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

[astromechanic]

[ The relief is contagious, and for a moment it's all encompassing. Like Pidge it's only been maybe minutes since he saw everyone hurled into space. They could've been sent anywhere. Hunk gives Allura a warm grin, his attention soon pulled to Lance and Pidge - he extends an arm to put a hand on his friend's shoulder, give the poor guy a good shake.

Real and solid. All of them - ]

Where's Keith and Shiro? [ He poses the question to either Allura or Lance, his tone starting to sober. His gaze travels around the dunes. ]

[mousewhisperer]

[ Hugs dispensed with, Allura steps back, watching the other three closely. They're here and alive and she's so thrilled about that, even if it means none of them are out in the universe, working on stopping the Galra. ]

We haven't seen them. [ No telling if they're in one of the other pods or stuck in the wormhole, or -

She's not going to think about that. ]

[ceruleo]

[ He gets knocked back a step when Pidges flies into him, and reflexively crushes her to his front, burying his face into her shoulder. A moment after he feels Hunk's arm come down over his shoulders and his own sag visibly from the relief.

When finally he looks up to speak, his eyes are puffy and he isn't putting Pidge down just yet. ]

They might be in some of these pods, but....I definitely didn't see them on the way. [ And there aren't that many of them, scattered in the sand. ] Allura and I have been here, like...a week? A week and a half, but I'm pretty sure this planet has longer days than Earth.

[sweatysometimes]

[ Pidge untangles herself after a moment or two, settling to her feet in the sand. The surface shifts a little under her feet and she look saround at her friends, face falling as she realizes Keith and Shiro aren't here with them. ]

Any idea where the castle is? Or the lions? Or where we are in the universe?

[mousewhisperer]

[ Allura's the one to answer that, though she looks at Lance for confirmation. They have maps - but she isn't sure how much more anyone's discovered. ]

We have no idea where we are or what this planet is. Not even the stars are familiar. No traces of the lions or the castle. I can only hope they're okay and haven't fallen into Zarkon's hands.

[astromechanic]

[ No Keith or Shiro, no lions. His gaze shifts from Allura to Lance, then back again. ]

You don't think the Galra are the one that dumped us here? [ A pause and his eyebrows pinch together. ] Wait - did you say a week and a half?

[ceruleo]

[ Lance lifts his hands, fingers splayed to say I have no idea. ]

I think? It's hard to keep track, okay?! [ He looks to Allura for confirmation. ] But something like that. We woke up in pods, too.

[mousewhisperer]

[ Allura holds up her fingers to count briefly, then nods. [

Lance is close. It might be closer to two weeks? The first few days were difficult. And no, it doesn't seem like it was the Galra. Too many others are from places that haven't even heard of the Galra.

[ceruleo]

[ A little more serious now, he nods. ]

I thought so too, but same--plus, if this were a Galra camp...[ He motions around. ] There'd definitely be more Galra. They're kinda big on 'supervision'.

[astromechanic]

Yeah - [ Don't they know it. He frowns. ] So let me see if I got this straight: we don't know where we are, we've don't have any lions, we don't have a ship, someone who isn't the Galra changed our clothes and buried us in pods - which Keith, Shiro, and Coran might also be buried in somewhere - aaaaand there's a bunch of other people in the same boat.

[ He counts on a finger for each point. ]

[mousewhisperer]

[ Allura counts off all of those points as Hunk talks, frowning. It feels almost like she is forgetting something, but unable to remember, finally nods. ]

The best we can do for now is stick together and work with everyone else to find a way off this planet. There's already been progress made, but we're still not much closer to finding out what is going on here.

[sweatysometimes]

[ Pidge has been quiet while the others talk, turning this over in her head. Combining information with what they know. They'd been knocked into the unstable wormhole. They'd been separated. Now they were here together and it apparently wasn't the Galra. ]

Yeah. Can't be the Galra, I can't see why they'd keep us alive any longer then they need to. Plus wouldn't Zarkon want to gloat?

[ She closes her eyes. Focuses. ]

Something must have happened in the wormhole.

[ceruleo]

[ Lance crosses his arms, though he still hasn't really moved from where he's wedged between Pidge and Hunk. ]

If 'something' happened in the wormhole, then whatever-it-was sure happened to a lot of people....and at least one guy reported falling asleep in his own bed before waking up in the pod.

[ So, no wormhole there. ]

[astromechanic]

[ Look he's not moving much either.

Hunk's frown only deepens. ]

You both believe them? [ Bed guy and the rest of the people Allura mentioned by extension. They've kinda run into less than truthful folks before, and not a lot about this story is adding up so far. ]

[mousewhisperer]

[ So he has a fair point, but. ]

Simply because there have been some who haven't been trustworthy doesn't mean we need to be suspicious of everyone. And we are all in the same position: stranded here, with limited resources. Even if they aren't telling the entire truth, we have to rely on each other for survival.

[ceruleo]

Yeah.

[ All of Lance's gullibility aside, he remembers dragging Inui during the bug attack, the way the other boy had frozen shock-straight, eyes blown out with panic, words tumbling out on repeat they're going to eat us like he couldn't think, couldn't breathe.

So when Inui told him he was just some dude, Lance believed him. ]

We got some pretty crazy stories, though. Miles says he's a mercenary fleet admiral. Jess can punch through metal like a freakin' superhero, which I have totally seen with my own two eyes and eyewitnesses, so it's not a lie. [ FEELING A BIT DEFENSIVE, HERE. ] Oh, and--you guys have got to meet Clark. He has laser eyes! Hunk, laser eyes!

[sweatysometimes]

[ Pidge sets her face in something of a grimace, though that dissolves into a faint laugh at Lance's enthusiasm for their fellow castaway's powers and abilities. She takes a breath. ]

I know we've been tricked before, but this seems different. Like, none of the people we're with have any more resources than we do. We don't have a castle full of useful spare parts or lions to steal this time, right?

[mousewhisperer]

No. [ No castle, no lions, some of their number still missing.

And that's worse than the heat and odd predators of this planet. ]

Right now, our only recourse is to trust the others and do what we can to find a way off the planet.

[astromechanic]

[ His eyebrows shoot up to his hairline at Lance's description, lowering again for a more serious consideration of Allura and Pidge's assertions. They've got a point - but he might just hold onto some of his reservations until he meets these people.

Especially laser eyes guy - because he has to see that. ]

... speaking of being stranded on a desert planet, have you guys found anywhere with shade? And water?

[ He wipes some of the sweat from his brow. ]

[ceruleo]

[ Lance motions to the pods Hunk and Pidge just came out of, trying not to think about how parched his own throat is. ] Water and food in the pods, plus if you find any bugs around, they taste kinda like chicken.

[ RIP Darcy and Bingley. ]

For shade, there's a downed ship past the dune out there--[ he points ]--that's been giving us shelter, but right now it's sucking the power right outta the suits.

[ Hunk and Pidge are smart people. He doesn't really need to explain why that's a bad thing, right? They can put two and two together and figure out 'life support', hopefully without requiring a hands-on demonstration like yours truly. ]