❪ 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

[illuminating]

[At this, she opens her eyes to peer at him, considering. Then she's inching to elongate her neck within reach, nudging nose and muzzle under his fingers, her eyes closing once more passed his hand.]

You can talk to me whenever you wish it, although I can't promise to keep awake long enough as I am now to listen well. Are you too troubled to let yourself rest?

[thedarkbond]

[Oh, he gave himself away. Ren's smile sours momentarily in the manner of someone caught in something they were trying to avoid, but at the very least, he doesn't attempt to lie. It's much harder to conceal the truth when speaking through thought, anyway, and switching back to speaking without the assistance of the cuffs would be a giveaway of itself.

How best to explain it, though...] I guess I'm used to having a lot of company. Most humans get scared about having voices in their head, but for me it's weird not to~

[He's still trying to control his tone in his thoughts to some degree, hence the slightly cheery effect. Unfortunately, Ren isn't the most focused person in the world, and when he lays his head down again, a more honest thought slips through.]

It's lonely being the only one awake.

[illuminating]

[When his hand doesn't move, she catches it in fussing, non-penetrating teeth. The open-mouthed whining play wolves, and even dogs, do with each other. And as she collects his thoughts, she rolls over partially on her back, upside down head, paws the air, wriggles closer to paw him. She makes a fool of herself to make him notice her physicality. By the time he unintentionally mentions his loneliness, she's laying over his gut, and a huff blows free from her muzzle.]

Sleep is essential. Particularly for people. [One of her ears cocks back to him.] If you haven't the stamina to endure the day, you won't have the stamina to make new connections, which could potentially lead to feeling this way less.

[Moving back, she lazily sits up and shakes her heavy head in irritation, then adjusts to scratch the inside of one ear, groaning faintly. Her tone isn't meant as uncaring. It's still a matter of her not having the humanity to understand deeply. She's endured a fixed loneliness for hundreds of years, but she often distracts herself from dwelling on it, or forgets about it altogether in favor of other things. Her methods would be too simple-minded for him.]

It may be difficult, but sleeping means you won't have to think about being the only one awake. You shouldn't set aside your body's basic needs because you feel a little bad, you know. You have to take care of yourself. To stay awake and feel poorly is almost like punishing yourself, which is never beneficial and completely useless.

[Her energy most of the time aside, she was awoken as a sliver of what she used to be, too soon for life again, far too early, and she has a tiredness that sticks to her like a second skin, one she has trouble shaking to the fullest. She's no human; she's a god who has less experience on earth and around people than she did in her own domain, housed in the body of a wild animal, and her thoughts are simple, not twisted into complexities by what it means to be human. It hasn't occurred to her that if he's lonely, he may struggle to sleep with that kind of weight on him. She thinks it's an easy solution. The goodness of her, though, means she comes to simple conclusions: if it's late, and one is lonely, then sleep so you might see people the next day; if you're hungry, eat; if you're agitated, dig at the dirt.

She's already trying to wedge under his arm, and despite her words seeming indifferent, her inflection hasn't been.]

[thedarkbond]

[It's a very straightforward, simplistic way of putting it, and though it doesn't really do much for the core of the problem, Ren can't help but smile a bit into the pillow. Or almost into Amaterasu's fur at this point, given how intently she's trying to get under his arm. He tilts his head back a bit and lifts his arm to ease her way, then settles it again to rub at whatever part of her fur is in reach, motions gentle but still very solid.

Honestly, the straightforwardness reminds him a bit of some of his friends back home - the sorts who prefer to avoid their emotions when possible and focus on the practical. And while it hurts a little bit more to think of that, it also serves to remind him that, perhaps, he's not quite completely alone even this early on. Even if in the long run, he'll probably need to do more for himself to sate that feeling.

For now, though, when he's already exhausted and preoccupied with a variety of things even beyond loneliness, it's actually not that unhelpful a reminder that staying awake is probably just going to make things worse.]

You're really straightforward, Amaterasu-san~ [It's not a bad thing, especially since he's used to it by this point.] It's been a weird few days for me, so that's probably why I'm thinking about it so much. So nobody else really needs to worry about it except me, if it'll be fine soon anyway.

[It probably won't, because he knows himself too well for that. He's spat ire and hatred for being abandoned, he can feel himself already nursing the bitterness of having companions forcibly taken when he can't do anything about what's responsible. It's less a problem of making new friends and more of losing the old ones.

But for now, nobody else needs to know that but him. So he lies back, locks it away, and continues teasing at Amaterasu's fur with his fingers in the knowledge that, at the very minimum, sleep will give him the energy he needs to distract himself with this city's novelties.]

Sorry for waking you up.

[illuminating]

I don't feel that's anything for you to be sorry for, [this reply, with her closed eyes, her cheek pressed against his shoulder. While he's spoken to her, she's let one, settling, enormous sigh, and planted herself beside him. She may have no complete understanding of what it means to be a human, but she at least doesn't stray, for whatever that's worth.]

Better you try to untangle knots in your heart than to let them tighten. If I'm lousy at this, it's because this is the first in awhile I've been capable of conversation. [Weary thing yawns in spite of herself.] And it was different... before. There were urgent matters that kept me from curling up with man. I was never meant to stay on earth, as it was, so I suppose... had I accomplished things, I would've returned home.

One thing I do know is that to be human means to grow continuously, and to have the right and space for such capacity. Sometimes, I think I formed with no voice so I wouldn't interfere in that. I'm old, but there's a lot I don't understand, but I'm still happy if you can confide in me. Please don't let it make you feel worse if my intentions have trouble finding you, Ren. I want you to feel well, and sleep well, and meet people you can form good connections with.

[thedarkbond]

[It's interesting to hear about Amaterasu's point of view on her own circumstances, and it only makes Ren think more that she'd have interesting stories if they ever had a better chance to exchange them. For now, he gives a soft laugh and pats her side companionably as he rearranges his legs a bit. It would be useful if he could stay still for more than about two seconds at a time, but he's pretty much never been capable of that anyway.]

Actually, it just reminded me of someone. But I also want you to sleep well, Amaterasu-san, and I think it'll be easier for me now too. If I say sorry, it might just be because I think it's politer, not because I feel bad about something I did. [Perhaps not the more pure and good thing to admit, but hey, it's what he's like. Being genuinely apologetic is for genuine mistakes.]

For what it's worth, you're doing a better job at conversation than some people I know who do it all the time.

[That may just be a result of Ren having a history of making friends with absolutely abysmal communication skills, but he'll leave that out. He still understood that he wasn't being dismissed despite the circumstances.]

[illuminating]

People sometimes say they're sorry out of politeness, and not from sincerity?

[It isn't accusatory. Instead, it's as if she's learning something new. Physically, she hasn't moved at all.]

These kinds of things are lost on me. I mean everything I... the words I have are the words I mean. [Since say wouldn't really be appropriate for her, would it?]

[thedarkbond]

[...Oh Amaterasu, you innocent soul. Ren almost actually does feel sorry for a moment at that, because he's the kind of person who will happily switch between the words he means and the words he doesn't.

In the end, though, he just smiles, a touch of something mischievous at the edge of it.]

It's not a bad thing to be sincere. But not everyone is. It can be for all kinds of different reasons. Maybe they want to mislead you...or maybe they're just not very honest with themselves either. Or everything in-between~

[He certainly doesn't want to mislead her - he likes her quite a lot already, and he's been quite sincere with her by his standards. But he has other faces that are just as true, and not ones he cares to share with others until he's more comfortable in his position here.]

[illuminating]

[She's quiet for a minute or more, and it may seem she's already drifted off again. The truth is that she's near it, but only partially. She's in consideration of what he's shared.

Finally, her voice comes through once again,] it's true that people are complex. They're often doing things I can make no sense of. It's different, [her head raises to yawn, something almost whining, stretching mouth and pinning ears back briefly,] for the gods. At least where I come from.

[thedarkbond]

[Ren, for his part, is good enough at reading people that someone actually doing something he can't make sense of is an interesting occasion, so it's harder for him to relate. But he's trying, and it's hard not to be a little curious at that remark on the gods.

He yawns widely himself before he responds - because seeing her do it infected him with the urge - raising one hand to cover his mouth.]

I don't think it would be as interesting if people weren't complex. Are the gods upfront about everything or something like that, or do they just move in routines?

[The complexity of people is what makes them unpredictable, after all.]

[illuminating]

(moved!)