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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
no subject
...Huh. I thought you might have seen something in the fog. The visibility's a problem. I've gotten turned around exploring here and there but not for anything like as long.
[not that she can gauge how long anything's taken. Even aside from the lack or day or night, Need has a very poor sense of time.]
But you found your way here in the end?
no subject
Only vague shapes, and the flowers. I...
[He trails off, looking out towards the edges of the houses, his mouth pinching at the corners.]
I heard a woman's voice, mocking me. I only made it here because the Ferryman found me.
no subject
[Need hasn't stayed in the same area herself, but she's become familiar with about the radius where the Lantern's light keeps the wraiths back. It's not as clear of a demarcation as it had been in the Caverns, and not as obscure as in the Desert. The murky, unchanging light and the fog are a pretty distinct set of conditions.]
Can you describe the voice? Were these the blue flowers, or the orange ones?
no subject
[Celehar glances towards Need, and nods.] A moment, to arrange my thoughts.[And he does take only a moment, his attention fixating on the middle distance. It's not quite a military kind of report, as Celehar backtracks to summarize the whole affair in an even tempo, even pausing now and then to check in on Need's expression before continuing. This is something he has done, in a formal setting, quite often.]
I did not realize at first that I had become lost, with the mists so thick. I thought I had walked along a singular path. It was only when I thought to turn back and retrace my steps that I began to realize the futility of it, and I could not say how long it was, or which turns I made. There were flowers here and there along the path, orange ones, and their heads always seemed turned so that I might see them.
Then, the further I walked, it seemed as though they all began to speak. All at once, with the same voice and the same words. They were mocking, and yet familiar, and they addressed me by name, as though they were a friend. And they offered a poisoned chalice, asking if I regretted my choice.
no subject
Strange things afoot. It also interests Need to see the elf doing something he finds familiar enough that it comes smoothly. Celehar always seems to be carrying a metaphorical stab wound that's usually just giving him a dull ache he tunes out, and is self-consciously bedraggled other than that. It's good to see some of his competency.]
If someone unfamiliar uses your given name, what's the context? Is it threatening? [she's thinking of the kind of menacing people who call prospective victims 'friend'] Belittling?
[she has a moment where she thinks the flowers literally offered him a tainted cup before identifying it as a metaphor.] Did they seem to want an answer?
no subject
An unfamiliar person? [Celehar says dryly.] To me, concerning, but not altogether unknown. I was a frequent subject of speculation in the Amaleise newspapers. A strange flower, however, gives me reason to wonder what maz is afoot, and why it is that maz knows my name.
[They've spoken about name-maz before, but also, talking flowers are not so much a thing where he's from, for all the skeleton had described them to him before he got lost.]
... They seemed to want a reaction. Whether that was for me to bargain, or to follow their lead, I could not say.
no subject
[Need has encountered Sakuya and neither is impressed with the other.]
But I catch your meaning. It certainly suggests either being under close observation, or that something has access to particular information about you.
So what did you do then?
no subject
If the world is to change itself, it is no less likely to do it when he is in the company of others, but it is easier to confront when not hamstrung by loneliness.]
And reason to want me - us - to leave the light.
[Celehar sighs.] I did not speak to them, and continued on. It was that way until the Ferryman found me.
no subject
Yes... I wonder what it gets out of this. Is temptation part of the process? Temptation to what?
[She doesn't comment on not talking to them. Celehar is probably the person most adamant that this is the correct path of anyone save the Ferryman themself, and she thinks he might have been rattled.]
It must have been unsettling.
no subject
[Still, even as he says it it seems obvious that the explanation sits poorly with Celehar. There have been flashes of something else, from the ghoul in Tanvero, and from Shepherd's report of the ghoul whom she'd spoken to.
Or maybe it is, as Need has correctly evaluated, the fact that the experience has rattled him. He does his best to adjust, when she points it out, straightening up and glancing away.]
It felt dreamlike, but I would hope that none repeat the experience.
no subject
[She doesn't really believe it. There's something going on out there, and finding out more is going to happen slowly if at all.]
Well. I'm glad to see you again. [She hesitates, then-] Humor me, take my hand for a second.
[Need has reached out a hand, palm up. If Celehar obliges, she'll cover his hand with her other one and press it before withdrawing. Then she's gotta keep this from being mawkish and sentimental.]
It already skews disastrously young here and without you it's even worse.
no subject
There's still some of the vitality of life missing from them both, but the pressure and the sentiment behind it is warming, nevertheless. Celehar's fingers curl, but he doesn't have a chance to squeeze back before Need has released him, unused to receiving such.]
I hope to avoid it repeating.
no subject
She's not anything to anyone. But Celehar does oblige her, and that's nice.]
Will you be staying in the light, then? The Ferryman's not as far from this little village as they were with either of the old places.