❪ introlog #3 ❫ GUERRILLA FORCES.

[natha]

You have spent the last few days on Thesa Station, taking in the knowledge that your world is no more. Perhaps you've made some friends (or maybe an enemy or two). Either way, you aren't expected to spend all of your time on the Station. El Nysa needs you, after all, and you promised you'd help the planet thrive. Are you ready? Submit any AC eligible thread of participating in this log's prompts for Two (2) Wyver REP points HERE. JUMP INTO THE DEEP END     As soon as the Natha begin to observe that the new arrivals are beginning to wake, a message goes out to all refugees currently on El Nysa with an unfamiliar ping on their phone. Hi everyone. It's Sael. The people that were recovered from stasis recently are going to need your help getting to El Nysa. It's not the Teleporter this time, though. I highly recommend that you come back, or you'll miss out on some pretty important stuff. When everyone is gathered aboard Thesa Station, characters may notice that working access to the Teleporter has been blocked. Stepping inside and attempting to teleport back to El Nysa will yield absolutely nothing. Luckily, it isn't long before you're given instructions on how to proceed. Hello everyone. We're doing things a little differently this time around. Darma senses the presence of foreign forces; she says they're distant right now, but we know it won't be long before we'll need your help to protect El Nysa on the spacefront. Some of you have piloted spaceships or flightsuits before, haven't you? Please lend the others your help and expertise. You'll be flying down to El Nysa to get some practice maneuvering in zero gravity. I encourage you to come back and practice with other people; learning how to work with different personalities is important. We've prepared spaceships for you in the Hangar. For this type of spacecraft, it's important that you truly work together to achieve harmony with your co-pilot. It's the only way to ensure a smooth trip. True to his word, there are plenty of ships waiting to be boarded in the Hangar. Although more than two people can fit in a ship, there are only two main pilot seats. Anyone who's piloted any sort of ship, mecha, or even a car will be able to figure out the controls. But that's not the only thing to figure out. GET IT TOGETHER. When the ship glides out from the hangar opening, it soon becomes apparent that the stability of the ship is highly dependent on emotion sharing between the two pilots. It is imperative that both parties reach an emotional equilibrium: you must be calm, focused, almost zen in your demeanor. Any sign of distress, anger, or negative emotions will be felt by the ship. Not being able to help each other reach a calm and happy emotional state will result in wild movements, difficulty steering, or malfunctions in the electrical circuitry. JUST KIDDING. Were you and your partner able to find shared emotional compatibility and maneuver the ship? Good. Just when you've got a good smooth drift going, Sael's voice cheerfully resonates in your mind. Great! Good job! This is kinda boring now, though. Hey guys, think fast! You don't have more than two seconds after his voice fades out of your mind to notice that a wave of massive meteorites are flying directly towards your ship at breakneck speed. How well can you avoid getting hit while maintaining your cool? Thankfully, if you're not great at it, the ship comes equipped with protective barriers that prevent any structural damage from physical impacts. Think of them as training wheels; getting struck by a meteorite will still give you nasty whiplash and nausea, your ship will likely spin wildly until you can regain control, and it will probably be pretty painful. But you and the ship will be unharmed. When you've had enough of being beaten around by meteorites or having to deal with the insufferable personalities of others, the ship will naturally gravitate to land on a particular island in El Nysa. The island that you land on is outfitted with docks and one or two small shacks where a hunter or fisherman could spend their nights on a long hunting expedition, but they don't look like they've been used in a while. It's quickly obvious that this isn't the main city of Wyver, and you have two paths ahead to choose from: cross an old stone bridge to the mainland and continue on foot, or get into one of the available simple rowboats and row your way. The path on land is longer, but safer, while going by water is faster, but more treacherous. Better get going. LAND ON BARBAROUS COASTS     Though the water has been relatively calm on your journey, the rowing has proved to be tiresome for all your party member's arms. There is reprieve if you leave the open water, in a cavern where you can tie your boat to a rock and stretch your legs. If you want to go for a dip, there are naturally curved waterslides in the rock face and platforms of rock jutting out up high perfect for diving/jumping off of. The water is warm and there's dry land; this is the ideal place to rest for the night. But the giant skull that sits in the middle of the site may put a damper on the mood. WORKS OF ART. Upon closer inspection of the skull, you'll notice that the exterior is actually made up of artfully carved white rock. Those that investigate it will find two entrances: the mouth, which can be climbed into; and around the side, where the ear would be. Inside is a more spacious cave, riddled with tools that are dirty and rusty with disuse. In the center of the cave is what looks like a shallow pool, although it has long since run dry. Within the pool's dry crater sit... bones. Bones from all kinds of creatures litter the floor, and the walls are lined with intricate paintings portraying death, feast, and celebration, faded and cracked with time. The bones are real, and while there is no indication where they came from before winding up here and many of them are in pieces, several are whole enough to be identified as distinctly animal or human. If your party isn't put off enough by the decor to leave their only refuge for the evening, they may set up camp here (unless they want to sleep in their boats). There is dry wood to gather for a campfire, and it's certainly the perfect atmosphere for ghost stories. But as the night falls, the sound of water flowing outside slowly begins to become more distant. All at once, your companions are no longer themselves; their voices dull to a whisper, their language one you have never heard before. Your campfire sputters down to embers and the cavern is lit instead by a faint glow coming from the paintings on the walls. As you watch, several tall, robed figures carrying another limp, shrouded figure enter the cavern. They have tools in hand, and as two lay their motionless companion into the shallow pool of water, the others raise their blades. With a vibrant flash of blue from the paintings lit across the walls, you come back to yourself; the fire is full and crackling, the pool is dry. Nothing else will occur as the night goes on, but the experience leaves you with a sense of foreboding... and yearning. After a long night's rest, good or not, the journey ahead is not far at all. You can see the coastline, and Wyver's walls aren't far behind. However, it begs the question of why your rowboat was so heavily equipped. The back ends of your oars are carved to a sharp point, the net under your seats is too heavy duty for any normal fishing excursion, and you'd do well not to pull the strings wrapped around those canvas balls without throwing them first, unless you want a faceful of gunpowder and a noise like shotgun fire that will make your ears ring. FROM THE DEPTHS. At first, there were simply a few ripples in the water before the bow of your boat. Minutes pass where you continue to row freely, but dark, long shadows begin to appear out of the corner of your eye. Ripples turn into bumps under your feet, and if you weren't paying attention before, you certainly have to now. The head of a sea serpent breaches the water's surface, mouth wide and teeth sharp. You cannot possibly see all of the beast in the short span of time you have, but what you can see that it's possibly the length of three of your rowboats. You best not have wasted your supplies, because it wastes no time in snapping towards your head. ABOUT THE SERPENTS: The sea serpents attack by striking in high, arching swoops over the boat and back into the water. Their scales are softer and thinner than a dragon's, so they are susceptible to any weapon or magic that can pierce. Characters may use what has been made available in the boats and their own powers to take them down at medium difficulty, but if they delay for any reason, they will proceed to snap the boat in half and leave them to swim the rest of the way. The number of serpents that can be encounter are limited to 1 per boat outing! If a character brings back parts of the thing, it can be sold on the market. The prices are: 500 silver for a fully intact head 50 silver for one of the following: several teeth, scales, or blood 200 silver for all three at once (teeth, scales, blood) A QUIET PLACE     The jungles outside Wyver's city limits are sprawling and mysterious. Deep in the wilderness there is an innate eeriness, a quiet mysticism that permeates the lush foliage all around you. If you've wandered around Wyver's territories before, you might have some idea of what to expect, but if you're brand new to this world—well, best of luck. Here, inland from the water, the trees are dense enough to cast the jungle floor in darkness in some places, while others let the sunlight filter in to expose creatures great and small—among other things. In the thick of the jungle, history before that of the current Wyver can be found, if one knows where to look. NATURE VS. NATURE? Wyver's jungles are teeming with more species of plants and wildlife than even the natives can name. After that rough landing stirred up the island and nearby land, the jungle is uneasy. Even if the group fresh from the Station scatters, there's no easier way to become an obvious target for nature's curiosity than how you got here. Maybe you encounter a Cutpurse Willow, a tree known for wrapping its hanging vine-like branches around anything that brushes past underneath it. Loose items in your pockets? Glasses? A weapon over your shoulder? Much like a venus fly trap closes around its food, the viney branches of this tree coil around anything that comes in contact with its leaves. Once grabbed, the vines begin to rise back up into the canopy, and these trees are quite tall—better grab your things before you have to do some climbing! Who knows what other lost items you might find up there, though... Or maybe you'll find yourself somehow not encountering... anything. Instead, you'll start to wonder: did I pass by that tree already? Or have I seen that stream before? Somehow you've gotten turned around, and no matter what methods you take to mark your path, you always seem to wind up right back where you started. But there aren't any predators here; listen closely, and all you'll hear is the innocent trilling song of the Duldrums, creatures that have yet to be studied in detail due to their ability to lose trackers easily among the foliage. Oddly, these creatures respond to conversation and don't appear hostile... but where exactly were you going, again? Or, you run into something else entirely! The forest is the home for many creatures from many worlds; who knows what you may encounter? A HISTORY LESSON. Something these jungles are rich in is history. Throughout the area there are all kinds of relics of the past to find, from crumbled ruins to the bones of fallen dragons. It seems that both these things fell where they stood and have remained untouched since, preserved only as much as nature will allow. After a long day's trek through the jungle, this is as good a place as any to rest. What's out here? You might find yourself stopping to lean against the ribcage of a dragon, left standing as a memorial to the great beast that left it. The people of Wyver revere their dragons both living and dead, and while some of these bones seem to be moderately taken care of (plants cleared away, no animal nests resting on them, etc.), they are very purposefully not moved. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to change that. You may also come across building ruins from the people who would, generations later, settle in what is now Wyver. Rudimentary and mostly stone and old wood, these buildings were once homes and meeting places for the people. One notable ruin is mostly the floor of what was once an oblong room; look closely and you'll see runes and other symbols carved into the stones, weathered with time. If you draw them or otherwise bring this information to the natives of Wyver, they seem to not know what you're talking about—or they don't want to answer you at all. Wherever you stop to rest, there are very few predators in this area, so you should be safe to camp for a little while! WELCOME TO WYVER     After your trek, whichever way you went, you'll wind up in Wyver! Unlike when the first refugees arrived to Olympia's outpost, there isn't any fanfare this time; you're given a lukewarm welcome and left to your own devices. There are places to see and businesses to be aware of here in Wyver, but other than that, the city is yours to explore. FINAL OOC NOTE     An AC-eligible thread for 2 WYVER REP POINTS may be submitted from this log. SUBMIT THE THREAD HERE by DECEMBER 19th 11:59 PM EST. We will no longer be providing overflow posts. In an event where the post hits CAPTCHA, players are advised to move threads to an overflow post on their character journals or create their own catch-all post. These threads remain eligible for AC, AC Rewards, and REP. 1 SILVER = 1 US DOLLAR. 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Comments

[seagoing]

Eluvian...I swear I've heard of it.

[That's somewhat of a familiar term, if only vaguely thanks to a certain elf she knows who was obsessed with them. Wasn't it just a giant mirror? She certainly doesn't understand how elves do their workings. But its as if that fact alone sets a lightbulb off in her head. Elves, Elven relics- She snaps her fingers.]

Ah, I thought so with those markings. You're elven aren't you? [A pause.] That was probably a bit sudden, sorry. You're just the first I've run across that's where I'm from, didn't think that would happen so soon after arriving here.

[getoutofmytemple]

That is a surprise, from my understanding very few have heard of them, much less know what they do.

[He suspected if more knew of them then there would have been more raids upon his temple at the very least. It seemed to be rare knowledge for the shemlen, which did make him curious how this one seemed to vaguely know of them.]

I am Elvhen, and even if you hail from Thedas I have my doubts you have met any such as myself before.

[seagoing]

Well, that much I don't know. I had a friend back home who was looking into them, but I didn't know they were a means of travel.

[And mostly hearing that they weren't to be taken lightly, but much of that went over her head honestly. Still the confirmation is in a way a relief, seeing others from Thedas that made it as well.]

I've only come across a few here and there, elves that is. Mostly in alienages, but I have a few that were...dalish, I believe? [There's not a whole lot she knows when it comes to elves, only that one was dalish and new to much of the world, another was possibly dalish and a damned good assassin amongst other talents, and the other was grumpy with a fondness of magically fisting things.] The markings on your face lead me to guess you're related to the latter though.

[getoutofmytemple]

If your friend did not know as much I have my doubts they would have figured it out. It matters little now.

[Ugh. Dalish. Why was it always Dalish he was likened to? Of course he was certain he'd like the city elves no better, but he did not actually know enough about them to take as much offense.]

No. I am not related to any of the fools that live as beasts in a forest, branding their faces in ignorance, nor have I ever seen any of your shemlen cities. I am what preceded the elves of your generation.

[seagoing]

She was pretty determined to, but you're right. I doubt we'll see anything like it here.

[Well that seemed a bit harsh. Maybe she'd stepped on some hidden nerve that only elves understood, because she definitely didn't catch the reason behind such bitterness. What she does catch is his mentions of coming before, which just makes her pause.]

Ah, so you're like an ancestor of sorts then? [She didn't know they could still exist, or at least she'd never heard of them being alive and kicking in the current age.] If there are any cities in the direction we're heading I imagine they wouldn't be too different from any human cities in Thedas were, if you were curious about what they're like.

[getoutofmytemple]

Of sorts, yes.

[It was not an untrue statement, his people were the ancestors of the modern elves, and most of those elves that produced such bloodlines were long since dead. Or so he assumed. He had not seen any sign of other surviving Elvhen, though he had been quite isolated.]

I was not, but if such is the case then they are more disappointing than I expected. I was hoping the primitive nature of the cities here were unique to this world.

[seagoing]

You know, I can think of quite a few people who would be dying to be in my place talking to you about such things. Bit of a shame you're stuck with me.

I'm only taking a stab in the dark here, its all new to me. I've no clue what kind of civilization exists in this place. [As it is, this is already a radical difference from being in space not too long ago.] Aren't you the least bit curious though? I mean, you've got that wise and all knowing thing going on, like a scholar.

[getoutofmytemple]

You speak as though I have any intention of answering every question thrust upon me about Elvhenan. Tis not my duty to enlighten the shemlen on how poor they are at keeping track of their history.

[He says like he wouldn't just compulsively correct the blatantly wrong regardless. He was a very proud man, and he was tired of those Tevinter shemlen thinking they were actually mighty enough to destroy Elvhenan at its peak.]

From what I have gathered from others that hail from Thedas, your assumption is correct. [Most of the people from Thedas did not seem to be struggling much in that regard anyway, it was different for them certainly, but there were others more at home in the fortress that sat upon the stars, and on the planet's surface they were far more easy to spot than the Thedasians.] I have seen our world decay over the centuries since the fall of my people. All that was familiar to me were the dilapidated bones of what once was, the overgrown ruins and lingering magics, and now not even that remains.

[seagoing]

I honestly wouldn't even know what to ask if I had any questions in mind. I can be a good listener to anything you'd like to share though, we still have quite a ways to go to the other side. Maybe it'll make the time go by faster.

[She isn't adverse to learning something new, idle chatter and conversation making the time pass faster, progress seem quicker.]

There are others around from Thedas? If I might ask, who have you come across since you've been here? [She can't help but feel a little hopeful at the mention of other being around from their world, even if it seems like they come from different times. Speaking of, she tilts her head at him with a contemplating expression.] Centuries huh. I can't imagine being around for so long, seeing so many things change. Didn't it get boring being around all that time? Did you travel or do anything while the years passed on?