aeternasmods | EXPLORATION

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game: exploration

EXPLORATION

EXPLORATION

Mondstadt

Occult House: Home to an outcast group of weirdos that no one talks to. They’ve claimed a small abandoned space on the first floor within the skyscraper that sits on the northeastern part of the city. It’s rumored that the space itself is haunted and the people within it possessed by some strange force, and no one seems to want to force them out and take that space for themselves for a business. Most of the building is used for offices, but this location’s entrance is at the back of the building and happens to have a graveyard right in front of it. (This is where the Church of Favonius would have been.)

Dragonspine (LOCKED): The cold expanse of a once mighty mountaintop that is now almost completely inaccessible. Rotted tree roots have sprung up around the base of the mountain, twisted together to form an almost impenetrable wall. The darkened night sky has now turned to a glowing, ashen red, eerily quiet despite the danger that lurks within. Many attempts have been made to get through to inspect the area for commercialism, but even the most powerful machines have not been able to cut through the roots that cut it off from society. Those who land inside of it via helicopter or other means have never returned.

Dadupa Gorge: Ancient tribal lands that are protected by the Mondstadt government. It's easily accessible by car, and there's also some tourist attractions to be had there, but visitors are only allowed in up to a certain point. No one knows what lies inside of their sacred grounds, though it's rumored that they protect the entrance to a cave that houses wonders from ancient times.

Decarabia (Stormterror's Lair): A city known for their worship of an unknown god, they live their lives much different than the secular city of Mondstadt. Relations between the two cities seem to be precarious at best and almost malicious at worst. Religious leaders seem to of grasped all of the power in this place, and the people's dedication and prayers seem to be directed at the ominous aura that Dragonspine gives off, seeing that place as a holy ground, and that the gods has rejected humanity for their sins.

Wolvendom: Now a national forest, the land of Wolvendom is a welcome place for campers and all assortments of outdoorsy people who love nature (as much as one can under an eternal night.) Most of the monsters that used to lurk there have been cleaned up, but that hasn't stopped the ghost stories or conspiracies about the place to run amok among the people of Mondstadt. Once, a little girl was taken in the "middle of the night" right from under her parent's noses while camping years back; another is a horror story of the remains of a man found deep within the forest. No one knows if these stories are true, but if you want to venture forward and find out, no one's stopping you.

Thousand Winds Temple (LOCKED): The ancient ruins of what was once a colosseum is now part of a guided tour for anyone to go see! It's one of the few places in Mondstadt that looks like it survived all out wars in the past with no corruption in sight and is nearly as popular as visiting Windrise. It's just a little expensive to go, but the money is well worth it. Scientists still work around the clock in certain closed off parts of the colosseum, uncovering secrets from thousands of years ago. Unfortunately these areas aren't open to the public! We can't have unauthorized people just wandering into classified areas, now can we?

The Countryside: The windswept lands of Mondstadt, where there isn't a bustling city center or a suburb thereof, is a beautiful serene place filled with ruins from centuries ago. Some of which still give off the reek of corruption, sealed off from the world and unable to be explored. Despite the world having the technology to do wondrous things, these places have been inaccessible since time immemorial and will only open to those chosen to explore their depths. This is meant to be just places around the country that aren't named places but could house something interesting, mostly likely magical, or historical to the world. Who knows what you might find? Only one way to find out.

Liyue

TBA.

Inazuma

TBA.

Sumeru

TBA.

Fontaine

TBA.

Fill out form to go exploring:

Character name(s): Your character and any others that will be along for the ride.
Area of exploration: The area you want to explore.
Items they might bring: List any items that your characters might have brought with them to aid in their exploration.
Character harm and triggers: List any triggers we need to stay away from for you and how much you are okay with your character getting hurt (if they do at all).

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Character name(s): Wu Zhongli
Area of exploration: The Occult House
Items they might bring: A textbook on local Mondstadt history and folklore (because of course he has one of these if not at his house then for sure in his office) as well as his phone so he can take pictures/do quick Wikipedia searches
Character harm and triggers: All is fair game for Zhongli!

Quick notes before we begin:

You do not have to answer any of this IC. I'll be answering these with NPCs with full dialogue and such, but you can answer these like "what does Zhongli see inside, Zhongli will ask this question, is there anything Zhongli can do in this room" etc. You can interact as if you're speaking to the mod rather than the actual NPCs in the scenario. If you want to answer it IC, that's totally on you, but not required.

---

The festivities of Ludi Harpastum cover every street and every corner of the city, including up at the top of Mondstadt overlooking the city. Stalls, games, and vendors line the cobblestone plaza, with the roads closed off here just for the festival. Every part of it is crowded with people, but the farther back one wanders behind the high rise that towers over it all, the crowds seem to disperse until there's not much left than a spooky graveyard that people seldom visit. Someone must tend to it because it's not overgrown, but some of the headstones are nearly crumbling apart, having stood there for longer than many can remember.

A lone door stands at the back of the building here, with a sign that's turned backwards. One check of the handle reveals that the door is locked, but there are lights on inside that show that it's anything but abandoned. Mystery surrounds this particular area, the locals advising to steer clear of the area, that it's dangerous and haunted.

What will Zhongli do?

Despite not being a rather popular area, it's still a part of Mondstadt. And he noticed that the other monsters seem to be heading this way for some reason.

As such, he's going to knock on the door. Clearly there are people home, and they should know they're being targeted? Also he's kind of curious as to why.

When Zhongli knocks at the door, hushed whispers can barely be heard from behind the door. Silence follows, and suddenly the door opens just a crack, revealing two eyes that look upwards at the tall gentleman through a pair of thick, magnifying glasses. Zhongli stands a foot above this man, and the answer he gets is one of agitation.

"Didn't you read the sign????? WE HAVE A PERMIT. Don't bother us! We don't do interviews anymore!!!!!!"

And they shut the door with a slam. It rattles the sign, and lo and behold, on it is written in capital letters:

WE HAVE A PERMIT. NO SOLICITATIONS.

There's some more hushed whispers from behind the door, and it opens again. The glasses poke out from behind the shadow of the doorway.

"Sorry, that was a little rude. What do you want? There's monsters coming this way? There's monsters coming this way?????!!!!! Guys! Guys!"

Zhongli will be ushered inside to reveal a room that's cluttered with all kinds of bookshelves with books that look like they've been around for a century, with dusty fabrics hanging off of the corners of them. Tapestries line the walls, with symbols that have been lost to time, and a large round ironwood table sits in the middle of it covered in open books and occult-looking trinkets along with a makeshift summoning circle drawn poorly onto a giant laminated grid play mat that looks like it's for dry erase markers. Lamps sit on dusty end tables, their light dim in contrast to the festivities outside of this place- and there's a few ornately crafted couches with upholstery that looks like it's from an era long past. Two other people besides the short spectacled man who answered the door stare at their new guest, a taller woman with a thin frame and another man who's a bit heavyset with a friendly face.

"Can you explain it to them? What's going on out there? We don't know why they'd want to come here!"

Well there's actually a couple things I'd like to know:

1) Would Zhongli know anything about the tapestries, books, and other curios in the room, even through passing due to his research/specialties at the University? Or would they be foreign to him?
2) If they're foreign to him, would he be able to ask about them? If he knows something about them, could he inquire further? ~~Is he able to get into a lengthy discussion about a potential new hyperfocus--~~
3) Regardless if Zhongli is able to ask about the room, he will tell the people about the monsters approaching, as well as about the general state of the people he saw on the way. He isn't sure why they would be targeted either, but he felt they should know either way given that, if this is a historic landmark of sorts, its loss would be quite a blow to Mondstadt's cultural history.

1. A lot of the tapestries look like they're from all over Teyvat. Subsects of paganism from different cultures (with a strange focus on ones from Natlan, with symbols that show off some kind of death and rebirth) and a few wiccan-like ones are found. The books are definitely focused on magicks and summoning rituals, though there are some that Zhongli might not recognize and they are particularly old and beaten. There's some symbols that he would recognize, because they're plastered all over the old ruins found all over Teyvat.

A cipher for your reference here

As for their little trinkets, most of them are fake because the group was lied to when they bought them, but he'd find a few interesting like an old Remurian metal tube (it's broken off from an organ, they have no idea what they have there) and a necklace that seems like it's also from Natlan, but when asked they have no idea what it is and they say they're going to research it further.

2. He's free to inquire further but he's going to find that he knows way more than they do about pretty much everything. This is a hobby for them and they're kind of lazy and like having things rather than really knowing what they have. If Zhongli wants, he can try to talk them out of their Remurian organ pipe. It probably should be in a museum. Some guy sold it to glasses guy on the street saying it was a witch's pipe or something dumb and he totally fell for it.

---

The trio seems quite enthralled with Zhongli and his vast knowledge. They all pay close attention to everything he has to say, and he'll notice after some time talking to them that they're just a trio of weird people who like weird supernatural stuff. All the rumors about it being haunted don't seem to be true, at least in this brief moment. The woman turns and procures something for Zhongli to look at, handing it over to him.

It's a decrepit old lyre, with most of the strings gone, broken on one side, and the varnish has almost completely been worn off. And yet, there's something about it, an aura that suggests it's anything but a mere lyre. It has a warm, familiar feel to it, and the woman looks at Zhongli with wide eyes.

"Thank you for warning us of the danger, Dr. Wu. Since history is one of your subjects, please have this as a thank you. It sits in the corner gathering more dust every day, and we really don't know what to do with it. Plus, these guys refuse to throw it away, thinking it has some kind of magical powers. But if anyone can identify it, I think you can."

The spectacled man and his accomplice both look at her, offended by the statement.

"That's a really valuable item! Don't believe her, she doesn't know what she's talking about," states the heavyset man, arms akimbo. "She's been wanting to get rid of that for a long time. That's not nice to try to pawn off what you think is trash."

The girls are fightingggggg

Ok this is cool!

So like even if most of the items are fake, the books are probably something of interest he'd like to research. Since he's a researcher at heart, he'd like to offer his services in consultation and appraisal if they ever find any other items like this Remurian pipe. In exchange, he'd like to have some time perusing the tomes at a later time to learn from them. In addition, he'd like to request to take the Remurian organ pipe for further researching at the University, and perhaps urges them to donate it to a local museum in their name. He assures them that the University will offer them reimbursement for their generous donation (whether or not the University actually follows through with this or if he even has the authority to do such a thing is up in the air).

He will also take the lyre gracefully; even if it's a decrepit old trinket, he'll gladly do what he can to do further research on it. Begrudgingly, he'll admit he may know someone who could possibly restore it, or perhaps know someone who can.

Though, now that he has this lyre, and his constellation, does he feel anything specific from it? Or anything else in the room?

Because Zhongli has his constellation, he can sense there's a dormant power of sorts coming out of the lyre. He can't tell how powerful it is, nor how to awaken it, but it's obvious it's no ordinary lyre. The necklace from Natlan that's in the room also seems a bit special, but it's not like the lyre. The necklace itself is made from a metal specific to Natlan (the name of which I'll know once the region actually releases at the end of the month- I want to stay true to some of the stuff in-game) and it's shaped like a flame. There's no power within it, but it does have a special aura around it that normal items don't have, like something is attached to the necklace itself rather than the item actually holding its own power.

---

Now that they've come to trust Zhongli a little more they remember (I remembered) to introduce themselves. Glasses guy is named Carl, who is enamoured with the fact that Zhongli is a professor at the university and teaches a lot of history; the heavyset man is named Fynn, who is excited at the prospect of Zhongli coming back to see them. The two men express their gratitude to the professor:

"We'd love it if you could help us out," says Carl, "we have a lot of things here that we're not sure what it is, and it's been a slow process trying to dig deep into the history of our items."

"Only because you want to play video games more than do research," interjects Fynn, who just rolls his eyes at his companion. Turning to Zhongli, he gives him a meek smile with an embarrassed laugh.

"Sorry that we rejected you at first. Everyone here thinks we're possessed or that this place is haunted. It's really that we just enjoy the occult and we managed to get this space for it all. As you can see, this wouldn't really fit into one of our homes comfortably. So we really appreciate you coming with concern for our safety. You can come back anytime to look at anything you want, read up on any books. And as for the organ pipe...well..."

Their third resident, Hilda, quickly hands over the pipe to Zhongli. She seems more interested in cleaning the place up, as the other two keep buying what they believe is supernatural or magicked items but they keep getting scammed.

"Please take it. If it's really an artifact, then it would be better if you take it and have proper research done on it. I really would prefer it if we found real, magic trinkets or cursed items. Also, thank you for taking the lyre. I was afraid it was going to start to attract bugs."

What a lovely turn of events! Zhongli will graciously accept the items in question, being sure to handle it with care. He will also offer to help teach Carl, Fynn, and Hilda more about these kinds of artifacts should they be interested, or at least offer some books on the subject. Maybe he should host an open lecture on the matter...

Any chance he can also negotiate taking that necklace as well? Just for studying, of course.

Sorry about the delay!

Zhongli is absolutely welcome to host an open lecture, they'll even offer the Occult House for him to use as the venue if he likes. They'd prefer to stop being treated like outcasts and if people can get educated (and interested in what they're interested in!) they'd like that a lot.

Like many of the things inside of their building here, it's old and they really have no idea. In exchange for doing a lecture, they'll give Zhongli the necklace.

No worries!

Zhongli would be happy to host a lecture here, should they be amenable! He will agree to it (perhaps a night when monsters aren't attacking), and will take the necklace in exchange. If there isn't any other need, he'll head out with his new items.

What nice folks they are. He'll keep in touch with them.

Perfect! Zhongli now has (1) sus lyre and (1) sus necklace, plus new friends!

Character name(s): Xing Ren, Yomiya
Area of exploration: Occult House
Items they might bring: Just some first aid kits and food.
Character harm and triggers: Anything goes as they just want to see how ~~spooky~~ the place is.

Zhongli has already explored this area, so all the items that could be had from it have already been taken! You guys can thread this out with each other if you'd like as well (just do a log on the main comm or an inbox thread or however you guys wanna do it.)

This will occur after Zhongli's visit!

---

The festivities of Ludi Harpastum cover every street and every corner of the city, including up at the top of Mondstadt overlooking the city. Stalls, games, and vendors line the cobblestone plaza, with the roads closed off here just for the festival. Every part of it is crowded with people, but the farther back one wanders behind the high rise that towers over it all, the crowds seem to disperse until there's not much left than a spooky graveyard that people seldom visit. Someone must tend to it because it's not overgrown, but some of the headstones are nearly crumbling apart, having stood there for longer than many can remember.

A lone door stands at the back of the building here, with a sign that's turned backwards. One check of the handle reveals that the door is locked, but there are lights on inside that show that it's anything but abandoned. Mystery surrounds this particular area, the locals advising to steer clear of the area, that it's dangerous and haunted.

Where would you like to start?

They would probably look around the house to see if there is anything interesting. They'll look through the windows and keep their eyes open!

So the house isn't so much a "house" as it is an entrance to the back of the high rise that's gone unused save for this group of people who've got the space to themselves. The windows are covered by a thin, black shade, though you can see light shining from behind them, indicating there might be people inside. The only interesting thing really is the graveyard, which isn't small but it's not large, either. Headstones have generations of families from Mondstadt buried here, but it looks like it's gotten full and there are no more plots available without altering the landscape and knocking down the wall behind it.

Would you like to explore the graveyard or continue to inspect the Occult House?

-By the way, does Hu Tao/Ren have any kind of innate special abilities to interact with the dead like she does in canon?

They are definitely looking at the graveyard!

As for Hu Tao/Ren, she does!

Perfect!

As the two of them wander into the graveyard, they'll notice what was mentioned before- there's a lot of generations of families buried here, and one particular old and worn one that looks as if it's going to disintegrate at any moment says "Lawrence" on it. People have come and left flowers at some graves, and other personal items. One headstone has a small trophy on it of a bratwurst, and the headstone reads: "Died doing what he loved."

However, Ren will definitely have a sense that they are not alone. That feeling will get stronger or weaker as they wander through the graveyard. Some headstones give that feeling more than others. In the "Lawrence" area, there's a lot of animosity around some headstones, but once you get away from those, there's more of a calm sense, and in some cases there's a welcoming sense that she'll get.

What would you like to investigate from here?

They would like to look at the "Lawerence" area and see what will happen next!

The area for those with the last name "Lawrence" is a lot bigger than the rest. A feeling of hostility, anger, and resentment washes over those sensitive to spirits, like the whole area doesn't want either Hu Tao or Yoimiya there. It's as if the entire part of this graveyard is giving them both the stink eye, and just to show how much they're not wanted, a root suddenly comes up out of the ground and tries to trip one of the ladies.

Ren would be able to sense the presence of spirits in the graveyard here as well.

And so! Yomiya will be using her phone to make a flash to scare the ghost.

Meanwhile Ren will be looking at said spirits to see what they want.

Unfortunately Yoimiya's phone flash doesn't really do much. Since Ren can see the spirits, eventually one will appear after their attempt at trying to be jerks to the both of them don't work. (If you guys thread this out, feel free to add in any other stupid things that the ghosts would do to be jerks to them that aren't life-threatening or something that would greatly injure them.)

The ghost will look at Ren and ask in the most haughty and ARISTOCRATIC way they can muster why they're treading on LAWRENCE property and to LEAVE IMMEDIATELY. It will then huff and hold their head up like they both need to get down on one knee and apologize to it!

Meanwhile Ren will ask why is there a need to be kneel when they could apologize. She will say that they can apologize and leave but there is no need to be that way.

Spooky....

After getting over her initial shock over the ghost's sudden appearance, Yoimiya considered getting on her knees to apologize but after seeing Ren's conviction, she agrees with her friend's sentiment, she'll be happy to apologize for disturbing the peace but doesn't see a why they have to get on their knees. She will also point out to the ghost that many other families are buried here and that the graveyard is open to the public.

The ghost will look at her and Yoimiya as if this was an absolutely crazy question to ask them. Clearly, this is what is expected from those who are not noble, and that the proper way to apologize is to kneel and ask for forgiveness. These are the rules- they didn't make them!

However, the ghost doesn't send them away right away...because they realize that this is a strange situation with a human who can actually see them. So, after some humming and hawing, they will ask the girls one thing: were they the reason why the presence is gone?

Okay so, I deleted the comment since I thought Hana wrote it under this tag so...!

The both of them said that they didn't but ask what the presence is.

The aristocrat ghost will ignore Yoimiya saying that it's a public graveyard. They know that, and they're kinda mad about it. It wasn't SUPPOSED to be public, but throughout the years people who don't belong here got buried and now they have to share the land with COMMONERS. It's stupid. They hate it.

And now they're even more annoyed that the girls don't know why this "presence" has disappeared from the area. The ghost huffs again at both of them and asks if they seriously know anything at all about Mondstadt or anywhere else for that matter. But the ghost will go on to explain to the two of them that there was a spirit that haunted this area for several centuries. No other ghost was willing to cross it- even the Lawrences, who believe that the whole of Mondstadt belongs to them. The ghost also says this spirit would cry out for someone, but none of the nobles at least, recognized the name. Saying the name is bad luck, so the ghost will absolutely refuse to tell them what it is.

But what the ghost does tell the two is that wherever this spirit is, it seems to invite misfortune to the humans that are around it- and now it's gone, and it doesn't know where it went.

As Hu Tao listened, she raised an eyebrow or two. She explained how she just arrived to Mondstadt and that this was a new place for her. However, she expressed how she will keep her eyes open in case she sees a spirit like that.

At the same time, Yomiya will ask thank the ghost for their time and ask if there is anything else they should know about the areas in the graveyard.

The Lawrence ghost will tell them both to be wary of any spirits they come across the way, since this one particular spirit seems like it's out on the loose, or so they think. Or maybe they should suffer some bad luck for all the disrespect they've shown today!!!! Something like that!!!!

This ghost doesn't care at ALL about the other areas of this graveyard. It informs the girls that over time, there became less and less room for bodies so they started using this to bury just anyone back here. It tells them that those people are the ones they should of went to go visit in the first place, since they're all commoners and that all of you of the same ilk should stick together.

The commoner ghosts won't have any more information than what the Lawrence ghost has, as they're just as glad this other spirit's presence is gone. It was overwhelming and no one understood what its deal was.

While Hu Tao asks them if there have been any other people who ventured into the graveyard, she couldn't help but wonder if they have found anything else. Otherwise, she and Yomiya would do a quick search around the graveyard before letting them know they would be moving forward.

There's been plenty of other people who've come into the graveyard before, the ghost will confirm. But those people haven't been able to commune with the dead in the way that Ren can (and by extension Yoimiya.) There's nothing else in the graveyard for now!

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

EXPLORATION

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tmw i didn't get a notif again i think???

WOW, HOW RUDE TO IGNORE ME

I SWEAR I'M NOT DOING THIS ON PURPOSE

DO YOU SEE ME CRYING OVER THIS? WAAAHHH

OMGGGG DON'T CRY

WAAAHHHHHHH

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AND THEN I GOT SICK sob

ARE YOU OKAY?

OH YES I'M MUCH BETTER NOW

I THOUGHT I REPLIED

DW UR GOOD

FORGIVE MEEEEEE

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