❪ 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

[personalwar]

As for 76, well, he already had to make his pick between the UN and terrorism, and he'd gone with terrorism. Trying to do things by the book had only ever brought him a world of trouble, and he's done with it. So suffice to say that he's more on Magda's side. At least he'd admitted to the things he did wrong, which was already a lot more honesty than what they'd gotten from the Natha.

Ultimately, it's trying to choose between the lesser of two evils. Maybe he'll be wrong, maybe he won't, but either way it's a gamble.

"Fair," is all he says in response at first, as he watches Sheppard get to work. "Any way I can help?" It doesn't seem right to just stand here and observe, but he knows very little about the inner workings of a spaceship.

[impavid]

"Well that... all depends..."

He squirms, bracing himself as he tries to tug something free. There's a sudden sound of something coming loose, then John slides out again with a piece of the panel.

"On if you have any spares," he finishes finally, and squints at the crystalline board. There are thin, barely visible tracks along it. He digs out his phone and triggers the light, shining it over them more closely trying to make sense of it. "If we're going to repair this thing spares from other sections are the key, it's just a matter of figuring out which things are interchangeable and which are working."

[personalwar]

This is a job meant for someone with mechanical skill and know-how, there's no getting around that. 76 has never been that guy, only knowing as much as he needed to in order to get by, and so it's hard not to feel a little useless here. Especially when Sheppard's answer essentially boils down to searching out replacement parts.

"So you're saying it's time for a scavenger hunt," he says with a grumble. He walks over all the same, kneeling down to get a better look at the piece of the console that Sheppard has opened up, so he knows what he should be searching for.

"I can go do a circuit, see what I find while you keep working." If he has to be the gopher here, then so be it.

[impavid]

"If you hate scavenger hunts and fetch quests you're really in the wrong place, I think that's the only kind of mission Darma knows how to give. Finding stuff. I guess escorting stuff once you've found it, too."

He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, collecting himself before snapping off the light on his phone and pocketing it.

"I figure I'm about due stretching my legs anyway. Besides, this place is imminently due to fall on someone's head so it's probably better if there's two of us. You know, one victim and one witness."

Cheerful! He gestures down the hallway, lofts an eyebrow questioningly.

"Feel like taking the snowy, structurally unstable air?"

[personalwar]

Sheppard isn't wrong. While 76 could hope that his actual skillset was put to better use, that tends to lead to giant undead dragons raining destruction on everything. With that sort of match-up, he'll go with the scavenger hunt.

He isn't going to say no to company, especially since it's competent company. Sheppard doesn't hesitate to throw a bit of morbid humor into the situation, which 76 doesn't particularly mind.

"Let's go. I'll take point. If something does collapse on us, I'll probably weather it a little better than you." Assuming that Sheppard is as much of a baseline human as he appears, not that it's the sort of thing you can see just by eyeballing someone.

He leads them down a hallway in a direction he hasn't already mapped out, glancing over his shoulder to make sure that Sheppard's following.

[impavid]

He is following, idly examining the board in his hands a moment longer before tucking it inside his tactical vest and focusing more carefully on his surroundings. He trusts 76 to warn him if he hadn't noticed they were about to be jumped or hit by debris, but that's no reason not to pay attention himself.

"So," he begins, ducking under a piece of fallen ship, "what do you make of Magda?"

John has idly noticed that 76 tends to just let him talk and not give away much. Which is not inherently a bad thing, he doesn't give off an air of someone about to snap and tell him the ritual will be complete with the shedding of innocent blood, but John still likes to have a better idea of where people stand. Makes it easier to not end up inadvertently starting a fight.

[personalwar]

Not everyone takes note of the fact that 76 is far more comfortable drawing information from others than ever talking about himself, but he isn't going to shy away from the question, now that it's been asked. He doesn't mind discussing his opinions about their current situation. It's when people want to know more about him personally that he gets cagey.

"We share a few things in common, particularly a strong dislike and distrust of the Natha." 76 is more disposed to liking the guy for that reason alone, except that he doesn't decide he likes anyone very easily these days.

"I'm sure that he's got his own agenda, but I think it's worth earning his trust so we can get more information out of him." Which is why whatever he salvages from this place will be going back to Magda, rather than to the Natha. 76 is pretty sure plenty of his fellow refugees have that covered already.

[impavid]

John gives a vague non-committal half-nod at that, as if he's partially agreeing but also not.

"Everyone's got their own agenda here," he agrees. "Magda, definitely, the Natha definitely too. Everyone is dangerously vague and unwilling to give up information. Which, on the one hand, I'm used to from our own version of the Natha back home. On the other hand, I've not really seen the Natha actually do much. Jury is kinda out for me on them, they haven't done anything specifically bad but a lack of clear motivation on their part isn't great. Magda is clearly motivated, by his dislike of the Natha. It's worth knowing why."

Either it will make Magda sympathetic, or it'll make the Natha sympathetic. Or it'll stay unclear, but John hopes not. It's easier if you have a clear reason to point a gun one way or the other.

so sorry for the delay on this, feel free to drop it!

[personalwar]

Sheppard's stance is one that 76 can understand and relate to, and it's something he might be able to agree with himself, except for this simple fact: the Natha have been screwing with them for way longer than Magda, at this point. That alone makes him inclined to believe that they did the same to Magda, and that his reasons for disliking them and wanting to hide from them are valid.

But when it comes down to it, there's no reason to argue Sheppard's point. 76 only nods in quiet agreement, not wanting to play his own hand too much.

"Your own version of the Natha? What do you mean?"

Maybe it doesn't matter any more, but talking about the places they came from is worth doing from time to time. And 76 is curious about Sheppard and his background.

DW!

[impavid]

It's a valid question. John gives another non-committal tilt of his head as they walk, eyes still skimming their surroundings for any insecure bits of ship that might drop on them.

"See, where I'm from we have a bunch of people we call the Ancients. They're kinda like... a hyper-advanced race the way the Natha are, who went around building fancy things and seeding life on planets. They've got a whole bunch of... rules about... interference and how much they can explain and so on. It's all built around abuse of power, and... you know, favouritism, generally not being an asshole to people who don't even understand half of what you can do. The problem is, beyond the ethical and moral quandaries, it just also means they're super vague and weird all the time."

Which is why the Natha remind him of them, and why he's inclined to trust the Natha at least a little. He kinda understood the Ancients on some level, and the Natha give him a similar vibe.

[personalwar]

The Ancients. It doesn't mean any more to 76 than "the Natha," but he has to admit that based on Sheppard's description, the two sets of highly-advanced aliens sound pretty similar to each other. If anything, he would think that would make Sheppard that much more distrustful of the Natha, but maybe his experience with the Ancients hadn't been so bad.

"Is there any possibility that they're one and the same? That they just got called something different on your side of the universe?"

It's probably a long shot, but then again, how many advanced god-like alien races can there really be? 76 wants to believe it can't be that many, but he's also pretty ignorant when it comes to anything other than his own planet.

And, now, El Nysa.

[impavid]

"Actually, it's pretty possible. I've heard them called a whole bunch of things. The sticking point is, normally I'd have known as soon as I landed on the station. Long story short, they have a certain design aesthetic that I'm familiar with and the Natha didn't... have that. Which doesn't rule it out entirely, they could still... be related to the ones I know. It mostly just raises more questions -- like why they wouldn't have said anything, or why they're doing things differently."

Why his gene didn't work at first, then did. Why came to Atlantis, which they would have recognised, but didn't explain any relation to the Ancients -- if they are indeed related. His face scrunches unhappily, and all John can think of is their initial meeting with the Asurans. So far this hasn't gone quite as badly as that ended up, though.

[personalwar]

Design aesthetic? It seems like a strange point to get caught up on, but 76 will accept the possibility that the two races are related, if nothing else. He's not sure if that concept makes him feel better or worse. The existence of the Natha is bad enough, does he really want to accept that there are others like them out there somewhere?

"Maybe they got cut off from each other. Or maybe it's a time thing. It could be this is far in the future from what you remember, and things have changed." He shrugs, not sure if that makes the slightest bit of sense, but he's doing his best to work with the new set of rules that this place has thrust upon him.

"How'd you get involved with these Ancients, anyway?" They step into the next room and 76 spots a panel that looks like the one Sheppard had originally been working on. He points it out, figuring it might have some of the parts he's looking for.

[impavid]

How did he get involved with them? John gives an airy sort of shrug, approaching the panel and squinting at it before reaching forward to see if he can coax analytics out of it. Hopefully, even if nothing else works, the bit they want is still functioning.

"Well, it's a long story, but the short version is that the branch of the military I worked for deals with home-world security. They dumpster-dived and reactivated some stuff built by the Ancients when they were on earth, since it turns out they were way better at a lot of things than we were -- including space travel. After playing with all their abandoned toys they eventually ran into them. As for me, I got transferred sideways because I'm good at getting it all going."

[personalwar]

Home-world security, huh? It's strange to think about all of the refugees here who have lived with space travel as a normal part of their existence. Even though 76 has now become accustomed to a space station and an entirely different planet, they're still confined to only those two places. People like Sheppard and Rocket used to be able to travel to multiple different planets. It's enough to make his head spin.

He follows after Sheppard, but mainly watches their surroundings for any sign of trouble, whether from someone else exploring the ship or the ship itself falling apart on them.

"What kind of toys are we talking?" Probably not toys at all, but he can't help but want to draw more comparisons between the Natha and these Ancients.