cancry | Gula Underside Log

GULA DUNGEON LOG
As you make the now familiar descent, the screeches and chatterings of the Underside's inhabitants swim up to meet you alongside a suffocating wall of heat. The Gula Underside unfolds itself before you in jewel colours and sweltering heat. In stark contrast to the Rusted City stripped bare and the sterile Undercity, the Gluttony Underside is bursting with life - and danger. This densely packed rainforest spills out in all directions like a natural maze and you're going to have to pull out all the stops to find Gerda before something else does - or before it finds you.
THE UNDERSIDE
♪♫ Floating -Liquidly- – Sakuzyo The jungle is thickly clustered with huge palm trees rising to form an almost impassable canopy that only opens out occasionally when branches shift or when the wind blows, revealing the dim green light of the Underside's sickly looking sky. As you look up, you occasionally see the shadows of Revenants (or at least you HOPE they're Revenants) darting around high above your head. The ground is blanketed in luscious undergrowth that feels soft underfoot - loamy moss, tangled patches of grass, leaves. Occasionally, the uneven ground gives way to puddles of water or patches of loose, sloppy mud that you're forced to wade your way through if you want to proceed. Fortunately (or unfortunately), the jungle is so dense that you're never not within reaching distance of a sturdy tree or rock you can use to steady yourself. Somewhere in this place is Gerda and your way further down into Purgatory. Let's hope you can make your way through unscathed. AREAS OF INTEREST Due to the sheer scale of this Underside, explorations will proceed slightly differently. The Executors will be split into three teams – two to explore the Underside itself and the third being the team assigned to this layer's Boss Combat. Please see below for your role assignments. ⚝ NORTHBOUND: The Executors exploring the north are Medic, Etoile, Lion, Chiron and Veil. ⚝ SOUTHBOUND: The Executors exploring the south are Rei, Genius, Mona, Achilles, Ariel and Phoenix. ⚝ THE WATERING HOLE: Boss Combat volunteers, report! HAZARDS ⚝ Dense Wood: The overgrowth of the jungle and the tightly packed trees mean there are very few wide open spaces as you make your way through. For those of you who rely on your eyeballs, this means visibility is hampered - and that Revenants could ambush you if you're not on high alert! Uneven Footing: Given how wild the terrain here is, you might find that it's a bit hard to get stable footing when you're running to and fro here. Some of this is varied elevation but a lot of it is varied textures too. Stumble too close to anywhere with running water and you'll be slipping and sliding all up and down the Underside! ⚝ Revenant Types Present: Charles, Minturno

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's rather more that we happened upon the pair of you, truthfully. But I might ask you something similar--did you not come to fight us again?

[ This time Achilles reacts, flinching back and looking hurt for just a few seconds. His recovery is swift though and he’s looking off, uncertain.

He’ll let Phoenix talk to her for now but honestly he’s feeling more than a little frustrated and is having to stop himself from going into stern dad mode instead. ]

Edited 2022-03-15 19:03 (UTC)

[ She shakes her head. ]

I suppose you could say I happened upon you in turn. I travelled down here to do my duty and that you all happened to be here as well is pure coincidence. ... Though I should have suspected you might continue making your way down to the Cogs regardless of anything you heard from me on the matter.

Whether you should be right or wrong in your assessment of the Cogs, I think most of us would wish to see the truth for ourselves.

[that one wasn't intentional.]

...Metaphorically speaking.

[ She lets out a hard breath through her nose that you could mistake for a laugh. ]

Precisely. The impression I'm beginning to form is that you all seem to be much too stubborn for your own good. It's gotten you this far, at least.

I don't think anyone is looking for a fight today, at any rate. We would, I think, be too stubborn to simply give up. [Not to mention that there are now more of them than last time.] Aside from whatever's become of the Authority--or former Authority?

Achilles, dear, are you quite all right?

…Huh?

[ His head snaps back up to look at Chiron ]

Y-Yes, I’m all right. Just perhaps a little… lost still, I think.

[ Look like daughter but is mean?????? And cracked face???? :(((

…he is though maybe going to just. Step a little bit closer to Chiron. ]

[ Birdie cocks her head, like she's listening to something from a great distance. She's quiet for a few moments, then – ]

It seems as though the rest of your companions are dealing with that. ... Have dealt with that? Either way, they've stumbled across whatever remains of it and are handling it.

[alright well he can see the direction this is going. does he like it? eeeehhhhh. is he gonna argue? he knows better than to try.]

...You could come with us. Travel the rest of the way to the Cogs together, and perhaps even get to say 'I told you so' if we should be wrong in our approach.

[ Phoenix might not be able to see it, but the surprise that colours her face at that is so sincere, it softens her a little. Not by much, but still. ]

You truly want me to accompany you? After everything that's happened?

[Chiron takes a breath. Like a moment of hesitation. After everything that's happened is a valid concern, for him, for Phoenix in particular, surprise that he would even make the offer. But after their talk...well, he doesn't see any reason for her to get in their way. He's not certain that she'd want to actually join them on their idiocy crusade, but...

There is, however, Rei to consider.]

Only if that's something you would like to do. You have your job you've set out to do, [even if it seems like there's little point to it when the Cogs are stuck and there's no forward momentum to be had] and we've ours. If you've no interest in tagging along, or in explaining yourself to the others as you will inevitably need to do, then we'll certainly understand, so long as we then don't get in each others' way again.

[He looks to Achilles. And the girls. (And Rei.)] It would be your choice, though perhaps if there are objections...?

Edited 2022-04-09 11:49 (UTC)

[ Achilles doesn't really respond but he also now finally turns and look over to Rei to see how she's faring. ]

[ Rei, perhaps unsurprisingly, looks a little bit like she's about to be sick. She's dropped out of her Executor form – unconsciously, perhaps? – and she's wearing an expression that makes her look like someone who's just seen... well, a ghost. ]

I don't... understand... [ She looks from Birdie, to Chiron, to Achilles – any of them, as if looking for an explanation. ] What is she?

[ Birdie's face twitches before settling back into pointedly calm neutrality. You could almost guess that she seems... hurt. ]

A question your fellow Executors would rightfully have as well, I gather. [ She smiles. It's not a particularly nice one. ]

[The inevitable question, and the one he has some answers to. It's just a matter of deciding what to say. How much to say.]

She is Purgatory's Authority. And, if she is to be believed, has no intention of stopping us again if we are so determined to reach the Cogs.

Rei, dear... [To at least start to address the garula in the room.] You truly don't remember anything, do you? About having been part of her.

[He wants to ask about this girl, this other girl Birdie mentioned and refused to expand upon, wants to know what happened, suss out the truth of the matter, Rei's intentions, her innocence--he just can't see a manipulative mastermind. And he knows a thing or two about that. Better not to air everything out, right now, in a split group.]

Wh...

[ Rei blinks at him. She'd flinched when he'd spoken her name, like she'd expected a rebuke to follow, somehow. She looks around at everyone, seeking an ally and then shakes her head. She's trembling all over. ]

I don't... I wasn't... [ She doesn't even know why she's denying it. But the idea makes her feel trembly and ill. ] I don't understand what you're trying to say...

[It's not the reaction he expects, and that...makes him frown lightly. He'd spoken to her with the usual kindness--perhaps a little trepidation, but nothing unkind. It would be easy enough to simply say no, she doesn't remember, express confusion. This strikes as something different, and he doesn't know how to take that.]

According to her, you are her heart. [At least in a manner of speaking. He's not...sure that he wants to say more than that at the moment.]

[ regardless of this strangeness — regardless of whatever the situation is with this girl, this Authority, whether she's an ally or an enemy, whatever the connection is between her and Rei — Rei must be more lost than any of them right now, and for some reason, it feels like no one is reaching out a hand to her.

so Mona is quick to go from Chiron's side to Rei's, putting an arm around her to draw her close. it's a protective move; not hostile towards the new Authority, but supporting Rei. ]

Chiron... You're scaring her. [ her tone is worried, not reproachful. ] You have to explain clearly or we won't understand what's going on.

Gula Underside Log

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