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thecrossinglogs2025-05-16 05:09 pm
thecrossingmods) wrote in thecrossinglogs2025-05-16 05:09 pm
Entry tags:
TEST DRIVE #3
TDM #3
Welcome to The Marsh, wayward souls.
It's good to see you again.
The TDM is game canon and will be active MAY—JUL. For further details about the setting, please reference our current setting page. All the information there is fair game for this TDM.
It's good to see you again.
The TDM is game canon and will be active MAY—JUL. For further details about the setting, please reference our current setting page. All the information there is fair game for this TDM.
arrival
— TANGLED BELOW ( NEW CHARACTERS ONLY )
CW: trapped underwater, drowning
Your journey begins as it has for all of those before you: in The River.
The water is lukewarm, and murky with dirt and vegetation. The surface isn't far away— but it might be hard to tell what direction you need to go in to reach it. To make matters worse, you are tangled in the plantlife around you, and will need to break free in order to escape The River's grip. There are others here who may be able to help you... but they'll have to find you first.
It's not possible for you to drown here; you may or may not recognize that you don't need to breathe, even down here. But every moment you spend with your head below the surface, you will spend trapped in the memory of your death, as if by a flashback. Depending on what brought you here, it may exacerbate your panic and confusion: maybe it isn't reeds, holding you back - maybe it's an assailant's hands; maybe it's not water clouding your vision, maybe it's something else, claustrophobic, smothering you. Or, maybe it's the dreamy, floaty peace you were expecting when you closed your eyes.
Regardless, you'll need to push through — to even start your journey, let alone finish it.
— BALANCED ABOVE ( EXISTING CHARACTERS ONLY )
You've traveled a long way to get here. Finally, there is a reprieve from the heat and chaotic energy of the Desert: the environment emerging around you is cooler and calmer, if not quieter. There are quite a few creatures populating the Marsh, both fantastical and not. Frogs croak quietly from the reeds; fireflies float along the surface of the water.
Wading around and through the muddy shallows of The River isn't exactly comfortable, so it may be a relief when the group comes across a wooden walkway rising out of the water and leading deeper into the Marsh. The planks creak under your weight, but they hold firm, and draw something like a path through the dense same-ness of the environment.
That path is anything but straightforward, though. And in the seemingly-perpetual dusk around you, it might be easy to get turned around: whether you have to retrace your steps from a dead-end, or lose track of others in the gloom.
You must be tired. But surely it's only a little bit further... right?
a marsh less traveled by
— THE VILLAGE
However much further it is, eventually you reach it: a small village, mainly comprised of wooden, multifamily homes lifted above the water on stilts. (Be careful which ones you choose to rest in, though — some of them might wander off with you still inside!) As with the shelters in previous locations, the homes are decorated as if by many tenants before you, continuously building on top of what was there before, and you may happen upon small items you recognize from home.
Unlike previous shelters, these don't seem like they've been abandoned for long. The items you find might be in better condition than they would have been elsewhere, and there might be newer or more comfortable amenities. Beds with softer sheets and more numerous pillows; pantries stocked with shelf-stable foods; unbroken toys or even board games with all their pieces.
Given the nature of The River here, this is also the closest The Ferryman has kept their vigil to the group's living quarters so far. While they still remain on the outskirts of the village — seemingly as separated as they can manage while still casting the Lantern's light where it needs to be — it's not as much of a trek out to see them. You might even pass them more than once on your regular goings-on during the day.
If you continue following the walkways, out to the edges of the village, you'll find a small pier with a number of rowboats lashed against it. They're small, and maybe a bit dusty or mossy, but they're sturdy, and large enough to accommodate two people at a time. There's no one else here but you — presumably no one will mind if you take one out deeper into the Marsh?
mist of memories
— AND BEYOND
There's plenty to be found, if you venture out: from the burping firedamp, to curious reflections of familiar places, to the choking mists of the mangroves.
Try not to get lost in those mists. It's a disorienting situation on its own, but certainly exacerbated by the wraiths that will follow you in great numbers, their misty forms often camouflaged within the mist itself. It's stressful. That must be why you might feel like you're seeing other ghosts in the mist as well, figurative or literal. Snatches of familiarity, just at the edges of your vision; maybe a face you never thought you'd see again.
It's not all dark and dreary, though. There are patches of brightly colored wildflowers growing throughout the Marsh as well, hidden among the leggy roots of trees and patches of reeds out on the water. In particular, the same bright orange marigolds that dotted the path you traveled in from the Desert also peek out in places throughout the Marsh, usually in clumps of three or four. They almost seem to follow you as you pass — maybe, even, smile knowingly at you. But surely that's a trick of the light?
Harder to ignore are the rarer, but unmistakable, bioluminescent blue flowers scattered among the others. If you touch one, it may have something to whisper to you — but if it's a voice, it's almost too soft to hear, and even if you could, the words themselves are unfamiliar.
But there's no one else here but you. Right?
Image credits: 1, 2 + stock imagery unless otherwise noted
Your journey begins as it has for all of those before you: in The River.
The water is lukewarm, and murky with dirt and vegetation. The surface isn't far away— but it might be hard to tell what direction you need to go in to reach it. To make matters worse, you are tangled in the plantlife around you, and will need to break free in order to escape The River's grip. There are others here who may be able to help you... but they'll have to find you first.
It's not possible for you to drown here; you may or may not recognize that you don't need to breathe, even down here. But every moment you spend with your head below the surface, you will spend trapped in the memory of your death, as if by a flashback. Depending on what brought you here, it may exacerbate your panic and confusion: maybe it isn't reeds, holding you back - maybe it's an assailant's hands; maybe it's not water clouding your vision, maybe it's something else, claustrophobic, smothering you. Or, maybe it's the dreamy, floaty peace you were expecting when you closed your eyes.
Regardless, you'll need to push through — to even start your journey, let alone finish it.
— BALANCED ABOVE ( EXISTING CHARACTERS ONLY )
You've traveled a long way to get here. Finally, there is a reprieve from the heat and chaotic energy of the Desert: the environment emerging around you is cooler and calmer, if not quieter. There are quite a few creatures populating the Marsh, both fantastical and not. Frogs croak quietly from the reeds; fireflies float along the surface of the water.
Wading around and through the muddy shallows of The River isn't exactly comfortable, so it may be a relief when the group comes across a wooden walkway rising out of the water and leading deeper into the Marsh. The planks creak under your weight, but they hold firm, and draw something like a path through the dense same-ness of the environment.
That path is anything but straightforward, though. And in the seemingly-perpetual dusk around you, it might be easy to get turned around: whether you have to retrace your steps from a dead-end, or lose track of others in the gloom.
You must be tired. But surely it's only a little bit further... right?
a marsh less traveled by
However much further it is, eventually you reach it: a small village, mainly comprised of wooden, multifamily homes lifted above the water on stilts. (Be careful which ones you choose to rest in, though — some of them might wander off with you still inside!) As with the shelters in previous locations, the homes are decorated as if by many tenants before you, continuously building on top of what was there before, and you may happen upon small items you recognize from home.
Unlike previous shelters, these don't seem like they've been abandoned for long. The items you find might be in better condition than they would have been elsewhere, and there might be newer or more comfortable amenities. Beds with softer sheets and more numerous pillows; pantries stocked with shelf-stable foods; unbroken toys or even board games with all their pieces.
Given the nature of The River here, this is also the closest The Ferryman has kept their vigil to the group's living quarters so far. While they still remain on the outskirts of the village — seemingly as separated as they can manage while still casting the Lantern's light where it needs to be — it's not as much of a trek out to see them. You might even pass them more than once on your regular goings-on during the day.
If you continue following the walkways, out to the edges of the village, you'll find a small pier with a number of rowboats lashed against it. They're small, and maybe a bit dusty or mossy, but they're sturdy, and large enough to accommodate two people at a time. There's no one else here but you — presumably no one will mind if you take one out deeper into the Marsh?
mist of memories
There's plenty to be found, if you venture out: from the burping firedamp, to curious reflections of familiar places, to the choking mists of the mangroves.
Try not to get lost in those mists. It's a disorienting situation on its own, but certainly exacerbated by the wraiths that will follow you in great numbers, their misty forms often camouflaged within the mist itself. It's stressful. That must be why you might feel like you're seeing other ghosts in the mist as well, figurative or literal. Snatches of familiarity, just at the edges of your vision; maybe a face you never thought you'd see again.
It's not all dark and dreary, though. There are patches of brightly colored wildflowers growing throughout the Marsh as well, hidden among the leggy roots of trees and patches of reeds out on the water. In particular, the same bright orange marigolds that dotted the path you traveled in from the Desert also peek out in places throughout the Marsh, usually in clumps of three or four. They almost seem to follow you as you pass — maybe, even, smile knowingly at you. But surely that's a trick of the light?
Harder to ignore are the rarer, but unmistakable, bioluminescent blue flowers scattered among the others. If you touch one, it may have something to whisper to you — but if it's a voice, it's almost too soft to hear, and even if you could, the words themselves are unfamiliar.
But there's no one else here but you. Right?
Image credits: 1, 2 + stock imagery unless otherwise noted
mist
She pauses hearing the cry in the mist, ignoring the wraiths and the half-glimpses. Need considers, thinking trap? as she often does, and checks for giant slugs, and decides she has to respond.]
Hoi! Who's there?
no subject
This is Frieda! I'm...
[How does she even begin to describe her predicament? But after a moment, she resolves to simply be as literal as possible.]
I'm stuck in one of the huts that walked away while I slept inside!
no subject
A rare sentence! All right, girl, stay calm and keep talking, and I'll come see. Are you high above the water?
no subject
Not too high to jump - though I'd prefer to avoid it!
[Entering the water once to clean her clothing already ended in a serious scare, and the prospect of being fully submerged is all the more dreadful given what Nagito told her about the memories deep in the water. She wonders how widely he's disseminated his knowledge... perhaps they should have planned another "town hall" meeting rather than a party first.]
no subject
[Need's squinting at the large shadows in the mist. Trees? Frieda sounds pretty close but her ears could be deceiving her.]
no subject
[Despite those complaints, her voice sounds almost fond as she recalls the unexpected pockets of relief they found in the tempest, and there's no trace of the heavy grief that lingered after the first Crossing.]
On the upside, I got to see glimpses of some of the others' worlds, and they're wondrous! Do you know what movies are? They're moving images in a box! But that may just be something Sunny dreamed up.
no subject
I've heard of them, but it's been a while. Here, that you?
[Need raises her dripping pole and waves it in a quarter-arc.]
no subject
[She waves, using her arm to its full extent. As Need's boat comes closer, she sits down in the doorframe, trying to gauge whether she could jump right into the small vessel. It'd hurt, no question, but she isn't so high up that she'd sustain serious injuries - if that's even a concern to begin with, given her body's incorporeal state.
However, the impact might capsize the boat, and that's heer greater worry. The last thing she wants is for both of them to end up submerged and trapped in memories of their death - come to think, would she even reexperience hers, given that she can't remember how she died? What if she got trapped in others' instead, like what Nagito experienced while aiding the Ferryman?
When her eyes meet Needs', her concerns are likely obvious.]
no subject
It's about four feet here. You'd make it, if that's what you're wondering. So. In the Cavern immersing was painful, in the Desert... disorienting, maybe? [she'd helped a test drive character who didn't app but had never gone under herself.] What's the River like here?
no subject
[Was it really "the other day"? These marshlands' eternal twilight is every bit as disorienting as the desert's unpredictabl day-night rhythm when it comes to measuring the passage of time. Regardless, her point is--]
He became completely unresponsive until I prodded him, so you may have to do the same for me.
[At least Need has the pole and won't have to haphazardly fish for branches!]
no subject
[Need could get out of the boat and catch Frieda, keep her from going under, and then put her in the boat. But while the flat-bottomed vessel she's picked is pretty stable, she can imagine how it'll be difficult for her to get back in.]
no subject
[She hesitates - that other matter has nothing to do with the river's effect on him, does it? But it's worth sharing regardless, if only to warn Need of the phenomenon.]
The reason he fell in in the first place is that he thought he saw somebody he knows. We haven't been able to figure out whether that was a real apparition or only his imagination.
no subject
[she's keeping it to that one comment. Nagito's normal isn't the same as the others'.]
Yes, I've noticed that kind of thing. If you look out into the fog they mainly appear in your peripheral vision, if they appear at all.
no subject
Wait, it happened to you too? You saw people you know from back home?
[As when Nagito told her, a shiver runs down her spine. Just what is going on in this place? Between the whispering pools in the cave, the strange monolith in the desert, and now this, she doesn't know if they're being tested somehow or merely encountering natural fixtures of these environments.]
no subject
[Need doesn't sound concerned, but she rarely does.]
It's a lot like on the Moonpaths. That's a piece of the spirit world that's just on the edge of the living world, close enough that the living can visit in dreams.
no subject
That sounds beautiful.
[Alas, they can't keep holding small talk here (or can they - after all, it's not like they're on a schedule!). She shifts, bracing herself.]
Do I jump in, then? Or do you think this hut will return to the village on its own?
[Regardless of Need's answer, she already knows that she doesn't want to stay here alone, so once the other woman wants to move one, she'll take the plunge. There's no guarantee, after all, that the little house mightn't walk off deeper into the marsh instead.]
no subject
There's no knowing the psychology of a house! If you get into the water I'll fish you back out. I could get out myself and catch you so you don't get ducked, but then it's an issue getting me back in this thing, I'm not sure where the closest bit of solid land is.
no subject
Yes, let's play it safe. It's better if only one of us runs the risk.
[Despite fully trusting Need's willingness and ability to retrieve her, she still keeps shifting around, visibly fearful, and mentally chastises herself. I'm not a coward. I'm much braver than this. I always have been. Did her bravery do her any good? Hardly. But even so, she has to push ahead - and she does.
The height, while not great, still gets her properly submerged, and immediately, the river takes a hold of her. Much like Nagito, she doesn't come back up, floating underwater as if suspended.]
no subject
[she doesn't insist on something that won't see Frieda in the water. The girl said she'd do it, Nagito's example suggests she'll not be too badly off for the experience, she should face her fear.
The house does move slightly after she jumps. The door closes and the whole thing tilts on those monstrous legs, as if looking down at the both of them. Need eyeballs it with distrust and gives it a lecture.]
See here, you, this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't walked off with her! People can't just gallivant around in the water like you, if you're going to take them places they should be places that they can step out onto!
[the house does not give any indication of understanding her and remains tilted, as if there had been a disastrous mistake in its construction. Need grumbles, peers down at poor Frieda with her hair in a hazy cloud around her head, and first tries touching the pole to the palm of her hand.]
no subject
Need's prodding makes her hand twitch and half-close, but she's not aware enough of her real surroundings to understand that there's an object she can grasp to get out of this nightmare - out of being eaten.]
no subject
All right.
[She hunkers down in the boat, gets her legs over the side, and heaves herself over into water that comes halfway up her chest, feet pressing soft decaying plant fibers and mud. Would she have to be fully submerged to see the effect herself, or would putting her face in be enough? Need can't get a good grip on anything with her head above water, but she has her feet and the pole. Between them she can push Frieda up enough to get hold of the girl and haul her up, get her head against Need's shoulder.]
Here you are. I've got you.
no subject
We have to get in the boat!
[Her mind is still reeling from the sensations she just experienced. What happened to me?]
no subject
[Need pushes her way through the water and clinging aquatic weeds towards the boat, which has drifted a few feet from where she left it. A nearby astonishingly ugly leathery-winged bird takes off as they approach it, and Need heaves Frieda up so she can lay her in the bottom of the boat.
By this point river water has pierced her clothing and started to make its way through her chest perforation and into one of her lungs. It's cold and feels very unwholesome. Need, as she performs her habitual scan for threats, takes an experimental breath or two and determines that if she doesn't speak too loudly or without pause she'll still be coherent.
The hut follows, still tilting as if looking at them with the knob of its door.]
no subject
Whether Need can get back into the vessel on her own, needs Frieda's help - she'll follow any instructions, so long as only she doesn't have to get back into the water -, or opts to maneuver it into shallower water, she'll show all signs of being awake and alert but terrible shaken.]
no subject
Need pauses to stare skeptically at it. It doesn't move, quite as if it's become some kind of a statue. She mutters.]
The strangest things... This isn't the time for more tricks, creature.
[No reaction. Well. It's low risk. Need goes for it, keeping the boat close and pulling herself up onto the rootlike toes, which barely move under her. From there she can get into the vessel with only a minor amount of rocking and jostling. The water soaking both women pools in the flat bottom of the little craft, enough to splash. Need starts to propel them forwards with the pole again, keeping an eye on the hut which seems to be following at a discrete distance.
It hasn't escaped her that Frieda is very subdued. She considers how to address the girl. Warmth? Gruff concern? Apologetically? Sharply, to try and jar her out of it? Probably not the last option; Need's unable to read minds right now, so it's hard to know when someone would respond well to being challenged. She'll come in at the edges, she decides, and not ask what happened right away.]
I want to get you warmed up and with dry clothes. Maybe find something to eat or drink, this place has more in that vein than the Cavern or the Desert did.
(no subject)