epidemiology | EVENT ★ ZETA-12 WEEKS 3 + 4

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EVENT ★ ZETA-12 WEEKS 3 + 4

ZETA-12: WEEKS 3 + 4

After making their way through the biting cold of the tundra and the forest's deadly chasm, team Audentes reaches the swamp. Once there, their squidges will begin to transform.

For each choice your character has made, select one squidge evolution. Please note, you must have submitted your choice to the threads in the previous logs in order for your squidge to evolve.

For those who crossed the ice, there are two options. If they succeeded, their squidge has taken on one of the following features: fluffy fur, the ability to freeze small things with their breath, or small foxlike ears. If they fell through the ice, their squidge has one of these: fins, minor hydrokinesis, or protective scales.

Those who chose to walk around the ice, whether east or west, will have squidges with one of these attributes: faster speed, climbing ability, or goat-like hooves.

As for week 2 choices, everyone who soothed their squidge will find them with one of the following: small wings (able to keep them about a foot off the ground at most), a calmer demeanor, or the ability to soothe fear by touch.

For the grouping crew, one of these: the ability to heal small wounds on other squidges, long ape-like arms and hands (for hugging!), or a beautiful singing voice that can act as a beacon for other squidges.

Squidges that were forced to cross will have one of: increased independence, clawed fingers, or sharp teeth.

These evolutions may take place at a rate of your choice. Please note that apart from these changes, the squidges will not be undergoing any further physical development (size, etc) for now!

THE SWAMP (WEEK 3)

The swamp is damp and spooky, filled with rotting logs and large, spindly trees. The water level dips and rises, making traveling slow and difficult; at some points, there is no dry land at all, so recruits will either need to wade or find some other way to get through the murky water. Some of the fallen logs may create a series of interconnected bridges if you're nimble enough, but be wary not to put too much weight on the rotten parts of the wood.

Because there are no animals on this planet, recruits won't need to worry about mosquitos or crocodiles, but still be wary of dermal vines, which continue on from the forest, as well as something lurking beneath the water: in deeper portions of the swamp, recruits may run into a gangly, humanoid creature with gnarled fingers and a body made entirely of vines and twisted roots. The creature makes no sound and does not breathe, but it moves quickly and can shoot a cloud of powerful neurotoxin out of its maw.

Make your choice: You can attempt to fight the creature, but not all attacks will be effective and you risk injury to you or your squidge. Outsmarting is possible as well -- as the creature has no eyes or ears, it senses its victims through heat. Do with that what you will. Finally, you can choose to wait for someone else to do something and ride their coattails, as long as you’re okay with living with that. Please indicate your choice here.

After a week, the scenery begins to shift, lightening up as trees become fewer. Welcome to the grasslands.

THE GRASSLANDS (WEEK 4)

As opposed to the swamps, there are few hazardous plants in the grasslands. The most dangerous are more annoying than anything else: fluffplasters, the hairs of which become sticky and eventually harden like cement if they’re disturbed. For the most parts, the grasslands are grass, grass, and grass, with little variation in appearance. In fact, it’s kind of hard to tell if you’re going the right way, or if you’ve been here before. Everything sort of looks the same.

The other flora found are happygrass, which has a short-term calming effect on anyone who ingests it. On the other hand, beebulbs, long, spear-like stalks whose bulbs contain a delicious liquid which invigorates the drinker upon ingestion. Too much either way can lead to laziness or hyperactivity. A geared up squidge is a happy squidge most of the time, but there’s also the possibility of heightened anxiety.

The weather is pleasant for most of the journey, but near the end, the wind picks up and a storm begins to brew. The wind whips around and, while it’s very difficult to travel through (and very frightening for squidges!) it’s still possible to walk through.

The choices are these: Characters can keep going against the wind, although they’ll need to be wary of flying debris and their squidge’s fear. They can also choose to find shelter nearby -- there are several trees on the way that can be hidden under, a large cave many people can fit into a distance into the storm, and characters can also set up their own shelter. There’s less possibility for injury and squidge crying, but the tornado will put them back for hours; those who power through can talk their squidge through it, but they’ll still be a bit unhappy. Please select an option below to determine the future of your squidge.

Whatever choices the team makes, they’ll eventually all reconvene as they set up camp for the last time before they hit the desert.

OOC NOTES

This log ICly and OOCly covers two weeks! Characters may proceed at whatever pace they'd like, but going too quickly or too slowly will mean they travel alone. (And those going too quickly will probably have to contend with screaming squidges, who prefer to travel at the speed of an easy plod.)

New characters will find one of the unbonded squidges toddling after the group takes a shine to them. A squidge will imprint on them very quickly, then refuse to leave their side or rejoin their unbonded friends.

Direct questions about the Zeta-12 mission here. And don't forget about the bounty board!

Please remember to select your choices in the threads below! How you choose will determine how your squidge grows. Please choose before July 21st, 12:01 AM GMT!

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[ Masamune shies away from barging right into camp dragging Kojuro. Unlike back home, he isn't okay with the whole group being aware of the situation for several reasons. Even moreso he doesn't trust anyone but Sieglinde and Olivia enough to let them touch Kojuro unless it's the absolute only option.

So he will use his magitek to alert Sieglinde that he's heading over where she tends to set up her healing items for usage in case she is elsewhere. This way, it will be the shortest amount of time that Kojuro has to hold up on his own with this.

Once he's at the small area towards one edge of what could be considered the team's camp area, he slowly works to lower the other down as gently as he can so his retainer doesn't need to stand anymore.

Masamune does not look at Kojuro or ask how he's doing. It's partially because he doesn't want him exerting his energy on such a thing, but it's also because the fact he's been now supporting almost all of the older man's weight is enough to tell him he won't react very well trying to reassure himself that Kojuro is fine in any sense. ]

[When she gets the message, the brooch hanging off the chatelaine chain around her waist glowing to indicate Masamune's contact, Sieglinde immediately turns herself around. She'd been heading to pick up her squidge from who she'd foisted it off on today, but she hobbles as fast as she can back to her equipment, arriving just after the other two.]

What happened? Was it the swamp creature?

[She's quick to go to her knees beside the poisoned retainer, hurriedly gesturing for Masamune to grab her bag and bring it closer.]

What symptoms are you experiencing, Kojuro? How were you exposed to the poison?

[For his part, Kojuro is just glad to be sitting down - moving and staying upright had taken a lot out of him, even with Masamune's help. His squidge is huddled up against him, clearly sensing something is wrong.

When Sieglinde comes over, he tries to dredge up a smile for her, though it ends up not being particularly convincing. A quick nod is answer to her second question.]

It breathed out some sort of mist. [The slurring in his voice is worse now, but he can't control it any better than he is already. He starts listing off the symptoms he's noticed]

Dizziness, weakness... hard to breathe, too. [he pauses, then realizes he knows something he can compare it to.] Like fugu poisoning. [Which is a worrying thought - that's not a pleasant way to die]

[ She knows about the swamp creature already? It would make sense since she is one of the healers but it would have been nice if any teammates who had already suffered gave everyone else at least a warning about it lurking. Maybe Kojuro knew something Masamune didn't about it, too, but he supposes now isn't the time to mentally hash out things like this.

His brow creases a little as Kojuro speaks and his unhappiness just seems to grow as his expression hardens further to hide back any emotional response he doesn't wa y to betray.

The comparison to fugu poison causes the daimyo to hiss a curse out before adding: ]

The fact he told me he thought he might be poisoned and couldn't walk without support in he first place...

Him reacting this way is bad. He could get run through in the chest and still perform physically and mentally better than he is now.

[Sieglinde, who had never seen the sea or the fish that inhabited the waters around Japan could not understand what was meant by "fugu"... but the symptoms she could see spoke for themselves.

Difficulty breathing, the trouble walking, and the way he seemed to slur his speech... not as a man in his cups did, but as one who was losing feeling and control, a certain stiffening-]

Paralysis-based, then, perhaps?

[The healing spell she relied on most could do nothing for poison... but she had been studying far more in the time she'd been cooped up rehabilitating, hastily scrambling through her bag to pull out a spellbook, flipping through looking for the page.]

One moment- Masamune, I need charcoal, burnt... fetch some from the fire-

[Ah, here it was-]

Kojuro, tip your head back, and keep your airway clear... we shall see you out of this in no time.

[She looks... almost excited suddenly, fingers running over the rune-like text on the page. Not... because Kojuro is in danger, or anything, it's just. This spell isn't one she's been able to practice in the field, yet, so the opportunity...]

[Kojuro does not waste breath arguing with Masamune, even though he's fairly certain if he'd been run through he'd manage maybe twenty paces before collapsing. Even the rush of battle could only do so much to keep one moving with a wound that grave. But it's not like he'd be able to convince Masamune of his mortality, anyway - as far as his lord is concerned, he's invincible.

Instead, he obediently follows Sieglinde's order, and tries to quell any nervousness that slightly manic look she has inspires in him]

[ Masamune nods at her questioning. ]

Yeah. It's from a local fish back home... it's extremely potent. If someone gets enough of it it makes them unable to breathe from the resulting paralysis.

[ It's a good thing Kojuro doesn't argue because the young warlord is stressed enough to argue right back rather than be able to keep himself on task and as to what makes sense. He expects Kojuro to always be the one to have the restraint, anyway— to know better —for the both of them.

At Sieglinde's request, Masamune moves from his spot to head to the fire and retrieve what is requested. When he returns he offers the pieces to her as he comes to crouch down and be close enough for her to get the charcoal but not so much that he's obstructing her work area. ]

[Here it was. The spell she wanted- for cleansing the body of poison, whether swallowed or inhaled. Keeping her expression mostly serious as best she could, (humming a little with excitement to try out a new spell), Sieglinde took the charcoal from Masamune and, consulting the diagram in her tome rubbed some of the black substance on her thumb, smudging it into Kojuro's skin on his forehead, the bridge of his nose, and along his throat, murmuring single syllable words of power at each position.

This spell was Moorish, so she hoped she got the pronunciation right.]

Alright... the charcoal will absorb the poison, so do not touch it once I complete this-

[She rummaged about for gloves, pulling one on and placing her still bare thumb against the charcoal smear at Kojuro's forehead, brow furrowing. This step wasn't anything visible to either of them, likely, muttering the trip phrase under her breath once, twice, three times as she channeled magic into the black dust... which began to soak the poison from Kojuro's veins.

Perhaps an odd feeling, not painful so much as discomforting, like a worm snaking through veins and being sweat out one's pores...

But then it is out, and Sieglinde is quick to use her gloved hand to brush the now damp charcoal from his skin, anxiously (and excitedly) watching Kojuro's reaction to see if it had worked.]

[The sensation isn't at all like the other time Sieglinde had used her magic on him - or like Sarutobi's antidotes, either. Those had been smoke, which left a sharp, herbal taste in the back of his throat, and had a scent to match. This time, there was no taste, no smell other than that of the wood charcoal, but the feeling - like a sudden chill running down his whole body. He twitches slightly, and then it passes, and the sense that his limbs are made of lead vanishes with it.

He swallows experimentally, finds feels normal again now, and then finally speaks.]

Thank you. That's much better. [The slurring is gone from his voice as well, thankfully]

[ Masamune waits, but upon seeing the other finally able to speak normally again, is filled with an incredible sense of relief.

He only holds off long enough to allow Sieglinde to move out of the way before he's reaching out to grab his retainer by the jacket, and the only thing that prevents him from shaking him mercilessly like a doll is the charcoal and a chance it might go everywhere but where it needs to be (not at all likely considering its current state and how it's been applied but it's what he tells himself the excuse is). ]

What the hell were you playing in the water for with something like that lurking around, huh... ?!

[ Normally, things would be different. Normally, he would let it slide or at least waited until they were further alone to having a small fit about close calls. That isn't the case here for several reasons and his grip tightens on Kojuro's jacket before gritting his teeth tightly. ]

Goddamn it, Kojuro..!! [ Clearly frustrated, The young Date lord buries his face against Kojuro's shoulder, he himself shaking a little with a silent sob before reaching to change his hold from gripping the jacket to hugging onto him.

More than anything, it's the similarity between this and Matsunaga's methods and being once again reminded that the bastard still exists because it's too much to hope for that he's dead that gets him. He's never going to not be sensitive when it comes to Kojuro's wellbeing to begin with, but if he is honest with himself, Matsunaga is the only one he actually fears could take Kojuro from him.

Not willingly on his retainer's part but by force—and it makes little difference in the end to Masamune the loyalty aspect of it all if he doesn't have him around.

A random vine monster isn't on par by any means... but, it's absolutely the principle of the thing here that gets to him. ]

It was nothing.

[And truly, she meant that. Healing had always been something she'd viewed as a duty, and not only that but she'd been able to ascertain she'd properly figured that detoxification spell on an actual patient and not theorizing...

And it was Kojuro.

Masamune's reaction shocks her, but that was only because... it wasn't one she often saw. Or, really ever saw, seeing as he tended to be more careful about displaying such things in front of her- for better or for worse.

At a loss for what to do, Sieglinde averts her eyes and moves to carefully scrape the now poison-soaked charcoal out of everyone's way, digging a shallow hole in the ground to dump it in where it couldn't hurt anyone else.]

[Kojuro appreciates not being flung around - he isn't dying any more, but he's still wet and tired and generally not up for spending a lot of time placating Masamune]

Shigenaga wandered off - I went after him. [The squidge in question is huddled up against Kojuro's side, not quite crying but clearly making distressed noises]

I didn't realize there was something in the water until it attacked us.

[ Giving Masamune reasons to be annoyed with your squidge is probably a bad idea.

Masamune doesn't say anything immediately (and nothing to Kojuro) but he tended a little before he ends up now peering down at the squidge in question with a dirty look with his good eye by peeling his face just enough away from the retainer's shoulder to do so. Jealously knows no bounds, man...

What a pain in the ass. ] I hope you learned your lesson about running off, Squiggles.

[ Yes, squidgey, he means you.

Masamune's squidge tilts its head curiously before deciding Masamune is not in need of breathing exercises to spare bodily harm to anything or anyone so it will go wander over and watch what Sieglinde is doing with blank squidge-face interest, instead. ]

[In both actual need to concentrate and a desire to give Masamune and Kojuro something like privacy, Sieglinde was attentive to the disposal of the poison, making sure the hole she dug was just deep enough and being careful not to touch the damp charcoal directly as she funneled it in.

Masamune's squidge she eyes with a slow blink, pushing it away from the hole before filled it back in, tamping the dirt down before she finally felt as if she'd completed the entire task.

At least Kojuro was safe now, and Masamune mollified.

And hopefully... there would be fewer swamp beasts.]

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EVENT ★ ZETA-12 WEEKS 3 + 4

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Oops u saw nothing

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jesus I lost this one

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wraps this up for us maybe?