cancry | Invidia Underside Log

Invidia Underside Log

INVIDIA DUNGEON LOG
For the Executors who've travelled down to an Underside before, today's trip isn't out of the ordinary. But for those of you new to all this... well, buckle up because it's a bit of a ride. Though the cold green light makes it hard to see, if you squint through the glare, you'll spot a wide, steep staircase leading down from the fissure into the light below. As you descend, it feels for a frightening moment as though you might be walking blind but eventually the light gives way to the sight of the Invidia Underside waiting a great distance below you. By some trick of perspective or just wonky Purgatory logic, however, it seems to take hardly any time for you to descend the stairs and set foot in the Invidia Underside.
THE UNDERSIDE
♪♫ Lyx – Sakuzyo The only saving grace of the Invidia Underside is that its layout and structure is more or less the same as Invidia itself. Some of the paths have turned a little twisty and there are buildings here and there that have gone missing, but if you can navigate your way around Invidia then you can more or less find your way around the Underside. The atmosphere on the other hand is where things really start to feel different. Where Invidia is bustling with life, the Underside is just as quiet in contrast. Some sounds filter down from the city above but they sound not just distant but muffled, too. This, coupled with the eerie green light that illuminates the city from above gives the feeling of being trapped at the bottom of some sort of lake or seabed. But more notable than all that is the screens that usually blast Esme content into everyone's eyeballs. Down here in the Underside, all of the screens are either apparently dead or displaying looped clips from TV talk shows, vlogs, movies and the like starring a person none of you have ever seen before. They have a vague similarity to Esme, but they're clearly not the same person. There's a shine to them and a sense of authenticity that was missing from everyone's least favorite Envy Authority that just feels... correct. If Esme was some kind of counterfeit then this is undoubtedly the original. There are no clips of Esme – or any sort of media with her at all, in fact – anywhere to be found in the Invidia Underside. AREAS OF INTEREST ⚝ Park: The park seems to have fallen victim to the same odd spatial distortions at play in many other places in Purgatory. While from the outside it doesn't seem that much bigger than it was originally, once you actually enter the park you'll find that it stretches on far enough that you can't quite see all the way to the other end, not helped at all by the fact that the area seems to have become fogged over, thickly enough to make it hard to detect the presence of Revenants here. Usually, the glowing trees would be enough to guide you through, but thanks to the presence and occasional outbreaks of violence of the Revenants, the trees are looking, uh... a little busted. Many of them have been gouged or even completely uprooted from the ground with wires spilling messily out and all over the ground. And... the less said about whatever the hell that colourful liquid coming out of them is, the better. Just tell yourself it's the stuff you see inside glowsticks and move on. Of course, moving on might be a little hard, as when you reach the very center of the park, you might just stumble across exactly what had the Revenants here so worked up in the first place... ⚝ Mall: Those of you who were fans of the conbini in Limbo: congratulations! Those of you who were fans of the mall in Invidia being normal: my condolences. While the mall hasn't changed much physically down here in the Underside, the shopping experience certainly has. The items up for purchase have fallen prey to the same effects as the ones in Limbo and so everything is a little... off. Food comes in strange shapes and flavours, clothes don't look quite right and any books or written media you pick up to try and read will just be a jumble of text that only occasionally becomes discernable. The same unfamiliar person who was all over the screens outside can also be found here, looking for all the world like the average celeb. It won't be easy finding anything to read, though, because the mall is crammed full of Revenants who seem to be doing their level best to full on loot the place. Take great care in your investigations, because if they get the idea that you're trying to steal anything from the mall, they'll set on you quicker than you can blink. ⚝ Rooftop Stage: Given that the rooftop stage was the last place you all saw Esme, it's not a bad idea to check there again to see if that's where she's ended up. There's an eerie similarity between the rooftop here and the one back in Invidia, too – just like that one, the rooftop here is in disrepair, as though it's been subject to some sort of violent tantrum, with all the equipment smashed to bits and the stage itself almost completely demolished. At second glance though, it becomes a bit more obvious that this place has been systematically broken down to allow as many of its components as possible to be harvested to construct what looks to be a gigantic cage right on the stage. And what's inside the cage you ask? You'll have to see for yourself... ⚝ Mansion: Esme's mansion seems to be the only part of Invidia that has escaped the warping and confusion of the Underside. The gate at the front is locked again but the outer walls no longer grow in height to keep outsiders at bay, so if you want to get in then scaling the wall is your best bet. No problem for the Executors, of course! Once you're inside, you can look around and see that not only has the interior escaped the uncomfortable twisty-turny distortions of the Underside but it also looks... lived in. Like "the bed still isn't made from being vacated this morning" lived in. There's food in the fridge. Was she... living here...? ⚝ Broadcasting Station: See for yourself. HAZARDS ⚝ On The Spot: Though there seems to be no actual source for them, large spotlights sweep through the streets of Invidia. They're easy to see coming and not too large that you can't dodge out of the way if there's one coming at you, but take care – if you happen to be caught in the glare of one of these spotlights, then you'll be plastered all over the screens that are scattered about the city and find yourself beset by Revenants who all want a very literal taste of you. ⚝ Structural Damage: Many of the buildings around the city have fallen into disrepair due to the presence of the Revenants here. Some have taken extreme structural damage and are on the verge of collapse so be careful not to end up trapped in a collapsing building, or you might be stuck waiting for a fellow Executor to fish you out. ⚝ Revenant Types Present: Henricus, Rigaud

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With gnashing teeth and and insatiable appetite, this is a dangerous Revenant for any Executor to face, even with backup. It has an exceptionally violent personality and lashes out at anything that moves – its only saving grace is that it has no eyes and is completely blind, relying entirely on sound to track down its prey. It stalks through the thick fog like some sort of horrible sniffer dog, keeping a keen ear out for its prey. What do you mean it doesn't have ears? Don't even worry about it.

Ficino is a sleek, stealthy Revenant that's surprisingly weight and strong despite its size and speed and hits like a tank if it gets the opportunity to plough its body weight into you. Its skin is leathery and cold and oddly pliant, as though it's just a thin outer casing holding in... whatever the hell is inside this thing. It seems to be full of something gooey and liquidly but thankfully when attacked, all it bleeds is pneuma. Its skin is fairly resistant to blunt force attacks and slashes, but focused piercing attacks will do some good.

It favors sneak attacks, staying hidden in the fog until it detects an enemy with its advanced hearing before speeding towards them and attempting to crush them under its weight. Once pinned, it them begins biting and chewing, trying to tear off chunks with its humongous teeth. Gruesome! Despite its power, Ficino is a cowardly Revenant that prefers to stalk lone or injured prey and if it realizes its target is part of a group it will attempt to disappear back into the fog.

Win Conditions:

Edited 2021-01-04 20:08 (UTC)

[Okay, being ambushed was not in Wolfsbane's plan, but she can work with this! ...she thinks. When slashing with her axe doesn't work, she jumps back and fires off an ice shard.]

Ugh, what is this thing?!

[ Fog suits him fine. He doesn't know why that is, but this new form seems to revel in it, the same way he revels in it (it feels right, better than his usual body, and isn't that something?)

Well, he's here to destroy things, so destroy things he will. As nice as the fog feels, it's auxiliary.

It's Wolfsbane's shouting that leads him to the target, which is helpful. He drifts towards her voice, his skeletal form still half-shrouded in fog. ]

Ah, there you are.

[ Ice bursts forth from his hands, a bolt that barely misses the Revenant. It spins for a moment, jaws snapping; conflicted between whether to continue attacking the target it can see, or flee from the group it now knows exists. ]

Edited 2021-01-06 02:37 (UTC)

I ought to be saying that to you lot.

[Wolfsbane changes tactics and attacks with fireballs now, a gleam in her eye.]

This must be what ripped up the park.

Oh, am I late? I wasn't aware we'd made an appointment.

[ He adjusts his tactics, spreading his chains out to present a larger target. This girl seems to be more aggressive, so he'll change to suit. Ficino snaps its jaws and snarls, lunging towards Wolfsbane. ]

It seems as if you're correct. I wonder what kind of impulses propel this creature, to engage in such violence?

Edited 2021-01-06 05:09 (UTC)

[She slices with her halberd, only managing to knock the thing's mouth slightly out of the way, though it still grazes her arm and she hisses. Fine -- she'll swing it back the other way and drive the piercing end into its head.]

Take this, you thing!

[It staggers back and starts to thrash, sending girl and weapon tumbling off to the side. She rolls to a stop and drags herself up.]

I'd suspect it's judt hunting. It seems simple enough!

Hunting, hmm? I wonder if it has a taste for just the flesh of Executors, or anything with pneuma...

[ As he muses on this, he sees Ficino facing towards him and floats backwards to avoid its snapping and snarling. He has a suspicion that even in this form, a bite from such a monstrosity would hurt.

Smaller, more annoying Rigauds swarm about in flocks, attracted by the noise of battle. He cracks his chains in the air, luring a group in as he fends Ficino off with another blast of ice and an annoyed grunt. ]

[Ficino bristles and begins to slink off into the fog. Wolfsbane hits it with another blast of fire as it goes, then turns her attention to chopping up Rigauds with the axe.]

That thing won't be out for long. It'll be back once we clear out the crowd!

[As she says that, she keeps an eye on the fog, looking for the larger enemy to come out again.]

Perhaps we can do a little better than that. [ He picks an unfortunate victim, and then strikes the Rigaud out of the air with his chains. Rather than crushing it outright, he lashes it with methodical attacks from his chains to stun it and moves back into the fog somewhat, leaving it to struggle on the ground helplessly. ]

If it's bound by its instincts to hunt, I believe wounded prey is too powerful a lure to resist. [ Time to see if this works. The Rigaud twitches and rolls on the ground, bleeding pneuma. He watches it with nothing more than a calculative air. ]

[Wolfsbane grits her teeth to block the pain of her own injury. She steps back into the fog to wait, visible just by the faint glow of another magic circle setting up. And re-emerge Ficino does to pounce and rip apart the Rigaud; Wolfsbane shoots another fireball at it and runs out again.]

Can you trap it?

I can try, at least. [ This sort of setup feels familiar, though he doesn't know why. Just another loss, he supposes, like so many others. He accepts that too.

He snares another stray Rigaud, applying the same treatment. This time, he changes his position and wraps one of his chains around the creature before retreating into the fog.

When Ficino lunges in to snap up the weakened Revenant, it snaps the chain up with it. He yanks upwards like he's caught a fish on a hook, sending the rest of his chains out to whip and batter Ficino in a cacophony of metal sounds; he has his suspicions that it won't last long, but it should last long enough to disorient it while Wolfsbane does...whatever she's doing. ]

[She shoots another few fireballs and ice shards, one after the other, before darting in. It seemed to shrug off the slicing end of the halberd, so she'll lunge with the pointed end again.]

Perfect! Of course these things are too stupid to understand!

Aren't we getting confident. [ Frost sounds amused.

Wolfsbane's change of approach works handily; Ficino howls and lets go of the chain, squirming and snapping at the source of its new and painful injury. Pneuma gushes from the wound that's gone much deeper than Wolfsbane's previous slashes have.

Frost delivers another bolt of ice to the side of its head. With Wolfsbane's weapon still embedded in it, it can't flee as it normally does...but that does mean, like a wounded animal, it will likely become more erratic. ]

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[If there was one thing Phoenix hated, it was poisoning perfectly edible food.]

[...Two things, and it was being seen as weak or a liability. But the latter was useful in this case, judging by the sounds he was picking up. Quadrupedal and moving in deliberately slow steps a distance behind him, definitely a Revenant. Very well, if it was going to treat him like a wounded anak calf then it could deal with the consequences.]

[The steps halted a distance behind him, and with a growl it charged. A straight line with no finesse or strategy past the element of surprise; a sudden ambush that might have worked on anyone else.]

[Phoenix, however, stood very calmly and measured the distance of each charging step. Fifteen feet, ten, five. When it was nearly within lunging distance he jumped back, landing easily behind it. Flaming sword in hand glowing in the fog, he lashed out at Ficino with a surprise attack of his own.]

[It's the flash of light in the fog that makes him react more than anything. Reckless, perhaps, but on a whim that Chiron warps into the fray, running nearly into the beast with the move and drawing up short a few steps from it, scythe crystallizing into existence.]

Phoenix, is that you? Are you in a spot of trouble? [It does not appear that he is, granted, but it's his way of offering help.

look he doesn't know this thing is a sound hunter yet okay]

No, actually, and I'd advise you to keep quiet for your own good.

[Sure enough, Ficino seemed to be rethinking its course of action or at least determining what made a better target to isolate.]

Oh? [He's about to say something, in a huffy manner, because wow! rude! But he would be a fool not to heed Phoenix's words.

And no, he won't just leave. Surely taking on an encounter together is better than alone. He idly spins the handle of the scythe, its length balanced against his shoulder--impossible through normal physics given its length, but hey, they can do what they want here.

Put it between the both of them, circle it on either side? Seems a fair course of action.]

[Two factors to keep track of wasn't difficult, but it was made complicated when Chiron tended to not shut the fuck up. But the assistance was fine; Phoenix moved slowly to put himself in line with his fellow Executor, listening to the Revenant's movements as it listened in turn.]

...I don't think it can see us. Else it might have attacked by now.

[This might normally present a problem. But! Chiron, he has other ideas. He gives this all a few moments of quiet thought, and then--

Then he claps his hands sharply a few times and gives a holler.]

Then a merry distraction is just the thing!

[He'll move away from Phoenix, heavy steps or over cronchy leaves or kicking branches aside, making noise.] Goodness, for your information, it is terribly foggy out. Perfect to ambush sight-based prey, I daresay! Clearly once we're done here, we should go somewhere nicer to relax~

[He could not possibly be that stupid.]

[But over the noise Chiron was making, Phoenix thought the Revenant's steps paused and repositioned themselves, and clearly he was.]

[Phoenix lunged an instant before the creature did, and an oncoming charge disrupted by a kick harsh enough to throw it off course.]

What is wrong with you--?!

[The sound of movement, not his, and then the sound of impact. Through the fog, he could see the shapes and shadows and flashes of colors and the the swirl of air currents.

He moves to--well, it doesn't matter what he moves to do, because when he moves, he trips. Over the remnants of a downed tree, it seems. He's still for a hair of a moment, in case something decides to follow the noise, and then warps away, a diagonally upward motion, and plants the end of his staff to the ground to help him slide the rest of the way down to his feet.]

You were meant to stay quiet in your hunt, I'll have you know.

How do you expect me to track a predator intent on stalking us when you're making so much noise?

[Phoenix scowled briefly, then immediately snapped back to cold professionalism; brandishing his sword and slashing at the Revenant when it snapped its jaws at him again.]

Shall I just vanish and leave you to it?

[He doesn't do anything more for a few very long moments, quiet and still. But apparently he can't leave well enough alone and guides his attack by the light of a flaming sword-cane, toward the shadow and sound of a no-eyed beastie.]

If you want to help, just stop talking so much and fight.

[Easier said than done.]

Or, sound from different directions could confuse it, never sure which way to look.

[He thinks Phoenix might have better sense than that, so he does not seem to think it'll be a problem for him. The reach the ridiculous scythe affords Chiron, at any rate, means that he's generally well out of the way of any potential assaults by his compatriot. Slashing at it this way, hooking at it another, never letting himself be on quite the same side or direction as Phoenix.]

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Invidia Underside Log

MANDATORY COMBAT ENCOUNTER: FICINO

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