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SOLMARA
![]() ⏵ LEAVING ETRAYA ⏴ Whilst most individuals will be making their way to Camp Etraya, the select few that have volunteered (and those who Aurora chose to be the fifteen she could support travel for) will be directed to come to the hospital, where a portal made of a swirling purple energy awaits. Aurora will meet them beside it, several backpacks placed by her feet by companion bots on their way out to their camp duties. "I'm sorry I cannot be of more assistance," Her voice is soft, hesitant in a way Aurora generally is not. "I would send my back up in this body to accompany you, but I am... using an extensive amount of my own resources just to keep this portal open, and I want to ensure our city is safe, too." Each name has a name on it, or a symbol that represents the character it has been brought for. For those who do not recognize their packs, Aurora will lift them and offer them out herself. They all contain basic survival needs, including breather masks, modular tool kits, hydration capsules, thermal cloaks, solar-charged lanterns, ration packets, medkits, as well as items specific to them that they may require - medication they may require, sunscreen, anything Aurora could think of that they may need that she could pack away. Once they've all gathered their packs, she raises a hand to gesture them towards the portal. "Your earpieces will continue to function, but will not be able to reach outside of their protective barrier. I understand some of you may have the means to communicate over long distances without the assistance of technology or magic," her eyes linger on Nate Grey momentarily, before she addresses the group as a whole once more, "And I would, if you can, lean on that to reach out to those who remain behind. While they may be on their own mission, I have left it... open, as best as I am able to. I wish all of you the best of luck. And please do be careful - I cannot guarantee your return from death should anything happen to you on Solmara." Lips press together tightly. Aurora hesitates, before offering, "I would, if you could, keep a look out for Ithaqua. He is still registering as one of mine, but I have not been able to find him within Etraya." The portal awaits them. Aurora will still be beside it to answer any further questions as best as she can, but she cannot step through alongside them. ![]() ⏵ OUTSKIRTS ⏴ Once they've stepped through the portal, they will find themselves in a small forested area full of barren trees called the Mirkwood Strip. Even the air in Solmara smells different: stale, and musty, despite how dry the environment around them looks. Where Etraya was covered in greenery, Solmara is covered in sand. It's a ruin of torn up roads, steel skeletons where buildings had once been, and jury-rigged machinery can be found throughout the city bubble. Scorched earth beneath a blood-orange sky, it barely feels habitable, let alone like a place for those competing to save their own worlds. Its outskirts are near-empty, full of those who have left Alrys' good graces and a few patrols to keep the half-starved deserters from rising up against her. There are a few individuals wandering among old buildings who may look a little less torn up: city bubbles are initially designed to suit those who will be arriving, after all, and some of these citizens look at home in sands and heat, even if the lack of nutrition is less than ideal. Some don't require it, but are fed by the bright light in the sky itself. Everyone outside the large barrier Alyrs has put up around the hospital and the numerous buildings around it are either fighters, scavengers, or left over torn-apart corpses, waiting to be revived or worse: too torn apart to be revived in their original bodies. Either way: most this far out will know they aren't meant to be here if they blend in well enough: Alrys may have eyes on the hospital to look for any new arrivals, but outside of her scouts, who would know? If they wander closer to the barrier surrounding the city, they may find small cracks in the shell that protects them from the planet's hostile environment - not quite big enough to fit an entire body, but big enough to pry open so one could make it out. Perhaps this is where the warning of the incoming Solmarans had come from: someone slipping out and trekking across the planet to leave behind the banner. Where Etraya has wildlife, Solmara has predators. Large creatures hide amongst the dunes, in the trees, the caves, and mountains, just waiting for the opportunity to get a nice-sized bite out of an unfortunate traveler. ![]() ⏵ SOLMARA ⏴ But they didn't arrive here as tourists: the Etrayans came with a mission: figure out what's wrong with Borealis, and free the citizens of Alrys' control. And do so so - they'll need to get passed Alrys' defenses, break through the gates she and her people have put around the main buildings, and infiltrate the hospital. This is where her defenses are strongest, where they will find multiple groups of her soldiers ready to take them on, if they aren't careful to avoid them. And just like Etraya: they have a varied bunch. Some are strong, powerful. Some may be able to see the Etrayans moves two steps before they decide to make them, may be able to easily remove them from the equation. But the further they get, the more hesitant her forces may seem. Those who had been on Solmara previously will note: this isn't normal. Something's wrong here, different. This log is only for the characters chosen to visit Solmara, as discussed with Aurora. Please feel free to reference Ashlee's map, as this is what we will be using to guide characters through Solmara! As mentioned previously, we mods will be watching this post closely and will be guiding characters along to assist them in getting to their goal. Our intention will be to boomerang tags back as quickly as possible, until this mission is finished. To this end, we ask that any tag that you want the mods to respond to directly have "@mods" in the subject line, so we don't step in when it's not our time yet, and don't miss anything directed our way. Feel free to respond to this log in any format that works for you! We would recommend breaking up into smaller teams to make navigating the city easier, but do ask that you keep to at least teams of two or more, to make it easier for us mods and allow your character to have interactions that aren't just against NPCs/mod tags providing guidance on moving forward. If an OOC thread of what happens as characters move forward is easier for your group, please begin that in the mod queries comment on the Solmara Plotting Post. We'll get back to these threads as quickly as possible, too. This can be used to ask a question such as "What if Accelerator sneaks in passed the barrier and tries to blend in as a guard, what could he find?", "What monster is outside of Murkwood and how would they respond to intruders?", or something like "Max will be going up to some of Alrys' guard and reporting he was able to successfully complete the mission, how will they respond and can he get to Alrys directly like this?" For all questions relating to this log, please refer to the Solmara Plotting Post. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ. |
OPEN | PRE-SOLMARA | MAX'S SOLMARA CLASS
They all meet up before their little stint into Solmara, and Max collects a piece of chalk and gets to work... drawing. The juxtaposition of a gruffy, grouchy man drawing borderline cute doodles of deadly monsters is — something. Tapping through each one, he talks with precision and gets straight to the point for each one. Take notes, people:]
(Click for larger image.)
Whisper-Vipers. Huge snakes covered in armored scales. Fills your head with static. Makes it hard to think. Never bothered trying to fight these ones; even Solmarans with magic try to avoid 'em. They cause headaches, hallucinations. Not sure how, but you'll need to watch your head around them.
[He taps his little pointer to the next chalky image.]
Then, the rolling bug creatures. Someone called 'em rolling pollies. Huge, but not a threat unless you get caught in them while they're traveling. They roll around in packs, got enough weight to crush someone not being careful.
Charybdis... Big monster that lives in a whirlpool in the lake. Easy to avoid, s'long as you don't piss it off by getting in the water. Couple of residents have been eaten by it.
Barbskitter... mmm. Just giant scorpions, size of big rats. We've got some of those back home. Maybe just as eradiated. Got barbed tails and pincers that take fingers. Avoid 'em and other scorpions, unless you wanna get poisoned.
Dunesnares are creatures with long arms under the sand. They work off vibration, off movement in the sand. Seen someone pulled under once... Didn't come back up, and when I came back, bunch of bones were spit out. Think it suffocates you, then eats you slow. Usually in the plains of silence.
Glasswings are aerial predators. They fly around the mountains and Mirkwood often, have a kind of... glass texture to their bodies. The sun's magnified through their wings; don't look at 'em, or you'll go blind. Got a few people who can't see anymore back in the city because of it. You see a shadow, you keep your eyes down. Might end up with the thoughts of others around you, too. Don't know why.
Venus Traps are big, stupid creatures that wander around with their mouths open. Usually they use mirages to trick things into walking into 'em. Once you're in there, you can get out with something sharp. But it gets messy.
Cave Hounds're just a bunch of wolves with pointed fur. As long as you're not around a hungry pack, they don't mess with you much.
This thing... [He taps his pointer on the weird creature near the words 'free ride'.] ... Don't know what it is. They hollow out rocks into shells that they wear, and wander around like livestock. They don't care too much if you sit on them.
... Don't know shit about Nulls. Have no clue how they work.
Any questions?
[Let this be over with, he's talked enough for a lifetime.]
[The OOC details provided for some of the creatures! Other creatures not listed were added in by me and have no concrete rules to them outside of what Max described, so feel free play around with their concepts if you meet them in the wild! This also may not cover every creature.
And mods have given us permission to have a giant three-headed skull monster to fight at any point. Of course.]
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sneaking in here late with starbies
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pre-mission organizational meeting | ota
With no preamble, she begins:]
We've been tasked with infiltrating Solmara. Once we arrive, we will have two primary objectives:
One, locate and free Borealis.
Two, locate and neutralise Alrys, and free the people of Solmara from her reign.
Neither task will be easy. We should decide now who is best suited to accomplish each objective and split into teams. Those with technological abilities should go after Borealis. They'll need protection; if they're injured or killed— [She really doesn't like the idea of anybody being killed, but it's the risk they've all willingly taken on by agreeing to this mission. So she forges ahead.] —we stand little to no chance of achieving our first objective.
We know from Max— [She nods to him.] —and Dr. Romano that Alrys has the ability to charm others, but the extent and mechanism of this ability is unknown. As such, we should keep in frequent contact with one another, and report anyone who is acting or speaking oddly.
Once in Solmara, we'll need to scout the land to determine the best place to set up a camp. We'll also need to engage with the locals. Some of them may be under Alrys' mental control, or they may be coerced through withholding of resources or other means into working for her. But there may be some who are willing to aid us. We should seek them out and learn what they know, without drawing attention to them or otherwise putting them in additional danger. Meanwhile, those of us with tactical skills and infiltration experience will need to begin the hunt for Alrys.
[She's including herself in that, despite having essentially no such experience.]
This is a dangerous mission, and there's no guarantee that everyone will survive.
[And Caitlyn feels a bit in over her head. She's never run this sort of mission before. She's never run any sort of mission before, really, save for her personal investigations. But while she feels not only a moral imperative to go on this mission, this is also precisely the sort of opportunity she's wanted at home, the opportunity to show that she's not merely her mother's sheltered daughter. She can do this.]
But if we fail, not only will the people of Solmara be abandoned to a terrible fate, we will also be leaving Etraya exposed to a potential future incursion. We have a chance, now, to save both the Solmarans and everyone we care about here. We've got to do everything in our power to help them and protect ourselves.
groups
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pre-mission item help!
[ That there is the many attempts for Gorgug to speak up, hopefully to get peoples' attention, including with a wave. He's tall at around 6'7, but has a lanky frame filled more by the baggy hoodie he wears. Goggles on his head and gloves on his hands, he is, apart from being a half-orc with green skin and black scleras against white pupil for eyes, the most awkward looking figure here, surely. ]
I make stuff. Magic engineering-- uh, I can fight too, but that's not what I wanted to talk about. I can make items for bartering when we get there if I have the metals, but I-- I can make some stuff to help protect people too, or. I can try. I couldn't find anything to help resist charming, except, um, I know how to make pins to help people get out of the way or to give them some extra strength if they need it. Or use their minds better.
[ He's got a bag with him, one with a very cool-looking patch on it, and many pockets. He digs in to retrieve what look like brooches made out of metal, no bigger than a fifty pence coin. ]
I can make ammos, too. For guns or bows. And give them magic. And I've been making smoke grenades and some EMP grenades-- they'll be good for the bots if they get sent on us. They're not easy to take down if the AI doesn't want you taking them out.
[ Someone here would know that best. Mentioning no names, and not looking their way. ]
We don't have long left, but I'll see what else I can make before we go. [ He pauses, and then makes a small sound as he starts to rummage back in his bag. ] Oh, and me and Accelerator made some radios for people to take. If we don't want to use the earpieces there.
[ Come, come and get your radios! ]
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Vander - Arcane
[Vander had decided his course of action once they had stepped through and been provided a debrief. Information was going to make this mission make or break, and the locals that survived here were going to be the source for edging the odds towards success. As he had been blessed with the gift of the gab and he was not above bribery and trade, he set out to the outskirts once camp had been established.
He would slip his way through the desert looking for people, aided by Nate who had provided him a daily list of those who were not charmed. He would seek those people out that day and barter, chat and bribe his way for information, but also do what he could to allow people here to see that it could become better if Alyrs was removed from power. Little blasphemies that he carefully and casually laid down like breadcrumbs. He also wasn't above spreading misinformation and rumors.
Yet, once darkness fell, he would find his way to a specific agreed upon spot to wait for others who were gathering intel from the local population. They divided and conquered what they could, but it was also important to impart information to one another as well recharge supplies. Check-in meant one of their number hadn't been captured, charm, or killed either.
So there he was. While there was no fire allowed, he still had a cigarettes lit and jammed between his lips. He took a long drag of it for the nicotine hit, breathing out the smoke silently from his nostrils. The temperature was dropping rapidly - deserts were so weird - but he made no effort to move from the spot he was rooted in. No, he was listening and watching, searching for signs that he was not alone any longer.
He tilted his head to consider when there was a sound or he thought he saw something moving in the distance.]
Care to share a smoke? I've got a few spares.
[A simple greeting. If it was a monster, it wouldn't reply. If it was one of their party, he just identified himself. If it was a local, the invitation could be taken one way or another. That was the uncertainty of this place.]
ii. Home Sweet Home
[Vander returned to their secretive camp every day for both a check-in and a rest. Out in the desert, there weren't many 'safe' places that he could find where he would want to settle in for more than an hour of recharge, which had to include eating, drinking and a nap. Otherwise, he had a job to do.
So, returning to camp was a reprieve that could be considered safe. Everyone was busy with their own tasks and preparations for the upcoming infiltration and assault. Days were moving fast before they had to pick their way inside the main stronghold.
He brought back valuable intel and potential allies, if only those that wanted to see Alyrs burn. So he searched for those that needed to know his information before he would take a few hours to sleep where at least the Etrayan picks had a higher potential to guard him rather than kill or rob him.]
Hey, anyone else check in yet? We still going in a few days?
iii. Wildcard
[Don't see something that you like? Want a closed starter? Hit me up to discuss
Home Sweet Home
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Home Sweet Home
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ii; i figure we can move from downtime into something fighty against a monster and/or scavenger!
oh yeah that sounds good. gotta get them punching!
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solmara. early into the mission. telepathic info dump.
It takes him a few minutes — other attempts liable to be made as they go — before he's finally tapping down to the ground and making his way over to the others. )
This planet's been neglected, which I'm guessing is because of their missing AI.
( It's not dying, but it's not exactly being taken care of either. )
I did a head count of people here. There's around two hundred. Some of their minds I can touch, others I can't. From what I could find, there's three names that seem to have a strong connection to Alrys here. Beckett, Callie, and Flynn. ( He'll glance to those who have come from Solmara to Etraya, seeing if maybe they recognize the names. ) One of them's like me because I can't locate them which means Alrys has a telepath to shield them. If they catch wind we're here, they're going to be a problem.
( Which means... Nate's gently annoyed. )
If it comes down to it, I can handle them. ( Hopefully. ) But I'd rather not blow our cover from the get-go and see who's the better telepath.
( Rude, but. He's got to be smart about this and not just go in guns ablazin'. )
The hospital's currently guarded but nothing heavy as of right now. That can likely change though if they find out we're here and why. I can get an idea of what it looks like inside but I don't know how far in. There's some blind spots I can't reach here.
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Max Rockatansky | OTA
II. Outskirts
III. Camp Ghosts
IV. Wildcard
I
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iii 🤗
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ii.
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wildcard: finding the camp
caitlyn kiramman | arcane
[This is beyond anything Caitlyn's ever experienced before. If she felt out of her depth in Zaun, she feels as though she's practically drowning in Solmara. The heat, the sand, the sun, the dangerous wildlife, the enemy guards, the threat of capture or death over every hill and around every corner... But the more overwhelmed she feels, the more determined she becomes not to let anyone catch even the faintest glimpse of nerves or uncertainty. As a result, there's a tension in her posture and a heavy frown on her face.
She's lying on her stomach behind a small outcropping, using the sights on her rifle as a telescope to observe the guards around the city perimeter. The desert is blazing hot during the day, but now as night falls, she's starting to shiver even beneath the layers of her uniform. Despite that, the rifle remains perfectly steady in her grasp.]
There.
[She points to what looks like a break on the guard line.]
We may be able to approach the wall there without being spotted.
ii. wildcard | ota
[I'm up for basically anything! Hit me with a wildcard or find me for plotting at
i
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sevika / arcane
snake fight snake fight this is where the reply chain begins
Accelerator | Open and closed
[Deserts are officially the worst biome.
Having grown up in a modern city, Accelerator knew going into this he wasn't going to enjoy roughing it, but this is beyond all of his expectations. It's hot during the day, and freezing at night. It's too dry, there's too much sand, too many dangerous creatures. For a skinny, disabled kid who only has twenty minutes of access to an ability that would help, this is kind of a nightmare. He doesn't complain though, preferring to keep his irritation (mostly towards himself for not faring better) quiet and making sure to keep out of everyone else's way. They're all having a hard time here, and despite being as asocial as he is he doesn't want to make things more difficult for anyone.
For the most part he sticks to the camp. It's safer that way, he isn't particularly good at intelligence gathering or scouting when those activities take hours and hours, so his skills are better spent hanging around their base of operations. In case it gets ambushed by creatures or Solmarans, he can be there to take care of the problem quickly. Of course, that means a lot of time just spent waiting for other people to return. He helps Gorgug out with his equipment when he can, but he's limited in that capacity, so... waiting it is.
One night he can be found sitting in camp with a thermal blanket tightly wrapped around himself as he taps away at an average-looking smartphone. He scowls down at it, shivering slightly.]
B. Combo Attack! [Closed to Scott]
[It's rare for Accelerator to make his way out of camp, but there's one very good reason to do so: monster hunting. Truthfully, Max's descriptions of the creatures didn't make them sound all that intimidating to him. With the way his ability works the stronger the opponent, the more effective it is. Combine that with the fact that most attacks typically have vectors, and he's essentially an impenetrable tank in most altercations. As long as he can switch choker modes it's no problem.
That's why he's out today. He may not be great at long term stuff like scouting, but taking out a couple monster so Gorgug can incorporate their body parts into his equipment? Easy as hell. It's also a good opportunity to stretch his legs for a little while. Even though this isn't really a break from the endless sand and crappy weather, and it's tough trudging out here with the crutch, it's nice to get out of the camp temporarily.
He sighs heavily, settling his free hand against the side of his head so he can crack his neck. He isn't alone, and he glances over the other kid - Scott? Scott.]
Okay, let's do this.
a