=>[MINI-META] The Catacombs

[Hivestuck]

=> [MINI-META]The Catacombs

You find yourself suddenly in what - in the limited light- appears to be a tunnel… No, a series of tunnels. And judging by the history of tragedy that has plagued this hive, it is likely astute to call this dark abyss The Catacombs.

There are traces of life here and there - footprints of all sizes, scat, garbage and hair, nails and teeth that litter the grungy ground. The texture of the ground goes from harsh, crunchy and sharp in places, covered in shards of rubble, to moist and spongy in others. The disrepair and elements leaking through the holes in the hive cause a variety of universally awful smelling ecosystems down below, with each unidentifiable dark shape and patch of mysterious flora covering the ground suspect at best and lethal at worst.

Streams of light, speckled with dust, cast eerie shadows on the claustrophobic space. This is certainly not a safe place to be.

Rolling results table

CATACOMBS: Roll 4D6 and check the sum to determine your results as you attempt to escape from the catacombs. Roleplay your response. Once you escape from the catacombs, you must wait until the next day before returning to your investigation.

4: Quote the mule
5: Quote the mule
6: In the darkness, you're unable to identify the cold sensation wrapping around your ankle and keeping you pinned to one spot. Unable to move for a few minutes, you're finally able to pull yourself away and run without looking back.
7: In the distance, you see a shadowy figure flitting just out of sight.
8: You hear an unearthly growling coming from a nearby tunnel. Is that the hive settling, or…?
9: The ground is so smushy that you're up to your ankles in mud. The clay-like substance is caking onto your legs like weights, making your ascent back to the surface painfully slow and exhausting.
10: After a couple of hours, you find that you recognize a crossroads that you've seen before. You've gone in circles.
11: The ground gets wetter and wetter until the path drops off - as it turns out, the cavern is flooded here and goes into the sea - (good news for seadwellers!)
12: Your escape is waylaid by a very angry pack of mildly venomous squeakbeast, whose nest you've fallen directly into. They are large, and angry.
13: As soon as you land in the catacombs, wreckage from the mansion falls on top of you, barring your exit! You're stuck until you can muscle your way out, or get help.
14: The ground is so slippery where you've ended up that you end up sliding down a steep incline and into a rocky cavern. There is an abandoned lean-to here, and plenty of guano.
15: Your path is covered in glass and metal shards from the mansion's wreckage.
16: Your exit is thankfully quick - unfortunately, that's because your path to freedom was by following the stench of fresh, fresh garbage rotting just outside of the catacombs.
17: The way to escape appears to be vertical from your position. There are some roots to grab on to, but it will be a long trek to freedom if you have no assistance.
18: Putrid algae smells are making you feel loopy and out of it; you end up going in circles a few times as a result.
19: Even in the closed-off tunnels, you feel a stinging cold breeze pass you by.
20: The shape of a beached tunnel sea creature appears in the darkness, and bares its fangs at you. RUN!
21: There are fascinating patterns in the walls where you trek. It looks like a lightning storm hit this series of tunnels.
22: Some kind of odd sound, like crying, hits your ears. When you turn to hear it again, it's gone.
23: Quote the mule
24: Quote the mule

 

[ImaginationsParadise]

VOID  

[ImaginationsParadise]

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH." Dale screamed as she went down. Damn that was a long fall. The child rubbed her aching head as she flicked on her flashlight. This place was scary and cool. Ampere liked it.

If it were less smelly she would've liked it more, though thanks to the stench, Dalema managed to get out of the catacombs.  

[ImaginationsParadise]

Cynril screamed all the way down, until his body crashed with the debris. And then more debris fell on him. It was a debris-Cynril sandwich. He had to calm the ******** down and try to get out of there unscratched. Literally.

If a speckle of blood dripped in the catacombs and someone saw it, it'd be endgame for him. Finding his way out of the wreckage, pulling some muscle with he was at it, the teen shook the dirt from his head. His body was still somewhat trapped, but he could find a way out. He knew he could. The teen noted where he was not entirely sure he recognized were he was standing. Why did it seem so similar? That made him freak out. Why was he freaking out so much?! He had to find a way out, pronto.

He wriggles his way out though and managed to run away as fast as he could.  

[Buzzwulf]

Quella Fehtan

Quote:

15: Your path is covered in glass and metal shards from the mansion's wreckage.

Quella fell through dust and ash and darkness, twisting as she dropped like a huge prowlbeast. She managed to get her legs under her just before she hit the ground, ash puffing around the hunter in a huge cloud. "Urgh," she groaned, looking around the darkened basement for the wigglers that had dropped with her.

They were nowhere to be found.

Instead there were just twisted piles of metal and jagged shards of glass. Quella's stomach turned in flips as she thought about any of the wigglers dropping onto those from the heights above. She looked around again, but could only see gloom and silence and crumbling walls. "Floren!" she called out. The only response was a resounding echo. "Dammit," the blueblood muttered to herself. She was supposed to be protecting the wigglers, not dropping them into dark pits!

"Ely!" she called out again. Again, nothing. She could feel a helpless panic start to build in her gut. If she couldn't even keep a couple children safe, what good was being big? "Kerras?" Nothing. Frustrated, she reared back and slammed a fist into a crumbling wall. It snapped like old dry tinder, showering the blueblood in ash and debris. "DAMMIT!"

Slowly, keeping an eye out for any of her wards, the hunter made her way back out of the basement.  

[Green Minuet]

Kerras Farron

Drip. Drip. Drip.

The woods were dark, the sky high above bearing no moon or stars. It was a darkness beyond the dark of night, dead and empty. The quiet that came with it choked the air, like a dense blanket. Though without light, not all was black. The forest floor seemed to be bathed in its own ghastly glow. Shadows of strange creatures burned against the tree trunks. Their hands bore axes and necklaces made up of teeth. Echoes of their voices sounded in the distance, but then the silence pressed in again. Golden flowers bloomed at the troll's feet. They surrounded the troll, carpeting them in a thick layer of warm, buttery petals. The troll tried to move, to gently brush them away, but their body would not. They began to unravel, their fingers, arms, and legs spinning into nothing. All the while, the petals rustled in silence. The crept up the troll's neck, around their eyes, until there was nothing more to see and nothing more to hear. Buttercups filled their mouth.

Drip.

“Gah!”

Kerras awoke with a start to darkness. Real darkness. Only a single shaft of light from above penetrated the shadows of below. The false feeling of warmth the nightmare had instilled receded, leaving behind a chill that soaked into even their bones. They lay in a puddle, pinned down by a pile of debris. A wedge dug uncomfortably into their side. Other minor pains afflicted other parts of their body. Somewhere to their left, they could hear the steady drip of water. The sound echoed throughout the vast darkness, until silence nearly reclaimed it, then another drop fell.

With a huff, Kerras tried to sit up. The pile refused to so much as budge. Even so, they strained a moment longer. At last, with a sharp exhale, they gave up. Their arms had been pinned by what felt like a wooden beam, so they could not even wiggle their way free. Turning their head, they peered down the tunnel. In between the distant faint columns of light, there was only emptiness. Their comrades were no were in sight. They were alone.

A scuffling sound from further down the tunnel reached Kerras' spongeclots; a sound belonging to something smaller than a troll, but larger than a rat. The tealblood held their breath. A silhouette appeared in the darkness, and even straining their eyes, Kerras could not make out its features. It staggered closer, rattling with every step. Then, in a beam of light, Kerras recognised it. Their face broke out in relief.

“You're okay!” they exclaimed. The podling stared back, silent and stoic. It appeared unmoved by the sentiment. Without responding, it began to push aside the rubble that trapped the tealblood. Kerras watched in awe, as it shifted huge slabs of rock with surprising strength. The weight on top of them gradually decreased and after a while feeling returned to their legs. When most of the rubble had cleared, Kerras sat up. They shook off the gravel and dust that lingered on their cloak.

“Did you see any of the others?” they asked, scooping up the podling. The podling wiggled its face horizontally. Kerras' smile faltered at the news and their brow pinched with concern. They did not remain disheartened for long. “Well, we'll just have to find them, then! Let's go!”

The podling squeaked in protest, but there was little else it could do. Tucked in Kerras' arms, it was forced to endure the tealblood's whims.  

[nepsah]

One moment they were exploring, the next they were falling. Floren pushed himself up from the ground - wait, where was everyone? He looked around, brushing his clothing off as he did so. He couldn't see any of the others... Where was Skoli? He looked up- well, he couldn't see his lusus up there but he had to assume that he was fine.

Where ever he'd fallen was... gross. He sighed, looking for a pathway to take- the only one that seemed remotely viable was covered in glass and metal shards... but at least it was better than a collapsed hallway. After taking a moment to ready himself, he started picking his way slowly through the hallway, back to the surface to go rest for a bit.

Skoli at least found him outside. Thank goodness.


 

[penemueIntuition]

"I think I've made a mistake, Tuzi."

Deep in the dank, dark catacombs sat a blubbering little girl, who was busy wrapping her leg with yet another gauze bandage. It had felt wet, but in this place who knew if it was water or if it was blood? She certainly couldn't see well enough to tell the difference, and knowing her luck it was probably the later.

Tuzi said nothing but curled up with her, giving Ely at least a little bit of warmth in this bleak environment. After all the fussing she had made with them to let her come here, it was really more than she deserved at the moment. "I shouldn't have came..." Now that she was lost from everyone, she allowed herself to have a good old sob. Immediately afterwards, Eiylas was disgusted with herself.

What the hell was she doing? Sure it was cold, and sure she was lost... but there had to be a way out. And she had wanted to come here, right? So she sure as hell should act like it. What would Chaeng say if she saw her sister in such a state?

Taking a deep breath, Ely stood up and nodded to her parent. "Alright..." A corner of her sleeve was used to wipe up any remaining, unwanted green tears. "Lets get somewhere bright so I can see if I'm bleeding." If she was going to go ghost hunting, she had better do better than cry after one measly spill.

On that note, she began her journey out of the catacombs, trying to muster that determination back.

 

[Buzzwulf]

Engrav Setlar

Engrav landed much more softly than he expected, on something warm and brown and... Squishy. He tried not to think about it too hard. He could hear his friends nearby falling as well, then a sticky thump as they hit the ground of the catacombs. He hoped that the trolls were ok. Engrav couldn't afford to waste valuable resources in the pursuit of a silly thing like ghosts.

He was just standing up when some wreckage shifted, pinning him deep into the muck.

"Caiden!" he yelled out, trying desperately to worm himself free from the rubble. "Sephos! Anyone!" He could tell that the rubble was starting to shift slightly as he squirmed, but the yellowblood could already tell it was gonna take a really long time to get himself out of here.

Quote:

13: As soon as you land in the catacombs, wreckage from the mansion falls on top of you, barring your exit! You're stuck until you can muscle your way out, or get help.

 

[DraconicFeline]

Sephos Arbola

Sephos didn't think this was a very good place. It was chilly and unnerving, unnatural in a way that made it different from the root tunnels he called home, or the caverns that lurked throughout the forest.

Something else was here, and he didn't want anything to do with it. Losing track of the other trolls he blindly headed towards the breath of sea air that marked an exit to the catacombs...

And stumbled across something that shrieked and squeaked and stung. Sephos flailed his way through and ran as fast as he could towards the promise of open air.

Aching, but under the night sky, he turned to look thoughtfully at the mansion, half trepidation and half certainty, fiddling with the moss in his pocket.

That hadn't been so bad... maybe there was more to find?

Quote:

Getting out of the catacombs

"Your escape is waylaid by a very angry pack of mildly venomous squeakbeast, whose nest you've fallen directly into. They are large, and angry."

 

[Micillia]

Caiden Banksy

It was a bad fall. The brownblood tumbled in after his yellowblood friend, and was promptly covered in debris. "E-Engrav?" The brownblood shouted back as he heard his friend call. He felt the weight of the rubble on himself, and managed to pull himself out. Luckily he appeared to be on the edge of the collapse.

"Engrav," Caiden said as he found his friend, buried in debris. A head splitting pain ran through his thinkpan, but he managed to help his friend get out of the mess, eventually. "Why did you want to come here?"  

[zeflamigo]

Quote:

11: The ground gets wetter and wetter until the path drops off - as it turns out, the cavern is flooded here and goes into the sea - (good news for seadwellers!)

Odette fell to the bottom of the cavern, and a bit less gracefully than she preferred. Her powers allowed her to cushion herself considerably, but to fall at all was a strange and almost unfamiliar feeling for the redblood. She couldn't help but get some of her outfit wet, her leggings and her boots, particularly. Thankfully the most expensive piece, her dress, stayed relatively dry.

She quickly found that she might have to sacrifice that too, when she realized the only path out seemed to be one that led right to the water. Watching the water for a long while, she remembered a trick she used in an old Bloodfest contest. It wouldn't last long, but she could bubble herself in a whirlwind and protect herself from the oncoming water.

Moving through the water was strange. It was like gliding, but with a little more resistance, and a lot more care to keep the wind consistent. When she finally breached water level, she was thankful her clothes had only been sprinkled with water. Other redbloods, perhaps, wouldn't have been as lucky as her.  

[T-Kai]

Aconan tumbled, and in the tumbling down, lost her grip on Mihail. When she finally found her feet again, Loupsus was stood over her protectively, and there was a familiar ache at the back of her neck that suggested he'd dragged her to this small lean-to she found herself beside. The rest of the cave was covered in guano, which explained the smell assaulting her nostrils...but promised a way out, if the creatures roosted in here.

It involved rather too much stepping in said guano than she'd like, but she eventually resurfaced back to the main hive, and began (after a quick washing of her boots in the sea by the cave exit to cover the worst of the smell) looking for her compatriot so they could explore again.  

[nepsah]

Quote:

12: Your escape is waylaid by a very angry pack of mildly venomous squeakbeast, whose nest you've fallen directly into. They are large, and angry.

In hindsight it was probably a bad idea to let Aligaa come in with them- his weight probably made things harder.... The fall wasn't as bad as Mihail had expected it to be. At least, until the squeakbeasts began screeching. He pushed himself up quickly, eyes darting around the area he'd fallen to assess the situation. This... was not good. Turning, he began to run down the hallway of the catacomb, hoping Aligaa would just keep up with him. Thankfully his lusus was well armored enough to not be bothered by the rodents, even with their unusual size!


 

[purplerosesbeauty]

Acteon was watching Guo try to grab Fletch one moment, and the next the floor creaked and opened beneath the party, sending them and the other trolls tumbling down into a hole in the ground. Acteon didn't scream, but they reached for their lusus and hoped he would pad her fall.

It was... a lot softer than they anticipated, when they did land. Like a nest. Exactly like a nest, they realized with a frown as the squeaking began and the large squeakbeasts chittered and screeched at them. "Oh yikes," Acteon said, climbing aboard Steppy, hoping his long legs would give them the vantage needed to not be bitten by the beasts.

This was going to make their escape a bit harder, but looking next to them, they saw they weren't alone in the nest. "Well, Guouli, looks like you're in the damn squeakbeast's nest with me," they said, offering him a lazy smile. "Let's get the heck outta here and find the others!"

Gl!tch~