phantasmods: (Default)
Phantasmal Rift Mods ([personal profile] phantasmods) wrote in [community profile] phantasmalrift2018-05-31 11:39 pm
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DUNGEON LOG: KEYSTONE REEF

Expedition day dawns, as usual, with an android mass text -

Okay, so, this time we're aiming to go out and stabilize the Fissure in the reef you can see up a little to the north of here. The waters are usually pretty calm this time of year, so if you can swim instead of needing to take a boat, that'd be a great help. We only have a few of them.

Also, I know that last time was a mess, so I'm just gonna say this: If you need to get out for any reason, just send us a message and a picture of your location. We'll get a drone out to you as soon as we can and bring you home. No questions asked.

( ゚▽゚)/ Stay safe out there! When you're ready to go, meet us down at the beach. The rocky, sparkly one, not the sandy one.


Unlike previous expeditions, this time there's no rooftop sendoff - instead, as Charm noted, the tables are set up on Glitterstone beach, along with a series of boats pulled up on the sand. Two rowboats that could maybe sit six people but probably better suited for four, a trio of inflatable rafts (with motors attached to the back, all mismatched) of about the same size, a two-person dinghy and a long canoe that could hold two or three.

Besides the little fleet, there's also the usual bagged lunches (in gallon ziplocs this time, and other such watertight containers), and every boat is equipped with a large number of those chepa dollar-store water bottles, all with their airtight store seals. There's also a selection of life vests and other floatation thingies in a box next to the table. Strange hovers over the setup, checking watertightness of a handful of first aid kits with a spritzer and a bucket to submerge things in. They give a little wave to anyone passing by headed to the boats.

For those who opt instead to swim, everything seems perfectly normal until you reach the border of the Fissure... When, very suddenly, it isn't.
founderinglight: ([my place plz])

[personal profile] founderinglight 2018-06-01 10:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Option 1: Awkward octopus shuffle/generic catchall

[To say that everyone in the dungeon has wound up half fish isn't quite true. It's disproven by Izunia, who has rather more legs than he usually does, specifically eight of them, very vibrantly reddish-orange, covered in suckers along the underside. He's also got a line of gills along the lower part of his ribs, some orange patches over his arms and shoulders, and what seems to be another set of gill openings at his hips, these distinctly more octopus-like than fish.

For all that, though, he seems to be having fun, though octopus shuffling isn't the most effective way of getting around and he's quickly reduced to warping to get anywhere at speed.

At least, even with the scarf gone, you can pick him out from Ardyn by the tattoo on his bare chest (and the lack of scars), a series of black ink cracks with a small flock of crows flying from them. Given the placement, the effect comes off as "a broken heart underneath with crows flying out" which, given how dramatic he tends to be, is probably exactly the intended meaning.
You can also potentially catch him making use of the waterproofness of the android-issued phones to take pictures of the reef. His actual photography skills aren't that great, though his composition's pretty good. Lighting? Maybe not so much.]


Option 2: Naptopus [Shallows/Graveyard, whenever]

[What's that poking out of that crevice? It doesn't look like an eel... Then it twitches and, ah, that's an octopus tentacle. From a very large octopus.

Yeah, you'd better believe that Izunia has crammed himself into some weird corner for one of his usual naps. Is anyone really surprised by this? Zzzz.]


Option 3: CRABLEGS

[There's only one appropriate reaction to giant crabs, when you're a native of Eos who is currently half a creature whose diet is primarily crab.

Lunch.

Thus, those adventuring in the Coral Graveyard can find Izunia taking a little time out of his day to investigate the shipwrecks with a particular goal in mind, and that goal is collecting quite a pile of crab legs, which he can later be found boiling in the branches of some of the bright red coral not too far away.

Once that's done, he actually pops up to the surface to eat, so that the melted butter he's got set up for dipping doesn't just vanish into the sea. Any passing friendly boat might also get waved down with an offer of lunch.]


Option 4: Of the dark and darkened things

[When it comes to the Gap, however...

Here is a region that Izunia seems somewhat less willing to explore. He's perched instead on the edge overlooking the crevasse, tentacles spread around him in the sand of the seabed. Even though it's still daylight and he's on a part of the reef still shallow enough to get sunlight filtering from the surface, there's a glowing orb of blue-white next to him, drifting over one tentacle as he nervously extends it down over the edge.

His mutter carries probably farther than he means it to, given the way water transmits sound - ]


I really do hate the dark.
burninglight: (can i bear to seek the truth)

four

[personal profile] burninglight 2018-06-01 10:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Human eyesight is terrible.

[Ardyn didn't seem remotely bothered by drifting lazily over the edge, squinting into the dark.]

Haven't quite gotten used to that one yet.
founderinglight: (Default)

[personal profile] founderinglight 2018-06-01 11:05 pm (UTC)(link)
You know, that's really not the problem I'm having.

[His floating light turns briefly very, very red, and seems to "bounce" over to boop Ardyn in the face before returning to Izunia and turning blue again.]
burninglight: (suddenly i see that i can't break free)

[personal profile] burninglight 2018-06-02 01:36 am (UTC)(link)
Quit it. [He waved at the light as if it were an annoying bug, frowning.]

What's the problem, then?
founderinglight: ([ppppp])

[personal profile] founderinglight 2018-06-02 02:13 am (UTC)(link)
[Sorry, Ardyn, it's just a light, not anything solid. You can clip right through it if you want.]

How many times must I tell you "literally everything to do with the Scourge gives me anxiety" before it sinks into your brain?
burninglight: (slipping through the cracks)

[personal profile] burninglight 2018-06-02 02:15 am (UTC)(link)
[Ardyn frowned, looking from Izunia to the void and back.]

...Fair enough.
founderinglight: (Default)

[personal profile] founderinglight 2018-06-02 02:19 am (UTC)(link)
I can't stand the dark. That's why I taught myself to do this in the first place.

["This" is accompanied by the light bobbing and getting "tossed" from his tentacles to one hand.]

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byanyother_name: (Anguish)

Three

[personal profile] byanyother_name 2018-06-03 07:39 am (UTC)(link)
[Kurama is curious when he sees Izunia doing something by one of the branches of red coral. He swims closer to the older man to check it out. He is still entirely recognizable; only his legs have really changed, into a simple tail of a vivid green that matches his eyes, with delicate fins and a frill around the waist. His gills are neat lines along his ribcage.

In the absence of his shirt, more because it was slowing him down than to free the gills, the scars Izunia had caught a glimpse of before are fully visible. More circular burn scars scattered over his body, showing as faintly discolored scales on the tail, and a blade scar on his abdomen that looks like he was stabbed there.

Of course, Izunia might be paying more attention to the way Kurama abruptly goes dead white and pulls up short when he gets close enough that the scent/taste of the boiling crab is mixed into the water.]
founderinglight: ([ppppp])

[personal profile] founderinglight 2018-06-03 07:45 am (UTC)(link)
[Izunia looks up at the sound of someone coming closer through the water, and is about to greet Kurama at exactly the point when the boy goes white.

...Well. He knows what that reaction is about, now. He glances between the redhead and the cooking crab for a moment, and then finally says; ]


This is your version of the cookies, isn't it?
byanyother_name: (Hurts to think of.)

[personal profile] byanyother_name 2018-06-03 08:10 am (UTC)(link)
I have no idea what you mean but if cookies are a death thing for someone else, then yes.

[Kurama's voice is not quite calm, it's strained and a little thin. He swallows hard and presses a hand over his mouth and nose in what's probably a futile effort to filter some of it out.]

The first week... Electrocuted in the seafood restaurant's crab tank. We found him by the smell of the crabs burning...
founderinglight: (Default)

[personal profile] founderinglight 2018-06-03 08:16 am (UTC)(link)
Poisoning, in Ardyn's group.

[It's not hard to figure out exactly who was poisoned even before he was told, but that's a detail that isn't needed.

Though it won't help the existing smell, Izunia captchalogues the remaining crab in a sparkle of light.]


Come on, there's no reason to stay here if it upsets you.
byanyother_name: (Wait what?)

[personal profile] byanyother_name 2018-06-03 09:23 am (UTC)(link)
[Kurama looks a little uneasy at the mention of poisoning, over and above his discomfort with the crab smell.

He is quick to go along with Izunia's offer to move away from the smell, twisting back on himself smoothly to swim back the way he came.]

I'll keep in mind about the cookies, then. I hadn't thought of that, yet, how many things could be stumbled into because of the differences in our experiences.

[Multiple murdergames' worth of triggers that appear completely random and even nonsensical to people that weren't there.]

....I may need to make a list.
founderinglight: (Default)

[personal profile] founderinglight 2018-06-03 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
I've got a partial one from Ardyn, but I don't think he was quite taking me seriously when he gave it, because some of the things on it are distinctly not innocuous.

[Izunia has to warp occasionally to keep up, octopus legs not really meant for intense swimming. He doesn't much seem to mind, though.]

But I know he won't eat unless it's from his family or he's seen the food prepared.

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nightcure: (noct5)

CRAB LEGS

[personal profile] nightcure 2018-06-09 10:54 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Ah, man. Noctis happens to come across him when he's making his meal, and he doesn't have any trouble grabbing one. He grins at Izunia. ]

Thanks.
founderinglight: ([hold])

[personal profile] founderinglight 2018-06-09 11:13 pm (UTC)(link)
You know, most people would ask first.

[But honestly at this point, he's probably shoved like a dozen meals at Noctis so it's whatever.]
nightcure: (mirrorcoated3)

[personal profile] nightcure 2018-06-09 11:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Good thing I'm not most people.

[ What a little shit. This is your favorite, Izunia. ]

You really went all out, though. How many of these things did you hunt down?
founderinglight: ([sketchyplaceholder])

[personal profile] founderinglight 2018-06-09 11:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Five or six? They're quite large, there's more than enough for us to eat on until we get sick of it.
nightcure: (bTDAJrr)

[personal profile] nightcure 2018-06-09 11:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Man, if Prompto were here, I bet we'd eat through those in no time at all.

What else have you been doing down here, other than getting some good grub?
founderinglight: ([my place plz])

[personal profile] founderinglight 2018-06-10 12:43 am (UTC)(link)
I texted him about it, so we'll have to be sure to save some for him.

[Time to turn these over with... Yeah that's a skewer he stole from the kitchens, evidently.]

I took quite a few photos for him as well. Other than that, largely exploring and managing these -

[Tentacle wiggle at your face, Noctis.]

- which is more difficult than it looks.
nonono7: (tall dark and handsome)

2, Shallows

[personal profile] nonono7 2018-06-10 01:59 am (UTC)(link)
This isn't where I was supposed to beeeeeee!!

[ Izunia's naptime is interrupted, very rudely, by the panicked cries of a girl. Assuming he pokes his head out of whatever crevice he's hiding in, he'll see a girl in a white bodysuit of some kind with glowing orange hair flying around in a panic, sometimes ducking underwater. Something incredibly, impossibly dark seems to be held in place between her hands, absorbing all of the light around it. ]

What am I supposed to do with this now!?
founderinglight: ([sketchyplaceholder])

[personal profile] founderinglight 2018-06-10 02:08 am (UTC)(link)
Mmm?

[Have an equally orange set of tentacles poking out in your direction, Nono, followed by a human torso and head as Izunia crawls out of the rock. He's yawning and wishing that coffee was a thing you could drink underwater, but awake enough thanks to the sound of her voice.]

Is something the matter?
nonono7: (has got me going so crazy)

[personal profile] nonono7 2018-06-10 02:17 am (UTC)(link)
Ahh! An octopus!!! [ Nono that is clearly a man attached to those tentacles.

She quickly maneuvers that REALLY DARK SQUIGGLY THING out of sight. ]
I'm sorry! I was supposed to go outside the universe. Now I have a singularity here and I think the world might be destroyed.
founderinglight: ([late with spacebucks])

[personal profile] founderinglight 2018-06-10 02:21 am (UTC)(link)
... Well it doesn't seem terribly destroyed yet.

[That's pretty coherent for him just waking up, really.]

A singularity of what sort?
nonono7: (i'm startin' to lose my mind)

[personal profile] nonono7 2018-06-10 02:23 am (UTC)(link)
It's the, um. Center of a black hole. It'll probably create a new Big Bang if it's observed. [ At least that's what her systems tell her, and she trusts them. ] I'm sorry! I broke the black hole.
founderinglight: ([ppppp])

[personal profile] founderinglight 2018-06-10 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
[... You know what? He barely understands shit about modern astronomy but that does sound bad.]

And you haven't anywhere to put it?

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