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!
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I might just have a chance.
I found out that . . . I have a cousin.
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[Her eyebrows arch in surprise, but she finds herself smiling. If he's learned he has family, that means he must have someone here from his birth planet. That's something to smile about.]
Are they one of the newer arrivals? Or have you only just found out by word of mouth that they exist?
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She told me. Kara Zor-El. Her name is just like mine.
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[She trails off, her smile quickly turning into a frown. She wishes she was so lucky. But this is about him, not her. So she puts a smile right back on her face, and turns to give him a quick hug.]
I'm sure she'll have all kinds of things to tell you.
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It'll take a while to get through it all. She knew Krypton in a way I never could.
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[She doesn't want to sound like she's lecturing him, like he's one of her students or the Doctor. So she bites at her lip and stops there.]
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[ But he's sure it'll be painful. For Kara, to reminiscence with someone who cannot remember the colour of the sky on their home world, their gods and stories. Clark carries the pain of being two worlds and never fully reconciling the two. But he can imagine what Kara's pain would be like, to remember a world no one else can. ]
It's strange. Seeing her. Almost unreal.
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[She crosses her arms over her chest, glancing up at him briefly. She really can't imagine what it's like for him, but knows what it's like hearing stories that you can't comprehend because you've never seen the place the stories occur.]
I'd feel the same way if the Doctor popped up here now.
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What is he like? This Doctor.
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[She answers honestly first, laughing a little. The subject of the Doctor is a sensitive one for her, because of the events that transpired before her waking up in the escape pod. ]
You remind me of him, sometimes. When he's through being a manic genius and he's thinking about people he lost or his home. He's got the weight of so many worlds on his shoulders. The whole universe, really. I always wanted to make it better for him.
[She toes at the sand, head ducking downward.]
It's why I did something stupid just before I woke up here. To save him.
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What did you do?
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[It's a complicated story, one she's not about to try and fully explain. But she tries to put it in the simplest terms she can, while not making herself upset enough that she cries.]
It's the same thing anyone would do for someone they loved. Sacrifice their life so the other person could live.
[It explains why she's so eager to see him again, beyond the general missing a friend feelings. She's really concerned about whether or not he's even still alive.]
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His face crumples because it's a story he's familiar with, but a story that's so near and close to his heart that he still feels the pain of Doomsday's sharp claw dig into his chest.
Carefully, his hands reach out to bracket her face, his grief at her answer perfectly displayed, open and genuine. ]
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It's fine. Everything's just fine, because I'm not dead. I'm here.
[And questioning if this all is even real or just some kind of messed up afterlife meant to punish her for something. She's been holding this all inside since arriving here. It's about time it started to come out.]
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You gave up your world.
[ Like he gave up his. You are my world, he said with a smile to Lois. She would understand. She would know. But he never got to tell her the rest of the story. He never got to slip the ring onto her finger. He never got to see his mother, reassure her fears that he wouldn't leave her all alone, wouldn't do that to her, he's still her son.
There is nothing fine about it, no matter how Bruce spins it. Clark is relieved a little that the world has learned, has turned to a different ending than the one he had pictured in his mind.
But he lost it all. ]
You're not where you want to be. And that is a hurt that won't go away.
[ His thumbs brush against her cheeks. ]
Don't say you're fine to me.
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It's easier to pretend, to tuck it all inside and act like she's just a silly energetic girl who's hungry for adventure.
She doesn't want him to tell her not to say she's fine again. She isn't sure she wants him saying anything else, not when he's looking at her like that. So she does the stupid thing and rises up on her tiptoes to kiss him. It's short and not in any way romantic, and meant to keep them both from talking.
When she pulls away, her eyes are wide and she murmurs an apology.]
Sorry. I shouldn't have. It's just -
I'm fine.
[And clearly, she's just proved that.]
Or I will be.
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I just don't think it's that simple.
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I'm sorry.
[She won't stop crying, which is essentially the worst part out of all of this. Knowing she's the one that's crossed a line, the guilt tugs at her until she turns away.]
Nothing is simple. And I never should've said anything, or -
[Crossed that line.]
I'm sorry.
[She really can't say that enough.]
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I'm sorry.
[ You can save them all, his father had said once.
But he can't see it. ]
Don't feel sorry for it. Feel hurt if you have to.
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Still, she takes the half-hug that he's offering and leans up against him for support. He's a good friend, better than she deserves.]
We don't have the luxury of getting to feel hurt here. We have to work together to stay alive. I can't let myself be a weak link.
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[ And he's seen the weakest parts of humanity, the worst parts. It's not a simple thing to diagnose and separate. Clark is weak too and he's not even human. He inhales quietly, deliberating his next words, softspoken. ]
We're still working on that, and we're working together.
[ Which . . . still rings strange to Clark, but he's proud of that. Proud of them. The people he died for. ]
And you'll get there, but hiding that pain won't make you stronger. It'll just hurt the best parts of you.
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You haven't known me long enough to know the best parts of me.
[It's said in jest, so she can pull away to smile through her dwindling tears. ]
But you will eventually. Then you can decide if hiding the pain's better or not.
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I already know.
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Promise me that you won't think I'm made of glass or something ridiculous.
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Of course not.
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