MAY MINGLE

[stellafortunamods]

May Mingle: Entombed City
Welcome to Teyvat - a vast magical world of adventure.
Everyone's hard work resulted in the gate to upper Dragonspine opening. These ruins have not been traversed in years, if not centuries - everything within has been lost to time and living memory. An entire city has been buried in the snow.

People once lived there. The broken buildings host damaged furniture and weathered streets. There are various cloth-covered mounds in a house here and there, accompanied by a sprig of blue flowers. Someone has laid these people to rest after they passed away.

Traces of technology can be found in the city - golden boxes that contain crystals capable of recording and playing back holograms. One of the boxes introduces this place as Vindagnyr; a land once full of greenery and life. Just what happened to these people? What caused the eternal winter?

The highest point in the city is occupied by a temple built into a Domain. Within the Domain is a pale white tree, split in half by a strange object that has fallen through the Domain's ceiling. This temple was once a site for worship for Vindagnyr's people, and even in death they continue to pray for salvation. The priests have been frozen in ice, and the sheer cold emanating from the Skyfrost Nail makes it obvious that it is the cause of winter.

The city's inhabitants worshipped Celestia. Why then were they left to die?

State of the World

On October 1st, the entombed city of Vindagnyr becomes open for exploration. Travelers can choose to look for clues or try to scavenge the city for ancient materials or tools. Recording boxes all around the city tell stories of Vindagnyr's greener past, and of the days when winter suddenly arrived. This is the cruelty of Celestia that Forneus wished you to see.

For all questions regarding May's mingle and events, please head over to our OOC post.

Comments

[bowfaire]

Entombed City

(Claude shivers, pulling his cloak tighter around him and stepping through the snow. He'll save his complaints for when they aren't in a ghost town of a city. Once he finds his first body, he begins to piece together what happened and what he can expect from here. He lets the gravity settle on him like a heavy weight and looks back out the decrepit window to the rest of the city. He doesn't recall seeing signs of anyone else being around before they arrived and yet, the coverings over the bodies and the flowers suggest...)

Someone was here before...

(After everyone died but before they ever came. However long ago that way.)

The Temple

(He's after information and the temple(?) up ahead seems like the most important place in the city. He ignores the cold and presses forward and when he comes to the entrance doors, he stops. He isn't really suer what to expect once he goes inside.

But he won't know until he sees for himself, right? Presumably, you've come up with him but if you're just now arriving, he'll put his hand on the door and look back,)

No telling what's inside... Give me a hand?

(Pushing the door open?)

Wildcard

Wildcard

(Choose your own adventure. You can reach me on plurk eski, discord (eski#9874), or check out my plotting comment. )

entombed city

[pragmatism]

Indeed.

[ Zhongli is not dressed heavily, unlike Claude... unlike most of the Travelers. Strange. ]

Someone was kind enough to perform rites for these people.

[bowfaire]

I wonder where they went.

(He looks back at Zhongli,)

Did you know about this place?

(He is, after all, from this world.)

[pragmatism]

I have heard of the city, but only its name. Much of it has been lost to history.

[ This is... not false. ]

I did not expect it to be in this state.

[bowfaire]

That old then, huh... Lost because it was forgotten? Or lost because it was hidden, though?

(He's thinking out loud. He doesn't really expect an answer. He's no stranger to lost lore. But more directly, he asks,)

You only know it by name but you had some sort of expectation?

[pragmatism]

If the outside world were to have any knowledge of this city, then someone needs to have left this place before their death. Given the lack of records about this city save for its name and general location, I would theorize that the population was suddenly eradicated save for a few survivors.

[ He may or may not have outed his real age to Claude here ]

I have heard of it as a lost, ruined city, but not of its actual state.

Temple

[whiteshroud]

[Jun too has decided to investigate the temple. It was the largest building around, and more important than that- there was elemental energy coming from it. There was no way this wasn't an important piece of the puzzle of what transpired here.

So he comes up behind Claude, wearing his hood. He gives a nod as he approaches]

Sure.

[He'll grab onto the door, helping pull it open. Thankfully with his super-strength, it's a much easier task than it could've been. Inside, is a gateway to a domain]

...A Eclipse Gate. [He knows that's not the term they use here, but old habits die hard] Had a feeling one would pop up eventually.

[bowfaire]

(He gives it a pull along with Jun though he can tell that Jun is the one doing all of the work there. Claude's Crest is for healing, not for super strength.

The first thing he notices is the cold and while he's always been one to keep his cool, he can't help but immediately reach to pull his heavy cloak tight around him and yelp. He doesn't even have time to really ask Jun what he meant--)

Sheesh! It's colder inside than out!

[whiteshroud]

[That's okay Claude healing still real important, esp since you're with a geo moron who hasn't bothered to learn shields.

Jun is less visible in his reaction, just tilting his head to try to avoid the cold wind from hitting the bit of his skin that is exposed. It's not that he doesn't feel the cold, he does, he's just been trained for this. ]

Mm, there's an extreme amount of cyro energy coming from here. It's likely this is the source of the mountain's climate.

[bowfaire]

(What if he can only heal himself. Randomly. Without any control. Just cross his fingers and hope the goddess' blessing feels like kicking in for a heathen like himself.)

Great. (Just what we need. More Cryo in this game.) But that just means we should go check it out.

(He's bundling up, covering his face more with his scarf and hood,)

Shall we?

[whiteshroud]

[Yeah that's a bit more useless. Oh well, RIP]

Might as well. [He gives a nod. Then with Claude, he'll go deeper into the domain. Colder and colder it gets, causing even jun's walk to slow as he tries to shield against the cold and swear under his breath]

Shit....

[This is worse than polar bears swimming man. But if they keep pressing onward, their determination (stupidity?) will be rewarded: with a horrible sight of frozen bodies and the skynail! Hooray! ...oh wait no.]

Entombed City

[dispassionatedevotion]

It appears to be the case.

[ Had it brought them peace, that someone acknowledged their passing? ]

...Perhaps it was relatively recent.

[ Though how recent was up in the air. ]

[bowfaire]

I haven't seen signs of anyone else up here except us.

(He moves his hand, motioning towards the floor, )

The snow would have covered up things outside but inside, you'd think there would be some prints or something still... Maybe there were at some point.

[dispassionatedevotion]

Signs of disturbances from someone entering the building, you mean.

[ He looked thoughtful. ]

Then it is likely that whoever came here hadn't recently been through the area if there are no signs. Or ... they are the type of "individual" that could walk into a place without leaving signs they were there.

Though, I suppose thinking about this might be moot in the end.

[bowfaire]

I wouldn't put the latter past this place.

(It could definitely be someone who could cover their tracks. People can get pretty creative with their Visions.)

But you're right. Instead of looking for someone who's probably no longer here, we should focus on what's in front of us first. We can also about our mysterious other visitor later.

[dispassionatedevotion]

Yes, we can.

[ There was a pause as he considered their surroundings, and then: ]

What are some other thoughts you have on 'what's in front of us'?

entombed city

[joies]

[Persephone has been greatly subdued since they stepped foot into the city, quietly clutching tightly at the coat a dear friend allowed her to borrow. It's... distressing, to see all this and know it was done by the very beings they worshipped and praised. Who were meant to protect them. And yet to be killed in such a slow, painful way...

At least they were granted some dignity in death; only humming softly in response to Claude, her usual smile long since faded.]

I'm glad they could do this much for these poor souls. [It's more than what the gods gave them, at least.]

[bowfaire]

(They can both suffer in the cold together, though, Claude is going to do his best to keep it together because he's used to being the "reliable" one. He still gives her a sympathetic look, like he can definitely relate to her and decides to keep an eye out in case he needs to lend her a scarf or something... he is, after all, a nobleman, even if he isn't particulary noble.)

Something when they deserved more.

(His own usual cheer and jovial attitude is subdued, replaced with something more somber for the moment,)

If we could do something else... It feels wrong to just leave them like this...

[joies]

[Something else they could do... Her eye glances over their surroundings, lips pressed into a thin, tight line.]

It may be difficult to bury them. The earth is suffused with Cryo, so digging may be a challenge.

[They could maybe get Pyro's to soften the earth, but they also don't have that many anymore oops. But she also doesn't want to just leave them... laying here.]

But we could still try. Though I'm not sure if by their traditions they buried their people.

[Since she can't sense anything else in the ground. Of course, it could be that anyone who was buried has long since become part of the mountain.]

[bowfaire]

We could burn them but that also means asking our Pyros to do some extra work. (When they're already doing enough to keep everyone warm and safe.) Some of those with Electro visions could probably help but it wouldn't be as neat.

(Since electricity is sparky, you know? His thoughts are turning and he's running through the options in his head, trying to figure out what might work best,)

... We'll figure something out. Forneus knew about this place. Zhongli was familiar too. We can probably ask them what they think is right.

[joies]

If we're to speak to Forneus about this, I would rather leave that to you.

[Persephone prefers not to be around the time god unless absolutely necessary. She'll work with him, but she certainly doesn't like him.]

But it would be wise to seek their thoughts on this, considering their knowledge. We may be able to find some writings or something similar about it too, if we're lucky.

[It's not an easy situation, but she agrees that they'll be able to come up with something.]

So long as we can grant the people here the burial they deserve.

temple

[infreefall]

Probably another one of those labyrinths we saw before, right? So maybe there’ll be some answers here.

[ one can hope, anyway! if the door is too heavy for them both, ochako’s just going to cheat and use her quirk to help open it - however it happens, the sheer cold makes her shiver. ]

...Maybe we should have brought someone else.

[bowfaire]

(The door opens and Claude yelps. He actually yelps at how cold it is and immediately reaches to pull his heavy cloak closer to him. He's never had much affinity for the cold considering he's lived in warm places for most of his life. Even he can't keep his composure when faced with this biting cold.)

Maybe someone with a Pyro vision... a lot of them seem busy these days, though.

(Since they're the only ones with rights.)

[infreefall]

Most of them seem like the type who like being busy.

[ bakugou would fit right in with them all... why is ledah the only calm pyro around flkajsdj ]

Hey, electricity is supposed to be hot, too, right? Can't you use your Vision to stay a little warmer?

[ be our discount pyro, claude ]

[bowfaire]

Imagine that...

(Liking being busy! He says like he isn't honestly the same way when he isn't pretending to act lazy.)

Kind of? It's more shocking than warm. (Vague hand wiggle like he's trying to demonstrate something? Sparks?) It's easier to start fires than it is to actually stay warm.

(Ugh, but this place isn't just cold. It seems to be the source of all the cold and he groans,)

Let's see how far we can get.