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raiamods ([personal profile] raiamods) wrote in [community profile] ethyraia2021-08-08 03:57 pm

hatching mini-event 003

WHO: All PCs
WHAT: New characters arrive on Ethyraia as MONSOON FLOODS ARRIVE at the Basecamp!
WHEN: August 8-21
WHERE: Basecamp Leviathan & nearby fields
NOTES/WARNINGS: mentions of corpses, flooding, and cult religion


AUGUST MINI-EVENT ❀
CONTENT WARNINGS: mentions of corpses, flooding, and cult religion

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. This log demonstrates our attempt at approaching engagement aspects within the setting a bit differently and providing people more options directly geared towards the establishment of CR. Let us know how it works for you!

❀ MONSOON BLUES



There are giant thunderheads on the horizon, and the air smells like ozone and petrichor. The skies are black and very little sunlight gets through — but when the sky cracks open along with the newly hatched dragon's eggs on the 8th, the locals aren't up in arms over it. Instead, they are grimly preparing for the inevitability of...

"Monsoon season," Thorkill will explain to anyone listening. "We're all shored up for it this time. Should ride it out just fine so long as we stick together." And the rest of the Adamant's survivors have plenty that the hatchlings can do to help do just that! Hatchlings will be paired up and sent off to help secure the camp: here are sandbags to be made and lined up at the edge of camp to brook the floods, securing non-permanent buildings or structures, and helping to dry or prepare food for longer term storage.

However, Thorkil's engineers insist the washes they've dug should do their job. The tunnels left by the moles are at high risk of flooding and further damaging the entire base's foundational integrity, though, so engineering will be dedicating most of their efforts in the direction of continuing to repair the sinkhole damage.

After a full day of rain, though, these levees and washes aren't feeling quite sufficient. Some of the floodwater is washing into the edges of camp. Don't expect standing water, but it certainly leaves everyone feeling on edge. Most people will still get an itchy rash from contact with any standing groundwater. The particularly sensitive may get blisters! Sunya may also ask for hatchlings' help in distilling the compounds from the Starspire plants that neutralize the acid's effects on skin.

Life around the basecamp:
The weather will worsen over the next two weeks. The winds pick up and some of the buildings at the edge of the encampment get acid-washed. Hope that new community garden that Vidar and Zhongli built is being babysat! The power will begin flickering around the 3rd day of the rains, and on the 5th, the power will cut out completely for 48 hours. Hope you have good night vision! It's rather dark inside the Leviathan, and there are still those pesky shredder mole holes (schmoles?) to contend with. Anyone that can create a light source or is lucky enough to have a flashlight is going to be in high demand!

☆ The power cut hits in the midst of opening night of The Wrath of Ejayla Bon, a play panned as a commercial failure back on Earth that developed cult status amongst the theatre nerds the world(s) over due to its rousing musical features and encouragement of crowd participation. Along with the interactive piece near the end where the villain is (symbolically!) torn apart, there's fun for the whole family! (sidebar: ribbons are used in place of actual gore!)

Vidar has graciously opted to donate one of his Gundam's reactor cores to the NPCS! Given the issues with the power, removing it becomes a top priority during the monsoon! Ian Fowler has been tasked with its removal. Maybe he could use a hand...? Someone to hold the flashlight, bring snacks, etc cetera?

☆ A group calling themselves the Guardians of the Leviathan has cropped up. Part cult of personality, part religious fervor, this group was started by one of the Adamant's survivors by the name of Petra. They claim to have had a different dream than everyone else prior to the Thessyx visit, and they have begun preaching with fervor that Doomsday is coming.

❀ WASHED AWAY


But minor irritation is the least of the camp's worries. On the 9th, after a second day of active storming, Rémi can be heard from a rather alarmingly large radius yelling at some poor underling who seems to have turned tail and ran when the rains started, leaving a group of agricultural harvesters stranded!

Given the reckless action and the danger posed to the rest of the camp as a result of this, Rémi is petitioning to have this person jailed until the process of restorative justice can be started.

The situation feels more pressing when, after three days of heavy rain, three human bodies surface at the edge of camp, washed in by the flood. The remains are old, eaten by the elements, time, and a lot of acid rain. Anyone working at the aid station may be responsible for bringing them back under the cover of the basecamp for burial, and anyone drinking from Thorkil's stash in engineering may hear him telling a sad story of a group of people that splintered off from the Basecamp over a year ago and moved inland. The bodies, he assumes, badly decomposed and identifiable only through genetic testing, are what remains — though he notes that the group was larger than three when they set out, he acknowledges they may never find the others' remains. It's hard not to take this as a sign of what may be to come for the poor missing explorers.

A few notes:

☆ Tensions rise with the water level. As tempers fray, NPCs will be somewhat more testy than usual, and while the goodwill garnered by the PCs is still intact it seems rather less valuable as a currency in and amidst the troubles. No one can seem to decide if anyone should be sent out after the missing group of harvesters.

☆ One of the small congregations of NPCs is starting to get irate about the preferential treatment the Hatchlings are having. These people will be colder, pick fights with the Hatchlings, speak up against them in group settings. They will point out the fact that the Thessyx could have visited at any time over the last three years and helped them and chose not to as their reasoning.

❀ SEARCH & RESCUE

The Zeta Harvesting group is roughly a day's travel from the basecamp, in variable terrain that's prone to wash-outs from the monsoon. The flooding that blocks their way back will be a challenge to navigate, both due to strong, unpredictable currents and the fact that the water does have a mild acidic bent.

Their mission, assigned by the Agricultural group and guarded by Rémi's security volunteers, was to head into the open fields to gather some of the few edible native plants in the narrow window of their growing season. These crops are largely berries and roots that grow under the cover of some of the coniferous trees in the rocky outcroppings nearby. The berry plants and root-plants largely survive by the shade of the trees' branches, but once the flooding starts, there will be no eating them anymore. They'll be washed out and damaged.

Those who were caught in the storm have retreated to neighboring caves, where they are undersupplied and dealing with a bunch of nervous botanists who fancy themselves farmer, all of whom are largely convinced that the caves will flood if they remain here too long. They push anyone accompanying them to try to find a route out of the caves, encouraging their protectors to go out in pairs with the remaining rain shields to scout a safe route home through the trees. Plus, it sounds like something is breathing deep in the caves...

Anyone from the basecamp who volunteers to go seeking the harvesting group that went missing can still communicate intermittently with those stranded, but the comms are spotty. The storm's magnetism seems to be affecting messages, sending them twice or garbled or not at all. Sometimes it sends them to the wrong people altogether, so it's a good time for some fun misfires, or even some phantom messages by the people who owned the comms before! Feel free to have fun with this.

What's more, the road has been washed out by a flash flood — so if anyone who can fly or teleport or has a hovering vehicle feels like going to play hero ... Well, we're not going to discourage them!

A few notes:
PCs are also welcome to have been part of this harvesting mission, which left on August 7th. If anyone wishes to say their character needs a rescue, feel free! This may influence how and why hatchlings might volunteer to go out into the storm to help out! (Note: Newbies will arrive after the harvesting mission has already left, so only pre-existing players can have accompanied the NPCs out. However, new Hatchlings are more than welcome to help out with rescue efforts!)

☆ Standard guidelines for auto-NPCing apply! Feel free to name them, help them or, um, have them dramatically killed! Whatever suits your narrative. Rémi will not be accompanying anyone on this mission, but he will be rather more liberal than normal with his supplies. It seems as if the PCs are starting to earn his trust!

❀ THE TROUBLES WITH QUIBBLES

Monsoon season seems to have kicked off the migratory pattern of many of the creatures native to Ethyraia. A small herd of squirrel-like creatures have taken temporary shelter near basecamp, huddling underneath the junction of dragon wing and body when the rains come on, and they will scatter afterwards. These creatures will not venture into the basecamp properly, but will be seen frolicking on the exterior of the Leviathan and may interfere with patrols done around the premises. They will also be trying to steal food whenever they have the opportunity! Hope you weren't planning on enjoying that... odd, broccoli-flavored... cold gelatin bar...?

Although playful, these creatures may become aggressive if they feel threatened, and it doesn’t take much to startle them. They have a sharp bite that causes many potential symptoms, including a significant drop in body temperature, increased spatial awareness, altered perception of both sound and color, and a short temper. It also seems to enhance feelings of combativeness and a competitive nature in those prone to them, and some individuals may experience nightmares.

But they're so cute, though?

A few notes:
☆ The effects will last 3-5 days. There is no known cure or antidote.

☆ You could always try biting one back...? (mod note: do not do this.)

☆ The creatures will move on in their herd after about a week of terrorizing the local population. They've got places to be!

☆ They would make terrible pets, as their, um, bodily excretions are truly rank, and they will pee on everything and everyone you love. Highly against recommendations.

❀ HATCHING

When the new Hatchlings emerge from their eggs on the 8th, the Adamant's survivors are as ready as they've ever been! Each newcomer receives a bundle from the community outreach group containing non-gendered toiletries and clothing — which is random in both size and style — and some tubes of protein paste. After a shower, the new hatchling will spend a few days quarantined in an area of the Theatre set up with emergency bunking and privacy screens.

Given the weather, the new Hatchlings are mostly trapped in the basecamp. Anybody up for a rousing game of tic-tac-toe? Ensign Ashley Porter will be flitting around introducing himself to everyone and explaining that he's terribly sorry you're all stuck here! He has a questionnaire prepared for your characters that includes a list of their likes, dislikes, allergies, etc what planet they originally come from and their technology familiarity level. He's also designed a technical fluency guide to help anyone from a less developed world adjust! Isn't he just the best!

A few notes:
☆ Your character will at some point be pulled aside and asked about where they're from, what year, any personal information they wish to share, etc. This is not an interrogation, but a friendly chat. Captain Childe has deferred this duty to her various underlings, and she will likely not make an appearance here unless a Hatchling says or does something very interesting or meaningful — if they do, please let us know in the MOD QUESTIONS header!

☆ The NPCs will be as forthcoming about how the Hatchlings have arrived and what they know about the Chrysalis as possible. Unfortunately to both, the answer is 'not much'. They will still try to be transparent about this.

☆ Characters cannot join up with the Security team until they have proven themselves competent and community-oriented to Rémi, but the Engineering division is led by the friendly Thorkil and always needs help. Similarly, the Dr. Hyacinth's Aid Station and the Theatre-cum-Childcare Center are always ready to take on new people! Please read up on these places in the LOCATIONS page if you plan to have your character sign up.

☆ While it's not mandatory that the Hatchlings work, those that don't 'pull their weight' so to speak will find themselves being increasingly shunned by the community, and the quality of their rations and their overall care will decrease. There isn't enough to go around on the best days, much less when someone isn't contributing at all!


wittingly: (Tᴡᴇɴᴛʏ-ғɪᴠᴇ ʏᴇᴀʀs ᴀɴᴅ ᴍʏ ʟɪғᴇ ɪs sᴛɪʟʟ)

Ian Fowler | OC

[personal profile] wittingly 2021-08-09 08:51 pm (UTC)(link)
gundam surgery

( Off a little to the side of the engineering corp, Vidar's 20 foot tall giant fucking robot has been known to stand vigilant while Ian goes poking around inside it. He usually doesn't do it in the rain, particularly with no power, so it's something of a spectacle to behold. One long-haired hippy looking nerd straddling a ladder uncomfortably high off the ground, a makeshift tarp tenting them, further blocking out what little light is making it through the storm clouds, practically shoulder deep in this thing.

Having a less than stellar time of it, actually, so there's no small amount of frustration roiling around in there when he peels out to cast a quick look on the ground around the tent.
)

Hey, man.

( Called with purpose to the nearest passer-by, followed by a jerky nod -- the universal come here signal. )

Can you just... like, hold a light for me? It's... kind of really important.


structural collapse

( Ian's unfortunately intimately familiar with the tunnel situation going on under the camp, and the implications surrounding it as it relates to the infrastructure above. No small amount of effort is going into reinforcing the high priority locations, but they only have so much man-power. The flooding is only making things more precarious.

It's lucky that he's there when it happens -- one of the smaller tunnel offshoots, not a particularly high traffic area, but one Ian remembers on his mental map. He recognizes the warning signs; the ground sinking in a way that almost looks like deflating. The way it travels quickly and surely toward where the inevitable unsuspecting victim happens to be standing. Dirt beginning to crumble away just a meter away from their feet.
)

Hey, don't stand there- hey- Move!

( It starts out with the slow tone of dawning realization, and ends with sharp and sudden urgency as the ground gives way.

He throws out a hand, and a bright blue glow can probably be spotted emanating from his chest beneath the fabric of his shirt. The ground beneath their feet lurches, but it isn't to join the rest in dropping eight or ten feet into a rocky sinkhole. It's to form a decidedly unnatural, safe island in the center of it all. Matter bending. Neat.
)


closed: nate

( It's been a rough few... days? Weeks? However long it's been since They showed up at camp. It's not exactly like it was a subtle secret that he's been a little more on edge here than he was in New Amsterdam, but the appearance of their alien guests kicked things up to something next level. Add onto that the fact that he got bitten trying to help one of those fucking squirrel-lemurs untangle itself from a mess of fishing line, and the end result is one unusually distant, unusually crabby asshole.

When he manages to hunt Nate down, it's with a rail rifle slung over his back and a rain shield hanging from one arm. Long sleeves despite the muggy weather, boots laced up, clearly ready to do distinctly non-engineering things.
)

Hey. I'm gonna go bring back one of the harvesting groups, they're stuck in a cave three or four clicks from camp, they're cut off by a wash.

( The general vibe is very just so you know, like it's a grocery run and he wanted to keep Nate in the loop. )
spacedicks: (vlcsnap-00014)

gundam surgery

[personal profile] spacedicks 2021-08-12 01:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[ the nearest passer-by happened to be looking for this long haired hippy nerd anyway, so he's already halfway crawled up the side of the gundam in his make-shift trashbag poncho, crawling under the tarp next to him. ]

And the Lord did say -

[ let there be light. boom, lil electricity ball hanging out in the palm of luke's hand. everything's a little bit shinier now. ]

Hey, dude.
wittingly: (Iᴛ's ᴊᴜsᴛ ᴀ sʜᴏᴛ ᴀᴡᴀʏ)

[personal profile] wittingly 2021-08-12 02:04 pm (UTC)(link)
( So, Ian's regressed a lot the last few weeks in terms of his day-to-day attitude. New Amsterdam had him light and generally cheerful, back to the man he'd been before the end of days. Ever since the Thessyx showed up, he's been gradually getting more reserved, more distant, and... occasionally kind of a dick, in the mildest way possible.

Despite that, there's still a wide, pleased smile on his face when Luke pops in.
)

Hey, man.

( An emphatic (again, in the chillest possible definition of the word) greeting, because... Oh, man, it has been so long since he's had this. Working with Luke was, like, the thing. It was just the thing that they did. Not that Ian didn't ever work alone, but the two of them tackling a project together was one of the few good dynamics he had left.

Especially since his other good dynamics typically stopped being good dynamics the next day when he was sober.

He loves Nate, he loves Lance, but neither of them could fill this gap in a million years. Mostly because they don't have the slightest clue about what's going on down here under the hood, obviously.

He gestures vaguely downward toward... the general hulking behemoth beneath them.
)

Giant fucking robot.

( You know, just in case Luke didn't already notice. )
spalten: (pic#14544798)

le gundam

[personal profile] spalten 2021-08-15 02:20 am (UTC)(link)
[ he tries not to fret about it.

it's stupid, because he clearly seems to know what he's doing, and anyway he'd know within a heartbeat, as soon as he wakes it up, if something was wrong. more than anything else, he's just fretting over the fact that gundam vidar has been out in the elements for far too long and he's worrying about structural integrity. longevity. gundams can survive for 300 years and they have proof of it with the way they discovered hashmal, with the way barbatos was unearthed on mars completely intact.

but those were known planets with well-studied environments. this planet isn't like that, and so he does worry. there's nothing else he can do about it anyway.

he's wearing the ground thin underneath his pacing and brooding, until he finally decides to do something useful: he comes back with food from the mess. ]


Hey, you want to take a break? You've been there for a while.
wittingly: (Wᴇ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴏɴ ᴀ ᴅᴀᴛᴇ)

[personal profile] wittingly 2021-08-19 09:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Nah, I'm good.

( The response is almost instant, a little raspy -- although, that's a permanent aspect of his tone -- and just a touch distracted.

And then he catches sight of the man properly, and the food he comes bearing. It summons up a pretty good question: when is the last time he stopped to eat?

A reluctant second look at the gundam's inner workings, and then he finally peels himself out to drop down to the ground beside him.

Wryly:
)

Actually, now that you mention it...
spalten: (pic#14544660)

[personal profile] spalten 2021-08-24 12:52 am (UTC)(link)
Look, rest is important as well.

And it's not exactly five star food, but it's better than nothing.

[ he's reminded of mcgillis, who works so hard and will often forget to take breaks unless reminded. people with such obsessions and single-minded focus will always have such dedication to their work that he finds admirable, but also exasperating. ]
nonscriptum: except when it comes to sex. actually, sometimes including sex. (I work best alone)

[personal profile] nonscriptum 2021-08-27 01:26 am (UTC)(link)
...uh.

[ Nate wouldn't qualify their relationship of late as being strained, exactly, or even distant, because they're not - it's that Ian has a lot of work to do and Nate is trying to find a place where he fits that isn't just "general guy who will carry your heavy stuff for you." He's also been tentatively interested in their new friends, what with the experience from Hadriel, but honestly, it's a matter of finding the time.

Things are tighter here than they were in New Amsterdam, despite the other issues. Nate bounces back quickly:
]

Yeah! Yeah, um- [ He should be used to this imminent apocalypse vibe by now, but having seen Ian flourish so strongly in much more friendly spaces it still manages to catch him off-guard every time. He nods to the gun. ] Can I come?
wittingly: (I ʜᴇᴀʀ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇ ɪɴsɪᴅᴇ ᴍᴇ)

[personal profile] wittingly 2021-08-27 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
( The request seems to bring him a little pause, and the flickering look he shoots over Nate isn't necessarily cool so much as it is assessing. )

If you want to.

( Is what he finally decides on, because it's the best compromise he can come up with between you don't need to babysit me and not sounding like he just doesn't want Nate to go. As irritated as he's been of late, Nate isn't the source of any of it. He still loves his company, just not the implication his mind's supplying about it right now. )