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

[ceruleo]

[ He interprets her relief as a lack of trust, but shrugs emphatically at the statement, visibly unaffected. He shakes his head to dislodge the last of the sand, making the bones and pale driftwood in his arm click together. ]

Takes more than a little sand to stop me.

[ He kneels to drop the bones, creating a small pile at her feet. His head is bowed while he works on making the flame catch, the cocky swagger dimmed by focus. Eventually, enough sparks appear, and the soft orange glow of the newborn fire illuminates the space between them. ]

Ha! Got it. See?

[ He puffs up, visibly pleased with himself. ]

1/2

[resnipstance]

This is more than just a little sand, Lance! What if you'd gotten lost?

[resnipstance]

[ Her expression softens. ]

But ... thank you.

[ She shifts closer to the baby fire to get warm. ]

[ceruleo]

But I didn't get lost, did I? [ He fires right back, but there's no real combativeness in him, just that same cocky confidence from earlier. Her thank you catches him by surprise, and he ducks his head sharply, trying to hide the glow along his nose in the glow of the fire. He pokes it gently, nursing it until it's taken properly, then straightens himself out to go fetch his rifle parts.

He drops himself next to her with the parts in his arms, gently placing them down between himself and the fire. It's a bit like putting puzzle pieces on the ground in the same order you'd left them in: difficult, and unpleasant. ]

How'd you learn how to put a blaster together, anyway?

[resnipstance]

[Ahsoka gives a small shrug and a faraway smile.]

Ah. That would be Anakin's fault. ... He's a genius when it comes to technology. I'm nowhere near his level, but ... he taught me a lot.

[ceruleo]

Anakin? Wait.

[ His brows knit together, his shoulders moving away so he can better frown at her. ]

You know that jerk?

[ He hasn't put 2 and 2 together yet. ]

[resnipstance]

[Eyebrow raise.]

Of course. He's my old master.

You know. The one you asked about?

1/? i don't know

[ceruleo]

[ Several things click into place. ]

2/

[ceruleo]

[ THIS EXPLAINS SO MUCH. ]

3/

[ceruleo]

[ Holy crow that guy was scary though???? Chances of getting rekt by protective Master are now at like, 500%. ]

4/

[ceruleo]

[ UNSURE HOW TO PROCEED ]

5/6

[ceruleo]

[ Rebooting.............. ]

6/7 i take it back

[ceruleo]

[ Hnnngh. ]

7/7

[ceruleo]

Well, at least he's got great taste in apprentices.

[ Smooth. ]

[resnipstance]

[Ahsoka actually chuckles-- both at the line and Lance's reactions, even if she doesn't know exactly what they're about.]

Thanks. But actually, he... didn't choose me. More like I was-- uh, foisted upon him. Boy... he was so mad.

[She says it with a smile, though. The memory is indeed both fond and funny to her.]

[ceruleo]

[ Well, she's smiling, but 'he was so mad' doesn't sound pleasant. ]

What, seriously? How come?

[resnipstance]

How come he was mad, or how come we got shoved together?

[ceruleo]

[ He opens his hands emphatically. ] Both.

[resnipstance]

Well, normally, Jedi Masters choose their own Padawans. And usually not until they're much older. Anakin had only been knighted for about six months at that point-- he'd only just turned nineteen. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say he probably didn't feel ready to take on the responsibility of looking after a fourteen year old on the battlefield.

But the Clone Wars changed all our usual traditions. The Order didn't have time to wait around for Masters to pick a new crop of apprentices at their own pace-- we were stretched too thin. They just had to start assigning people, ready or not, to get every able-bodied person onto the field that they could.

[ceruleo]

So, a kid teaching a kid, basically. [ That sounds great. Not. ] Why were they called the 'Clone Wars'?

[resnipstance]

... Basically. [Ahsoka never considered Anakin to be that young when they first started training together. A nineteen year old seems impossibly old and wise to a fourteen year old. But now that she's nearly eighteen herself, she thinks Lance's words are pretty apt.

At the next question, though, her expression darkens.]

... Good question ... with a crappy answer.

The short version is that the Republic used a clone army to fight the Separatists.

[ceruleo]

Jeez....

[ Questionable ethical choices on all sides, at least from where Lance is standing. That blows him out of the water, though--clones? Sounds like something the Galra would do. ]

And we only just got the hang of cloning animals. [ Cloning humans, though? Fraught. ] Why? Couldn't get enough people on their side?

[resnipstance]

Yes. In a way.

The Separatist army used droids-- robots. Everything in their entire army was automated except the leaders. They had nearly a decade to prepare for a war they knew was coming-- to prepare hundreds of millions of mechanical soldiers that didn't feel pain or fear or question orders.

When it hit us, we were badly outnumbered.

[ceruleo]

So that puts you on the uh, Republican side? The 'clone' side. [ Fighting against robots; he's done his fair share of drone-destroying. ] How'd they know the war was coming?

[resnipstance]

I guess you could say that after a thousand years of peace and prosperity under the rule of the Galactic Republic, nobody ever really imagined that it would come to war. Everybody thought that the Separatist faction would eventually see sense and come back into the fold. Or else resolve things diplomatically.

But the Separatists were preparing for war the whole time. They were only biding their time so that they would be prepared.