faderift | MOD PLOT ↠ SECRET STEEP'D ROOTS

WHO: Open
WHAT: Trapped! Trapped in a jungle!
WHEN: Bloomingtide 9:46
WHERE: Unknown
NOTES: OOC post! The three starters in the comments can have multiple threads, and feel free to ask us on the OOC post if you have any "what will happen if I x" questions.

When the eluvian shatters, there's a stutter in the flow of the fight. The eight Venatori nearly all freeze in place for a moment when the glass cracks, watching their way out and their plan crumble, and afterwards they never quite manage to get their rhythm back. But they don't quit, either. In the end, they all go down fighting.

Riftwatch takes no casualties, and the four members of Riftwatch who were taken captive are all alive, accounted for, and mostly unharmed.

That's the end of the good news.

The massive, shattered eluvian was set within a ruin carved and built out of a steep embankment, now almost entirely reclaimed by the jungle. All that's left are the remains of walls—some full height, others crumbling where vines have pushed between the stones or spreading tree roots have disrupted the ground. But with daylight fading and several injuries that need attending to before anyone can move, the surviving walls and thick plant growth form the best shelter anyone can hope to find before nightfall.

When the sun rises and better stock can be taken of their position, the jungle in which everyone finds themselves is still not immediately recognizable. It's hot compared to Kirkwall at this time of year, with temperatures hovering around 75-80F and kept relatively consistent between day and night by the high humidity and non-existent breeze. It rains with some frequency—light showers that are little more than mist by the time they reach ground-level or torrential downpours that start with little warning and drop several inches of rain in an hour before disappearing as abruptly as they'd arrived.

Most of the ruins extending up or out from the embankment are little more than chunks of moss-covered stone buried in the undergrowth. Searching around them will find them a stream running through the remains of a carved stone channel, fast enough to be safe to drink, and they can follow that a short ways out of the ruins to where it joins a much larger river. They won't see any traffic along it except for a variety of river creatures that would be happy to eat them. Judging by the position of the sun and moons, the river leads south.

There is one half-sunken portion of the ruin complex that's more intact, but after exploring it confirms there is no back-up eluvian on offer, there's little choice but to set out into the dense growth of the jungle. Huge trees create a canopy far overhead, and the floor is soft and springy with dead matter. Giant ferns, vines of every variety, and flowers of every conceivable color crowd them at every turn, making travel slow and damp. Overhead, and all around, are the sounds of other creatures moving through the same space. Birdsong, monkey screeches, the constant buzz and chitter of insects. The fauna in the jungle is a mix of the usual sorts of beasts one would expect in such a climate: parrots, monkeys, snakes, absurdly large insects, the rare big cat, whatever other weird animals walk around a jungle.

The walk south along the river will be a long and difficult slog through dense jungle with no real respite from the environment along the way—and no real certainty about their destination. They'll have to make a new camp each night as best they can and push on the next morning, hiking through seemingly-endless forest. At first, they will have the benefit of a path, a trail south alongside the river that appears to have been cut less than a month ago. It will lead to a second set of ruins where signs of Venatori presence will be obvious. They will make camp here for a couple days while they explore more thoroughly for clues about where they are and what the Venatori were up to.

Beyond that point it will be necessary to cut their own trail, an exhausting process that means even slower going and tired arms for everyone who takes a shift at the front of the line. The only break will come when the jungle abruptly gives way to a deep gorge, the river taking a hard west-ward turn and dropping down a series of magnificent waterfalls to what looks like a very large lake at the bottom. They can either find a way down the falls and hike west around the lake, or cross the river via a narrow rock bridge over the falls and continue south back into the jungle. They'll stop here and make camp among the rocks for another couple days to try to identify the lake or the falls before they go any further and risk walking miles in the wrong direction.

The journey will take a few weeks in total, with plenty of time and opportunity for a few people scouting ahead or foraging for food to find trouble (or fun) on their own. But the entire group will also encounter a few hazards together, including, in chronological order:

Shortly after leaving the elven ruins where they came through the eluvian, a flash flood will catch the camp one evening, despite its position on the best available high ground, sweeping away some supplies and ruining others. People outside of the camp, for whatever reason, will lack the high ground and might experience a more dangerous rush of water, and everyone will have to go to sleep damp and hungry.
A day after the group leaves the dwarven ruins, a swarm of dragonlings and several drakes will emerge from a mountain cave when the group passes too close, breathing fire and intent on chasing them away. Their high dragon won't appear for the fight, but several days later she will fly overhead, barely visible through the canopy but obviously very, very large.
A few days later, they'll come upon a hot spring that appears crystal-clear and fine for drinking and bathing, but will result in people developing minor, mostly auditory hallucinatory effects an hour or two after their exposure to it. The plants growing nearby will show to have an even stronger effect, if anyone is foolish enough to eat them to find out.
In a few areas, the river will cut gorges through the mountainous terrain, and following it will require either walking along narrow traversable paths on the cliffsides or holding supplies overhead and fording through the water. Watch out for dickfish.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ open & closed starters below, wildcards welcome, hmu for plotting etc. ]

"You know," Lucien begins, sounding jovial even sotto voce. "I really hope those things are edible."

The drakes and dragonlings have already established their claim on the cave, but this time their proximity isn't accidental. Lucien and Laura are here on purpose, minding their volume and prepared to slay at least one deer-sized reptile for dinner.

"I would hate to slay one only to find it unpalatable."

"I can taste it first," Laura offers, quiet and utterly serious. Lucien sounds as if he's joking--she's learned to recognize that--but he might need the reassurance regardless. "I do not get sick easily."

She'd prefer to say I do not get sick, but that stopped being true a few months ago. Still, of everyone in their party, she'd like to think she's the most difficult to poison--but perhaps that is somewhat hopeful.

"I count four," she adds, eyes sharp on the cave's mouth. There are shadows moving within it, just serpentine enough that they're difficult to discern.

"Absolument non," He turns as if to give her a stern look, but remembers himself--and her--before the turn is complete. She is as capable as anyone else here, and deserves the same respect he'd give an adult. "Forgive me, but it is not in my nature to allow someone else to put themselves at risk in my stead."

A fifth dragonling lifts its head within the darkness, apparently having been just woken by one of its writhing siblings.

"Another one. Perhaps we should lure one out here, so we need not kill the lot of them."

"Yes," she agrees, watching the shape elongate slightly. They all smell vaguely like snakes to her--but not quite--but the sounds they make are something else entirely. Right now, they aren't quite cries, just low noises, not unlike the snuffling she hears from other animals. "We are dirty enough without killing five dragonlings."

That, and some must grow up to be dragons, or others will not have anything to hunt. And perhaps the dragonlings might defeat them, but Laura thinks that unlikely. While she tries to think of a way to draw one--but only one--out, she adds, "It is less risk if I taste them than if you do. Your nature will be the same."

"I will concede only to tasting at the same time," he says, expanding his attention to outside of the cave. "Perhaps if we make twin commotions, one there--" He points to one side of the cave, then to the other. "--and one there. Divide the group. Then divide one of those divisions in a similar manner."

She can--begrudgingly--accept that answer. Perhaps, if the dragonlings are truly inedible, it will become clear before Lucien tries to put himself in danger. "And if they group together again?"

"Their instinct should be to protect this cave," he thinks aloud, scratching the scruff that has grown on his chin during this jungle foray. "If we can trap one, then feint towards the cave, they may be more likely to abandon their imperiled kin."

That's explanation enough for her--Lucien has clearly encountered more dragons than Laura. She starts taking crouched, sneaking steps away. "Your signal or mine?"

"Yours, I shall be ready when you are." He sneaks in the opposite direction, positioning himself on the near side of the cave, out of view of the dragons.

As soon as Laura gives the signal, Lucien beats the hilt of his sword against his armor, shouting something very cool and Orlesian that I can't be assed to think of right now but rest assured it's very chivalrous and uh...dramatic.

And sure enough, it draws the attention of all the little bebe dragons.

MOD PLOT ↠ SECRET STEEP'D ROOTS

lucien the lionheart

laura - lil' dragon hunting

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