Jordi's Palace

[pharology]

You didn't think the palaces were over, did you?

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EXPLORATION MASTER THREAD

[pharology]

EXPLORATION MECHANICS (do not respond)

[pharology]

Characters must traverse a dark lighthouse in order to reach the control room at the top. From the start, there are only the spiral staircase leading up, and the central pillar that the stairs are mounted on and holds everything together. There is one light source, coming from way above, at the very top of the stairs. Characters will feel like it's calling to them.

There are no other lights. Characters need to use their phone flashlight or just yolo it. Or scrounge for something.

No other floors, but there are some landings for characters to catch their breath-- on the ground floor and all of the landings, there are some tents, and various items scattered around.

A few spots on the walls have glowing algae. Characters may touch the algae, but it will instantly inflict Hunger and the status effect will remain until physical contact ends. No rolls necessary.

You may roll for perception to survey the surroundings, or to scavenge the belongings-- only one opportunity per character. Remember to bold the rolls.

Algae reference can be found here.

Rolling for perception: Roll a d20.
Rolling to scavenge: Roll a d20. If you roll 18-20, flip a coin.

EXPLORATION, START!

[pharology]

[Your eyes might struggle to adjust to the dark in this place, a massive structure devoid of any source of light that stretches all the way up, and the outside won't do you any good either, when the doors have swung shut and while there are tall windows on the walls, the clouds are dark. All you have ahead of you is a spiral staircase, some scattered belongings around tents, and a bright light far above your head, beckoning you to find it. Like a compulsion, or a siren song.

However, to get to it, you must climb the long, long spiral staircase, and sift through some debris along the way. And there seems to be something glowing attached to the walls that smells of brine and dead fish. Upon closer inspection, it seems to be silvery-blue algae, slimy and mildly sticky to the touch, but does not leave any residue on the skin. However, if you do touch it, you'll feel lethargic, tired, hungry even though you may have eaten just before this palace for some energy-- a feeling that persists for as long as you're touching the algae. Fortunately, the algae only sticks to the walls, and not the floor, leaving you free to climb as long as you don't reach out of the confines of the stairway again. Still, it doesn't bode well for the future, does it?

Not to mention, as you begin to climb, it starts to rain outside, no matter what the weather was like before you arrived. It doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon, and the higher you ascend, the stronger the rain will become.

Are you strong enough to see this through to the end?]

[finalmix]

[ what the heck.

this is not a place that joshua expected to end up in, but thankfully since he at least knows modern technology he's pulling out his phone and turning on the flashlight for at least some additional illumination. ]

[ anyway for now he's just kicking at the debris on the floor and avoiding touching the glowy things on the wall. ]

[emptyself]

This smells like when I worked at the fish market.

[ somehow, soujuurou doesn’t seem bothered by the situation.

he looks around, and then up, and then around again. will he find anything useful with his 2 roll? (no) ]

What even is this place?

[ guess who has two thumbs and comes from the mountains. ]

[supherb]

[It doesn't take Arven long at all to figure out what sort of structure the group had found themselves in this time. After all, he grew up in his father's laboratory that was attached to one.

He murmurs his conclusion aloud.]

...a lighthouse.

[He glances down at Mabosstiff, who made the trip with him this time.]

Stay close, okay? I've got your Poke ball if things get too hairy.

[The massive dog Pokemon nods in understanding as Arven shrugs off his equally massive backpack.]

Anyone else have a light source? I've got a flashlight in my pack.

[cleansewithfire]

[ ...Hm, this isn't kind of ominous at all, clearly.

The first thing Sunrise is going to do is find anything useful, preferably another light source (13). ]

[vogelfrei]

[ Oh not again. McGillis sighs a little as he looks around and takes in who has arrived with him. Some people he knows from Izou's palace, which is a relief but some he has hardly spoken to at all. Best to start with the big thing then: ]

Has everyone here experienced one of these mind realms already?

[ If anybody has got questions, better to get them out of the way now. ]

[strawsandals]

[ Wow, this sucks! He hates this! Unlike Joshua he has no idea what flashlights are, but he'll quietly make use of the limited light he has and try to look around to see if he can find something useful (19). ]

Not again...

[cirquedesang]

[Another mindscape... After Izou's, any impulse to find any loopholes to following directions (i.e. climbing the outside wall...) seems foolhardy at best, so... time to head inside with the rest of the group.

And stay well away from the walls (thanks, Sunrise!).

That said, he will poke through some of the debris to see if there's anything of use around. (6)]

perception

[beautifulknight]

[ Perception check that he did not fail this time (19)

Aka does he see anything of relevance? Also he's sparkling a lot so he probably is inevitably bringing a lot of light or something (half-joking) ]

EXPLORATION ROUND 2

[pharology]

[It seems there's not much to scavenge down here... Or perhaps you're not looking in the right places? Soujuurou manages to find a gold-plated bangle with an odd alphabet stamped into the inside, andFray gains a gold-plated ring with an unknown clear gemstone set flush into its band. Celeste gets his hands on a gold-plated earring with a little clamshell charm-- which might look familiar to him, actually. Where did he see that before? On who?

Some fare better in their search, though. They found good spots! Arven on the other hand finds a lantern that was once attached to a satchel, with a half-used candle waiting to be lit. That's much luckier, right? Oddly, in Sunrise's hand, there is a quick sketch of what seems to be a basic streetlamp sitting atop a pile of notebooks, with quick little notes about a potential source for electricity that's not something called "Originium". As for Yoon, there is a bronze spyglass, glinting thanks to the light from his phone. It looks old and well-used, but in relatively good condition, down to the lens. It's his now.

As Joshua checks their surroundings, he'll find a few more debris up the steps and a few landings, but nothing truly of note... to the eye. Instead, he'll hear something, a voice singing from up above, from the same place as the light that beckons them, though he won't be sure if the singer is male or female, or what language they're using.

However, there's still more to be examined when it comes to the algae, Sunrise's little attempt notwithstanding. Argenti will look into it better, closer. longer. He'll find that it's spreading several inches at a time, in whatever direction it can. A surface untouched by anything, the algae will take over it, slowly but surely-- but he will also notice that the algae doesn't spread onto a part of the wall that has a hole in it, regardless of how shallow or small it is. (1) Odd, isn't it?

Outside, the rain begins. If they wanted to leave, it might be too late.]

[strawsandals]

[ Hmm... He's inspecting the spyglass but he tries not to spend too much time doing so. They have a light that is calling for them, and it's not the one from their phones. ]

We should get moving.

[beautifulknight]

[ ...So, basically, it looks like a plant growing...weirdly.

...

Weird! ]

The algae seems to be oddly spreading in several inches, in any direction - across a multitude of surfaces...except for this point.

[ He gestures to the portion of the wall containing the small hole. But, he will turn towards everyone else as it begins to rain, waiting for them to provide observations or give the signal to move forward. ]

[destage]

...This definitely doesn't feel right at all.

[Sayaka's a little more than nervous about all of this, but let it be known that she's nothing if not adaptable. She has to be. She knows she has to be, she can't keep holding people back. No matter how scary this is.

She's...at least going to try to go off to the side for a bit and see if she can have any luck in finding anything. (20) She's got her knife gripped close like a lifeline, and she'll use it if necessary.]

[townmusician]

...This place looks so haunted.

[How long has Haruka been here? Don't worry about it, because he's not being particularly helpful. He's wary of touching anything, because what if tetanus still exists in... what did the tall guy say? A mind realm?

Still, he's looking around warily, straining to see (or hear?? but he's not a fan of Joshua's humming) that might be useful for later—or a good place to head, even with the rain coming down. (With a 17!)]

[cirquedesang]

[Hey, that sure does look familiar. It's no guarantee it's Jordi's mind palace though (yet) - he might have shown up, lost an earring, and then left when no one else was present yet for all he knows. (Doubtful, but one earring is not proof enough yet.)

Hearing that the algae is spreading, though, does give him more than enough incentive to start picking his way over and/or around the debris to head up the stairs, trying... and probably failing to see if anything else is more strange than usual on the way up. (1)]

[imperiosity]

Seriously...? How many of these are gonna pop up?

[Also why do all these places all look so depressing...! At least this isn't his first time in the Nekyia hellscape rodeo, so he's not as thrown off as last time (and at least the lighthouse is still a lighthouse inside).

Anyways he'll just look around these piles of junk but I guess he sucks at it because he only got a 10!]

[emptyself]

[ soujuurou, holding out the bangle with the latin inscription: ]

Does anyone know what these scratches are supposed to be?

EXPLORATION ROUND 3

[pharology]

[Through his efforts, Haruka will be able to vouch for what Joshua is saying, because his ears now pick up on the odd singing. Who is singing? What language is this? Who knows? Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Celeste, he merely sees scorch marks along the floor and some parts of the walls. "Merely".

The rest of the scavengers manage to get somewhat lucky, even in this area that's mostly picked clean of anything useful. It's not much, but Aaron finds an old-fashioned flashlight, still useable in a way-- it may flicker a little, but nothing some percussive maintenance won't fix. Sayaka finds another spyglass on the steps, and it's made of bronze, just like Yoon's-- hold on a moment, it's the exact same one! The same faded spots, the same scratches on the body. Congratulations on the duplicate...?

Up above, the light dims a little. The compulsion grows stronger, and whoever hears the singing notes how it grows just a little louder. Whatever this is, it's tied to the strength of that guiding light. Besides, with such weak sources in your hands, can you really afford to lose that one?]

[strawsandals]

Hurry-!

[ He says this as he's starting to climb the stairs. While he's at it, though, he's going to look around and see what's going on (20). Anything he can discern as he's making his way up? ]

[townmusician]

[Hey, guess what? He hates this, actually.

Haruka hunches in on himself, looking upwards to the light. The fact it's dimming is... Well, it's not a good sign, is it? A lighthouse going out is very bad, he's pretty sure.]

That creepy singing is getting louder...

[...Does that mean that whoever is singing is getting closer? He sure hopes not!

Haruka is going to see if there's anything that stands out as important and grab it (19!), scooting closer to anyone who looks tough and strong. (So it's probably McGillis even if Luna is asleep, sorry,)]

[beautifulknight]

[ Knights really aren't about this scavenging, but why not see what he can root around for?

He does at least give his best effort even if it isn't entirely bound to be great in the results department (10)

Soon enough, he'll continue to head upwards, however. ]

[emptyself]

We should start to get going.

[ with the light dimming, soujuurou's on high alert now. while he is always a little late to the uptake, now he's really starting to feel the urgency of something being wrong.

climbing up on the steps, he's looking around to see if he can see/hear/sense anything else that might help out (20). ]

END...?

[pharology]

[The weather continues to rage as the adventurers continue to climb, and they can all see that oh-so clearly with the large windows that begin halfway up the lighthouse. Lightning flashes too close to the lighthouse for comfort one too many times, illuminating everything for a moment-- and things that aren't immediately obvious to the human eye. Yoon and Soujuurou both see figures during these flashes, corpses of monsters hanging from various support beams and even the railings of the stairs everyone has been running on. How did anyone miss all of that carnage?

And how did everyone manage to avoid that umbrella sticking out of some of the debris? Nevermind, Haruka has it now, but while it's clearly a modern, full-sized umbrella in dark blue, nice and functional, it's oddly heavy by the standards of a normal human adult. McGillis may recognize it, however. Joshua gets his wish though, scrounging a lantern from a semi-collapsed tent, and upon closer inspection, it hasn't been used yet, the candle hasn't melted one bit.

The scorch marks that Celeste has been seeing start to taper off halfway up the staircase, and Argenti will be able to take note of them. Arven on the other hand may just see that the algae is getting more luminescent the further up the group goes, and Aaron will note some grimy footprints on the stairs, several pairs of them, belonging to different people. Many have managed to come here, apparently. Maybe?

But here's something that will not escape anyone's attention: Everyone will now be able to hear that odd singing.

At the top of the staircase, characters will find the the door to the control room, closed but not locked. The singing ends. The supernatural light that defied physics darkens until only a sliver of it is visible underneath the large steel door that seems to be more suited to a bunker than a lighthouse. Fray notes that the door has a faded label in the same script as the bangle in Soujuurou's hand, but who can read Latin nowadays?

Get ready. Step inside. You worked hard to get here.]

[ ooc: end of exploration! congrats!!!! digest all this info, no need to roll. ]