DUNGEON - BELLMARE MOUNTAINS, PT 1

[phantasmods]

Expedition day dawns with the androids in a final flurry of activity - this time, it's in the glider hangar, where they're furiously setting up racks of heavy coats, piles of warm socks, and snow boots, as much as they could manage to pull together. If you've already got your own, great! Otherwise, you can grab some here, though it will be in the usual amount of mismatched Keystone chic.

There's also a variety of emergency flares and the like. Strange is there to admonish everyone to take at least one - unlike Earth flares, they're magical and silent, and will recharge over time - just in case.

Because you're going up into the mountains, and even more so than the usual abandoned places that you explore, it's going to be dangerous just by the nature of the place, nevermind what you might find up there. Incendia was the biggest market for the Bellmare mountain resort, after all, and you're all quite familiar by now with how long that's been abandoned. More to the point, it's far easier to lose track of each other in the snowy slopes. Keep your phones handy and look out for each other, as well as anyone else you might find up there.

Indeed, in addition to the clothes offered for you now, Strange will push extra warm clothes on anyone with hammerspace, and Down, surprisingly enough, has emerged from their usual place with a good number of extra communication devices to hand out. You should still have signal in the mountains, even in a blizzard, but it's better to be prepared for things to screw up.

Once you're all bundled and ready to go, it's off with a wave, into the land of ice and snow.

[OOC: There is an exploration header for each area of the dungeon! Please limit yourselves to 3-5 characters per thread, and don't double dip in order to allow everyone the chance to explore! Otherwise, feel free to top-level as normal.]

Comments

[hairpincurves]

Great! I'll make my way to you soon so I can pick up a bag or two, in that case. I'll see you then!

[It... might take a while with the mountains being what they are, but!]

[summerbloom]

Okay, I'll be waiting!

[ And waiting she is. She's parked herself next to one of the cabins, with a merry little fire burning away under her alchemy cauldron. There's a Largomare with her, gnawing rather happily on a tough cut of dried meat, as well. All things considered, looks like Sophie's settling in just fine. ]

[hairpincurves]

[It does in fact take a bit for Akira to make her way there, but eventually she'll get there! She offers a wave to Sophie as she wanders over.]

You look like you've been enjoying yourself.

[summerbloom]

[ Sophie gives her a grin. ]

It's been really nice to get away from the station! Living there is fine, but I'm really not used to being stuck in one place for so long.

[ She ladles something out of her pot and pours it into a mug pinched from the station before holding it out to Akira. ]

Here! It's some of the tea I was talking about. I thought you might like to try it before you took some with you.

[hairpincurves]

Used to traveling, I take it?

[She accepts the mug with a murmured 'thank you' before taking a sip. Her expression brightens further after she does.]

This is amazing!

[summerbloom]

[ Sophie waits until Akira's taken a sip of the tea -- and then once she sees the other girl's expression brighten, Sophie's does in turn. ]

That's right! I do a lot of travelling back home -- I actually used to adventure up and down the country and help people out with my alchemy.

Of course, now I'm stuck here, so that's kind of on a break right now...

[hairpincurves]

Alchemy?

[Akira perks up further at that, interest clearly piqued.]

If you don't mind me asking... what all can you do with it? Since I imagine it's probably at least kind of different from what's considered alchemy back in my world...

[summerbloom]

A little bit of everything, really! It depends on how good you are, and what kind of ingredients you have to work with, but if you put your mind to it you can make pretty much anything!

I mostly make things like potions and salves, because that's what I started off learning. But since I started using it I've made all kinds of things – like bricks or even clothes or food. So a lot of people can mix it up with magic if they don't really know much about it.

[hairpincurves]

Y-you can really make all that? That's amazing!

[And way more interesting than like, turning lead into gold or whatever.]

[summerbloom]

That's right! A lot of it comes down to feeling the natural transformative energies in everything around us – nothing stays the same for too long, right? Everything is always changing and evolving. Alchemy is about tapping into that energy and understanding it, so we can borrow it for a little bit and use it to create whole new things.

That's why a lot of people start with things made from plants or even animal remains. Living things change more than anything else and we do it so easily that they're basically the building blocks of most alchemical processes.

[hairpincurves]

[Akira pays rapt attention to the explanation, eyes wide with wonder.]

That sounds incredible...

[summerbloom]

Really? Well, I guess it would if you come from a world where it doesn't exist... usually when I start talking like that, people tell me I sound like a teacher giving a lecture.

[ Her smile now has a touch of bitterness to it, at sharp contrast with her words. ]

It's nice to have someone really take an interest I guess is what I'm saying!

[hairpincurves]

That's not necessarily a bad thing, in my opinion. But... I can see how that could get annoying.

I like listening to people talk about the things they're passionate about! Though, I suppose it doesn't hurt that it's a subject I'm definitely interested in.

[summerbloom]

I know what you mean... sometimes, even if it's something you're really interested in, though, if it's a really, really long lecture...

[ That's the haunted look of a seasoned student right here. ]

[hairpincurves]

Ah... Okay, yeah, you have a point.

[Yep, that's a familiar look alright. Akira reaches over and pats Sophie's shoulder sympathetically.]