itp: good decisions

[rebells]

Who: Various enterprising folk!
Where: The former Uvi lair, and the island above Aimintas
When: Day 64-66, or thereabouts
Open/Closed: ota! there is a coven-house meeting afterward for anyone who can't make it up to see on their own.

[Hopefully you waited for the rain of spiky . . . Elto bones . . . to die down before heading out, but there's a mysterious underwater explosion to be investigated, and a possible link to Palai magic and the barrier, too.

Time to find out what happened?]

Comments

INITIAL EXPLORATIONS

[rebells]

[Where the Uvi lair used to be is . . . just gone. Only tattered remnants of seaweed and chunks of Uvi remains are left to indicate that people once lived here. There are also more of the mysterious spiky structures floating around in the water. Otherwise, though, it's quiet. Eerily so.

If you head out to the island, on the other hand, you'll find that it's unchanged, although perhaps it looks a little different by nightfall. The barrier is still there, too, as barrier-y as ever.

What might be notable, however, is that if someone brought up one of those mysterious spiky structures up to the island, placing it close to the barrier elicits some sort of . . . static reaction. Intriguing?]]

MEETING / THE FOLLOWING MORNING

[rebells]

[The following morning, a telepathic message from Jay would have directed coven members to the front of the house where the coven is staying. He's standing out there, at the front of whatever group of people has collected, and will greet newcomers with a silent wave. One of the Elto bone structures lies at his feet.

When the group seems settled, he speaks.]

Hello.

In case you were wondering what yesterday's commotion was about, the Uvi are dead.

[He'll get right to the point.]

The explosion we witnessed the aftereffects of appears to have destroyed their home completely. Only fragments are left. We believe the cause is these . . . [he motions to the bone structure] reservoirs of power that dropped from the sky after the explosion. They emit the same energy as the barriers the Eltos make and the barrier that surrounds the island above Aimintas.

[Here he pauses, looking unsettled for a moment, before pressing onward]

There's more to be said about these structures, but that's not why I've called you here today. Most of you know about our attempts to take down the island barrier. We're planning to collect these structures and use them as a source of power to counteract whatever is powering the barrier--for that, in addition to people who can fly and manipulate water, we'll need some method of moving the things without touching them, because they emit a shock that gets stronger when more than one of them is clustered together. And we'll need to develop some method of bringing them to bear against the barrier, because I don't think throwing them at the barrier is going to work.

[He shrugs.]

Your assistance with this matter is entirely optional, of course, but it would be appreciated. I don't know about you, but I'd very much like to know what's behind that barrier.

[splinten]

[This was a brilliant idea, and Jay is wrong about everything. Dirk reached out to Jake, part of him remembering their time on LOTAK and LOMAX. It's an adventure, quite possibly with ruins. Who better to have at his side than his best bro? And he wanted to believe in some small way that doing things like this would help them be best bros again, to find that rhythm and comfort, to fix some of the fault lines that now wracked their relationship. Piece by piece.

So as they soar up into the water, Dirk is calm. And he isn't exactly surprised by what he finds: the seaweed, the strange spiky objects. A lack of life.]

All we need is some skeletons and a gas mask and we'll have be on memory lane. Taking a real cruise there. Pulled on our helmets and stepped onto a scooter. Local kids are waving at us as we ride by. We're familiar on this lane. The memories go both ways. We're thinking about getting a mortgage here.

Yeah.

[potentite]

[Well, that's one way of putting it. A very Dirk way and he has to admit, it's very familiar, even if none of them had underwater planets. It's the same basic idea of lingering death and decay.]

Goodness gracious, looks like the Uvi found themselves in a real pickle. What happened here...?

[Despite how flippant it sounds, the first thing he does is flit closer to look for survivors.]

[rootandbranch]

[after a few moments, there's a sense of life and an echo of "noise" in the water; but it's coming from below them as Jake continues to search, not from the wrecked mass of seaweed. undirected telepathy is dicey at this distant, but the explorers may catch the barest echo of a couple of words--]

--where are they--

[visibility is very bad in the roiling mess that's left of the Uvi stronghold, and the telepathy is uncertain enough at this distance (Geir's not trying to talk to them) that it's hard to tell whose voice it is, or whether it's in their ears or their minds. in their super creepy murder surroundings, it might be possible to leap to an equally creepy explanation.]

[rootbound]

[the mental carry of the reply doesn't help that impression, distorted by mood and distance into a low, angry, drawn-out mutter]

--death--

[THANKS VERN.]

[splinten]

[Dirk glances at Jake. Wordlessly (ALTHOUGH THAT ISN'T AN ISSUE WITH TELEPATHY) he draws out his sword and moves towards Jake, establishing their standard defence formation.]

[potentite]

[That's troubling. But Jake has his guns out, getting into formation easily. Even if it's been a bit since they fought together, he doesn't have to think about it at all.]

[rootandbranch]

[the looming sense of presence gets closer. after another few moments, an ominous dark shape rises up from the murky waters below them, still hard to make out but unmistakeable; a huge monster of some sort, debris and agitated currents swirling around it. there's a sudden red tint to the disturbed silt-laden water as it rears back and opens enormous slitted eyes out of a nightmare to look up at them--]

[rootbound]

[--and a very irritated (familiar??) voice issues telepathically from its closed mouth]

You’re going to need a bath when we get back. A bath, in cleaner water, without so many bits of bone and gods know what other dead things, and -- anyway, are we there yet?

[splinten]

[Ah.]

Oh. Hey.

[He relaxes out of punchstance and puts his sword away.]

[potentite]

[Oh, it's the funny dragon.] But isn't any water a good enough bath?

[rootandbranch]

[Geir doesn't try to open his mouth; whether or not he could talk underwater is debatable, but in the meantime, he's got Vern in there, looking at the scene through his eyes and telepathic images. he sends him a picture of Dirk and Jake now, in fact, as soon as he can swim close enough to see them properly -- success!]

This water's all full of dirt and guts. This is where the Uvi were, right? What happened to your metal guardsman, Dirk?

[if Dirk tried to explain his sentry drone in the limited time they've been able to chat about such things, probably that's the best he could get across. Geir will keep trying, sometime when they're not dealing with war or what looks like the aftermath of one.]

[rootbound]

It's sort of telling of the state of the water that I'd literally rather be in a dragon's mouth than swimming in it. No offense, Geir.

[there's a slight pause as he absorbs the image of the environment around Jake and Dirk, an unseen frown crossing his face]

Wasn't there a seaweed bed -- city? -- here before?

[splinten]

It definitely isn't shower water.

[Says the boy who takes two hour showers.]

This is where the Uvi lived, yeah. It looks like my sentry robot got taken out in the explosion along with a lot of the Uvi. Maybe even all of them.

[bulletbiter]

I had some resistance to lightning. I'm not sure if it's retained right now, though. May I?

[ Julius indicates the bone structure on the floor. Given that Aragami are resistant to most stuff, it should at least work somewhat. ]

[rebells]

Oh? Go ahead and try it; the shock from one is manageable.

[bulletbiter]

[ Picks one up, watches the sparks dance across his palm. ]

I should be fine.

[lunala]

Maybe we could balance them against the barrier somehow. [She isn't sure if that's possible, but it's a thought.] Or maybe someone could float them. Can anyone do that?

[potentite]

I really hope they weren't all wiped out.

[Like, if they were, he'll get over it, but it's a bit depressing at the same time.]

Should we look for survivors?

[rootandbranch]

...we can. I can't smell much except death in the water.

[Geir is dubious that they'll find anyone in the murk, even if they look. he's sort of sympathetic to the impulse to worry about the Uvi, but... he has to be practical. which reminds him--!]

You guys came up here alone!

[rootbound]

Oh yeah, we wanted to know why you were zooming off into the explosive death water before the death rain had stopped, but I guess now we're, uh, all here. If there are no more explosions then we might as well take a look around though, yes.

[sighhh]

[rebells]

[A few hours after the good decision crew does their thing, Jay will meet Moon and Yukari outside the coven's house in Aimintas. He looks up at the watery sky and the island above, before glancing back at Moon, directing his next question to her:]

Are you ready to go?

[One of the Elto magic centers lays by his feet. He's heard that they react with the barrier already from Dirk and Geir, but he wants to see for himself.]

[splinten]

We wanted to scout the area before any potential evidence got cold. Not that it apparently makes a difference.

[Because everything is dead? But hey! Jake is with him and Dirk thinks that makes him responsible.]

The soul radar isn't picking up anything but us four up here.

[potentite]

Besides, when else were we supposed to?

{They have such limited interaction and socialization and this makes perfect sense.]

But... really? We're the only ones...?