EVENT #16: THE ISLAND - IC INVESTIGATION LOG

[abraxasmods]

Event #16 - The Island

OOC event plotting | wintertide event log

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As requested, the Summoned from all three nations will be allowed to revisit the island where the abductions, experiments, and subsquent escape occurred nearly one year ago. Officials will send representatives on this trip: Jolene Sybell of Thorne, Reva Hym of the Free Cities, and Isar Hart of Solvunn. Although they won't be available for private conversations, they're there to lead the expedition and answer any questions you have.

The excursion will take place on DECEMBER 29, after the Singularity and all magic has returned to full strength. A portal will take you directly to the island, where you'll have 48 hours to accomplish what you need. Tents will be set up on the surface for resting.

For the main Wintertide Event Log, click HERE.

The Expedition

CW: Disturbing imagery (text and visual), death, folk and body horror, other dark themes.

At the start of December, officials will inform each Summoned Conclave that their request has been granted. You'll receive a letter detailing the date and time, as well as instructions on where to take the portal. When you step through the portal, you'll land directly on the island.

The expedition carries risks. Representatives have scouted the area beforehand to ensure its relative safety, but considering the cave's collapse and its flooded areas, they can't make promises. You're advised to bring personal weapons and protective equipment and are told to dress warmly. Be sure you can handle some hiking.

You'll see an unusual figure join the expedition. She'll introduce herself as Lorelai. If you're from Solvunn or were one of the Lost, you might recognize her.

◎ All characters are welcome to participate, including new arrivals. You do not need to have taken part in Event 12 to make this trip. However, if your character was not part of Event 12, they'll need to tell officials why they want to join. As long as the explanation is reasonable, such as wanting to help recover bodies, they'll be allowed to go.

◎ To learn more about Lorelai and interact with her, see the Investigations section.

Exploration

Island Surface

Above ground, the island is muddy and wet, and the temperature is cold. Where the ground hasn't turned to a bog, the dirt has hardened from frost. Trees show signs of the same blackened rot that was present during former investigations. The air is thick with a dark presence that leaves a strange grimy sensation over your skin. The more sensitive you are to magic or the Singularity, the stronger the feeling.

Desiccated corpses drained of life, both animal and human, litter the ground. Some animal carcasses - especially birds - are fresher than others, suggesting they died recently. Although many months have passed, it seems time has not been enough to help the island recover.

Follow the faction representatives. After a short trek, you reach the mouth of the cave. Here, a mangled mass of crushed bats and birds lay at the tunnel's mouth. A dried, bloodied residue sticks to the surrounding rock walls with bits of bone on the ground, as if a body was spread into a paste around the area.

Collapsed Cavern (Pit)

To descend into the cave, you'll need to navigate the tunnels. Some of them have collapsed, so be careful of potential rockslides and falling boulders. The worst of the blockage has been removed, but some areas still need you to clear the way by hauling off the rocks. Make sure you don't slip or fall - or worse, cause another collapse.

When you finally reach the pit deep beneath the earth, remnants of the horrors within confront you. The smell of death, rot, and unidentifiable herbs is overwhelming. Scattered at your feet are what's left of the blackened corn that some of you subsisted on. Fungal growths have sprouted in their place, pulsing and glowing.

The bulbous organic growths that once confined its captives have deflated into a gelatinous mass, its digestive fluids having eaten itself from the inside out. Dissolved corpses can be found still trapped under the mass, their skeletal remains rubbery to the touch. Other bodies appear to have succumbed to terrible lesions. Some were consumed so thoroughly that they became bizarre humanoid roots. Others still show signs of having been crushed under a massive beast.

Four disturbing statues are spread out across the area. The melted wax candles - now unlit - suggest they're shrines of some kind. All four shrines are severely damaged. The intestinal mace carried by one is curiously missing.

You might remember exactly what happened here or you can ask a Summoned who was there for details - if they're willing to talk about it.

Underwater

The western end of the island suddenly ends in a series of fresh jagged cliffs, so new that the erosion of water has yet to smooth the edges. A swirling whirlpool appears to have torn a large section of the island into the depths, washing away sins and secrets both...or most of them. Barnacles have formed on the rocky ledges. More disconcerting are the bloated bodies in various states of decay and mutilation that have risen to the surface.

You'll be able to help gather those remains or dive into the water to investigate what lies beneath. Officials - and the Summoned who were here - will be able to tell you that an altar once sat in this area where the terrible rituals took place.

Key Tasks

Hidden Threats

Two major threats have survived the island's collapse:

• The bone serpent, a creature whose sharp-spiked legs grabbed many unfortunate victims from the pit. With a substantially decreased territory, the bone serpent has become more aggressive and territorial. It's missing one limb while its other legs show signs of damage or scarring. It attacks wildly, relying on its massive size and strength to overcome its opponents, and hides within the dark depths above. The only warning signs it leaves are the carcasses of its prey. It'll require multiple people to take it down.


• The ceiling monster. Its claws and blood are corrosive, and removing its head will disturb the swollen sack on its neck to cause a similar explosion. Due to its ability to respawn when killed, the captive Summoned trapped the beast in a narrow tunnel. With the cave's collapse, it's now loose once more. You're advised to lure it into a trap designed by Free Cities scientists, where the creature can be set ablaze to prevent it from regenerating, ending its reign of terror for good.

Mages have set up a protective barrier to keep the creatures out, but it won't hold forever. Guttural screams and explosions of magic rumble the ground and air after each attempt to break through. You should act quickly to make sure the situation doesn't worsen.

For a general sense of timing, players can assume both threats are properly dispatched 24 hours into the excursion.

Uncovering Remains

Due to the haste of the rescue mission, exacerbated by the rapidly flooding cave, only the living could be extracted at the time. Now, you've returned for the dead. Many of the bodies are in a disturbing state as described above under Collapsed Covern - not just from decay but from something that appears to have been done to them before their deaths.

Few of the bodies can be easily identified and not all of them are on the ground, either. Some are up on the high ledges, which you can reach by climbing up using climbing rope that's provided. Scattered bones or limbs may need reconstruction or to be matched upon return. You can also recover small objects such as jewelry or other innocuous possessions that weren't taken from the captives.

Your task is to collect everything you can. Luckily, you won't need to handle the corpses themselves. Officials will send along attendants who will do the job for you to ensure everything is properly contained. You simply need to direct them to the area.

Purification

Each faction is focused on one of three hazards on the island. Thorne wants to dispel all traces of corrupted magic, Solvunn wishes to cleanse the destroyed shrines to ensure no other dangerous entities remain within, and the Free Cities aims to remove all contaminants. Formally, you're charged with helping your faction with their task, but no one will stop you from pitching in elsewhere.

This assignment will occur at the end of the expedition, once all investigations and exploration are completed.

• Dispelling
  Thorne will provide a pouch of small jelly-like orbs the size of marbles. The orbs are clear and pre-enchanted. Your job is to place them around the island where they'll begin absorbing unstable magicks. Once absorbed, the orbs will change into different colors. Collect and sort each orb by color. Additionally, you'll need to guard the orbs from curious or hungry critters on the island. Rodents, lizards, and palm-sized beetles may try to snatch what they believe is a tasty berry. Critters who consume a ball will explode into a gory splatter. It's not dangerous, but it can get a bit gooey, so you'll want to avoid bursting too many lizards or beetles.


• Cleansing
  Solvunn will ask you to perform a cleansing rite used for places of worship fallen under dark forces. You'll be given a pot containing a red substance and brushes made from twigs harvested from the island. You'll paint eye-shaped runes on and around the shrines to call upon the Cardinal God known as Misrklen, Patron of the Unstained. His presence is marked by a distinct fizz or hiss, followed by a popping that grows louder and louder. Solvunn's Elders will perform a chant until the ritual is complete and all of the red substance is absorbed into the ground.


• Decontamination
  The Free Cities has determined the most thorough way of removing hazards is to burn them. You'll be given a pistol-sized flamethrower and a thick gel to spread on each item to ensure the flames don't spread out of control. Once the gel is consumed, the fire will naturally go out. Main hazards to burn are the deflated organic bulbs, the rotted corn, any odd fungal growths, and parts belonging to defeated monsters. The flamethrowers are prone to overheating, so be sure to give it a few minutes to cool down every once in awhile. Otherwise, you might risk minor burns to your hands.

Investigations

As you explore the cave and its submerged sections, you might be interested in interacting with some of the things in your environment. In particular, the shrines, the mysterious woman named Lorelai, and the submerged altar stands out to you.

Characters can investigate or interact with any of the items provided in whatever way you want: poke it, smash it, try to talk to it or use your abilities on it (within reason!). We'll do our best to make sure every interaction yields something interesting.

See here and here for examples of how investigations and interactions work. The ones available on this log will play out on a smaller scale.

Shrines | Interact

The shrines, as described above, are situated around the pit. Stained with wax and blood, they no longer emit any strange energies or whispering voices. All of the magic contained within is now gone. You might recall that unlocking the shrines unleashed an enormous creature, causing the cave to collapse as it fled. It was last seen disappearing into the ocean, but where is it now? Your answer might lie in the shrines that once trapped it. Though broken and missing pieces, you can attempt to engage with each shrine such as relighting the candles, using magic you possess, or anything you can think of. You can also coordinate with others to test something on all four shrines at the same time.

Lorelai ('Hydnellia') | Interact

Originally called Hydnellia, Lorelai is a former Acolyte who, along with her brother, helped the Summoned escape. The Summoned agreed to let her and her brother return to the Tertiary Settlement where they live in their old home. She is the only non-Summoned survivor of Josselyn's ritual experiments. Lorelai has requested to join the trip to find closure and help recover bodies from her community. She is quiet and polite, and very grateful that she's been given the chance to make a new life. You can speak to her at any point.

The Altar | Interact

Beneath the water lies an altar that's now broken into pieces. To reach it, breathing enchantments will be provided that'll allow you to swim and see beneath the water, as well as protect you from any contaminants. You'll need to dive a distance down, but not too far - about 30 feet. Those held in the room during their captivity might recall a disfigured woman inside the mouth of the altar. What happened to her since is unknown. Perhaps you might try to find out?

A Decision

After the excursion has concluded, the Summoned will be sent home to their respective nations. Conclave representations can call a meeting to discuss the results of their investigations and what steps might be next. They can do this using any method they prefer, whether that be in-person, in the Horizon, or using the Network.

Most importantly, Summoned who were part of the abduction incident, as either the Lost or the Spared, will be asked to decide if they want to raze the island or restore it.

◎ Razing the island will strip it of all growth. This has the benefit of ensuring no corrupted creatures or flora can grow on it again, but will prevent nature from reclaiming it and will leave the area barren for many decades.

◎ Restoring the island will stimulate the regrowth of healthy vegetation and wildlife. This has the benefit of allowing the biome to flourish once more with nature, but may risk the growth of corrupted flora that needs to be removed every so often.

Officials will allow the Summoned affected by this incident to choose, including those who didn't return to the island. You'll be able to accompany officials to execute the decision made. Individuals in each faction can vote to support one of the two choices. The majority vote will be the decision that reflects the Summoned in that faction as a whole. Officials will implement the option with the support of 2 out of 3 factions.

Vote HERE by December 31 at 11:59 ET.

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Comments

[thoughts]

[ for one whose entire world is a constant tempest, istredd's calming presence is like a lighthouse toward safe harbor. she shivers when he takes her hands, feeling that warmth wash over her chilled and aching skin. there's a certain restlessness about her, faint tremors and the occasional twitch like there's something physically pulling her attention away.

still, she does her best to focus on istredd, following his eyes like a beacon as she tries to match his breathing. a body needs oxygen, a basic function - he says she's functional and she's not convinced. but she should at least be able to breathe, even if she has to fight through hiccups and sobs.

slowly, the panic bleeds out of her. the voices and the visions are still there, fear and pain still buzzing just beneath the surface of her skin. but their carefully controlled breathing eventually lowers the intensity of it all, until river is left with only a quiet stream of tears and a deeply profound sense of sadness. ]

Duìbùqǐ, Istredd...

[ just a quiet apology because that's all she's got in her right now. ]

[magicalarchaeologist]

[ This is not his first time talking down someone in a panic so he has some experience with it. Istredd would typically try and teach her right now how to make shields, but he's not sure if she can in this place, when things are already so overwhelming. It's easier when someone is in a safe and quiet place to learn the fundamentals. Istredd has shields around his mind at all times so he can keep from intruding and have his thoughts be his own.

But the breathing does help her and he's glad for that much. When she's able to breathe enough that she can talk, he shakes his head at her, squeezing her arm gently. ]

You don't need to apologize.

[ Istredd doesn't need to speak the language to get the message. He can tell from her tone what it means. He moves his hands from her arms to take her hands instead, keeping that connection while she calms down. ]

If I knew you were psychic, I would have insisted you not come here. It's more than painful for our kind.

[ Istredd couldn't stop her, but he would have at least tried to talk her out of it, knowing how harsh the reality would be. ]

[thoughts]

[ he's good at it, she thinks, being patient and comforting. when he takes her hands, she squeezes them back, holding on tightly for a moment as she shakes her head. ]

There's always pain. Always painful.

[ it was made to be that way. no matter how much simon tries to diagnose and treat her, nothing really takes away the constant ache of feeling everything all at once. tears keep spilling off of her cheeks and she stares at their joined hands as she speaks with a strained voice. ]

But I wanted to help. Everyone is... sad, or hurting. There's pain and it's everywhere. I can see it and I thought maybe, for once...

[ for once, maybe she could be helpful. her powers have only ever been used to hurt - herself or others, those the alliance deemed an enemy and everyone else around her whose secrets are stolen in the blink of an eye. this seemed like something she could do, digging up those hidden memories and bringing them to light. ]

But I'm just making everything worse. She only brings trouble. The "T" in "Tam" stands for "trouble."

[ a childish joke from a weeping child. he's right; it's too much, and she probably shouldn't have come here. ]

[magicalarchaeologist]

What we went through here ... it was very hard. I understand you wanted to help, but we wouldn't want anyone else to share our pain.

[ Istredd has a great deal of sadness in his own chest over this. It made him an open wound for at least an entire month, and the trauma is happening again here. The only reason she isn't picking up on his entire cascade of feelings is because of his strong walls, which she clearly needs to learn how to make. He'll have to follow up with her once they get to the castle. He's let her feel some of it, so she feels connected, but not all.

The slip into madness was easy in the Pit, and in some cases, a relief. He went mad twice, after healing others and taking on their pain, and it let him be without thinking for awhile. The people from the Pit are not good at talking about their pain, so it's an open wound. He is the last person to know what to do with that, despite being a telempath. ]

You're not making anything worse. None of this is your fault. You couldn't have prepared for this place, none of us are.

[ He squeezes her hands again. He doesn't think they know each other well enough to offer a hug, so this will have to do. ]

When it gets overwhelming, you can ask the Thorne officials with us to take you back to the castle, so you can have a break.

[thoughts]

[ she shakes her head at the notion of leaving, squeezing his hands right back - although it's less of a comforting gesture and more of a desperate reassurance that he is still there, still real, still offering her something more gentle than the awful things around them. and yet - ]

Took your pain and made it mine. She's a thief, and a liar.

[ or a fool; all three, perhaps. his sadness is there, careful and contained but there, dark and heavy. she knows what happened here through proximity, flashes of visions that are hard to parse and understand, but she wasn't here. they're not her nightmares and she's holding them anyway. 'we wouldn't want anyone else to share our pain.'

river lifts her head to stare at him, confused and overwhelmed by emotions that both do and do not belong to her. ]

You came back. You don't have to but you did anyway. Why?

[ why would any of them want to relive this? hard to bury a hatchet that's lodged in your back. she came to look for ghosts, to try to put some of them to rest. maybe it's the same for them too. ]

[magicalarchaeologist]

Not all your pain is ours. It's triggering yours. You're not a liar.

[ Istredd can't fully make sense of her own trauma since they only just brushed minds for the first time, but he knows this is not the reaction of someone without their own baggage. He survived a great many things growing up with his skills, but that is because he was trained to control, it had to be. Chaos magic kills mages when they don't use it properly, so it could have eaten him from the inside, burned him up. Survival is sometimes all someone can ask for.

This place is proof of that, because they survived, but not intact. Not without terrible scars in their psyche. ]

We -- I needed answers. [ He can only speak for himself. ] When I left here, I was dying. I was stabbed helping people escape and it got infected, I was lying on the ground fading when the cavern collapsed. Then I was drowning in the ocean cracked open, but a turtle came and saved us. Strangely enough, one that we saved not that long before.

[ Probably one of the stranger parts, but the turtle had been a literal savior, most of them were drowning or would have. He and the others helped it when it was beached only a little while before the incident. It remembered. It came for them. ]

I've gotten some of those answers now, to what I missed. [ That, at least, is good. ] But the bodies here, these people died like I would have, and they were left here because they had no one looking out for them like I did. They should be brought back home.

[thoughts]

[ she listens to his story very carefully, even as she continues to shiver from the nightmares that cling to them in this awful place. it sounds like madness - it is madness, a true insanity in the ways the magic twisted their bodies and minds.

what was he thinking, as he laid there dying, as water filled his lungs? has he put those thoughts to rest by seeking out his answers?

it's about processing their pain, by the way he describes it - his, or her own. there's so much hurt that lingers. ]

It's time to go home. That's why I want to help. Not a turtle, but... maybe I can go slow.

[ going straight to the pit was a mistake, and coming to the island at all probably was too, but there has to be something she can do. river squeezes istredd's hands again, staring into those too-blue eyes. ]

You're not alone. [ he'd said it earlier ] Didn't leave them behind. You came back, to find what you were looking for. Came back to save them.

[ even if they're dead already, to free them from the prison he narrowly escaped - they can still be saved, right? that's why she wanted to come. if he can face his pain to be here, can't she do it too? ]

[magicalarchaeologist]

[ It was madness. There are no real ways to explain the fear of being in darkness, no food or water, hunted by beasts, strangled by vines, and then pulled away to be experimented on and drugged into a feverish rage. There was death everywhere. He came the closest of the Summoned to dying, back and forth alive on the turtle, but the natives weren't so lucky. Istredd knows that he will have nightmares after this, too close to those memories to avoid it, but hopefully not for long.

He didn't even have it the worst, being uninfected. Istredd doesn't want other people to understand; they shouldn't have to. She shouldn't have to. It's cruel enough as it is. ]

I came back. [ He confirms. ] There was a disfigured woman in an altar. There were only a few of us left. We didn't know how to help her, we thought we had time to decide. When the cavern collapsed, she was lost. We were able to find her today in the ocean and bring her back up. There's a lead in who her family might be. That means something.

[ The woman in the altar haunted some of them. They could have killed her, and in hindsight he wishes that they did, but at the time they couldn't have known it was going to flood. She was covered in mushrooms and clearly experimented on to the point of being unrecognizable. Istredd is genuinely relieved they found her, even if she may be too contaminated to return. She shouldn't have drowned. They should have mercy killed her. It's haunted him since. Now, put to bed, at least as best as possible. ]

I'm just worried, River. This is ... it's too much to carry. I don't want you to suffer like we did. I think you should go back.

[ Istredd can't force her, but he feels responsible. For everything here, irrationally, for her, rationally. ]

[thoughts]

[ is it wrong to find a glimmer of hope in such a grim tale? there's something buried deep beneath layers of scar tissue in river's brain, a memory she can't remember that isn't hers to hold in the first place - but grief for the dead left abandoned, unseen and unheard and uncared for, lingers in her heart all the same. flashes of skeletons and half-decayed bodies flicker behind her eyes, so she squeezes them shut as she tries to process everything he says. it's dark, but it has to mean something.

he's right. the things she's seen here will probably stay with her, in the way her mind greedily absorbs and clings to everything around her whether she wants it to or not. more quiet tears slide down her cheeks but she eventually nods her head in acquiescence. ]

Qīn'ài de tiānshàng de shàngdì, liánmǐn wǒ, but you're right.

[ it's not his fault; not his responsibility, not responsible for her, but she knows he's looking out for her with more understanding than most others might be able to. her expression is sad and resigned when she finally looks at him again. ]

In the morning. I can - I will go. Might play marbles first.

[ not a game and she knows he probably won't approve, but it's a compromise - a promise. she won't stay too long. it's just one little thing she should be able to do. ]

And then I'll go. Promise.

maybe lead to wrap on this one too!

[magicalarchaeologist]

[ She speaks in a language he doesn't understand but in the end, she's listening to him and it gives him some relief. She may not technically be his responsibility, but Istredd can't help but feel that way for the other Thorne Summoned. He intentionally put himself into a position of authority by being the welcoming committee, a situation that he stumbled into but takes seriously. He feels a particular sense of concern with her, given her abilities and her youth. ]

I'm glad. And please try not to go down to the bottom of the Pit before then. It's ... there's no good that can come from that.

[ If she plans on staying until the morning, fine, but she can stay out of the worst section of the island. There is nothing but pain down there, and it's impossible for her to fix what happened that is haunting everyone. ]

You can help with the purification up here, alright?

[ That will keep her away from the majority of the bodies that might set her off. Istredd doesn't want to take away her ability to help if that is important to her, but maybe reframe where assistance is better for everyone. Otherwise she'll just be self-harming more. ]

Why don't you lie back down and I'll sit with you, see if you can get some rest.

excellent! 💝

[thoughts]

[ she listens to him closely and nods her head, accepting his wisdom and guidance with quiet gratitude. he's spent his lifetime studying things she can't even begin to understand about herself, and it's been a long time since she's had adults in her life that she could trust or look up to, anyone other than simon that could represent safety or nurturing.

the list seems to be slowly growing here in abraxas. she doesn't fully trust them, she's too paranoid for that just yet - but doesn't every child need to believe someone will protect them from the monsters under the bed while they sleep?

so river tries to cling to the comforting energy that billows out from istredd as she lays down, forces herself into even breaths at the same calming pace he'd offered before, and closes her eyes. the screams continue, visions that will haunt her for days to come, but for once, she knows that the monsters are real because istredd can hear them too.

it's enough, for now. it's a gift - istredd is gifted - and river will forever be grateful for what he did to keep her grounded as they await the rising sun. ]