bravenewworld | Descent

Entry tags:

Descent

Iron Mines:
The trip to the eastern mountains is punctuated by the continuing aftershocks. After each one, it may be tempting to glance back at Union to see if any of the towers have fallen yet. The expedition parties move with incredible speed, knowing that the fate of their City hangs on the line.

When they reach the mountains, guided by the coordinates given of the 'strange radio signal', the parties will find that many of the normal entrances and routes have been blocked by cave-ins. In contrast, however, a gaping hole has opened up where none existed before. As this seems to be the easiest way to gain access, the parties slowly lower themselves in...

They will find themselves in the long-sought iron mines.

But there are so many twisting turns and tunnels, it will be impossible to stay together and make any sort of progress. Each group will have to take their own paths from here...

Old City:
Each of the twelve entrances down into the Old City take a different meandering route through the ruins. Though several are blocked off by this time, there are still many potential paths to take. The state of the Old City is poor, being underground as it is, and occasional soft rumblings are certain to cause unease. As the report states, however, there is enough of an interval between quakes that it should be possible to investigate safely.

It would be unwise to venture down alone, but it is impossible, too, for everyone to stay together if they wish to make headway.

Union:
The wild Pokémon continue to come out of the Old City, though the frequency has been somewhat lessened. Rubble lines the streets and though no towers have collapsed as of yet, some seem to be dangerously close and certainly nobody should be staying inside of them. As stated, the towers in Sector 3 are the worse off and construction crews work frantically to attempt to restabilize the foundations of these buildings.

The injured are innumerable, the number of casualties is as of yet unknown, and the chaos and panic is difficult to fend off.

There is a great deal of work to be done.

((Please post below with your groups - in the first comment, please note the members of your group, where you are, and whether or not you intend to keep a threading order. Regardless of threading order, mods will be responding at least once every 24 hours to keep the event moving. Groups should be three to four people in size.

At this time, all characters entering the iron mines will be able to choose to bond with a free extra Pokemon listed under 'Cavern' in the Map and Wild Pokemon post. Please respond there if you intend to make use of this. Characters who have already claimed a free Old City Pokemon may not do so.))

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While they discuss the situation amongst each other, the most immediate issue at the moment is probably choosing a direction. The left tunnel is glittering with bits and pieces of ore embedded in the walls - evidently, the Aron hadn't gotten this far yet. The right tunnel is darker and slopes obviously downwards.

...If they listen closely, the sounds of faint rustling can be heard, but it's impossible to localize. Imogen will hear very vague and indistinct whispers.

((Anyone else is still free to join if they would like to/if things haven't been totally hashed out.))

"Hey, wait for me!"

Asemu had been running behind. It was only now that he managed to catch up with his group. He jogged over and paused to catch his breath.

"Sorry...things got a bit...complicated." His breathing quickly slowed down. "I'm ready to go, though. Prepared for anything this place can throw at us.

"So...did I miss anything?"

"Hey! Good to see you!" Ez called, waving. "Not much yet, we're about to get underway."

"Easier? You do realize no matter how much our parents don't seem to understand the real world, they do notice when we vanish. And we need answers for when they ask what we've been up to." Imogen's answers, were of course, the truth. She'd given up on the lies because the truth hit Natalie so much harder. "You need some cover story, and if they're especially nosy some evidence of your exploits."

Imogen would have continued but her ears picked up there was more down here than just the darkness and ore. Whispers prickled at her ears as she surveyed the two tunnels. "Well that's rude, I can't tell where the creepy whispering is coming from. Or what it's saying!"

Yes she's so distracted she doesn't even say hello to the newcomer. Just starts surveying the darker tunnel. Hoping Lux doesn't go giving her any light to see by.

Lux began to speak, but stopped when Imogen noticed something. Secretly thankful for the distraction, she follows, conjuring a light and keeping it close to the rest of the group, yet far enough so Imogen could still see.

With her dark sensitivity, Imogen can make out that the tunnel seems strangely cramped. There's a great multitude of oddly shaped stalactites hanging down from the ceiling, hundreds of them. The whispering grows a little less vague and seems to be coming from something hiding amongst them.

Once the light floods the tunnel, though, the strange mystery is revealed.

Hundreds of angry Zubat hanging upside down screech to life at the influx of light! They flood forth like... bats out of hellish iron mines.

Good thing there's another tunnel to run down.

"Mother. Fucker. RUN!"

Ezreal takes off down the tunnel.

Those were strange looking stalactites, Lux thought to herself as the light traveled down that tunnel. It wasn't until the first few Zubats were revealed that the blond stopped, ever so slowly looking up toward the ceiling.

Well that was... wonderful.

She screamed before she could catch herself, not needing Ezreal's advice before breaking into a full-on run. No attempt to attack the mob, just running full tilt, orb of light floating after her. Somehow, amidst the chaos she did manage to send out a brief SOS, then put her head back down and kept running.

Maybe they would get bored and stop chasing them? Possibly. Hopefully.

Yeah, probably not.

Run? From a horde of bats? From Flying-types?

Fuck that shit.

Asemu crouched and raised an arm in front of his face. He would weather this storm until they died down.

...Everyone else would probably have a hard time seeing Asemu through the swarm of Zubat. They also wouldn't see any flashes of light that may or may not occur.

So yeah, Imogen with her agility and reflexes really only has one option. Turn tail and run, a small swarm of poisonous bats were very bad for her delicate fairy disposition. "Next time let me scout around before you wake up a swarm of angry bats."

"And someone who isn't me rescue the idiot," Imogen had no intention of risking her neck for someone who didn't know to run from a swarm of bats when they came down on you. She'll try to get to the head of the pack to warn anyone of any pitfalls on the other path.

Asemu's... sacrifice, at least, distracts a significant number of the Zubat! A good quarter of the horde descends upon him en masse, swooping down to sink their fangs into him wherever they can.

Wild Zubats use Leech Life!

The remainder of the flock chases after the other three intrepid adventurers, making sure to steer clear of the tunnel down which they had originally come. While Zubat were essentially blind, they could sense light, and it made them incredibly unhappy. A flash was enough to rouse them to anger, but under constant, bright light, as under the sun, they might choose to flee.

Of course, there were other ways to evade them as well.

The other tunnel, the one filled with iron ore, widens up as they continue forward, making for easy fleeing. Ahead of them is a small ledge that drops down into a larger cavern.

((As a warning, if he remains separated from the group, Asemu's interactions with the Zubat may place him in danger!))

"Savior damn it all!"

Ezreal blinks out and appears besides Asemu, launching bolts of psychic and electric energy at the Zubats swarming him.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed!?"

Savior damn it all, indeed! Noticing Ezreal head back, she spied Asemu in the group of Zubat and, despite any kind of logical thought she might have, decided to charge in to help as well.

She grabbed both blonds' arms, giving them a powerful tug and started to take off, hoping they would both stop being idiots and take the hint.

Asemu had been in the process of activating his beam sabers, when all of that happened.

"Hey, WHAT--"

The next thing he knew he was being pulled back. Rather than stumble, fall, and be dragged, he reflexively fell into pace.

"What are you doing? I could have weathered that!"

In his defense, he does look unharmed. Leech Life barely does anything against a Fire/Flying typing, after all.

((Gonna respond since Imogen's expressed a lack of interest in joining Asemu!))

As Lux and Ezreal drag Asemu out of the mass of Zubat, the Pokemon screech angrily! There is a sudden collective blast of sound - the wild Zubat use Supersonic!

The first attack misses as Lux drags them away, but the Zubat continue to release wave after wave of supersonic barrages. If they're lucky and they run quickly, they may make it out unscathed.

If Imogen hops down the small ledge up ahead, she'll drop down into a larger cavern which is thankfully poison-bat-free. It's a relatively open space, but her dark vision may afford her some helpful hiding spots - amongst a patch of boulders or inside some cracks running into the walls.

The sound reverberating off the walls of the cave, Lux let go of Asemu's arm in order to cup both hands over her ears. It was deafening, and she winced deeply. Stopping only long enough to throw a light binding at the cloud of Zubats, she put her head down and ran even faster, despite her head throbbing from the attacks.

"Hang on!"

Grabbing both Lux and Asemu, Ezreal initiated another teleport, pulling them back to Imogen's location and hopefully away from the Zubats.

After which he wobbled a bit on his feet.

"I'm not really meant to do that so quickly. Im, take over and tell him not to be a dumbfuck and get us killed."

Imogen got to work on trying to boost Ezreal's levels with her healing powers. Her eyes cold and dark as she waited for the swarm to find them. Her voice equally chilled, the edges of her darker lineage showing in her hushed words.

"We're a team, we move together, not all of us can weather the attacks of such an encounter. And if you got hurt, by one of the many ways they could hurt you, we couldn't get to you easily."

Imogen finished, the light pink glow of her fading off. She hoped the light was sparse enough to not draw any attention. She couldn't have gone back for Asemu even if she wished to, and he only was drawn out of that by Ezreal's gifts. "Fortunately someone decided you were worth saving. Don't make him do it again, he gets himself in enough trouble."

"And now, can we please let me scout ahead in the dark before we wake up another swarm?"

As Imogen did her work, Lux helped hold the other teen up, all while giving Asemu a harsh look. There was little more that she could add in that regard that hadn't already been said, although hearing it from Imogen was a bit of a shock; she had not seen the other girl ever be anything other than bubbly and exuberant. The stark contrast was a bit jarring, although the blond would never mention it to her face.

Taking a deep breath, she let her light dim, waiting for the Zubats to hopefully pass. Once he was steady on his feet again, she would let Ezreal go. She spoke in a whisper. "I'm not sure if it's a good idea to split up completely. Lanterns and flares might be too bright, but I can keep this dimmed." She brought her hand in front of her, the light moving to hover over her palm, "It's enough for us to be able to see by, but not blinding. Is it too bright for you, Imogen, or are you all right?"

Dammit. He didn't need a lecture. Maybe he had gotten a bit overconfident, but the explanation was not necessary. He climbed to his feet and created a beam dagger blade so he could see enough to dust himself off, then deactivated it.

"Wait. Let's get sight and sound working for us. I've got--where is--aha!"

One of the Zubat still remained. However, it flew past the others and started flapping around in circles over Asemu's head.

"We've got sonar now."

((Please make a note on the Map/Wild Pokemon Page when intending to bond with a Pokemon so we can roll for a level and approve it. Additionally, while it is fine to bond with NPC'd encounters, in the future, we ask that you make your intentions known in advance.))

With everyone back together in one place, the danger, was, at least, mitigated. The flash of light that Lux throws at the Zubats that had homed in on Asemu is enough to send them stun them - upon the teleportation, they lose track of their intended victims, flit about, and return to their caves save for the one caught up in Ezreal's teleportation.

The rest of the flock chasing Imogen is caught up in the momentum of the chase and floods through the cavern. While a few flit around uncertainly, the majority will exit out the tunnels.

It seems they are safe for the moment.

The few Zubats fluttering about in the cavern will eventually fly back the way they came as well.

Scouting is a possibility. There are three potential paths up ahead - there is a glimmer of light at the end of the left path, the middle path abruptly flattens out in a sharp slope downwards, and the right path seems most affected by the earthquakes, being scattered with rocks and debris.

Thankfully there are no stalactites.

Now that he's had a minute to catch his breath, Ezreal is able to survey the paths.

"Light is pretty unusual down here, it may be a Pokemon but it may be something else. I'm thinking we should head that way."

"Whatever it is, let me check it out," Imogen took a few silent steps forward... then immediately came back to the group. "Keep your bat here."

Normally, as is standard practice for Delvers, you stay together. Imogen is always the exception for that lovely rule. She heads quietly and carefully toward the tunnel with the light. Eyes averted from the glimmer so she can catch the details in the rocks the others would miss.

There are no stalactites, as previously stated, or anything else that looks like Pokemon in disguise. The way down this path seems relatively clear.

The light flickers now and then, as if coming from a lantern.

As Imogen watches, it will slowly begin to wane...

Imogen figured that she was far more trustworthy than the others when it came to sneaking down dark ominous corridors. Especially when Ezreal shouldn't be teleporting again anytime soon and any bright lights will just attract bats. This didn't even get to the idiot who decided to stand in a swarm of bats.

She'll go forward a little more and see why there was a lantern in this place...

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