TRAVEL LOG #6

[synfluxmods]

TRAVEL LOG #6

CONTENT WARNINGS: sickness, insects/bugs, rift poisoning, mutated animals, poison (and poisonous creatures), blood offerings.

▶ 001. ¡Vamos!

As much as one might want to take things easy and continue to recover from an eventful summer, LILITH's objective continues. Early in August, an alarm blares and everyone will get a call through their implants to come for debriefing. Yamakawa will explain they have received a request from Mexico City for support. Unusual rift activity has been confirmed in the region and they are asking for support to prepare for imminent conflict. Who knows what could await here?

Fortunately, the request is from their LILITH branch and all facilities are operational. It will be easy to use a data portal for easy access. As with all data portals, the Outsiders will be warned of potential side effects that may come from traveling great distances. Side effects include nausea, headaches, dizziness, and occasional glitching with their cybertech. All effects should wear off within 24 to 48 hours. If symptoms last longer, they are urged to seek meditech assistance in Mexico City to receive stabilizers. Like before, Outsiders will be told that making physical contact with one another by any means during transportation can reduce the risk of feeling any side effects, whether it be an embrace or holding hands... or attempting to strangle someone if you're a hater (looking at you, Silco.)

Due to warping, they will be limited to taking only what they can carry. Those who wish to take larger items will have to wait a few days for them to be gradually transported by air or industrial warp portals. Yamakawa and the rest of the staff in Tokyo will tell everyone not to worry because Mexico City has excellent infrastructure to facilitate their transportation needs.

Everyone will be given 24 hours to pack and prepare for departure. Before they leave, Dr. Spim and Alex will inform them of a promising research opportunity under the guidance of a colleague, Dr. Flores. Dr. Spim will share a verification code with them to show to Dr. Flores if they are interested in assisting. 

After 24 hours, everyone will be ordered to warp to Mexico City. In an instant, the Outsiders will find themselves at the LILITH base in Mexico City.

▶ 002. SKYSCRAPERS AND TREES.

An officer by the name of Morales will greet them and introduce herself as their point of contact. She'll give everyone a debrief file to download through their implants to instantly get them up to speed. Along with the unusual rift activity, the population has started to show symptoms that have given them cause for concern. Many people are falling ill, becoming lethargic, and demonstrating explosively angry, violent, and otherwise acting out. The longer it goes on, the more people are affected, and it’s starting to cause more trouble in the city itself as infrastructure fails.

When they leave the base, they will find themselves in the warm, humid, and very green metropolis of Mexico City. Over the years, the forests and jungles of the region have swallowed up many towns and cities, leaving the city completely surrounded by forest. The locals have embraced their environment over many years while modernizing, resulting in the city having a mix of cyber technology and nature. Mexico City and the rainforest around it almost seems to be one living, thriving being. The plants naturally shade the hot sidewalks, and people have created a large number of filtered reservoirs that the rainforest thrives from. The large canopies are half as high as the remaining skyscrapers, but most buildings are built underneath the treeline, leaving most thriving underneath the shady canopy.

Outsiders may see some "new" animals such as real hummingbirds, butterflies, macaws, and iguanas with unique traits like neon designs and unusual sizes. They say there are even more animals and variants in the jungle. Beware of certain birds and insects that make locals sick when they come in contact with their dropped pollen. In the same vein, some of the flowers and plant life seem to also show rift mutations, but for the most part, most locals seem unbothered by these, and if Outsiders ask, they’ll be informed that they’ve been like that for a long time, and were never of any concern.

Outsiders can also meet with Dr. Flores, a LILITH researcher who is studying the effects of Rift poisoning and how to counter them. He theorizes that some plants may have evolved to purify the air or treat Rift sickness. In fact, his team has been treating some of these new rift poisoning cases with a trial drug that has had promising results. However, supplies are very limited and he needs help collecting more plants from the forest. In addition, he needs help catching some of the animal carriers so he can understand the nature of the poison they are carrying. He will ask for help capturing butterflies, bees, beetles, and hummingbirds.

▶ 003. THE FUTURE WILL BE GREEN.

The Outsiders will be given orders to visit areas that have unusual Rift readings. By now, anyone with large items from Tokyo should have them but for those who do not have vehicles, LILITH Mexico will supply them with jeeps to navigate the dense jungles. LILITH Japan will assist local agents who are exploring the south of the city. Outsiders will also be given an additional file to download that will give them a run-down of the area, including the plants, animals, known paths, and key landmarks.

The journey through the jungle is not easy. While there are access roads, they have suddenly become overgrown with plantlife, and it is increasingly hostile. They will have to get out and clear the path in some places. As they head deeper into the jungle, the plant life becomes more wild and shows signs of mutation. They will find vines that grow quickly in front of their eyes, blocking their paths as quickly as they had cleared them, and they are becoming increasingly dangerous with spined, poisonous vines, wild roving carnivores like jaguars, and large predatory birds that will divebomb outsiders as they progress deeper into the forests. Luckily, if they make it deep enough, the locals will help them find the easiest and safest routes to travel.

Some of these roads might lead them to former cities and towns. These towns have been completely overgrown by plantlife and are largely abandoned save for some stubborn families that refused to leave their homelands and some researchers. They are largely friendly and will help the Outsiders and agents who decide to rest on their journeys. 

They may be able to scavenge for supplies like old emergency rations, blankets, and pieces of technology that were left behind decades ago. But be careful! Since these areas have been taken over by nature, they may run into common regional kaiju like mutated wild dogs, monkeys, and even jaguars. 

▶ 004. NATURE FINDS A WAY.

The kaiju and mutated plants aren't the only thing they need to watch out for in the forest. While traveling, some outsiders might find a regular jaguar attacking a mutated macaw kaiju and winning. It seems that while some animals have mutated into kaiju to survive, other animals have simply evolved to compete with them. As outsiders progress into the forest, at first the local fauna will attack if anyone gets close to them, but the deeper outsiders go, the more the creatures give them a wider berth, and won’t attack. If you see a local, non-corrupted creature deep in the woods, chances are it will watch or flee, rather than attack.

Outsiders will be warned to be careful of poisonous frogs both regular and mutated. These frogs are often a sign that pitcher plants are nearby. These plants have evolved to be large enough to swallow a large animal or person if one gets too close. For the most part, these pitcher plants are stationary but some may use their leaves or nearby wild vines to trip unsuspecting prey into their flower.

These aren’t the only plants that outsiders can encounter as they venture deeper into the forest. The deeper they go, the more frequently rift-corrupted pollinators are found swarming some of the large, rift-corrupted flowers, and as soon as their legs or beaks are laden, they fly off, only to be replaced by more. They aren’t great carriers, so pollen drifts on the wind. Outsiders should keep their rift-protection up, because the pollen causes rift-corruption along with other side effects such as: violent tendencies, explosive anger, and insatiable appetites (of any kind). The pollinators will escape deeper into the forest. If an outsider follows, please let the mod team know!

▶ 005. THERE WERE ONCE CITIES.

As Outsiders travel further into the jungle where civilization has a harder and harder time taking root, they instead find remnants of those that came before. There are buildings in the lush jungles, but they’re truly ancient. Sometimes, the stonework stands out and is easy to find, but at other times, the buildings are completely overgrown with vines and flowers that will take extra effort to explore. Regardless of which kind they find, the carved, geometric artwork makes it clear that these are ruins from Aztec and Mayan cultures.

Exploring the ruins will reveal very little in the way of ancient treasures (or rolling boulder traps), since anything that could be taken was already looted long ago. They’ll make suitable shelter for the forest, at least, since curiously, the more dangerous elements don’t seem to enter. In fact, they very specifically stay away.

Each set of ruins also includes one building that stands above all others. Ascending the tall pyramids will lead to a central, round room at the apex that are all united in its details, even if they’re clearly done at different times. The ceiling is dotted as a starscape, and at the center is a painted, black circle. Underneath this lays what’s clearly an altar. The altar has a depression in its center and a channel that leads down its side, as if it’s expecting liquid.

OFFERING: THE BLOOD OF OUTSIDERS AND HUMANS:

No matter the amount, characters immediately feel lightheaded, as if they’d given a large portion of blood (even if they’re not giving their own).

Within 24 hours, an unusually patterned bruise will appear somewhere on their body.

Characters who make this sacrifice will swap abilities with each other, but will notice that their newfound abilities are notably weaker than if the original owner still had them.

OFFERING: THE BLOOD OF ANIMALS:

Characters become more connected to the animals of the forest.

They will take on one feature of a local animal, such as lightly poisonous skin, improved night vision, or ears/tail.

They’ll also find they can talk to their related animal.

OFFERING: ... OTHER BODILY FLUIDS...?:

The altar is disappointed in you.

There is no other effect.

OFFERING: WATER/PLANT SAP:

Characters become more connected to the forest.

Skin takes on a greenish tint, and they’re able to minorly control plants.

They’ll feel like they can commune with the forest, and will be able to telepathically talk with any others who make this offering.

OFFERING: ANYTHING ELSE (ANY OTHER MATERIALS):

There is no effect.

▶ 006. AFTERWORD.

Welcome to our sixth travel log! Below, you will see the link to the MONSTER DEBRIEF SHEET post that has information about the kaiju below along with OFFERING EFFECTS. Fill out the form for RNG Attacks and whether you would like to receive an OFFERING EFFECT. This should give characters some ideas for the status of their character in the next log, which will have more action and monsters in it.

All tags on this log are worth 2 points and will count towards August AC.

EVENT BREAKDOWN/RECAP (CLICK TO EXPAND)

1. VAMOS!: Outsiders travel to Mexico after receiving a request for support as there has been unusual rift activity in the area. A portal is avaliable to take Outsiders to the location, but are advisted to travel light.


2. SKYSCRAPERS AND TREES: LILITH officer Morales greets outsiders and explains the situation: civillians have begun to grow sick and strange animals have begun to appear. A LILITH researcher is theorising that plants have evolved to purify the air. He requests help catching creatures for research.


3. THE FUTURE WILL BE GREEN: Outsiders are tasked with visiting areas with odd Rift readings. They will be required to journey through the jungle, finding overgrown towns and cities, scavenge supplies, while being wary of native creatures.


4. NATURE FINDS A WAY: Regular animals are fighting against kaiju and winning; local fauna attacks anyone who gets close, and poisonous frogs attack. The deeper Outsiders go, the more dangerous it becomes.


5. THERE WERE ONCE CITIES: Deep in the jungle, an ancient ruin can be found. Outsiders are able to make "offerings" at an altar for various effects, depending on the offering.

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Comments

Jessica | Lunar | Redemption

[mace_pray_love]

Vamos

[Jessica has used a teleporter here exactly once, and it was terrible. No way is she putting up with that a second time. She's already bouncing on the balls of her feet with nerves, she doesn't need travel sickness on top of first-time-kaiju-mission jitters.

Outsider nearest her, she's commandeering your hand to hold. Shut up, it's a medicinal hand-holding.]

Skyscrapers and Trees

[The mission is to defeat the kaiju and to bring back specimens that could help purify the air, but it's not quite time for smashing monsters with a mace yet, and Jessica isn't sure exactly how she's supposed to tell the difference between a poisonous plant and a helpful one.

So she's sneaking off into the city to do the thing she knows she can do- help cure some of the symptoms.

A lethargic child is her first patient, and it's just a quick prayer and a flash of light before the kid is back on her feet, smiling and running off to play with her siblings.

The second, though, causes a bit more of a commotion. Jessica tries to help a sick-looking guy, but he explodes at her, grabbing her by the wrist and screaming at her for coming near.]

Ow! Let go!!

[She twists her wrist, trying to get free, but his grip holds. It's kind of hard to chant her litany with this guy shaking her and yelling into her face, and technically, she's not supposed to smack people who she's healing, so she's in a bit of a bind.]

Nature Finds a Way

[Whether it's because of her age or because she can usually heal away and trouble she gets into, Jessica tends to be a bit reckless rushing into places. The jungle is a little creepy and full of danger, sure, but it's also new and exciting, and if she gets in there, she can help people.

Except, if she's the one who accidentally breathes in some mind-altering pollen, she doesn't know she needs to use her magic to heal herself. Her strange impulses (to fight the next person she sees or to cuddle with them, dealer's choice) feel completely natural in the moment. Sorry in advance.]

Wildcard

((Something else? I'm happy to make a closed starter for you. Feel free to hmu on discord or plurk, demonrubberducky.))

[the_fourteenth]

[As the man is distracted berating and grabbing at Jessica, Raidou slides up behind him silently. He's pretty good at being stealthy. A hand shoots out and takes the man's wrists, a delicate art of gripping them without hurting him with Raidou's nanotech strength. The sick man's ire turns to his new assailant, who's as stone-faced as ever. He looks up at Jessica, and gives her a nod. Do your thing, girl.]

[mace_pray_love]

[Jessica's eyes go wide as suddenly, Raidou appears behind the guy, drawing aggro. She gives him a quick, grateful nod, and begins her chant.]

Althena, lend me your power!

[Holy light shines, and the hyper-aggression caused by the jungle poison fades.]

Are you ok? [She asks the man. And then she turns to Raidou.] Are you ok?

[the_fourteenth]

[The man suddenly feels much better, but is still confused. Raidou lets him go gently, and steps away, giving then man a polite bow in apology for his intrusion. the guy has no idea what that's about.]

I'm fine. Nice work. That was from the pollen, yes? Probably more so than rift poisoing?

[HE's be very impressed if her healing worked on rift corruption. The only time his magic has worked on it was in the Underworld. A different type, maybe, than usual. Something more akin to demonic magic.]

vamos

[coordination]

[ Since he became a commanding officer, Yzak has gotten so much better at seeing those first time nerves on display from new recruits. So Jessica stands out to him immediately.

He clearly doesn't expect the surprise hand grab when he approaches her, though, with the intent to calm her nerves. ]

—h-hey!!

[mace_pray_love]

'Hey', what? LILITH said this is what we're supposed to do!

[Don't make this weird. She's following instructions so she doesn't get so sick from the travel, and you probably should too!]

[coordination]

You could have at least asked to hold my hand! This is pretty intimate, you know!!

[ At least it is to him, mister probably needs a chastity glove. ]

Nature Finds A Way

[muttering_and_mumbling]

[Izuku has been progressing steadily and taking note of anything that could be useful to relay back. A little recon. He's fast and good at maneuvering around. So to him it made sense to run some recon first and foremost. Sturdy cables shoot from gloved hands to grip branches and his boots let off short burst of air to keep him moving along.

He has stopped on the ground to examine something when there's someone coming at him and the 'danger sense' feature of his suit kicks in, just alerting him to a fast approach. He can't read what she might be about to do. So as she gets close, he uses the cables and bursts to jerk his body upwards and out of her way, looking over his shoulder as she goes under him.]

Ah! Watch out! You almost ran into me!

[mace_pray_love]

[Dice Roll has chosen violence. Jessica looks up with a scowl and narrowed eyebrows.]

YOU WATCH IT, JERK!

[Who does this guy think he is, launching himself up in the air with cables like some weirdo spider? Is the ground not good enough for him? UGH, that makes her SO. ANGRY.]

[muttering_and_mumbling]

Eh?? But, I did? I got out of the way?

[And that seems to have annoyed her more. Oh boy. That's a familiar reaction. He's not coming down there.]

Vamos

[baeber]

[ The disorientation of the portal makes her stomach upset, but otherwise? Saber can deal with it fairly well. She's thankful for that, but-

The suddenness of the hand-holding takes her by surprise. She doesn't pull away though, nor does she seem angry. If anything, she's grateful Jessica caught her hand while she wasn't wearing her full armor! ]

Miss, are you unwell? Do you need to sit down?

[mace_pray_love]

[Jessica shakes her head.]

No, I'm ok right now. This is supposed to help, right? It's not as bad if you're in contact with someone else?

[If she'd just heard it from another Outsider, she might suspect that the whole thing was a prank. But that announcement came from LILITH, and they seem pretty serious.]

[baeber]

That's what I've heard, yes.

[ She's still curious how it all works herself, but there's no arguing with results! To match her words, her hand closes firmly around Jessica's. ]

In that case, please continue to stay by me until you feel well again.

vamos!

[byoukyu]

(Before he steps up to the teleport, he stretches his arms across his chest and up in the air. At his side, a small white rabbit-like thing bounces in place, waiting on standby. When he brings his hands back down, he's surprised to find someone grabbing it already and he laughs lightly,)

Hahah, eager to go?

[mace_pray_love]

[Jessica shrugs, trying to pretend she's less nervous than she is.]

Yeah. There's no point in waiting around here, right?

[The longer they sit here, the worse the anticipation is going to be. So they should just get it over with, right?]

[byoukyu]

(She's definitely pretending but he isn't the type of person to call it out normally.)

Right, right. I'm almost ready.

(Almost.)

Actually... think you can do me a quick favor?

skyscrapers.

[photosympathies]

Woah there, buddy.

( The friendliest voice over the man's shoulder, and then a metal hand descending down, digging into nerve endings with alarming accuracy. The patient hisses, lets go of Jessica's wrist to try and pull back, but Vash is steadfast. )

This nice lady is out here doing her best to heal and you're getting all up in her face, huh? How do you like it when someone does the same? No fun, am I right? So let's take a big breath, in and out, and let our friend here do her job. Got it?

[mace_pray_love]

[As soon as the man's grip falters, Jessica jerks her hand free and presses her palms together. She tunes out the sounds of the patient yelling at her rescuer as she pours her focus into chanting her litany of healing.

She's quick at it, a skill learned by necessity for using her prayers in a fight. Using a spell that she relies on at home to cure poison and other bad conditions, she utters the last words of her chant.]

In the name of the Goddess!

[There's a twinkling of light, and the spell is cast.]

[photosympathies]

Woah.

( Hang on, hang on. Both Vash and her victim - err, patient peer at her a little awestruck. There's a lot of magic in a place like this and yet not all of it is as pretty.

At least the yelling has stopped. Vash let's go of his too tight grip to pat the man's shoulder. )

Feel better? That was neat, right? Pretty too.

Skyscrapers and trees

[mesospheric]

[ Look. It's not that Cloud feels responsible, or anything, but damn it, Jessica's file lists her as a healer and this city, this marvellous living city, is an entire world away from the Neo-Tokyo they only just left. If she went and got herself rattled up or stolen, that would be bad, right? Right.

So it's only sensible that he trails after her, as conspicuous as day with his giant sword on his back and his hair defying gravity at all turns. As he catches up after several streets of gradual pursuit, he's just about to launch into some kind of admonishment before he realises why she'd stopped in the first place.

Her file lists her as a healer.

So, sorry, Jessica. As the kid runs off to rejoin her little friends, she must skitter around the new roadblock taking up most of the walkway. Cloud's just sort of frozen in place, watching her with something ineffable going on behind his too-bright eyes and a look like he'd just had to swallow every word he'd had loaded in the chamber.

Once again, he finds himself as helpful as a rock in a dirt patch. ]

[mace_pray_love]

[None the wiser to her mercenary shadow and his internal struggles, Jessica moves from the kid to find someone else to help.

In hindsight, as she gets grabbed by a raging pollen-victim, she probably should have said something about her intention to help before she got close. But she didn't know that confusion was one of the status effects at play, ok?

She tries and fails to twist free, and then pivots. She starts saying one of her prayers, struggling to focus as the man screams directly in her face. But what else can she do, here all alone?]

[mesospheric]

[ What else is there to do? Watching and trailing after her, Cloud is reminded of another, a flower girl with the same kind of steel under her soft exterior, and before he can think about it he finds himself moving in anyway.

One hand catches the man by the back of the shirt collar, the other sliding between him and Jessica to facilitate as Cloud wedges himself between them like a physical barrier, squished in close enough to feel the flecks of spit from the guy's screaming.

Gross. ]

You: you have anything to pacify him with?

[ He asks this of the little healer, though he doesn't turn away from the yowler, doesn't dare to lest he redirect the guy's ire back to Jessica. Magic, materia, whatever it was, any spell was ideal to him cold-clocking this guy right in broad daylight in front of the populace. ]

Skyscrapers and Trees

[30storieshigh]

[ Why is Godzilla in this part of the city? Who knows! He's Godzilla, he wanders sometimes. What matters is that he sees someone he vaguely knows as an Outsider in a spot of trouble with a belligerent civil denizen, so of course he moves to help.

All seven feet of Goji steps forward, glaring daggers that are a little offset by the ridiculous t-shirt he's wearing. Actions make up for the shirt though, he doesn't even open with pleasantries, just grabs the human by back of the shirt and lifts him off the ground. ]

One would do well to conduct in a more grateful of mannerisms towards one who--

[ Godzilla is cut off as the rampaging man kicks him in a place that's. Not great to be kicked in, between the legs. This hurts and leads to two reflexive actions. The first, Godzilla drops the guy, the second?

Godzilla punches the civilian in the chest with his metal arm, electricity crackles around his fist which upon making contact causes the man to jerk shout out, before falling to the ground unconscious. Good thing the taser deployed instead of the claws...

Goji just kind of stares at the unconscious figure, scratching a spot behind his left ear awkwardly, before glancing at Jessica. ]

Perhaps one should have performed that action in the beginning, I shall remember to do so in the future. You are unharmed, yes?

[mace_pray_love]

[Jessica gasps as, in quick succession, several acts of violence play out, leaving her super-tall... rescuer...? in pain and her would-be-patient unconscious on the ground.

How did everything spiral out of control so quickly?

At least her implant is able to alert her that the one still standing is Godzilla, the nice movie star who taught her about the existence of emojis, so she doesn't assume that he's going to turn his taser on her next.]

I-I'm fine. Um, ok, I'm going to need to do a few prayers now.

[Since the patient is unconscious for now, and hopefully not feeling any pain, she starts with Godzilla. To pray for healing, she has to at least somewhat visualize the source of the pain she's attempting to sooth, so her face goes a little pink as she tries to simultaneously focus on and NOT focus on the... area... that was injured.]

Althena, lend me your power.

[She holds out her hands, and a light flashes as she casts her healing spell.]

[30storieshigh]

[ Between the magic and Godzilla's own freak ass radioactive self, that healing certainly is effective! The horrible tingling in the pit of his stomach is gone within seconds and the big guy stretches out his legs one after the other to check for any soreness. None. ]

Ah. Then you are amongst the magically inclined in the packs. An impressive working, you have myself's gratitude.

[ He nods amiably, blissfully unaware of why she's blushing, and proceeds to uh... heft up the unconscious guy up over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. He's helping. ]

An advisement, one should take more care when interacting with the civil denizens, yes? The sickness afflicting the humans is of most probability born from the energy of the Rift. Such influence has tendency to render those it effects to a violent behavior.