these people. "I haven't seen you for a bit. You're talking now?"

I -> open to all

[scandeled]

As soon as Gyre mentions meeting at the top, Matilda’s fucking gone. Literally. She vanishes from where she’s sounding with a pop, and is gone for only a few minutes before she’s back, looking cross.

“Exercise is good for a young lady!” She snaps, asserting her well being over the fact that she just didn’t want to hang out alone with the monsters at the top for a long stretch of time. No matter how unsuited her current outfit may be for hiking.

[eutychia]

Hey, same hat! Luka is similarly dressed unsuitably for a mountain hike, and he even knew beforehand that they'd be climbing the mountain. The best he could do was not wear high heels or platforms, the rest was non-negotiable.

"This kind of exercise though?" He responds, baffled as to why one would choose to do this when they could blink to the top instantly instead. "This is... dirty, sweaty, and there's bugs. Not glamorous exercise at all."

I. Luka -> Anyone

[eutychia]

Luka had been in as good a mood as any when he'd arrived at the base of the mountain. He'd just had an interesting morning meeting Six at the hospital and dining with the elusive Sxicq, and the prospect of reuniting with the remaining Knights was something to look forward to as well.

But then the reality of climbing this godforsaken mountain sets in (that is to say, about four or five minutes into their ascension) and Luka's mood is soured.

"You know," he says aloud to no one in particular. He's nearing the back of the group, slower than average as he attempts to navigate the uneven terrain unaided. "We really ought to have a better mode of transportation up this thing if we have to keep coming here. I'm thinking... a ski-lift?"

[fop_lop]

"Right? You'd think they'd have laid some kind of transportation infrastructure here already over the years considering," Terrence commiserates. "Then again, this is also probably one of the most battle damage-prone places on the entire island, so..."

The young CEO isn't much further ahead. He's certainly better dressed for the occasion at least, wearing something akin to the workout clothes he'd donned for the impromptu training session on the second morning. Terrence is in good shape, but it's plain that mountain hiking isn't his idea of a good time.

An idea suddenly occurs to the Rabbit Knight that he offers up, "I could probably make the ascent a bit less arduous if you'd like. My power is proving to be rather handy even outside of combat!"

[daddykong]

Garrot is absolutely bouncing between the middle and back of the group, since he can leverage his strength to help people and keep an eye out for injuries. But Luka's wisecracking? It's absolutely made this hike worth it. When he went up a few days ago, he was with Zafika who... temporarily exploded. And then he had to go down after getting blown up. So he's pretty familiar with the mountain, but... unhappy with it.

"Right?!" He's incredulous, stifling a laugh. "It's been like forty years and nobody thought to do more than some trails?" The laugh leaks through, and Garrot consciously slows his pace so he's in close next to Luka. He chuckles again to announce his presence, and also because-

"If Your Majesty would like a personal ski lift, the Monkey Knight would be truly delighted to oblige." Garrot's making a joke in this stodgy, cultured tone that sounds rehearsed enough that he has to use it for something else. Is it a doctor voice? Boardroom? Black-tie gala?! But then he devolves into sputtering laughter and sighs, shaking his head.

"Seriously, how are you holding up?" The Monkey Knight is still wholly willing to help you out, Luka, and that's clear in the serious-but-restrained way he asks that question. And stares at that broken-ass nose.

[silentwords]

Seth spent a lot of time debating if now would be a good moment to try and talk to Luka despite the latter's mood being less than good at the moment, but then he figured, better now than when whatever happens at the top is going on.

So taking a deep breath, he pushes himself to catch up to Luka, while typing away on his phone to start with what he thinks is the most crucial thing right now.

"Hey, um...sorry about well...the whole group chat fiasco. That was...really petty of me to pull in that situation."

II. Luka -> Five

[eutychia]

He liked Ten well enough, but Luka just wasn't sure about monsters waiting for them at the top of the mountain. And when he picks up on Five being there, this awkward feeling only intensifies. Had Gyre invited the monsters, too? For what purpose?

He's quiet for awhile, choosing to listen and observe the general tone of the group. Eventually, he decides to cut to the chase and approaches her.

"If it isn't monster number five in the flesh." He says. "I'll admit I didn't expect to run into you again so soon."

[wizardseason]

Oh HELL no!

Five is immediately on edge when she sees Luka approach, and then he leads with that and--

"What, are you here to take another stab at me?" She asks, her accusation sharp enough to cut. The last time they'd met, he'd tried to kill her after all.

And she didn't want to die up here.

I. & II. Haizea - Anyone

[tropicalstorm]

Honestly, Haizea doesn't have much experience with mountain climbing. The city she grew up in was basically at sea level, hardly any steep hills even. So while she's absolutely physically fit enough to deal with mountain climbing, every now and then she loses her footing a bit, not used to climbing up such steep, uneven terrain.

"Fuck, shit," she curses under her breath as her boots slide down a particularly sandy part of the trail. She's not fully tripped yet, but it's been a near thing. "Guess these boots are made for walkin', but not so much for climbin'," she mutters to herself.

I

[daddykong]

"Careful, now." Garrot's voice is deep and calm, playful tone almost like an encouraging parent. He's glad he decided to keep an eye on Haizea on the way up! In fact, his heavy footfalls show he's moved quickly and confidently past her, whirling around only once he's straight in front of half-tripped form. No gloating, no jokes, just a hand coming from someone who clearly has a much better grasp of the trail.

"I thought you liked the sand." There it is. There's the barb. He's still calm, almost gentle as he says it though. At least he's not being an ass.

II. Seth -> Ten

[silentwords]

Oh my god...Ten used text to speech as well!!!???
Seth immeadiately feels validated because suddenly he's not the only one doing that.
Not to mention him referencing a song...
Yeah Seth immediately liked Ten.

So cue him kind of awkwardly and shyly trying to scoot closer to him to chat...while not really knowing what to say.

[wizardseason]

Unfortunately for Seth, the moment that Ten got a phone meant that Ten had about a thousand additional things to be distracted by. So as the group of heroes arrives and mills around, Ten has taken a few moments to pull out his phone and--

Is that Vegetables vs. Mummies? They're playing some kind of farm defense game, idly tapping the screen to make progress. Nine of their eyes are locked on the screen as they tap away to advance their vegetable army.

But one eye is on Seth, keeping tabs on him in case he attacks while he's getting closer. What's his deal?

II. Haizea -> Five and/or Ten

[tropicalstorm]

Previously, Haizea had avoided talking to monsters as much as possible. But that didn't get her anywhere, really, and her talk with Six that morning had gone so well... She walks up to Ten and waves at him and at Five hiding behind him.

"You two along for the ride today? Don't think I've gotten to meet you yet," she pauses, gesturing at Five, before turning to Ten, "but you I remember from the ramen stand. Dunno if you all know our names already, but I'm Haizea," she says extremely casually, as if it's completely normal to introduce yourself to a monster.

Just two days ago she would have been on edge, but now she forces herself to keep her cool. She's got to figure this whole thing out before she makes any moves that can't be taken back.

[wizardseason]

Ten remembers Haizea and gives a small wave with one hand. The other is typing up a quick response on his phone to text-to-speech at Haizea:

"I remember you too. Hi."

Five, on the other hand, glances from Ten's hone to Haizea before asking suspiciously:

"I've heard about you, but hey: Don't get it confused. I chose to be here." She answers, putting both hands on her hips to boast about that.

12:30pm Onward: Mountain, The Mountain Cave Entrance:

[wizardseason]

When the heroes decide to descend into the cavern, what they’ll find is a strangely winding corridor that’s barely lit at all. The ceiling is rarely higher than six feet, sometimes shrinking down to four feet and even three feet near the bottom, and most of its length is only wide enough for two people to fit through. The floor is slick with water, the slope of it acting as the perfect place for water to drain into from above. This means the descent is cramped, dark, and slightly slippery.

Good luck, heroes.

The corridor suddenly opens up at the bottom into a wide-open cavern, the walls spreading out too far in every direction and disappearing into the darkness of the cavern. The walkway into the space narrows as it crosses over a massive pit that surrounds a central circular platform. There aren’t any other walkways leading to the middle.

The circular platform in the center has twenty-seven metal rings that make up the floor, smaller ones in the middle surrounded by one massive ring around the outside. It'd take a lot of counting to see the 27 rings but, believe me, they're there. What the heroes will be able to spot, though, is that a few of the rings on the floor are rotating very, very slowly. It would be easy to miss, but once noticed it’s clear that there are exactly ten rings moving and seventeen that are not.

Surrounding the center platform are twenty-seven raised platforms in a big circle around the center. Floating above four in a row are bright yellow blobs with one, two, and three eyes respectively. The fourth and fifth have the slain bodies of Four and Five. Four is wearing the game show garb they’d worn on the day of their games. Five is wearing a set of heavy black robes, not the assassin garb she’d worn on her day. The other side has five occupied platforms each with knights floating in them. Web, with Aqrisqi floating above them. Rory, with Sefaq floating above her. Gail, with Giqra floating above him. Joanna, with Fius floating above her. Zafika, with Muraj floating above them.

Wait. When were Joanna and Zafika defeated? Both of them have a single red mark above where their hearts are like they’d each been stabbed with a blade.

Five and Ten have followed everyone down to this room, looks like they’ll be able to answer questions… maybe? But everyone knows that neither the Wizard nor the Protector will be here, they’re still fighting up on the island’s beach.

open

[scandeled]

This room.

This room is awful. It would be awful enough if it weren't for the fact that she slipped and fell right on her bottom in the stupid passageway- her clothes and perfect white gloves are both dirty. But to stand in the middle, with everyone else like this... And-- Rory, Gail, Zafika. She hates this room. She wants her friends down here, with her. She wants more than anything to teleport away from here, but she can't, not with everyone else in the same awful place.

She's never been one to hold back on her sorrow. It shouldn't be too surprising to hear the weeping that's coming from her. This was all supposed to be an adventure- pretend. It's become all too real.

Open

[silentwords]

Seth is a mixed bag of sorrow, misery and a burning desire to know what the fuck is going on.

He had barely met Web, but the rest he'd interacted with properly and they'd all been so nice to him...especially Zafika. Seeing them there is painful shock, like someone had just stabbed him with a knife.

He doesn't make a sound because he can't, as there are tears falling down his face, that otherwise looks strangely unaffected. It's a strange look for sure. Like he wants to bawl his eyes out but doesn't know how?

Shakily, he types without looking: "What thhe actual hell?"

Open (?)

[eutychia]

If Luka had thought ascending the mountain was a miserable affair, navigating this cavern was enough to make him miss the simplicity, dryness, and the open air of hiking. Luka manages to keep the majority of his complaints and curses internalized, but no doubt a few slipped out on the way down. Who's idea was it to come here again?!

When the group reaches the wide area containing the platform, Luka breathes an audible sigh of relief. The horrific sight of their allies bodies is spared from him, naturally.

"Is this it?" He asks aloud, to no one in particular. "Please tell me this is it."

But then the reactions of his companions start to come in. Something here was clearly wrong here.

"Hey..." Luka starts, cautiously. "What is it? What's here?"

open?

[sustainer]

This is not what he expected. He's seen some of them before, of course. He's been resigned to the fact a few of them had died already since he first saw this room. He wanted to come here, and explain everything. He wanted everyone to have the same information so they could work together.

Instead, he sees two new bodies there and his eyes snap to Zafika. He takes a deep breath in through his nose, holds it for a moment. His face is completely blank, his eyes only widening very slightly as he takes in what this means. They're dead? They're dead. Five of them are dead and one of them is Zafika.

Without a sound or a comment otherwise, he turns away from the group and walks back up the way they came. He's out of here. There's about thirty seconds to stop him before he's gone.

(Not really private but also not really open..?)

[fop_lop]

In the face of such a grisly scene, Terrence is uncharacteristically cold. Unflappable and coy are normal for him, certainly, but so is empathy most of the time. Even as the others react audibly around him, the rabbit-eared young man seems largely unfazed aside from a mildly sour grimace. While he's not ignoring the others or any attempts to address him, he brushes most communication off with short responses and seems as if he's in a different dimension entirely from the others.

His movements are slow but certain as he steps close to the suspended forms on both sides and gives each individual one a considered look for several seconds. Afterward, he moves on to treat the rings in the floor and the chamber as a whole to the same scrutiny. Meanwhile, he's most certainly listening in on the conversation between Luka and Ten as well as any other tidbits going about the room. Thankfully, he's only taking notes mentally.

Even as everything quiets down and the Princess urges the knights to leave, Terrence is compelled to stick around for a while longer and will likely be the last out if not directly forced. There's something they're supposed to learn here! Even if it's just a warning or misdirection, there's something to be learned from the very fact that was presented to them as well. It's macabre, but he's going to make the most of this trip.