Storm Warning, Arrivals, & the Forgotten City

[atlasmods]

GOOD MORNING NEW ARRIVALS Or well, almost. There's another day or two left before that. We still have that Hull from earlier to deal with! The Ruined Hull By now, most of the items have been cleared out (via discoveries on the previous OOC post). But just in case anyone missed it or didn't get to explore as they wanted, characters may find any (2) of the following items on top of anything else they may have already recovered: (1-2) Plasma cell C (1-2) Plasma cell D (1) Plasma rifle (0 charges*, takes D, 50% chance to be damaged) (1) Plasma pistol (1-3 charges*, takes C, 50% chance to be damaged) (1) Plasma grenade (1) Star chart fragment * 1 charge is roughly equal to 1 clip or magazine of 12 shots. The power drain is still present at its usual levels, with nothing changing on that front until...
The Storm & New Arrivals	IC Days 11 - 12 (Nov 6th - 9th)
The storm appears gradually over IC Day 11, a wall of sand on the horizon. Distant at first, but approaching with alarming alacrity. Before the end of the day the massive sandstorm covers the entire area explored thus far. The winds kick up so much sand into the air that it's nearly impossible to see more than a few feet in front of one's face. Best to take shelter quickly, possibly in the Queen's carapace or perhaps in the sinkhole of the Ruined Hull (or the hull itself). The storm hits maximum intensity on the first half of Day 12. It is not impossible to survive in the swirling winds, but it is certainly uncomfortable. Lightning arcs through the clouds of sand seemingly at random. Being struck is wildly painful - and dangerous - but has the side effect of charging up one's suit instantly. The storm lasts for approximately twelve hours. When it abates, the landscape is greatly changed. In fact ... it's quite beautiful in places. Wherever the lightning struck, there are now glittering crystals poking out of the sand. And the dunes have all been shifted around, burying former gaps in the sand and revealing new ones. It may be difficult to navigate with all of the scenery having shifted. But hey--all that shifting of sand? Has uncovered more pods - specifically those belonging to new characters. Looks like they were lying dormant beneath the sand for...who knows how long. There are other additions to the area as well. The winds have uncovered an odd, prickly sort of cactus plant. They are tan in color, covered in spines, and have several blue colored buds on each arm. There are also clusters of seeds on the ground that greatly resemble the "leaves" fauna from previous areas, only with a slight color variation. When poked or prodded they pop up out of the ground and...turns out, they're not plants at all. Probably? These "seedlings" will wander pretty aimlessly when bothered, but if heckled or attacked they will release a bright cloud of sweet-smelling pollen which causes whoever comes in contact with it to become...affectionate. Affectionate and attached and grabby for whoever happens to catch their attention. It's a neat little defense mechanism these tiny guys developed to keep the Kharids at bay: blast them with goo-goo-eyes pollen and avoid getting eaten! Unfortunately that means characters who get it on them will just find that they just have soooooo many best friends and they really need to let them know how super-cool they are. Before running a fever and puking for 2 hours. Good times! The storm has had one more effect on the interlopers: their suit power. Due to their close proximity to the ship & frequent forays into its interior, power drainage has crept beyond the bounds of the ship and extends to the entire sinkhole around it. Now going anywhere within that area will drain a suit's power from 100% from 0% in roughly 10 minutes, draining slightly more quickly in the middle of the sinkhole rather than its outskirts. It will be impossible to explore the ship at all without the help of the queen's energy orbs. An IC Intro Log will go up on the 9th for all new characters to be discovered.
The Forgotten City	IC Days 12 onward (Nov 9th onward)
New pods aren't the only thing the drastic shifting of sand has revealed though. Where once there were numerous rolling dunes as far as the eye could see, these have been blow away to reveal what can only be described as A Forgotten City. Massive and stretching at least a day's travel in size, this city is composed mainly of worn and weathered buildings. Made primarily of stone, their once-pristine edges now worn and rounded by erosion and characters will find that as they enter the city's outskirts, it is built to wind and twist and double-back on itself not unlike a maze. From the outside almost all buildings are damaged or destroyed. Once again those iconic claw marks appear, numerous and the cause of much of the ruin. Almost all buildings save a few oddly untouched ones seem to have had some sort of fight torn through them. As characters work their way further into the city less of the buildings will have those claw marks, and some will actually be in habitable, structurally-sound order. The damage here is lesser, and on the innermost walls of these buildings can great murals be found depicting numerous figures standing below a strange symbol characters should find all-too-familiar. It's the same as the one on the back of their hand: the mark of The Atlas. The murals lack any sort of language on them, but all signs point towards some sort of worship for the Icon. The further into the city characters go, the more of these they'll find hidden inside buildings. Close towards the city's center characters will find numerous circular archways that create a strange, airy tune as the winds of Kharas blow through them. And while they appear built randomly or at least for aesthetic purpose, they all line up and lead to one location in particular: The Fossilized Tree Whether this tree is an actual fossil of something once-living and vibrant is impossible to tell. It looks for all intents and purposes to be made of some sort of hard, coarse marble that glints whenever the hot sun hits it right. It doesn't look all that special (besides being the only tree on Kharas encountered to date), but when characters get near it they will notice that time around the tree slows down. While they will be able to move around at normal speed for them, when looking outward at their environment characters will notice that everything else looks to move in slow-motion, about half of what it should be. And the closer one gets to the tree, the more pronounced this effect. The further away? The lesser the effect and the faster time moves. During the daily eclipse all time around the tree stops completely when one is near it, and leaving its proximity causes one to return to the normal flow of time. But lastly and perhaps most important of all? Is the collection of larger buildings built further inside the city. Why? Because there's water here. Deep inside the inner chambers is what looks to be an organized cavern containing an underground lake filled with safe, clean water for drinking. It just so happens to be glowing and purple-tinged, but don't let that bother you. No adverse effects will come from drinking it. This is as far as characters can get for now thanks to the strange network of winding streets and buildings, but there's much, much more to be found inside The Forgotten City: Our next major event will be Saturday, November 26th at 8:00am EST which will take characters deeper into the city...and closer to The Atlas. It will include a 24-hour event, a second upgrade for the suit, a boss battle, and sweet, sweet loot. A post to thread out & investigate the area will go up a week prior to give characters time to play in the new area before the actual encounter log goes up. Final Notes The Flora, Fauna & Resources page has been updated with information on the seedlings, cacti, and crystals! These items are now all available for Discovery. Our Calendar has been updated to reflect this month's schedule. The Forgotten City will be available indefinitely from now on! Characters can take this time to settle & build up a foundation for themselves, explore the area, and of course, harass those poor little seedlings. There will be an major event on Saturday November 26th which includes our second 24-hour event encounter which runs from Nov 26th at 8:00am EST to Nov 27th at 8:00am EST. A mingle log will go up a week prior to let characters toy around & thread in the innermost areas of the city before the main event.

Comments

QUESTIONS

[atlasmods]

Have questions about this month's string of events? Ask here!

[ceruleo]

Are the plants we suggested for the carcass still applicable/approved/what have you? CAN WE USE THEM IN THREADS, is what I'm asking.

(Also, it might be worth it to replurk it...c'mon people!!!!!)

[atlasmods]

Yes! The plants players came up with are still sprouting on and around the queen carcass/shell. Players are still free to come up with more plants they'd like to see until further notice.

[ceruleo]

I'll pass on the word!

in retrospect........i should probably specify that when i said 'c'mon people' i meant like....the other players, and not you guys....you work really hard, thanks for everything u_u

[atlasmods]

♥

[astromechanic]

Hiya! I didn't see it noted on the settings page so I thought I should doublecheck, is the mist/smoke that appeared during the daily eclipse during the first TDM still occurring? If so is it possible for characters to investigate what's causing it?

Also, can newly arriving characters poke around to pick up 2 items from the Ruined Hull list above?

Thank you!

[atlasmods]

The mist is still around & occurring, yes! Characters are more than free to look into it as well :)

New characters are more than welcome to poke around the Ruined Hull for items, but make sure you're mindful of the dangerously fast power drainage which occurs. Bruce Wayne has been stockpiling though if you'd like to hit him up for extra!

[astromechanic]

Neat! Are there any other general details to note about it from observation? Like - as more areas open up does there seem to be anywhere that it appears more/doesn't appear at all? Does it materialize in the air or seem to come out of the ground or anything like that? Is there moisture/condensation to it or is just dry smoke?

Ty! I'll check with Batdad c:

[atlasmods]

It mostly appears over spaces of open desert, not near any structures or areas of solid rocks, and looks like it just sort of materializes above the sound instead of escaping through it. There's no difference on how often it appears in any of the areas explored, but it does not appear below-ground.

It's mainly just dry smoke!

[bringguns]

It's a couple days off but will the characters have any way of knowing whether the water in the city is safe or not other than tricking someone into trying it first?

[atlasmods]

They will not! But aside from the color it doesn't look all that unhealthy, and if brought to it the Seedlings will drink from it just fine (or I guess make that a conditional yes??? If the seedlings drink it then quite possibly it will look safe to consume)

[thephix]

so one thing that max can do with her powers is neutralize toxins in her body, would it be feasible for her to recognize that the pollen is doing something weird and purge her system?

i decided i had a second part: if she went digging in the hull for some kind of container, would she be able to extract the pollen from a seedling and keep it for later?

[atlasmods]

She definitely can, on both counts! :)

[thephix]

awesome! i'm gonna use that as a starting base for more questions but i will use the discovery section for that o7

[sandhate]

can you collect the cacti?

[atlasmods]

Yep! Just watch your hands--that stuff'll eat right through flesh!

[resnipstance]

SCREECHES

y'all just casually dropping love pollen in there sneakily, I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE MODS. im fucking dying.

[resnipstance]

also who wants to take shelter from the storm together

[dateme]

heyyooooo

[resnipstance]

nothing can go wrong with this plan

[dateme]

His hands will behave but he might steal a kiss or smth.......feel free to punch the ever-living crap out of him for it. IT'LL BE NOTHING NEW AS YOU KNOW

Inui + CAMP BUILDING

[dateme]

Soooo anyone up for getting lost, getting sprayed with pollen or messing with the time-tree? Because I would love for Inui to do all of these things.

He will especially be interested in the time-tree, but maybe also to kind set up like a camp of something??? Since they probably need one at this point

[astromechanic]

CAMP! Hunk can definitely be nudged to help with setting something up.

[dateme]

YES GOOD Inui would love to have more people helping out since he's not a fan of doing tons of work in the first place......

But bonus points when he finds out Hunk knows Lance

[astromechanic]

he feels this, but sometimes you gotta do the work

and well then you're in luck buddy, he's got many a lance story........

[dateme]

Inui is ready to hear them all

bc seriously, lance is a hoot man

[ceruleo]

i thought we were bros, bro

[bladebabysitter]

She's still an old woman in a robot body, man, get away with that pollen

Camp and the time-tree are Elma's priorities too, though.

[dateme]

But she's a pretty older woman

Sounds like a plan :D

Lance!!!

[ceruleo]

Rounding out the game's resident trio of YA protags ig

During the storm, he's gonna be using powdered 'dots' to cure some trilobite meat....no way that stays fresh forever....so if you'd like to get your palate incinerated by spice, sign up here!

After the storm, Lance is 100% gonna get pollen'd, so if you wanna get draped on and told how amazing, wonderful, gorgeous etc etc you are, also sign up here!

Does anyone wanna make a discovery party for inspecting the houses in the city? Newbies and oldies welcome!!! Like, 3-5 people max tho.

[dateme]

Please stroke Inui's ego by telling him how gr8 he is no really, he'll find it weird and hilarious bc there's noooo waaaay anyone like Lance would really like him he knows he's awful!!

[ceruleo]

lance will absolutely tell Inui what an amazing friend he is, and how he's happy he saved him from the bugs etc etc

so many regrets incoming....

[dateme]

Inui just lightly patting his shoulders it's okay Lance, it's okay

But feel free to keeping going this is nice

[astromechanic]

omg yes spices, this is the most important thing to him

also +1 member to your discovery party!!

[ceruleo]

hunk knows where it's at, good for him

[anewhope]

Clark will come mostly to keep an eye on things, translate shit and make sure nobody dies.

The usual.

[ceruleo]

omg he gets to introduce clark to hunk and pidge, he'll be so pleased c:

[anewhope]

Yesss

And everyone can meet Clark's cousin from another timeline.

[ceruleo]

please stop lance from hitting on your cousin, clark

or, you know

don't

[anewhope]

it'd be so hard to pick an option.

Re: Lance!!!

[sweatysometimes]

I want to sign up for love and for discovering.

[ceruleo]

GOOD

drapes all over pidge

Elma

[bladebabysitter]

Elma is going to be investigating that tree something fierce and experimenting with its properties. Because that's very strange.

Beyond that she'll be working to built a shelter, transport water, and generally make people wonder when she sleeps.

She also wants to find ways to counteract the ship power drain, the source of which she believes she has identified.

[anewhope]

Clark is not getting pollen'd but feel free to drape all over him and compliment his muscles. Be the first to make Superman blush.

I don't have any fixed plans, but Clark is always up for staying behind or coming on any expedition so he can help out.

[superblack]

bruce will not be pollenated thank you very much

but he will definitely be kind of concerned but also trying not to laugh and you know failing at that because it's dceu bruce and he's got sass and salt for a hundred years

if you'd like to get up all on his grill, be my guest. he'll definitely be doing a round of exploration tho