Event | Landfall | Diving & Sinbrilee

[ironwood]

Characters: Any and every!
Date: August 10th - 31, 2013
Location: The sunken city of Sinbrilee
Situation: Tu Vishan comes upon the oceanfloor, holding his own memorial to the fall of his sister turtle while those upon his shell may explore the ruined city.
Warnings/Rating: Please place content warnings in subject headers!

Sinbrilee | Dreaming | Death


Art by Rica.

The city is lit by a warm orange glow, there are thousands of lanterns lit and burning brightly to ward off the gathering dark. It was once a grand, thriving place, and it's obvious by the quality of the Greco-Roman architecture, the high sweeping columns of white marble, the beautifully paved roads. There are aqueducts throughout the city that look as if they could be put to use today. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that the city's spent the last few hundred years underwater, it looks quite liveable. This city is entirely open to exploration, so feel free to send your character out to their heart's content. Remember, certain doorways will lead your characters into either Death or the Dreaming and these markings won't always be visible to them, so they should take care and be vigilant at all times!

Note: A separate post will be made for the events of the Bacchanal later in the month.

Headers:
> Keeliai | The Dive
> Sinbrilee | The Athenaeum
> Sinbrilee | The Agora
> Sinbrilee | The Baths
> Sinbrilee | Elsewhere

Comments

ELSEWHERE

[ironwood]

There are ruins to be explored, crumbling senate houses to be examined! The city of Sinbrilee, for all its sunken wonders, is not infinite, but it's certainly large. Nearly twice the size of Keeliai proper (Keeliai being roughly the size of Vancouver, British Columbia), it includes old vineyards and houses, streets and sewers. There are stables that once upon a time held beasts similar to Keeliai's Kirin, and also grand open space-ports where shuttles used to land, although these will be more difficult to identify. If there's a sort of Greco-Roman building or feature you'd like your characters to encounter, feel free to make something up! The write-up for the AMPHITHEATRE will be included in the write-up for the Bacchanal, the ghosts may shoo your character away should they venture too closely! (After all, they are preparing a party).

open

[wingedwarrior]

[Once the turtle connects with Sinbrilee, Shayera glances to the long, slide-like ramp aimed at the underwater city. She wasn't always the kind of person to just jump right into having fun, but the slide ramp did look very tempting to her, as she inched closer to it, and farther away from the normal stairs down to the city.

After getting into the city, Shayera gets right to exploring all around the city. Down various streets, into old buildings (which she notices have a vague similarity to the ones she's seen on Earth), checking out the vineyards. It's not difficult to find her pretty much anywhere in the city, but she pays special attention to the many Greco-Roman architectures she discovers.]

[imaginate]

[Kyle was here, the last time the turtle dived. His mind immediately goes to what he saw: the bodies, the water, the dead coming back to life. He'd immediately taken to the skies, scanning what he could, checking that it would hold. Sometimes things got through and (people died) he had to be prepared.]

[After a few hours of circling he notices the bridge, and a familiar figure hovering near it.]

Hey!

[He flies up beside her.]

That's... new.

[Not in the sense that he expected to simply see some staircase leading to who knew where, but the fact that it hadn't happened, last time. He's wary.]

CLOSED

[notdreaming]

Needless to say, Kara was pleased to be spending the afternoon with her uncle. He was definitely different from the Jor she knew, but that didn't bother her. He was family, and Kryptonian, and knowing that he was walking beside her made her feel a little less alone in the universe in a way that walking with Kal just couldn't. After all, both she and Jor had grown up on a world that no longer existed. Kal had grown up on Earth. It just wasn't the same.

She didn't bother to hide her wonder as they walked through the old vineyard. She could tell that it had been beautiful once, and full of life. It held a similar sadness to the ruined and abandoned Argo, orbiting its dying sun, but none of the memories. It was more an anthropological adventure than anything else.

It would prove to be more adventure than she had really bargained for soon, as a green glow found Kara's attention just behind a corner of the cellar building.

"That's strange. What do you think it is?" She pointed out the glow to Jor, instinctively moving in that direction.

Jack & Ororo | Baby Tooth

[storm_warning]

[It buzzes and flits about excitedly and Ororo's not sure what to do with the little fairy she ran into. When she asks what it does, the little creature pokes at her teeth, then pulls a quarter out of nowhere, miming an exchange.

Oh. Tooth fairy, right.

Dubious as she sounds, Ororo can see the tiny creature and, well... doesn't that mean she believes? Hah, not in any way that she'll admit to others. But that doesn't solve the "what" of what to do here, only gives her plausible deniability if she gets busted having half a conversation with a tooth fairy and--

Wait. Jack. He's up on weird lore, so maybe he'd know something about it.

Ororo convinced it -- her? -- to follow her as she took to the air, muttering about finding Jack Frost. She does few rounds about Sinbrilee before she finds him and, well, the little fairy divebombs when she sees him, beating Ororo by a good half minute.]

Open

[badge_177]

[The large, official buildings had attracted Vimes' attention, not because large, official buildings were necessarily important, but because they were likely to have bits of history or famous speeches engraved in stone on the walls. A little information like that wouldn't hurt. That is, it wouldn't if he actually found it. He was sure Carrot would have something to say about the historical significance of the strictly classical architecture and design, but Vimes isn't in a mood to appreciate the grand austerity.

What exactly had this been, anyway? A government building? A theater with the seats washed away? Part of the a University?]

For older!Dick Grayson, but any family would be acceptable

[demon_brat]

Damian stumbled out of the archway, eyes wide but, at the same time, nearly unseeing. A few steps, and he leaned a hand against the wall apposite, hunching down.

He didn't throw up this time. But he couldn't bring himself to move for a while.

OPEN!

[demon_brat]

Damian is exploring.

He's wearing practical, Keeliai-style clothes, and a (smallish) backpack with water and food (and a few other necessities) (including a folded-up larger carrying bag, considering the things he has previously found, at landfalls). He's careful, and looking through things thoroughly.

There is much information to be had, and, while he spends some time at the library, he's going to need to do more research than that. Only one way to do that, isn't there. On his own two feet.

OPEN

[kingofthedragons]

Kazul has a certain affinity for tumbled-down old messes, and she doesn't know much of anybody yet. Exploring the apparently quite haunted ruins in general suits her. And, while she wouldn't admit it, it's just easier to deal with being out where it's not so crowded and she's less likely to encounter doors. She's pretty used to dealing with structures meant mainly for humans, or human enough things, but it's still irritating.

This, though, is fun. The king of dragons doesn't often have much time to go exploring in strange places, and she hasn't had this kind of fun since before she picked her name and gender.

Miria | OPEN

[saved7]

Miria finds the ghosts fascinating, and spends more time talking to them or watching them go about their business than she spends on the architecture itself. The ones that repeat themselves are as interesting to her as the ones that talk to her directly, and sometimes she'll relive that interaction three or four times before moving on.

She walks slowly through the city, her silver eyes shining as she watches these traces of long dead people, thinking about the lives they once lived.

cw: possible drugs, death talk // CLOSED TO JACK FROST

[lostundercover]

Costigan is sitting on the edge of a giant stone, what may once have been a roof but which is now collapsed into a strange square area. He readjusts his cap before inhaling another drag, his cigarettes something he continues to enjoy even to this day, if more privately than before. At least the rations seem to be letting up, which makes his habit less of a dirty secret now.

After wandering in and out of several peoples' images of their pasts and potential futures, including his own, the undercover just wants some time to rest and recuperate. He wants to think and to try to expel the images of the icicle creature and tentacled mouths from his mind.

When he hears a soft noise and sees a thin trail of frost cross by about a block away, the Bostonian immediately jumps down from his perch. He still carries the smoke on his lips as he lands and then starts forward, but pulls it between his fingers to call out. "Jack?"

OPEN

[funkindofwicked]

[It's a dirty old city, is Tea's first thought after crosses the bridge between Keeliai and...whatever this place is. Like some dilapidated set from an old Roman Empire movie. She takes to the sky almost immediately, flying around to get an eagle eye view of the city and then coming down every once in a while to investigate.

And then she finds the Coliseum. Or at least what looks like it could have been an old coliseum. She can't not go inside a place like that. Maybe she would find bones of a dead gladiator or something. And if anyone else is nearby she might just try to push them into going inside with her--because it's always better when someone else can hear her talk.]

Dick Grayson | OTA

[bludhavenknight]

[This place was gorgeous. It's crumbling, yes, but anything that looks this old will always be beautiful in Dick's eye. History was one of his favorite things, and the older, the better. The only problem with all of this was that there was so much to explore, and who knew how long they would have down here? Dick hadn't been sure where to start, first.

Probably best to start where he could get to. One of the things he was eying was one of those large archways, much like a smaller version of the Arc of Titus. A much, much, much smaller scale, but look at that building! Look at that architecture, the gorgeous parts. That was going to be only one of many he was determined to climb.

The ramp looked good. So did the tops of houses that he hoped he wouldn't break. But Dick was going to be all over this place, and having the time of his life. Not in costume.]

Billy Kaplan | OTA

[witchnotwarlock]

[All of Sinbrilee was really, really cool. The Agora had been one of the first places he'd stopped in, but while the library didn't hold much interest for him, he wanted to see what else was out there. Sometimes he could be seen in one place, and then a bright blue flash of light meant he was gone, and somewhere else.

And so on, and so forth. What he'd found throughout all these places were different pieces that, well... made you feel like a treasure hunter, honestly. Billy had never collected coins, only comics, but here he was feeling like he should have some kind of hat on. Maybe a leather jacket, some boots.

Another one! He really wished he had a camera or something on him, he'd like to take pictures of all of this place.]

Open

[alpha_squad_leader]

[Victor grins as he climbs to the top of a carefully balanced piece off ruin and stands on the edge. Bundled up and with a backpack on, he's been enjoying his time here in Sinbrilee. Spending time with Santo and Wally, exploring the city, and picking up all kinds of things that he found could be sold back on the turtle were great. Those weird gems he picked up in the agora were a tasty treat too and Vic made sure to get a few to take back home.

And after helping one of those ghosts by clearing some debris out from the front of what had been her home in life, Victor's decided to get a better view of the area so he could decide where to go next.]

This is the best thing that's happened since that place with all the floating fruit...

CLOSED

[asouthron]

[ McCoy has been standing on the precipice between an entire new world and a giant turtle for longer than any normal person's tolerance level. The only thing barring his path: A dubious-looking set of stairs. They are clear--clear like the water surrounding them!

Who exactly came up with that brilliant design decision? You might as well be trusting God with a leap of faith and your imminent demise right along with it.

And what the hell is this? A wheelchair accessible ramp? Ha! More like a one way ticket to a broken neck! It isn't a steep incline, but it doesn't take much build up to send a wheelchair flying down that thing!

Yeah, no, Bones has more productive things to do than fall on his ass today. ]

open

[bankrolls]

[ To her credit, Selina had spent a considerable chunk of time checking out Keeliai upon her arrival. She'd spent the better part of a day exploring the city, checking out her new digs, and pressing the locals for whatever information she could get about whatever's going on right now. It paid off, or at least well enough for Selina to know that Sinbrilee is where she wants to be right now.

She's still not sure what she's doing with herself here, but she can work that out later. And what better a distraction than exploring an abandoned underwater city? Granted, traversing the underwater bridge is a little unnerving, but she feels better once she's in the city. The empty feeling is odd, but as she takes a stroll through the empty streets of Sinbrilee, she finds she's enjoying herself. It's interesting enough to look at -- it's beautiful, really. Maybe this vacation isn't a total wash after all. ]

Temeraire | OPEN

[dracobin]

A | OTA

[Sinbrilee must have been very beautiful at her height, thinks Temeraire as he wanders through the city, his appreciative gaze drawn time and time again to an urn, or a statue, or a particularly fine bit of architecture. The city is still beautiful even now, but in a terribly sad sort of way: the sort that reminds Temeraire of a silk tapestry, scarred and burned with fire, and the thought of such a waste makes even someone as gregarious as he is a little subdued.

But there are a great many items to be salvaged from the wreckage: strange, unknown metals, and sparkling gems, and more. He feels a little guilty, at first, at the thought of taking anything from Sinbrilee--but his fondness for the finer things in life soon prevails, and a passing ghost reassures him of his good sense: it is not, after all, as if they can make use of these items anymore.

By the time Temeraire happens upon the guan dao hanging upon the only remaining wall in the ruins of what no doubt used to be a fine house, his harness is already loaded down with sacks of metal, gems, and vases. Still, the beautifully forged weapon catches his eye more quickly than anything here has so far, and he takes it off the wall with something approaching reverence, the movement made a little more ungainly by the sheer weight of the salvage hanging off his sides.]


B | OTA

[The distressed lowing of cattle near the marketplace can be heard long before anything comes into view. Then there is the sound of thundering hooves, and a pair of terrified cows bursts down the street, followed closely by a very annoyed dragon.

It is at once apparent why he is having trouble catching them: even the wider streets of Sinbrilee are a little too narrow for his full wingspan, and even if he were able to take flight, the cows--out of some damnable instinct--keep bolting down narrow side passages, where it would be much too difficult to land. As it is, Temeraire's sides are already a little scuffed and marked with dust from having to squeeze through ancient, crumbling alleyways, and he is beginning to sound decidedly out of breath as he calls:]

Will you stop trying to escape! It is pointless, and a waste of my time, and anyway it is not as if I am going to eat you right away!


C | CLOSED to Korra and Victoria (Turtle Delta Nannies)

[By the time Temeraire has finished exploring the bulk of the city, carefully packed all his salvage away, and shut up the cows somewhere safe, several days have passed, almost without his noticing. It is very pleasant to have the beginnings of a hoard of one's own, and to be able to do with it as one pleases; it is something he never had, in the Aerial Corps. For the first time in some weeks, he is quite cheerful, and it is this good cheer that leads him to do a little more intensive exploring--this time taking one of the paths that lead out of the city.

He is not sure what, precisely, guides his steps: a strange longing, perhaps, which he cannot quite place, and which he is sure he has never felt before in his life. The feeling only grows stronger as he nears the city limits, where the pitch-black waters of the ocean almost threaten to press in on him, if he looks at them for too long.

Still, he pads on. Temeraire, who has never been one to examine his instincts too closely, does not question the emotion overmuch. And close to the edge of the barrier, in the basement of an otherwise unremarkable house, he finds its source.

He cannot believe his eyes. The egg is enormous--very nearly as tall as he is, and almost a third his length--larger even than a Regal Copper egg, and glowing softly in the darkness of the basement. He puts out his tongue, carefully, to touch its gently resonating surface. Whatever is inside is alive, of that he is absolutely certain. He knows he should free the egg from its current confines, but for now he only sits crouched in the ruins of the house, eyes wide and shining, watching the egg.]

closed; jason, hayley, annabeth

[sophos]

[They're supposed to meeting Piper in the Agora. Except they haven't really gotten there yet, because Annabeth keeps stopping at every other building or ruin to give it at least a quick once over, if not a closer examination.]

[Which is pretty much what's going on now, with Jason as her unintended victim companion in her ramblings. It's nice to have someone there to ramble at, but she really has no idea how much he's actually paying attention, and she doesn't care much either.]

[She runs a hand over the bottom half of a rectangular sort of shrine, mouth open in a tiny 'o'. It stands taller than the both of them, for all it's started to fall apart a bit.] This is a heroon. I've seen a lot of them all over the city. [She pauses for a moment, leaning over to glance at it from another angle.] Or at least, it resembles one. The natives probably technically had another word for it. They're shrines, built around the bones of a hero.

Iskierka | OTA

[kazilik]

[Oh! This place was wonderful, to Iskierka's mind -- somewhere new to explore, with all the jewels and coins she might have for the taking. She does not precisely care for the beauty of the architecture or her surroundings, though she does stop from time to time to make a slightly appreciative noise.

She does not yet have the advantages of her harness, though she has strung a bag 'round her neck to pick up what jewels and fine things she might find. It is very nearly full to bursting, but she is moving steadily with it, even so. She cannot quite spread her wings as she would like, here in the narrow streets; so at the moment she is on the ground, peering about for any spare things she might fancy. Perhaps there might be something in this senate house, over here.]

open

[tomemyoutliers]

( Shockwave has to see it. Still with some presence of mind not to have the holoform appear directly at the coordinates Leo gave, it takes much longer than desired to come across the decapitated and empty head. And once found, Shockwave can't do much but stare at it wordlessly and slackjawed.

One hand reaches out to touch it - as if wanting some final confirmation - fabricated hand coming away covered in glowing fuchsia liquid. Primus, no.

It wasn't enough for them to strip all emotion. Shockwave was forged, empurata was punishment for those constructed cold. But that hadn't mattered to Proteus. Oh, he might have claimed it was for the Outliers but Shockwave knew better - it was for every single time Shockwave acted as a voice of reason, every protest against corrupt plans, and every time Shockwave wouldn't take 'no' as an answer.

Empurata and Shadowplay. That had been his answer. Ritualized amputation, head and hands replaced so that all of Cybertron would know the cost of crossing the Senate one too many times and Shadowplay to bring the errant politician to heel.

The connection between holoform and 'bot resonates before stretching thin - Shockwave has never been able to control emotions at the best of time, and this? This pushes it all over the edge. Every expression and subtle change is etched on the holoform's face as if it was actually Shockwave and not some hard light approximation of humanity. )

No. No!

( It's accusatory - equal parts fear and anger and sadness directed to no one in particular. At the Senate. At Proteus. At the future that went so completely wrong. At everything and anything. Four million years and the world that Shockwave loved had fallen apart and into pieces and there was nothing to be done.

Something's wrong, although it's hard to tell what. Merely cosmetic - perhaps the fabric of the chiton inspired dress doesn't spin around Shockwave's legs like it should, the gold belt doesn't seem to be reflecting light. Shockwave's concentration is wavering, faced with the reality of what cleansed and controlled actually implied. )

Jason Bourne | OTA

[brokenweapon]

A | OTA

[Bourne's been exploring the city quite a lot, because it's nice to stretch his legs somewhere that isn't Keeliai. It reminds him of half-remembered missions in Rome, and sometimes he has to stop and sit down because something's triggered a flashback or a migraine. But it always fades. Less pleasant is when he's reminded of Greece and his search for Marie after Paris, but those always pass.

He's not translucent enough to be mistaken for a ghost. But hey...that could change.]

B | CLOSED to TEAM NU aka JAVERT AND AVA aka THE MOST UNSUITABLE EGGPARENT TRIO ON THE FACE OF THE PLANET

[There's been a tugging of sorts in his chest as he's progressed throughout Sinbrilee; like there's a hook secured just below his sternum and is slowly, inexorably dragging him wherever it wants. It's difficult to resist, and it's difficult to want to resist. It's a feeling that takes a little while to identify, but it's something a little bit like hope.

That's not one he's used to. It's not one he's felt for a year.

So he follows the feeling. He's followed weirder things before.

He finds the source squirreled away at the end of a decrepit alleyway, one he would have overlooked if it hadn't been tugging on his brain. It's in a sort of makeshift shack meant to protect it from whatever elements Sinbrilee would be exposed to, and then abandoned. Someone had tucked some rags around it; he can see the edge of one sticking out.

It's an impossibly huge egg. And it's glowing.

And it just might be happy to see him.]

closed;

[kelpful]

[It's been - well, nagging at him is probably the wrong word. The sensation is too pleasant to call it that. It's more like a tugging sort of feeling, an invitation to seek something out. Considering the amount of times this has happened to him in the past, it should probably be a warning. But Percy is just so wrecked from the past week (month, year, whatever) that the calm encouragement is a welcome reprieve.

He wanders absently through the city, stopping every now and then to chat with some of the fish he finds left in pools of water. Most of them are perfectly content, although a little confused about what happened to the ocean; Percy explains as best he can before continuing on his path. Whatever that path is.

He's almost...not surprised, when he comes across the giant egg. That is, he only almost falls on his butt in shock, instead of actually doing it]

No way. [He practically scrambles over until he can lay his hands on the shell, walking around it. A curious, pleased feeling seems to reach out to him, and he grins widely, laughing out loud. That's definitely a turtle in there all right.]

closed

[parallels]

Clara carefully walked across a pillar that descended into the ruins of an old Vineyard. she'd lost track of where she was. But by this point, she figured it was somewhere near the very edges of Sinbrilee. Jim was somewhere behind her, climbing down the wall instead of carefully walking across the toppled over pillar. She was quite thankful to have found some of her clothing hanging up on a line near an abandoned house because now she had proper boots to go exploring in. Of course trousers would have been nice too but beggars can't be choosers.

At the edge of the pillar, she jumped down into the yard. It was a very pretty old vineyard, full of vines, made of stone and wood. Her love of old things caused her to grin as she made her way across the grass to where Jim would hopefully be showing up.

Then something caught her eye across the yard, a cellar door. Tempting, too tempting not to go poke around. Jim would figure it out if she left the door open, wouldn't he? Clara cross the yard and yanks at the doors. They open with such ease she nearly topples over from the overuse of force and is left coughing and sniffling from the dust.

There's a light on, somehow, and it guides her as she makes her way down dusty and old stairs. The cellar is filled with bottles of wine from stone wall to stone wall. Clara grins looking around until she sees something that is very not common in a vineyard.

A car. Or at least she thinks it is. It's like no car she's familiar with. With a tilt of her head, she moves a bit closer to inspect it.

Closed

[dustonmyfeet]

While others stick to the main buildings of Sinbrilee, Toph explores areas that others might not go, mapping out the world around her with her seismic sense. The sewers to her are particularly fascinating, and she wends her way below the streets, feeling the feet of the others above.

The sewers are stone, and elaborate. The smell has long since died, and the moisture with it, leaving little but the cool, hewn stone beneath the girl's bare feet. Without need of light, she heads deeper, drawn by her own curiosity and the lure of potentially finding something the others have not.

The sound begins faintly. Or, more properly, not a sound, but a sense: A steady pulse that rings through Toph's seismic sense like the toll of a bell. Toph pauses, frowns faintly . . . cants her head to the side as though she could catch it further -- and then, sure of its existence, pads in that direction.

It's louder now. Stronger. She turns a corner, threads her way through a narrower space. Up a ladder. Strangely, she feels the urge to go faster, as though the pulse beckons her, imploring her to move. She obeys. Breaks into a trot. Then a run.

The corridors spill out into a much larger space. The ceiling arcs high overhead, not unlike the tunnels made by the badgermoles near her home. Halfway up the curving wall is a ledge, creating an out-of-the-way nook that perhaps once was used by workers testing the water. It's bordered on all four sides like a small, secure nest made of stone.

And it's there she finds the egg.

It's enormous. Far taller than she is, with a circumference she couldn't begin to wrap her arms around. For a moment she merely stands in awe of it, feeling the steady pulse that called her shivering up her spine.

This egg has a heartbeat. It's alive.