❪ 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

iii

[thedarkbond]

[Sitting a bit further down the bar from Juno is a man with long red hair who's been watching the dares go on with what only seems to be passing interest. Ren is fond of games and challenges, but a lot of what's going on here just seems to be uninteresting needling.

Case in point, that last dare. Ren's about to look away with a quiet sigh when he hears the sound of breaking glass and turns his head back, suddenly much more alert. Looking from Juno to the collapsed local, he conceals a smile with another drink from his own cup before slipping from his own seat to pop himself back up next to Juno instead, draping his long hair over one shoulder to keep it out of the way.]

Some people can't take a hint, huh? [Ren's tone is light, with an odd interplay in tone between intentionally vapid and knowing.] I can help you with that if you want.

[He points to the glass shard in his hand. Ren's got thin and fairly deft fingers, so he might have an easier time of getting it out.]

[stuns]

[ juno's shoulders tighten a moment from the excess adrenaline, the theia humming softly somewhere where it meets his brain. he closes his eyes for half a second, cradling his own hand and averting his eyes from the blood even though he can feel it slick on his hand. the price you pay, he supposes, for getting a little violent. dully: ]

Some people are just looking for a glass to the head, I guess. Whatever scratches their itch.

[ his brows draw a little at the offer. ]

You some kind of doc or nurse?

[thedarkbond]

No, but I'm pretty good with my fingers and expected to do worse on the way here. [Ren says that brightly, as he reaches into his pocket and withdraws a still-sealed gauze bandage. He's the kind of person who can trip over his own feet in a moment of bad focus, and he doesn't have anyone else to be prepared for him while he's here, so unfortunately he's going to have to start doing it himself.

He also notes the slight tilt to his gaze, and adds, in a slightly more grounded tone:] I don't mind seeing blood, either.

[He's seen some things in his psychic images, suffice it to say, that mean it's become very difficult to put him off with things like bodily fluids.]

[stuns]

[ he eyes ren a bit warily as he reaches into his pocket, barely relaxing as the square of gauze bandage is revealed. the fact that he calls him on the aversion on his gaze only makes him twitch just a bit more too. he's never exactly been secretive about his squeamishness.

focusing on the gauze and then on ren himself he sighs a little. the bar air is stale.

he offers over his hand a little. ]

Talk about prepared for anything. What do you do then?

[thedarkbond]

Mmm, I'm mostly just prepared for anything that might happen to me. I'm pretty clumsy. [He smiles in a manner that isn't quite apologetic, even though it looks like it's supposed to be. He takes the offered hand as an indicator to go ahead, though, and carefully reaches down to ease out the glass shard. His touches are gentle, and as promised, his thin fingers easily draw out the delicate fragment as he talks.]

I don't do anything here, yet, since I only just woke up. I used to own a company, and worked as an executive in another big organisation, so I need to get used to not having my secretary around~ [Something seems to drop out of his cheery manner in those last few words - he thought he could avoid it by not being specific, but even alluding to Asaka is making him feel ill-at-ease.]

What about you? [He waves to the bartender to see if he can get something to clean up the blood a bit before he bandages it.]

[stuns]

[ juno presses his lips together and averts his eyes as fingers begin to carefully ease some of the shards out. there aren't many, but they're enough between what look to be cat scratches and some old scars and calluses that it's not unlike a few pesky thorns in an old lion's paw. a squeamish lion. what have you. ]

Sounds real fancy. You're already way more competent than most self-made people I've worked for.

[ he glances back as the stranger begins to clean up some of the blood and casually blinks away. it's fine!!! :) ]

A detective.

[ a squeamish. detective. ]

[thedarkbond]

[Ren hums a little as he sets the larger of the shards aside and goes for one of the smaller ones next. It'd be easier if he had tweezers, but his nails are long enough that he can pick with those delicately enough.

The bartender comes back with what looks to be some kind of wound wipe, and Ren gives her a passing thanks as he pulls free that smaller shard and flicks it to one side.]

Don't worry, I usually look just as incompetent as the rest of them~ [Not the most reassuring thing to say as he's setting about how to get out the last few fragments, but hey.] It's more fun that way. But I've never met a detective before, so I guess it's interesting for both of us.

[People also expect less of him on a variety of fronts if he acts incompetent, which is very useful. But one does eventually pick up life skills when their second-in-command has been grouching at them about it for ten years-ish.

He angles his fingers very carefully to pluck at a smaller, thinner shard.] Is there stuff you usually investigate, then?

[Presumably it doesn't involve a lot of blood...]

[stuns]

[ he's doing a better job than juno himself would have managed, so he'll absolutely take it. the remark on incompetency? well. he'll take that with a grain of salt since he's being tended to in the middle of a noisy bar. as each smaller piece comes out, he almost wishes they'd just stay in so that he could avoid the stinging sensation as each laceration is wiped up. this isn't exactly where he thought he'd be in terms of this place but.

well.

weirder shit has happened, right? ]

Whatever people come through my door with. Death masks, cheating spouses, murder cases, missing cats. [ half a beat ] I'm not picky.

[thedarkbond]

[Luckily, after Ren pulls out that thin shard, there's only two left, one of which is a little shallower in than the others. So Ren goes for the slightly deeper one before that, making sure it comes out smoothly while he listens to Juno's explanation.]

Oh, that sounds like a pretty interesting job, then. Like you don't know what to expect until it comes through your door. [He flicks the second-last shard off his fingers once he gets it out, then simply pulls the last one out with a short, quick motion before wiping down the wound properly.] If you have to work, then it might as well be something interesting like that, right? Instead of doing the same things every day.

[Or planning in advance, which is high on the list of Ren's least favourite things and always has been.]

[stuns]

[ juno feels the tailend of the little shard coming out, enough to blink a bit harder than before, but not much else beyond fingers twitching a little. it's rare he lets other people touch him willingly, but the glass is just Enough to make him give into it. ]

It has its moments.

[ some days juno wishes he could screen exactly what would walk through that door, but that wouldn't be in the spirit of the business, now would it? he glances down when the last shard is pulled out and makes a "huh" sound. that wasn't so bad, was it? totally. looks a hell of a lot better now as he flexes his fingers a bit more. ]

Definitely don't think I'm cut out to work some desk job or a nine to five anymore anyways. [ a tilt of the head ] What kind of business were you into?

[thedarkbond]

[Once he's done wiping the wound, Ren starts to unwrap the bandage - and almost drops the clip for the end of it out of the middle in the process, but it's fine, he catches it awkwardly between two fingers.

Ren nods firmly in agreement with the nine to five comment, holding part of the bandage between two hands as if checking where he should start wrapping it. Ren doesn't want to get too specific about his own world, but at the same time, talking in vaguer terms about it is somewhat comforting, in a way.]

Gaming. [It takes until he's laying the bandage over and checking how he can wrap it until it seems to occur to him he might need to elaborate on that.] Oh...tabletop gaming. We had some technology that made it a pretty big deal in my world, kind of like a sport.

[stuns]

[ juno thinks about this for a long moment. because really. when was the last time he managed to play a game of some sort that wasn't for his life? dramatic, we know. he watches ren wrap the bandage around his hand, humming. ]

So like... checkers.

[ 100% like checkers. ]

But better.

[thedarkbond]

[Ren finishes wrapping the bandage with one hand, because the other one almost immediately goes up to curl against his mouth at that comment. Ignore the fact that he's clearly trying to stop himself from laughing while being reasonably polite about it.]

A little bit like that. [They're both strategic and played on tables, at least...] I'd teach people here how to play if I could, but I don't have the right supplies for it, it's frustrating...

[He tests the bandage to make sure it's reasonably tight, then slides the clip on to fasten it in place.] I'm guessing you didn't play a lot of games in your world.

[stuns]

Not really. I'm more of a solitaire lady myself.

[ so group tabletop games aren't really his thing. never mind the time for it now. when he was a kid, maybe, but he was more the "run around and get into more trouble than you can handle" type instead of sitting and playing a game at a table. ]

Can't just use a regular old pack of cards or some dice?

[thedarkbond]

Oh, it's been a while since I played solitaire... [He gets distracted by that briefly for a moment before seeming to remember there was a question in there somewhere and shaking his head. One hand goes to the back of his hair to rub at it somewhat awkwardly, as if it's difficult to explain.]

No, it's a card game, but it doesn't use normal playing cards. Each player needs their own deck, ideally one they built themselves.

[Preconstructed decks are a thing, but they're not nearly as good or as interesting as one a player's really put their heart into.]

[stuns]

[ juno's expression drops to something that looks both curious and half-way to a groan. flatly: ] Sounds complicated already. But if you run a whole company for it, I'm guessing it must be pretty popular where you're from? What's it called?

[thedarkbond]

It can be pretty complicated, but once you know it, you remember it easily~ [At least he's not trying to deny it's complicated, but hey, games like that always are. He seems pretty happy at the chance to talk about it, though, even if there's something a little pensive deeper in his expression as well.]

It's called Cardfight Vanguard, or just Vanguard for short. [He seems to consider for a few moments, then starts patting down his jacket as if he's forgotten where something is. Eventually, he pulls out some kind of hard rectangular case in a colour that runs the line between dark pink and red, and pulls out a deck of cards with a practiced hand so he can show the top one to Juno. The actual text is in Japanese even if the workings of the Natha likely mean it's still readable, but that...sure is a lot of text and stats, over a quite detailed picture of a sword-wielding knight in pointed black and red armour.]

There's a lot of variety in the cards, so people can easily make a deck that suits them. That's why it's so popular.

[stuns]

( continued here!!! )