khuimods: (Default)
Khu Ioduan Mods ([personal profile] khuimods) wrote in [community profile] ioduanlogs2018-07-10 03:56 pm

[EVENT] THE FOG COMES - Ship's Return

Characters: ALL
Date: July 10
Location: Aifaran Harbour
Situation: The Narrakra has returned, but those aboard are not the same as when they left...
Warnings/Rating: Creepy descriptions of things?


The night of the Narrakra's return, fog poured into Aifaran's harbour. It was thick, soupy and cloying in the summer heat, swirling and shifting with every change in the air, but never dissipating. Many Dreamfolk may feel heavy tension in the air, an eerie stillness about the night that seems unnervingly familiar. But beyond the occasional, inexplicable power outage, nothing seems to be otherwise amiss.

The Narrakra limps into the dockyard port on a single engine in the early hours of the 10th, steering itself erratically toward the nearest berth. The dock workers, having not expected to see a Sentry ship sliding out of the pea-soup fog, are quick to raise the alarm, which is hurriedly passed to a runner to bring to the nearest Sentry outpost. Heavy pylons keep the Narrakra from outright running into the dock itself, as the engine sputters and dies, leaving the ship without steering.

The ship itself is in poor condition, metal hull dented and scarred as if it had been in combat with some great sea beast. Deep gouges, like something had hurled sharp points into the metal sides and pulled, some even deep enough that glimpses of the hull's structural support can be seen. In other places on the exterior, what appears to be an advanced stage of corrosion and rust have affected sections of the ship, but not in any uniform way. A handrail might be corroded to the point of the metal disintegrating at a touch, but the stairwell next to it still gleaming as if it had just been put into place.

---

OOC Notes: This is the culmination event for the Ships in the Night plot that's been ongoing for the last few months, although the outcome will play into future metaplot. Characters can witness the Narrakra's not-so-triumphant return at the docks, speculate on where it's been and what could have caused its disappearance, question the crew (if they can get past the Sentry), or sneak aboard the ship to do some reconnaissance and potentially find things...

Links: OOC Questions | On The Docks | The Survivors | Sneaking Aboard
iseeall: (-_-)

[personal profile] iseeall 2018-07-19 01:13 am (UTC)(link)
He was pretty much the opposite of okay, but Leo didn't really want to talk right now. It was taking most of his concentration to stop the disorientation and his eyes from spinning right out of his head; and he also wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep his lunch. Leo just laid curled on the floor in a tight ball until several minutes later it seemed to die down.

He wasn't sure if he felt completely peachy but at least his eyes didn't feel like they were going to go for a ride anymore. "Okay...I think it's safe for you guys to get close to me now. I didn't inhale a lot of the spores."
whattail: (im NOT small)

[personal profile] whattail 2018-07-19 01:27 am (UTC)(link)
Konoe just gave her a look. He really didn't need someone remarking on his inability to admit he was being troubled by his empathy, okay? "There has to be a reason for all these visions. I'm going to find it and destroy it; I don't like people toying with me."

Part of him wondered if they'd stop now that the ship was here, but not knowing still left a bad taste in his mouth.
psituational: (thoughtful)

for Zephyr!

[personal profile] psituational 2018-07-19 09:46 am (UTC)(link)
X doesn't miss when the alarm goes up about the return of the Narrakra, but by the time he arrives at the harbour, the docks are already swarmed with people.

Maybe, he thinks, eyeing the Sentry soldiers, that might work in his favour. The ship itself isn't well-guarded. Everyone, even the Sentry, seems terrified of it. For good reason, too; the ship looks like it's returning from a sea battle that raged for decades.

X takes a step, then stops. Maybe he shouldn't be sneaking onto a possibly haunted ship like this on his own. He takes a second or two to send a text message to Zephyr:

Zephyr, the Narrakra came back, and it looks like the crew survived. Meet me at the docks?

Less than a minute later, X slips under the rope. What can he say? Old habits die hard.

Change of plans, I sneaked onto the ship. Meet me there?
redlightgreenlight: (uncertain smile)

[personal profile] redlightgreenlight 2018-07-19 08:34 pm (UTC)(link)
"You thought?"

That meant Nerrin and the others felt as if it wasn't a shunt from another world. Even without the instruments and stars, which could have meant they had been displaced, Nerrin's words did not imply he believed that to be the case.
upshore: (Are you a fuckin' idiot // lulamae)

[personal profile] upshore 2018-07-20 12:14 am (UTC)(link)
Miles moved away, but not as far away as Valdis. He didn't want to leave Leo - what if that was how some creature here disabled its prey and then attacked them? Like hell he'd let that happen.

"What just happened?" Miles demanded when it was safe to return. He hadn't wanted to pester Leo when the kid clearly looked like he'd been on the wrong end of a tequila bender, but his curiosity was coming out. "You okay? I told you not to touch that, man."
redlightgreenlight: (unhappy 2)

[personal profile] redlightgreenlight 2018-07-20 12:34 am (UTC)(link)
Valdis heard Leo say he was fine from the room she had just vacated, she could feel Leo's discomfort and tried to push it as far out of her mind as possible. This place felt strange enough without the added confusion of those spores. She let the two of them talk, figuring that they'd be a bit more careful about touching things now that there had been a negative effect.

"We have no idea where this ship has been," she called back, "Nothing here can be considered normal or harmless. Tread carefully."

She'd do well to heed her own advice, but the next room held a rather large skeleton, it seemed largely intact, but slightly scattered. Long fangs and hooves that didn't seem like they should belong to the same beast. If only they could put the pieces back together, if there was a safe way to see what the crew had seen. Valdis ran a finger down one of the fangs, so focused on what it might have been that she almost didn't notice how the bones and hair moved as if to put themselves back into place. Her eyes widened and she drew her hand back sharply in confusion, accidentally cutting her hand on one of the teeth.

"Guys?" she hissed, wiping the blood off on her pants and examining the now healed finger, "There's something here."
iseeall: (suprise)

[personal profile] iseeall 2018-07-20 02:09 am (UTC)(link)
Oh right. He never did actually explain to Miles about his eyes. Leo immediately felt guilty; how much of an asshole did he have to be knowing about the guy's nanite problem, but not giving him anything in return??

He shook his head as Miles talked to try and clear his head. He could overthink everything later. "I'm really sorry...remember when I said I had good eyesight? It's way more than that. Like curse from the gods amount."

Leo opened his eyes just enough for Miles to see the blue light shining through before Valdis spoke and he turned around. "What? But I didn't see the auras of any living things!"

He followed her into the next room as steadily as he could putting a hand out to Valdis' shoulder to stop him from bowling over into the skeleton. "Uhh, what's that?"
afoolsgold: (intense)

[personal profile] afoolsgold 2018-07-20 02:31 am (UTC)(link)
All of this, the Fool suspects, is Too Much for Al'amar and Eitria. He looks from them to Devin and suggests quietly, "Perhaps we should let them get some rest, and try speaking to them again later."

Then, with a subtle and slightly untrustworthy glance in the direction of the Sentry, he adds lowly, "If we are allowed to do so."
upshore: (Oh fuck // lulamae)

[personal profile] upshore 2018-07-20 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
"...that's rough, buddy," Miles said, unable to suppress a shiver at seeing Leo's glowing eyes. Then again, when he went Full Crazypants, he probably looked just as unsettling.

He followed Leo into the next room and took in the whole situation with a glance - focusing on the important thing, which was, of course, Valdis looking at her hand in alarm. "You hypocrite, you give us shit for touching things, and I haven't even touched anything, and then you go touch...a skeleton that's coming back to life, cool, this is cool, this is fine and good."

His tone made it clear that it was in fact not fine and good.
redlightgreenlight: (shocked 2)

CW: Animal death

[personal profile] redlightgreenlight 2018-07-20 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
Never mind that she was a hypocrite, it was dead, it wasn't going to hurt her, aside from her own uncharacteristic clumsiness. Valdis stared at the skeleton as the pieces moved back together, "It's still dead, Miles. It's just..."

Leo's hand on her shoulder broke her focus and she shrugged him off as the skeleton fell quiet, though more intact than before, as if the scattered pieces had moved of their own will.

"I don't know what that was," she reached out again, wiping her blood from the fang and wondering, once again, what happened to this strange creature. It's small, about the size and build of a goat, though more slender, like a deer. Its fur is black, and its hooves are cloven in three rather than two. But the bigger picture tells her nothing.

But the second touch sent a sharp jolt through her mind and everything changed.

***

Fear.

The animal is restrained, its legs bound together and laying on its side. The crew members, so familiar, she knows them, she's seen them. They're looming over it. One of them holding a knife.

"Just get it over with," says Al'amar, looking away.

"No," says Nerrin, bending to light the candles. They're arranged in a circle along with several chalk markings on the floor and the animal struggles wildly at the center.

"It has to be done
right." There's nothing but grim determination in Nerrin's voice.

The creature doesn't die a quick death. Things are incomprehensible in the blinding white-hot agony inflicted on it. But there is the feeling of something at last breaking, like the parting of clouds after a long storm, before it finally draws its last breath.


***

The scents of the sea crash back in, but the terror of the creature was still forefront in her mind. Her entire body was stiff, her skin paler than it should be, she might even be shivering. Valdis had no idea what they had done. Or perhaps she did, and that made it all the more terrifying.
ilda: (10.)

[personal profile] ilda 2018-07-20 07:41 am (UTC)(link)
Faias' fearful reaction, the beginning of his narrative... they only bring more questions to Ilda's mind. Why did the power go out, what island, was the jungle she saw in that island or somewhere, what was the black stuff, what was the muddy stuff—

But all that is whisked away by his last statement.

"Years?" she asks incredulously. "A-Are you... are you sure?"
corundrum: (ok doc)

[personal profile] corundrum 2018-07-20 12:14 pm (UTC)(link)
That's definitely a much more striking piece of information, and Padparadscha's brows draw briefly at it.

"I see. It had only been two months for us...perhaps that's why the visions appeared so disjointed to those here," they muse, glancing back towards the shore where other Dreamfolk are almost certainly attempting to find those they shared visions with.
iseeall: (surprised face of displeasure)

[personal profile] iseeall 2018-07-20 01:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Leo knew something was happening as soon as Valdis touched the bone the second time. He was still a bit woozy from the shrooms, but immediately knew that this wasn't a hallucination; Valdis had done something. Something really scary and bad.

"What the fuck, what the fuck!!!" Leo shouted, backing away from her and immediately hiding himself behind Miles. He pointed a shaking finger at where two planes of existance seemed to be clashing together, flickering with a powerful energy and scary images, Valdis' aura flaring up incredibly powerfully.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID SHE DO?!!" Leo absolutely wanted to leave, but did not want to just abandon Miles and Valdis here, so he just instead had a death grip on the taller reporter's arm.
afoolsgold: (Default)

the Narrakra itself

[personal profile] afoolsgold 2018-07-21 01:08 am (UTC)(link)
okay so Kit and Rutile are exploring the Narrakra! We have some questions and would like a little guidance from our very gracious mods with how to proceed.

We'd like to know:

- rough layout of the ship (also what make - is it a steamship? i get the vibe it's something like a steamship, tech levels are still vague)
- especially interesting things to find
- what kinds of things can be collected as samples

is there a specific direction we should be having our characters explore to uncover plot-relevant info?

thank you!!
spiralpatterns: (you'll drink yourself to death)

[personal profile] spiralpatterns 2018-07-21 10:20 am (UTC)(link)
Of all the days to be slow checking his yimo.

See, the first message is great. Makes plenty of sense. Zephyr would be happy to meet X there and discuss a plan of action before implementing it.

The problem is the second message, which arrives before Zephyr can even read the first one.

There is some mild mental cursing.

It takes him some time to get down to the docks, but down he goes, because he can't just leave X to do stupid things alone. He texts a firm Stay put. on his way, because he's apparently an optimist and maybe that way it'll at least be easier to find X, but there's no real time or inclination for any more words.

It's lucky the ship isn't well-guarded; Zephyr isn't being especially subtle, he's just going. Where on the ship are you?
psituational: (grief)

[personal profile] psituational 2018-07-21 11:16 am (UTC)(link)
Stay put, says the text X only sees now that he's on the ship. Whoops. Does it count as staying put if he stays here, just out of sight belowdecks?

I'm just inside.

And with that, true to his implied word, he waits, idly playing with his yimo in one hand. Around him, there's only darkness. One of the metal struts across from him is corroded, dropping nearly to the ground, like someone dripped acid on it. That's a slightly worrying sign.
shivvymetimbers: (Default)

[personal profile] shivvymetimbers 2018-07-21 02:51 pm (UTC)(link)
That sudden flash of light completely catches poor Bastien by surprise. The pirate goes stumbling into a few filthy crates and barrels in hopes of scrambling away but it's too late. He's been caught, red handed at that by some little waif of a girl barely in her teens.

"What did you do that for!?" Bastien all but yells once he spots the child. "Ya got a death wish, sweetie? Hand over the Yimo!" Just when he was about to leap at the girl, Bastien is reminded of his current profession. Yes, his current profession. He's not a pirate anymore, at least not now. No, he's a guard. A sentry, no less.

"Ehehe..." A nervous chuckle escapes Bastien as he tries to think fast. This little vixen has him by the proverbial balls, doesn't she? He runs his hand over his face and sighs. "I am keepin' watch." So he claims. "I'm just patrollin', savvy?"
spiralpatterns: (look who makes their own bed)

[personal profile] spiralpatterns 2018-07-21 09:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Zephyr is muttering something cranky by the time he gets inside, but fortunately X isn't too hard to spot.

He's grumpy. He's definitely grumpy. His shoulders are set and his mouth is flat as he comes over to X. And it isn't that he's ignoring their environs, there's a quick flickering glance around to take in what's around them and judge no immediate threat, but he's just more concerned with X.

"Okay, what made you think this was a good idea, sneaking in by yourself?"
psituational: (disappointed)

[personal profile] psituational 2018-07-21 10:59 pm (UTC)(link)
"Nothing," X admits, with the decency to look sheepish. "My curiosity got the better of me."

He caught a glimpse of the survivors on the dock before he contacted Zephyr, and they looked -- dazed, confused, out of it -- but not injured. He'd briefly considered trying to find Eitria, but all the survivors had enough people trying to talk to them already. They had enough to deal with. The ship, on the other hand, is now responsible for kidnapping and then returning an entire crew, not to mention the Kin'nal girl reappearing.

X brightens a little. "But, now that you're here, do you want to explore with me?"

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