You have spent the last few days on Thesa Station, taking in the knowledge that your world is no more. Perhaps you've made some friends (or maybe an enemy or two). Either way, you aren't expected to spend all of your time on the Station. El Nysa needs you, after all, and you promised you'd help the planet thrive. Are you ready?
Submit an AC-eligible thread with a new character as a participant for 2 OLYMPIA REP POINTS OR 2 WYVER REP POINTS, respectively, HERE or HERE. THESA STATION
All refugees on the station are called to the hangar where a large-scale teleporter has been set up; everyone will be sent to the planet together. Simply step onto the space between the arrays and wait. Before they depart, all new refugees will be given a starter kit!
 You may have heard about earlier technical difficulties, but don't worry. I promise everything is in perfect working order this time. I'd say I tested it myself, but since that's not exactly possible, you'll just have to trust me! (Please.)
The older refugees will also be there to guide you to ensure no one is left confused... or behind. Make sure you wait for them — I've been detecting something odd so I'll be having them meet you at the landing site. Good luck, refugees! Not that you'll be needing it or anything...
The arrays begin to hum and glow, quickly building into a brilliant wash of light. It creates a column that travels all the way from Thesa Station to the surface of El Nysa. With the night sky as a canvas, the beam can be seen all the way from Olympia and Wyver — a view that has the natives whispering of blessings.
As a sudden but beautiful aurora splays across the sky, the refugees down on the planet receive a message asking them to travel to the landing site — and warning them to prepare for what may come of the strange readings Zasere's gotten from the teleport itself.
Traveling through the light leaves the impression of blinding starlight, a strange sense of weightlessness, and a disorienting moment of total sensory deprivation. The radiance of your teleport hangs bright in the sky above you, a shimmering aurora that reflects off the calm waters below, visible for miles all around.
You've landed on a peninsula to the east of the South Outpost. There's little here — scattered trees on spring-barren plains, with a few overgrown, dilapidated structures poking out of the brush. All is quiet save for the keening of animals and the gentle lapping of waves against the shore. This lonely desolation is hardly the bustling cities and vibrant cultures you were promised back on the station...
BY CAMPFIRE'S GLOW. But waiting for you is a group of your predecessors, and with them, a veritable tent city, with portable stoves, coolers of food and drink, comfortable bedrolls, and cheerful rings of bonfires — all that you need to make merry of the night, courtesy of Overseer Voss, who has, thanks to his interest in blessed meteorological phenomena and refugees, decided to make a holy expedition of the affair.
Settle in, meet new comrades, and enjoy yourself, for you've safely completed your journey. But don't wander too far from the fires — the dark is closing in, and there's a strange, electric feeling in the air, the scent of ozone drifting on the breeze. And what were those odd readings Zasere mentioned?
A SHEPHERD OVER THE FLOCK. The spring sun dawns on a grey morning, already burning away the fog rolling in off the sea. It quickly becomes apparent that Voss and his entourage of acolytes have been up for hours, hard at work. They've set up a brightly-draped stage and a travel pulpit, magically enchanted to amplify his voice, and as the sun breaks over the horizon, Voss is all set to do what he does best: proselytize.
 As our Goddess has sent Her blessing once before to herald the coming of those touched by Her light, so She has done once again! Here you see them, those surrounded by the light of our Goddess, each of them bearing the mark upon their skin of Her holiest of hands! Do you not see? Do none among you bear witness to the righteousness of Her message? Perhaps this is why our people have shamed themselves in front of our Goddess—
[ He continues for another 15 minutes... ]
Nevertheless. See you them before us now! See them as they are, coming to our gates with Her reminder, that these people must be treated with the utmost respect and care. Thesa's divinity is not to be treated with such flagrant disregard! Those who She chooses are not ours to use as mindless fodder, to hurt, to torture — shame upon those who allowed such deeds to shame us under Her watchful gaze!
To those of you who have just arrived here on our doorstep, be not afraid! The Temples of Thesa welcome you to our home with hearts and minds open! Should you ever find yourself in need of solace, seek out the Temples, as there are no greater allies to you than those of us within the Temple walls. You are welcome all to Olympia!
As he steps away from the enchanted podium, he can be heard saying aside to an acolyte, "How was that? Heavy on the shame, but I think it went well!" While he will not leave the area immediately, his acolytes will politely turn away attempts to speak with him and remind anyone interested that they can leave a message at the Temples.
Despite going off without hitch, the new refugees' arrival isn't entirely without incident. It seems that the "blessed" beam of light that brought the refugees down to El Nysa brought something else along with it — a sliver of the Storm. At least the beam was short enough that only a small fraction managed to squeeze through.
But it's enough to wreak a little havoc around the landing site and along the road back toward Olympia and Wyver — and even, for a few days, in the cities themselves.
THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE. The Storm is an undeniably destructive force, and that's proven with this small sliver's effect as it ripples across the continent. While there's no visible sign of its presence, strange phenomena soon begin to appear, corresponding with Zasere's odd readings.
They're innocuous little things at first. A sudden silence, animals going quiet, insects stilling. All technology, no matter how advanced, ceases working. You discover when you check with a friend, the clock on your phone is twelve minutes slow even though you'd swear only a minute had passed — time missing. Walking through the woods takes longer than it should when brushing past one bush leads to brushing past that same bush again — and again, and again, the area looping on itself. It keeps you trapped, going in circles for minutes, even hours, before finally releasing you in a random direction.
Or perhaps you'll feel a sense of deja vu, like you've walked down this road, taken this turn, seen that bird fly from this branch before. This is the second time that cat has crossed your path. The person you're meeting, you already know their name; you're certain you've already met.
WE GOT COWS. The Storm sliver also ushers in sudden, localized weather anomalies — heavy storms, blizzards, strong winds, and more. Affected areas range from just a few feet wide to nearly half a mile. One minute, the sky may be sunny and clear, but the next dark storm clouds roll in, unleashing torrential rain. Small tornadoes surge along the road, kicking up winds strong enough to knock people over and carry objects away. Hail hurtles down from the sky, but only in a ten foot radius. Temperatures fluctuate wildly between one extreme and the next, from heat waves to cold snaps. Soupy fog blankets the area, thick enough that you can barely see your hand in front of your face. Good luck finding your way!
FORGETTING IS SO LONG. The visions come on suddenly and with very little warning. One second, you're carrying on as normal — but the next, you blink and find yourself (and anyone near you) somewhere else completely. You may recognize this place as a moment from the past, one that you lived through. It's a memory, your memory, and it now replays around you in exceptional detail, unnervingly lifelike. Or you may not recognize it at all. It might belong to the person next to you, or to someone else entirely — a memory that the Storm has swallowed up.
Either way, the scene plays out just as it once did, and there's nothing you can do to stop it — or escape it. The memory surrounds you to no end: every door you open leads nowhere, every hallway you turn down continues on forever, every horizon you flee toward hangs just out of reach. And linger too long or turn the wrong corner, and you may find yourself abruptly stuck in a completely different memory. It's almost tempting, then, to give up, to let the past sweep you away...
But this isn't the full might of the Storm. Look closely, and you can see that in the walls of this trap, there are minute, hairline cracks, a facade of fractured glass. Imperfections in the memory where the real world is breaking through. It seems the only way to escape these memories is to find those cracks and break through them — by force, by will, or by some other method entirely.
The time is coming to make a choice — perhaps not a permanent choice, but unless you want to spend the rest of your nights out under the stars, you'll need to pick which city you will initially spend your time in. On the horizon, you will see that people have arrived to help you make that decision...
A FORK IN THE ROAD. Refugees and the hyper-religious wishing to hear Voss speak are not the only ones out and about under the light of the aurora. Citizens of both Olympia and Wyver have flocked to a point on the road midway between the cities and where the refugees have appeared, and they all have the same goal in mind: convincing the newcomers who have just descended in the blessed light of Thesa to come to their city and not the other.
They've come with bribes — that is, examples of what their cities have to offer. If you spent much time at the exhibition up on Thesa Station, you might recognize some of what's being shown off, though the offerings here are markedly more tangible, and shown off by hawkers wearing substantially fewer clothes.
A herd of pegasi accompanies the Olympians, while a line of flying serpents is stabled at a tent bearing Wyver colors. Refugees are given the chance to experience solo flights and are told that if they prove their loyalty, they may have the privilege of owning such fine beasts one day themselves. The Olympians have also brought couture clothing, jewelry, and makeup to offer a taste of Olympian splendor, while the Wyver delegation has brought along fine weapons, sense-enhancing jungle plants, and small vials of diluted dragon’s blood (drinking confers a temporary boost in strength) to demonstrate their might. The Olympians speak proudly of the glory of the Temples of Thesa; the Wyverns speak of the Volkkran Pact and inform newcomers that they can make a pilgrimage to the summit of Namarak Mountain at the next full moon.
This is as good a time as any to compare your plans with others around you and exchange contact information before going your separate ways with people who are going to the city you are not. When you’re ready to go, don’t worry about safe passage — the natives of each city will gladly escort you there in luxury.
OF WHITE AND GOLD. The people of Olympia are ecstatic that you’ve come to join them... So much so that they’ve prepared a grand tour of the city for the new arrivals. You will be introduced to the major businesses in the city, including businesses that they are proud to point out were founded by refugees.
Refugees who have been here for some time already are encouraged to pair up with newcomers to introduce them to the parts of the city they like best. To facilitate this, they’ve made arrangements with many of the business owners: new refugees who visit their shops (and older refugees who escort them) are given discounts!
Just a few examples of many: the Wyvernest offers free desserts to first time visitors with the purchase of a drink, refugees who visit the Silk Wyrms can have one custom (though not exceedingly expensive) outfit made for them for free, and visitors to Shades Darker are offered a half-hour session with one of the prostitutes at half price… or access to a private room, if they seem to have taken a shine to one of their companions on the tour.
Lastly, tour guides will point out that over the course of the next week, the train to Flona Cove will allow new refugees to board for free so that they can experience the seaside for themselves. With the weather finally starting to warm, this is as good a time as any for a visit to the beach, isn’t it?
OF RED AND BLACK. Life in Wyver is typically a sink-or-swim sort of experience — but in light of the valor recently displayed by their predecessors, the natives are now more willing to assist in getting newcomers settled. The entire journey here they have been talking up the virtues of their city… and now is the time to show everything that's on offer.
The well-known businesses in the city are prepared for the influx of newcomers. Some are giving out discounted samples of their products while others are offering a more hands-on experience: in exchange for working a few hours, they will give training in whatever task is being performed.
At the Forged, newcomers can learn the basics of crafting simple weapons (and take one of their successes home), while visitors to spas near the lagoons are trained in the art of massage. Those who wander to Falmi’s Ring can learn the art of pugilism or how to keep (and fix) books if they're more inclined to the gambling that goes on. Newcomers interested in Wyver's dragons can get hands-on experience at the Fields of the Exalted's nursery. While they walk from place to place, a guide may point out a job posting from Highwind Hires, noting that refugees can make a name for themselves outside official channels.
The last stop on the tour is the Undergrowth. The guides speak of the jungle in reverent tones and caution new refugees not to wander too far in. They warn never to explore alone, but also urge refugees to take time to familiarize themselves with it; after all, the jungle is an important part of life in Wyver, and those who are going to be living here should understand it as well as they do.
You've chosen your path, refugee, but that doesn't necessarily make it a permanent one. Watch out for the strange effects of the Storm, which linger still in the two cities and everywhere in between for the next few days before dissipating just as mysteriously as they came, but otherwise enjoy the welcome and make yourself at home — after all, this is home now.
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Fortunately for Asseylum, Vin isn't out for anything like that and after letting out a quiet sigh she reaches in to pull out the folded up tarp and holds it forward.
"Open this and put it over yourself. Whatever it's made of water won't soak through it. You'll still get wet but it'll be better than nothing."
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"No! Come back!"
Apparently, it's not windproof. Without ropes, anyway. She doesn't relinquish it to the storm just yet, giving chase to the airborne tarp as best as she can. Ooh; this makes her dizzy all over again...
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She makes it about two steps before she stops, looks back over her shoulder, she hesitates and then shakes her head with a heavy sigh. When did this become her responsibility?
All the same, she burns pewter and sprints, practically blowing past Asseylum despite her head start and closing the distance to the tarp. She follows up pewter with iron, a blue line connecting one of the metal rings to the center of her chest to her eyes but invisible to anyone else, and Pulls. The wind offers some resistance but the tarp stops all the same, abruptly snapping taught as if suddenly snagged on some invisible hook.
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After her awestruck spell, she hurries to the halted tarp without running so as not to push herself over the edge, gratefully guided by the strong tailwind. "Are you doing that?!" she asks when she's within earshot.
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Feet she digs in, leaning back against the counterforce and still slipping a little on the wet grass. Pewter burns bright and hot in her stomach and she holds against the wind tearing at the tarp and pushing at her back both.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." She grumbles around the effort this is taking and just loud enough to be heard. Above the tarp is finally starting to move back. "Just grab it when it gets low enough and hold on tight to it!"
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"I've got it!!" she cries over the storm, squinting past the wind and incipient rainfall.
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"Good job." She speaks over the rushing storm, looking up at the driving rain with a sigh. So much for staying dry. "Wrap yourself up like I told you and let's see if we can find a place to wait this out. There should be a free tent."
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While Asseylum finally wins her struggle with her tarp, Vin's shrugged off her pack and dug out the one she'd been provided with. She unfolds it, keeping a tight hold and wraps it around her. It drags on the ground and she has to hold tight to keep the wind from snatching at it but it's better than being totally exposed.
Anyway, she's still burning pewter which is doing well enough to keep the chill from sinking into her bones.
"Ready to go? Or do you plan to try and wait it out here?"
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"Um... Thank you for your help. I don't think I ever caught your name. Mine is Asseylum."
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Not that... she's likely to sleep very much anyway considering all of the circumstances. But that's beside the point.
"I didn't tell you." She answers, looking forward as they begin to head back toward the camp. The wind still pushing at her although she doesn't give it much of a second thought. After a moment she glances back over to her. "It's Vin."
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She knows next to nothing about her, but she already clutches the hope in her chest that maybe they could grow to be friends. If she comes from a world that knows nothing of Martian and Terran strife, it might be even easier.
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Could somebody like this really make it in the world?
Vin looks backwards, watching the bright look on Asseylum's face. Her own expression not cold but certainly not reaching that level of glee.
"Sure." The camp isn't a long distance away and she nods toward it. "Do you already have a tent picked out?"
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The tents, at least, don't appear to be going anywhere. They're fastened securely enough to the ground that they don't fly away, which is a blessing.
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Vin... doesn't have one. Hadn't picked one out, preferring to hang on the fringes of this group and observe. She might have to change that once they reach camp again.
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Like other tents, the interior is devoid of personal flair, decked with the bedroll she was given, an empty mug, a lantern, and other such provisions, though not much. With the tempest no longer bearing down on them, Asseylum all but collapses on her knees to the ground in a clumsy splay, eager to rest her weary body and dizzy mind.
"Whew...! We finally made it." She sheds the tarp-poncho and shrugs it off her shoulders, discarding it into a heap at the corner by the entrance. "What a relief to be dry." She runs her hands through her long, damp hair, collecting it like she would tie it up but letting it all drape unobtrusively over one shoulder instead.
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Following Asseylum's lead she lets the tarp drop, pushing it aside and carefully setting the satchel with her starting supplies down beside it. Brushing her short, dark hair aside and frowning when she reflexively moves her fingers to her ear only to find her earring gone. Gone since she'd woken up. She's not sure why it was taken away but there's no way to find that out right now.
It's quite the contrast. Asseylum, clumsy and delicate with her long, blonde hair and Vin, dark, armed and moving with the odd grace of pewter as she takes a seat closer to the tent flap. She keeps one eye on it, listening for any movement on the other side.
"It is a lot more comfortable." She agrees, sighing a little as she "relaxes", that is a little bit of the edge fades away. "Thanks for inviting me in."
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"Are you a new refugee as well, or have you been awake for longer?" she asks.
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There's a moment where the reflection casts a melancholy shadow over her expression before she brushes it off. Settling back, she draws her knees up, resting one arm across them while the other never strays too far from her dagger.
She still can't not be too careful.
"New. I only woke up long enough to go through that... show up there and now this." She gestures outside, toward where the bonfires and celebrations had been happening not long ago. Before the storm had forced everybody to shelter.
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"It's a lot to take in." Her voice is measured, careful, and a flicker of sadness crosses her eyes as she thinks briefly of the people left behind up in the sky. She doesn't dwell on it though, instead turning to Asseylum, curious. "What kind of world did you come from? If you don't mind talking about it."
barfs a bunch of text
What a place to have been interrupted, too. Even now, she's unsure whether the gunshot wounds that served as her final memories led to her death or not, but it seems foolish to dwell upon too hard when she's here now, talking. The only fact she can be certain of is that whatever transpired, she's here on El Nysa, carrying the burden of understanding her home world to have vanished, the conflict disappearing alongside it. Her memory is fuzzy, but returns in flashes and bits. She's already had some time to arrange them into a more complete picture.
"The war started about six months ago, from my recollection. I had traveled to Earth in order to negotiate more peaceful relations, but certain players from my own empire had schemes to assassinate me and pin the blame on Terrans, giving them a reason to declare war with Earth. However, they failed, because a double took my place while I fell ill due to gravitational changes... So..." She keeps her hand close to her heart, a loose fist as she treads through scenes in her head. "...I had no choice but to ally myself with the Terrans in the war. It was an unjust, and we worked together to deliver me to the United Earth headquarters so that I could prove I was alive and end the war, but communications were intercepted by those who had plotted my assassination to begin with. Therefore, we had to change tactics."
She hadn't expected her description of her homeworld to spiral into a retelling of the war and her role in it, but... thinking about it, what else could she really say about the place she hailed from? It was a young nation at odds with its origins, bereft of a culture to call its own and the resources needed to make one flourish. The more she thinks about her empire, the more it saddens her that it existed in the barren state that it had. Its short history was blemished by deprivation, hatred, and its drive to use the superior military technology bestowed upon them by the Aldnoah in order to get what it needed.
Oh no not text. Well what if I went and changed my PB in mid-thread what then
A lot of the words are unfamiliar, "Terrans" and "Mars" but she gets the idea well enough. A war between two nations. The title strikes her as well, the granddaughter of an Emperor. What does that make her exactly? A princess? Is that how it works? Either way, it marks her as a high-ranking noble indeed which is something worth noting. She knows enough now not to let that immediately put her on edge but she keeps it in mind all the same.
"So, what happened?" She turns more of her focus to Asseylum, although she never stops listening to their surroundings. "Did you make it?"
my, what long(er) hair you have there, vin!
It had been sudden, painful, and disorienting. Her emotions had twisted a hundred eighty degrees from rejoicing with her injured friend and comrade to a sharp, plunging pain in her back. Dimly she wonders if the gunshot wounds might still be there; it wasn't like she ever checked. A part of her pledges to do so later, if only to make sense of whether what she experienced had been real or not.
"And then, my vision fades out, and the next thing I know, I'm waking up in a pod on Thesa Station, told that Earth, Mars, and everything I have known is no more."
It's still a little too long but at least she looks her actual age now!
Well, maybe a little. Inherited through a royal bloodline. A special ability of some kind, like her Allomancy? She wants to ask but the ending of Asseylum's story cuts any questions short. Her gaze drifts toward Asseylum's shoulders, sharing the same question about whether her back would show any signs of those wounds but she doesn't mention it. Instead, she turns away, focusing on some random spot on the floor as her hand drifts to her side to rest just above where a familiar scar lays hidden.
"I was... wounded badly once, in a fight. I remember bleeding badly and everything going hazy and then a friend finding me just before everything went dark. I was sure that was where everything would end. I woke up two weeks later in bed and quite a bit of pain." She's not sure why she's telling her this. The memory of that night, of the Steel Inquisitor's iron gaze and unstoppable, inescapable pursuit makes her shiver. Was it reassuring? Just a way to express sympathy? "So, I know that feeling too."
Lord, she's bad at this.
i can dig it
Thanks, yo