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meadowlarklogs2020-07-08 06:34 pm
EVENT #010.1
WHERE: The Drake Passage, Adelaide Island, and surrounding areas.
WHEN: In the days leading up to May 21, 2512.
WHAT: Trip to Antarctica, as well as an event prelude!
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Seismic activity, weird biological creatures, and sea sickness. Please look at our additional notes down below!
Heading through the gate and into New Magellan is the easy part – it's just a hop, skip and a jump from the New Amsterdam gate. It's early in the morning, and the sun is barely peeking over the horizon when a group of mismatched, highly unlikely, unseasoned scrubs make their way to the lowermost point on the globe. They're led by Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, and they're heading on an expedition to Antarctica in search of abnormal creatures whose existence has almost been lost among passing mentions. The scientific community does seem to remember, though, as do those interested enough to fund this little haphazardly put together expedition.
They're equipped with heavy coats and supplies, dragging what they need between the two gates. There's no need to be particularly punctual, as the research team that's meeting them is already on Deception Island. When they get to New Magellan's southern port, it's cold. The wind, harsh and dry, makes for pink noses and cheeks, biting at any bare skin that's left to its devices. It's only the first leg of the trip, and conditions are about to get worse from there. There's no train through the Drake Passage, and every step further is colder, more treacherous, and more demanding.
Getting to this island via boat is going to be treacherous for all of the characters on their way! While scientific enhancements in medication (High Quality Dramamine!) and boats will help, the characters will be taking The Drake Passage over to Adelaide. What does this mean for them? A miserable time ahead, all things considered. They'll have to battle nausea while dealing with terrible currents. This is the most unpleasant body of water in the world. Global warming caused things to change, but not enough to make travel much easier.
Anyone taking the trip will be given dramamine to deal with the motion sickness, but it'll be up to them to take it. Even then, there's a high chance that it won't work. The people navigating the boat across The Passage will be used to their passengers getting violently ill. It's a part of the rite of passage for this kind of trip.
(For some extra info from our science consultant on The Drake Passage, go here!)
Needless to say, upon arrival it is very cold. Everyone will need to have specific cold weather gear, and anyone who seems ill-equipped to handle it will be kept indoors and forced to bag and record any samples collected. In addition, anyone who doesn't pick up on how to take and handle samples before they're brought indoors will also be relegated to that. There won't be a lot of need for muscle on this trip. Overall, it's largely going to be a peaceful endeavor, albeit with a lot of signs that things could have turned for the worse at some point.
As for research, characters will be working on both Adelaide Island and taking a short boat trip to Deception Island. The team there will explain that there used to be facilities located on Deception Island, but after they got destroyed several times over throughout the centuries, all samples from there were taken back to Adelaide Island for analysis. Field research time.
In this region, most of the more "common" creatures that have made it are the following:
◉ Nototheniodei fish
◉ Leopard seals
◉ Antarctic octopuses with sub-zero venom
In addition, the surface area is very spiky and unusual, albeit lacking in any color. It's extremely monochrome.
This research trip will not be focused on these more typical creatures, albeit the researchers and Displaced could still take samples to see if any of them have evolved in unusual ways (especially given the unusual reptilian creatures found here before).
Other than these more common creatures, anything else the Displaced might find will be uniquely mummified due to the lack of humidity in the area (AKA it's extremely dry). Characters will be able to find the following (again, mummified):
◉ Reptilian creatures with exoskeletons like the one we referred to above (some of these are gator-like, while others are snake-like)
◉ Thick-furred walrus-like creatures, taking up massive amounts of real estate (so to speak) in the ice
◉ Featherless birds with retractable claws for talons
◉ Unusual mollusks with thick, spiky shells and legs that extend from them (these in particular are venomous, so they will need to be careful when extracting them—even breathing in their vicinity could be dangerous)
William's skill set will also be relegated to the indoors, but that means he'll be able to dig into the servers there via the local connection to see what's what. This particular research facility has been around for a long while, with some of its most unusual findings starting around 200 years ago. At the time, thanks to the large amount of ice that was melting, they found (equally mummified) bodies that were buried on Deception Island. Most of the clothing would be carbon-dated to the early 1800s. No one really knows how these people got here, but several of them had scarification and tattoos of various geometric symbols. Otherwise, these samples were passed off to labs elsewhere, as human remains aren't really in their wheelhouse. For what it's worth, none of these humans came up as unique in any way (in terms of biology) in the findings by those other labs.
Otherwise, William will learn that the laboratory is doing its best to publish its findings there, especially as they've found more and more unique creatures in the past year. Despite its best efforts, they've been running into roadblock after roadblock. There have been questions of integrity around their findings, and several attempts to pull funding from the area. None of these attempts seem as if they're intended to go through. On the contrary, they're clearly meant as scare tactics to keep the researchers there working but never getting any information out. They'll see this current expedition as an opportunity to bypass that process to get their news about these weird evolutionary formations out into the world.
After a few days of research, the ground will begin to rumble right before a massive earthquake occurs, causing massive damage in the area and sending shocks through the world. Knowing about the risk of the volcanic activity, the researchers will advise everyone to get moving. While the volcano won't be erupting yet, there will be a risk of a tsunami on the horizon, so they will need to move. The Richter scale of this earthquake will be around an 8.2, causing a great deal of damage and likely costing the lives of a few valuable NPCs (as they won't make it back to a mediunit in time).
Elsewhere, this will have an impact on the megacities, as there will be rolling brownouts. The mods will be detailing this in the Arrival Log (which goes up on July 11, 2020), so please don't post about this earthquake until then! As an equally important note, anyone who's on the Antarctica trip will not be present for the arrival log. We promise there will be cool stuff in New Amsterdam for the Arrival Log, however!
In addition, we suggest that the characters have at least four glowing relics on hand so they can make a makeshift gate to get out of there. This gate will probably be destroyed due to the damage in Antarctica following their escape.
Please see this link for the full player plot here!
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[ this is getting a little philosophical, and rey glances at catra to make sure she's keeping up. it's not like she looks to catra for these deep conversations, generally. mostly it's bickering. ]
And it's like I said. The Dark Side can be seductive. When you want something very badly — love, or power — or when you are afraid of something — like a loved one dying, or ... being left alone — that's when it's closest. And it's so easy to react out of fear or anger that ... sometimes, it feels like there was never a choice at all. Like at Red Wings.
[ she sounds sorry, referencing that. ]
But there is a choice. And you're right. It's just not an easy one. It means being aware, all the time, and resisting that pull, no matter how good it sounds. [ and in so many ways it does sound good, rey can admit in this cave, to catra. living with wei wuxian, lan wangji, sora, riku, and roxas has only exacerbated her feelings of loneliness in some ways. someone is always around, but they seem so much closer to one another. she used to have that, with ben. it hurts to be without half of her own being; like being out of balance, herself. ]
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Maybe Catra didn't have the Force, or magic. But maybe she can understands what Rey's saying, just a little bit. She's no stranger to how simultaneously good and horrible it feels to just give in to your worst impulses, to just let loose and go batshit. How in the moment, sometimes it doesn't even feel like you have a choice. Something sets you off, and you just lose it. And how hard it can be to resist that. Part of Catra doesn't even want to.
But she always pays for it somehow. Later. ]
... Sounds shitty.
[ #nailedit. ]
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It is.
[ it's also miraculous to feel that connected. if she could only reach the force here, maybe she'd feel more centered. but if she can't center herself without that connection, maybe she doesn't deserve to have it at all. she has her own work to do on herself before she can call herself a real jedi. ]
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She doesn't feel sympathy for Rey. Still doesn't even like her. But it's hard not to feel a little closer to a person, when you're huddling for warmth and keeping each other alive, and talking about shared trauma.
It seems like an age passes like that. The next time Catra speaks seems like hours later-- but who really knows-- and her voice is much, much smaller. ]
... I don't get you. When we first met, I thought you were-- like Adora.
[ Good. Special. Perfect.
But Adora never had to struggle to be any of that. Never had a dark side. She just was. ]
But the more we talk, the more I feel like you're more like-- [ Catra pauses, trying to think of the right comparison, but ultimately can't. ] ... I don't know. The opposite.
And I don't know how both of those things can be true.
[ It's unsettling. ]
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[ it feels like it's not the first time she's used that comparison. rey studies the icy wall before them, working through it. ]
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Adora's-- Adora. She's She-Ra. Princess of Power. Saviour of the universe. Protector of all Etheria. Y'know. Good-- and kind-- and special. Always... doing the right thing. Regardless of anything else.
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[ leave it to rey to have no tactful way of putting things. ]
Adora's a wonderful, kind person. You're right. I think she's a hero. But no one always does the right thing.
[ and that's too much pressure to put on adora, in rey's opinion. always having the answer. no wonder she doesn't feel like she's as good as she-ra. ]
She doubts herself and lies just like anybody else.
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[ which is perhaps harsh, but it's the truth. she had seen a similar resentment in the way kylo looked at her handling of his family's legacy. as if she got everything right, and he had not. but it wasn't that simple. her life had not been simple, and it was important that he recognized that.
she stops herself. why does she keep thinking about kylo ren, as if there were still any hope for that? she's just as bad about lying to herself as adora is. ]
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[ rey knows that, in fact. she's seen the imposter syndrome. ]
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[ Catra doesn't even sound bitter as she says it. Just tired. ]
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[ is it alright to point out that catra obviously likes adora ... she's not even sure what is and what isn't a sensitive topic ]
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[ IT'S COMPLICATED OKAY. ]
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[ Despite their close proximity, Catra actually shoves at her, straddling the line somewhere between genuine annoyance and being playful, not quite wholly either one. ]
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You're either freezing to death or blushing.
[ she points this out ruthlessly. ]
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What-- I'm not-- my face just gets red in the cold!!
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[ rey stands just in time to miss the next shove, but she leaves catra with the jacket. it's an awful decision given that rey herself is freezing and handles the cold so poorly to begin with, but also the least rey can do after she almost killed catra. though her body gives an immediate shiver, she glances away as if to dispel attention from it. ]
Adora would never forgive me if I let you die out here, so I guess we'll have to head back. It looks like the powder is starting to settle.
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... I don't need your stupid coat.
[ She stands also, takes it off and throws it back to Rey. ]
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[ rey isn't convinced, but she does bundle it in her arms. it still carries vestiges of body heat in it, and that's hard to resist. ]