❪ introlog: #6 ❫ city of secrets

[natha]

You've spent the last few days on Thesa Station, taking in the knowledge that your world is no more. Now, the time to put all your survival training into practice has arrived: El Nysa needs you, and you're here to help the planet thrive. Are you ready? THE DESCENT     All refugees on the station are called to the hangar, where a large-scale teleporter awaits. Simply step onto the space between the arrays and wait; everyone will be sent down to the planet together. Before they depart, all refugees will be given a cold weather survival kit with warm clothing, rations, and bedding. The arrays build into a brilliant wash of light, creating a column that travels all the way from Thesa Station to the surface of El Nysa, teleporting the refugees to the planet on an aurora. Once on the planet's surface, refugees receive one last message from Darma. It has been a long, perilous year for you, refugees. And yet we must ask you to brave further peril. Within Nadril are the secrets to how poor Ysverai's revival was hidden from our sight and how this disaster has come to our star. Find the first refugee from beyond this planet, a man named Magda. He will not speak to us, for much has come between us, but to you… If you prove yourselves, he may be willing to answer your questions. We beseech you, for there is a veil over Nadril that hides all within from us. There may yet be more untold dangers waiting to befall this planet. For the good of all who make this world home, we ask you to lend us your aid. There is yet one more favor we would ask of you. In warding off the Storm's encroachment, the physical aspect of ourselves that you call Thesa Station was damaged. We must remain to continue repairs to El Nysa and to deal with Ysverai, but there should be suitable technology within Nadril that could be used for spare parts. If you have the chance to find it and can return it to us, it would hasten— Darma's message crackles with static, another image overlaying hers — her broadcast is cut off and replaced with another. A more sullen and alien voice takes Darma’s place, overlapping on itself in an ominous reveal. It has been a long, perilous year for you, refugees. And yet you’ve only just arrived here. To say I’m not disappointed in your… generation would be to lie, and I am nothing if not an honest creature. But I suppose these have been unusual circumstances. You must ask yourself this — are you only here as Darma's lapdogs? I can assure you, it's not worth being on the Natha's leash. With time, that will be something you'll have to learn for yourself. If you're so determined to come find Nadril, then follow the path north, and you'll find the border. What awaits you is revelation, if you're up to the challenge. A FROZEN LAND     The refugees land on a literally frozen world, both in temperature and time. Curls of icy wind hold swirls of snow aloft and an uncanny silence is broken only by the crunch of hoarfrost underfoot. Only Darma's protection allows the refugees to move through this frozen world — and movement is very necessary. Bitter cold sneaks through even the thickest clothing and without warning, a snowstorm rises: unnaturally quickly, a wall of white howls directly in the refugee's path. Bizarrely, the way back is perfectly calm; it's obvious that this storm is no product of nature. Magda's challenge becomes clear: the only way to Nadril lies through this storm. Visibility within the storm is near zero, the whiteout hiding any landmarks from view and making navigation near impossible. The only guidance refugees have is a sporadic path of faint, greenish lights, easily lost in the raging storm. Refugees need all the survival skills they practiced on Thesa Station to survive, for getting lost alone is a death sentence. Luckily, those separated from the group can happen upon guiding lights Magda has planted throughout the tundra. These blue-white sparks cause frostbite if handled recklessly, but they also serve as directional anchors, turning into ghostly flames that lead lost souls back to the path to Nadril. The trek through the storm will be no mean feat and will last for the better part of three days. By the time the refugees reach Nadril's gate, most will find themselves exhausted and running on fumes. As the snowstorm dies away and a gap in the glittering forcefield around the city opens to usher the refugees inside, it's clear that Nadril is a different beast. A WARM(?) WELCOME     I. Despite the unforgiving journey, entering Nadril is painless. Once inside, characters will be greeted by their predecessors: the original refugees who made this advanced city. They'll immediately be offered medical attention, as well as warm cider and blankets. But it's obvious that the Nadril citizens prefer higher tech to fend off the weather: they also offer wristlets and ear cuffs that that double as mittens and earmuffs by creating warm bubbles of air. The earrings also feature a few quality of life programs, such as timed alarms and thought-to-speech messaging. However, both programs are in beta stages so it's not unusual for a stray thought to accidentally slip through or an alarm to accidentally ring at an inopportune time. II. Refugees are offered free lodging in a large, crystalline building crafted from ice. Despite the coarse building material, the ice is unmelting and surprisingly well-insulated, and the beds are as warm and cozy. The rooms are, however, small. The sleeping quarters house two people, and are some cross between an igloo and a capsule hotel. Though built for efficiency over comfort, all rooms are also outfitted with the latest Nadril AI, RoboAlfred, or Ralf for short. This helpful program is installed in practically all the furnishings: the closet tells guests to bundle up, the bathroom sink reminds them to brush their teeth, and the mirror offers helpful fashion tips. Ralf's personality matrix still needs polish, though: it may very well insult your clothes and passively-aggressively question your lifestyle choices for the entire stay. III. Though not as advanced as Thesa Station, the colony has technology far beyond the rest of the continent, such as rudimentary AIs and mechanical transportation. Nadril's skyline is a point of pride — refugees can take a (literal) lightrail that gives an aerial view of the colony, which is hewn almost entirely from ice and rock. Despite its tech, Nadril is much more sparsely populated than Olympia and Wyver, and its residents stay near a central hub: a Natha refugee drop ship, Central, which has crashed and long embedded itself into the earth. Central is similar to an older, smaller, grounded model of Thesa Station, in functional order with round-the-clock solar power. Within Central are lounges similar to ones on the Station, though many of the damaged areas have been converted. They include repair stations, different wings dedicated to science, botany, astrology, and mechanics, and a research and history facility, which has a smattering of technology from planets beyond El Nysa — including your own. The staff here don't mind if anything is sampled and studied, but objects cannot be taken from the labs. IV. On the outskirts of the central hub, many will find several curious looking bots with insect-like wings perched about high traffic walkways. Simply passing the bots will cause a dizzying flash before a series of photos print out. Upon closer inspection, people will find that these images reflect stills taken from their home worlds as they remember it. Unfortunately, these photos only last a couple of hours at best. At that time, they will revert back to regular pictures of the refugees. People will be encouraged to share these images of their worlds. The residents of Nadril comprehend the value of remembering one's origins, and will be pleased to see that people still hold memories of old homes close to them. RECREATION IN NADRIL     I. Small, mechanical creatures scampering through the city are a common sight. Ask anyone, and they’ll tell you that they come from a shop called Paws About Town. They’re very useful, as companions, gophers, and couriers (though the more mischievous will note that they’re just small enough to keep tabs on people without being noticed). Premade robotic pets are available on display inside the shop. They come in all shapes, but small sizes; one may be able to find robots that even look like miniature creatures from their homeworld. These are a part of a new, highly customizable line with programmable personalities. Customers have the chance to take pets for a one-day trial run. Those who don’t know how to program may want to enlist more knowledgeable aid, but the pets come with instructional pamphlets for basic personality traits such as obedience, helpfulness, playfulness, and bloodthirst. For returns, the switch to wipe the robot's personality to a blank slate is on the back of its neck, right between a switch to invert all traits, and a switch to have them learn by observing. Try not to press the wrong switch — you might wind up with a pet with a mind of its own! II. A. The Frosty Tap Cantina is a thriving hub of activity, but one of the major draws is the self-service bar: molecular mixology is wildly popular here. Playing with drink compositions can be a game in and of itself, and newcomers to the cantina will find that the bartender — a cheerful woman with lilac skin and three eyes — is always happy to give them a few tips on how to use the wide array of tools within reach of the barstools. All manner of drinks are possible — from glowing, layered cocktails, to clear drinks with colored, spherical bubbles and vividly-colored shots that give off their own smoke. There's a nightly contest in the cantina for the most creative drink created by a team — this may be as good a time as any to partner up with someone and see what can you come up with. Winner gets all their drinks for the night free! And, hey, even if you don't win, you get to drink whatever you make. The well-lubricated patrons of the bar are eager to challenge anyone nearby to a different sort of drinking game… Just how well can you hold your liquor? B. Holo-screens in the cantina are nearly always broadcasting some match or another of a game that looks very much like hockey, albeit played with sticks that light up and a puck that changes shape from time to time. Colonists here merely refer to the game as "the sport," and one of their favored pastimes is betting. However, they don't use currency — they wager dares. Nadril colonists are a tough, weathered lot, and they prefer to speak with actions over silver. Colonists will urge the refugees to take part as well. Common dares range from the ridiculous (lead a sing-a-long, attempt to make someone with a poker face smile) to the suggestive (kiss the person in the cantina you find most attractive, strip off a piece of clothing), to the outright reckless (venture out into the snow for a certain amount of time, and no one will judge if you find some company to keep warm). The colonists are unfazed by even the most insane or tawdry of dares — but you'll certainly be called a killjoy for refusing too often! Why not grab a friend and give it a whirl, or challenge a rival to a dare yourself? THE MISSION     I. On the outskirts of Nadril is the communications tower of the old refugees. This is where Magda resides, monitoring Nadril's technological protections, the extent of the Natha’s influence, and running his own personal projects for El Nysa’s technological advancement. It is isolated, filled with research labs and relics of the past refugees who have come to El Nysa — a living mausoleum of worlds swallowed up by the Storm whose peoples have refused to forget where they came from. Crew photos line the walls of the tower: pictures of alien families and friends, the refugees who came to Nadril before you. Each group of photos gradually becomes smaller in number, and the most recent of the pictures are from half a century ago. Magda's picture can be found among the first group of refugees, an unusually small cluster of photos dating back centuries in El Nysa's past. I have been on this planet for nearly two centuries. Life has come, evolved, and collided in an ever expanding culture. But Darma fears interference, and made this place a prison, with she our warden, stifling the growth of the creatures native to this world rather than encouraging them to flourish. She sent you here for answers in her stead because she knows I'll spurn her, and after seeing what that fool Raysc has wrought, I'll give you them — not for Darma's sake, but because I trust after all the Natha have done to you, you'll understand my decision. Mistakes were made, and I won't hide them. You've made it here so there's some mettle to you, and unlike the Orbiters, I'm not interested in hiding the secrets of the dangers we face. I gave Raysc what he needed to keep his actions hidden from Darma's eyes — what he needed to advance the primitive magics the Natha had doomed him to. It was old Natha tech, Darma's very own used against her. Hilarious, isn't it? Raysc learned of Nadril, and like you, braved the snow to find his way here. He proved his worth and his determination, and he spoke of a brighter future, El Nysa coming into its own, its people realizing their true potential, unhindered by the shackles that had been put upon them. I believed him. He had vision — or so I thought. In truth, he was a fool. A madman. He wasted the opportunity I gave him on his petty vengeance. But not everyone on this planet is such an idiot. Surely you lot aren't. The Natha are hiding things from us — about the Storm, about everything. And here in Nadril, we're going to find all those secrets. What's it going to be? Will you help us, or are you going to stay obedient dogs on Darma's leash? Magda isn't too talkative yet; after all, the new flock of refugees may just be here as eyes and ears for the Orbiters. But what he has said leaves you with plenty to talk about, and if you can earn his trust by helping out around Nadril, he doubtless has a great deal more to reveal. II. Central isn't the only Natha ship that made its way to El Nysa — another, crashed just outside Nadril's borders, is little more than a junk heap. It's here that you'll find the spare parts Darma asked you to retrieve for Thesa Station. What remains of the ship's hull serves as a windbreak, and snow has built up against it, turning the piles of old Natha tech inside into something of a snowy morass. Holes in the deck offer would-be scavengers passage to the ship's innards, barely illuminated with flickering lights — the tech is old, but hardy enough to withstand a crash landing, the severe weather, and the passage of centuries. Deep in the wreck are the remains of living quarters, research labs, VR arenas, mecha bays, cafeterias, and a host of other rooms, many of which may seem familiar from Thesa Station, albeit with a decidedly older feel to what remains of the smooth curves and sleek surfaces of the Natha architecture. Most of the ship's systems are damaged and the technology is nonfunctional, but that just means there's plenty of spare parts to be found. The wreck isn't in the best shape, its structural integrity damaged, and the drifting snow threatens to block off exit routes. Be careful while exploring and be sure to bring a partner. As it turns out, Darma isn't the only one interested in the wreck — Magda is also eager to get his hands on Natha technology. In his own way of taking some responsibility for Raysc, he's asking scavengers to bring him parts, muttering about seeing what he can do about Ysverai's curse. Bring him anything that looks useful, and he may have a chance to succeed, though whether he'll be more effective than the Natha Orbiters is up for debate... FINAL OOC NOTES     An AC-eligible thread with a new character as a participant for 2 NADRIL REP POINTS may be submitted from this log. SUBMIT THE THREAD HERE BY AUGUST 5TH, 11:59 PM EST. As always, feel free to create your own prompts and explore the Nadril location page! There are a variety of activities made available, including fishing and cave exploration! Please direct questions to the questions thread below! Thank you! QUICK NAV premise ● faq ● lore ● map ● npcs taken ● atp/emp ● application ● rep/acp calendar ● hiatus/drops ● modbox [ FULL NAVIGATION ] elnysa nysalogs nysaisles nysaooc elnyan

Comments

QUESTIONS

[natha]

[illuminating]

Hi! I hope this isn't too dumb of a question. I was wondering how the thought-to-speech feature would work. Is it like they think, then say out loud the thought they've had? Or is it messaging thoughts to others, in a sense? OR, am I wrong on both, and it works a different way?

[natha]

Characters think the intended message and the earrings send the message to another set of earrings as audio. The receiving earrings can be either the intended receiver, or courtesy of a glitch, a random target. Hope this helps clear it up!

[illuminating]

Perfectly! Thank you very much!

[diamondize]

A while back, Mipha found a list of city names: "Olympia, Wyver, Stroln, Dranbu, and Nadril, with a red line marking out Nadril." If Mipha asks around town or Magda himself about it, would they tell her anything useful?

[natha]

Nadril citizens will tell her that the other cities on the list are full of natives to El Nysa. They speculate that Nadril was crossed off due to the difficulty native El Nysans have in reaching it. Many reach its snowstorm border wall and consider it impassable, making Nadril's status something of a fable. Doubtless the maker of that list reached the snowstorm and decided that Nadril had been destroyed, or something along those lines.

[hedonistic]

hello! a few questions:

1) if someone asks the people of nadril or magda himself about what caused their falling out with the natha, would they be given any details?

2) will characters be able to teleport back and forth from thesa station once a day like they can in olympia/wyver? if they can, will they need to cross the snowstorm every time they return from thesa?

3) are characters allowed to buy the robotic pets instead of just doing a trial run with them? if so, would that be something that could cost ACP or could we handwave them having enough silver to do it?

[natha]

1) No one but Magda has any details about what caused Magda's falling out, and Magda himself is closed-lipped for the moment. If pressed, he'll say that Darma keeps too many secrets, and that her secrets endanger everyone. He speaks with a bitterness that speaks to something personal, but won't say anything further. The other refugees don't have the same grudge against the Natha that Magda carries, but they've chosen to make Nadril their home, and part of that involves keeping to their agreement with Magda to maintain Nadril's veil against Darma's prying eyes in exchange for Nadril's protections and high-tech way of living.

2) Thesa Station is currently inaccessible until the end of the month. There will be ways to access it easily after this sojourn in Nadril, though!

3) Characters are welcome to buy the robotic pets! This would need to be done through ACP as is the case for normal pets.

[willrevile]

what a wonderful new location!! thanks mods! some questions:

1. if pc refugees choose to engage npc refugees about how they've been able to live in nadril for centuries, what's the scoop on that, if they'll talk? with pcs rendered sterile, is it different for the earlier generations, are they particularly long-lived, do they interact with time differently than linear beings?

2. are npcs aware of the fact that the rest of the planet is frozen in time? would they know how the time discrepancy is achieved, and if so would they answer if questioned?

3. what's the population like in terms of race? mostly human or more of a mixed bag?

4. is there an ic mechanic to turn in spare parts to either darma or magda? and is it possible for spare parts to be taken and kept for personal projects? (i mean quite small bits, not, 'ran away with a computer mainframe somehow')

[natha]

1) A bit of both! Earlier generations are non-human, so many of them are long-lived, but they were also non-sterile so they've interbred with each other and with some of the natives of El Nysa. Many of the inhabitants of Nadril are descendants of the original refugees.

2) NPCs are aware that the rest of the planet is frozen and are happy to answer why Nadril isn't frozen in time — part of Nadril's technological protections includes that from Natha observation and interference thanks to the older Natha technology that Nadril possesses. It's this that's shielded Nadril from being caught up in the time freeze like the rest of the planet.

3) Following from 1, Nadril is a mixed bag in terms of race, with its population a mix of both humans and alien species.

4) Thesa will be accessible again in August, so you'll be able to give spare parts to Darma then. In the meantime, you can handwave turning in parts to Magda this month, and feel free to have your character keep small parts for their own projects!

[willrevile]

thank you! ♥

[impavid]

Hey!

So John would be curious about both Central and the crashed Natha ship just outside Nadril. Obviously Central is sort of in use, but if he tries to snoop around and gently technopath it a little when nobody is looking can he get anything interesting out of it? He's sort of looking for logs/diagnostics, old messages from Darma, you know -- anything to tell him about when it landed and how things were at that point or anything more current it might be recording/logging.

Equally, the same for the crashed ship! I'm assuming that will take a little more engineering to revive sections long enough to try and get info out, but if he does -- any diagnostics/logs? Voicemails from Darma asking why they don't call anymore? Information about how it crashed?

Lastly, those rental pets... could he technopath one into following someone for him? Say, Magda for a bit? He's not really sure he trusts him and he's curious about the things he says when nobody is looking.

[natha]

From Central's logs, John will be able to discover that the ship landed roughly 150 years ago — after Magda's group of refugees had been sent to El Nysa. As Central is now in use as Nadril's main hub, it has been scrubbed free of most of Darma's programming, but he'll be able to find a historical archive with a few messages from her that are along a similar vein to what the current crop of refugees have received: the Natha asking refugees to help guide the Nysans and with help in dealing with the Storm. However, as Central is very much in use, too much poking around will be noticed by the people of Nadril, and particularly Magda.

The crashed ship that makes up the junk heap is largely inoperational, its systems too badly damaged for much to be retrieved. However, he'll be able to learn that the ship crashed in an unexpected meteor shower but that the full complement of its refugee crew survived the crash the landing.

For the pets, there's no need to technopath one into following Magda — John merely needs to program it to do so! Whether he can is up to his ability to tweak its personality parameters and his programming skill (or his ability to find a friend with programming skill...) but the pets are capable of learning to do tasks such as this on their own.

[impavid]

Thank you!

John will happily move on once he's noticed, he'll just play off like he's just nosy and curious and grouch that the Natha never let him play with their toys. He figures complaining about the Natha will make them sympathetic? MAYBE? But if they follow him he'll just hit the Cantina tbh they can watch him get drunk.

And HM yes he needs the programme written before he can tell it to execute THIS IS TRUE. I don't think John is going to be able to write alien code on his own but he might be able to drag someone into this atrocious idea. I WILL COME BACK and confirm if he does!

[torchwoodteaboy]

oh boy RESEARCH AND HISTORY FACILITY i bet you know where i'm going with this line of questioning mods.

1) what sort of information is there available in this history facility? is there a specific topic it focuses on? EDIT: an added question, what sort of form is the information in? everything up until now has been scrolls/books/manuscripts but im assuming MAYBE the technology level might be higher for this??

2) ianto would definitely want to look into the history of the previous refugees as much as would be recorded -- and magda in particular. obviously he will eventually go to investigate his place/speak to him directly, what information would there be available on them/him to start?

3) ianto would also be interested on what record there might be on the natha and their interactions with the earlier refugees, if there is anything available on that topic as well?

I GUESS that's a good place to leave off for now haha, thank you for all your work!

[natha]

1) Most of the information in the research facility focuses on technological advancement and on the history of the planets that were swallowed up by the Storm. Nadril citizens focus on not losing the knowledge of the worlds they come from and place a great deal of importance in recording the history of the lost stars. The information is recorded in digital archives, accessible by consoles and tablets, so yes, a higher technological level.

2 + 3) The previous refugees are all aliens from other worlds who have been swallowed by the Storm, and thus their history is broadly alien to reflect this. They came to El Nysa over the course of several centuries, saved by the Natha as the current group of refugees was, with Magda's refugee group arriving first. Magda worked tirelessly for the Natha for quite some time, but eventually, something soured Magda's relationship with Darma and he chose instead to move to the fledgling hamlet of Nadril, growing the city and using the Natha technology of the downed drop ships to shield the city from the Orbiters' sight.

[torchwoodteaboy]

excellentttttt

ianto would definitely be interested in this falling out between magda and darma. would there be anything in the digital archive about it more specifically? how long ago it happened and/or what else might have been happening at the time? or is that more something that he would have to find out directly from the source, as it were?

[natha]

This is something that would need to be learned from the source — there aren't any more details in the historical records.

[shikomizue]

Thank you for such an awesome new development, mods!

1) Are the memories generated in the photographs from the recent past, or from any point in a character's recollection?

2) Will messages be able to be sent via these earcuffs once outside of Nadril's reach? Are messages sent through the earcuffs hidden from Natha surveillance?

3) Piggy-backing off of that, is there any local interest/progress (with the populace or with Magdar himself), in developing tech to block the Natha entirely? Would Magdar be willing to share the tech he provided Raysc, provided a character wins his trust? Will there be IC avenues to do this, like quests, for example?

4) Late question but what are the medical amenities aboard Thesa? Would characters who were injured in the Dragon fight be healed?

[natha]

1) The pictures can be from any point in a character's memory.

2) The earcuffs will work outside of Nadril. However, messages sent over them are not hidden from Natha surveillance once outside Nadril's borders.

3) Magda has developed technology already based off the Natha tech scavenged from the drop ships to shield Nadril from Darma's sight, however, it is not always 100% reliable. As for whether he'd be willing to share the tech he provided to Raysc, this is not currently certain, and will depend upon how future IC events play out.

4) Thesa has very advanced medical amenities and characters who were injured in the fight against Ysverai would indeed have been healed! The medical bay has facilities for more minor injuries and a stay in the stasis pods would heal more severe injuries. Those who died were also able to make use of the one free Natha-provided revival if necessary. See the FAQ page for information on this mechanic.

[hedonistic]

does the frosty tap cantina also serve food?

if not, are there other restaurant/cafe type places in nadril, or do people generally just cook for themselves?

[natha]

The Frosty Tap does also serve food.

There are also other restaurant type places in Nadril. Nadril is a full city and has a market place and trading area where prepared foods can be found in addition to setting-appropriate restaurants/cafes/etc.

[impavid]

For the Look-at-this-photograph prompt, where the pictures are printed by the insect-bots, are they lifting things directly from people's memories? Or I guess, what I'm really asking, is are the pictures all specifically images from the perspective of the person the insect-bot picks on? Since obvs that influences if that person is in the photo or just... behind the camera so to speak.

[natha]

The photos have the person whose picture is being taken in them - i.e. they are not from the character's perspective.

[impavid]

Thank you!