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Entry tags:
EXPLORE: PREHISTORY.
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.
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