Mission 013 Log

[etrayamods]

Mission Summary

Genre: Survival / Exploration / Spooky

Premise: Mesa is a wild, lawless land of megafauna, from feathered dinosaurs to redwoods soaring stories high. Etrayans must document what remains of a world on its way out and then get out alive, surviving in the wilderness for two weeks while fighting off a hostile environment. Most importantly of all: beware the dark.

Tone: Dark and philosophical. Is this a world worth saving?

Objectives: Take samples and record for posterity what happened on Mesa. Demonstrate appreciation of what is lost and the capacity to preserve it.

❬ all that men presume ❭

While Mesa is full of life even now, with large creatures roaming the continents and making themselves comfortable, there are traces indicating that at one point this wilderness was constructed. The Citadel, a galaxy-spanning empire, had wanted to collect creatures from the numerous inhabited planets they could reach, and selected Mesa as the location for their conservatory given its lack of sentient residents. Once a carefully maintained vacation destination for Citadel elite, landscapes were meticulously groomed and animal husbandry was rigorously planned to create fascinating creatures across generations.

A good idea, in theory. Perhaps even in practice, given that whilst the rest of this galaxy has collapsed and died, this particular planet is still standing, along with all the creatures that had been transplanted onto it to call it their home.

Now abandoned by the Citadel, Mesa returns slowly to its original state: a deserted planet much like Etraya was before Aurora and Borealis's cities had been developed on it. Which is why Aurora has sent the Etrayans abroad: gather data on those who still live amongst Mesa's population, so that these creatures will not be forgotten as their predecessors have been.

Aurora's portal brings characters to a bare base camp, previously visited by a spare few of her bots in order to outfit it with just enough to allow them to survive. Simply called the Lux, their base camp takes the form of a massive spire with a built-in high-powered lamp at the peak, which bathes the entire outside of the building in light at all times. Some rooms hidden within the facility provide darkened spots to allow Etrayans to rest safely.

Aurora had told them that they must make sure to not be out in the dark -- hopefully the spire's eternal light as well as how carefully the entire outside of the structure is lit up offers them enough of a reminder to listen.

Possible Hooks
• Taking stock of your assigned team that you've just met, sharing supplies, and getting ready to leave on your assignment.
• Building up the base to serve as a safe respite for the time on Mesa.
• Returning to camp between assignments for a breather or because you've spent a little too long out in the dark.

❬ a conservatory left behind ❭

Mesa's ecosystems are dominated by megafauna: creatures of immense size and stature, often with lengthy lifespans and narrow biome niches. Most are locked to their environments, adapted precisely to the area they reside in, with little chance of surviving outside of their specific ecosystem. A swamp titan would not survive the cold tundra that the ice leopards call home, and the ice leopards cannot survive in the ashy, hot environment that let horned beetles thrive. Smaller animals may exist amongst them, but they are significantly less common. Many rely on the larger creatures for survival: feeding off of the parasites that attach themselves to their massive bodies, or nesting within their fur.

Much of the wildlife exhibits ancient evolutionary traits, behaviors and patters long-since established with no signs of further development. They no longer evolve with time and generations but instead have settled into their place on their planet.

The megafauna are not the only living beings on Mesa. Scattered across the planet are traces of civilization: abandoned ranger stations, research laboratories, and observation outposts. While these locations appear as if the technology within them was at one time advanced, it has now become nonfunctional, left to rot without maintenance over the generations.

Yet some of these structures still contain life, the descendants of the humanoid beings that established Mesa long ago. One may consider trying to extend a hand out toward them to offer what assistance they can give - but none of them will be friendly.

Long abandoned by those who had once brought them here, these people have become opportunistic predators, fiercely defending what facilities they were able to keep partially functional. The darkness that plagues the Etrayans also appears to plague them, and without light, the same ill fate would be their demise.

They do not travel far, choosing to maintain their own livestock and supplies to ensure they are never far from the light. After all, they know the greatest threat on Mesa is not the wildlife, but the dark.

Possible Hooks
• Encounter various wildlife while out on assignment, and perhaps run into another team.
• Build an observation blind shelter with your teammates and hole up there for a few days, hoping to document your species of interest.
• Discover and explore an abandoned structure.
• Come under threat from the residents... or try to reach out to them.

❬ hatchlings ❭

The chelonians, one of the species in one of Mesa's warmer climates, has struggled to maintain their numbers over their centuries on the planet due to their inability to change their ways.

Hatchlings are born several kilometers away from the beach shores, burrowed deep into soil to protect them from predators that may seek out their eggs during high tide. These creatures are massive, large shells encasing a significant portion of their bodies with only their heads and limbs visible from under it.

These creatures are rare and difficult to spot on Mesa: they breed slowly, live for centuries, and their offspring very rarely make it passed their first few hours of life. They often hatch in the dark of the night, making them extremely susceptible to predators that lurk in the dark, waiting for prey too small and too fragile to protect themselves. Large winged beasts swoop down from the skies, picking up the newborn chelonians to enjoy a fresh meal.

Without them, their ecosystem begins to collapse: kelp beds and forests fail, and entire food chains unravel.

Etrayans with interest could assign themselves a simple, unofficial mission to find the burrows and protect the younglings as they manage to break through their shells, then help them into the ocean so that their kind may survive to see the sun again. They must set up light sources and wait beside the burrows to make sure these massive creatures not only escape their eggs but do not become lost on their journey to the water. Following them to the water is critical, as their eyesight, even with a light source, is quite poor -- and they have a tendency to lose their way.

No one's asked them to do this -- the whole planet is slated for destruction, so maybe this entire venture is pointless -- but maybe this is something worth doing anyway.

Possible Hooks
• Idealistic types see the chelonian hatchlings struggling to make it to a beach and step in to help. Considering how large they are, this might be a struggle for them, too.
• Cynical types question what the point is.

❬ night falls ❭

Mesa's darkness is not merely the conventional absence of direct light.

The planet itself has no moon, and when darkness comes, it is absolute.

Remaining in the darkness has several consequences, and the effects accumulate over time, progressing along a spectrum rather than in tidy stages. This only seems to effect those from Etraya and the humanoids living within their bases, not the animals brought to reside on planet. Remaining within light sources suppresses the effects, but the moment the planet's rotation angles them away from this galaxy's star, any Etrayans caught outside of the light will find themselves succumbing to the effects.

Characters were warned not to stay out in the dark, but they were not told why they should not.

If any of them prefer not to find out and remain at base during one unfortunate night, they'll find out why anyway: the power cuts. The surrounding terrain, once held at bay by artificial light at the Lux, is swallowed whole. The air feels heavier and the atmosphere itself feels weighted.

Blithe apathy sinks in. The ability to listen to reason slowly leaves those left in the darkness. If they do not find a light source quickly, they will be able to feel the physical effects of the darkness set into their skin, potentially ending with permanent changes.

Those remaining on base may work together in order to bring the power back on, utilizing any personal abilities in addition to fixing the damaged circuits in order to bring everything back online. But they had better react quickly -- the longer the darkness remains, the worse the effects become, and maybe someone who was once trying to help is now trying to hurt...

Possible Hooks
• Help restore power after it cuts at the Lux.
• Underestimate the darkness effects, assume your light source is enough, and slowly fall prey to the pleasant apathy. You'll need rescue.
• Stumble onto another party's camp and need their help to be coaxed back to sanity.

❬ MISSION NOTES ❭

📌 — Please make sure to use the major events comment thread specifically to announce character actions that have a significant impact on the mission outcome or other characters.

📌 — For all questions relating to this mission, please refer to the mission queries comment on the plotting post. Other questions can be directed to the FAQ.

🔵FULL NAVIGATION🔵

Comments

— damian (closed)

[catscratching]

( This Robin isn't the one she's grown used to over the years, but the part of him that cares for animals is still the same. It's why he was the first choice for her to reach out to about coming out here to help these hatchlings. She had been confident he felt the same weight in his chest thinking about helpless hatchlings being picked off at their most vulnerable, and she'd been right.

And she can admit to herself that it's... nice, working alongside a Bat again. It might not be Batman, but Robin is competent. Focused. That's all she needs for something like this.

Now, she finds herself glancing over at him when she sees his light flicker. Her hands pause where they are, on the shell of one of the hatchlings, and she frowns, considering. She has a bracelet alight on her wrist, the straps and body of her pack carefully fixed with a few strips of LEDs that burn steady and solid. )

Robin. ( She calls, gently nudging the hatchling along before she stands. She pauses before continuing, head turning towards the sound of motion nearby, just outside the arcs of lighting around them. Something fast, big. ) We should head back.

[brat]

( they aren't his wards; mother would call this action pointless, that if they aren't strong enough to survive on their own regardless of the state of their world, they do not deserve to live. that this is simply their fate: the weak ones get picked off by predators while the fast and strong survive to live another day. it's why there are so many of them, isn't it?

a year ago, damian would have argued over the futility of it. that there is no use in delaying their deaths, they are only extending out their suffering. this whole planet will die soon anyway, and perhaps it would have been merciful to allow them to pass now while they are still too young to fully understand the weight of which they are being born under. but they deserve the right to fight, too. to have a helping hand so they can fight just a little longer, push a little harder, find their own path to survival in what may feel like a hopeless scenario. damian relates in ways he does not wish to put into words.

they are large, but most lifeforms here are. he's mapped the route to the water with ease, used batarangs and wire covered with greenery between trees to block off pathways that would lead them astray - he'll have to return for those later, it isn't as if they still have the endless supplies wayne tower offers in order to craft more of them, but it's made getting this batch of hatchlings to the water significantly easier. but it isn't the hatchlings that make this particularly difficult regardless: it's the amount of time they can get out of their light sources. damian's on the last handful of glow sticks he'd rationed for the hatchlings, and they've been getting more dim by the moment.

it's the lantern he has strapped to his belt that flickers out, for just the briefest moment. not enough to expose him to the darkness, not with the glow sticks he's also taken, but enough to remind him of the greater threat to the hatchlings: his head tips up, eyes narrowed under his mask. he can make out just the barest shape of something fluttering above, not that he needs anything more than that to know what it must be. )

I still have time. ( it's firm, without room to give. his palm rests against the shell of one hatchling, nudging it forward. this one keeps getting turned around, he knows he just needs to get them a little farther. it should know to stay in the water once it's there. ) We'll get these ones in, then head back.

[catscratching]

( It's an admirable thing to be so resolute at his age. To see a cause like this and be willing to push the limits, but the stakes here are high. A misstep here could mean the difference between getting these hatchlings to safety and seeing more of them die; it could be the difference between making it safely back to a properly lit area with their minds in tact; it could be the difference between making it back at all. And she's not unused to such high stakes. She's lived her life on the edge time and time again, pushed too far for both the right and wrong reasons, but the memory of Bruce is still fresh. The worry of if she'd be able to get him safely back to base after seeing him begin to fracture under the weight of the darkness had left her feeling helpless.

She isn't reckless enough to pretend she can talk Robin back off the ledge if the same were to happen to him. Not when he's still this young, too hard-headed to get through to over normal encounters. And she can't - won't - risk letting him suffer not just for his own sake, but for Bruce's as well.

Especially not when she sees the way his lights tremble again, longer. Struggling to keep on.)

You don't.

( She argues sharply, turning her attention to the hatchling in front of her as it turns, drags itself back towards where it had hatched instead of the direction she'd set it on. Her hands are fast, careful, in the way they press and turn, guiding the creature back in the correct direction with a soft grunt. But it goes, slowly. Too slowly.

Wings flap overhead, big, heavy, and Selina steps away from the hatchling to instead reach for her whip, letting it uncoil and drop against the sands. )

Get them moving.

( Her hands flex around the handle of her whip, and as Robin's light flickers out again and something overhead moves, starts to descend. The faintest edge of her light catches it, and she cracks her whip - fast and sharp, the end snapping against a creature that lets out a startled, angry squawk that sends it jerking back and out of the light again. )

[brat]

( he doesn't look over, even when she voices her demands. but he recognizes the sound of her whip, the crack of it in the air, the angry noise that the creature out in the dark gives in response to the assault. he would argue that he can handle himself, he's fine, that keeping himself standing is far less important than the task at hand regardless and if he gets harmed, he is more than capable of pulling himself together enough to get back to base in one piece.

had it just been the beasts to concern himself with, he wouldn't be concerned. her sharp words would be answered in turn with irritation at her daring to act as if she knows better.

it's the darkness that has him hesitating.

that has her demand being met with compliance even if robin does not look or sound happy about it. catwoman's focus turns to the beast overhead, and robin keeps his on the hatchlings remaining from their group. )

Hey!! ( it's yelled, much louder than it needs to be, but that's the point. he shoves at the hind of the hatchling closest to him, pushing it forward before he's reaching into his belt to pull out a small flashbang and tosses it behind another, startling it into moving forward toward the water. ) Do you call that running? Go! Faster, you insolent beasts!

( if he yells at them loud enough while making a significant amount of noise behind them, perhaps he'll get them in the water with time to spare. it certainly seems to be an effective method thus far, as they are moving. )