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]

[ 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. ]

[highflights]

​​[​​ She smiles at him, widely. ]

We have the time.

​​[​​ It's slower around this tree, too. ]

[anewhope]

[ He smiles back tentatively. ]

I'll try my best.

[highflights]

I know you will, Kal.

​​[​​ She feels like hugging him again, and resists. ]

We have to stick together here. Is there anyone you know?

[anewhope]

[ . . . How does someone introduce Bruce Wayne? ]

Just someone from Gotham.

[highflights]

And the others?

[anewhope]

None of them know who I am. I've showed my powers, but I don't think anyone has made any connection. I'm just Clark the — alien. Someone powerful.

[ It's not fair so he does amend that. ] But people have been . . . nice.

[highflights]

​​[​​ The remark throws her a little, of course she expects people to be good to Clark, he's Superman, though not necessarily nice. They're not the same thing. ]

Okay. So I won't go by Supergirl. I'll be Kara, the other Kryptonian.

[anewhope]

[ He blinks a little at the term "Supergirl". He pauses, a little hesitant. ]

My . . . cousin.

[ He smiles a little brighter, not sure if saying that means he'll get shot down. ]

If that's okay.

[highflights]

Yes.

​​[​​ There's nothing more she wants in her heart, above being a superhero, above using her powers. Family is the only thing that ever mattered. She has Alex, and Eliza, but they're not the same as Kal. There's no past there shared, only futures to be built. ]

So what do you want to know first? What do you already know?

[anewhope]

[ Clark pauses, feeling a bit sheepish and out of his element. ]

I know Krypton pushed itself too hard. My father tried to warn them. Tried to change things but it was too late.

Zod killed him. And I was sent away.

[highflights]

My father was a scientist like yours, and my mother was a judge. I don't think anyone believed our world would really die, even if it was happening around us.

​​[​​ She hadn't. Even now having seen it it feels more like some horrible dream. ]

We shared a star with Daxam; a red dwarf. We called it Rao. It's also the name of our god.

[anewhope]

We had a god?

[ It seemed almost hard to believe. Not that Clark ever took into the divine aspect that people had attributed to his deeds and self, but it was just hard to picture Krypton that way. ]

[highflights]

[ She corrects him gently, ]

Have.

[anewhope]

[ Clark feels the burn of embarrassment and he averts his gaze. ]

Sorry. I shouldn't have said it like that.