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

[winces]

[ she flinches at his shout, like the crack of a whip in the otherwise still, night air. her heart hammers for a moment, her body remembering what it felt like when he tried to choke the air right out of her, but she stays her ground, resisting the instinct to run. ]

I disagree. [ she sounds a lot braver than she feels, but he doesn't need to know that. she tips her chin up, settling both hands on her hips again. ]

Don't you know it's rude to not answer a woman's calls?

[respired]

[He can see her flinch from the corner of his eye, and misery coils in his stomach. She's afraid of him, and with good reason. He shouldn't even be entertaining this conversation.]

Leave me. It's best if you do.

[winces]

[ it was a reflexive move, but one she immediately regrets. hastily, she reminds herself that there's no need to fear him.

she's safe here. she has to be. ]

I made a promise to you not so long ago, [ she says, tone quieter now, much more serious. ] I'll only stop trying to help you when you no longer want it, and not for any other reason.

[respired]

[Sharply; quickly.]

I don't. There. You have your reason.

[winces]

Liar, [ olivia responds just as quickly, though her tone remains as gentle as before. ]

[respired]

[Yeah, well. MAYBE. He scowls, his ears flattening.]

You cannot help me, Olivia.

[winces]

[ she quiets for a second, a flicker of something in her own expression. shame, perhaps. frustration over his words.

how right they might be. ]

Maybe I can't, [ she concedes in a quieter tone, almost dull and lifeless. ] But I won't give up till I find someone who can.

[ she may be two steps away from giving up on herself, but she'll be damned if she gives up on him. ]

[respired]

[He finally looks at her directly, his eyes narrowed, his lip curled. It's not an expression of contempt. He's simply in pain, worse than when he last saw her, worse by a mile. Ache throbs between his temples, accompanied by random, sharp jabs, as though his nerves are dogged by knives.

Koltira grits his teeth.]

Why? What does it matter to you? You don't know me.

[He shuts his eyes, just for a second.]

I do not deserve such effort.

[winces]

[ rather than flinch back at that look, her expression merely crumbles, just a fraction. not quite pity, not even entirely sympathy but.. empathy. she doesn't know a lick of what his life must be like, to constantly live in turmoil and pain. but she knows a thing or two about not thinking you deserve anything. least of all, common kindness.

she draws in a deep breath, releasing it with the weight on her shoulders.

the least she could give him now is the truth. ]

When I first came to you, I felt guilty for misjudging you. I really did want to help, because I owed it to you for thinking you were something you weren't. [ a monster. she saw it in him, twice now, but she's convinced it is simply an ailment. not who he is. ]

But the second time... it wasn't... really for you. [ she looks down at her feet now, stricken. ] I wanted to prove something to myself. To — everyone, maybe. That I wasn't useless. That I could do something to help. I wanted so badly to prove myself that I messed up. I forced you to do something you weren't comfortable with. I... abused your trust. I'm sorry.

[ she sniffles a little, gathering up her courage to meet his eyes again. ]

I'll do whatever I can now to make that up to you. I don't have to know you to know you deserve more than what fate has given you.

[respired]

[That's a hell of a confession. Koltira runs one hand down over his face, groaning, though it's more at himself than anyone else. Where to even start with this?]

You are trying to move a mountain to prove you can lift a rock. It is foolishness. No.

[He shakes his head to emphasize the point, and steels himself, wills the pain to recede from his features.]

You have a gentle spirit. Apply it elsewhere. I am not your problem--or your obligation.

[winces]

[ his words hurt, even more so than his grip had around her neck. and it shows, too, in the way her gaze flickers down to her feet, in the way her expression seems to crumble for a few seconds. her bottom lip quivers, her breath rattles against her chest.

but then her hands curl into fists at her sides, and she's forcing herself to look at him once more. gaze hard and foolish, but determined. ]

You're my friend, [ she insists. ] Or — I'd like for you to be. I'm not going to give up on you, no matter how hard you want me to. [ indeed, it's the fact he's trying so hard to get her to that keeps her here, keeps her trying. ]

Just... keep that in mind, okay? Remember it the next time you might feel so... alone.

[respired]

[He laughs bitterly.]

I am always alone. I am meant to be alone.

[He observes her crumpling expression, and feels renewed guilt tugging at him. He does not enjoy upsetting her. He just wants her to see the truth of things. The truth of him, as brutal and unsolvable as it is.

He tries to speak more gently.]

Do not suffer on my behalf. You are alive, and you should be among the living. No one else here would turn away your kind company.

[winces]

[ now it's her turn to laugh, and he might be surprised at the faint edge in its sound. not quite bitter, but close. ]

Two of my very best friends here are skeletons, [ she tells him, after a brief shake of her head. she's not going to dwell on who does or doesn't want her company — she knows some do, even if the person she really wishes to want it doesn't happen to be one of them. ] They're not living, but they're not dead either. So if that's your big reason that I shouldn't want to be your friend, then you're — then you're just silly!

[ ah, she's sorry she had to be so harsh, koltira... [

[respired]

[He catches that undertone of bitterness, and he wonders where it comes from. Something wrong with befriending skeletons?]

The problem is not that I am dead, Olivia. Sans and Papyrus would never try to hurt you. Not as I have. Not as I might, again.

[winces]

[ no, she's just got a broken heart that's all. completely unrelated.

also in another thread, later, sans will completely Wreck her so you're all kinds of wrong, man. ]

Sounds like excuses to me.