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expiationlogs2023-11-11 02:14 pm
{EVENT #5} ADVERSITY 3386435.8364
| MOD NOTES: Please direct any questions to the corresponding comment below. Note that character decisions and actions taken on these prompts will affect future events, storylines, and relationships with other peoples of Expiation. - This event is forward dated! The characters will be going to Rumpitur on the 17th, and the second part of the event will be going up on the 25th. - There will be a second part to this log! This will include some RNG sign-ups that will be affected by how the first part of the log shakes out. - Please note that for RNG sign-ups, for those who sign up, there is a possibility that your character could be injured or even killed. You will not know what you’re signing up for in advance, as there are several different ways it could go. Please be aware of this when signing up! - We're putting this event up a little early because we were unable to get the event done enough in time to outline it for everyone at the beginning of the month. If you'd like to do a plot with me with people, the post is here! The poll will be going up on Monday, which was the original day the event was to be posted. - We very much encourage questions for this event OOCly to the mods, as this is an exploratory sort of event. It's very important to us that everyone gets the information that they want! The various prompts are, of course, optional. |
The chilly November weather seems reflective of the chilly attitudes of Aldrip’s local population. With their fellows still missing, most of them aren’t warming to your presence at all. On the other hand, messengers from the nearby city of Rumpitur have arrived at Aldrip’s gates wanting to open a trade route and strengthen relations between the two towns.
Those who have been here a while have been to Rumpitur before, and remember the snake people as being welcoming and friendly. To get to the city, Chosen will have to travel through Pessiria Forest down to the coast. The road forks at this point: go one way and you arrive in Rumpitur. The other way leads to the mysterious walled city of Ketsora, a place that seems…well, a little unfriendly.
Aldrip’s locals seem more open to working with them than with the Chosen right now, so they readily agree to a trade deal. They even agree that the Chosen can be involved. Rumpitur locals offer to bring wagons to make the trip easier, and say they will arrive on November 17.
SHE'LL BE COMING DOWN THE MOUNTAIN
True to their word, on November 17, a few Rumpiturians arrive to deliver several wagons, each of which can carry up to a dozen people. They weren’t using them anyway, they say–they were just gathering dust. Well, whatever the case, you don’t have to walk all the way to Rumpitur now with tons of stuff to carry.
Which is good. Because in spite of the fact that Mr. Expedition has poked his nose in to see what everyone’s up to, he adamantly refuses to help anyone travel.
”Absolutely not,” he says airily, ”you couldn’t pay me to set foot near that place.”
Why is he so wary of it? He…doesn’t say, of course.
That’s fine. Everyone has their thing, right?
Anyway, the wagon seems like it’d be faster than traveling on foot, but do take into account that the horses (or chocobos, for those who will) pulling them will have to stop for rests, because they’re hauling quite a load! The trip will take one full day, meaning you might need to camp out for the night near Pessiria Forest.
That’s also fine. Very, very fine.
THINGS'LL BE GREAT WHEN YOU'RE DOWNTOWN
The Chosen arrive in Rumpitur just in time to witness a big commotion happening at the center of town. One of their own, the renowned restaurateur Agantha the King of Spices (bold claim, but okay), has gone missing! Clues are slim, unfortunately, and the Rumpiturians urge their guests not to get involved. They’ll handle their own matters.
But…curiously enough, they mention something about a flyer, and a meeting the famous chef was interested in attending.
Rumpitur has changed a bit since the last time the Chosen came to visit. Before, it was a bustling city, full of life and seemingly at the height of success. Looks like they hit a plateau. There are “for sale” signs in the windows of various buildings, all in various states of disrepair. The Rumpiturians don’t exactly look like they’re having a great time: a little leaner and less well-groomed than last time you were here, they all seem a little like they could use more sleep and a chance to rest in general. There’s an air of nervousness in the air.
No wonder they’re looking for trade partners. Pickings in town seem slim.
They’re all excited to see the Chosen, and most regard them with friendliness and almost an overabundance of hospitality. In spite of the shabbiness of the town overall, the market is hopping, full of strange and exciting goods and trinkets. Jewelry, weapons, armor, books–all things that might pique the curiosity of those who like the finer things in life. They’ll be selling these things cheap, either for coin or trade. Food seems to be at a premium, here, getting you twice as much as you paid for.
Overall, Rumpiturian hospitality may remind the Chosen of what things used to be like in Aldrip. For the first few days, the inns in town offer rooms for free to those who will, and even once they start charging, they offer the same incredibly low prices and exchange rates as their merchants. If this gives you the impression that they can be taken for more, you would be correct. Rumpiturians are slightly desperate, especially for food and other staple goods. They won't argue any price the Chosen wish to take for it. Their distracted state means they make easy marks for theft, as well, for those who may be so inclined to use their five-finger discount.
Investigations about their missing person are met with uncharacteristic stonewalling, thoygh. They refuse to talk about it, for the most part; when pressed, they make vague accusations that this sort of activity is why they cut off trade with Ketsora ages and ages ago. Apparently they sent someone recently to try to negotiate a new relationship with the elusive city. It…didn't go well. Can't trust those shifty bird-worshippers, so they say. This is what they get for trying to mend old strife.
ii. STOP! HALT!
Hospitality aside, there are a few areas of Rumpitur that have been cordoned off, both with signs and with guards posted outside. What they’re guarding seems completely unclear; the areas look fairly average, with nothing notable about them.
The first area is the docks where Rumpiturians keep their boats. When asked why this area is off-limits, the guards will explain that they have recently run into trouble with bandits stealing boats in the night. They have no proof, but they seem to suspect Ketsora of meddling and taking their things. It seems the two towns don’t always, or often, see eye-to-eye.
The second area seems to be a block of warehouses and derelict buildings. With things being visibly worn-down, their explanation seems to make sense: with all the new people, they don’t want anyone wandering into a dangerous area where they might get hurt! It all checks out; you may even see a few stones falling while you ask about it. Still, for some reason, it looks like one or two buildings have lights on inside.
Those industrious and stealthy enough to manage a stakeout will begin to see weak spots in their watch patterns; when the guards change shifts, there is opportunity for infiltration.
TO BOLDLY GO...
After the kidnapping of their famed local chef, bad feelings from Rumpitur about Ketsora couldn’t be higher–not only do they suspect the isolated town of kidnapping their fellow townsperson, they also seem to blame the neighboring town for all manner of other woes that have befallen the town. A surplus of injuries keeping people from working, a poor harvest, shipments going missing by sea…it seems they’ve become more of a scapegoat to blame for everything that might go wrong.
Which is weird, because the whole town is walled off, and has been for ages.
Being very large snake-people, Rumpiturians aren’t exactly great at stealth: they’re slow-moving and can be a bit loud. So they finally relent to those Chosen who have been asking around and investigating. Their request? Infiltrate Ketsora and find their missing person. Please.
iii. NOT SO FRIENDLY
The road to Ketsora is fairly short, once you’re in Rumpitur. It only takes a few hours to get there, but you can see the wall even from a distance. It’s large and solid and very very intimidating, circling the enormous city like a barrier ring. Approaching the wall almost instantly seems like a bad idea: anyone approaching will be greeted by a warning arrow shot at their feet, with a threat of more if they don’t turn around and go back where they came from.
So much for hospitality.
Off the road to the north of Ketsora, Chosen can get a better view of the extent of the wall by way of a few large rocky hills. From what they can see, there seem to be archers posted at regular intervals along the entire top edge of the wall. The more daring among the Chosen might take the space between archers as a blind spot, especially under cover of darkness or when the archers change shifts. But getting to the wall is just part of the problem; after that, you have to figure out how to get past it. And the large, heavy gates at the front of the city don’t look like they’re opening any time soon…
Those who wish to investigate Ketsora should also be wary of local fauna. Specifically, monsters. They seem more prevalent here than in the areas around Aldrip, and unlike home sweet home, they don’t seem wary of the Chosen at all.
For now, this is as close as Chosen can get, unfortunately. Maybe some further investigation will reveal ways to get in…or maybe eventually they'll be willing to open their gates in the future.
Just because there’s not a prompt for it doesn’t mean that your character’s actions aren’t acceptable. If you wish to do anything that hasn’t been directly addressed by the prompts, leave a message for the mod team to say what your character would do. If you choose to go down this path, note it as a comment on the OOC poll when it goes up, and leave a link to your threads so that we can take all actions into consideration for the next State of the Game.
warehouse
She's met Ange a few times now, once being a very vulnerable moment. It's a moment she's a little embarrassed about now, but what she sees in Ange's face is different than the times before. She's curious about this all too, isn't she?]
Very curious. For a city that wants to pin all the blame for their woes on their neighbor, they certainly don't want us to look for any proof.
no subject
[ Granted, it's probably the most uncharitable way of interpreting the situation here, but it's not like she's interpreting it that way without grounds for doing so..
Not to mention that Ange naturally leans towards the more cynical interpretation of any given situation. Hence why this comes so naturally to her, why she can speak of it so easily. ]
Don't you want to go ahead and find out what that is? [ She gestures with her head in the direction of the guards in the distance. ] I don't think talking to them is going to help us with that.
[ Apparently she did see Caitlyn trying a little harder to negotiate with them, judging by Ange opting to say that. ]
no subject
[What that means, it's impossible to say without further investigation. But she's seen plenty of cover ups and misdirection in her time as an Enforcer to know not to take anything at face value.]
No, talking with them isn't going to work. [But then what? She had her rifle, but she wasn't going to hurt them in cold blood for just doing their jobs. Being guards didn't automatically mean they were up to something nefarious themselves. And any large commotion will just bring more guards their way. No, they have to do this quiet.]
We'll have to sneak in. If we learn their routes, maybe we can time it just right and get past them without any of them noticing.
no subject
Sure.
[ Sounds like as good of a plan as any to Ange - especially when she doesn't really unnecessarily want to hurt people either, even though it would be a lot easier here. But she's saving that plan, keeping it at the bottom of the barrel. They'll be here for long enough that they can at least try out some other stuff first.
Like this. Ange is already heading back in the direction of where the guards are, planning on trying to find a good vantage point to check out their routes. Along the way, she speaks up again, offering: ]
I can also create a distraction. Just in case they have everything covered a little too well with their routes. It's not a huge one, though, so we'd still have to hurry.
no subject
I spotted a few vantage points that might be useful. It seems like the rooftops are relatively unwatched. We should be able to watch from there without being noticed.
[Because of course she was already paying attention with the expectation she was going to have to do this the hard way. She just didn't expect help so quickly.]
no subject
[ Ange doesn't even sound surprised that the other has already been scoping all of this out. Maybe it's because of previous experience - after all, Caitlyn wouldn't have opened up what's practically a P.I. business back in Aldrip if she didn't pay attention to these sorts of things - or maybe Ange has a high enough opinion of the other in general to expect Caitlyn to be paying more attention than most people would.
It's nice, though. It means they can get down to business easily, which is something Ange likes, not being good at small talk. Being much better at action. ]
Can we just go from the inside, or are we going to have to find some way to climb up?
no subject
[Caitlyn's learned a thing or two about using the environment to your advantage with getting around thanks to Vi. She's definitely paid more attention to things like that for quick escapes, or moments like this when you needed an easy way up buildings.]
no subject
But that's the upside to this place, right? No one knows anything about her here, no one expects anything from her. Why couldn't she climb up the side of a building if she'd try and would want to do so? ]
I'm a little bit more used to getting down that way than going up, but the reverse can't really be that much harder, right?
[ Ange sure doesn't seem to think so - her tone is very relaxed, practically nonchalant. ]
no subject
When Ange expresses her concern, Caitlyn tilts her head. It's a fair consideration, for someone that isn't as used to this as her.]
I'm going to try something, to see if it helps.
[She waves for Ange to follow, and leads her behind the buildings in question. She's cautious, keeping an eye out as she makes her way there, just to ensure no one sees them or follows. As she described before, there was a large dumpster, as well as several pipes connecting from the ground to the roof. Caitlyn pauses, then turns her attention back to Ange.]
I'll help you up onto the dumpster first, then once I'm up, I'll go up the pipes first and make the handholds for you. How does that sound?
[She's going to be testing out her new abilities by pulling the metal pipes to be easier to grasp for Ange. She's been practicing a lot, but this will be one of her first time using her powers so publicly.]
no subject
.. her eyes widen. Just slightly. Even surprise doesn't seem to show up that wildly on the girl's face, but it is still slightly there. ]
You don't mind doing that?
[ Sorry, Caitlyn. It's just that Ange is entirely unused to people offering to do something for her, and it leaves her staring at the other in surprise, like Caitlyn just made her some real big and generous offer. ]