EVENT ★ MAT GATHERING

[futurologists]

The investigations in the sungazing log have lead to a number of discoveries, including trace amounts of solar radiation and seemingly temporary lights in the sky that match no known star charts currently in Chantes. On the 15th, Rick will announce via the verdict over the network: the sun isn’t gone. un: 82736775 Those of you who actually did your job instead of screwing off (and breaking my shit! Yes, I know all about it), congrats. We've made headway on our dumbass situation. The sun isn't gone (obviously). There are radiation levels suggesting that it's still there somewhere, but it's weirdly faint. Concerning item number one. Concerning item number two: there are lights in the sky but they're not native stars. They're red in the west in the morning, and in the east in the evening. This suggests a solar cycle that we just can't observe (with a western sunrise apparently). There are no moons visible; supposedly there should be two. Go figure. The most interesting observations came from the storm, during which the "star" readings went off the charts, dawg. All lit up like Christmas and shit. Hypothesis: the darkness is not because homeboy made anything "vanish with magic," but because he stuck a big "blanket" between the planet and the sky. The "stars" are likely just holes in his dumb bullshit. So let's get this solution rolling so we can get off this godforsaken rock. This is where you losers come in. I need things . . . The mystery of the disappearing sun might be clear, but that doesn’t mean the problem’s solved. Now’s the hard part: creating something that will dispel the darkness. Fortunately, with the right ingredients, science might be able to win the daylight back. All recruits will be encouraged to help with some good, old-fashioned teamwork and fetch quests. SCAVENGER HUNT The list is as follows: Iron ore. Collecting it seems easy enough, but a dangerous serpentine creature capable of breathing electricity known as a Behir lairs nearby. If hungry, it will ambush characters and will not stop unless it succeeds or is slain. Following the rich iron supply, characters will also find a series of winding underground caves and caverns. Inside are items such as glowing cave mushrooms that are likely radioactive. Blue mushrooms maintain their coloring due to a rare solute in the cave water, helpful for optimizing fuel. Green mushrooms are useless and if you collect them you should feel bad. Bat guano. Bats indigenous to the caves also seem to be affected by the contaminated cave water, however -- they’re enormous, blood-sucking, and have developed a mild venom. While one bite won’t kill anyone, the bats have numbers, ultrasonic screeches, and bad tempers. Plutonic rocks. The source of the odd cave life, an ancient scattering of some massive meteorite resides deep inside the cave. They’ve got rich veins and chunks of crystal, the bigger the better. (We’d tell you what these space oddities are for, but we think it’d blow your minds.) Cave Minnows. The fish inside the cave lakes are easy to spot since they’re bioluminescent, but only the small, quick ones metabolize the correct oils for this project. The large ones will simply try to drag you into a death roll the -- surprisingly deep -- waters. Glowworms. See those lights hanging overhead? They’re not bulbs, but bundles of strange, glowing cave worms. Reaching and handling them might be tricky, and keep careful watch of them. They’ll burrow into anything, including your packs, your collected materials, or worst of all, you. Rock salt. Delicious! Potassium nitrate. This one is easier to find in Chantes itself: an old woman in town has a giant jar of it that she uses for pickling. Recruits may attempt to wile her out of a cup, or steal from the elderly. Wildcard. If you don't mind volatile reactions, go ahead and science on your own. Or see anything else that might be useful? Grab it and go. As a side-mission for the cave items, it seems the 15th is also the only day of the year that the night-blooming cereus plants are open around the cavern entrances. These flowers must be handled very delicately or they’ll wither and die, and local insects of all shapes, sizes, and aggressiveness will be drawn to them, so collectors beware. These flowers will have no bearing on the sun solution, but the goblin church will ask outgoing adventurers to bring some back with them. These items may come into play in February depending on IC actions, but otherwise they make for some pretty decorations! And finally, a big thanks to ricksybusiness for submitting their player plot and working with us. You go, Rick Sanchez.

Comments

Hellboy / open

[hellshaped]

OUTSIDE.

[Hellboy spends some time outside some cave mouths, poking around in foliage with a hoof. He may have lost a contact, but more likely he is looking for the cereus plants. He's become friendly with the goblins, and is more than happy to help them out with whatever they may need.

Despite his size, Hellboy is able to handle things delicately with his normal, flesh hand. Using the right hand would just be an exercise in futility, so he instead just holds a jar with it, carefully picking flowers with the left and depositing them in the jar. It's going smoothly until he starts hearing a buzzing in his ears; he assumes it's just a curious bee seeking out the plants, so he waves his hand in the air without looking.

The buzzing doesn't go away, so he finally looks up -- it's not a bee. It's a lot of bees. He is in the middle of an entire swarm of bees.]

Crap.

WE HAVE TO GO DEEPER.

[Inside the caverns, it's not so different from outside. Without a moon or stars, darkness blankets the outside world just as much as inside here. In fact, inside the cave has slightly better visibility -- Hellboy can actually see details for once, courtesy of the strange, glowing fungi on the walls and the floor and the ceiling.

The clacking of his hooves echoes in the cave a little unnervingly; he's usually unaware of the sound his feet make, but having it bounce back to him like that only serve to make him hyper-aware of his own body. It's unsettling.

He has various pouches hanging from his belt for collection purposes:

Blue mushrooms go in the pouch. If he could have wrangled a lead-lined pouch, he would have felt better, but you have to make due with what you got. He also occasionally stoops down to root up green mushrooms -- they're supposedly useless, but if he drops them into a glass jar (also attached to his belt), they make an effective lantern.

Rock salt and plutonic rocks both go in their own respective pouches. The rocks are heavy and he stops every now and then to adjust the pouch, wondering if he could get by easier by carrying it. There may or may not be flapping in the distance that he doesn't notice, too focused on adjusting his samples.

Cave minnows are a little trickier. How is he supposed to collect them? He supposes, as he stands at the edge of a lake, he could dump the green mushrooms and put the fish in the jar. They both glow, after all. He unhooks the jar from his belt and studies it, wondering if the fish need to be alive to be useful.]

GLOW WORMS.
[note: body horror is not my thing so pls no flesh-burrowing.]

[Deeper inside the cave, past the lakes of glowing fish and the very angry, very large bats, there are a few caverns filled with low, luminescent light.]

Wow, [Hellboy murmurs to no one in particular, tilting his head up to watch the lights on the ceiling. Upon closer inspection, he notices that each glowing 'finger' is writhing, and he's stuck somewhere between revulsion and still feeling something close to awe. It's beautiful and strange, and it gives him a familiar chill up his spine. Chantes is weird, but everything has been pretty straightforward so far. The worms are like something from another planet, their existence bringing forth questions he knows don't have an answer.

Gingerly, he reaches up to touch the carpeting of glowing worms.]

worming it up yea

[twinpeak]

[ Just as Hellboy extends a hand to a bundle of the worms, a single word out of disgust echoes off the cavern walls, even as said at normal volume: ]

Ew.

[ And it's... just Dipper, carefully tiptoeing his way into the open space, shoulders hunched. Putting on a much more blatant display of just how creepy he finds the clumps of squirming worms illuminating the area around them, his nose wrinkles as he closes the distance between himself and Hellboy. ]

Are those even safe to touch?

more like you are worming your way into my heart

[hellshaped]

[Hellboy goes still at the question, his hand frozen in the air, fingers outstretched. He was literally just gonna, like, grab a clump of these and see what happened.

Hellboy sometimes has a problem with thinking ahead.

Keeping his hand poised up, he glances over his shoulder as Dipper approaches, the corners of his mouth turning down.]

That's a really good question. How should we find out?

i forgot my blush.... here u go

[twinpeak]

We don't.

[ Dipper doesn't so much as miss a beat. He stops behind Hellboy, giving a cursory scan of the cavern wall in front of them. ]

I was thinking about a less direct approach. Sometimes, the less touching, the better.

[ He'd be more willing if they were simple earthworms, but these things? A bit more creepy looking, and also totally foreign. But the majority of the glowing worm clumps are far above Dipper's reach, as well, which is in part why he's contemplating an idea besides "grab them and shove them into a jar". ]

thank u

[hellshaped]

[Hellboy considers this with a soft exhale, lowering his hand to instead root around in his pockets. He's not really sure what he has in here, but probably nothing remotely resembling a hand net.

He does come up with a grenade, though, and makes a note of its presence before quietly slipping it back in his pocket. Hopefully Dipper didn't see that.]

I don't suppose you have something on you that'll let us not touch anything.

anytime ;o

[twinpeak]

[ Maybe he did see it!! But hey, a grenade is overkill for this situation, even Dipper would tell you that. So, instead: ]

Not quite, but I've got an idea.

[ Kneeling down, Dipper then places his backpack in front of him, taking out a jar and setting it aside. (Definitely the same one from their fairy hunting adventures.) ]

Y'see, when something's out of reach– [ Not that Hellboy would have that issue, but details. ] –instead of getting to it, you make it come to you.

[ Scooping up a rock from the ground with one hand and carrying the jar with the other, Dipper nods his head to the side. ]

Stand back for a sec. I got this.

Cave Minnows

[perma_banned]

[Ban settled by the lakes, looking them over with what looked like disinterest. Nothing in the world seemed to excite him or bring a smile to his face, even when other people seemed fascinated and full of awe when facing it all. He heaved a sigh, turning to leave before spotting Hellboy at another segment of the shore. The minnows were the things casting the most light, so it looked as if patches of those lights were hugging him like the waves of the water, itself.

He walked over to him, his morose expression shifted to the minnows the guy was looking over.

Ban recalled, briefly, calling him a demon and the Hellboy getting angry with him about it. It seemed there were times even Ban could feel a touch of guilt. Nobody asked to be born like this.]

Yo, big guy~.

[hellshaped]

[Footsteps echo inside the caves, so it's difficult for anyone to sneak around. Not that Hellboy is particularly on edge; anything that sounds like normal feet is probably not going to be dangerous. The skittering and weird noises in the dark are what you need to watch out for.

He looks up a little languidly, rolling his shoulder in a bit of a shrug. He remembers Ban and his rude behavior, but he isn't one to hold a grudge.]

Hey. [He jerks his chin toward the water.] I guess I forgot to bring a fishing pole.

[perma_banned]

...Y'know.

[There was nothing at all distressing about Hellboy's presence. There was no cruel or malicious intent wafting off of him.

Ban didn't feel any different looking at him than a normal human being. The red skin--did it even mean anything?

Maybe the shaved down horns meant a lot more. His expression kept fairly serious, while he looked from Hellboy to the water.]

You can catch 'em without a fishing pole. It just takes a little concentration and patience.

[hellshaped]

[Ban's demeanor is considerably less aggressive than the last time they met, and Hellboy can't help but wonder what exactly happened to elicit the change. Is it just the situation? It's a little mellower inside the caves, surrounded by softly glowing things, than when they were breaking into a castle.

The corner of Hellboy's mouth twitches a little as he follows Ban's gaze toward the pool.]

Are you talking hand fishing? Like a bear?

[perma_banned]

[Gentle as a drunk, superpowered kitten, Ban stepped in front of Hellboy, wading calf-deep into the water. He shook out his hands and rolled up his sleeves, nodding at Hellboy's assessment.]

You got it~. Animals figured out how to survive and hunt all by themselves without any of the tools we use.

[He stilled himself, waiting. Because he walked into the water, the minnows would likely distance themselves from him for a moment. Knowing they were aggressive, he expected they would be back, soon.]

In martial arts, there're some styles from the far east that mimic how animals moooove ♪.

In all kinds of situations, it's a good idea to lower yourself that far.

Mushrooms, kinda

[boneafide]

Oh! You're picking up the green mushrooms too!

[ Would you look at that, it's your friendly neighborhood skeleton!! Papyrus jogs up to where Hellboy is picking up a few of the 'shrooms, a few of the green ones already in his hand. Not... at all worried about radiation, is he? ]

Do you think they taste like the blue ones? I haven't tried eating them yet!

[hellshaped]

[In Hellboy's experience, literal walking/talking skeletons usually mean some kind of necromancy is afoot. He's instantly on edge, taking a step backwards, his hoof clacking on the stone floor of the cave as his fingers curl into fists.

The skeleton doesn't seem particularly aggressive, but that doesn't mean anything. It's a skeleton. Sometimes they can have a nice conversation and then decide they want to chew on some living flesh.]

The... wait, are you eating these?

[boneafide]

[Completely oblivious (?) to Hellboy's reaction, Papyrus continues smiling, taking a few of the green ones out of his bag.]

I only tried a blue one so far- and it was awful. Zero out of Tem!!

Are you not eating them?

[hellshaped]

They're glowing.

[Like this is an answer as to why he isn't eating them. Hellboy realizes that this may not bother a creature plagued by undeath, though.]

We're supposed to be collecting them, not eating them.

[boneafide]

So do lanterns.

[ Do you want to think about the implications of what he just said? Yes? No? Maybe you shouldn't bother. ]

We can do both! There's quite a lot of them. I take it you haven't tried the green yet, then! Don't worry, I have enough so that you can try it with me!

goes deeper, unf

[adlantisag]

[ It was said that they should not swim in the cave, but fighting the desire to be in the water was a bit like holding her breath. She couldn't maintain it, and now here she was, snatching little glowing fish at the bottom of a large pool. It's bright, the water warm. She feels at home; is the sea not her mother?

A pebble is tossed into the pool, and so she surfaces, just the crown of her head and her eyes. With her pale hair trailing behind her like a spill of milk, she looks like a strange carp.

Hellboy is at the water's edge, apparently looking for minnows. Kida pops her head up completely, hoisting her thinly-netted bag for him to see the fish squirming in it. ]

Hellboy! Shall we share the catch?

suggestive wink

[hellshaped]

[It's difficult not to notice the surfacing pale thing further out in the pool, and Hellboy's left hand immediately goes to the revolver at his side. If this is some kind of mutant, radioactive fish, he'd like to kill it before it takes a mutant, radioactive bite out of him. Or worse -- tries to drown him. He has had enough of that for a lifetime.

The silver tangle surfaces completely, and Hellboy relaxes considerably when he sees it's only Kida, his hand swinging loosely back to his side. She has a net, which is more prepared than he was about this whole fish thing, but --]

I think that water is irradiated. [Not that she knows what this means, probably. He doesn't sound that concerned, because unless she was actually living in it for months, she'll probably be okay.] It's probably a little poisonous. Let's look at what you caught up here.

[adlantisag]

[ Irradiated. There's that word again. Kida nods, as if she understands, and pushes off to join him, her arms describing slow arcs in the water. ]

I have been told but--I could not stay out. [ Can he blame her? There wasn't a day she hadn't swum in eight thousand years, and here she was being prevented from it. It was warm down here, warm enough for a dip. Still, he's right in saying she shouldn't linger.

Tossing the net onto the rocky bank, she braces her palms flat and pulls herself up. She's not wearing anything on top except a cropped undershirt, and her underthings on her bottom. 'Modesty' has never been a concern for her beyond what she needs to stay warm, and so to keep the rest of her clothes dry she'd opted to dress lightly. The thin fabrics cling overtly to her skin, water dripping from her hair and trailing down her back and shoulders to pool on the floor. ]

I brought a blanket, could you fetch it for me?

[ She motions to a pile of rocks, hiding the rest of her clothing. The blanket had originally been for wrapping supplies, but this purpose suits it better. Kida lifts both arms and wrings out her hair. ]

[hellshaped]

[Hellboy is probably the last person who should explain radioactivity. Science has never been his strong suit; he dealt with a fair amount of mad scientists in his life, but it usually just involved sabotage by way of breaking vats and pulling out wires. Sometimes punching a talking gorilla in the face.]

Yeah, well. Maybe once we uncover the sun, it'll... [Hellboy's words fizzle out. He can't remember what he was talking about, and it stops mattering, because there is now more of Kida rising out of the water. A lot more.

He has the grace to realize he's gawking only after a second or two; he modestly looks away, obediently going to retrieve the blanket. Because what else is he going to do? His hooves clack on the stone floor, echoing in the cavern, and the tip of his tail curls and uncurls a little anxiously.]

You know, you'd freeze to death without me. [It's deadpan, but clearly a joke, which is how he deals with situations that make him uncomfortable. Clacking back to the shore of the lake, he holds the blanket out.]

[adlantisag]

[ As she wrings out her hair, she watches his eyes slide over her, then away.

Oh. Oh.

She wonders if she didn't see this, before--he gave her a token, and his smile has always been gentle. Perhaps she simply hadn't realized, before, given their wildly different appearances, that he might be attracted to her.

She's flattered, but feels bad for having made him uncomfortable. The energy between them has shifted, somehow. Out of respect, she turns around with the blanket, tossing him a grin over her shoulder. ]

You have my sincere appreciation, my friend. [ She uses the blanket to pat herself down, then wraps it around herself before she moves to fetch the rest of her clothing. She doesn't put on her big cloak quite yet, instead sliding back over to him with her pirak, her curved fishing-spear, cradled in the crook of one arm. She uses it deftly to pick up her small net of fish, watching as they dangle and flail away the last of their lives. ]

It is rare that I purposefully hunt ishek. [ Too-small fish, too small to eat. ] Even the larger ones we could not eat, is that right?

outside

[bougy]

( today's been quite an adventure, let anyone who's been on this hellish fetch quest tell you. it's not over yet though, as there's still one optional thing to collect. and she'd figured that this last thing would be the easiest to gather because apparently it could be found, most mercifully, on the surface. it didn't matter how still perpetually dark the sky was, at least this darkness up here wasn't enclosed by metres of solid bloody rock.

but, alas, nothing is ever easy. what's truly remarkable about this--to her at least--is how many swarms of insects have managed to survive both the vanishing of the sun and the weeks of alleged winter. although she's sympathetic to the goblins' suffering, she's going to have to have a word with them about how truly forsaken their god has allowed this world to become. but for now, it's time to help a comrade. ) Hey, you! ( said upon approach but while still out of range of any stingers. she's not the ones with the flowers, so that probably helps. ) You're not allergic to magic, are you? Or do you want to take your chances with the bees? ( she has a spell that can quickly swat all the bees without harming an ally. )

[hellshaped]

[Hellboy isn't that worried about the bees -- or at least he knows he's not allergic. He's actually not allergic to anything, magic included. But getting stung by a whole mass of them probably won't be that pleasant.

Still, though he had no particular physical issue with magic, he does have a fair amount of intellectual and moral hangups with the whole thing. Coming from a world where magic means human sacrifice and pacts with demons, he is not all that comfortable with the concept -- especially when that concept is going to be fired in his general direction.]

What? Ow -- what kind of magic?

[He is trying to hold as still as possible, shoulders drawn up and his arms slightly raised, but the bees are angry and swarming.]

[bougy]

( join the club! honestly, if someone doesn't have some kind of issue with magic, they're either 1) unfamiliar with it or 2) stark raving mad about power. happy media are hard to come by. luckily though, she's absolutely anathema to the former {having a mother murdered by a serial killer/blood mage helps} and the latter isn't even technically possible here. though really she isn't gullible enough to be flattered by any demon's wiles. she's the kind of mage who enjoys her self-sufficiency.

all of this, however, isn't necessarily evident in the vaguely weary, vaguely sarcastic way she's handling herself. she's still kind of unsettled by having other kinds of critters tonight insinuating themselves in places they shouldn't be. )

The kind where I use the sheer force of my will to high-five these little blighters into the ground. ( she arches a brow and slaps one of the bees out of the air that was getting too close. she swats at another one. ) Minimum mana required--and you won't even feel a thing because I'm good. ( meaning on the same side as him. )

ughhh sorry this is so late

[hellshaped]

[The Suspicious About Magic Club, yes. There are honestly not enough members, the meetings are a little sad.

Hellboy, being held hostage by bees, makes a low noise that can safely be interpreted as frustration: this woman is being alarmingly blasé about the whole swarm of stinging insects thing. High-five them to the ground? Please.

The alternative is, like, running through a cloud of bees, though. So honestly, what does he have to lose?]

Fine. Do your worst. Is there anything I need to do, or...?