THE MARK OF THE ATLAS
Into the heart of the city you go.Down below the lowest levels of the city, somewhere beyond the twisty maze of passages, several of the paths converge in a huge underground cavern. Here the air is blissfully cool compared to the desert above. A single shaft of light shines down from somewhere on the surface; motes of sand drift lazily as if suspended in the light. Elsewhere, the cave is lit by small clusters of glowing fungus that live off the moisture collected down here. Dim but navigable for most.
But perhaps the most striking items in the area are the
monoliths. Great fragments of stone over three meters long, too smooth to be natural but too jagged to be whole either. Several of them glow from the pulse of energy running through them. Others, while dark, have recessed notches large enough for a person’s hand. And still another group seems nearly shattered, a larger fragment surrounded by smaller ones. All of them react when the interlopers draw close enough...
LIGHT
Upon closer inspection, the lit monoliths have a curious pattern worked into the tone. The symbols are rather arcane, but perhaps they make sense if one tilts one’s head and squints. This one has strokes that resemble tongues of flame. That one is covered in cascading, fluid lines. Another … well, that look more like a
warning sign than anything else.
Interacting with these monoliths results in a warning crackle and the scent of ozone before the monolith
opens. Something comes pouring out of it in response. Gushing water is the most common, matching up with the cascade monoliths; others open to flame or greenery or other odd things. And one
definitely opens up into a vacuum. Careful with that unless you want to have something sucked out into space.
Whatever connection they make is brief and non-traversable, but whatever comes through stays on this side.
DARK
The unlit monoliths aren’t nearly as flashy as their glowing brethren, but they have their own stories to tell. With the help of a little light (and the suit), the interlopers will find that these monoliths are covered from top to bottom in alien script. Most have at least one solid crack or chunk in them - at the juiciest parts! - but there may be enough left to be intelligible, given a little luck.
VISION
The last set hum with an ominous energy that belies their dilapidated appearance. Interlopers who approach these monoliths trigger strange images that float in the air. No two visions are alike, though they all share common themes. Silhouettes descending to the surface of the planet and spreading out across it. Exploring and interacting with an alien environment. There’s something deeply familiar about these shadows despite the variety of body types represented by them. The shape of their clothing is reminiscent of your own suit...
Other snippets are set in space. Here the silhouettes are a darker patch of black against the darkness of space. The mood in these images is strangely pensive, somewhat tense. These figures are searching very desperately for something.
There is one, though, that’s different from all the others. No silhouettes, no searching, no space. Only a shaft of light starting from a point beyond this planet’s moon. At first it’s a too-bright star; then, a solid beam stretching down to the planet itself. The light increases in intensity and breadth exponentially until it impacts physically with the surface of the planet itself. The eruption kicks up huge clouds of dust that race towards the city with all the heat and speed of a pyroclastic explosion. It rises up like a wave...and then crashes down, burying the city.
Eventually, each of the images go dark once again.
BROKEN
Amidst the myriad of strange monoliths and now-flowing water? Is some sort of chassis. The ruined frame of an old robot of some kind, easily as large as a cement mixer's chamber and just as tall. Most of it lies buried beneath the sand, stuck near the far end of one particularly large chamber within the caves' network. It takes a bit of walking to get there, but there's a reward to be had for those who find it:
The room is not empty.Standing in the exact middle is a strange, hulking figure. It stands at eight feet at least, a massive frame encased in black. Whether it's carapace or suit is impossible to tell, and whether or not it's
alive is another story altogether. It stands perfectly motionless, skull-like face staring ahead at the robot's husk as water pools in through cracks and recesses, giving the ground a glass-like appearance through which
tiny grass-like eels can be seen rising from tiny holes in the sand.
For all intents and purposes the figure seems nothing more than a statue.
Eerie.
OOC
There will be an
24-hour event encounter which runs from
Nov 26th at 8:00am EST to
Nov 27th at 8:00am EST. Feel free to let characters toy around & thread in the innermost areas of the city before the main event! Sections will go up in this entry and will be linked here when they are ready.
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and hopefully this is okay too
But there are many things in the universe that are unnerving, and if Allura let any of them stop her, she'd have never left the castle. So rather than giving the statue thing a wide berth, she steps closer, angling for the side opposite Jim, pressing her hand against the suit and closing her eyes. She had been able to connect to the Balmera - if this statue was once living, and there was any life-force left inside, perhaps she could reach... something. ]
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There's gotta be some tools on that ship. If only we could be in there for longer than five minutes.
[ That frustrates him more than anything. Knowing he could probably find a lot of useful things in there, along with information, but being impossible for him to survive long enough to succeed.
As the woman steps up to the statue, Jim drops his hand, watching her for a few seconds before asking curiously. ] What are you doing?
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[ Pidge agrees with both Jim and Hunk on this one. She crosses her arms as she stands a few paces behind Hunk, staring up at the robot with an uncertain expression. ]
I wish I had my computer. I bet there has to be some kind of interface in that thing--too bad there's probably no power.
[ Pidge glances over at Kirk, shrugs. She steps up next to Hunk and starts trying to scramble up on top of the robot--maybe she can find some way of getting inside. ]
I think she's trying--oof--to see what she can find out about it.
[ She scrambles upwards, sending some dust and sand trickling down towards Hunk as she goes. ]
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Because it's not a statue at all, and that mask? Not one of those either. It's the creature's face and when Jim's hands fall away as Allura makes contact it suddenly shifts, turning its empty-eyed gaze downward at her. Whether or not it's staring it anyone's guess, but there is most definitely life inside it.
Oh and it talks, too. Slow and gravelly, in a deep tone. ]
Do not disturb the sleeping one.
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That moves. Which is creepy enough, with those empty eyes peering at her, but adding in the voice is enough to make Allura's hand twitch and almost fall away. But here is a chance to talk to something, and even if it doesn't respond, she's not going to waste the opportunity. ]
No. [ She presses her hand flat against the suit, mentally willing herself to connect to it by whatever means possible, even if it is just this touch. ] Are you the sleeping one? Where are we? What are you?
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She doesn't look even slightly scared; if anything the voice only seems to encourage her further, which in turn only makes Jim worry more about what reaction she might end up triggering, even if accidentally. ]
Careful, [ He places a hand lightly on her forearm but doesn't actually grab it. He also lets himself stay where he is just in case the figure decides to do something other than talk next. Not that Jim's so great a fighter that he could take it head on, but at least he can make for a decent enough human shield. ] Doesn't look like he's very friendly.
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the who?
He turns, gaze shifting from Allura to the statue with uncertainty. The Balmera had been a peaceful creature when Allura had done her thing. They don't know what the heck this guy is. ]
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The sleeping what?
[ As she turns her head to look back towards Allura, she misses her footing and goes tumbling downwards. Hopefully Hunk is paying attention or they both might end up in a tangled heap in the sand. ]
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The hand on her arm gets her to look at the man, her expression slightly put-out. ] Lack of friendliness is hardly reason to stop.
[ If she'd let something like that stop her before, she wouldn't have been out fighting an evil empire. ] We might be able to get answers from him.
[ The noise from Pidge tumbling down does catch her attention, but she doesn't move from her spot next to the statue, or get her to move her hand. There's a goal to accomplish, and she's determined to see it through. ]
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The First it had met before, the "Cayde", had asked many questions at once as well. An exhausting experience. It suspects these are much like Cayde. ]
This one is...The Last. [ The Last is also not big on talking or conversations, but it does begin to shift and draw itself up, impractically long fingers flexing at its sides. It makes no move to dissuade Allura. ]
The Last of Kharas.
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but he does turn his head to look up at her when she yelps, and it's thanks to that noise that Hunk's arms reach out to catch his friend in a bridal carry. ]
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Who are the Kharas? [ Yes well because she's right and yes he's also going to ask questions, so. ] Is the crashed ship yours, were you the ones to bring us here? Or are you from this city?
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oh, a bunch of people are talking to a statue. Seems legit.
Bull ambles in, relieved to finally see some other people after navigating his way down here alone, since he's pretty used to traveling in a party. He's also pretty used to just sitting back and letting things play out, so after squinting up at the bony figure and then looking back to Allura with her hand pressed so determinedly to it he just kind of stays it of the way. Or as out of the way as someone like his size can get. Don't mind him, just monitoring the situation. ]
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You are the last of your people? [ Or the planet, which really isn't much different. Allura knows all too well the destruction of both, and she has to swallow around a lump in her throat to talk next. ] I am one of the last of my people, as well. What happened here, my friend? Can you answer the questions of my companion?
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Thanks, Hunk. Sorry...
[ She trails off into silence, then begins to untangle herself as she watches Allura converse with the being. She's distracted by Bull's appearance (wow he's big) but the main event is the mysterious discussion happening across the chamber. ]
UPDATE: Boney will now reply every 3 comments!
[ So helpful as an answer, I know. But at least The Last doesn't stop there and continues on have a heavy pause. Jim asked a lot of questions though, so The Last decides to go with: the last (one)! It's just easiest that way. ]
This one is not. Kharas dead. Empty. Was...searching. Then Overseers came, destroyed. Now only this one if left. [ Or, that's what it thought until it met Cayde, anyway. And just like it had with the Exo The Last will lift an elongated arm and extend one of its fingers, reaching out to tap the mark on the back of Allura's hand; the same Atlas mark they all bear. ]
Until The First.
ty!
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Yeah, about that. [HEY BONEFRIEND] Nice to see you again, glad to see you're still... Tall... What do you mean when you call us the First?
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The First... [ He glances to the new arrival, silent for a brief moment before hazarding a guess. ] The First of us to wake up, maybe?
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Yes. [ Nailed it in one Kirk! ] The First to wake after The Last.
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Made a new friend, have we?
[Her head tips to the side as she recalls the words she heard upon entering.]
You were saying something presumably important. Don't stop on my account.
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Who are the Overseers?
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I'm all about that.
[ He turns to the Last again for now, eyes lingering on Allura for a brief moment at her question, throwing a guess more to himself more than anything. ]
The ones who brought us here?
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Overseers destroy.
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There are these monoliths, [ He starts, addressing the others in the room more so than the creature. ] They show you visions if you touch them. Most likely memories, I think. Couldn't figure that out. But there was one— of a beam of light hitting the planet and causing a reaction that buried the city.
[ He turns to the Last again. ] Is that what you mean? Was that the Overseers?
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