❪ test drive: #2 ❫ THE OVERFLOW

[natha]

ORIGINAL POST

THE PROLOGUE     Many people in stasis seem to be medically sound enough to wake up, brother. Are the preparations ready to go? Yes, I've long prepared myself for this. Watching them everyday has been truly rewarding. ... Right. Yeah. Okay, let's get them ready to wake up. We should keep their minds active to ease the transition into consciousness. A simple VR program should do the trick, I think. I will boot one immediately. There! All systems are green. Their consciousnesses are linked. However, their minds appear to be too active... They may be over-stimulated, brother. Huh? How can that be...? Can we pull them out safely? Not from my end, no. This may be too large for us to fix alone. Do you think...? Yes, I think so... It will have to be done organically. Can you send out a message to our refugees? Of course, brother. I will send one swiftly. We must be sure to fix this before Darma returns. There is urgency in the Orbiters' request. Refugees currently in El Nysa are asked via mass message to please return to Thesa Station virtual reality area immediately. Zasere tells them that the next set of Refugees are scheduled to wake, but there's been an issue. On Thesa, refugees will find that the people in stasis are still apparently trapped in slumber. Most of them are complete strangers, but there's a chance you may recognize a familiar face or two. Normally, these people would wake up from their pods without issue, but due to a malfunction caused by the unforeseen force during The Descent, they have to go through extra measures to make this possible. Those in slumber require extra stimulation, something to keep their minds active. What better than a simulation of an area of El Nysa? Keeping their minds active requires an extremely involved simulation. Those subjected to the VR (prospective characters) will find themselves completely immersed in their new environment, believing themselves to be native Olympians. To wake up from the simulation, characters must work together to accomplish a certain objective(s) in the icy tundra. Characters in-game will be aware that this is a simulation, but this is good practice for properly interacting with El Nysa natives, isn't it? An AC-length log thread on this TDM may be submitted for Two (2) Natha REP points HERE. Please read the OOC note at the bottom of this post for the terms. PROMPT: WINTER CAME     The wind in the icy wasteland is bitter and frigid. You are wrapped up in a winter coat, but even still, the cold bites at your skin and leaves you yearning for a warm fire. Perhaps you're a merchant from the city, here to make a delivery, or you're a royal guard, sent to patrol the area. Who are you? The sky is the limit. One thing is certain — you won't snap out of your new identity until you finish a task. 1. Due to the vast diversity of the creatures on El Nysa and the fact that new ones are constantly being discovered, an important objective is to carefully chronicle different species. Unfortunately, to research these new species, they happen to need more than just a visual. More than just fleeting glances in over a snowy hill. Researchers are constantly looking for ways to secure... You guessed it! Blood and stool samples. The supplies for the former will be given. Supplies are offered in a small box; one per person. In this box is a small dart that will automatically procure a small touch of blood, and easily shaken off so the creature will be able to securely escape. As for the latter— well, they'll give you a plastic bag if that counts. Look, sometimes to get a job done, you have to get your hands dirty. Specifically, they seek samples from a newly recorded rare beast known as a Klep. Kleps spend much of their time hidden in caves, so hitting them with the darts will be tricky. They are also nocturnal, but you may be able to lure them out of the cave with fish as bait. When struck with a dart, you must grab the dart and escape immediately, as they will charge you, and killing such an endangered species is illegal. As for stool samples, well... Once you find a pile, you will have plenty of sample to work with. 2. It's cold, to say the least. Too cold to continue forward. Whatever you were doing, you must stop and seek shelter. Looks like your goal is clear, at least. Get warm. Not finding a way to sustain heat, whether it be seeking shelter, building a fire, cuddling up, or all of the above, will likely end in serious consequences. 3. You are stuck in a dilemma. On one hand, you are set to work for Olympia. One the other, you're not completely sure what is really expected of you, or who the man who gave you this mission truly is. You and your partner are meant to protect precious trade cargo for them. You were told that these were essential supplies for one of the outer colonies. They assured you it was mostly food. In loading the cargo onto the supplied wagon with your partner, however, you noticed something inherently off about it. The weight and even the sounds of some of the contents inside definitely don't sound like food. Moreover, some boxes are more obviously more concealed— draped in black sheets and reinforced on all sides. You've also caught wind of rumors that you are potentially being utilized to supply advanced weapons and other contraband to Wyver terrorists in the colonies. But what do you do? Refuse to make the delivery, and people in the colony will surely starve. Try to remove the weapons and only deliver the food, and you will be killed on sight for being too suspicious. Make the delivery as-is, and not only will Olympians die at the hands of terrorists in the future, but you will betray your country. Decide quickly... 4. There are many dangers associated with traveling in such an isolated, harsh environment. You must help each other to survive. Perhaps someone has fallen on thin ice, and requires a rescue. Maybe someone is on the brink of starvation, and you must share what provisions you have. When you come to, you will awaken in Thesa Station. All will be explained to you by Zasere or Sael via telepathic link. Your world is no more. The Storm has consumed it. We offer proof in the Observation Deck if you desire it, but it won't be an easy thing to stomach. We offer you a new life, in our planet of El Nysa. We just ask for your help in maintaining the vitality of El Nysa. What can we offer you in exchange for your help? PROMPT: STASIS UNIT     You have found the massive section of Thesa known as the Stasis Unit. There’s no special access required to access this part of Thesa Station, but refugees are warned that it may not be for the faint of heart. Here, in large pods that nearly cover every square inch of the space, are all of the people the Orbiters have managed to rescue. Your loved ones, your greatest enemy, your next door neighbor— you might find them here. These people are in a state of deep cryosleep. Due to the damaging effects of The Storm, their bodies are not yet ready to be awoken. PROMPT: GET REKT     The Orbiters have noticed that some of the refugees really miss their video games. The technology in El Nysa could be much worse, but it definitely leaves much to be desired. Which is why, after expressing relief that everyone awoke safely, the Orbiters have decided to provide a little fun in the form of video game competitions. Anything from old-timey arcade machines to state-of-the-art computers, consoles, and VR headsets (though you may be a little tired of VR right now...) is available, and yes, they have your favorite games! Enjoy PAC-MAN, Starcraft 2, or perhaps Dance Dance Revolution! Teach a friend how to play. Get unnecessarily angry and competitive. Most importantly, have fun. Keep fourthwalling to a minimum, please. Recommended playing: QWOP PROMPT: OMAGE     Upon receiving your mobile phone, you will be asked to set a username. Voila, you can now access the network! You can choose to send a message to the entire network, specific usernames, or you can try out the Orbiters’ service, Omage, which connects you to a random user. They thought this might be a good way for their new guests to make friends with each other... Connecting to server... Looking for someone you can chat with... You’re now chatting with [username]... Say hi! PROMPT: WILDCARD     You are welcome to write any scenarios in Thesa Station! Characters have been granted temporary access to the Observation Room, and are encouraged to study it carefully. FINAL OOC NOTE     Please give toplevel priority to prospective characters! Current characters wishing to thread these scenarios with other current characters are encouraged to create separate logs. However, threads between 2 current characters are not eligible for Natha Orbiter REP. These threads may be carried over as game canon if players choose! Players are encouraged to submit TDM threads as application samples, but they are not required. Please direct any OOC questions to the questions thread below! A TDM thread of AC length may be submitted HERE for 2 NATHA ORBITER REPUTATION POINTS. Current players may submit their thread at any time, and prospective players may submit a thread after acceptance. Please note that threads must contain at least five (5) log comments from your character. A toplevel counts as a comment. Network threads are not eligible. QUICK NAV premise ● faq ● world ● map ● reputation ● npcs taken ● reserves ● application calendar ● hiatus/drops ● modbox [ FULL NAVIGATION ] elnysa nysalogs nysaisles nysaooc elnyan

Comments

[dorzalta]

You wear the red god's mark?

[ He sounds like an animal with that grumble of a grunt. It's in that moment, as he boasts of his feats, that she imagines how he would fare amongst her Dothraki. Power respects power, however begrudgingly. This man, brother to the maddened Euron Greyjoy, could be a stalwart ally... or just as equally fierce an enemy.

Granted, she'd believed the same of Yara and Theon, as well. Of Ellaria, who thirsted for vengeance. Even of Olenna, mourning though she might've been. Yet all three parties had fallen victim to the Lannisters and their schemings. What would make Victarion any different? ]

Yet again you speak of me as if I were nothing more than a prize to be had, and not a queen whose will should be honored. [ It's not his survival or tales of victory which brightens blue eyes, but his talk of freeing slaves. The heat of interest cools only with her annoyance over being considered nothing more than a broodmare. ] Who's to say I haven't taken another lover? You discredit me greatly by believing I would allow myself to be taken.

[pricechecked]

[This is really not how he imagined this conversation going. She was supposed to be ecstatic and possibly half naked while draped helplessly on a besieged throne. There was, as he thought about it, supposed to be some heavy panting as she sultrily called out his name. Now she was just being curt with him and talking down to him! Down to him! Despite being tiny!

He really wasn't equipped to deal with this sort of thing. He'd lost his temper before and he was determined not to let that happen again. But she was really, really trying to make this hard for him. How the hell did you even get a woman without taking her!?]

Mayhaps you are misunderstanding me. I do not mean to take you. [No wait, wait. That's exactly what he wanted to do!] Only wed you. If not I, then it will be Euron who does and he is not so gentle as I am. [Holy shit, he's never had to describe himself as gentle. Thank gods the other Ironborn are sleeping.] If it is honor you want, then I will honor you as much as you please.

i love this thread

[dorzalta]

No? I'd thought that exactly what you meant. [ Brow arching, she links her fingers together. It would be cruel to tease him, when he's so set on winning her hand. ] Is it the Ironborn's way to command another into matrimony? Very well, I'll not pass judgment on your people's customs. Now, however, you will listen to mine.

[ Straightening, shoulders pulling back, she lifts her chin. It's one of Dany's more intimidating poses. Meant to cow even the fiercest of warriors. Meant to make said warriors piss their pants. While he and his towering height do overshadow her, she stands before him with a sureness matched by few others. This would, after all, be one of the only ways she can imagine winning him over. ]

I will not marry a man I do not know. Your concern is much appreciated, but I assure you that should Euron's path cross with mine again, he will face nothing but my wrath for the crimes he's committed. His allegiance is not to me, my lord, but to a maddened queen.

[ Which seems fitting, truth be told. Despite her agreement to a temporary truce, Cersei was still mad. ]

I'll make this offer: you will swear allegiance to me, Victarion Greyjoy, Iron Captain of the Iron Islands. Bend the knee and I will keep your proposal in mind.

it's really, really good!

[pricechecked]

[Bend... the knee? Victarion's expression does a lot of things, none of which are particularly flattering. He is a simple man with simple ambitions and this is already a million times more complicated than typical Ironborn politics. He can't just bend his knee. She's a woman! If he was to bend his knee to her, then why shouldn't he have thrown in for Asha?

He shakes his head.]

The Ironborn do not submit to the Iron Throne. No more. My brother lost two of his sons and his own life in pursuit of this. Though my brother is not fit to sit the Seastone Chair, I cannot be a turncloak. [Whatever else might be said about Victarion, he has his honor. It's ironborn honor, to be sure, which is as warped as a driftwood, but it's there.] And we do not submit to women, no matter how mighty they might be.

[There's a compliment in there... somewhere. She's impressed him, even if she is incredibly infuriating to deal with.]

[dorzalta]

[ The chill is near palpable upon reaching the conclusion of his thoughts. No matter the man, bending the knee to a woman seems an unthinkable thing. Offhanded compliment aside, she'd roll her eyes if it weren't so insulting.

She nearly does, when so many emotions flick across his features. Just what thoughts pass him mind in this stretch of silence? What causes a ferocious man to be reduced to this state of conflict? ]

Your brother submitted to a different king. One who obeyed the traditions set before him in a long cycle I set out to destroy. [ Not disrupt. She'd intended to break the wheel. ] Do not speak of things we might accomplish here, if you intend to embrace the old ways. I've no time for the old ways. They do not work.

[pricechecked]

[Yes, he remembers Balon bending the knee. His brother was a stubbornly proud man and had taken quite a lot for him to submit, though it could not have been for anything less than a love for his own people. But that was only after Robert had decimated the islands and their fleet. He was not asked by some young maid to simply bend the knee.]

You ask me to leave the Old Ways? [Victarion scoffs.] It was your ancestor who made us leave them, when he set ablaze our conquered lands and forbade our ancient customs. I would not have made it to Mereen were it not for the Old Ways. It is the only way.

[Oh, it had cost him dearly to follow it. Would that he could have spared his wife, but his honor had demanded otherwise. But he had done his duty. But it was better than than to suffer the ways of the Westerosi with their septs and knights.]

[dorzalta]

[ Her family is blamed for much; this comes as no surprise as Victarion speaks of his people. There is a sadness, a thread of regret upon hearing of the ways her family caused suffering to others, and yet... Her family paved the way for many a good thing, as well. She must believe this to be true. Her father was an evil man, that did not mean she was evil, as well. ]

What do we have to show for them, now? [ she softly asks, not quite frowning at him, but not glaring, either. Dany has experience in challenging the status quo, and though she treads carefully now in their discussion, there is also a surety in her steps. ] What lands fall beneath your family's name, beneath your feet right this second? We stand within a metal cage.

[pricechecked]

[Ah, there is that. The simple problem that everything he has strived for and fought for is now dust. He has no claims, no lands, and little in the way of kin. Only Theon and Asha, one soiled by the North and the other only a woman.]

So we are. All the more important that I cannot bend. If I abandon the Old Ways, then who will remember the Drowned God must be honored? Or that it was the union of the Grey King and a merling maid who gave the isles their names? Or how we conquered the greenlands until even the last of the Storm Kings quivered at our names? If I bend, will I still reave and raid? Will I sail to distant ports to claim the iron price? Or will you have me peddle furs and metals like some common sailor?

[dorzalta]

You will not bend, you mean. [ The tales he lists are ones she's not heard of before. Were they speaking under different circumstances, she'd have asked him to tell her of them so that she might come to further understand the Ironborn culture. Perhaps another time, then. ] Yara's agreed to cease the raids. Her uncle, on the other hand...

[ It is, perhaps, a poor reminder in this moment. One she's quick to avoid as she takes a step closer to him. It requires her to tilt her head to still meet his gaze. ]

You and your people are too proud a group to peddle furs and metals. I would not ask that of you, were you mine. [ The Dothraki still remain a proud set of warriors, her own khalasar. Why could the Ironborn not enjoy the same? ] I do not wish to bend and break your people or your customs... merely the animosity and distrust which festers like a never healing wound.

What would have have of me, were I to agree to this marriage? You will not bend the knee, your views of women are entirely underwhelming.

[pricechecked]

[Victarion has never had his views on women challenged before (at least not by anyone he was listening to at the time), so this comes to him as a bit of a surprise. He really doesn't even know what she's getting at. What does she mean that his views on women are underwhelming? He'd rescued women destined to be whores and gave them to his men so they could live honest lives as salt wives. He'd always treated his own wives kindly, even if Euron had left him no choice but to kill his last one. And the Dusky Woman never had any cause to complain.

No, this was going to stump him. Where had she gotten the idea that his views of women were not anything other than they should be?]

What would I have of you? I'd have you. We would share my bed and you would give me many strong sons.

[Which is a pretty big deal. Not just any woman gets to have Victarion's sons!]

[dorzalta]

[ Like one awaiting the latter half of the joke, Dany waits. And waits. And waits... Sadly, there is no sign of him amending himself, which leaves her in the curious predicament of either attempting to talk sense into him (was it possible with a man set in his ways?) or to wipe her hands clean of all this. Ally or not, stubborn men only offered the promise of a headache.

Suffice it to say, she looks far less than impressed. ]

I will bear no children, for you or any other. [ The familiar ache settles in her chest. She cannot, she cannot... ] Not until the sun rises in the west and sets in the east.