natha: (Default)
ɴᴀᴛʜᴀ orbiters ❰ mod collective ❱ ([personal profile] natha) wrote in [community profile] elnyan2018-01-26 12:27 pm
Entry tags:

❪ test drive #4 ❫

YOUR STORY BEGINS    

The Storm came. You only remember darkness, but you don't remember much after that.

All you know, perhaps, is that it was cold. You don't know for how long you slept, but the dreams were short, at least. You remember the expanse of stars and the universe that came in view. Every world and solar system ever known was displayed in your dreams in careful, pristine detail. You have also witnessed The Storm, which has devoured a fair portion of these galaxies. It was a dark, thick smog — ominous in appearance and ever foreboding.

Your Earth and similar planets were immersed in The Storm. Somehow, you knew it would be the last you'd see of it. That was when she told you what happened, and how you could help. You knew that you'd be living somewhere new, even though you never asked for it. The details here weren't clear, but you knew you'd made a deal with Darma.

Not long after, you'll wake at Thesa Station — your body is still cold.

It all felt like a dream, but somehow, you knew it wasn't — now, will you keep that promise you made to Darma?
PROMPT: THE STORM    

CW: death
You were awake on Thesa Station. But at some point you, like many other new arrivals before you, wandered into the Observation Deck. Ordinarily, this is where images of The Storm are replayed to remind Refugees of the fate they have escaped.

The Natha Orbiters' technology has evolved. They are aware of your gaps in memory. You may have doubts of The Storm even existing, or of your world's destruction. Though they do not wish reliving those last moments on anyone, they have created an experience that will do just that. Before entering the Observation Deck, you are warned that what follows will not be for the weak of heart. As soon as you step in, you will find that the walls around you begin to transform and expand.

Welcome to the Planet Cespi, in the Circinus Galaxy. Unfortunately, we were not able to save this world from The Storm's Consumption. These are its last memories.

You are surrounded by blue, grassy hills as far as the eye can see and a pleasant breeze. The atmosphere is thick with a sickly sweet smell. Before you lays the scene of a quiet village, with its residents going about their everyday lives. You aren't alone, either, with an equally confused stranger (or perhaps you know each other?) surveying the scene.

Then the world grows completely silent for a full minute. You and your partner are unable to make a sound, verbal or otherwise. Without warning, a deafening roar fills your ears and forces you to double over in pain. The villagers run out of their homes in a panic, finding themselves in just as much pain and confusion as you do. Where there was no sound before, now there is too much for a normal human body to process.

Look up. An expanding mass of energy is swallowing everything you can see. It consumes the earth, the atmosphere, the depths of space — and it is getting closer.

Your only hope is to outrun it, if you can. The people in the village certainly try to, racing past you. Their fear is very real. Their bodies are very real. You may be able to run from it for a time, only able to catch glimpses of this dark and sinister force swallowing everything and everyone. The earth rumbles and separates beneath you. Electricity surges through the sky, and then through your very body.

You fought hard, but it is impossible to outrun the Storm forever. You too will be consumed. Your death is quick, but not painless. What were you thinking, before you took your last breath?

You awaken back in the Observation Deck, next to your new friend.
PROMPT: TRAINING MODULES    

While it’s all nice and well to familiarize oneself with Thesa Station, it is most advised that new arrivals venture out a bit. Not physically. No one is quite prepared for that yet. However, there will be several virtual reality training programs set for those who dare to be adventurous. For those who aren’t and don’t dare, well — good luck, all the same. Once seated and appropriately strapped in, the system will automatically whir to life.

1. When you enter the Natha's newest program, at first nothing loads. You might think this is an error as you look around in apparent total darkness, only able to see your own virtual body if you look down, but soon enough a voice comes to life as if speakers have turned on somewhere.

Long ago, the lands of El Nysa were dominated by the ancestors of the dragons who now live among the people, tamed. It was pretty dangerous! How about a little history lesson?
And then the simulation comes to life—

a. The lush lands that blossom to life around you all at once are real enough to make you forget you're in a simulation — at least for a moment. Those refugees who have been to the planet in reality before will find themselves in territory as unfamiliar as those who are brand new, as this simulation takes place far back in history. Instead of sprawling cities and civilizations, the most you'll find is scattered villages, many of them no more than nomadic campsites at best. You've been outfitted to blend in with the natives and these simulated people won't react to you as a newcomer, but as a member of their village. Are you a doctor, or perhaps a warrior? Maybe you're even in charge! But they want your help, and they want it quickly: a dragon is coming.

The dragon is larger than the mount-sized breeds that exist on El Nysa today — much larger. It's a good six stories in height, bestial, and angry. Maybe it's then that you notice the lands that surround you are littered with scars of scorched earth, some of them several yards across, and there's a reason these people don't live in one place for very long. But don't linger too long on the makeshift grave markers sticking out of the burnt countryside — the dragon is coming.



b. If you're looking for something a little less violent, perhaps another area of the historic simulation will be up your alley. This one finds you on a cliffside, waiting among other villagers for an event the people are talking about in hushed whispers, some of which you can identify as prayer. When the white dragon raises its head up from the depths of the ravine, towering impossibly high over you and the others on the cliffside, it's no wonder most of the natives fall to their knees in awe and wonder. This dragon doesn't attack, only looks at the people on land with an ancient and strange wisdom.

Then it speaks. Not in words, but the low rumbling sound that starts in its throat and becomes a full trumpeting bellow to the sky seems to have meaning, and somehow, you can understand its cry as it entreats the people to praise and worship. The natives around you are already starting to give offerings with their prayers, food and carvings and — blood? Is that someone's arm being offered up?

That's different.



2. Let us now travel forward in time, shall we?

a. The Olympian settlement around you is quiet — until the screaming starts.

Guerilla fighters from Wyver flood the streets, knocking civilians aside and breaking down doors and windows when they find their way barred. They move methodically, advancing toward the nicer parts of town where the politicians reside and leaving terror in their wake.

They're here for the politicians, people say. They're here to punish the people who made the decision to advance into Wyver in the first place. Blood for blood, as the saying goes. Where they'll be taking them once they have them is anyone's guess. A soldier emerges from a building, dragging someone in elegant clothing out by the hair. Looks like they've found one.

Will you rescue them? Make a run for it yourself, lest you be mistaken for one of their targets? Or maybe they've already caught you and some other unfortunate Refugee who's been dropped into this simulation, and the two of you need to figure out a way to escape.

b. CW: branding
You find yourself in the midst of a bustling crowd gathered at the Temple of Thesa. Robed acolytes stoke fires on either side of the altar at the front of the temple, where miserable-looking people who seem to be from a village in Wyver await, bound in ropes.

The priest, at the front of the crowd, picks up a metal brand from the altar and gestures for another acolyte to bring a prisoner forward. The crowd watches with interest as the prisoner is forced to kneel in front of the altar, their arm laid out flat on the marble surface.

Another cry — "For the glory of Olympia!" — and the crest of the city is burned into the prisoner's arm.

The crowd cheers, deafening the cries of pain. The priest ushers forward another prisoner, and then another. Is that a familiar face you see in the lineup, thrust into this bit of history by the simulation's whims? You have to do something. Or are you unlucky enough to find yourself bound? ...Well, hopefully someone else in the crowd has more scruples than this priest.
3. And now, the present.



After all those enlightening scenes, the simulation finally brings you to a more quiet area of Olympia. You are deposited out somewhere in The Outlook, a place the very first group of refugees had to trudge through before they found their homes. You've arrived in the early evening — but sunlight is waning, and soon you'll be under a sky full of stars. Luckily, their old campsites aren't too overgrown.

The intention here is to get you familiar with some of the local flora and fauna. What sorts of plants will you encounter? Do you find yourself under a Verillum Tree, suddenly compelled to be painfully honest and truthful in conversation with a complete stranger? Find yourself behaving erratically in the presence of Whistleweed? Or perhaps you'll have to break the spell of being trapped in a Vena Amoris' vines... with a kiss.

PROMPT: STASIS UNIT    

You have found the massive section of Thesa known as the Stasis Unit. There’s no special access required to enter 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: 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    
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! An AC-length thread may be submitted for 2 NATHA ORBITER REPUTATION POINTS after acceptance here. Please submit by February 18th.

We will no longer be providing overflow posts. In an event where the post hits CAPTCHA, players are advised to move threads to an overflow post on their character journals or create their own catch-all post. These threads remain eligible for REP.

There will be an application cap of 60, and no reserves. Please read here for more information.

carefulapostate: <user name="anabiotic"> (Dwight)

[personal profile] carefulapostate 2018-01-27 04:50 am (UTC)(link)
No.

[It's spat out curtly and bitterly. And despite not being asked he just continues on a tirade after a momentary pause as he made a weak attempt to bite back his opinion. A very weak attempt, because he was right on this subject and people needed to be made aware.

Also he was projecting his own personal experiences here, and was taking this more personally than he should be.
]

That creature is no deity, merely some powerful beast! It is not worth such a tragic waste of a life! If this is the sort of foolishness we have to expect from the world below, then there is likely nothing short of a miracle to push them towards acting like civilized nations!
araearyrha: (002)

[personal profile] araearyrha 2018-01-27 04:52 am (UTC)(link)
[Diana why you gotta be like that?

Akko was about to greet the other witch with her undying enthusiasm,
when the comment about it being two months sinks in.
]

Metamorphie Faciesse!

[She quickly changes back to normal and starts interrogating Diana.]

What do you mean two months? Not even Sucy can sleep that long.
reek: (pic#11611948)

[personal profile] reek 2018-01-27 04:53 am (UTC)(link)
Are you even speaking the common tongue?

[ God, Tony, he doesn't understand a word of what you're trying to say here. ]
baguablade: (92)

[personal profile] baguablade 2018-01-27 04:55 am (UTC)(link)
Ah, so you're definitely not the True King... That's a relief! :)
In that case, who are you?
carefulapostate: <user name="anabiotic"> (then beat you with experience)

[personal profile] carefulapostate 2018-01-27 04:55 am (UTC)(link)
I am not Thedas.

[So there. Also because you didn't ask, here's some more gratuitous elfspaining! Bet you missed that, huh honey?]

Consumed it may be, but it is not gone. If we can be taken here and cured, then there is hope for Thedas.

[He's ruined Thedas too much for him to just accept that it's gone before he could right his wrongs.]
Edited (didn't have the D) 2018-01-27 04:55 (UTC)
panzersoldat: (15)

[personal profile] panzersoldat 2018-01-27 04:56 am (UTC)(link)
[ Shining golden portals. Well, that's different. If he wasn't facing the oppertinity to slay a dragon, he surely would have been in awe of such a thing. After all, they don't have anything at all like this where he's from.

However, this is something he knows. Being the tank in a realm of DPS. Melee in a world of guns. So he knows how to work with ranged fighters. He almost considers telling the man to hop on his shoulder. It wouldn't be the first time he'd had someone use him as a springboard to get a better angle for firing. It's sort of the problem with being just so huge. ]


Well, you can stand back then. I have a hammer and I see me a very large nail over there.

[ He squares himself up and then glances to the side before giving a nod. He's ready. He's ready and since he's not got the rocket boosters, he can actually charge with his shield up. After all, he's under his own speed. Which for a man his size is actually pretty impressive. Especially with the loud war cry he calls out before he just starts running. ]
antleredcrown: (004)

[personal profile] antleredcrown 2018-01-27 04:56 am (UTC)(link)
"No, Loras, you were only doing what I asked you to do. We were trying to prepare for something we never would have been ready for. Not the next day, not any day."

Renly heaves a sigh and presses a kiss to Loras's temple. "I wanted to do you proud. To be the king you believed so strongly I could be."
icingonthecake: (shook)

Outlook

[personal profile] icingonthecake 2018-01-27 04:56 am (UTC)(link)
[[I'm usually on mobile so I hope prose is okay! You can respond however you like, though!]]


Axel has never been the guided tour sort, so as soon as he can slip away from the other people who were deposited here in these woods around the same time, he does so, just sort of vanishing into the growing shadows of evening. He's grown used to solitude, to finding his way on his own, so the encroaching night and the obscurity of trees doesn't faze him much.

When the dark grows too heavy to really see clearly, Axel calls a small tongue of flame to one hand. It might draw attention, but he's not really worried about getting ambushed. Nothing about this place feels dangerous, really--especially compared to the stuff the simulation showed him previously. Better to possibly draw a bit of attention than to trip on an upturned root and break his leg, right?

As he turns a bend in the path, he can faintly hear a second set of footfalls, and he squints in the darkness to see a figure up ahead. She's young, looks like, dressed in light colors that stand out against the shadowy trees, but her posture is defensive. Axel holds up both hands, as if to show he's unarmed, though the little flame he called up still dances at his fingertips.

"Just wandering," he says, shaking his head. "Didn't expect to find anybody else away from the group, actually. You lost?"
wallofbriggs: (041)

[personal profile] wallofbriggs 2018-01-27 04:56 am (UTC)(link)
Finally you're talking sense.

[Texting... whatever.]
warchetype: (9)

[personal profile] warchetype 2018-01-27 04:56 am (UTC)(link)
[ ... ]

Snake1964: Right.
Snake1964: Nothing to worry about from my end, if that's your concern.
inacan: (007)

[personal profile] inacan 2018-01-27 04:57 am (UTC)(link)
i get where the word "larder" comes from but its so unappetizing, also i can't cook
inacan: (013)

[personal profile] inacan 2018-01-27 04:59 am (UTC)(link)
They weren't personal before.

[ Tony draws a fine line!

Also her name doesn't ring any kind of bell, but he will respond in a similar tone. ]


Tony Stark. And the superhero thing has been middling for the world - I guess until it got destroyed - and hell on my personal life, why do you ask?
bornofgods: (pic#11994418)

[personal profile] bornofgods 2018-01-27 04:59 am (UTC)(link)
What a far-reaching question with many possible answers… but, never mind. I will not veer off course.

I am curious about the various worlds that my fellow awakened beings hail from.
Let me not be vague. Have you heard of the kingdom of ancient Egypt?
ofseraphim: (combat)

b (aka FITE DRGN PLS)

[personal profile] ofseraphim 2018-01-27 04:59 am (UTC)(link)
[ Dangerous? Uh. ]

Yeah. [ Suffice it to say.

Sorey is uncommonly steely here, in tone as in posture, but it’s not from fear. It’s more reverence than fear, since he knows exactly what he’s up against.

Mainly. Mostly. Maybe.

Who ever thought he’d see a dragon in this place... depressing doesn’t begin to cover it. But, if seraphim are as he’s read, then it’s completely feasible this dragon is-- ]


Wait -- we can’t kill it. [ Said even as he reaches to his hip and draws his trusty sword. (Well, a whole lot less trusty now, isn’t it? Ah well.) ]

We have to try to subdue it.

[ She can still punch it in the face and accomplish that, surely.

...Right? ]
panzersoldat: (31)

[personal profile] panzersoldat 2018-01-27 05:00 am (UTC)(link)
[ Well, how wonderful. A young lady who is just as blunt as he is. And while it's going to take him a moment to come to terms to the fact that to her, he must be a giant walking Christmas Dinner, he has to accept that there are other worlds and things are different in all of them.

So he's food. And Reinhardt is still Reinhardt. He's still going to end up giving up too much when he can't really afford to. He looks from her to his arm and back to her again and gives a sigh. ]


No. You don't look dead to me. [ And his hand on her shoulder might sneak to feel for a pulse, just in case before he lets go. ] I guess I have to keep my promise. Since you answered me. But one more thing. May I have your name, young lady?
inacan: (005)

[personal profile] inacan 2018-01-27 05:02 am (UTC)(link)
[ For a moment after this declaration, there is silence. It seems that both Tony and the dragon stare at Reinhardt for a moment, stunned.

...And then the dragon attacks, forcing Tony and his newfound - teammate? to dodge, because those are some sharp teeth. ]


You - haven't heard of a place called Asgard, have you?

[ Because you suuuuuure do remind Tony of an old buddy of his. ]
inacan: (008)

[personal profile] inacan 2018-01-27 05:03 am (UTC)(link)
yeah i'm a regular sob story
back home we called ourselves Avengers
warchetype: (12)

[personal profile] warchetype 2018-01-27 05:04 am (UTC)(link)
[ well, this lion of a man can only be an asset against a dragon. if only the gods-that-be had put Snake in a similar suit of metal.

he nods, attention still focused on the dragon stomping craters into the earth just a stone's throw away. ]


I'm going for the soft palate - can't penetrate its hide otherwise.

[ the dragon makes a swift arc, its back now turned to the both of them. Snake flicks his makeshift weapon from hand to hand, ready for the charge. he might have more experience with stealth missions, but there's nothing wrong with a battle like this one from time to time. ]

It's got its back to us, so we should be able to get in close before it notices. Ready when you are, soldier.
inacan: (007)

[personal profile] inacan 2018-01-27 05:05 am (UTC)(link)
[ As a matter of fact, this person's movement is the perfect opening Tony needs. Hilariously, this isn't the first time he's had to fight with his hands bound, so it's - well, it still sucks, but necessity and invention and all of that.

Tony is up on his feet, charging headfirst into the guy with the brand, taking advantage of his loss of balance from the trip to knock him over completely - and lands right on top of the guy, of course. ]


Okay I maybe didn't think that one through completely...
rosebyanyother: art by <user name=disasterscenario site=tumblr.com> (hundred dollar bills under our sleeve)

[personal profile] rosebyanyother 2018-01-27 05:05 am (UTC)(link)
I suppose that's only fair.
I'm an interplanetary explorer. Or, at least I WAS.

Your turn.
shashka: credit | <user name="fustercluck"> (bringing down corporate synergy)

[personal profile] shashka 2018-01-27 05:06 am (UTC)(link)
[ once again, Adam's struck by just how much he'd really missed this. not to mention, John was free, here. he wouldn't have to worry about Cipher, or the kids, or any of it. he could do whatever he wanted.

it was a strange sort of relief to think of.

when John puts his hand on Adam's shoulder, DD takes this as a cue that yes, despite being a copy of his other father master, he's friendly. an uncle, if you will. so, he's at John's feet pawing for attention. Adam, meanwhile, is just enjoying the fact that he's awake again.

that is, until he asks him what happened. he remembers something just like this. it was what he was afraid of. ]


...What's the last thing you remember?

[ he's already gone through this once with John. he can do it again.

(don't let him be from as far back as Miller was.) ]
triplerose: (easycompany-got3x8-135)

[personal profile] triplerose 2018-01-27 05:06 am (UTC)(link)
They would have won. They knew they would, and Stannis and his witch knew they would, so they took a cowardly way out rather than accept defeat with dignity. Loras exhales a breath through his nose.

"I'd choose no other king before you. Though I wish now I'd never said a word of it. You deserved to live a longer life." Though, he supposes, here and now, Renly gets that opportunity.

"This place can be confusing. There's still a lot I can't ever fathom to understand, and people here come from everywhere, with strange customs and stranger ways of speaking. But I'll do my best to help you." A pause. "And there are others here, from Westeros. We're not entirely alone."
icingonthecake: (grin)

[personal profile] icingonthecake 2018-01-27 05:06 am (UTC)(link)
Axel snorts a laugh, though it's not really meant to be derisive. Wise? He's pretty sure that's one thing he's never been called.

"Kingdoms, huh?" he echoes. He wonders sometimes what it is about 'Kingdom Hearts' that makes it a kingdom in the first place. Who's the king? It wasn't the Kingdom of Hearts, so... what constituted the title in the first place? He gives Renley a thin smile. "Where I come from, people from different places usually don't even know the other places exist," he says, figuring it's not really confidential information that there are other worlds, anymore. Obviously everyone here is from some other world. "Worlds are all separated, and the people forgot they were ever even connected," he says, and shrugs one shoulder. "Within each world, though, I guess everybody's got their own rules and stuff, but most of 'em aren't really big enough to have that many different places anybody could come from." He laughed. "I guess we had to find smaller, pettier reasons to make enemies.

"Highgarden?" he asks then, eyebrows lifted. He can't help a little smile. "I wonder if it's anything like my hometown..." High Garden, Radiant Garden, probably no relation at all, but it was a bit of a funny coincidence. "Storm's End, that sounds pretty cool. So which one are ya from? If you don't mind me asking."

One thing he can at least thank the Organization for is that he probably never would have traveled to so many places without them, and learning about new places and the people who live there is always interesting.
inacan: (006)

[personal profile] inacan 2018-01-27 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
surprisingly fewer than i expected
so are you: earth past, earth future, dungeons and dragons, or another dimension altogether?
it's for science
adisaster: (the burden's on your back)

[personal profile] adisaster 2018-01-27 05:09 am (UTC)(link)
[ He doesn't know who the True King is but he still almost feels indignant at being dismissed as not-them so readily. ]

I AM GILGAMESH, THE KING OF HEROES
THOUGH YOU MAY NOT KNOW THAT NAME
BUT YOU HAD BEST REMEMBER IT