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thecrossinglogs2024-11-09 11:57 am
thecrossingmods) wrote in thecrossinglogs2024-11-09 11:57 am
TEST DRIVE #1
TDM # 1
Welcome to The Cavern, wayward souls.
It's good to see you again.
The TDM is game canon and will be active NOV—JAN. 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 NOV—JAN. For further details about the setting, please reference our current setting page. All the information there is fair game for this TDM.
arrival
— THE RIVER
The River is wide, black, and deep. It is so deep, and so dark, and so cold, that when you wake deep beneath its surface you may, for a moment, think that this is all there is. An abyss, a vacuum, a void. Nothingness in all directions.
It might even be what you expected, coming from wherever you were Before. The blackness, at least. Perhaps the cold. Maybe even the pain: all-encompassing, all-consuming. If a mortal wound brought you here, it might feel like it's being torn open anew, over and over again.
The current is simply slow, however, not non-existent. And you can swim. (Or, even if you can't, that's more of a procedural problem than anything: you don't need to breathe down here, it seems. Perhaps you don't need to breathe anymore at all.)
It hurts. It hurts so much. But if you can just concentrate long enough to pull yourself up onto the rocky shoreline, or even enough to get your head above the surface of the water, that pain will dissipate, almost as if it was never there at all. When you have the presence of mind to examine yourself, you'll find that you are actually hale and whole, with your body exactly as you expect it to be.
There are others in your same predicament. Maybe they can help you; maybe you can help them. You're all in this together, after all.
— THE CAVERN
Once you do finally pull yourself free from The River, you'll find that there was never any abyss at all. On the contrary, there's quite a lot to see — though your eyes might need a minute or two to adjust.
The Cavern yawns around you, the main chamber alone large enough to house a small town, and the ceiling too high to make out through the darkness. There's some light: you can see the eerie green glow of bioluminescent plants lining far-away walls, and tracing the underside of the land bridge that extends over The River. There are pinpricks up high on the cliffs above The River that are organized enough to suggest intervention, or at least planning.
There's something else, too — something orders of magnitude brighter than anything else in the chamber. Its glow is dim on this side of The River, and it's difficult to discern where exactly the light is coming from, just that it isn't coming from anywhere outside the cave. You feel as though you might be safer if you got closer, but maybe that's just because any light at all is comforting in a situation like this. If nothing else, you'd probably find whoever is holding it.
Either way, whether you follow the light or don't, there's plenty of time to be alone with your thoughts. Or to share them, if you're so inclined, with the others that are here with you, emerging one by one from the depths of The River.
Perhaps you've already accepted what's happened to you. Perhaps you need time, and it will take some discussion with the others to arrive at the one thing you all have in common. Perhaps even after that it's still too much, or you still aren't ready. However you get there, though, there's no way around it: you are dead.
If you have questions, The Ferryman is available to answer them.
KEEP TO THE LIGHT
— THE LANTERN
The source of the light is a lantern — specifically, it is The Ferryman's Lantern, an ornate metal lamp hanging from the end of a tall wooden staff. It's large, weathered from use, and despite how improbably far its glow casts — from the land bridge over The River, where The Ferryman is holding their vigil, up the cliffs above and into the subterranean city's many tunnels — it isn't so bright that it can't be comfortably looked at. The Lantern has an unmistakable aura of comfort and safety (maybe because of, or maybe in addition to, the light it casts), no matter how close or far you are from it.
It's only at the very far edges of the glow, where the last bits of light are swallowed by the darkness, that this sense of safety begins to fray. It's here that you can see them, prowling the boundary: wisps of something that you can barely see. Many somethings, in fact.
They can't cross into the light, it seems. All they can do is wait for you to leave it.
— THE SUBTERRANEAN CITY
Maybe you'd rather stay for now, though. There's plenty still to explore within The Lantern's shroud: to start with, the network of tunnels you can see built into the cliffs above The River.
The biggest hurdle is figuring out how to get into the city. You can spy the entrances, marked by dimly glowing torches set into the open mouths of tunnels, but they're so high up! Surely you're not meant to climb?
Well, yes and no. Some investigation reveals a series of wood-plank catwalks leading up to the lowest tunnel entrances, but it's a long climb. If you're feeling impatient (and brave), there's also a system of pulleys, ziplines, and simple rope elevators connecting the higher levels to the lower ones. The ropes have clearly been here a while, but they're probably safe, right? What's the worst that could happen, you die all over again?
(Too soon? We get it.)
There's plenty to see once you reach the city itself, even if there isn't much in way of a population. (Until now, at least!) The lamps and torches lining the walls are packed with the same bioluminescent plantlife that can be found elsewhere in the cavern, so there's no risk of them spontaneously going out. There are signs placed strategically throughout the tunnel system to point you toward major landmarks, using only simple iconography.
The city itself certainly appears lived in, even if it's currently empty; in fact, if you pay close attention to the signage and the decor, there appear to be layers of activity not unlike the rings of a very old tree. Older tapestries covered with newer ones with entirely different patterns; boxes of radically different table trinkets carefully stored in apartment closets, to make room for new ones on a shelf; evidence of the stone market stalls having multiple different usages, many of them apparently in sequence.
Some of those tapestries or trinkets might even be familiar to you, like they came from a culture of your homeworld. Strange, though, since you didn't arrive with anything similar on you. Where could they possibly have come from?
VENTURE IN THE DARK
— THE WRAITHS
The Cavern is big, and The Ferryman's Lantern only reaches so far. If you want to explore, you'll need to brave the darkness— and whatever else might be waiting out there for you.
You'll have some light, at least, even if it isn't much: the luminescent plants grow throughout the cave system, including its winding tunnels and cramped smaller chambers. As for whatever else might be lurking out there, well... without The Lantern, there's not much you can do to keep them at bay.
The Ferryman calls them "wraiths", if you were curious enough to ask beforehand. They're more what you might typically expect from the idea of a ghost: pale and insubstantial, like mist struggling to take and keep a shape.
And they certainly do have shapes; those shapes are just incomplete, sometimes blurry, like a pencil drawing that has smudged and faded over time. They have faces that seem to have been stretched too long or too wide; they have eyes with no color, unblinking, always staring back; some of them have mouths that never close, while others have no mouths at all; some of them have hands with wispy tendrils of grasping fingers; others' limbs seem to have lost their shape entirely.
There are dozens of them lingering just outside the boundary of The Lantern, and many more roaming throughout The Cavern. They do not speak, or otherwise make any sounds at all. They do not swarm, either, even when one of The Ferryman's souls crosses the boundary. They simply watch, and, seemingly at random, some will choose to follow you anywhere you go throughout The Cavern.
Annoying, maybe. Creepy, certainly. But that seems to be all. Just remember: The Lantern is the only thing that keeps the wraiths at bay. They can't hurt you, out in the darkness, but they will notice you, they will follow you, and they will remember you.
If your exploration takes you to the catacombs, you may find that your wraith shadows get lost just as easily as you in the tunnel system. Perhaps they get distracted? Or maybe they have some curiosity about the tunnels that outweighs their curiosity about you? Either way, it's possible to lose them for some amount of time there— but the wraiths aren't bound by petty things like physics the way you are. They will find you again eventually, either by floating through some wall, appearing at the dead-end of a tunnel, or even just waiting at the entrance for you to emerge again.
If, on the other hand, you find yourself stumbling upon the whispering pools, you'll discover that wraiths gather in droves there, circling the pools, sometimes trying in vain to press their faces to the water. The wraiths that followed you here seem to be the only exception; whatever the pools are saying, it's apparently not interesting enough to draw them away from you.
Aren't you lucky?
Image credits: 1, 2, 3 + stock imagery unless otherwise noted
The River is wide, black, and deep. It is so deep, and so dark, and so cold, that when you wake deep beneath its surface you may, for a moment, think that this is all there is. An abyss, a vacuum, a void. Nothingness in all directions.
It might even be what you expected, coming from wherever you were Before. The blackness, at least. Perhaps the cold. Maybe even the pain: all-encompassing, all-consuming. If a mortal wound brought you here, it might feel like it's being torn open anew, over and over again.
The current is simply slow, however, not non-existent. And you can swim. (Or, even if you can't, that's more of a procedural problem than anything: you don't need to breathe down here, it seems. Perhaps you don't need to breathe anymore at all.)
It hurts. It hurts so much. But if you can just concentrate long enough to pull yourself up onto the rocky shoreline, or even enough to get your head above the surface of the water, that pain will dissipate, almost as if it was never there at all. When you have the presence of mind to examine yourself, you'll find that you are actually hale and whole, with your body exactly as you expect it to be.
There are others in your same predicament. Maybe they can help you; maybe you can help them. You're all in this together, after all.
— THE CAVERN
Once you do finally pull yourself free from The River, you'll find that there was never any abyss at all. On the contrary, there's quite a lot to see — though your eyes might need a minute or two to adjust.
The Cavern yawns around you, the main chamber alone large enough to house a small town, and the ceiling too high to make out through the darkness. There's some light: you can see the eerie green glow of bioluminescent plants lining far-away walls, and tracing the underside of the land bridge that extends over The River. There are pinpricks up high on the cliffs above The River that are organized enough to suggest intervention, or at least planning.
There's something else, too — something orders of magnitude brighter than anything else in the chamber. Its glow is dim on this side of The River, and it's difficult to discern where exactly the light is coming from, just that it isn't coming from anywhere outside the cave. You feel as though you might be safer if you got closer, but maybe that's just because any light at all is comforting in a situation like this. If nothing else, you'd probably find whoever is holding it.
Either way, whether you follow the light or don't, there's plenty of time to be alone with your thoughts. Or to share them, if you're so inclined, with the others that are here with you, emerging one by one from the depths of The River.
Perhaps you've already accepted what's happened to you. Perhaps you need time, and it will take some discussion with the others to arrive at the one thing you all have in common. Perhaps even after that it's still too much, or you still aren't ready. However you get there, though, there's no way around it: you are dead.
If you have questions, The Ferryman is available to answer them.
KEEP TO THE LIGHT
The source of the light is a lantern — specifically, it is The Ferryman's Lantern, an ornate metal lamp hanging from the end of a tall wooden staff. It's large, weathered from use, and despite how improbably far its glow casts — from the land bridge over The River, where The Ferryman is holding their vigil, up the cliffs above and into the subterranean city's many tunnels — it isn't so bright that it can't be comfortably looked at. The Lantern has an unmistakable aura of comfort and safety (maybe because of, or maybe in addition to, the light it casts), no matter how close or far you are from it.
It's only at the very far edges of the glow, where the last bits of light are swallowed by the darkness, that this sense of safety begins to fray. It's here that you can see them, prowling the boundary: wisps of something that you can barely see. Many somethings, in fact.
They can't cross into the light, it seems. All they can do is wait for you to leave it.
— THE SUBTERRANEAN CITY
Maybe you'd rather stay for now, though. There's plenty still to explore within The Lantern's shroud: to start with, the network of tunnels you can see built into the cliffs above The River.
The biggest hurdle is figuring out how to get into the city. You can spy the entrances, marked by dimly glowing torches set into the open mouths of tunnels, but they're so high up! Surely you're not meant to climb?
Well, yes and no. Some investigation reveals a series of wood-plank catwalks leading up to the lowest tunnel entrances, but it's a long climb. If you're feeling impatient (and brave), there's also a system of pulleys, ziplines, and simple rope elevators connecting the higher levels to the lower ones. The ropes have clearly been here a while, but they're probably safe, right? What's the worst that could happen, you die all over again?
(Too soon? We get it.)
There's plenty to see once you reach the city itself, even if there isn't much in way of a population. (Until now, at least!) The lamps and torches lining the walls are packed with the same bioluminescent plantlife that can be found elsewhere in the cavern, so there's no risk of them spontaneously going out. There are signs placed strategically throughout the tunnel system to point you toward major landmarks, using only simple iconography.
The city itself certainly appears lived in, even if it's currently empty; in fact, if you pay close attention to the signage and the decor, there appear to be layers of activity not unlike the rings of a very old tree. Older tapestries covered with newer ones with entirely different patterns; boxes of radically different table trinkets carefully stored in apartment closets, to make room for new ones on a shelf; evidence of the stone market stalls having multiple different usages, many of them apparently in sequence.
Some of those tapestries or trinkets might even be familiar to you, like they came from a culture of your homeworld. Strange, though, since you didn't arrive with anything similar on you. Where could they possibly have come from?
VENTURE IN THE DARK
The Cavern is big, and The Ferryman's Lantern only reaches so far. If you want to explore, you'll need to brave the darkness— and whatever else might be waiting out there for you.
You'll have some light, at least, even if it isn't much: the luminescent plants grow throughout the cave system, including its winding tunnels and cramped smaller chambers. As for whatever else might be lurking out there, well... without The Lantern, there's not much you can do to keep them at bay.
The Ferryman calls them "wraiths", if you were curious enough to ask beforehand. They're more what you might typically expect from the idea of a ghost: pale and insubstantial, like mist struggling to take and keep a shape.
And they certainly do have shapes; those shapes are just incomplete, sometimes blurry, like a pencil drawing that has smudged and faded over time. They have faces that seem to have been stretched too long or too wide; they have eyes with no color, unblinking, always staring back; some of them have mouths that never close, while others have no mouths at all; some of them have hands with wispy tendrils of grasping fingers; others' limbs seem to have lost their shape entirely.
There are dozens of them lingering just outside the boundary of The Lantern, and many more roaming throughout The Cavern. They do not speak, or otherwise make any sounds at all. They do not swarm, either, even when one of The Ferryman's souls crosses the boundary. They simply watch, and, seemingly at random, some will choose to follow you anywhere you go throughout The Cavern.
Annoying, maybe. Creepy, certainly. But that seems to be all. Just remember: The Lantern is the only thing that keeps the wraiths at bay. They can't hurt you, out in the darkness, but they will notice you, they will follow you, and they will remember you.
If your exploration takes you to the catacombs, you may find that your wraith shadows get lost just as easily as you in the tunnel system. Perhaps they get distracted? Or maybe they have some curiosity about the tunnels that outweighs their curiosity about you? Either way, it's possible to lose them for some amount of time there— but the wraiths aren't bound by petty things like physics the way you are. They will find you again eventually, either by floating through some wall, appearing at the dead-end of a tunnel, or even just waiting at the entrance for you to emerge again.
If, on the other hand, you find yourself stumbling upon the whispering pools, you'll discover that wraiths gather in droves there, circling the pools, sometimes trying in vain to press their faces to the water. The wraiths that followed you here seem to be the only exception; whatever the pools are saying, it's apparently not interesting enough to draw them away from you.
Aren't you lucky?
Image credits: 1, 2, 3 + stock imagery unless otherwise noted
Kel | Omori [Slight AU on how he died]
➤ Arrival - Caverns (TW: death mention, small hint to a character committing suicide (Not Kel))
[Kel could remember running. He saw Sunny at the hospital, headed to the roof, and he ran after him. By the time he reached the end of the long corridor and stepped outside, the other was already standing by the edge of the balcony and he ran as fast as he could trying to stop his friend for falling.
He didn't make it in time and ended up falling with him.
For a moment there was wind between his hair, Kel vaguely registered trying to instinctively shield his friend with his own body when the ground approached and after that... the water. His brain was still catching up with what happened when he found himself under the surface of the river, only processing the pain, where the up and down where, and it did take him a moment to at least figure out swimming up felt like the most logical option. The how, why and all other logical questions were left to the side until he managed to surface and take in a deep breath his lungs didn't actually need. The pain disappearing almost instantly was as shocking as finding himself there, whatever that place was, and Kel could only try to make sense of things.
This had to be a dream, right? He probably fell asleep by Basil's side or something. Sunny had to be still in his bed, things were probably still fine and- nope, pinching his own cheek didn't wake him up at all. Kel gulped, looking around and trying to understand what he was looking at. The river, the cavern, everything... nothing felt familiar.
He could be easily find still in the water, trying to find his way around or loudly calling for his friend Sunny (he fell with him, didn't he?), or by the riverbank, ready to jump back in and try to help those who are also finding themselves in a similar situation. It was not easy, considering he already realized what kind of awful effect swimming in that river seems to have on him.]
➤ THE SUBTERRANEAN CITY
[Kel was never one to sit around and wait for things to happen, after a while he left the riverbank to explore and try to understand what was even happening at that point. He took the 'rough' way in and, fortunately enough, it wasn't too difficult for him to reach the top, even if there were a couple of 'close calls' (but was he going to die... again?).
The 'settlement' gave him a bit of hope, at least, until he relized he couldn't quite find... anyone else?
One could easily find Kel trying to take one of those torches for himself and debating if it'd be a good idea to explore tunnels all on his own when he doesn't even have a way to leave any mark to find his way back... or merely walking around, trying to call for someone. Anyone.
He can also be found studying various trinkets and stuff that definitely belongs to his... former world? He seems half tempted to leave a mark for himself as well as he holds up a stone and looks for a place where to do... something.]
Sucks to be here, huh?
[Just few words to whoever may be approaching.]
➤ THE CATACOMBS
[With enough awareness of his status, Kel felt a strong need to take his mind off... everything. Exploring even further was the only thing that seemed to work at the moment, at least considering how he couldn't even find creatures to look at or... anything, really. What he lost, as anxiety gnawed at him from inside, was the fear he originally had. What was the point when he couldn't even feel his heartbeat anymore?
He wasn't truly fearless, of course, merely processing his emotions as he could, trying to shift his attention somewhere else. Was he angry? Frustrated? Sad? He didn't know and for now he didn't care. He just... moved forward.
It'll be easy to find him exploring the area, often poking his head around to check corridors or frustratingly walking back from a dead end. Lost? Absolutely.]
➤ THE WRAITHS (Second trip the the catacombs)
[Kel can't stop telling himself he should have been more careful. He shouldn't have approached the borders of the light bubble or whatever it was, that thing has been on his heels the entire time. The catacombs have been a safe haven, somehow, as the wraith disappeared for a while between the tunnels... but that only lasted so long.
Blindly running around only seem to help so much, he got lost like the first time he explored the catacombs, and now he's... somehow finding himself in a large cave. Filled with wraiths that seem still distracted by the water. The teen gulps, pushing back at the entrance and trying not to catch their attention. Should someone approach, he'll try to stop them by stepping in the middle of the corridor, trying not to get the attention of... anything.]
You really want to turn around, buddy.
➤ WIDLCARD[Anyway, I'm open to pretty much any idea at the moment. Plurk is over here but I check it so often, DMs are open and discord is _erichthonios_]
the city
[Lyn eyes the stone in his hand and quickly tracks nearby windows, anything that looks breakable. Her voice is mostly neutral, though faint curiosity can be detected. ]
What are you up to?
no subject
I am almost afraid to ask you what you mean with worse.
[She looks like a military type person, that's how much he can tell for now.]
I don't even know. Leaving a mark, I guess. But things decayed so much around here I wonder the point of... Well, any of this. I'm not getting ready to attack an empty stall, at least.
no subject
[Given the memory of the last time she died, this place is so much easier to deal with. Creepy or ominous, sure, but with no immediate threat or danger it’s far more palatable.]
How long have you been here?
no subject
[Sorry, he's not used to this level of bad. This is awful, being dead is awful, everyhing could be improved. Like havin an actual pulse, that would do wonders. the teen lets out a sigh before tossing the stone to the side and fully giving her his attention.]
I don't know. A while? I was at the river, wandered a bit and then decided to come here. I didn't exactly die holding a clock, so I don't have a way to keep track of time. What about you?
no subject
[ The fact that this place is decidedly neutral for a land of the dead feels odd, given how many spiritual traditions claim otherwise - but Lyn keeps the thought to herself. She listens to the teen explain, brows knitting with thought as he explains his arrival.]
Not too different than my arrival. My guess is anyone we’ll find is new as well.
What’s your name?
no subject
[Right? He had a lot of flaws but he wasn't a massive sinner, after all. He swallowed nervously, trying to keep a friendly and casual attitude.]
Yeah. I think a lot of peopl arrived in the river? I just... it's weird. It doesn't look like we're the first ones.
I'm Kel. You?
no subject
[Lyn gave him a small smile at his introduction.]
Commander Shepard. Though, I suppose the rank doesn’t mean much here.
Just call me Shepard.
no subject
This already looks enough like a horror movie.
[Ah. Definitely a military type. He didn't really know ranks too well but.]
Gotcha, Shephard. So... any idea of what to do around here?
The Wraiths
Why? What's ahead of us?
no subject
The creatures that seem interested in following us? They're all gathering there. There's some water and stuff and... it seems to distract them. But there's a lot of them, too, I don't think we want to get their attention.
[that's why he's stepping closer and whispering instead of talking with his usual volume.]
no subject
[She peers past him, briefly observing the gathered wraiths before letting her eyes wander over the ones that have been following both of them - but they make no move to join their peers. Then, she addresses him again.]
Do you hear that? Are they talking in there?
[She hesitantly steps towards the cave chamber. Despite her deceased state, she'll still hesitant to expose herself to danger (it's remarkable, really, how even one as sinful as herself can still maintain a survival instinct), but if the wraiths can make themselves audible in there, it may be worth exploring!]
no subject
Yep. Lots of water. It looks beautiful but also creepy in there. And I'm not planning to take any step in.
[He leans against the wall, possibly a poor choice considering those 'things' seem to pass through solid thigns with ease, but it still feels safes in his head to take a peek after the door while hiding most of his body.]
It's... hard to make out what they're saying. Maybe they're talking to each other?
[They may be dead but their souls are pretty... real, aren't they? So Kel isn't exactly keen on risking his non physical limbs as well.]
no subject
She observes the ghosts' behaviour for a moment longer, weighing their options. On the one hand, there's no telling what might happen if they unwittingly enter dangerous territory... but on the other hand, the spectres haven't done her or anyone else any harm, and the Ferryman seemed both assured that the new arrivals will eventually move on from this place and unconcerned with their investigations of the area. As such, she straightens her shoulders, feeling her big sister responsibility kick in.]
I'll go in.
[She steps forward, her small swarm of wraiths silently trailing behind her. Despite her apprehension of attracting the others' attention, their focus remains on the mist-covered pools... and she's starting to realise why. Turning back, she quietly calls:]
The voices are coming from the water!
[Might there be other beings in here? Or perhaps, that's where the voices of the mute spirits went..?]