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

not gonna complain

[hellshaped]

[Hellboy quiets when she gestures, just watching her. Once she spears the fish, he finds himself gawking again, for entirely different reasons than before.]

Remind me never to make you mad. [He finally comes closer at that point to get a better look at the fresh-caught fish, though he's still careful with his footing.]

I hope we don't wind up overfishing. With how many people who are out here looking for these little guys.

[adlantisag]

Why would I remind you?

[ The joke goes sailing overhead, but his comment makes her purse her lips. She slips the dead fish into her opposite hand, then into the net with the rest. ]

If this makes the sun return--their lives will have been a worthy sacrifice.

[ The continued absence of the sun would do far worse to wreck the ecosystem than the reduction of the local glowing fish population. ]

The sea is hardier than you think. It will protect itself.

[hellshaped]

[He doesn't exactly want to be the one to introduce Kida to the world of environmental disasters -- oil spills and global warming and other disasters wrought by the hand of man -- so he doesn't comment, just nods quietly.]

Sometimes you do have to make a sacrifice. [He can't disagree with that, anyway.]

[adlantisag]

[ It's likely her answer wouldn't change. She knows the surface world continues; empires rise and fall; outsiders come speaking different languages, wearing different clothing. But through all this change, Atlantis stays. The sea is the same sea inhabited by the same creatures. The currents come and go. Time is, after all, the great equalizer. The fish will survive, even with only a fraction of their population. ]

Often. [ Not just sometimes, that is. She turns towards him, head tilted up. ] We are merely lucky that our choices have been easy, so far.

[ And she doesn't say that lightly. They haven't be asked for tremendous personal sacrifice in the name of restoring the sun--even in the prison, there was the knowledge that they would, eventually, be rescued. ]

[hellshaped]

[Hellboy shakes his head, holding his hand out for the net. He has no doubt Kida would be able to carry it, expert fisherman that she apparently is, but he'd like to do what he can to help. And he's not great at fishing without a rod, so this will have to do.]

The whole thing makes me a little uneasy, [he agrees slowly. They certainly don't have it as hard as the natives.] Butting in, 'fixing' things for these people...

[adlantisag]

[[ ooc. ok if we wrap this up soonish? ]]

What choice to we have? If ALASTAIR brought us here, they may be our only chance to return.

[ Really, she says 'we' but means 'I'. She can't really afford to disobey when Atlantis is on the line. There are thousands of lives relying on her. ]

Given that--I would rather give this my best effort than none at all.

[ They say more cooks spoil the broth, and that may be true in this case, as Hellboy says. But the more people believe in peace here in Chantes, surely the more attainable it might before. ]

[hellshaped]

[ ooc. yes... obviously... let's do that now lmao ]

I guess that's true. [It's all for a good reason, he reminds himself. Helping people who need help. But when does it stop being helpful and start being outright meddling? He doubts Kida has a frame of reference for something like this, but Hellboy is getting bad flashbacks to midcentury US foreign policy. Well-meaning outsiders sticking their nose in and making things worse.

He shakes his head.]

For now, we may as well just do what we can. Let's head back.