raiamods: (Default)
raiamods ([personal profile] raiamods) wrote in [community profile] ethyraia2021-05-21 04:56 pm
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◣ OPEN ◢ HATCHING LOG 001

WHO: All PCs
WHAT: New characters arrive on Ethyraia, get interrogated, and settle in at the basecamp.
WHEN: May 21 onward
WHERE: Basecamp Leviathan
NOTES/WARNINGS: Potential character nudity, violence, trypophobia (images) as well as light mentions of gore, alcohol and drug-use, light aphrodisiac effects (optional), and references to mass death.


HATCHING LOG 001 ❀
CONTENT WARNINGS: potential character nudity, violence, trypophobia (images) as well as light mentions of gore, alcohol and drug-use, light aphrodisiac effects (optional), and references to mass death.

Players who participated in our TDM are welcome to keep their CR and the content of those threads. Please make sure to chat this out on the OOC intro & CR meme before making assumptions. Please take your time reading the hatching and basecamp bullets, as some items have been altered or expanded.

❀ HATCHING


Congrats, you've woken up in an egg. I'm sure this is exactly how you wanted to spend your Saturday, right? There's no time to get curious and check out the other egg sacs. By the time you've fought your way out of the membranous sac, spilled electric blue goop everywhere, wiped it out of your eyes and sundry other orifices to get your bearings, you have a spear (or a gun) leveled at your face, throat, or other vital organs. Even if you might be inclined to fight, you can barely lift your arms to protest being grabbed and dragged off. Before you can even get a word in edgewise, you've been thrown into a holding cell.

Characters will not have a chance to retrieve their items at the time of the first hatching, and may not even know there is anything left in the remaining eggs.

The holding cell stinks of something sour and acidic, like rotted citrus, but you are not alone. Several other detainees sit in similar squalid confusion, dressed strangely and equally gooey. Time to make nice, ask questions... figure out what the hell is going on, and maybe do something about all that slime?

Over the next few days, a few things become clear. Despite the alien greeting, your captors speak a language that you understand, and the unpleasant circumstances are revealed to be a matter of necessity, not choice. Supplies are low, but they ensure that the new arrivals' time imprisoned is as painless as can be — they offer hot communal showers of less than three minutes, some strange starchy meal-replacement, and medical treatment to those in need. You might strike up a conversation with your new best friend in the shower over a low soap dispenser or when you realize you might need to share towels.

The cost of these luxuries comes in the form of touch-and-go interrogation by the security officers keeping tabs on the cells and supervising the shower time.

A few notes:
Your character may get pulled away for interrogation at some point. No torture, no drugs; just questioning. If you would like to thread this out, please reply to CAPT CHILDE'S top level comment! A caveat: threads will not go beyond (TEN) NPC replies, and new tag-ins will not be responded to after MAY 24.

☆ Locals will be stopping by outside the freestanding holding cells to ogle or ask questions. Are you really going to be mean to that little kid staring at you with wide eyes?

☆ Characters will be let out for bio breaks. No one has to pee in a bucket, that's just inhumane!

Attempts to escape will probably get you tasered. If your character composes a genius jailbreak, you are welcome to submit it in the MOD QUESTION comment to work out how that might go with the NPCs!

❀ EXPLORE THE BASECAMP

On the heels of a little benign interrogation, a medical inspection, and a stern talking to by Captain Childe, the survivors at Basecamp Leviathan determine one thing: you don't appear to be an active threat.

Released from the detention center after three days, you are given the run-down by the locals — you're on a planet called Ethyraia, and the people around you are survivors of the catastrophic crash of the UCSS Adamant several years prior. You, in fact, showed up on the third anniversary of the crash. Weird coincidence, huh?

The first order of the day is having a proper meal at the mess hall — some of the Adamant's survivors will be friendlier than others. They've been stranded here for years, remember? Some of them will be so desperate to talk to someone who has news of other places, and some will be giving you the cold shoulder.

You'll be fed the same as the rest of them. A plastic plate of crumbled protein of unidentifiable origin and gravy over rice with a single wilted stalk of broccoli and a cup of the worst coffee you've ever had. Maybe somebody bumps into you and spills said coffee, maybe you make it all the way to one of the long tables set out for communal eating.

Time to strike up a chat with your neighbor — maybe ask them to pass the salt?

(What do you mean, there's no salt!?)

During this time, characters will be able to return to the Central Chrysalis where they hatched. While there are no clues as to how they got there, they might find items — their own, or someone else's. Everyone is strapped for supplies, but try not to snatch up anything that isn't yours. The security officers don't look kindly on people chasing one other down the hall, trying to get back their dirty magazines.

A few notes:
☆ Feel free to help out anywhere. Every little bit of assistance you offer to the locals will raise their estimation of you. You could easily help clean dishes after the meal, help fix leaky piping or repair hammocks. You could stop by the aid station and assist with the wounded. You'll be watched closely and some of the survivors will be warier than others, but most will appreciate the opportunity to have a 'break'.

☆ If your character leaves the basecamp and wanders outside the Leviathan, they may begin to notice that what they perhaps took as a giant cave is actually an enormous dragon. Everything that seems human-made will look varying levels of worn down, patched, repaired and patched again. This is not a place of prosperity and happiness. Many people are recently injured, or have new scars or missing limbs.

☆ PCs will be warned about the acid rain and inhospitable wildlife that they'll face if they venture beyond the shade of the dragon's wings.

❀ RECRUITMENT FAIR



You've been here for a week, had a chance to show your mettle. Maybe you've demonstrated a propensity for fixing gadgets (or plumbing!) or you have the command of a natural leader and the ability to wield a gun (or a tire iron!) to great effect. Either way, the Adamant's survivors are eager to put you to work so they can have their first real 'days off' in three years! Survivors have set up their various areas in the hopes of catching your attention and (possibly!) bolster their numbers! Feel free to wander around, talk to other PCs, and get the lay of the land.

ENGINEERING CORPS

Thorkil has welded a sign to a post out front, cheerfully painted by a gaggle of children to say "WELCOME!" The children are crowded around the area, and Thorkil is telling them stories about one of his many tattoos as you approach — he has a magnificent eagle tattooed on his arm, and in a hush he is explaining how it landed on him and tried to bite him like a mosquito, and how he slapped it and it just splattered right there on his arm and he's never been able to wash it off!

The children seem mesmerized by the story (maybe you are too?) and will scatter at the story's conclusion, tugging you over to the various areas, pointing things out excitedly. What is an Ehlers-Chau sublight engine? You're about to find out whether you like it or not! Or maybe you can teach them a thing or two. Those who seem to know their stuff will be eagerly invited on board by Thorkil.

The Engineering division has salvaged its tools and scrap from the Adamant’s wreckage, so it has all of the essentials from metal mills to CNC routers to circuitry tools. A holo projector throws schematics on the wall — a drill, a few potential shelter ideas for long-term settlement, and a new communications tower.

SECURITY DIVISION

Rémi has barely deigned to participate — and seems to have done so only at the request of some of his companions. He's sitting at an unadorned table and he is cleaning a variety of weapons. He will scowl if approached, and seems openly mistrustful of your intentions should you speak to him. Questions about how a conversation with Rémi might go may be posted to the MOD QUESTIONS thread. (Note: We will not be threading Rémi, so these questions will be handwaved!)

Characters who make a positive impression on him will open up the avenue to work for the Security Division later, but he will not be extending any offers now — please allow for a realistic period of development here!

Feel free to lean into another PC's space and comment on how frosty that dude seems! You can also survey the various weapons stored in racks, help out with building spears, the usual suspects.

THEATRE

The theatre doubles as a childcare center, and many of the NPCs bustling about seem very excited and eager for the chance to talk to anyone who ventures in to visit. The theatre is bright and cheerful, paintings have been done on the walls of scenes from children's stories featuring colorful characters.

The thespians will not only try to recruit you (for acting in a play, for teaching, for script writing, for drawing on the walls or caring for children) but they will actively put you to work if they see you standing idle longer than a moment! Your character may find themselves with a paintbrush in hand, or taking part in a recital for a play (you're free to invent one, or put a new spin on an old classic! Romeo and Julio, anyone?) or building a set piece for one of the many local productions.

The Theatre doubles as the protective hub in times of need, so beyond arts education and babysitting, your character may also be tasked with shoring up those defenses, helping to fortify the walls, or other such tasks. And who knows, they may be paired off with someone else rather unexpectedly!

AID STATION

Sunya Hyacinth is the local medical doctor, fueled by coffee and spite. She doesn't have the time to recruit personally — she's flitting about the aid station seeing to the injured.

If you follow her, she will put you to work. Hold this stent, articulate this dislocation, take this blood pressure reading. If anyone appears to have a proficiency for this sort of work, she may inquire after credentials — and anyone who seems to have medical experience is going to immediately be handed the medic's armband, a white band with a blue cross emblazoned on it. This armband will grant any PC an extra amount of respect and trust from the Adamant's survivors — but you'd better be able to live up to it!

Feel free to treat any injured PCs, converse with other 'recruits', help pin that white and blue arm-band on... you know, anything under the sun. Some of the patients in the medical bay seem to be suffering from the adverse effects of some of the local flora — itching hives or burning pustules. One unfortunate soul seems only able to speak in limericks, which the medical staff will admit is one of the odder things they’ve seen.

SANITATION

CONTENT WARNING: DRUG REFERENCES

It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it! There are always latrines to be dug, pipes to be repaired, general maintenance to be done on the various sanitation systems.

A nervous-looking janitor will approach your character almost shyly, and ask if you wouldn't mind giving her a hand. If you are willing to help her (fix a pipe, dig a hole, etc), she will gradually warm up to you and seem more animated and lively and very, very grateful. Won't you please consider working with the Sanitation crew? Sure, it's not as glamorous as some of the other duties, but they're the backbone of the Basecamp and they could really use the help!

She'll even let you in on a little secret if you really butter her up or show an interest — the Sanitation Crew? Totally has a little underground greenhouse where they're growing marijuana. They're totally willing to share...

Feel free to dig latrines alongside your fellow PCs, or maybe even share a joint. It's a way to pass the time, right? PCs serving in sanitation will also have an easier time overhearing the gossip that spreads around the base, since no one looks twice at them.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

CONTENT WARNING: REFERENCES TO MASS DEATH

During their first two weeks in the basecamp, any character who stops by one of the various houses of worship (in addition to a church, a synagogue, and a mosque, there is a temple with small statues to fifteen different unfamiliar deities, many of whom seem to be from different faiths), the gymnasium, or the mess hall will come across a stand that hosts a dozen or so packages.

Wrapped in the black emergency blankets that many bring with them to and from the bunks, these packages are about one cubic foot and contain folded clothes in roughly the same sizes. The styles are all different and highly individualized. Some are luxe, some are basic, and some are clearly the undershirt (but not the proper outerwear) for uniforms of the Adamant’s crew. Warm-faced folks eagerly give out a single package to each new hatchling. Along with the clothing and blanket, hatchlings will receive basic packages containing basic toiletries — bar soap, a toothbrush, a straight razor, etc.

Come by at the wrong time, and you might see a fight break out. A young person, red-faced, shouts at the volunteers working these stands, “Those were our people! Our families! We should be the one to decide what’s done with what they left behind.”

In hushed tones, clearly trying to keep this from becoming a conflict, the lead volunteer insists, “Take it up with Captain Childe.”


A few notes:
Feel free to have your character sign on to help out with any of the listed divisions, with the exception of security.

☆ Characters may collect one (1) care package from the community outreach program. If your character intends to come back for more, please let us know in the Mod Questions thread.

☆ Feel free to ask for light NPC interactions in the MOD QUESTIONS header; we can give you a general idea of how a conversation might go! Like with the Captain Childe threads, none of these threads will be lengthy, and new tag-ins will not be responded to after MAY 24.

❀ THE DREAMING

You are standing at the edge of an immense, underground lake. Water laps at the shore, echoing in the cavern. There is a sense of peace and warmth and — welcome.

A creature emerges from the lake and approaches you. Its gills flutter, its eyes are a faint bioluminescent glow in the darkness. It reaches out to touch you — one long, elegant finger presses against your chest. It feels as if it might crack your sternum open and ferret beneath your bones as if looking, looking for something. Yet, there is no malice from it, and you feel no fear.

But the creature relents. It backs up. Bows to you once, and then turns and walks back into the water.

You stay for some time at the edge of the lake. Eventually, it seems as if another person is here with you, or perhaps they simply came into focus after being here just as long as you. Should you speak with them?

A few notes:
PCs may interact with one another in the dreams. They will be in a semi-conscious state, not wholly aware they are dreaming and not wholly under the impression of its normalcy.

☆ Your character will wake up naturally from the Dreaming, they will feel peaceful and refreshed.
The lake, if they choose to swim in it while dreaming, would be perceived as the perfect ambient temperature for them — some characters may prefer it to be warmer or colder!

☆ If they duck below the water, they will see far-off glittering city lights, but no matter how they try to swim towards them they will never get any closer!

☆ If your character tries to drink the water, they might notice that for a few minutes after they wake they can hear little snippets of NPC thoughts. Weird!

☆ Every character will have a small, pale lilac mark where they were touched on the chest. It will fade over the next few days.

❀ FETCH QUEST

CONTENT WARNING: REFERENCES TO LIGHT APHRODISIAC EFFECTS

A small, perky woman corrals you somewhere near the latrines. "Hey!" she says insistently, pushing her hat back and sending a spill of inky curls askew from her forehead. "We need a hand. There's this plant we get for Sunya — the Doc? You met her yet? — it's a painkiller. Go through a shitload of that, which I'm sure is quite surprising," she says all this in a single breath, and her expression is sour despite her cheery tone.

"You any good at botany? We need another round of Starspire root. Can't harvest the ones we've got in camp, they've been a little cranky lately. You'll have to go about four kilometers due west, towards the old Adamant wreck. Just watch them — if they start to sweat, you'll need to get under cover, means the acid rain is coming. I'll upload the specs to your Comm."

Seems like you're being partnered with somebody else for the run — another person looking perhaps about as equally haggard as you, and at least as equally voluntold. Hopefully you won't run into any difficulties — how hard can retrieving one plant be?

A few notes:
☆ Feel free to have random monster encounters along the way! Don’t forget to wait for approvals on bestiary submissions before incorporating them into threads.

☆ The plants are at a high elevation, so they will exist on rocky outcroppings along a cliff-face. The landscape here is mostly high desert, which means it is full of thin, calf-high grasses, scrub plants, and non arable land polluted by dense, alkaline soil and rocks. Be creative in how you get there!

☆ Somebody gets hurt? Here, chew this root! They said it was a painkiller, right? What's the worst that could happen? (People can get a little ... flirtatious, shall we say.)

☆ Or you could go one step further and try exploring portions of the Adamant! Remember, the ship itself was built to house seventy thousand people — it's the size of a city, and it cannot be adequately explored in an afternoon! If you'd like anything specific to come of this, or if you’d like to know specifics about the Adamant’s layout, please consider submitting a plot request!.

swordjock: (223)

[personal profile] swordjock 2021-05-23 06:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Adora blinks at the question. ] Uh, because I recognize it? And you clearly don't.

[ She gets what Yennefer is saying ㅡ anyone could claim anything for themselves without a proper way to designate true ownership. But she didn't expect to encounter resistance towards her own property, and though she tries to stay cordial, her frustration grows more obvious the longer she holds her hand out. ]

... Look. I know you don't have any reason to trust me right now, but that's definitely mine. It's for self defence. [ She adds, as if that isn't the most obvious thing in the world. It's a dagger; it's not for picking noses. ] If you need a weapon, I'll find you one that isn't taken. Riiiiiight after you give my dagger back. So... deal?
swordjock: (182)

mess hall

[personal profile] swordjock 2021-05-23 06:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Adora snorts at the end of all joy. The starting phrase is unfamiliar, but the game itself isn't; not too far from the sort of thing her and Catra came up with to amuse themselves back in the Horde. (Only, their answers usually consisted of 'smog', 'guards', or, in Catra's case, 'a blonde idiot'.) ]

It's not that bad. [ Then, upon a second glance at the food in front of her, she grimaces. ] Okay, so maybe it is that bad. But uh, what's up with the tiny tree? Should we be eating this, or planting it?

[ She holds up the wilting broccoli between two fingers, her eyebrows scrunched in confusion. Bright Moon had salads, but she's never seen anything that just looked like a sad bush. ]
fortyforged: (memory slipped)

[personal profile] fortyforged 2021-05-23 06:51 pm (UTC)(link)
That's a completely understandable sentiment. The Exo isn't sure about what to do here but it seems they're stuck, and the current people here have been in this situation much longer.

Lifting a hand, he taps a finger against the side of his spikey metal head. "Memory's not so good. One too many reboots." More than one, really.
neversmall: (020)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-23 06:56 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not sure yet. [ She mutters, an aside: ] This place could do with a timer.

[ She's not sure how long they have left. ]

I imagine Rusalye to look a bit more... helpless and menacing than what I remember feeling in my dream. There was no sense of threat.

[ The water cuts out. ]

Blast. [ Nina bends and quickly captures some of the water left on the ground to rub out the lather at the ends of her hair. Standing, she reaches for one of the damp towels and wraps it around herself. Even with the towel thus secured, the lilac mark on her chest is still clearly visible. ]
sunmon: (pic#14873539)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-23 07:00 pm (UTC)(link)
That's true.

[ she'd reached for the nearest familiar thing — or was it just what she'd wanted to see? alina glances over, notices the lack of water. ]

You can use mine. [ she steps back out of it, gestures for nina to take her place. ] I hadn't started shampooing yet. [ so she'll survive. no soap left to wash out, and nina seems to have gotten caught right in the middle. alina's hair will be oily, but she can't say she's panicked about the prospect of looking less attractive in their present climate, with their present company.

she goes for her own towel, then.
] You've never had a dream like that before? [ it reminded her so much of the stag. but maybe it was the same as seeing rusalye in the creature that had touched her — touched them. maybe she was just searching for the comfort of meaning. ]
neversmall: (061)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-23 07:01 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Acknowledged, a lifetime of practice has her moving to stand 'at ease,' her hands at her sides. She doesn't bother to fight the ingrained responses; she doesn't see the need. It is very rude to listen in to the General's heartbeat, but there are certain senses she can not turn off and, knowing what she's going to need to do, Nina doesn't try to - in fact, the only reason why she doesn't Focus on him is because she's sure he'd be able to tell. ]

I heard you were here, but I wasn't sure I believed it until now. [ It seems impossible to her that he should be here, and not in Ravka, where he was desperately needed. That has to be incredibly aggravating to him. She decides to make explicit where she'd heard about him, so he knows she's been caught up on certain relevant and equally incredible facts: ] I met Alina.

[ There is a sun summoner now. Amazing. Marvelous. Hopeful... impossible. Why is she here too, when they finally have the means to do something about the Fold? ]
Edited 2021-05-23 19:03 (UTC)
fossils: (pic#14195588)

[personal profile] fossils 2021-05-23 07:03 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He raises an eyebrow at pirate. Explains the fancy get-up, huh?

To the question he shakes his head. ]


Special ops. [ Not standard. He'd had to find and tear out the gps chip and a second, hidden bug. His tone is neutral when he adds: ] Former.

[ And anyway-- ]

Self-proclaimed gods, huh?

[ Met more than his fair share of those himself. ]
fossils: (pic#8363523)

[personal profile] fossils 2021-05-23 07:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He raises an eyebrow, his reluctance written on his face as he eyes her again. ]

Like I said, I'm not an expert. They vaporized nearly everyone who tried to use them. [ He saw the tesseract do it. His frown deepens, a slow burning heat slipping into his tone. ]

Except that bastard. And he destroyed them when he was done.
neversmall: (004)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-23 07:18 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Nina's expression lights up in amusement. She's not strong enough to resist a straight line like that. ]

I'm sure you would be, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. [ She extends a hand that is surprisingly firm, considering the overall softness of the rest of her, but not calloused. ] Nina Zenik.

[ As always, her awareness of someone's heartbeat and overall self is increased when she actually touches them. This is not something she can control. She's learned to keep her handshakes brief. ] And where are you from, Balthier?
psychometries: (047)

rip 😔

[personal profile] psychometries 2021-05-23 07:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Cal was literally just sitting here, eating his food... when suddenly a lot of things happen in very quick succession. He isn't quite fast enough to intervene when Adora suddenly whacks BD-1 with her staff—the droid goes flying with a sad, startled shriek—but he does knock his chair over when he stands and moves to put himself between her and BD-1, both hands up in a gesture of peace.

Of course, this isn't before his plate flips over into his lap, but. You know. He has more important things to worry about right now. ​]


Whoa, whoa! He's not going to hurt you! [ He pauses a little, his hands still up, and turns his head to find BD-1, who is already back on his feet, extending his legs as if testing that they still work fine. One of his antennae is a little bent, but... ] You okay, buddy?
neversmall: (109)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-23 07:26 pm (UTC)(link)
It's fine, you finish. [ Nina gestures for Alina to step back in. ] I've got most of it out.

[ She glances down at her chest, a bit uncertainly. ] I'm not entirely sure that it was a dream. I don't remember it very clearly, but... I do remember the sense of welcome. And it - he - the creature touched me. Here. [ Nina taps her chest just next to the spot, sending water droplets arching off. ] And there's... something still there. I don't know of any dreams that do that.
sunmon: (Default)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-23 07:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[ alina doesn't argue. there's no sense in wasting time going back and forth, so she gets some shampoo and digs it stubbornly into her roots, then sticks her head under. she won't be able to do the full length of her hair, but at least she can target the worst parts. sudsy water drains down through the rest of it. ]

The mark. I have one, too. I went to the aid station, to one of the healers, but nothing he tried got rid of it. [ she rights her head, wringing out her hair just as the shower tap shuts off. water splatters on the steel floor around her feet. ] What do you think it is?
neversmall: (Default)

theater

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-23 07:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Nina's not an expert with children, theater, or painting, but she does enjoy being the center of attention and making other people laugh, so she's wound up with a small following of older children who she is helping rehearse their lines. There is a splatter of paint on the tip of her nose and on her right cheek.

It is human nature to turn your head when a baby starts to cry, and by the expression on Cal's face, the baby soon won't be the only one. Children, like any mark, can sense uncertainty, and she's not sure she likes the way the other kids in Cal's circle are eyeing him up.

What do you say, she says conspiratorially to Laura and Eddie, shall we rescue them?

Laura scrunches up her nose, as if not sure if she's too cool to help; Eddie, a true champion, shrugs. Nina grins at them both, nods her head to the side, and then sets down her paint brush to walk over to Cal. She is somewhat dubiously followed by Laura (12) and Eddie (11). ]


Is there anyone over here who can help us? We were having a hard time deciding if a tiger was yellow and orange, with black stripes, or purple and blue with green polka dots.

[ The ridiculous statement has a few kids snickering. Nina does not reach for the baby, instead she nods at Cal and mouths: Turn the baby around.

Sometimes baby's like it better when they can see. ]
psychometries: (091)

[personal profile] psychometries 2021-05-23 07:47 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Well, when he puts it like that... Cal does have the grace to look a little sheepish for how quickly he jumped to conclusions, and he awkwardly runs his hand through his hair before lowering it. Five years of constantly looking over his shoulder have made him a little paranoid, and the habit is hard to break. ]

I didn't mean to—sorry, we just haven't had very good experiences with probe droids. [ They're usually trying to kill them. He gestures towards Redwing, because that's what he assumes the drone is.

From his spot on the table, BD-1 beep-boops something in Binary, antennae lowered and cowering a little—if possible, he looks as much like a skittish puppy as a droid can look. Cal's expression immediately softens. ]


It's okay, buddy. You didn't do anything wrong.
neversmall: (139)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-23 07:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Haven't the foggiest clue, [ she admits with no small amount of aggravation. Really. Translations being put right in her head to foreign words, waking up in an egg, covered in goo, on an alien world, and now fish!people who leave marks and - apparently?? - sharing a dream with a sun summoner. If you ask Nina what the world is coming to right now, she's laying even money down on them all being force to squawk like chickens and peck there way across the yard as just as likely as anything else. ] I can guess, but it wouldn't be based on anything real. Just - impressions.

[ Nina rakes both hands through her hair and then shakes it slightly at the scalp, the aggravated motion lifting and drying the dark wet strands. ] Come on. When you're done, let's get out of here. I've got some contraband from home we can sneak off and eat while we talk about dreams and impossible things.

[ Really, she should ration her tin of cookies. But cookies go stale, and what's the point of saving something beyond the point of enjoyment? ]
psychometries: (007)

[personal profile] psychometries 2021-05-23 08:01 pm (UTC)(link)
[ For the record, BD-1 isn't too far away—the two of them are pretty much inseparable at this point, so wherever one is you can inevitably find the other—probably making a nuisance of himself by exploring the gym and scanning random things.

But anyway, Cal gives Zeta a small, friendly smile when he recognizes her, lowering his lightsaber and coming out of his last stance into one that's a lot more relaxed. He doesn't shut off the blade, though, and so it hums softly at his side. ]


A lightsaber. I guess they don't have them where you come from? [ Please don't make him say Phantagrande skydoms.

That's still a strange idea for him to wrap his head around, though. Back home, probably every single person in the galaxy would be able to recognize the weapon on sight, since lightsabers are so distinctive, and so inextricably tied to the Jedi. He's not used to having to explain these things at all.

His gaze slides to the huge spear(?) slung over her shoulder, and his eyebrows raise. ]


And what's that?
sunmon: (pic#14899426)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-23 08:08 pm (UTC)(link)
I suppose I don't have much right, complaining about impossible things.

[ she pulls her towel off the rack and winds it around herself, walking back towards the benches where she had left her clothes. the black and gold kefta waits there for her, like a dead rat that she can't work up the courage to dispose of. ]

If it was real, what about the lake? [ she removes her towel to start drying off with greater focus. if it weren't already obvious from the time in the communal showers, she's got little in the way of hang-ups on modesty. she's had too many attendants try too diligently to bathe her since coming to the little palace. ] Do you think it's on this planet, or somewhere else?

[ she wants to sit down over her sketchbook and scribble down notes, questions. create some kind of tally and start really digging into theories that might make it make sense. ]
psychometries: (127)

[personal profile] psychometries 2021-05-23 08:25 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Very Mandalorian of him to keep the helmet on. Cal doesn't even think twice about it as he catches up to BD-1, who is just patiently waiting in front of a rift in the hull—skinny compared to the rest of the ship, but plenty big enough for the two of them to get through. ]

It must've been some kind of colony. [ Either a new one that this group would found, or an old one that they would join.

At least, that's what Cal assumes. People in his galaxy can move pretty freely between planets, and there have been plenty of instances of large groups of settlers migrating either coreward or rimward in search of a better life, depending on what they deemed "better." They definitely didn't need a ship built for such a long flight, though—only if they might be going somewhere in Wild Space or beyond.

With a shrug, he extends his arm toward BD-1 so that they droid can hop on—Beedee scuttles up the length of his arm and settles into his usual spot on Cal's back as he leads the way through the rift. ]
spalten: (pic#14899510)

[personal profile] spalten 2021-05-23 08:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Possibly.

There doesn't seem to be any pretenses as to what this ship is - purely for civilian use, as far as I can see.


[ no battleship would be this huge without as much armaments crawling all over every inch of space; he has no doubts that it has room for such but perhaps only in a self-defence measure.

it's dusty inside, and dark. there's light coming thru all of the rifts and cracks that have damaged the hull and the rest of the interior, painting a rather grim and lonely picture of the long-abandoned wreck. ]


Watch your step.
medik: (as the war machine keeps turning)

yakov yurovsky / as portrayed in `the last czars`

[personal profile] medik 2021-05-23 08:40 pm (UTC)(link)
A SPACE OF AFFLICTION
I.—
limited to one reply.
[ Yakov finds his way to the aid station after returning his plate. He is, after all, a medic, even if one day ago he thought that part of his life was finally, mercifully behind him.

The people here, unlike most of the wounded on the Eastern Front, are generally those with a chance of being helped. It figures that nothing except another war could compare to that which created the hideous welter he was so shortly ago responsible for trying to repair. The residents of this place are quick to exchange his red cross armband for a blue one when they cross paths with him, offering up clean strip of cloth that's actually white, not tinged gray-brown; Yakov, to his credit, accepts it without argument. Without much of anything, really: he doesn't have anything useful to say, and he's still taking it all in. And then he resumes stitching, rinsing, debriding.

Most of the cases here, excepting traumatic injuries, seem to be of a distinctly tropical variety. The patterns of the rashes are work for a doctor or a village elder, not a medic who, before the war, had no medical experience at all. It's for that reason that Yakov sticks to the gashes and scrapes, at least until he catches a familiar, distinctly topographical rash on an exposed calf from the corner of his eye while walking through the aisle of the ward.

He doubles back and briefly introduces himself to the man, bending down to run a gloved finger over the colorless patch of tightly clustered bumps with a frown before turning to the nearest aid worker for a second opinion. ]


That looks like a nettle sting.
II.—
[ If your character comes into the aid station wounded, they'll find that Yakov is quick to address the immediate issues until someone with medical experience beyond emergency stabilization is available. If he catches a sliver of fear in the eyes of a patient as they wait for a doctor, he'll wordlessly rest a hand on their shoulder; if they look like they need to hold someone's hand, he's willing to do that, too. ]

WHEN NIGHT COMES
I.—
[ The blank silence of the wet heavy air crushes Yakov like the pressure of the ocean's deepest reaches as he stares up at the gray ceiling of his new accommodations. There is, of course, the trilling of some pervasive insect, the occasional hoots and screeches of some sort of monkey or bird, the more familiar sound of croaking frogs—but the backdrop of distant mortars has been yanked away all at once, leaving a void in its wake. The jungle is, if anything, more alive now than it was when he arrived, in diametric opposition to the human body's schedule as if to make a point of how out of place he is here, how out of place they all are.

Space travel. Sure, it's something they'd thought about from time to time, but not too deeply. Not when there was so much so profoundly wrong in their current environment. Yakov reaches for the pamphlet on the crate beside his bunk and opens it to the dogeared page he left off on an hour ago, skimming the familiar words in the semidarkness.

Characters who can read Cyrillic may notice the title, or, more likely, its author: What Is To Be Done? Burning Questions of our Movement by V. I. Lenin.
II.—
cw: smoking.
The pamphlet, unlike the larger canon of Comrade Lenin's writings, has a finite end. Yakov quietly sets it to the side, mindful of the fact that someone else is mercifully asleep a few feet away, then gets up, slipping his feet into his boots and wandering down the hallway with an unlit cigarette dangling between his bony fingers.

He makes his way to the edge of the communal housing block before he lights it and shakes out the match; he's always preferred to smoke while looking at something. In this case it's the half-darkness enveloping what one might generously refer to as some kind of patio or courtyard, a place that, crawling with humans though it may be, has already been permeated by the creeping tendrils of the verdant landscape.

When the blur of a humanoid figure appears in his peripheral vision, Yakov wordlessly extends the hand holding the cigarette without turning his head. That gesture, at least, is familiar. ]

EVEN THE TREES HATE US
I.—
limited to one reply.
[ Yakov proceeds through the high scrub as one would expect a soldier to—head lowered slightly to account for his own height, semiautomatic pistol held in front of him while cocked and loaded. He moves as quietly as he can, alternating between scanning the horizon and glancing down at the dense clumps of yellow grass for signs of movement—though south Siberia isn't as riddled with snakes as other parts of the country, he still learned to watch for adders and moccasins in his youth, an instinct that transfers easily to this kind of environment.

The meter-high threshold for plant growth eventually gives way to a strip of gray-trunked trees with masses of endlessly forking branches that half-obscure the cliff face behind them; the yellow ground, hard and dry though it may be, is increasingly carved by dozens of overlapping animal tracks, some with cloved hooves, some with paws. All of them point toward or away from the treeline.

Which, he realizes upon reaching it, actually marks the severe edge of a ravine, at least twice as deep as he is tall. The animals were approaching it for the thin trickle of water at its lowest crevice. ]


Fuck, [ he sighs, running a hand over his forehead. Yakov tilts his head back, regards the gash in the land's surface with veiled frustration. ] There's no way to cross that. We have find some way to go around.
OTHER
if you have an idea that's not on here, hit me up by pm or shoot me a message on discord at grinchhands mcgee#7599! yakov's likely to be seen helping where he can, mostly at the aid station but also with fortifications, very basic structural repairs, etc. ]
neversmall: (046)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-23 08:54 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Nina is not exactly comfortable about the quasi-public nudity, but she is pragmatic about it. She's also finely attuned to a time and a place, careful not to let gazes drift or to charge an atmosphere. She grew up in mixed company and she'd meant it when she'd told Matthias there hadn't been time for maidenly blushing. (There had been time for a lot of other things that were also not maidenly, thus attuning her sense of time and place.)

She's traded her kefta for the comfortable clothes that were packed in her egg; skirt, blouse, vest, undergarments. She still stands out in them - although plain, they're not worn in the same way the Adament's resources are - and they are decidedly Ravkan in style, but the statement she makes in wearing it and not her kefta is a certain one. She dresses efficiently. ]


The impression I had of the creature was one of welcome. [ Nina shakes her head a little. ] So yes, I think it's on this planet. If it's real or not...

[ Her fingers pause in tightening her laces and then she shakes her head again. ] I'm not certain. I don't think the mark is something harmful. I don't sense anything different about my body...
sunmon: (pic#14873539)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-23 09:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Neither do I.

[ except for the mark, there are no symptoms. she rubs at her chest once more before she begins to dress — pants and a shirt that are suitably dark and formal to go beneath the kefta that she'd brought. she casts a glance in nina's direction as she finishes buttoning the blouse. ]

You know, I suggested to Kirigan that we should blend in better if he wants to join the security team. [ nina had obviously made the same decision. ] The chief security officer is awful. Did you meet him? [ she reaches for the kefta and starts stuffing her arms into the sleeves. ] I think Matthias had trouble with him too.
neversmall: (Default)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-23 09:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Hi mods! A Rémi question here:

Nina's likely to approach him toward the end of the recruitment fair, wearing the medic's armband she's already earned. She's not really interested in joining security, and will make that clear in her Nina way, but she is interested in learning a bit about what they do, what the threats are, etc. (She's seen how busy the Aid Station is and is Concerned and would like to know a bit more about what to expect.)

She's hoping the chief of security could help a girl out or point her in the right direction if he's got someone else he'd rather have deal with her. What do you think, will she get any info?

ETA: Nina's been talking about the Dreaming with PCs which has led her to wonder if any of the Adament crew has ever experienced them. If she asks one of the NPCs in the Aid Station that she's been befriending/helping something like, "When you first arrived, did you have any fishy dreams?", what might their response be?
Edited 2021-05-24 03:12 (UTC)
neversmall: (003)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-23 09:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Her eyes widen a little in surprise: ] Is that what he's interested in doing?

[ Nina somehow can't imagine General Kirigan working under... anyone. Well. She supposes he works under the king; they'd all been under the king, but in the Little Palace, it wasn't the king they swore by. ]

I haven't met Rémi yet, though I've heard about him. [ She shoots Alina a wry look. ] Why, what happened?
sunmon: (Default)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-23 09:46 pm (UTC)(link)
He made it quite clear that no one who hatched from an egg knows enough about this planet to be of any use to his operation.

[ which is the only operation that really leaves the comfort of the leviathan's wings. that might be something that could help them figure out a way back to ravka, even — the chance to really look around at what's on the planet. what if there's another leviathan, still alive? ]

I'd hoped to help with mapping.