etrayalogs | Mission 013 Log

Mission 013 Log

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🔵

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Everyone and everything struggles. That's not a metric to determine whether life is worth living while we can.

[He understands the sentiment. It's logical, sensible. It's just not enough to convince Clark, even a little. His expression softens at the following admission, though.]

You're not the only one who wishes that. So — maybe all we can do is take care of them here.

[Even if it doesn't last. Even if everything they do here might be futile. He doesn't wait for a response before darting into the air, knocking away a predator about to swoop down and snatch a hatchling.]

[ One perk of belonging to a world like his is that watching this guy zip up and beat up predators isn't too unusual, even if he does seem to be an incredibly powerful wizard, or whatever. Typically Riz would at least try to help, but he seems to have it covered. How's a gun supposed to measure up to some guy who can knock predators easily five times Riz's size straight out of the air? ]

I guess. Watching them die out like this and not doing anything to save them just kinda makes me feel like I'm going to Hell, though.

[ He means it in a more colloquial way, but his conception of Hell is a little different too, considering he's been there -- and considering he is, technically, an agent of Heaven. His communication with Heaven has been completely snuffed, though, and it's not like they can give him any guidance here.

Still. If there's some sort of ledger being kept, he's pretty sure staying back and watching as world after world gets extinguished doesn't look good on it. He sighs, chin resting on his hands as he watches the little critters make it to the sea, one by one. Maybe half of them will be eaten by some predator before the world has a chance to end. Who knows? ]

...has your group discussed bringing any of the people back with us yet?

[Clark returns to the conversation like nothing happened, touching down gently but still keeping an ear out in case the beast or one like it returns. Nothing's imminent, though, which is good; that keeps the little ones safe, and means he doesn't have to be rude and abruptly interrupt a conversation.]

Not amongst ourselves. But my son asked Aurora if it was possible and she was pretty clear about the answer being no. Between you and me, I'd make an attempt anyway if I thought there was any chance she was lying.

[And that's the thing, that's what galls him: he believes her. He doesn't think Aurora has the capacity to lie directly.]

Wait, your son is here? I've never even heard of Aurora bringing a parent and their kid here before. [ He must too young for this kind of stuff, Riz thinks, then remembers that he's watching this dude punch giant monsters out of mid-air. He's probably some sort of immortal, or whatever. He may not be an elf, but he's clearly not your run-of-the-mill human either. ]

Geez, that's... good and bad, I guess. You coming in with your kid, not the survivor thing. [ He's a little jealous. Not very jealous, because he wouldn't want his poor mother to have to deal with all this crap, but he misses her terribly. ] So, wait, did Aurora mean that we can't bring them back 'cause we don't have the infrastructure to support them all, or can we like -- literally not bring them back with us?

It's complicated, but yeah.

[Clark thinks there must be some reason certain people were chosen to be dragged across realities to Etraya. If connections don't matter, why are there so many people from Gotham here? But he's not sure if potential alternate future children are viewed the same way. Doesn't matter to him; family is family.]

She said she can't transport them, and at least questioned where she could put them all if she did. That's all. But there's a lot of space for nuance in the things she didn't say.

If she brought up the whole resource problem, then that means that taking them back with us isn't impossible, [ Riz points out, tapping thoughtfully at his chin. In truth, this is a little beyond him; he doesn't have much faith in his ability to successfully be able to communicate with locals for even basic matters, let alone trying to tell them that they may have a way to a different world, but only enough room for some of them. ] But that doesn't make the problem any easier. There's enough empty room for us to take some of them back, but...

[ How would the Etrayans choose who gets to go? How would the locals choose? Women and children? Their leaders? People of culture, who can pass it down? Once they get to Etraya -- what next? There's never any purpose there, not beyond their missions. ]

We've been to plenty of worlds that aren't dying. I wonder if there's any potential in -- I dunno, seeing if the Fae world would be able to take 'em in. Not that they'd be willing to in the first place. [ His brow furrows. ] They've brought in plenty of fighters, but I feel like Aurora should consider bringing in some, like... I dunno. Political scientists and historians too.

[ This isn't Riz's wheelhouse. To put it delicately: Riz shoots things. ]

[Clark can tell that this guy's thoughts are going down the same paths his had. Some of them, anyway. The frustrating thing is that no matter how far down them he goes, they don't take him anywhere useful. It's dead end after dead end and this world is the one that will pay the price.]

Maybe. I wouldn't know how to begin trying to make that happen, but — doesn't mean it's not worth doing.

[Of course it is. Saving a life is always worth it. Much less...]

I wonder about that sometimes. Why us? There has to be a reason.

[A reason unrelated to his ability to punch things.]

I mean, you can fly and punch monsters out of the sky, [ Riz points out dryly, raising a brow at him. ] If that's what you're doing as, like, a casual thing, I doubt that's the half of it. If I were in the business of drafting people to save the world, that's the kinda skillset I'd be recruiting.

[ It's the sort of power that comes with an incredibly experienced adventurer, the sort that's been adventuring for so long that they've become nigh godlike in their power. People like his school's principal, who he privately believes should have probably been sent here instead of him. Or at least some other person who's been adventuring their entire lives, not some kid who was on his first adventure over Spring Break. Sure, Riz has a pretty high opinion of himself - you can't get by as a guy like Riz without it - but he's not delusional. He knows he's small potatoes compared to some of the other people here, let alone the high-powered fighters in his own world.

He's great for his age. Fantastic. Prodigal, even. But there are dozens of people who can do everything he can do, but better. His own Dad is one of them. ]

Mainly, they've brought in people with some experience in fighting. Or at least some experience with conflict, even if they're more of a, um, support unit. [ He laces his fingers together. ] But I'm gonna be real with you, it doesn't exactly feel like they're choosing the best of the best from each world.

[Well. Yes. He has a point, and Clark raises a shoulder in a half-shrug of acknowledgment. But still.]

No. They're not.

[He recognizes his bias, but he thinks attempted murder and near-manslaughter of the entire planet are pretty good reasons to be biased. He hopes Luthor reconsiders the path he's been walking down, he'd be thrilled if that happened. But does he expect it? No.]

Not to get into it, but there's at least one person here who I know is incredibly smart but seems to have no interest in using that intelligence to help people. And yeah, I can fly and punch monsters out of the sky, but is that making a difference for anyone but these little guys?

[To be clear — that's enough for Clark. He's not sure at would even register as important for Echo, though. How would he even know?]

Hey, it's easy to knock that kind of strength when you're the one who's got it. I dunno how long you've been around here for, but... there have definitely been missions where having a guy like you around could keep a lot of people from getting hurt, or worse.

[ The deaths on the mission that he'd personally staked out still weigh on him, as does his impotence during that whole fear debacle. Capable as he is, he stood no chance against a threat that was purely physical, threats he wishes he could just punch out of the way. But he does bob his head a little at Clark, acknowledging his point. Strength is hardly enough to save all the poor people on this planet. ]

But we haven't had a mission like that in a long time. [ He shifts on the spot to sit cross-legged, clawed hands resting loosely on his knees. ] And you're right. We've had more than a few people around here that're seriously bad news. [ He cocks his head at him, curious. ] I'm assuming this guy you're talking about did worse shit than just being megasmart and doing nothing with it.

[ Is it a supervillain? It might be a supervillain. They do, he has come to learn, go hand in hand with superheroes. It seems to be a cultural thing. ]

[That's — okay, that's another fair point. It's not that Clark takes his abilities for granted — he really doesn't. But being capable of so much just makes him want to do more to help.]

More like he was megasmart and used that to nearly split the world in half just because he hates me that much.

[This makes Luthor sound bad, he knows. But this is actually the briefer, charitable version.]

[ With a nervous laugh of utter disbelief: ] What the fuck?

[ That's the only thing he can think of to say for a moment. He's no stranger to saving the world from apocalyptic disasters by now - he's at four times and counting, according to his friends from the future - but usually there's a point to it. An old god rising, people who believe they're the chosen ones, the sort of big conspiracies that go back centuries and are just waiting for someone to carefully unwind them.

Someone ending the world just because they hate one guy in particular? That's new. ]

What'd you do to make this guy hate you so much? [ Not to victim blame, Superman, but there had to have been something! Right? Right?! ] Did you, like, foil his evil plans a dozen times before this, or what?

[Clark shares the sentiment, if not the language.]

No. We'd never met in person before.

[He'd been aware of who Lex Luthor was, of course. Everyone was. And he wasn't surprised that Luthor knew who Superman was. Everyone did. Just, he hadn't expected Luthor to be know as much about him as he did.]

I guess...he was jealous that he couldn't be the most accomplished person in the world anymore, in his own eyes.

You'd never even met the guy?! [ Riz squawks, sharply jerking his head up to look at the caped fellow before him. There is every chance that he's full of shit, and that his enemy's true motivation is much more layered than the one he's been given. There are two sides to every story.

He's not sure if there exists a side in which he can be sympathetic to someone trying to tear the world in two. It's not like Riz hasn't met some comically evil guys himself. ]

What a freaking coward! I hate guys like that. If you see someone doing better than you, you should want to work harder, not, uh... [ He pauses, reflecting on this. ] Is this a "if I can't be the best in the world, I'm going to destroy the world" like the world's biggest murder-suicide kinda deal, or was there more to it?

[Yeah...yeah that was kind of Clark's reaction, too.]

Can't say I disagree with that.

[Any of that.]

I think maybe he just wanted to get my attention? At least at first. He definitely didn't seem to mind any of the collateral damage. A lot of people are going to have to find new places to live now and rent is going to skyrocket.

[Lives are more important. But also, Clark worries about people getting priced out after living in Metropolis since they were born.]

[ Riz winces with a quickness that betrays him, just a little. That hits a little too close to home. It's hard for him not to think of people in his own situation, where his Mom only just managed to keep a roof over their heads for most of his childhood. ]

So you're some kind of famous guy because of all your -- [ he gestures meaningfully to all of Clark ] -- and this guy decided to terrorize the world over it? What an asshole. He sounds like one of those crazy guys who tries to shoot up a building so some celebrity will fall in love with them.

[ Maybe it was actually a crush? It could have been a part of it. As much as Riz flinches away from these things in his personal life, he can't deny that many a crime has a psychosexual component.

He has a funny idea that this guy wouldn't appreciate him saying so. ]

A lot of people are gonna wind up homeless because of him. Better than being dead, I guess, but still. I'm surprised you haven't made some sort of PSA about him already. What if he tries to do it again?

[That's — okay, that's not a new idea to Clark, but it's something he's tried very hard not to think about. There are many differences between anything Luthor has done and a garden variety celebrity stalker...but there are a few similarities, too.]

Don't think I haven't been tempted. But there are good reasons not to.

[Clark counts them off on his fingers, keeping an eye on the little hatchlings as they cross the beach.]

For starters, he doesn't have access to the necessary technology to do it again, and isn't likely to. I also have a son here, and he's a tough kid but I don't want to give Luthor a reason to think he's got nothing left to lose and choose a smaller target.

[Kryptonite is kryptonite, in the end. Luthor wouldn't need another universe-splitter to hurt Clark worse than days of torture did.]

He's also from the same world as I am. I might not trust that we've gotten real information on what it takes to saves the ones we come from, but I don't want him sabotaging the opportunity out of spite.

And there's no permadeath here, so you can't exactly kill the guy, [ Riz points out in what he believes is a reasonable enough manner. It is reasonable. If a guy tries to destroy the entire world out of spite and might be a mean enough little bastard to go after your kid, you'd just kill the guy, right? He wouldn't even have to try very hard with the skills he's got. One good punch to the head would do it. ]

I wouldn't trust a guy like that not to sabotage your world anyway, but I guess it's smarter not to provoke him. Still, I wonder what the hell Aurora's thinking, bringing a bunch of murderers [ like Riz ] and criminals [ again, like Riz; he does not see the irony ] to 'save the world', or whatever. Self-preservation's not enough for everyone to actually, y'know, cooperate in a place like this.

[ It's a real pickle. He doesn't envy the guy. He doesn't know what he'd do if one of his enemies showed up. ]

...any chance you'd be willing to share his name? Wait, I don't think I actually got your name, did I?

[The expression on Clark's face says: he agrees but kind of feels like he shouldn't. Everyone deserves a second chance and an opportunity for redemption, right? But yeah, why is Lex Luthor here?]

He's Lex Luthor. I'm Clark, but he only knows me as Superman.

[So...maybe don't namedrop him to the guy.]

If you run into him, watch your back just to be safe, but he hasn't done anything more than be rude so far.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Mission 013 Log

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