Exploration Log Conclusion - Q&A

[rekindlemods]

Hello, everyone. First of all, we wanted to extend a huge apology to everyone for the pacing and organization of last month's exploration log. The two mods mainly in charge of NPCing hit major real life related snags shortly after the log was put up; that being said, there is no excuse for the delay on communication from our end. We're sorry for any problems this has caused.

Furthermore, we realize in hindsight that the log itself was not put together as well as it could have been. We hope to do similiar events in the future, and next time we plan on giving out more information upfront, when the log is posted, which will hopefully be easier both on us and you all. Above all, thank you all for your patience and participation.

Regains will still happen for those that participated in the event log, but first we want to extend an open invitation to everyone involved to ask questions about the outcomes of their threads and what their characters might have found! Leave comments on this post, and we will give you whatever information you need to handwave conclusions for your threads. In two days we will do another OOC post with a summary of the overall results of the exploration (so that everyone doesn't have to go sifting through all the discussions on this post for info) and an opportunity to request regains for your characters.

So please, bring any questions and comments to this post! Thank you again, everyone, for joining in on this event and giving us a chance to experiment and figure out how to improve the game in the future.

Comments

[evocalize]

Oh hey, thanks for this!

Junpei, Minato and Pharos came across a machine shaped like a lantern. Was this one of the generators that was talked about, and what would happen if they tried to remove it?

[rekindlemods]

Yes, that was a generator! If they tried to rip it out forcefully - which would take a lot of effort - it would break. But there is a diagram next to one of the button panels on the wall that shows how to dislodge the generator safely, and the buttons needed are labeled to boot; "Power off" and "Detach". If those buttons are pressed (the "Detach" button won't activate until the generator is powered off for safety reasons), then the lantern can easily be picked up and carried away.

[evocalize]

I see, they're definitely not strong enough to try ripping it out so it's probably safe to say they eventually blundered their way to removing it safely.

Thanks once again!

[lightstrike]

sorry for the typos and lack of caps! typing with an ipad is only marginally easier than on a phone.

so over here (http://rekindleme.dreamwidth.org/57125.html?thread=8092965#cmt8092965) lightning has a rat corpse and wants to bring it back and i assume does manage to do so. does that count as mission accomplished?

also, what does happen in the final stretch thread, and to the people who have tagged into it?

[rekindlemods]

It isn't exactly what they were looking for, but it will give the scientists ample opportunity to study the effects of prolonged void exposure to the wildlife. So yes, mission accomplished!

As for the final stretch thread, it depends largely on what direction the characters decided to explore in - that's partially what this post is for, to work that out individually with the various people who tagged in.

[lightstrike]

Oooh, okay. For the record Lightning pursued the footprints as far as she can, either on foot or on her horse. What would she come across, if there's something at the end of the trail?

[rekindlemods]

At the end of the footpath, Lightning will find a small, abandoned shrine, very similar to the shrine near the river in the parks district The shrine is less important, however, than the building behind it. It's a dusty, long-abandoned one room building. The room is very dark when the door is closed, but there are several lanterns that can be lit around the room. If she lights them, she will see that the walls are covered in paintings, depicting various flowers and animals in four colors - moss green, red-orange, white, and deep blue - that will be familiar to anyone who has seen the temple in the 4th district.

In the center of the room is a low table, with several items. Small candles outline the border of the table, which can be lit in addition to the lanterns. At each of the four corners is a small crystal bowl, in the same four colors as the paintings. Finally, there are three scrolls in the center of the table.

The scrolls and the bowls are some of the relics that characters were asked to search for. Would Lightning take them back to the city?

[lightstrike]

Yes, she would! But despite earlier thoughts about keeping them for herself, she really wouldn't because she wouldn't have any ideas as to what to do with them anyway. She assumes Rhea would be in charge of them? Since she's the NPC in charge of the temple. So she'd go to her personally and ask her what they're all about.

[rekindlemods]

I'm sorry, but I made a mistake. In your original comment, I read "footprints" as "footpath", and therefore gave the wrong location. Would you still like to say that Lightning found the shrine, or do you want me to give you the location she would have found by following the footprints?

[lightstrike]

OH I'd prefer the footprints, please. Because I've already written her following that route in the thread.

[rekindlemods]

Alright! And sorry, again, for the mistake.

The path isn't long, but it's very winding, and very dark, and near the end it gets quite narrow, walled in by trees on both sides - though monsters still wander there, so she may have dealt with a few frustrating battles. Once the path opens up, though, she'll find that her efforts are rewarded.

There is a table covered in machines, all hooked up to one of the generators from the suburbs. It's all makeshift and cobbled together so oddly that it's hard to tell the purpose, but the tablet-like computer and the microphone might give it away - this is where the broadcast was coming from.

[lightstrike]

I imagine she would be able to take the machines and generator back with her? She might need multiple trips on her flying dragon to bring everything back to the city but priority would be given to the generator, tablet and mic.

[rekindlemods]

Sounds good. Whoever she hands the equipment off to will likely ask her to give them an approximate idea of where the broadcasting equipment was. Would she be able/willing to do that?

[lightstrike]

Yep, she would! She'd actually make a full military report if they wanted, but she'd caution them against trying to go there themselves since it's not an easy journey.

[rekindlemods]

They'll appreciate any and all information she'd be willing to give, and thank her for the warning, though they give little indication as to whether or not they were considering making an expedition themselves in the first place.

[lightstrike]

Which she takes to mean they'd do it. Crazy jerks 8| Would they need anything else from her though?

[rekindlemods]

No, that would be it. They'd thank her for all the help and then tell her to go get some rest after the long day.

[shadowsgambit]

1: I went ahead and had Fortuna pick up a small folding screen here. Would she have been able to do this?

2: Where did the footpath lead?

[rekindlemods]

1) Yes!

2) See the answer to Lightning here! It may be a good idea to hop into that thread, to figure out who would have gotten there first and who would have taken which (if any) of the relics.

[shadowsgambit]

I can't help but notice Lightning seems to have claimed to be following the footprints rather than the footpath. Should we still act as if she had for the sake of not messing anything up on your end? I don't want to jump in if you have to correct something.

[rekindlemods]

You're correct. This was my (Rox's) mistake and I apologize. Let me ask the Lightning mun in the other thread if she would like a correction or not and I will resolve this situation as soon as possible.

[rekindlemods]

Okay! The mistake has been corrected and the relics are all yours. Would Fortuna take them back to the city?

[shadowsgambit]

Give me a little while, I'm going to talk it out with her threadmates!

[shadowsgambit]

Xehanort's mun says he would have thoroughly examined them first. Would Xehanort find anything unusual about them?

[rekindlemods]

The only odd thing he'll notice is that the text in the scrolls doesn't make sense. They're readable, but they seem to be gibberish.

[shadowsgambit]

So sorry for the delay! They'll be taking them back then, as much as the three of them can carry and maintain contact (with some things carried in the Sundowner's stock as needed), and handing them over. (as holding the relics "hostage" in a city where you have no means of living without government assistance is really really dumb)

EDIT: Oh yeah, while she was handing stuff over, she'd tell whoever she was talking to that for some reason the screens in the ruins still had power going to them so that might be worth looking into as a power source. Or as a research basis or whatever it is the technicians in question actually do.

[dragoncrest]

Freya and Steve would be checking out the not-path opposite the trail of footprints. What would they find, if anything?

[rekindlemods]

They would have to follow it for quite awhile, about an hour - long enough for most people to start thinking that there was nothing to find. If they kept going, through, they would eventually reach the entrance to what looks like a cave. There's a light coming from inside, as if from a fire, though they won't be able to see the source from the entrance.

Would they go inside?

[dragoncrest]

Absolutely. Please don't let there be a giant water serpent waiting to attack them.

[rekindlemods]

Upon entering, they would be greeted by the sight a small, central entrance chamber with turned over furniture. There are doors in the walls flanked by torches - one each on the north, east, and west walls, each leading to mostly empty hallways, where the light seems to just vanish. The torches on the doorways leading east and west are unlit, though they still hold a low glow that indicates that they were only recently put out. The torch leading north, however, is still lit.

A few of the mutated creatures from outside seem to have wandered into this place. Ominous purple shadows lace the undersides of the beams keeping the roof of the cave stable, seemingly sucking in the light that does make it in from the outside.

Do they go further in?

[dragoncrest]

They'll follow the north hallway, yes.

[allbymyself]

Silver here didn't do much aside from explore for a way out and destroy a lot of annoying loud technology sorry, science side of Saeng Seong but --

Crystal did a little bit of everything on her own and with some help, but what she probably did best was with catching the monsters and bringing them back... alive. It's the closest thing to her job back home. Hopefully the scientists won't mind the inevitable wake up chaos the group's going to under go once Crystal's brought them back.

(If you need numbers, ten to fifteen is probably good --? Depending on the size/type of animal. She went for at least one of each kind, and repeats that might've looked significantly different.)

[rekindlemods]

The scientists will be surprised that any of the monsters were brought back alive, but certainly not ungrateful. Hwan may, however, ask Crystal to help keep an eye on them and keep them under control while his coworkers and bosses arrange a safe and secure place to keep all the animals. He will sincerely thank her (in his usual shy, nervous way), and say that he will do his best to offer progress reports as research proceeds on the condition on the mutated animals.

[littlerat]

In one of Red's threads, they're looking out for a moveable shrine. In what sort of location would these be found, if in any special? Would they be in any sort of specific area for themselves or might even some be found discarded in the streets? And could you give a description of how they may look?

Also, are the masks and talismans to be found in any sort of building?

Red would have done his part by bringing back a few small electrics, more so focusing on the lantern generators (he had his Pokemon help bring gear back), but two of his threads of the event do involve keeping an eye on religious artefacts, so I'm curious for any details about these mainly! (And since the generators have been brought up)

[rekindlemods]

Most of the religious artifacts are in buildings or houses, but there would be a few moveable shines along the streets. They are large and fairly difficult to move, but it's possible with help. There are also some small, very run-down shines with relics nestled into the edges of the neighborhoods, but they aren't very stable and might be difficult to retrieve items from if he isn't careful.

Also, just to be absolutely sure, Red would've turned the electronics and generators over to the scientists, correct?

[littlerat]

Just to be sure, are the shrines like this? I'm not familiar with portable shrines, but I'm guessing they have structures to make them easy to carry like the one in the picture?

And yes to handing over the finds!

[rekindlemods]

Yes, that's the kind of shrine we're talking about! And alright, awesome. They will be very thankful for the help.