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

[anewhope]

[ Clark consciously pauses. Ten days now since his fateful reanimation . . . and no signs as to how that happened. ]

At least ten days. Like the rest of the people here.

[ Although . . . he glances at her surreptitiously. ]

You must be part of the new group.

[highflights]

Yeah.

​​[​​ Jessica said she was from ten days ago too, Kara's been around the pods but there don't seem to be any more people yet. ]

My name is Kara. What about you? Where are you from?

[anewhope]

[ It takes a moment to formulate a response and he smiles encouragingly. ]

My name is Clark. I'm from Kansas.

[highflights]

Oh, really?

​​[​​ Just like her Clark from Kansas. What a coincidence. ]

That's cool. I live in National City, but I'm not from Earth. I'm Kryptonian.

​​[​​ She's an alien on an alien world, and Krypton is the better explanation than someone from Earth wandering around up here. ]

[anewhope]

[ He couldn't help it, he leaps to his feet, backing away slightly. There's no fear in his eyes, just complete shock. ]

That's — That's impossible.

[highflights]

​​[​​ Kara tilts her head lightly in query. ]

... What is?

[anewhope]

That — [ He stumbles over his words, grappling at the very reality that there's another Kryptonian.

His voice sounds hoarse and shattered. ]

— I thought I was the last. I thought I'd lost them all.

[highflights]

​​[​​ It takes a moment. Confusion transmutes instantly to shock. ]

Oh.

​​[​​ He's not just a Clark from Kansas, he's her Clark from Kansas. A little younger, sure, something about the face. But it's undeniable. ]

Oh. Kal. I'm so sorry. Am I not on Earth yet?

[anewhope]

[ Yet? Clark feels a bubbling of hysteria that he can't quite push down and it shows. His hands shake.

Yet means it could happen. But Clark was already. . . He swallows unsteadily. ]

Even if you were . . . I wouldn't be there anymore.

[highflights]

​​[​​ She doesn't understand. Did he go somewhere? She reaches out for him instinctively, her fingers meeting air. ]

You're here now. I'm your cousin, Kara. Our family sent me to protect you.

[anewhope]

[ For a few minutes, all he does is stare at that outstretched hand before he reaches out to touch her. She's real. This is real, but Clark can barely wrap his mind around it. Why hadn't his father told him? Why hadn't he known that somewhere, his family was still alive.

His fingers still shake. Clark wasn't sure if he was crying. ]

[highflights]

​​[​​ She should probably be giving him space. Clark came to see her as often as he could when she was with the Danvers', but there'd never been much of talking, or her doing anything she was supposed to. She'd been busy trying not to be overwhelmed by the world around her. ]

​​[​​ Now she feels heartsick that he's been all alone, and this is the first he sees of her. She squeezes his hand very tightly and comes up to him. ]

Surprise?

[anewhope]

[ There's a puff of laughter, even though it's tinged in relief and despair, over all the time Clark has lost to Doomsday, to Lex Luthor and even though he'd do it all over again, his heart crumbles over the thought of family being so close and too far away to reach.

Not anymore. He loops his arms around Kara, squeezing her tightly. But she can take it. ]

[highflights]

​​[​​ She returns it with her full strength, listening to his heart beat. She doesn't let him go for a long, long time, even though there might be someone nearby or the millions of other thoughts that suggest they explore or sit down together somewhere to eat. ]

​​[​​ She lets go when he does, but squeezes his hand gently and doesn't move out of his space. She's not going anywhere. ]

So you're Clark here? Should I use that?

[anewhope]

[ He seems loathe to look away, afraid that she might disappear, that this planet has been playing tricks on him. ]

Kal is still my name. Use it.

[highflights]

My human name is Kara Danvers. I've been telling people here it's Kara Zor-El if they really want to know.

​​[​​ She's not him. There's not a part of her that dissolves into humanity. She can't be anything other than Kryptonian, the rest is temporary. She smiles, mischievously, wanting to tease him a little. ]

Don't let my looks fool you, I am older.

[anewhope]

[ He blinks, surprised. ]

How? I thought Krypton was lost just after I was born.

[highflights]

Well... it was.

​​[​​ She presses her mouth into a worried line, looking at her feet. ]

I was thirteen. My escape pod was supposed to follow yours exactly, but the shock waves from Krypton knocked me off course into the Phantom Zone. Two Earth decades later it got free somehow, and I was still thirteen when I landed on Earth. You'd already grown up and become Superman.

[anewhope]

[ Superman. No one had called him that since he came here. It feels like a hallmark . . . or a premonition. ]

The same thing had happened with Zod.

[ He softens. ] I'm sorry.

[highflights]

No, I'm just sorry I was late.

​​[​​ She smiles at him, weakly, then, ]

Who's Zod?

[anewhope]

Zod was part of Krypton's military. The ship that kept him trapped in the Phantom Zone opened and he found his way to Earth.

He had . . . very fixed ideas on what it should be.

[ Clark never knows how to feel about Zod. It's never anger or hatred. Just a pit of despair for the last remnant of his home he couldn't save. ]

[highflights]

We used to keep our prisoners there. They got free about the same time my pod did.

​​[​​ She sighs quietly. ]

General Astra was desperate to prevent Krypton from happening again, so she tried to enslave the population of Earth.

​​[​​ She doesn't have any hatred either. Just grief. ]

The last remaining Kryptonians followed her. I don't know if there's any others, on Earth or elsewhere. Our sister world, Daxam, was wiped out too.

[anewhope]

I didn't know we had a sister world.

[ His voice is quiet. ]

I don't know anything at all.

[highflights]

That's all right. I'll tell you everything you want to know. I'll teach you Kryptonese if you want.

​​[​​ She doesn't know yet she won't be able to speak a word of it, but Kara would do anything to ease the sadness on his shoulders. ]

Just — Daxam and Krypton had a bloody war. We don't — didn't like them, and they feel the same way about us.

[anewhope]

I'd like that. I'd like to know all of it. Even the bad parts.

[ He never got the chance to learn more from his father. ]