cancry | 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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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. ]

I'm always confident!

[She keeps a hold on her weapon, even as it thrashes and she tries to plant herself on the ground. Another magic circle forms around the end of Invierno and shoots forward more ice.]

After all... I was born for this!

Hah! Very good. Continue charging forwards, then!

[ He continues to pummel Ficino's head with chains, noticing its movements become more disoriented when he's keeping up a flurry of weaker attacks.

In his focus, he's floated closer - within biting range. It has enough sense to attempt to crush one of his arms in its jaws, and nearly succeeds before Frost jerks his arm away with a muffled curse. Pneuma bleeds from his half-shattered arm; he ignores the sharp pain to continue his attacks. ]

What --

[The brief distraction lets the creature wrench free, and Wolfsbane and her weapon tumble and clatter to the torn-up grass. She hisses and creates another magic circle in front of her.]

Don't you... dare ignore me...!

[She shoots a fireball this time, not at the creature but at the grass near its feet. The fire starts to catch and spread as she struggles back to standing with a bitter laugh.]

Invidia Underside Log

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