Intro Log: The Forgotten City

[atlasmods]

GOOD MORNING NEW ARRIVALS This time for real! WAKEY WAKEY. As the storm finally peters out and characters can once again move above ground it becomes abundantly clear that the landscape has changed. Where vast expanses of sand dunes once laid is now the half-buried remnants of what looks like some sort of...city? Full of structures. It stretches so far it's really hard to tell. But there is one thing characters will notice: There are more stasis pods. Revealed by the sandstorm, a whole new flurry of pods can be found scattered on the way to the city (curiously though, not in it. Hurry and wake those guys up! SPREAD THE LOVE. OR ACID. With the departure of the storm there's even more new arrivals to be found besides those fellow travelers of yours! The "Seedlings" and "Cactus" are now both available, the former blown in by the storm and the former uncovered. The Seedlings are generally pretty harmless. They like to burrow into the sand so only their "Leaves" plant-like leaves remain above ground, and they're quite happy to stay that way until surprised. Then they pop up and trip over themselves a little, before slowing down and wandering aimlessly. When they find a patch of sand that looks comfy they begin burrowing back down. Pull or yank on their leaves though and you'll find yourself with a face full of pollen that makes you want to just tell everyone how super-cool they are. It lasts a while, and then you get a fever and vomit for two hours. Good times. The Cacti are much less harmless and just...why would you eat them? Everything about this plant is poisonous, and cracking it open causes a corrosive acid-like substance to spill out. It'll eat through everything but...dirt, oddly. Metals and flesh are like hot oil on plastic. DON'T GET LOST And last but not least: The Forgotten City. Maybe you want to check out the Hull first for some loot, but maybe that's not such a cool idea anymore? Although it looks like the ship's definitely more powered after draining the suits of whoever went in, now it's started to spread and fill the sinkhole the ship's in. Suits can go from 100% to 0% in just ten minutes--not good! Lucky for everyone else, it looks like finally there's some sort of civilization up ahead. Go on and check it out! OR DO. THAT'S OKAY TOO. Go nuts, have fun, and enjoy! (This is the wildcard option) OOC The Flora, Fauna & Resources page has been updated with information on the seedlings, cacti, and crystals! These items are now all available for Discovery, and The Forgotten City will be available indefinitely from now on! Characters can take this time to settle & build up a foundation for themselves, explore the area, and of course, harass those poor little seedlings. We encourage players to make their own open posts for this setting--you don't need to stick to just this intro log! But make sure to make our newbies feel welcome!

Comments

[ luxury gym -- I can't type this seriously ]

[anewhope]

[ Clark stares openly because this fits in perfectly with what he knew of Bruce and at the same time, what ]

Bruce. What are you doing.

[ His tone is completely flat. ]

good no one should

[superblack]

[He stops to regard Clark, because that's all he can really do, honestly. The safe sinks slightly into the soft, hot sand.]

Researching. I can't investigate this in the ship. It'll kill my suit. So I have to take it somewhere safer than out here.

[Obviously.]

bruce plz

[anewhope]

[ He crosses his arms, stiff. ]

You could have asked for help.

8D

[superblack]

You weren't anywhere near me.

[He doesn't seem to be bothered by Clark's posture, at least. In fact, he looks mostly bemused.]

[anewhope]

I would have been able to hear you.

[ At least he assumes. It's galling, in a way, to be used to his body and now he has to relearn his limits all over again. ]

Do you think you'll be able to break it?

[superblack]

I might. I might not. I won't find out until I really get a good look at it.

[He could force it open, but he's not keen on finding out if it's really some kind of spring-loaded trap. The trilobite was trouble enough for everyone.]

[anewhope]

[ He hesitates visibly before speaking. ]

Or you could ask around. See if anyone has found anything like a key. It seems to have a port so maybe it opens up. Like a terminal.

[superblack]

[Bruce gives him an incredibly skeptical look.]

Look for a key, in the middle of a ship, that keeps draining our suits.

[anewhope]

The pearl helps with the drainage.

The ships have keys. . . . The ships I've seen. If you want information, you'll need a key.

[superblack]

Thank you, Clark, for the enlightenment. If I need to go back and look for the key, I will. And I'll go with a pearl, when I find one.

[He should probably keep to himself that he can probably get into the safe without one.]

[anewhope]

[ If he was the kind of person to sigh outwardly, he would. His expression tightens briefly before he lets it go. Being irritated won't help anyone. He doesn't owe Bruce anything after all. ]

Fine.

[superblack]

[He wouldn't have accepted anything, either. It works out for the both of them.]

I know what I'm doing. The ones out there probably don't.

[anewhope]

Bruce. No one knows what they're doing.

[superblack]

Which is why we need answers to know what to do next.

[anewhope]

Translating has only gotten me so far.

[ Atlas and . . . ]

Kharas. That's one word I've been hearing a lot through the transmissions and I saw it on the screens.

[superblack]

Might be the name of planet, or the area at least. I know that ship back there was Atlas property.

[He's mostly confident that Atlas is something exploratory, some kind of business or company invested in space research or travel.]

[anewhope]

I think we're all technically Atlas property.

[ That makes the most sense. They were being shipped and the carrier crashed. ]

[superblack]

Well, I don't like being anyone's or anything's property.

[That really would be the most efficient way of putting it, and given they have no memory of how they got into the pods, nor any level of recruitment... he's not sure he can call them all soldiers either.

Explorers would be the nicest way to put it.]

There were personal effects I found with the mark on it. Those first ones in that ship? Maybe they weren't in such a forced state like us.

[anewhope]

[ No one likes that, but Clark feels saying that to Bruce would be a moot point. ]

It's a distinct possibility. Though it seems they met an unfortunate end.

[superblack]

We're assuming the obvious. They might have crashed, but they could've survived, same as us.

[anewhope]

[ He nods. Clark isn't ready to discount anything. ]

Do you think they would have left a trail?

[superblack]

If it was fresh? Probably. But this is a desert. The sands wouldn't leave much of anything within the day.

[He sighs, thinking. Maybe...]

We might be the second wave meant to follow in these peoples' footsteps. Or to save them.

[What would be the odds that they ended up not too far from the ship in the first place? Would it really stand to reason they all came from that crashed ship, or did they come separately?]

Or we were prisoners. The ship's rooms drained the suit's power. That wasn't an accident.

[anewhope]

It seems like very little was left to accident. But something brought that ship down.

[ Though how long it had been there was difficult to measure, without the right tools. ]

We'll have to keep both theories in mind if we encounter anyone else.

[superblack]

When we encounter anyone else.

[Look at Bruce's paranoia, look at it go.]

[anewhope]

[ He accepts this easily, amending his words. ]

When. The world's too big for that not to be a possibility.