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

[adamance]

"Then it's now a matter of finding someone who can help us. For now, it's better to leave the pod undisturbed." There's a pause as she considers her words. "Or more disturbed than it had been."

At that, she takes a step back, head high and proud. "I'm Lexa. Are you among those from an alien race?" He ... looks it, so it's better to ask. She's already gotten the "some people are genetically engineered to look that way" rundown.

whoops sorry about the italics

[ex_broach530]

Bull gives a chuckle that's a little nervous. "You're not the first person to ask me that. Take it you don't have qunari where you're from? 'Cause I had humans." He's still a little foggy on the alien concept, bemused by the the idea that people who don't look like you have to come from some other planet. He didn't even know there were other planets until today. "Not that I'm even really a qunari anymore. The Iron Bull, ma'am, at your service." He tips his head in a surprisingly gentlemanly affect for a dude who was just working up a sweat pounding something to pieces and who talks like a dock worker.

[adamance]

"So far, humans appear to be the most commonplace of all the species across the various ... universes." This last bit comes out in a way that makes it clear that she's still adjusting to this idea. It had been one thing to understand galaxies. It's another thing to add in multiple Earths, but it does explain a lot. "I doubt any of us have been asked about what we are. Perhaps we're fortunate that way."

That said, she considers him for a long moment. "Are all qunari named in such a manner that is almost on the nose? Or do bulls look differently where you come from?" It's a rude question without a great deal of diplomacy behind it, but Lexa is curious. Perhaps they are related to cows and bulls in some way.

[ex_broach530]

Despite the rudeness, Bull laughs, a booming chuckle that settles into a broad grin. "Nobody actually gets names under the Qun. It's all genetic information for the breeding program, or your title once you're assigned work, or a nickname between friends."

He reaches up, taps one of the thick horns sprouting sideways out his head. "Called myself the Iron Bull when I got sent South. 'Cause of these. Well, mostly." He winks at her, though it's not really flirtation with intent. (Also, "winking" for Bull is closing his only good eye, but his expression conveys the intent.)

[adamance]

Her expression is masked. It's not the first time she's encountered this since she's arrived, the idea that a person can be made and assigned a role in their life. Lexa's people are harsh about genetic anomalies, so she can hardly judge someone attempting to control it. She exiles those with deformities, leaving them to die because they might cause problems for her people moving forward. Many of those same exiles were captured and turned into reapers, made all the more monstrous by how they were forgotten. She can't judge, but the flip side of that is that it doesn't sit well with her. What is commonplace among her people is still something that she dislikes; she's seen her village plundered as her people were captured and dragged off to be nothing more than a bag of blood.

Seeing both sides of it at play means that she has to acclimate to an understanding of how her people erred and the empathy she feels for those in a different situation. It's a struggle, albeit one that's easier for someone whose thinking can be flexible. Someone like Titus would meet the challenge differently.

"Mostly," she repeats, a sly quirk of her lips present. Lexa's not exactly ignorant of the other connotations at play there, and it's easier to lean on that than the other thoughts pressing in her mind. She's not about to talk about her thoughts of his upbringing. She can be rude, but it's not the time for that. (She may needle and pry later.) "You may find yourself mostly limited here, Iron Bull. Or is it the Iron Bull?" Lexa likes correct names and titles. It's how she functions. "But it's good that they found a suit that's adequate for you." Just as they did for Miles' friend before.

[ex_broach530]

Bull looks dubiously down and plucks the material. "More material than I usually wear... but it turns out taking it off is not such a great idea." But yes, it's actually kind of surprising to him that he woke up in something so appropriately fitted and yet nothing like any garment he's ever worn. But the mysteries of his awakening are many.

"And yeah. It's The Iron Bull. Or it was. I'm less of a stickler about it these days." A loose shrug, indicating she really can call him whatever she likes. "Used to like the article, kind of as a joke. But now it's who I am, and that's not so funny." The difference between inventing an identity and inhabiting it has turned out to be pretty profound. Buuut that's deeper than he feels like getting with a total stranger, and he's had time to come to terms with a lot of that, doesn't wear it so close to the surface anymore.

[adamance]

On the surface, it's easy for Lexa to say that she doesn't understand what he means, to act as if the maintenance of a new identity is nothing to her. But as a girl who killed those who trained around her until she became the leader of her people, she does understand that. In fact, it's almost to an uncomfortable degree.

That doesn't mean that she's keen to ruminate over it now. "I'll use Iron Bull for now," she decides, as it seems as if they are both speaking after the nature of a joke. "And you're correct that taking it off is not a good idea. We're not meant to survive here."

What is meant to survive there seems to be ... limited in numbers, from what she's seen.

[ex_broach530]

"No shit," he agrees, half echoing her thoughts unintentionally. "All that's meant to survive here are rocks. And even then." Probably they get eroded away to sand or something, he doesn't know. "I've lived in desert before, but nothing like this."

[adamance]

"Generally, my people have avoided the desert. I have a feeling that I might have been better prepared if we hadn't, but I don't know that I would like to prolong the experience." There are the Sand People, but for the most part, Lexa's the type to force her ambassadors to come to her.

It makes things easier.

So, while Life Sucks back home, she has some privilege that makes her ill-prepared for this. Though she's managing.