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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.
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.
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:
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:
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!
☆ 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:
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.
☆ 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.
☆ 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:
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.
☆ 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:
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!.
☆ 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!.
Marion "Mops" Adamopoulos | Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse | OTA
[Either someone's asked you to bring a bucket of supplies or a bowl of gruel here, or you were drawn by the steam billowing out near the showers and the hissing of escaping pressure; regardless, there's a lot of effort going on here.
While the shower system was being installed, someone had confused the measurement of the full diameter of a pipe and the diameter of the pipe's insides. Consequently there are a few places where the plumbing is held together with layer on layer of thick, dripping tape. The persistent warmth and damp have let some kind of rustlike lichen bristle off of various surfaces where you don't want creatively placed bristles. Mops is working on getting these joins properly replaced and has diverted most of the flow so she can actually do it.
She seems to loom abruptly out of a cloud of too-hot-to-be-comfortable steam. If Mops had been a classic human she would have been bright pink from this heat, with eyes reddened by the irritating droplets. Since her blood is black, she's gone an unsettling dark gray instead, and the whites of her eyes are much darker than the odd shining blue of her irises. Her skin is wet, her graying hair soaked, and water forms running beads over her scuffed uniform.]
You shouldn't be here. It's hot, you could pass out.
the big noisy mess toplevel
[As you're passing through the camp, you might see a big gray-tinged woman protecting her head with her arm as a major jury-rigged shelving unit she's trying to secure suffers a long overdue catastrophic failure. Shelves in different sizes and colors cascade and go sliding across the floor, canisters and little boxes tumbling and rolling out with vigor, various of them glancing off her. If they slide enough to ram into your ankles that could bruise, and the footing has gone treacherous. The shelf's sides topple and the large, heavy headboard seems to hesitate before tipping over, slow at first and then very quickly. She catches it with a loud smack of metal and plastic on flesh.
Calmly, with only a moderate amount of strained patience in her tone, Mops says something that technically translates fine but without the cultural context sounds a little off.]
...tentacle incest. This is why you don't just use glue to build furniture.
[More loudly, as she leans the headboard against the wall:]
Anyone got hit by that?
the somber toplevel
[The memorial wall displays some remnant of everyone who's died on this planet, whether it's as plain as the letters of their name or a much-worn personal shrine with pictures and fresh flowers. There are thousands of names, far too many for any one visit to see them all, but Mops is giving it a try, making her slow way down the wall, sometimes stretching out an outsized hand to touch the carvings as she goes. Her face is sad and wondering. Eventually her AI, Doc, tells her Take a break, you're getting overwhelmed. They're not going anywhere, sir.
She finds a place to sit down, a wax-spattered bench where mourners come with candles, and wipes at tears. Mops is mostly addressing herself and Doc, but she does say it out loud, where anyone could hear and respond.]
Can you imagine this many people, alive?
wildcard
[Mops is a tall, stocky, gray-tinged woman who has a suggestion of undeath to her, though she's very much a living person. She can mostly be found around camp, taking quickly to Sanitation with a minor side of Engineering, and being fascinated with people. Mops is playing it cool but definitely regards red-blooded humans and humanlike people in a bit of an odd way, with a kind of disbelieving, anxious for them awe.]
big noisy messy toplevel
Then she turns toward the sound, moving on her way to begin picking up rolling objects... ]
No, it's fine - I was far enough away. Are you all right? [ She seems... a little gray. ] And did you just say tentacle incest?
no subject
[Can natural-born humans get seriously injured from tripping? She really doesn't know. Mops flexes the hand that caught most of the weight, testing its motion and reactiveness and feeling it with her other hand, trying to gauge if there's been any degree of injury. No bones are out of place. In her ear her personal AI, Doc, looks for changes in her heart rate and blood flow and makes an assessment.]
Might be a bruise, that's all. And maybe my dignity, but [She flashes a smile; her teeth are strange.] That heals quickly. And yes, it's a Krakau expression. Funny the things you don't know you're picking up, huh?
no subject
Language can be like that - that's what Krakau is, another language?
no subject
A species, actually. Their most common language is Liktok, which I can sort of understand, even if my pronunciation's off. I'm surprised it translated at all, actually. The big appeal of cursing in Liktok is getting to whistle aggressively and click like you're biting someone.
Hmm. You wouldn't have any nails over that way, would you?
no subject
And no, no nails that I can see. [ She glances around at the spilled... everything. ] Maybe there's some here?
no subject
[Your pronunciation is terrible. It's like if you fired pressurized air through a glove with a hole in it, Doc says, privately and unhelpfully.]
That's too bad. I should try and figure out a way to rig this back in place. Without using more glue. That's just a bad idea... Maybe heavy tape...
no subject
[ Which is just. Aggravating. ]
I don't know much about fixing bookshelves, I'm afraid. How would heavy tape be better than glue?
no subject
[She's examining the wreckage and takes a second to answer.]
It's more mechanically sound. Glue holding up much weight, if you don't have the right sort, either starts to break down over time or lose its connection to whatever it's applied to. Or it doesn't, but the outer layers of the thing it's glued to feel the strain and pull loose. That's what happened here, see?
Tape can work more like cord if you have enough of it, and then even if and when the adhesive fails the backing still holds things together. I've only got the one roll of the really strong tape though, so if I can find another way...
no subject
It's convenient, I suppose. [ And it is, she can easily acknowledge that. ] But I'm not overly keen on the idea of something translating other people's words. I've no way of knowing what I'm missing.
[ Nina shakes her head a little. ]
I wish you the best of luck with figuring it out. Is there a place you'd like me to put the things that have fallen out in the meantime?
[ Considering she's just... holding onto what she's picked up right now. ]
horror movie toplevel
Cue Mops suddenly leaning out of the hot, humid steam like a slasher villain in a horror flick, the final bowl of gruel abruptly flung into the air as Lys startles.]
Wah—!
[What cuts through her confusion-fear-surprise isn't any kind of humbling realization about Mops as a person, but rather the split-second understanding that the bowl of gruel is still airborne and falling fast. Tearing her stunned gaze away from that unsettling gray skin and those strange eyes, Lys frantically twists around and manages to catch it, tilting the bowl to save the gruel.]
Oh geez, oh crap, oh geez...!
no subject
I'll be done before too long. You can leave it here - thank you for thinking of me.
[This is hardly a good place to leave food so it doesn't get contaminated by something, but for Mops it doesn't matter a whole lot. She'll want to water it down so it's easier to syringe into her stomach anyway.]
no subject
[She's talking before she knows what she's saying, stupid words climbing out of her stupid throat and arranging themselves into a stupid non-sentence. It's not that she's scared; fear implied she had a vested interest in her own survival. It's just such a shock, you know? Fur and rippling muscles and a bushy tail would've been infinitely more familiar, if absolutely less welcome.
She grips the bowl just a little more tightly, using it as an anchor even as she holds it out for Mops to take.]
I-It's no problem! You're helping to fix the pipes and stuff, so...of course we're gonna make sure you get something to eat.
[She's still staring. Her mother had told her that staring was rude and not to do it, but how is she supposed to stop? Maybe a hesitant smile will help soften the effect. Or maybe it'll make everything worse!]
And I mean...you should finish it while it's hot, right? B-But if you want something else, I can see what they have?
no subject
'I'm just a little different from you' will probably not go down well. She steps back, lets the steam obscure her features.]
It'll go better for me if it's cooled, actually. You really are going to overheat if you stay here. Give me a minute, I'm almost done.
[Mops is mostly fine, the inside of her suit is cooling. Which is the reason she doesn't have her helmet bubble up, really - the temperature change would mean so much condensation she wouldn't be able to see.]
no subject
"Tentacle incest"? I need to add that to my repertoire.
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[Mops grunts as she wrestles the body of the shelving unit back upright. It stands, but with a sullen lean that suggests this state won't last long. Having heard the call of the floor, it means to answer it.]
- the way you can air-bite the last click. It's satisfying. Hi, Varric.
no subject
[And makes him appreciate all the more that the common tongue is so widely spoken throughout Thedas. He's becoming aware that there's a wide variety of languages being spoken here, apparently flattened into one for all their benefit.]
Hello, Mopsy. [The nicknaming work was clearly done for him long ago, why mess with it more than necessary?]
Need a second pair of hands? Or someone to reach the low shelves, maybe.
no subject
Maybe I shouldn't have told you my nickname. You could've discovered it yourself, if you can pick it out of whatever you hear "Adamopolous" as. Or maybe something else. [Beat.] Hello, Varric.
Sure. I need to rig this back together but this has happened like three times now, I've got a system at this point. They really slapped these together, with the glue.
no subject
[He steps forward to clear what's still on the bottom shelf off of it to keep it all out of the way...just in case.]
Or maybe I'll run some ideas past you. Randomly, just to keep you on your toes.
[Read: Varric may end up calling Mops something different every time he sees her. Just for giggles.]
So, what can I do? Even I understand you don't glue a shelf together, but my manual labour skills aren't quite up to par, unless you think an arrow could hold it together.
no subject
[So she says. Even at her canonpoint it's not really true, but it's hard, being around humans who are so different from the ones Mops knows. They don't even all have the unity of being reborn in creches and joining the EMC a couple months later, which even the most disparate cured humans share.]
If you can hold this part steady, I've picked up some little brackets and can just drill in the screws... Construction's not really my field either, but I've picked up some things.
no subject
[Not that he quite believes anybody is completely simple and straightforward. But it's always nice to talk to someone who just doesn't put the airs on.]
Sure, I can hold things. [Carrying around a crossbow needs a lot of upper body strength, so he does, in fact, hold it very steady.]
Maybe I should start learning new fields myself - my skillset isn't exactly in demand around here.
no subject
Slightly higher on that side please - thanks. [Lucky she has Doc to calculate angles and doesn't need other tools to make sure it's level.] It's never a bad idea to diversify. I started out as a plumbing technician. That's an important position and I was never lacking in things to do, but one day we had a pest problem...
[She's familiarized herself with the handheld drill. It makes a faint, high pitched, zweeee! now, sending a vibration like a cat's purr through the material as she gets brackets placed and drilled.]
no subject
[He only considers afterwards that perhaps that was some very bizarre innuendo, but oh well.]
Got it.
[But as he's holding it, he jumps violently at the sound of the handheld drill.]
I'm never going to get used to this shit. [But he's grinning - he kind of honestly loves that the technology here might be outstripping the magic. It's cool.]
What kind of a pest problem are we talking about?
sorry about the delay
Is it jarring, being here? You seem to be taking it pretty well.
[Doc highlights spots for Mop to work on, and she follows that lead. She's not really good with calculations and the whole preserving structural integrity thing.]
Barnacles. Commander Dance - that's Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies - was keeping some in an enclosure in her quarters. She didn't bother with a good filter. Adult barnacles are fixed in place. But they make larval barnacles, which are microscopic and free-swimming, until they find a place to attach and start growing...