STAY WITH THE GROUP DAMNIT ...oh. you already got lost. whelp. [open exploration log]

[saveournpcs]

Date: 18th-24th of August
Characters: Open!

---

Like every year, there are tours of the tunnels under the cliffs. They are free of charge, but you need to sign up, as group sizes may not exceed twenty persons and only three tours per day are available. While that limits the number of people who can go down, there are waiting lists, and sometimes certain times and dates don't fill up because they're mid-week and one might be able to squeeze in at the last moment.

Before the groups enter the tunnels, the guides give a stern speech about staying with the group and the dangers of not doing so. They'll also hand out helmets and flashlights and explain that there is no phone signal down there, that the floor may be slippery, that the tunnels are in very varying condition and that sometimes cave-ins might lead to steep drops.

And then they go in.


[OOCly this logs works as follows:

• Characters who enter the tunnels will be given information about their tunnel surroundings through brief mod tags.
  
• If they manage to lose their group (accidentally or by choice) we'll rng fun and interesting trouble that they may run into. But you can of course also just follow with a guided tour and get out safely on the other end - some interesting things might still cross their way.]

Comments

OTA

[italicised]

Urg urg urg urg why on God's green earth did he let Ivy convince him into coming down here? He's lived in Mossgate for many happy years without feeling the need to discover what lies beneath the town and just because she can't manage the uneven floor doesn't mean that he should have to do it for her. He could have sent one of the strapping young lads from the bar, but nooo he had to come down into the dark, damp, dingy tunnels, with the horrible sweaty helmets that are positively ruining his hair.

Alexander trails towards the back of the group, picking his step very carefully in shoes that were definitely never designed for this kind of trip, his normally pleasantly smiling face twisted into a grimace. And it's not even all for show, he's more cautious about his steps than he would normally admit to. Perhaps he's getting a little too old for this kind of trip.

[saveournpcs]

The ground is very uneven and increasingly more slippery as it gets steeper, and Alexander should be very careful if he uses the walls to brace himself as there is flintstone layered between layers of chalk, and a vein of it might jut out of the soft white and be sharp enough to slice a hand open.

[scarsolderthanyou]

Here's somebody else who's a little too old for this trip, but he's here in jeans and boots and the offered hard-hat, himself. Sam Stone, long-time resident but not yet considered native (probably due to his accent, still very American), lingers back with Alexander, mostly because he's being very careful as he goes along. He's in shape, but he's still pretty damn old.

But he's curious at how deep the network connection goes, so he took the chance to get down here on a tour and find out. It extends at least a couple miles above the town, but how far below it?

He does, however, grouse about things while he's down here, at the fellow old person along for the ride: "You'd think they'd make this more accessible if they're giving damn tours."

[italicised]

"Oh, you know there's all that tosh about preserving the environment." Normally Alexander would flap a hand, but with one firmly holding to the metal rail that was installed during one of the wars, he doesn't care to risk his free hand. "What they really need is some good lights and a dehumidifier. Mind you, when I was a boy they used to say that they would flood at times, so perhaps a pump is more down the right track."

[saveournpcs]

They reach an intersection, and the guide announces that they will now turn into a tunnel dug during the Napoleonic wars - everyone please be careful, this tunnel is in an excellent condition all things considered, but the ground is more uneven and there won't be any handrails. And, please everyone, don't run your hands along the walls, as flintstone may poke out and slice your hand open.

OTA

[tobodlygo]

Exploring a cavernous system that spans their town? Sign him the fuck up.

Since the incident with the rabbits in Moss Manor he's got a lot well... Bolder? less inclined to check himself before he does things, which is something he's hoping will settle with all this number business. Maybe.

He's taken all the instructions from the tour guide to heart, he's got his hard hat and his torch and his camera. It's when he finds a particularly beautiful underground lake that he stops and stares in wonderment for too long and he loses the group.

"Well, I feel I should've anticipated this," he sighs to himself, but not at least, panicked. He can have his own adventure, he supposes. He's just going to be very, very careful about it.

[saveournpcs]

There are three tunnels branching off from where he stands, and the choes make it impossible to tell which one the tour group took. Two look fairly recent - perhaps as recent as the wars - while one seems very old and not very professionally done, probably an old smuggler's tunnel.

[tobodlygo]

Well, it seems almost obvious which one he should take.

It's also obvious which one he's going to take.

Jim makes sure everything's on securely, takes a picture of where he is now, and slowly, carefully heads down the smuggler's route.

...I think we're at the stage where I should go to bed. sorry about the failpost.

[saveournpcs]

The tunnel slopes upwards, and then downwards, and wiggles around a bit, making it impossible to keep a sense of relative direction.

[grainneog]

By the entrance to the tunnels stands Nanny, propped up by her walker, and flanked by two small children. She's arguing with one of the guides, and it looks like she's been at it for a while.

"But I promised the little ones they. could go down, and their parents are busy!"

"But Nanny I don't want--" The child on her left pipes up.

"Shut up, you. They'll be very disappointed if they can't go, and you don't want to upset the kiddies, do you?"

The poor, harassed volunteer shakes their head. "I've told you, the tunnels are not accessible, and not suitable for someone in your condition."

Whoops. Anyone listening had better get out of the blast radius.

[saveournpcs]

Around them, the people who have gathered for the tour are shuffling. Someone is pointing out that they should have gone down there five minutes ago now...

[spaghettimonster]

Russell's one of the shuffling crowd, foot tapping an antsy energy. They're supposed to be getting underway, so he can find out if he remembers more strange things - and hear from Ben and Sadie if they start remembering anything.

Finally, it looks like the old lady's about to put the tour guide's customer service skills to the test, and he moves up to address them quietly.

"Could we... just stick close together, and make sure she's okay?"

[saveournpcs]

The beleaguered tour guide's face goes through a few expressions in quick succession.

Exasperation. The intent to continue fighting. Defeat. And then, an Idea.

"All right, your responsibility. I'll count on you to make sure that she stays well."

And with that, he turns on his heel and goes to the other end of the group to start the last check of "are everyone's helmets correctly on top of them and do your torches work?"

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie's grin is threatening to consume her entire face with how large its grown as she waits with the group about to be lead into the tunnels. She's been excited about this trip since Ben mentioned the tunnels to her at the festival back in July and she's practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, the supplies she's brought in her rucksack clanking as the motion jostles her bag.

As they're handed the torches and hard hats she turns to Ben. "Oh man this is going to be so good!"

[warped_replica]

Pleased to be touring the tunnels with his best friend in the morning rather than later in the day, Benjiro is grinning behind his facemask at the excitement radiating from Sadie. Well prepared with a number of items in his own pack, the two had reviewed techniques and planned thoroughly. His fresh notebook will be useful for recording observations, and the pen he had acquired that lights up when pressure is put through the point will save him from juggling his torch while trying to take notes for anything either of them notices. As far as mapping the tunnels, he's worked out a pacing system in his head matching to a degree for turns and direction - a shorthand way to map the path they travel without actually trying to draw as they go.

Accepting the gear, he looks thoughtfully inside the hat to see if he might adjust the fit, then places it on his head as he looks to Sadie, "Definitely!"

For the first bit, they will need to follow instructions to learn about how the tour is conducted and wait until they rely on torches totally for illumination before they even attempt to drift off course or lag behind.

[dragoonrouge]

Sadie places the bright yellow hat on her head, twists the knob at the back to tighten it and quickly tests the torch. Strong beam and they both have mobiles with torches on just in case.

Despite her clear eagerness to get going, Sadie reigns herself in to concentrate on the safety talk and manages to sneak a quick photo of the route map that the tour guide shows the group just to make their jobs a little easier.

Standing at the back of the line about to go in, Sadie leans over and whispers to Ben, "How long should we leave it before we strike out on our own?"

[saveournpcs]

The line starts moving, filtering more or less orderly into a tunnel from the 1910s. Dysfunct lights can be seen on the sides of the tunnel once they're in a bit more deeply, and corrugated metal walls stabilize the tunnel.

OTA

[darkmagiciangirl]

Chihiro was very excited about the tour of the tunnels - she loved going on these! Something exciting happened every time and she always genuinely enjoyed her time on the tours, always finding something new to look at or to learn. She listened to the speech about staying with the group and nestled the helmet firmly on her head, then tested her flashlight.

She was good to go.

She was in the back of the group, mostly making sure to keep people corralled with the group. She had gone on the tour enough to have a general idea of the route the group would go on the tour, though she wouldn't say she knew the entire route by heart.

[saveournpcs]

While they get inside, the guide asks if anyone has been on this tour before, and announces that if so, they're in for something new - the route has changed a bit due to one of the tunnels they used to use having gotten structurally unstable. It still exists, but it's not safe enough any more to do guided tours through.

[darkmagiciangirl]

With the question if anyone had been on the tour before, Chi raised her hand. She couldn't help but look around to see how many more hands were up. She seemed to perk up at the mention that the tour was on a new route - how exciting! This was going to be like her first time going on the tour!

Staying near the back of the group, the tour started. She followed along carefully. So far, so good!

[saveournpcs]

They follow the same tour that Chi knows for perhaps fifteen minutes before they branch off, turning into an unofficially built tunnel instead of taking the route through one from the Napoleonic wars.

"We assume that this one was part of a network built by smugglers or those who looted shipwrecks around the beginning of the 17th century, to hide their goods until they could be brought somewhere else."

[blueskying]

Sky had agreed to visit with a claustrophobic friend who'd sent him a text after he arrived claiming that he couldn't come. Well, if he's already here...

He has never had much to do with underground stuff. There was that trip to Mammoth Caves, in the American Midwest, but the parts of them he had toured were a vast, cathedral-like natural space. This seems novel and even not having a phone signal isn't that bad, a good excuse not to chat with his friend until his exasperation has faded.

Underground it's cool and damp and the air feels strange, it's not at all the sandy catacomb he was vaguely imagining. Sky lets himself fall a short ways behind so he can listen to how different sound is when trapped in this space. Is that squeaking? Oh, are those bats?

He's turning and trying to orient himself towards the bats when there is the rush of wings and some yelping and squeals from the group ahead as bats weave among them effortlessly and at speed. And then they've reached him and for a moment are around him, the wind of their wings ruffling his hair and tugging at his clothes, passing a hair's breadth from touching his skin.

...and that thing happens again, the sense of falling, his heart pounding in a hollow space. Sky squeezes his eyes shut and waits for it to pass, and when it does that's... strange... is it noisier in here? No, that's... he doesn't understand.

[spaghettimonster]

There is some additional noise for real, and maybe that's what Sky is thinking of - another of the group is addressing him, asking, "are you okay?" with a wave.

Specifically, Russell's coming over, gesturing one minute over his shoulder at people still in the cluster of the tour.

He checks Sky's face of disorientation, noting that while he doesn't look as elderly as the one cranky lady, he's still older enough that maybe it's a concern.

After all, Russell already accidentally volunteered himself to look out for one member of the group, along with checking in occasionally with his cousin and their friend. What's looking out for the wellbeing of yet another disoriented adventurer? Besides being a little stressful and bringing to mind the question why there aren't more tourguides.

[blueskying]

Well the voice is there, but it's like... like someone's moved a candle in front of him, and he can see the glow through his eyelids, feel the heat, hear magnified the burning of the wick, the flicker and response to every movement of the air. The metaphors help. He tries to push the sensation out of the way, focus on what he understands, and opens his eyes.

"I'm fine. The bats startled me." Sky puts his left hand to his forehead and runs it through his thinning hair, and dredges up a smile. "Thank you for checking. It's funny how things can take you, at times."

He doesn't want to talk about the feeling, not now. Sky wants it to pass and fade away, but it doesn't seem to be doing that. It is something like hearing. Passive, and at more of a distance than touch or smell.

[spaghettimonster]

Well, Sky's reacting and talking normally, instead of standing so stiff and still with closed eyes. That's good enough for Russell. For all that the tunnels still feel strangely familiar and comfortable to him... the sudden bats were unexpected.

"Fair enough! They took a few people by surprise," he offers as reassurance, and gestures subtly back to the bulk of the tour group. A couple people still look shaken, and at least one kid is clamoring for the bats to come back. "Just don't let things take you funny down a side path. I think the guide's had enough, today."