[OPEN] OUTPOST HAVEN [player plot]

[distant_one]

Who: Anyone and Everyone
What: Open Post for Player Plot
When: Second week of July Onward
Where: Staging Point in Crenshaw and Outpost

Content Warning: None in the main post

[Ooc: This is an open log place for the Outpost player plot, plotting post here and location post here. Feel free to post starters here and tag one another.]

DAY 0

The day before construction begins there's a flurry of activity at the staging point which is now marked with banners of a red sun over blue waves on a white field. Supplies are checked and sorted and the first sets to go out are organized and ready to be taken the next day. Plans are covered with people involved in them and the order of next day's operations are finalized. Any last minute questions are covered.

There are also notices placed on the wall, such as the one with a sketch of Sharon's pyramid head indicating it and anything else wearing a sash version of the banner is not to be attacked as well as instructions not to destroy/remove plants except from certain areas.

A helpful note reminding people to take regular anti-corruption measures, information about Blood Hounds and their ability to remove corruption, and suggestions about getting blood-proof gloves and boots are also stuck to the walls with small sharp pieces of wood.

DAY 1: STAGING

All the supplies are ready to go and it's just a matter of diving up into the groups for the day. The first wave out is going to set up Palamedes' barrier around the whole area with the help of Sasuke and his Susano'o and any of the guard force ready to go along.

D will ask for volunteers to rest up during the day and help him guard at night. The first day is going to be long and brutal but the first night probably won't be much better.

DAY 1: PHASE 1

The lamp point for the outpost is placed at the old ruins of a church, and it won't take long after people arrive for monsters to begin attacking. Incense is lit and people are directed to place it along what will be the outer perimeter.

The goal is to get Palamedes to set up his blood ward as quickly and safely as possible in the midst of frequent monster attacks and to avoid tearing up the perimeter, destroying what's left of the ruins. During any moments of quiet, D will drag and haul monster corpses to a point outside the perimeter to pile them up. It's going to be crazy and chaotic and the only remotely safe place is to stand uncomfortably close to either the lamp or the ongoing warding efforts.

DAY 1: PHASE 2

Once the outermost warding barrier is up it and the continuous incense will provide a little room to breathe, and it's time to put in the lodestones for Sarona's barrier ward. D will send out the call to the people waiting with these supplies to arrive and defensive efforts will focus on protecting a smaller area that includes part of the ruined church and an area of dirt. These stones need to be put into place, which will involve some amount of digging, but it won't take the several hours of the first barrier.

As the outer perimeter of incense is burned down, a smaller circle will be lit up between it and the barrier ward location. Fighting has been going on for hours at this point with only a few breaks and the outpost is less of an outpost and more of a gory battlefield.

DAY 1: PHASE 3

As soon as Sarona's protective barrier is up, real construction work can begin on a shelter that will house a couple dozen people on built in bunk benches that will line the walls, but the first step is walls an a roof that will keep people out of the rain and whatever other bad weather might be thrown at them. Sarona's barrier gives people a safe place to retreat to in an emergency, but danger is still constant around the area. Few if any of the beasts or other threats to make an appearance were once human, and the corruption is severe.

Crates of supplies of incense, a few first aid supplies, a small supply of safe drinking water, and other anti-corruption supplies are brought in to be placed inside the barrier

DAY 7 THROUGH THE REST OF MONTH 1

By this point, the shelter is finished and the already stocked emergency supplies are increased to include preserved food. Everyone might very well be sick of the smell of incense at this point as it's kept going twenty-four hours a day and the shelter might smell of it for years afterwards but it's still necessary, as attacks on the outpost are still frequent. A small garden has been started inside the barrier which includes blood roses that feed on blood in the ground to reduce blood pollution and a curious hybrid graft of guardian sapling twig onto a blood rose bush.

Construction efforts from here on focus on digging for the foundation of the outer wall and placing very large stone blocks into position. Whenever people working on construction need to retreat to wait for fighting to calm down they can flee back to the barrier and shelter and take a moment to catch their breath and guard efforts can work to keep the fighting further out and away from the perimeter wall construction.

Comments

[umbraportation]

[ Nico will place the bag in the small space left between them, letting her take as much as she'd like. ]

Without them, a lot of demigods would have died before reaching thirteen. [ Such as him, would have died without even knowing he was half-god. Though, the Greek Camp was smaller than the Roman one. ] If you want, when we go out again, you can team up with me. I've got training in being part of a group. [ They've been training at the same time, so his presence might not bother her much out there - while also being something she's used to seeing out of the corner of her eye.

He watches her as she considers how to answer his question. ] I kind of get it. We may not have something that's exactly someone's darkest part given form, but plenty of walking terrors that aren't seen by the regular population of the world.

Is your guardian your darkest part, or something you came across?

[fogsong]

[ the statement that a lot of demigods would die without the existence of those camps takes her aback and she sits up. ] What? Why? [ already her mind is conjuring up possibilities. were they sought out by awful people like she was? or was it monsters that hunted them? for all the horrors she’s endured, she hates the idea of others enduring similar or worse.

his next offer makes her smile and she nods. the fire above her glows more warmly as if in direct response to her. ] Yeah, that’d be cool. [ she’s rarely one to seek out team ups, too much of a loner, but she’s clearly touched that he’s willing even knowing she’s less capable in the field than him.

as the conversation shifts, she remains thoughtful, brows drawn down beneath her choppy bangs. she never puts much thought into the Red Pyramid because everything about him touches upon her traumas. ]

…a little bit, yeah.

If he’s anything of me, he’s my need for vengeance. He was created when I was alone, surrounded by people who wanted to hurt me. [ she tries to maintain a detached tone to her voice but something emotional slips in. ] He protected me—still protects me. And he is relentless against those who would harm me.

[umbraportation]

Monsters think we're delicious. Most demigods go up pretty normal, with their mortal parent. Learning to fight off old Greek monsters is all mythology to most people, unless you're a demigod. We're easier to pick off before we've had training. [ A lot of kids come to camp around twelve, some earlier. But about twelve is when things start to get weird for demigods.

He nods at the next part, also once a lone wolf who was bombarded with sudden team mates. Nico knows full well that people used to being alone don't seek out others to fight with.

If there's anything he understands, it's traumas. ]

Sucks that people wanted to hurt you, I think you're pretty cool. [ There's no digging for more information on that part of things. Letting her say what she wants, when she wants. ] He is pretty intimidating. A guy like that walking down a dark alley or hallway would scare the Hades out of just about anyone.

[ Not that Nico sounds all that scared of the idea. Then again, teen with death powers over here. ]

[fogsong]

[ that catches her off guard and she blinks a few times. she’s got an active imagination but her mind hadn’t managed to conjure up that as a possibility. it’s a unique kind of horrifying. to be out in the world with no knowledge of what you were and what it meant. she could relate in a way. ] Damn, that’s messed up. Kinda surprised the other parent didn’t try to be more, you know, involved. [ there’s a small hint of judgement in her tone though it’s not directed at Nico in the slightest. she’s got some parent issues.

when he tells her she seems cool, she lets out a short, surprised laugh. ] That’s a first for me, honestly, but thanks.

I was born into a cult and they were pretty proud of their heritage of burning witches. And you’ve seen what I can do. [ it’s easy to put two and two together, even though it’s much more complicated than she makes it seem. ]

But that was kind of his point. He turned into a sort of boogeyman to them as the years went by. [ and here, there’s a touch of pride in her voice. ]

[umbraportation]

[ Monsters eating people is usually saved for fiction, the world is modern now, but those myths hang on to it still. Nico spent ten years of his life not knowing he was a demigod and would have been killed if others hadn't shown up to save him. ] Yeah, it is. Our godly parent isn't really allowed to get too involved in our lives. Which is both good and bad. Immortal, long-lived beings could never fully understand what it's like for us. [ Nico isn't bothered by the judgement, many demigods also have their own towards the gods. Him included.

He got her to laugh, let's go. ] I'm a weird kid, so you're welcome.

[ While she talks about her life, there's the smallest of frowns. ] It sucks when that happens to people. Persecuted for being different.

I hoped he scared the living Hades out of them, then.

[fogsong]

[ Sharon has a lot of thoughts on that. She grew up —— well, Alessa grew up without a father in her life and she knew how many problems it could cause. So, she just nods in understanding instead of saying what she wants (which was something along the lines of: maybe immortal beings shouldn’t screw up mortal lives. ]

Weird is good in my opinion. The world could use more of it. [ She’d grown up a weird kid herself so understood how it could be. For her, it was lonely.

He mentions Hades again and she smiles, though it’s a touch dark. ]

Don’t worry, he did. [ He slaughtered them, honestly, but that seems a little dark for the conversation. ]

Now, I gotta know, what’s up with you and using Hades? Is that a common expression?

[umbraportation]

[ Truthfully, Nico thinks the gods could interfere less, too. How is an immortal being supposed to understand what it's like to be mortal? No matter how long and hard they watch, they still don't. ]


I think so, too. [ Even among the other demigods, he's the odd-man out. Though, not the only one.

Nico nods at that, the smallest upturn of his lips. She may find that he doesn't mind a little darkness. ]

Demigods tend to replace common expressions with ones of our own. So Hades would be like saying hell, since he runs the afterlife. "Oh my gods" because there's more than one. Stuff like that. It's mostly curses, though. Schist for shit, d-a-m for damn. Some of them started as inside jokes and just kind of spread.

[fogsong]

[ she listens to the explanation and gives a quiet, short snort under her breath. ]

You guys just came up with your own inside lingo, then. [ it made a lot of sense given the fact they were all much more unique than your average teenagers. maybe it made them feel closer. ]

D-a-m for damn, though? [ the look she gives implies she thinks that one is a little lame for a bunch of demigods. ]

[umbraportation]

[ He nods, some people will actually use different ones - Nico tends to use Hades, but others might use Hera. ]

Yeah, not really sure how the deities feel about us using their names as curse words, but I don't think anyone's been struck dead yet. [ Sent on terrible, horrible quest, but not straight-up death. ]

A bunch of demigods went on a quest and they ended up at the Hoover Dam. That's where it started. [ So the inside joke was the play on words that stuck around. ]

[fogsong]

If it bothers them, fuck ‘em. They should know it comes with the territory. [ she says it all with an exaggerated shrug. she has as many issues with deities as she has with piss poor parents (which is to say: fuck them). ]

Y’all go on quests? [ her voice has an edge of amused disbelief. the word quest conjures up video games. sure, nico’s a demigod and that’s whatever, totally believable, but quests? to the Hoover dam? ]

[umbraportation]

They're probably used to it by now. [ Life is already hard enough without pissing off one of the deities. ]

Yep. We've got prophets who spout lines of vague poetry at us and off we go. That one was:
Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,
One shall be lost in the land without rain,
The bane of Olympus shows the trail,
Campers and Hunters combined prevail,
The Titan's curse must one withstand,
And one shall perish by a parent's hand.

[ Nico's voice is quiet on the second line, his gaze fixed down on his hands. ]

So they just ended up at Hoover Dam on their way from New York to California. Got food, tangled with some skeletons, met the future prophet - that sort of thing.

[fogsong]

[ she picks up on the change in his voice at the second line and she swallows down the lump of curiosity and concern that swells up in her throat. the last line makes a sick shiver run down the back of her neck.

shit. ] And you guys just have to go through with it? You couldn’t just tell them to screw themselves?

Some of those lines just… Jesus fuck, Nico.

[umbraportation]

[ Maybe he'll tell her about what that second line meant. For him, personally. ]

Yeah. It's kind of a choice between Terrible Choice A and Terrible Choice B.

Terrible Choice A: don't do the quest, and release one pissed off Titan to kill a bunch of people. Terrible Choice B: do the quest and two people will die.

[fogsong]

[ to her, that sounds like bullshit and anger flashes in her eyes. her dislike for the gods of his world continues to grow. ]

It’s not a choice a bunch of kids should ever have had to make. [ for all her anger, there’s a surprising amount of sympathy there. her rage is for him. she knows what it’s like to suffer traumas so young. ] You didn’t deserve to have that kind of shit forced upon you.

With either choice, you had to deal with death and guilt and it’s bullshit. And I’m sorry.

[umbraportation]

[ Honestly, this is the kind of anger he expects whenever he tells himself about the gods of his world. It's harder to be angry at them when one of them is a parent and all the kid wants is a kind word or a look of approval. ]

Probably not. Unfortunately, there will always be beings that lay down the groundwork for these kinds of choices.

[ Nico knows the gods aren't without blame, but there are forces that oppose the gods too. ]

I won't say "it's fine", because it's not, but I guess I'd rather have a chance to make a choice than get none at all.

[fogsong]

[ Sharon pops another piece of fruit into her mouth to busy it as she thinks about his statement. ]

I can understand that. [ She finally says. She might not like it but it makes sense. Any chance at choice gives some small sense of control even if those choices were awful and limited. ]

[umbraportation]

[ He leans forward to rest his arms on his knees. ]

This place will probably get to me. Being forced to experience things without being given a choice. [ It hasn't yet, but eventually. ]

[fogsong]

It could. [ She agrees solemnly, bowing her head. ] I imagine it gets to everyone eventually but... you won't go through it alone. And you might not have much choice when it comes to what the pthumerians do but you have choice over everything else.

[umbraportation]

[ A soft sigh. ]

Yeah. It's why I jumped on the opportunity to train under D. To get my powers more under control when the worst comes. Plus... it's not like I have a lot of options for teachers at home.