kenoslogs | vander's rescue

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vander's rescue

Who: Vander, his lovely and brave rescuers, and a whole lotta trouble
What: Vander was kidnapped by Aetós, so the people come to save him! OOC information and plotting can be found here.
Where: “The Zoo” in the Below
When: Sometime in between the TDM and March 17th OOC
Warnings: Violence, references to human experimentation/torture

It’s a long, winding way down into the Below, and you’re being led there by what seems like a girl, though at this point you’re also confident that she’s anything but. She’s fought with Shard-Bearers and held her own but was also captured by them to be questioned. And, in that, she eventually gave a piece of information in return. Her master, Aetós, had kidnapped Vander. If you don’t kill her, she can take you to where he’s being hidden. You can save him before her master makes him wrong.

So, a rescue effort was mounted. With many Shard-Bearers across factions here either to save Vander or simple for the allure of learning more about this mysterious figure, it at least gives you confidence that it can be handled. It’s disorienting down here so far below Springstar, but eventually, she comes to what looks like a sealed-up tunnel. She holds her hands against two particular bricks, and after a moment, they glow with teal light before all the bricks seem to shimmer. Like they all suddenly break, they become floating little motes of light, and a doorway lays before you.

It's a long corridor, but it doesn’t take long before you smell it before you see anything. There’s a largely animal smell here like a zoo, but it’s tinged more heavily with the smells of blood and rot. It’s enough to make a weak stomach heave a bit or at least get the hairs on the back of your neck to stand on end. But still, the girl continues on until you can see the hallway spill out to a large room.

Laying on a dissecting table is some kind of strange animal, but standing over it is a similarly strange masked figure. Some of you know, it’s Aetós.

“Right on time, Adelfoúla,” is all they say as they stand and hold up a silver hand. A complex orb of light appears, and they crush it. In front of you, Adelfoúla only gives a dispassionate ah— that’s followed by the sound of shattering porcelain, and she simply crumbles at the waist. You can rush forward, try to meet Aetós, but calmly, they just say—

“This will be good data. Hopefully you’ll find Vander before he gets eaten.”

And with a tick like the movement of a watch’s hand, they’re simply… Gone. Those sensitive to such things will feel it, the pulse of intense, strong magic, but before you can fully process, you can hear it: the creaking of cage doors opening down the myriad of hallways that line this one large room, the rumble of growls and claws against stone. Vander is somewhere in this maze of a facility, and you have to find him. Or maybe you just have to find what Aetós left behind.

OOC Notes : This log is a catch-all for all efforts related to the Save Vander plot! Including Vander's no fun, very bad time itself! If you'd like to participate in this plot, please see the OOC post. While the text above describes the initial arrival, this log can also be used for pre/post plot Communion, planning beforehand, etc. along with the expected threads in the facility!

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Well, at least that's out of the way.

[ if only john could be so forthcoming. it's not like being here comes with the same risks as being back in his own world — at least, not at the moment — but old habits die hard, especially when you're unmotivated to do anything about them. keeping people at a distance as much as possible is safer, right?

for now, john fishes a couple of small pieces of bone he's kept in one pocket, from which two fully formed skeleton constructs spring up once he tosses them on the floor; one to watch their backs with its eerie red eye shine and the other to add another layer of protection for the archivist. better to be proactive this time since they're not waiting around to be ambushed. ]

Whenever you're ready.

( when one's life is no longer dictated by the tides of time, yes, it does rather seem that information one would prefer keep hidden eventually finding its way to light is a "when" rather than an "if." give it enough time and enough variables with which to affect, and murphy's law will force its way into effect at some point. but of course the Archivist would be so predisposed towards thinking about terrible knowledge and grimly-kept secrets — these are the things that find their way to him on their own, whether he likes it or not. learning how to best act as caretaker to all of the wayward knowledge that he came to contain is something he's still in the process of doing. but he supposes it does help that there are none here he is so close or familiar to than those he had surrounded himself with back home; it reduced the opportunity for accidental and hurtful mistakes (though it certainly didn't eliminate it completely).

he is a little less surprised this second time the emperor raises his skeletons, and this time he also does what he can to carefully pay attention to how he does it — or, at least, what he can see under flickering halogen lights. no, they don't spring out of thin air; he watches john retrieve some tiny fragments of bone, which he drops to then form the fully-structured constructs, standing at the ready with an uncanny sort of awareness despite the unseeing sensation of their red pinprick eyes. as unsettling as they remain to be, john remains close to them, knowing the clattering protectors are his best bet for safety while zhongli and the emperor face whatever is behind their mysterious door.

which they seem prepared to breach. ...he doesn't like this. he never has. it's one thing to feel completely helpless on one's own, but to feel like he couldn't contribute when others were risking life and limb? it's a rotten sort of feeling, but there's not much he can do — it's not his place, as the Archivist, to fight.

so he breathes out a short sigh and says, with low earnestness, ) Best of luck.

[ Luck, hmmmm. Not really Zhongli's domain but any sort of support will do.

The door is forced open with a truly terrible screeeeeech of metal on metal as Zhongli pries it open.

As the inside is slowly revealed, the room at first looks rather unremarkable like the rest: a metal table shoved against the wall with an assortment of tools tossed across the service, crates with bits of things that probably would make a lesser person's stomach churn if they looked at the contents a bit too long, scattered paperwork, the dim sickly yellow light of a toppled lamp pointing at the concrete ground.

Oh.

Oh that's not a lamp. That just happens to be the pulsating core of a hollowed out necrotic beast that towers over all of them. One that senses fresh prey. And one that comes barreling forward at the intruders as soon as the door bursts open, the heavy footfalls causing the ground to shake with each reverberation.

Instinctively, Zhongli tosses a shield around John the Emperor as he quickly dodges to the side. Perhaps he is underestimating the constructs, but he does not believe that they will able to stand up to something of that sheer size and speed. ... Best of luck, indeed. ]

[ it's unclear at first if the presence of the helpful shield explains why john makes no effort to move aside or not, but either way, the towering bone monstrosity can't manage to intimidate him into action with its presence alone. it also doesn't seem to be capable of reaching outside to kill him either, which at least offers one explanation as to why it hadn't attempted to burst out of this area already. a few steps over the threshold, and this probably would have ended a lot differently, however. ]

You're probably safe as long as you don't actually go inside. [ probably. ] I can't sense a magical boundary, but the fact that I also can't sense our large friend tells me there is one, among other things.

[ he sighs in a way that seems profoundly exhausted somehow and folds his arms. the habitual rubbing of his temple comes after that. he hates when he feels blind because it's one way he's not able to be in control of a situation. ]

Well, gentlemen, how badly do you want to find out what's inside?

( luck has never really been on john's side either, so they're all in good (poor?) company, then.

after the door is torn away and the interior of the room is revealed, he can't sense much of anything. the single light source only really illuminates a small portion of it, seeping the rest into deep, obfuscating shadow. usually he might have been able to pick up on something, anything, which might have given him a feeling or an inclination of what to expect, but... with how dampened both his and the Eye's abilities were in this place, there's nothing at all. but he does feel the taut sensation of fearful apprehension pulling through his stomach; it's uncertain whether it was informed by instinct or preternatural sense, but he is certain that they wouldn't be alone in there.

this becomes especially obvious when the fallen light proves that it isn't that at all, but the beating heart of a skeletal construct far larger, more complex, and seemingly more deadly than the spiders that they had encountered before. john's eyes fly wide, and he scrambles backwards a few steps until he practically falls into the waiting arms of one of the skeletal bodyguards (😳) — they ultimately aren't necessary, given the fact that the creature doesn't seem like it can leave the room. john's dark eyes flick back-and-forth between the waiting door and the emperor, who hadn't moved at all during the thing's charge. had he known, or was this a really good guess?

he... understands the other john's trepidation. if something that wouldn't waste time in trying to kill them is trapped in a room, it goes without saying that they could simply avoid that room, yes? but... )

We are trying to find answers. ( and, to tell the truth, when he considers just continuing onwards and leaving this behind... it rankles at him. it's certainly the Eye's influence that nags at the back of his mind, craving to know what was behind every locked and guarded door. ) There's no guarantee that there's something in there that might better explain what's going on, but... if we leave it be, we wouldn't know for sure.

[ Zhongli rights himself quickly but still maintains a defensive stance when the bone monster does not come barreling out of the room like he expected. Curious. He glances for a few moments at John the Emperor, and since the man seems more exasperated than concerned - well, that is his cue to drop the shield once again in an attempt to conserve elemental energy. How courteous that they were being given options, or perhaps it is more of a testament to how strong the seals hold even when the facility is under attack. ]

In terms of calculated risk, this room might be safer than others we encounter.

[ Zhongli says not having any notion about necromancy or the exact abilities of this particular creature. Perhaps he will look back on this exact moment and shame himself for his hubris. Most likely not, though. Gods rarely bother themselves with feelings like shame and regret. ]

As long as we do not disturb whatever is keeping the creature contained within that space, then we are free to retreat to safety relatively quickly.

However---

[ And at this he makes a deferential nod to John the Emperor: ]

I will defer to your judgement on how dangerous the creature is since you seem to be the most familiar.

Of course I'm familiar with it. I was there when we built it.

[ the skeleton that isn't helping the other john to regain his balance with surprising gentleness for a skeleton dutifully marches right on into the room and promptly falls to pieces the moment it crosses the threshold, which at least answers another question about the room for him. ]

It's been a long time, but you always remember your firsts.

[ and here john's voice takes on a somewhat detached quality like he's completely distanced himself from the topic internally. helpful since he's just spitting out facts here. ]

It has basic rules, like staying inside the room. Learned that one the hard way. [ he laughs in a way that suggests it was not very funny at the time. ] Aetós has made it more interesting by adding the barrier, which I suspect more or less recreates something like the original experiment. The interference is so strong that we would likely get smashed to dust before I could pick it apart.

[ he says this pleasantly, but his eyes are even harsher than usual. he does not enjoy admitting his weakness in front of strangers. ]

The good news is that I know the solution.

[ his words have an incompleteness about them, which seems to imply there is also bad news. ]

( that earns john (the emperor) a sharp look from john (the archivist), though... after a second consideration, it's not really all that surprising given what he's already seen the man to be capable of when it comes to crafting monsters out of human bone. speaking of — he carefully extricates himself from the bony arms of the construct that had caught him, a little awkwardly, and dusts himself off before retaking the ground he had lost in his sudden retreat.

the second skeleton immediately falling into a pile of its requisite pieces as soon as it crossed the threshold of the door was interesting, to say the least. it certainly doesn't give john any strong desire to try to cross over it himself.

it seems to him like aetós might have been trying to puzzle out the hidden intricacies of this magic — this necromancy — by replicating experiments that john was familiar with (which he had devised himself, even), but they can go about speculating over their purpose and motivation some other time.

the emperor leaves off at a fairly critical junction. john is already sensing the hook hidden within this bait, but he prompts regardless, tone faintly bristling with dry frustration, ) Well, go on, then. ( it's not like he or zhongli know a damn thing about any of this. )

[ Zhongli looks between the two Johns, one eyebrow raised in confusion. It feels like he is missing some important piece of the puzzle in their communication. That there is some understanding passing between the two that is sailing right over his head. Alas, it's not the first time he's felt like this nor will it be the last, so he dismisses it as unimportant for now.

He considers asking John the Emperor if this was a training room of sorts. Either that or a guardian set up to protect something of importance. Zhongli cannot imagine why else John would know how the room and the creature works, especially if it sounds like a construct of his own design. But that also seems less important than puzzling out the mystery of what the constructs from John's home were doing in this dreadful place. Again, something to save for later.

Which leaves Zhongli's final course of action to re-form the shield around John the Emperor once more. Perhaps it would be a useless endeavor if John knew the inner workings of the room and the beast, but certainly it could not hurt. And if John was incapacitated - well that certainly would be disastrous for John the Archivist and himself to be left dealing with the creature blindly. Practical, sure. Let's call it that. ]

Then we shall follow at your behest. Do be careful in the event that Aetos has left any other surprises.

[ john clasps his hands behind his back and offers a somewhat apologetic smile to zhongli. he hopes doing that shield thing isn't too costly energetically since he's ultimately not going to be the one that needs it. ]

Ah, well, if it were that simple, it'd be over with already.

[ he shoots john (the archivist) a look because he thinks he should learn to appreciate things like cool dramatic timing, but that's neither here nor there. more importantly, john (the emperor) has to go about making sense of this for people with no experience with the baseline rules of necromancy. it's fine. this is why he insists on being called Teacher with a very intentional capital 'T'. ]

The field — whatever it is — interferes with my ability to manipulate thanergy. It prevents me from walking in there and taking it apart necromantically, and you really don't want to see me in a physical fight. [ that light, self-deprecating laughter again. ] It more or less recreates something like the original conditions of the experiment, which was intended to challenge a necromancer's ability to master a specific technique.

[ even though the information is technically useless outside of his own world and he isn't actually giving anyone the theorems themselves, that deeply ingrained distrust rears its head again. john keeps his hands behind his back so he won't be tempted to fidget, but there's a tension in his shoulders now all the same as he gets more specific. ]

Necromancers are paired with Cavaliers, non-adepts trained in martial arts and weapons skills. A sufficiently skilled Cavalier would be enough, aside from the obvious problem I just told you — which is that they aren't necromancers. That thing is made of perpetual bone. It will regenerate faster than you could hope to destroy it unless it's taken apart in a specific sequence, which is a puzzle that can only be solved by — you guessed it — a necromancer.

[ reluctant or not to explain it, john still considers this a very elegant solution and sounds quite proud of it. ]

But I'll cut right to the point. [ wow, about time. ] Constructs are useless here because the field negates my theorems. They have no protection. A living soul, on the other hand, doesn't have this problem. That is, the solution of the original experiment requires the necromancer to work through the Cavalier — via their soul — and see through their eyes. In doing so, allowing the Cav also to see the sequence. Does that make sense?

[ and this is where he looks between the two of them to see if he's lost them along the way. "hey, i need to touch your living soul to share my senses so you can fight a giant bone monster" is one of those huge asks where it's good to make sure everyone is on the same page, after all. ]

( john (the archivist) merely shoots john (the emperor/god) a look back in return. it's hard for him to personally have much appreciation for cool and dramatic timing, considering he's likely been the catastrophic victim at the epicenter of whatever had utilized it in his past.

even as patient as his explanation is, it still takes a moment to puzzle through. he had previously mentioned thanergy — and even without doing so, john got a sense of what he meant from the base words that comprised the term — and if manipulation of such an energy was at the heart of necromancy, it certainly seemed like a puzzle-box experiment meant to ensure the problem at hand was solved by the intended solution and not unexpected brute force.

he actually does understand the concept relatively easily. in the Institute, elias had surrounded him with a handful of individuals he had intended to function as "protectors" — it had been john's job to try to discern the threat and theirs to destroy it. this seems similar, albeit with a lot more... soul-touching...? john tenses somewhat when the emperor mentions seeing through another's eyes; he tries to cover it up by shifting his weight from one foot to another, though he ends up just coming off with a nervous energy in the effort. )

I - think so. ( but he frowns, brow heavy over darkened eyes. ) But just in case, let me get this straight: if your necromancy is useless to fight this thing due to the field covering that doorway... even if you are sharing your senses with us, does that mean we must send Zhongli in there to deal with it on his own?

( because, even if the two johns can cross the threshold, if the emperor can't create his constructs, it doesn't seem like either of them will have much to offer against such a monstrosity, let alone one made of perpetual bone. )

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