❪ 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

[shashka]

[ Ocelot, at least is used to close quarters, though his nerves are far from calm with that wretched AI. it also isn't helped by the fact that DD is still out there, frozen in space, and the Natha have deigned to do nothing about it. ]

Short of shooting its mainframe, I can't say.

[ Ocelot was an intelligent man, but his expertise had never been particularly strong when it came to the inner workings of AI. engineer, he was not. ]

You wouldn't happen to know a spell, would yo-

[ but he's interrupted by another snide comment from the AI. ]

-Of course you'd shoot first, and ask questions later. Your mind probably can't begin to understand how sophisticated my programning actually is.

[ and while Ocelot might not understand AI as well as others, he does know that whoever programmed this particular one really had no idea what idiocy they were unleashing onto the world. ]

[judicia]

( Idiocy is a good word for it. Anders doesn't look like he has the patience to deal with it anymore, though, so when the AI says something again, he frowns and snaps back, )

Oh, shut up already.

( He should probably ignore it, but Anders has never been very good at ignoring things that irritate him. He's still feeling plenty anxious about his cat, and the fact that she might be out there without any food or water, or even hurt. He hasn't had a drink in a long time, but he feels like he could really use one right now. )

I could shoot some electricity through it. Don't know what it'll do to the machinery, but I'm almost tempted do it anyway just to teach the bugger a lesson.

[shashka]

[ it's a testament to their friendship that he's no longer making any effort to hide his annoyance. they're close enough that he knows that he can trust the other man. ]

Please do.

[ with any luck, whatever Anders does will result, at the very least, in the machine's suffering. if he dares hope, it'll be rendered permanently inactive in a state of perpetual suffering. ]

You want to get some fresh air once you're done?

[ they're both on edge, and he could honestly do with getting out of this small room too. after all, his anger with the Natha about leaving DD behind still has yet to subside. ]

[judicia]

Maker, yes.

( He says it almost like he was waiting for Ocelot to suggest it. It's easier for him to deal with his claustrophobia if he has someone in the room with him, but that still doesn't change the fact that it's tighter than a gnat's arse in here. )

I can't stand being in this place.

( He walks over to the one of the panels in the wall, his fingertip already sparking with electricity before he even touches it. He looks over at Ocelot, making sure he's not touching anything metallic before he lays his hand on it and causes the lights to flicker. Once they're back on, Anders looks satisfied. )

All right. Let's go before he himself turns back on.

[shashka]

Thank god.

[ he has to admit, that his friend's powers come in handy more often than not. Ocelot certainly doesn't waste any time, pulling his scarf up, even as they go back out into the relatively cool air. Once he's relatively sure they're out of earshot, he turns to Anders. ]

Something on your mind?

[ there's definitely more than a few things on his right now, but he's never exactly been the best at talking about them first. ]

[judicia]

( It's a good thing, then, that Anders isn't shy about talking about his problems. He walks alongside Ocelot as they make their way over to the cantina, his Natha-issued jacket pulled a little tighter around himself. When the other man asks what's on his mind, Anders' guard drops visibly. )

Do you want the long list or the short one?

( Ocelot is one of only two people Anders feels like he can talk to about anything. The other one is up in stasis. )

I'm bothered by what Magda said about the Natha, about them using us. I always thought they might have been less virtuous than they seemed, I just didn't know whether I was right or if it was just another one of my delusions.

( Trust doesn't come easy to him, after all. He's been betrayed too many times to be anything but suspicious. )

[shashka]

[ he laughs, though it doesn't quite reach his eyes. ]

I'm willing to listen.

[ and he does genuinely mean it. for whatever else, Ocelot respects and admires Anders far more than most. it also helps that since he's woken up, he's shared many of the same suspicions. ]

It's always good to have a healthy amount of distrust, Anders.

[ he knew that wanting to trust others can be far more dangerous. John. His Mother. he's seen time and again how "trust", particularly in authority, has done nothing but harm. ]

They know almost everything about us. They have the people we care about most up there on the Station, and have only given us the vaguest of explanations on the "damage" that they've suffered from the Storm. You'd be delusional if you trusted them.

[ and he's speaking from experience. back home, he'd been used by Zero to carry out his wishes, in exchange for John's safety. Zero had known that he had no choice because he'd always known how he'd felt about him. and here, it would seem, that the cycle repeats. ]

[judicia]

I'm glad you think so.

( It's not very often that Anders finds someone who shares his suspicions. Whenever he would question the authority back home, he'd either end up being silenced or having his fears invalidated by his friends. No one ever took him seriously. Ocelot does, and that's why Anders appreciates him so much. )

That's the thing that unsettles me the most, knowing that they have our friends up there to use as hostages. If their stasis pods malfunction, they're dead. If the Natha want to harm them, they can do so without batting an eye.

( This is exactly why Anders didn't allowed himself to fall in love for so long. He doesn't want his loved ones to be used against him like this. )

I don't like anyone having that much power over me.

[shashka]

Trust me, I've thought of that.

[ and that's what made it worse. even if he couldn't always predict him, he knew who Zero was, knew that for no matter how much power he gathered, he was still human. the Natha... well, they were even worse than the "inheritors" that Zero had left behind. ]

Not to mention, they left DD on the planet, frozen in time somewhere.

[ he's... really unimpressed about his son dog. he trained him just like he'd train any soldier, and he was so casually tossed aside by the Natha. ]

I can't say that I'd trust Magda either, but it'd be better off if we understood what's going on in stasis. Some people are too important to lose.

[ and if anything were to happen to John, you can bet that Ocelot would spend the rest of his life working to destroy the Natha, and damn the consequences. ]

[judicia]

Magda's definitely hiding something. There's no way he couldn't have known how much of a nutcase Raysc was when he gave him that tech.

( Magda says it was an error in judgment, but Anders isn't quite so sure if he buys that. He couldn't be that big of an idiot, could he? )

I'm sorry about DD.

( He say, changing the subject and looking over at Ocelot, his voice and posture becoming a little more calm. Anders may not be much of a dog person, but he likes DD. He's always been good and well-behaved every time Anders has come over to visit. )

My cat is out there somewhere, too. She ran away not too long after Ysverai started attacking Olympia.

[shashka]

There is a way, if he blindly trusted him. Which, given his own reservations about the Natha might just be the worse option.

[ after all, John was always the type to put his trust in others, no matter how badly burned he'd been each and every time.

funny, how the one man who betrayed nearly everyone else had been the only one who'd been completely loyal to him, in the end. but as to the rest of it... ]

I'm sorry about your cat as well. The Natha should've brought them up with us. Instead they just left them down there. From the sounds of it, DD stuck around a little longer than some of the others, but he also ran off in the end.

[ he shrugs. ]

It's really a shame that you don't drink.

[ because he could honestly use one right now. ]

[judicia]

It would've been nice to have her around. I don't like being trapped in one place, especially when it's as cramped as it is on the Thesa. She would've have helped keep me calm.

( He's pretty sure the Natha knew that, but purposely chose to ignore it. It pisses him off, but there's nothing that he can do about it now, not until they get things figured out in Nadril first. )

Just because I don't doesn't mean I won't. ( He chooses not to because Justice doesn't like it, and his repulsion has rubbed off on Anders a little bit. His earlier melancholy fades quickly into curiosity, and Anders can't help but tease, )

Why? Were you thinking of getting me drunk?

[shashka]

...Maybe.

[ he laughs a little, happy to be distracted from the other thoughts weighing on his mind. ]

Or at the very least, I'd like to see how well you can handle your alcohol. There aren't many men out there who can outdrink me.

[ he may not be companions with a spirit, but he most definitely has his fair share of drug resistance training. ]

[judicia]

( A small smile spreads across Anders' lips. )

I guess we'll have to see then, won't we?

( To be fair, Anders could handle his liquor pretty well even without supernatural help. He couldn't out drink Oghren, not by a long shot, but he was confident enough in his skills to at least make a good crack at it.

He leads the way into the cantina, shaking off the chill and unzipping the front of his coat once they're both standing inside. )

The first round's on me.

[shashka]

[ for just a moment, there's a look of slight surprise, before his smile begins to widen in earnest. well, this was a nice change of pace. ]

Excellent. I look forward to seeing what you can do.

[ now, Ocelot isn't usually a man who lets himself get drunk, but he trusts Anders in a way that he doesn't trust many others.

(still, he's more than confident in his abilities, though he doesn't voice that out loud, for the time being) ]

[judicia]

( He doesn't need to worry. If Anders wanted to take advantage of Ocelot while he was drunk, it wouldn't be for anything unpleasant, and it certainly wouldn't involve a whole lot of talking. The bar is self-serve, so Anders helps himself to a bottle, picking out something that's amber colored and shimmery. )

I hope it's strong enough for you.

( He says, fishing out some tumblers and pouring them both a large shot. It's been so long since Anders has last had a drink, he doesn't care what it tastes like. )