Event || Mysterious Fathoms Below

[eternitymods]

Who: All characters who signed up
When: June 23rd-25th
Where: Ka'Pandol, the underwater city
What: While the outworlders and their guides are touring the new arena at Ka'Pandol, the city begins to flood. It is up to them to activate the ancient drainage system beneath the city before the Blitzball Association is forced to cancel the upcoming tournament.



The Zora guide, Pharce, is leading the group from the Curti Center through the center of town, waxing poetical about the legend of the First Zora, when the sirens begin to wail. At first, the residents of Ka'Pandol wave it off as a drill, but the sirens do not stop, and as they walk, the visitor shoes are beginning to get soaked through with sea water that is slowly rising.

"Come along, quickly, all of you!" the guide calls, leading the group to the Bureau of Tourism near the city center. As they walk, the group will see the aquatic residents quickly deploying bubble helmets around their 'exotic' pets -dogs, cats, parrots, squirrels- heads, just in case City Management takes their time righting whatever issue the dome is having.

"Inside, please. Safety first is our motto, so let's get you outfitted," Pharce says, waiving them inside. Each person is given one of the patented Ka'Pandol Bubble Helm, which will allow them to breath comfortably for several hours. Those that cannot swim are issued an emergency life vest as well.

The water had reached knee-level now. An emergency evacuation message broadcasts from loudspeakers.

"Well, yes, you could...but where's the fun in that?"

Pharce waves at the Hypello gift shop owner, and the two bow their heads in discussion for a moment. When they part, Pharce pats the Hypello (whose nametag declares him 'Shtan') on the back.

"My good friend will lend us some of his wares, if you will join me in saving the city. We wouldn't want this little mishap to delay the big game, after all."

Those that agree to hold off on fleeing the city will be split into groups and given instructions on where to go in order to help the sinking city of Ka'Pandol.

Comments

[singerofspells]

I'll go over and check the shapes. If anyone wants to come with me, you can hang on to my dorsal fin.

[S'reee figured that since they'd been told to stay on the path, she probably should swim the long way around the chamber, rather than cut across the chasm in the center.]

[chefbayardee]

[ Hunk's glad he can swim pretty well, and doubly glad the door opened! The fact that half of the team is slower swimmers (and that monsters haven't attacked, and still aren't attacking!) means that he doesn't have be quite the active vanguard.

So instead he takes a moment to scrape some of the glowing algae into the Vaikunthan equivalent of a tupperware container. For later, obviously. And then he swims ahead, more than willing to keep being the front of the party in an empty room.

He's swimming his way to the top-right area, and will randomly pick an algae circle to hit. It shouldn't be too big a deal that he rushed ahead, right? They can catch up... right?

And if they can't, they'll let him know... right...? Hopefully? ]

[promiselisting]

I'll come! [ Futaba raises a hand at S'reee's offer, and gets ready to push herself off the wall she's clinging to, but then pauses to think better of it. ]

A-actually wait just a sec.

[ She turns to the others. She did hear their questions earlier. ]

Tetris is a puzzle video game back home. There's these blocks that fall and-

[ Hrm. She falls silent for a moment; this is gonna be tricky without visuals... Oh wait. She looks down at her outfit. Perfect! Well, no, not exactly perfect. The colored blocks don't all match, but it'll be close enough. ]

Here- [ She pulls at the edges of her tank top to straighten it out a bit. And draw everyone's attention to it. ]

'kay. T, S, and L are all letters from the Western alphabet back home. When I mention them, I'm talking about these-

[ She'll trace the appropriate shapes out on the squares of her shirt, giving the names of each as she goes. Hopefully that'll help... some.

That done, she'll... try to shove her way over towards S'reee again, if she's willing to help Futaba get over to look at the shapes again. Futaba knows she probably isn't going to be as much use elsewise. ]

[dreamsoftomorrow]

[Well, that answered his question. Guess it was lucky that Futaba was wearing a shirt that already resembled what they were working on. He nodded in thanks and then followed the way up. Not that he was real fast at it, Hunk was suddenly way ahead and Futaba was using S'ree.

Still, as long as they didn't get too far ahead, Hope didn't ask for assistance. But, before he left completely, he reached for Ena's hand]

Need some help? I'm not the best, but I think I can help you through here.

[rivieran]

[ Well, good. As long as the door opened and progress was being made, then there was nothing Ena could say or complain about. The only problem was getting to the platforms to see the next step...

Whoops, someone saw her flailing about in the water, though. For a moment out of pride, she wants to refuse the offer, but what was the alternative - stay stuck flailing in this chamber? No way. She offers a half-smile and kicks her legs a bit to propel herself forward a little, stretching her hand out to take Hope's. ]

I appreciate it. [ Now she might be able to participate. Horray! ]

[piume]

[ With the Great Tetris Debate having finally reached its end, Lean (nodding in gratitude) finds himself faced with an even bigger issue when it finally hits him just how eerily dark the chasm seems from this perspective - and there is no way he’s getting closer to it than he needs to be.

So maybe he’s a bit out of his comfort zone here, but he pushes himself forward regardless, towards one of the unoccupied platforms. It quickly becomes clear that this chamber is merely a repetition of the previous one, which leaves one question.... ]

Have any of you found the pattern yet?

[suigojin]

[Gi doesn't quite understand the abbreviated explanation of Tetris, and makes a mental note to ask Futaba about it later.

As for what's beyond the door...that...sure is a chasm, there, and it makes Gi a little glad they're swimming and not trying to navigate the pathways on dry land. It makes the depths look a little less terrifying when one isn't one misstep from death.

That said, he's going to cut across the chasm in the middle of the platforms, heading for one of the ones on the far side of the chamber, next to the one with the pattern on it.

[eternitymods]

[When Gi (and any other party members) leaves the pathway, a dark shape shoots up from the chasm beneath. It's a Zadom! It will not attack any of the party members on the walkway or platforms, but the moment they step off of them, they will be targeted as well.

Luckily, the Zadom is more persistent than it is strong.

The party members closest to the far platform will be able to see the algae shapes on the wall that show them the pattern they must create. As before, they can light up shapes by hitting the circles set into the tiles, but if anyone leaves the path, all of the shapes they illuminated will be reset.]

[chefbayardee]

Aww- I knew it! [ Hunk grumbles as he reaches for his gunblade, the mechanical clicks muffled beneath the water's surface. ] I knew something was gonna attack us!

[ The gunblade's barrel began to whir and glow with a white light before Hunk fired off a Magitek Laser at the first Zadom. Hunk's still on the path, but he's got his back turned from whatever the algae is indicating. He could care less, since there's monsters now. ]

Can anyone get a good look at the pattern?

[rivieran]

[ Oh, balls. Ena is frustrated and exasperated at the same time. Paths were like laws - they were meant to be followed! She wanted to yell that a million times over, but what's done is done. In her mind, it would be best to get rid of it now so they could proceed with the puzzle in peace.

Her hand slips from Hope's. ] I'll distract it. [ And in a flash, Ena Teleports into the center chasm, hopefully attracting the attention of the first and any other of the creatures. And hopefully, her group mates would take the initiative and start wailing on them.

...Wait, why didn't she teleport in the first place? Learning new magic was hard. ]

[dreamsoftomorrow]

[Hope gasps when the Zadom shoots up from the chasm and Ena teleports, Hope quickly makes his way to the platform with the pattern on it. He couldn't fight as he was.

Ugh, he wished he could swim faster! He hoped someone was already there but if not, he was doing his best.]