Intro Log: The Forgotten City

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Well, Jim does have some experience with this kind of thing. Not a lot of experience, mind, but definitely more than most people brought here, if not everyone. He's also been stuck in unfamiliar planets before, so it's a little easier for him to just mesh those experiences together to both cope and try to figure out what they can do or where they can go from here.

Equal trades might not be how Jim always operates but he's no stranger to them, and he nods and gladly accepts the exchange. What little she can offer him right now in terms of information is invaluable, considering he knows next to nothing about why they're here. ]

I'd have guessed a map, among other things. [ Either a map to a treasure, to a trap, or just a means to get them out of here. Either of those options make him feel like all this is a little too much like some kind of game. ] Could be some weapon. I'm guessing you also don't know who wants us to find the Atlas either.

I thought it might be a map, but these symbols are apparent on all of us. [Lexa turns her gloved hand over so that Jim can get a good look at the A-like symbol on it.] While these suits don't have to stay on, I believe anyone can see that we're quite visibly branded at the moment. Whoever it is is—or was—invested in our survival.

[That they've survived what might be a crash of some kind says volumes. That means they had the technology to pull this together for multiple people.]

But if we're been here for a while, the investment may have passed.

[ Jim turns his own hand around when she shows him the symbol, cupping the back of it as he looks down, then back up to her. This branding, for whatever reason, leaves him more nervous than being stranded on an alien planet does. Even if it might mean nothing, or not affect them in any special way. ]

If we were on a ship, chances are we were headed somewhere. So it's likely that this planet wasn't our intended destination. The Atlas, whatever it is, probably isn't here. You ask me, we were supposed to search through a portion of space, not through a single world.

[ He looks to the distance for a moment, another unsettling thought bubbling to the surface. ]

I wonder if those responsible also survived the crash. If they're somewhere around here.

Moved on, but waiting? Or they did wait. It's possible. [And probable. There is one thought that comes to mind, especially as Inui had made a point about it.] But whoever they were, they may have perished regardless. This planet doesn't seem to be very welcoming, and they did little to salvage what had been left behind.

[The hull is in bad shape, so maybe they did salvage it, but it looked like it was left to be a grave, forgotten years and years ago. It's haunting.

Though incredibly likely as the source of their arrival.]

If we were meant to travel, do you think there would be someone made aware of our awakening?

They might've, yeah. Either that or they found a more hospitable area on this planet, but... I don't know. Guess it depends on how important we were to them, if they'd be willing to abandon the pods just like that.

[ He'll get a better notion of their situation once he starts looking around, and he'll likely draw similar conclusions. How it looks like the ship's been here for years. Jim happens to have a very vivid memory of something similar. That'll be an unpleasant memory to relive, yet at the same time a hopeful one. ]

It's possible that someone was meant to to know, but that link might've been severed when we crashed. Otherwise I think someone would've come for us or the actual crew of the ship by now.

Typically, I'd believe there would be an obvious absence of communication. There were people who lived in the sky back home who had no way of knowing about the ground below. They sacrificed their people to find out. [Clarke had suggested that it may be the same thing here. But the advanced and evolving technology says something different.]

The suits we wear suggest that we're important. They evolve. Which means we can evolve. I don't want to be arrogant, but I do think we're important. We just may not be a lost set of leaders. Leaders are usually the ones who are sought after when they're lost, all in order to restore stability.

[And while Lexa is a leader—she believes she was born to be one—she doubts she has that stature among the people behind the A symbol.]

That could be the case too, but with a ship like this, and these pods? The mere fact that they managed to snatch us up from different universes— I can't imagine someone with that kind of power being unable to hold steady long-range communications. Something must've gotten screwed up during the crash.

[ Jim's not sure if he's sad or relieved about that. Granted, having people come here to get them could be a good thing, but on the other hand sometimes it's better to be left to your own devices rather than be captured and unable to set themselves free. ]

I have no doubt we are important to them. Or were. I don't know— they could be keeping us for a myriad of reasons. We might've not been more than just glorified lab rats.

What were you before you came here, Jim? [Aside from Inui—who has presented himself as insignificant, and Lexa is prone to agree—most of the people are unique in some way. Lexa and Clarke are, as well—though she realizes that she may be building herself up unfairly. All the same, that unique quality still lies within her.]

There are those with great abilities, and those who were leaders. And one boy, who may be nothing but a factor to show that the rest of us are special. Would you say that you're the same?

[ He really would like to tell her otherwise. He'd like to say he's just some average person with a commonplace occupation, who has nothing special or unique about him, who doesn't stand out from the crowd. Only because he knows his answer is only going to further fuel her belief and serve as a bit more proof to the theory she seems to be building in her head.

Which isn't to say she's wrong... it just doesn't mean she's right, either.

But pressing his lips into a thin line, he drops his eyes and looks away for a moment. ] I'm the Captain of the USS Enterprise, a starship operated by Starfleet, and the flagship of the United Federation of Planets. [ So yes, he is... relevant, you could say. ]

And taking you would disrupt the very foundation of where you've come from. [It doesn't mean that her theory is true, but his words support it. Then again, Lexa knows that she has already died, that in her passing, the disruption has happened—and to some degree, has begun to pass, thanks to Clarke.

It's not a factor that is certain, but they can't overlook it.]

Whoever may have taken us may have wanted chaos. Or they may have wanted individuals competent enough to handle this. [But then there is Inui. He is still a sore thumb that sticks out regardless.]

Well, not the very foundation, but... yeah, it might a slight mess of things. [ But the new Enterprise would still fly, it would still have a crew and a mission. It would just be led by another Captain. Starfleet, the Federation, his crew and those closest to him might take a hit by his sudden disappearance but things would keep working as always.

He's not sure if that thought is more comforting or unsettling, but he quickly decides it's best to not even think about it. ]

I'm more inclined to believe the latter. They wanted us here for a reason, not necessarily away from our worlds. At most they don't give a crap about how our disappearances might change things. [ He looks to Lexa. ] You're important too, in your world? What were you before coming here?

The leader of the coalition of the thirteen clans—their Commander. Our numbers may be smaller than what some are used to—[which is an addition made in part because of her experiences here]—but I wouldn't say that our society is small. [Especially compared to where they are now.

Lexa is reluctant to share that prior to coming here, she met her demise. If anything, the true problem lies in the one place where she's met confusion: the Flame in her neck. Clarke spoke of using it later, of becoming the next Commander in all but permanence.

If anything, that will only come out if she's absolutely forced. It hasn't seemed important yet.

(But then, she's not against being selfish and deciding what is or isn't important.)]

It's not that my people aren't accustomed to me occasionally having to go into hiding, but as you can imagine, there would still be disruptions. One of my ambassadors is with me, too, and I believe that she'll be leading her clan before long. [Honestly, Lexa thinks she should be already. It's apparent that she's the best suited for it.]

[ Jim nods. She's right, yes— smaller doesn't necessarily mean small, and maybe drawing comparisons between her and other people here isn't very accurate. She still handles a lot of pressure and responsibility on a daily basis, maybe even more so than people like Jim, who reports to other people currently higher up than him.

Either way, they both seem to hold some relevance in their respective worlds, but before Jim gets to meet more people, he can't exactly call that a pattern or the norm. Maybe there are as many average people as there are leaders or adventurers around. Or there might be, if more pods keep popping up like his. ]

So that's two of you stuck here. [ He can imagine how that can be problematic. ] Messing with timelines like this is never a good thing. The question remains if that's their purpose or just a side effect they don't care about.

There may be a third possibility. Do you think it could be a side effect of the length of time that we've been here? [Lexa has her doubts, but she's beginning to wonder if returning home with everything being how she left it is ... not a possibility. What if, somehow, the factor of multiple Earths and multiple timelines isn't the real issue here? What if it's whatever is left behind as a result of that?

Lexa thinks that's highly possible.]

Might be. [ He shrugs almost helplessly, shooting her a lopsided smile. ] You ask a lot a questions to a guy who's just got here.

[ He's sure he'll learn more with time, especially considering how he can't so much as stand the thought of staying still and just waiting for some miraculous rescue that will likely never happen. But for now, he still has a lot more questions than he has answers or even so much as guesses, though talking to Lexa so far has helped him a lot in situating himself and finding his footing here. Wherever 'here' is. ]

I prefer to get the thoughts of someone else. Besides, you'll find that what I've offered is lacking for a reason. [Plus, he had presented himself as a man who knew at least one aspect of this. Still, Lexa barely hides that she asks questions simply to see how someone might respond. It's how she needles people.]

No, don't get me wrong, I'm not criticizing. [ He'll likely have plenty of questions and want to know all about what they think of their situation, once he starts meeting all the other people stranded here. ]

I just might have more to say on the matter after I look around some. Most likely no real answers, but at least better guesses.

That's fair. [Lexa takes a step back and motions to their surroundings. It seems like there's a great deal going on, but there isn't. Most of the moving and shaking (so to speak) seems to be centralized on waking up the new people who will join their nomadic band of misfits.]

Once you've observed, I'll be curious to hear your thoughts. It seems as if you have far more experience with these circumstances than myself, and I'm eager to bring us together. [She's a natural-born leader, but they aren't in a situation where people have cause to look to her. Using knowledge to lead will help.]

[ It's still enough to get Jim's attention, but then to him everything right now is pretty new. He'll eventually settle one way or another, but right now it's hard to even know what he should be focusing on first. ]

I'd like that too. [ Jim nods, pleased to find at least one person who shares in his belief that they'll be able to achieve more if they work together. ] I'll make sure to look for you when I find something. [ 'When', not 'if', because Jim refuses to believe he'll stay ignorant for long. ]

I'll look forward to it. [A man of his insight could provide them some answers. She wishes she had more, or rather, wishes she had the ability to tap into that, as there's the sense that she has some of that knowledge available to her.

But it's all distant, just beyond her reach.

She takes a step back, motioning to her surroundings.]

For now, secure what rations you can find. See if there are any familiar faces. I'll be taking the path that everyone else is taking to the ruins up ahead. They should be telling.

I'll do that, yeah. Thanks. [ Jim has been through enough tough situations to know how important it is to keep scraps and rations, anything at all to help him survive. And the more people there are, the more difficult it can be to make sure they have enough for everyone too, especially in a place as inhospitable as this one.

As for familiar faces... well, Jim's not so sure he will find any. He's not so sure he wants to, either. ]

I'm sure I'll see you around, Lexa. And thank you for getting me out, by the way. [ With a brief smile, he turns back to his own pod, starting with the looking around right there. ]

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Intro Log: The Forgotten City

GOOD MORNING NEW ARRIVALS

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