EXPLORE: PREHISTORY.

[agogemod]

A LIVING FOSSIL;

a damn big one

FROM BASE

By now, you're probably aware that if you look into the aether from inside BASE, you begin to get the sense that something is staring back at you. But, weirdly, there's no creepy feeling if you look into it while outside.

Because, yes, this time you can trek outside of BASE. And, yes, it looks just as piecemeal from the outside as within. Maybe even more so in the circumstances.

You see, BASE has kind of...crashed.

Into a primordial coelacanth.


The Coelacanth

This coelacanth is an ancient being from the dawn of time, who circles the aether eternally and surveys all of uncreation. Characters may walk out to the head of the coelacanth and ask it a single question on the nature of life, the universe, and everything. It's a hard trek on foot, as the terrain is unforgiving and the air grows thin, but with the right equipment and some determination, it's doable. The hoverbikes help.

Aside from that, well, BASE has managed to get embedded in the coelacanth's rocky skin. The coelacanth doesn't seem to mind, but it's not exactly great for BASE or COST's resources to be stuck there. Excavation is slow, largely because the coelacanth isn't helping. When asked why it won't help release BASE from its gravitonic field, it replied that BASE had stolen something from it and was getting what it deserved. Since it only speaks once to a given person ever, in their entire life, that's all Chiron and Grothia have been able to get out of it.

That said, they strongly suspect it's related to BASE's remaining shapers escaping and leaping happily into the coelacanth's mouth. Yes, the last of the shapers have officially gone, readily abandoning BASE in favor of returning to their homes and colony.

The crows, meanwhile, have largely disappeared into the forests.

Because, yes, there are forests. There's breathable air and Earth-typical gravity, which means that as long as you stay on the coelacanth and don't try to jump off into the void between all of space-time, there's tons of weird stuff from countless millennia for you to find.

picture this, but more colorful and also more coelacanth

The coelacanth's back is roughly the size of Tennessee. Away from its sides where the treeline dissolves and drops into the sheer cliffs, you wouldn't even know you're standing on a living, intelligent being; there are weather patterns, plants, animals (including annoying insectoid creatures), and peculiar geographical formations. And it exists only on this specific coelacanth. Everything found here is precious and could potentially benefit COST, and recruits are asked to collect samples and record new alien life.

The general biome of the coelacanth is boreal, with high frozen peaks and pleasantly chilly valleys. The midlands are temperate, averaging 15°C or 60°F. And, as there isn't any sunlight in the aether, there are a lot of bioluminescent lifeforms. Sometimes, it's bright enough to pass for daytime and the ground itself seems to glow. It's colorful and very pretty.

So take a month to kick back, explore, and obtain resources to keep BASE going (between helping with the excavation, of course). It's advised characters travel in pairs, to better protect themselves in primordial fishland, but otherwise they're left to their own devices and trusted not to do anything rash, like piss off the fish by damaging its ecosystem (but if you do, check in here). It's very protective, you understand, and the crows won't tolerate it, either.

Have fun camping, kids.


EXPLORATION AND YOU

So you've noticed there's a proverbial undiscovered country outside your door.

This month's plot is meant to be light and mostly revolve around interacting with the setting, which means the worldbuilding is going to be driven by you, our players!

How is that going to work? Well.

Everyone has the chance to submit things they'd like to see in the coelacanth's terrain, from flora to fauna to things that aren't quite either (strange weather phenomena, oddities in terrain, buried treasure; whatever your heart's desire, go for it).

Each player can submit three items, one flora, one fauna, and one additional feature of your choice (though if it isn't permanent or recurring and/or won't interfere with other players' fun, you don't need to worry about getting it approved). Submissions are open until March 15th, 11:59 PM CST, when we compile and possibly tweak a selection of them. These will be posted on March 16th and you can find everything listed in their respective locations.

We're not going to be micromanaging this plot, so don't worry about keeping everything within strict parameters; this mission is meant to be laidback. Likewise, don't worry about keeping track of who is camping with who, or how they crossed from one terrain to another so quickly; that's what the hoverbikes are for.

Once exploration begins, the BCEs will automatically update a database with found items. This data is provided by the character who discovers them first, so submissions should be IC and reflect how your character would name and describe the weird monster they found in a tree (within reason; the BCE will scan the creature and supplement data—which is delivered in metric, so brush up on your conversion skills—to help avoid an IC submission that's exclusively "idk it's big and red"). After discoveries are made, scanned, and submitted to the IC database, they are uploaded automatically and free for all to see. Granted, this information is only helpful if your character checks the database regularly...

Please keep submissions to things that fit within a boreal environment. And avoid anything that is only fun for one character or one canon, qualifies as intelligent life, or can only be used for sexual scenarios (no sex pollen, please). Other than that, we encourage creativity with submissions; we're looking for things that are interesting and fun to interact with and lifeforms that appeal to the huge science nerd on our mod team (and, obviously, the game at large).

If you're confused about anything, please ask!


CAMPING EQUIPMENT

Every individual camping will be provided with the following:

• one (1) collapsible tent, which can hook onto trees and into rock faces. Proper setup can be annoying and tedious, especially solo, so it's advised to have another person help. The interior can comfortably hold two average-sized humans and their supplies, and it folds into a small disk a little larger than a frisbee when not in use.


• one (1) sleeping bag. It does not unzip; you need to slide yourself in and it really only comfortably fits one person. The heated regulation fabric only works if you're inside it; they make terrible blankets. Nicknamed "carrot coffins" by recruits.


• one (1) of these flashlights. Roughly 1000 lumens, but adjustable; also has SOS and strobe settings. There is no "Dewalt" logo; instead, it looks more like this.


• one (1) Derringer, solar(ish) powered. It's advised to carry it where it can get light. It has three settings: kill, stun, and vibrate. It will not fire on a fellow COST operative in any scenario; if pointed toward someone with a BCE, the trigger will lock.


• one (1) monolighter. A tiny lighter (seriously, like the size of a cuff-link to conserve lighter fluid), with a warning to extinguish fires before leaving a campsite. It also has a note to boil water before you drink it, so you should probably do that, guys.


• one (1) collection kit, which includes various bags, tins, petri dishes, other containers, etc. It's specified recruits not collect any of the fauna, however. At least not while alive.

HOVERBIKES

One more thing: hoverbikes. BASE has dusted off a dozen hoverbikes, large enough to fit two people...if the two people deign to share a seat. Each bike has a small cart latched to the back, where characters can store supplies and, if they really want, try to cram in one or two additional people for the ride. The bikes aren't particularly fast—they'll make sad putting noises and refuse to go faster if you try to push them over 55 kmh (35 mph)—but they will let characters travel from the fish's head to the tip of its tail in around twelve hours. A ride from one side to the other takes about three.

Riderless bikes fly out every few days, to carry supplies and ferret recruits from one location to another. This means camping groups constantly flux, so there's no reason to plan extensively on who is with who, or worry about timelines or anything like that.

As they can go riderless, yes, the bikes have an autopilot setting, but you can drive them the normal way. They also have Futhark enabled, so you can blast your jams from them. Just try not to disturb the wildlife too much; it isn't very nice, after all. And who knows what might come crawling out of the woods.

RETURN TO BASE.

NAV. NETWORK LOGS OOC MEMES PLURK

Comments

QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, WHATEVER.

[agogemod]

[lefthandfree]

It has three settings: kill, stun, and vibrate

Okay, but. I’m gonna need some clarification on that third one. Like. What and why...

[northerndragon]

SO. About those Gallipoli lice.

Are they hitching a ride back? Do we need a delousing regimen? Are they the natural enemies of shapers or of Young? Are there suddenly a bunch of hungry, homeless lice on the Marie Antoinette, soon to be jockeying for space with other, previously established lice on the persons of the poor unsuspecting and already quite itchy ANZACs?

Asking for a friend.

[deem]

Although they will surely not be on this fish forever, can certain androids still record and share map data, or will COST furnish this for them?

[lefthandfree]

Other question: can we plausibly gather herbs/spices for cooking on BASE? And/or start a greenhouse in BASE with gathered specimens.

QUESTION FROM PLURK THAT IS RELEVANT HERE.

[agogemod]

"the fauna/flora examples give both IC and OOC entries--so are you saying that either is ok? cause I know above its implying that IC is preferred"

All of the submissions should be written ICly! The scanned/supplemented data is also ICly provided; it's just automatically generated by the BCEs. This is so people who play characters who wouldn't fill out the form correctly can still do submissions (and everyone in the game gets to experience how terribly/amazingly a given character would fill in the form).

It can also be used to include things your character wouldn't know or think to add (e.g., Young doesn't care the mushrooms glow brighter in the rain), but you want to add in yourself! But please do your best to distinguish between the two somehow, if you use the scan feature.

[lefthandfree]

Per Pel on discord: if we flip it to the third setting, the derringer just vibrates endlessly.


Additional questions about the derringer: How many shots does it handle before it needs time to recharge, or is it fairly endless? Is reload/recharge required separately or is this handled automatically? What type of projectile does it fire? Is there anything left behind at impact point, residue, burns, bruises (in both kill/stun separately)? Is it capable of piercing objects of reasonably light density (in kill/stun separately)? How loud or quiet is it (in kill/stun separately)?

Sorry for all the insane specificity. My guy’s a gun dude and would take to using it as much as any other tool (like his knife), even if not for killing, so I need to know this kind of stuff to write his interaction with it more accurately.

[reillumination]

Say, hypothetically, someone wanted to pop open one of those hoverbikes and see if they could make it a touch more efficient and streamlined. Clean it up a bit more once they figure out what the hell is going on in it. Make that thing really purr. Give it some TLC. What could feasibly be accomplished?



This is very important no not really but

TALK TO A FISH.

[agogemod]

[deem]

9S has you all covered. He'd like to know the fish's proper name, so they may address it appropriately.

[dipolar]

"Please tell me... what lies beyond death?"

[fessus]

This is incredible. Honestly, he's still reeling over it a little.

"Hey-- or hello, I guess. I heard you'll answer one of our questions but first I wanted to say that you look pretty awesome. I dunno if most people back home would believe me on this one but I'm glad I got to see it, anyway.

But my question is... If someone makes a sacrifice so that you can do something, but you can't do it right now, how can you ever make that up to them? Or pay them back?"

[dorzalta]

What does one ask a creature such as this? She treads carefully along the rugged terrain, settling on a jagged piece of rock when it seems its no longer safe to venture further. The air is thin here, cold, but she contents herself with smoothing a hand along the ground--the coelacanth's head??--humming quietly.

It's a spell of peace and quiet, companionable... open. A much needed respite from all that she's seen and lived these last few weeks. The silence is broken only when she says: "I imagine you've seen much. Do you ever find yourself lonely in your travels?"

[goodandtrue]

When she thinks of the nature of life and death, there is only one question that comes to mind. "What does someone face when they die? Are they at peace?" Robb had suffered before his death, he'd been brutalized and tormented by his enemies, and had to face the end alone. It was the same for Raynald, her brother that had always been so full of energy and life. How small they must have felt. The only comfort she could find in all of that was a hope that they would find peace.

WHY DID THE FISH CROSS THE AETHER IS THE REAL QUESTION LBR

[prizeneck]

"In the case of having to choose between life and death, which should you choose?"

[raisedbybirds]

Her first instinct is to ask very canon specific things; where did all the Chozo go, is the Federation really corrupting, did she do the right thing committing literal genocide, etc. She is cognizant that even knowing these answers won't fundamentally change her life or who she is, so she elects to leave those questions in the past and look to the future. Furthermore, they are questions that feel increasingly insignificant in the face of Regency assimilation and their idea of peace.

"What is true peace?"

She thinks maybe that is more appropriate, and it also satisfies that genuine curiosity itch in bothering to ask at all.

[chipouttaluck]

Surely figures there's no harm in asking a sentient fish anything, and hell, if she gets lucky, maybe she'll get some caps out of it.

"There anything you need doing?"

lmao fuck

[millimeter]

"Heyyy, Mr. Fish! Or Bob. I heard you like Bob. We'd probably call you Ambulans Caelo where I'm from, though. Pretty cool name; it's kinda like Noct's. Anyway, we were told we could ask you a question, but I dunno if I really have a question you can answer... No offense!"

He rocks back and forth on his heels, frowning.

"Just, like, I don't know if there is an answer, I guess? Or, maybe if there is one, I don't wanna know it... Not yet, anyway. Kinda the the type of thing that would be better for a conversation instead of a single question. Seems like that would suck, to be honest! Only being able to talk to someone once.

"Oh—actually, maybe I do have a question you could answer! Like I know we're here 'cause you wanted your shapers back, but I was thinking of taking some plants along... Just a couple! See, I have a chocobo now and she's kind of a picky eater. So, um, basically, I was wondering how I should take care of them? If that's ok!"

[lefthandfree]

“Hey, you got a favorite song or anything?”

Apologies in advance for this question.

[northerndragon]

Jon remembers stories of asking questions of strange creatures, and he remembers that in the stories, it never does to ask without being careful about how you arrange your words. So he doesn't say, Do you know how I can defeat the Night King? (because "yes" or "no" won't be helpful), and he doesn't say What do I have to do to defeat the Night King? (because he already knows that he needs to fight either until he wins or dies -- again). And with the way things are at home, it wouldn't be right to ask anything more personal.

It's been a long trek out here, and he looks at Bob with contemplative curiosity, and asks his question.

"What do I have to do to defeat the Night King that I'm not already doing?"

[crownless]

Travis dismounts his hoverbike and paces back and forth for several minutes before trying to speak to the fish.

"Hey. Being in this place has gotten me thinking. Everywhere I go, I just keep getting caught up in stuff that's out of my control... like something beyond my power keeps plunging me into these awful situations, no matter what I do or don't do to get out. Watching me squirm. Getting their sick kicks outta my suffering, like it's some kinda divine sport--"

He balls his hand up into a fist as the frustration mounts. "And I know it's all fucked. I wanna live my life my own way. I know I don't wanna be somebody else's tool anymore: not the UAA's, not the Regency's, and not even COST's. So, what I wanna know is--

How the hell am I supposed to off Goichi Suda? If the franchise is over, he can't touch me anymore, right? Right?!"

A beat.

"I mean, if you don't know that one, the meaning of life or some other shit works too. Your call, dude."

DESTRUCTOPUNCHER.

[agogemod]

While it's not exactly encouraged (or discouraged), it is kind of inevitable that some characters want to kill a lot of plants and wildlife and burn down trees. We can't stalk everything, so let us know if you get up to any destruction here!

[bivariant]

BEEF FOR THE BEEFLORD, aka froot and i wanted to link it Just In Case, but cheris and hei hunted and killed a wounded drumcrown and did A Good Deed by feeding hei "i will vore the universe to fill the hole inside of me" fakelastname.

i don't think it's wanton destruction, but then again, have you SEEN hei eat.............

FAUNA SUBMISSIONS.

[agogemod]

FAUNA.
Name: Self-explanatory.
Image: Link me, man, with the raw link only. Should be at least 300px wide.
Description: Describe what we're looking at here. Dimensions, weight, coloring, variation within the species, etc.
Habitat: Where can you find this animal? Please include general requirements (e.g., some animals fare better at high altitudes or in open areas).
Behavior: Is it aggressive? Docile? Is it social or asocial? What does it eat? The list goes on.
Uses: What kind of properties does it have? Can it be eaten? Used for fuel? Something else?
Discovered by: Who found this shit.

<b>FAUNA.</b> <b>Name:</b> <b>Image:</b> <b>Description:</b> <b>Habitat:</b> <b>Behavior:</b> <b>Uses:</b> <b>Discovered by:</b>

EXAMPLE.

[byfist]

FAUNA.
Name: "Majestic Bird" Sublimis Pavo
Image: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/c9/6e/9e/c96e9eee6fc8a092eda500466347768c.jpg

Description: With a wingspan of 2m and weighing approximately 10kg, it is a deep sea green-blue and gold in plumage. Females differ to males only in the absence of gold and are, on average, slightly smaller. Their eggs are a speckled red with blue dots.

Habitat: Dense to medium dense forests, seldom coming to the ground except to hunt. Their nests are usually made in the very tops of trees.

Behavior: A proud, incredibly intelligent animal. They are solitary, except for mated pairs who mate for life. They will approach in curiosity, but it requires being very still for long amounts of time. They come out in the open only for the males to do magnificent mating dances, which involve flying as high as they can and then plummetting back down in a bullet dive to try and pull up at the last second. Once a male has a female's interest, she will approach him and they will race to her chosen mating spot. There, she will sit for three days and he will build a nest around her.

They come to the ground primarily to hunt, favoring small rodents and snakes. They often catch them and throw them to the ground. However, they are not aggressive and it is possible to scare them off their kills, since they are not equipped to defend themselves very well.

However, they do emit an air shattering cry that, if heard too many times, causes dizziness and disorientation. In extreme cases, this can cause nosebleeds and vomiting, but they have to be attacked continually and backed into a corner to do this. Normally, they will just run away.

Uses: When killed or made to bleed, their blood oxidises and turns to gold.

Discovered by: Grothia, who accidentally shot a lone male when it startled her. Whoops.

FLORA SUBMISSIONS.

[agogemod]

FLORA.
Name: Self-explanatory.
Image: Link me, man, with the raw link only. Should be at least 300px wide.
Description: Describe what we're looking at here. Dimensions, weight, coloring, variation within the species, etc.
Habitat: Where can you find this plant? Please include general requirements (e.g., some plants thrive in high humidity or colder climates).
Behavior: Does it have defense mechanisms? Smell different when threatened? Produce flowers or fruit? The list goes on.
Uses: What kind of properties does it have? Can it be eaten? Used for fuel? Something else?
Discovered by: Who found this shit.

<b>FLORA.</b> <b>Name:</b> <b>Image:</b> <b>Description:</b> <b>Habitat:</b> <b>Behavior:</b> <b>Uses:</b> <b>Discovered by:</b>

EXAMPLE.

[byfist]

FLORA.
Name: "Light Tree" Lux Arbor.
Image: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/4c/c7/e8/4cc7e8787c0ff18be1d973a28d8eee22.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/7e/f7/0d/7ef70d6e2a72cd1375d509c0e305267b.jpg

Description: A tree that produces a purple, shimmering leaf and white bunched flower. From the leaves comes a powder, similar to moths, but in this case it glitters. It grows to roughly ten meters tall, with low hanging branches. The flowers emit a faint light, though the powder does not.

Habitat: Primarily, they grow in caves or, given their shorter height, in thick undergrowth near the mouth or where there is some light. Mixed shade is their preference. Require a fair amount of water, so it is not uncommon to find them near a stream or other body of water. As such, they can be used to mark out where the mouth of a cave or water source might be.

Behavior: An evergreen tree, only losing their flowers in the cooler months, but otherwise have leaves all year around.

Uses: The tree doesn't seem to do much besides produce a dim light in the dark, until someone stands underneath it or sits in its branches for a period of time. Then two things begin to happen: at first, a sense of deep calm will fall over the person and they will begin to hear a sound, almost a song if a little too disjointed, from far away. However, leaving the tree will diminish these effects except for the calm, which will last the same amount of time they spent with the tree. As such, it's possible to find quite a few animals in or around the tree that are remarkably friendly.

Crushing the leaves and pressing them against the skin will allow for this effect if away from the tree, though the song cannot be heard once the leaves have been removed. The shimmering powder, which rains from the tree as well, requires excessive scrubbing to remove from the skin and stains it faintly to shimmer, even after the purple or pure white hue from the flowers is removed.

Discovered by: Commander Grothia when scouting for base sights.

OTHER SUBMISSIONS.

[agogemod]

OTHER.
Name: Self-explanatory.
Image: Link me, man, with the raw link only. Should be at least 300px wide.
Description: Describe what we're looking at here. Size, color, smell, findable items, etc.
Location: Where it's located relative to rest of the fish.
Etcetera: Anything that might be important, like the weather, how often it happens, hidden mineral deposits, etc.
Discovered by: Who found this shit.

<b>OTHER.</b> <b>Name:</b> <b>Image:</b> <b>Description:</b> <b>Location:</b> <b>Etcetera:</b> <b>Discovered by:</b>

EXAMPLE.

[byhand]

OTHER.
Name: "Xulchibaran Graveyard"
Image: https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/007/393/624/large/rino-rafael-moralidx-crashedship-01.jpg

Description: "A spaceship crashed from a group of explorers a while back. Their supplies are all rotted, but plenty of technological instruments have not completely rusted over and are ripe for salvation from a gifted hand. Likewise, the explorer's diaries are intact, and mostly detail how they miss their family bonds, and their last wills and testaments. Their graves aren't far off, covered by moss-covered stones in the decorative patterns native to their people. From what I can tell, it looks like the vegetation here was poison to them and once they ran out of rations they were basically out of options. I do not believe it is possible to inform their loved ones, who have likely already passed; to my accounting, this sad incident played out at least a century ago." Scans indicate: Perelian Freighter IXV, Class Alpha. Overgrown and unflyable.

Location: Near a small stream, not far away from BASE's crash site.

Etcetera: Scans indicate: Crew were likely Xulchibaran black market traders, avoiding the Pan-Thul embargoes, which were highly controversial at the time, but now are considered to the the backbone of fair trans-dimensional trade.

Discovered by: Chiron