maskormenacelogs | There must be something in the water

WHO: Everyone!
WHERE: Lake Tahoe, the Nevada side
WHEN: May 17 all day
WHAT: Swear-In
WARNINGS: Some violence

Welcome imPorts new and old to the lovely city of Jeopardy! For the five minutes the swear-in is here, anyway. See, there’s been some unusual activity at the (relatively) nearby Lake Tahoe. The Better Believe It Museum of Cryptozology has appealed to the government for help, and the powers that be generously volunteered this Swear-In as a chance for imPorts to be voluntold to help. Of course, you can always skip the swear-in or just decide to kick up your feet at a nice lakeside property in May, but the local natives would really appreciate the assistance. So much so that they’ve rented out a legion of party buses to transport you from Jeopardy to the museum in style. Yes, there’s a bar and snacks (though only juice for the kids). It’s about a three hour drive, try not to get too sloshed on the way over.

Just what is the issue? It seems that Nevada’s most famous cryptid, Tahoe Tessie has...well. Been seen. And, yes, of course, there is that whole museum you are going to at the edge of the lake dedicated to fuzzy, shaky-cam ‘sightings’ of Tessie and other cryptozoological marvels over the years, but this is different. Like, ‘oh no, we actually found her’ different. And by all appearances, Tessie’s pretty pissed at being found. Any boats that attempt to go out into the lake are sunk, divers have vanished to never be seen again (whole, anyway. A few parts have washed up), and police have noted a sharp increase in random, violent attacks around the lake shores.

That’s where you come in.

The museum has requested Tessie be captured and transferred into their crypto-aquarium where she can be studied (and rubbed in the faces of all those ‘real’ scientists that called them crazy over the years). There are other options, though. The police are just fine with you killing the creatures; let the scientists dissect the corpse. And a very well funded individual party is more than willing to pay an exorbitant amount to the imPorts that hand her over to them.

While you ponder about the ethics and money involved, here’s the lay of the land.

First there is the cryptid museum itself. Not the tidiest of places, the museum is three floors of winding narrow aisles between shelves heaped with curiosities and walls covered in fuzzy photographs with plaques explaining what cryptozoological marvel is depicted in them, or poster sized print outs of ‘testimonials’ of alien abductions, bigfoot sightings, etc, along with artists interpretations of events described. There is also, of course, quite an expansive gift shop. Get your BELIEVER t-shirt before supplies run out. Please no powers in the museum, the owner is quite forceful about how everything in there is one of a kind.

For those of you not into monster hunting, or hunters that need to recharge, the cryptid museum is right next to a resort that has thoughtfully opened its doors to imPorts. It’s lingering around 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit at the lake, not exactly swimming weather, but there’s charming outdoor seating, fire pits to gather around, and free drinks and finger foods abound for every one to mingle with. There’s plenty of nice walking paths around the lake, some low-key events like horse shoe tossing or croquet to pass the time with. Just a nice break by the lake to recharge after a rough month.

Then there’s the lake itself. The locals have provided you with canoes, small fishing boats with radar, diving suits and snorkels, fishing nets, pretty much anything they could think of that will help you catch dear old Tessie (if you have a specific request for an unusual item, ask here if it will be provided!). A certain eccentric (the one offering cash money for Tessie to be turned over to them) even provided a one person submarine for use- though it doesn’t have any arms to grab with or much in the way of catching power, the gesture was still nice?

But catching a cryptid isn’t that easy. See, turns out that surge in violent attacks isn’t just dear old Tessie. If you just pressed A and skipped to the lake itself, you’re in for an unpleasant surprise. Those that took time to view the museum first, or chatted with the hotel staff about local legends, will have some warning of what is waiting for them. They’ll learn that in addition to cryptids lake Tahoe has a very real monstrous history- it’s a known mob mass graveyard. Through the 1900s, possibly up to today, the lake served as a very convenient spot for mobsters to send people to ‘sleep with the fishes.’ No one knows how many bodies have ended up under those placid waters, but it’s an unpleasant number. Just an interesting historical tidbit until you actually enter the lake. There you’ll see these dead are, somehow, awake. And not that happy about it.

The lake is crawling with revenants. These angry undead will fight tooth and nail anyone that comes into the waters of the lake, trying to pull you down to meet the same watery fate as them. We’re literal on the tooth part, their bites are strong enough to rip out chunks of flesh. They will follow anyone that disturbs them out of the lake, focused on destroying the life they no longer have. These creatures will need to be destroyed or laid to rest for the lake to be safe again. This can be done through sheer physical assault, break enough of the bones or destroy the skull and the creatures will collapse into the muk. Or they can be put to rest one by one with rituals specifically made for putting the dead to rest (from any religion or philosophy). Those that can talk with the dead and have the dedication can talk the spirits into releasing their mortal coil and returning to the void. Just remember their first emotion is rage at the living, and their first instinct will always be to attack. Those going for a more peaceful route may need back-up to keep the creatures at bay until they start seeing results.

Finally, there’s Tessie.

While legends have reported, and the cryptid museum lead you to expect, a more serpentine creature, characters are once more in for a surprise. Those that finally get past the undead to Tessie herself will discover she is none other than a legendary lusca: half shark, half squid, all attitude. For those still trying to apply biology to this, Tessie’s front half looks like a bull shark, a species infamous for its ability to swim in both salt and fresh waters. There is a little good news: unlike the revenants, Tessie isn’t looking so hot. Some of her tentacles are rotting off and teeth are falling out. She is mostly working to avoid anyone that wants to bother her, darting to deeper waters and running away from close encounters. Anyone that does get too close will face a fight, but it’s that of an animal in its death throes. While an unlimited number of characters can see Tessie, the final decision of what happens to her will be decided by a poll.

After a long day at the lake, imPorts are bused back to Jeopardy in the same party buses. Hopefully still more or less in one piece.

OOC PLOTTING AND QUESTIONS SHOULD BE DIRECTED HERE!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Oh. So you are like a superhero, then? Does this mean this world isn't any different from yours?"

Man, Carl's jealous if that's a case. Probably less of a shock in the system for sure. He folds his hands into his lap, after initially attempting to fold his arms and aborting the gesture, not wanting to look standoffish. He's trying not to be like that, though old habits die hard.

"Yes! A superhero in training!" She gives a delighted laugh. "There are a lot of differences, but it's probably going to be a lot easier to adapt to than the other alternate earths I've been to."

She noticed the aborted gesture, and appreciated it internally. When people were clearly trying to look more welcoming than they might otherwise indicate it was a good sign they were trying. She supported people who tried, in general. But even more so she appreciated when people put to use the same type of control over themselves as she had - even if theirs wasn't mandatory.

"Alternate earths?" Carl doesn't understand what she means by that. "Like, different earths?"

Yes, Carl, alternate does mean different. "What others did you went on?"

"There are quite a few, but some interesting ones included a world where sapient birds were the dominant species and a world where the technology was amazing!" She giggled a charming little giggle. "My teammate, LAN, he's a technopath. He loved it there. If it weren't for the fact that the window to get back to our world was closing he would have asked to stay a little longer. Humans lived in peace with sapient AI. Some AI would create other AI when they felt the need to expand beyond their own programming, kind of like how humans have kids!"

She laced her fingers together and her feet kicked back and forth a little. "The medical technology was even better than it is here. And humans had found a way to colonise the majority of the rest of the solar system. It was actually an experimental engine for Faster Than Light travel that pulled most of my team to that world." She places her hand near her mouth to amplify the whisper she would deliver. "I think they still have a few bugs to work out!"

Carl just let the girl's excitement wash over him, trying to comprehend of just going to different realities likes that. Carl can barely get his act together with this world, let alone able to adapt to others.

He never thought he'd say this, but this kind of talk makes him homesick for his own world, as shit as it is.

"AI. . . are you talking about robots?"

That's all he can grasp, really.

When she notices he seems confused she decides to slow down and take a different approach. They're all from different realities, and assuming they were all on the same page could prove problematic. She doesn't realise however that the concept of alternate realities in and of itself could be confusing - such information had existed in her world for quite a long time now, even before her powers had come slamming to the top she had learned about several alternate worlds in history class.

"Sort of. Robots are the machinery, but AI are sometimes what moves a machine. Sometimes AI is so advanced that it stops being a mere computer program, and becomes a person."

She hoped that was helpful, at least.

"That makes sense." He thinks. All he knows of robots were from comic books he'd read back in the prison, so in reality he knows very little. "You ever been to an earth that's nothing but robots?"

That sounds kinda cool.

"I haven't, but some of the adult heroes have!" She has to try harder than normal to not show her feelings upon bringing up the adult league. All but three of them had died recently, or in the case of Shadowdancer completely disappeared off the face of the earth. Despite the attempt of the psychic therapists to completely divorce any feelings related to that event from her consciousness, some still remained. "There are at least two distinct robot-only worlds! One that has literally no living macroscopic living organisms other than robots, and one that has animals and stuff but robots are the only sapient creatures."

There was maybe just a little less energy in her than before, but it might not have been easy to notice.

"Huh." Talk about variety. Carl can only wish there are robots in his world.

But he doesn't want to talk about his world. She looked a little tired, probably from standing up. "Do you want to sit down . . . ?"

"Oh, yes please. Would that be alright with you?" She made herself seem perkier, though the edge of weariness remained despite her attempt.

At least she could rest assured that this person was likely kind, based on how he reacted to someone who seemed to need rest.

There must be something in the water

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