agogelogs | THE AMAZING BASE.

Entry tags:

THE AMAZING BASE.

WHO? Everybody!
WHAT? Welcome home, nerds.
WHEN? Outside time and space, in the aether between dimensions.
ANYTHING ELSE? There is also a fish. Please warn in subject lines for anything beyond physical violence and move to a personal journal if things go beyond PG-13.

MYSTERY FISH;

question the mystery fish

DEPARTING GALLIPOLI

The order comes the day after the Marie Antoinette sets sail:

PACK UP AND GET READY TO MOVE OUT. WE'VE DONE ALL WE CAN HERE.

DEPLOYMENT: BASE.

WE NEED TO RESTOCK. BE PREPARED FOR MORE TRANSFERS ON ARRIVAL.

STAY SAFE. TIME-STEP EXPECTED TO BEGIN WITHIN THE HOUR.

FOR THOSE OF YOU NEW TO COST: FIND A SECLUDED SPOT AND TRY NOT TO EAT ANYTHING BEFORE THE JUMP.

The Time-Step

The transfer begins like a vibrating heat on the collar bone, just a hum of sensation.

But the vibration spreads. Veteran COST soldiers often refer to this phenomenon as "the buzz". The feeling builds, not unlike standing near a great engine or the wind-rattled branches of a massive tree. There is a long moment of motion sickness and you can't be sure if the world is shaking you from the inside out or the outside in. It may be better to close your eyes against the growing nausea, as the world blurs out of focus.

A star shines in the distance. You may hear the faint rustling of leaves. Some swear they hear voices in this moment, indistinct words echoing off nothingness. Others say they feel a touch of the divine, that the eyes of the eternal look down upon you. Ancient bones rattle just out of earshot, cold and brittle and nothing more than the suggestion of sound. Or maybe it's only an illusion, brought on by the powerful technology grafted into your skin.

One thing is for sure: One moment you are here and the next you are not.

The shift takes you from whatever solitude you could find aboard the Marie Antoinette to the temperature-regulated hallway of what looks like a very poorly put together space station. Droids rush up and down the long hallway, fixing broken bits of machinery or just chattering with each other. A few crows sit on high ledges, looking down and watching. Someone mutters something about a centaur around the corner.

And you might just notice, provided you were in Gallipoli long enough to acquire stowaways, that the parasites lurking on your skin are mercifully gone.

For new arrivals who didn't experience Gallipoli: You, too, will appear in this long hallway, filled with droids and crows and humans (still filthy and clad in ANZAC uniforms, carrying battered equipment from the first World War). And you'll be wearing the minimal COST-issued athletic underwear and holding whatever one item you were allowed to bring. Surprise!

READ THE BASE INFOPAGE.

home away from home

Those who have been to BASE before may find a strangeness to it all: BASE seems...still. The windows show a verdant world instead of the usual aether (though with the typical paranoia), and the halls are bereft of all but a few crows. A man stands at the end of the long hallway you arrived in, waiting for you to get your bearings before he speaks.

Except, you know, he's not a man. He's a centaur.

"It's been barely a week since you left, by my reckoning. But for you, I'm sure, it's been much longer. Still, much has changed. You may have noticed we are...becalmed. This is due, it seems, to an error in our ways. We kept something that does not belong to us, several wild creatures that are meant to be free. They seem to have psychically called out to their home, and their home responded; we are now somewhat stranded.

"But let me explain—the Aether is the nexus between worlds and times, but it is not a dead thing. Creatures live in it. We have crashed onto the back of one such creature, a mighty beast, as large as a small country and entirely undiscovered. We have found why the creature has intercepted us: we have accidentally taken captive some of its children. Shapers, the wild creatures I mentioned, it seems they form a symbiotic bond with the creature, and live happily within its stomach."

He frowns, considering this.

"Shapers, I should mention, are creatures that briefly infested our fair BASE. The issue was dealt with, though we kept some for experimentation. The coelacanth took issue with this, it seems. It can speak, of course; we are stranded very near its head, and if you wish to ask it a question, I implore you to do so. The creature is older than creation—older than me—and only speaks once to any creature it encounters. It's said its wisdom brings kings to their knees."

His eyes crinkle in humor.

"My name is Chiron and I am the caretaker of this place, for those of you whom I have not had the pleasure of meeting. More importantly, I am a trainer and a teacher of some experience; if you wish training or schooling of any sort, do summon me. I will be happy to assist."

He's easy to contact, often found in the library, the training area, his capsule, or elsewhere in the station, attempting to fix what he understands and arguing with crows.

"We intended to spend this time exploring, for this is a rare opportunity to discover more of an entirely uncharted world. I hasten you to see if anything on the coelacanth can be of use, but be careful. Take only what you need, not what you may want. I intend to learn my lessons well; these creatures are not pets. Takes food, water, and any materials of use to us for our survival and perseverance, but no more. We task you with this: explore the coelacanth, and see what of it can be understood. Bring us back samples, but do try to interrupt the natural habitat as little as possible. We are guests here."

He bows and the action shows a slight limp in one of his back legs.

"I would join you, but I am far too old for such activities. Still, do pepper me with any questions you should encounter. I am always available on the network, or in person, within this hulking mass we call home."

And then he leaves you to find your capsules and rest.

CAPSULE ASSIGNMENTS

Once you've found your room and settled in—perhaps taken a shower, collected clothes, and eaten—a droid will approach you with camping equipment and give you a brief explanation of how to access and use the database. It's time to get your gear and go.

Of course, you can decline. You can stay and tend to the fort, maybe try and clean up this patchwork jumble of metal and machinery. But seeing the sights on the back of a giant fish flying through non-space? Who can say no to that?

the undiscovered country.

BASE's airlocks open into a lush valley, vibrant with color and rustling with life that has thrived on the coelacanth's back for millennia. It's a striking shift from the rot and gunfire of Gallipoli, unmarked by shrapnel, bombshells, and never-fresh air.

No, the air here is clean in a way that can leave you breathless, untouched by pollutants and stirred into a gentle breeze. It's a marked departure for anyone used to a more modern Earth or rough equivalent; letting the air sit on your tongue leaves a crisp, unsullied taste behind. And the whole forest feels alive, in a way that reminds you of how small you really are.

A white crow perches in a tree near BASE's exit, too high up to properly engage but a stark contrast to the bright leaves around her. She merely watches recruits come and go with a shrewd eye, feathers fluffed against the light chill. There are other crows scattered throughout the wilderness, some easier to find than others as they flit through the trees, sit on camping equipment, or hitch rides on the hoverbikes.

Besides those brief flashes of black feathers, however, you're left unsupervised.

Try not to fuck up anything too badly.

EXPLORE:INFOPAGE|DATABASE
talk to a fish | destruction report

NAV. NETWORK LOGS OOC MEMES PLURK

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BASE.

BATH TIME.
[ Vax tracked nothing but blood and dirt onto BASE. Outside his shower stall is a messy pile of discarded uniform and daggers masking the Boots of Haste. Inside, Vax stands under the running water carefully cataloging injuries as the water sluices through the caked dirt on his skin. There's a nasty, mottled bruise spreading across his ribs, and an interesting raw scrape spanning from hip to mid-thigh. It's nothing Pike couldn't have fixed with a word, but Pike isn't here.

Vax doesn't understand why he'd have agreed to this. His mind circles back around that every few moments with each newly discovered injury. He knows he agreed; he'd seen the form, but why?

Racking his brain under the warm water doesn't yield any particular answers. He's here, and that's the end of it for the moment. There's more immediate things to worry about, Vax tells himself as he finally slaps off the shower and swaths himself in a towel. And currently, more immediate things include the clatter of one of the purloined daggers hitting the ground. Vax immediately shoves the door to the cubicle open. ]

Those are mine.

[ It's a little more abrupt than necessary, but Vax has very few useful items available to him. Aside from his boots and the scavenged daggers, he doesn't have much else to defend himself with. ]

FISH.

EXITING.
[ The new clothing Vax scavenged fits. He'd been fussy about it, even though he'd recognized his discontent is about what he knows he's missing rather than the clothing itself. Not a single piece of fabric has spellwork settled into the seams. The closest he can find to a cloak is a thick, draped tunic with a heavy cowl-like hood. As he makes his way towards the door, he rubs the hem between two fingers as his thoughts stray back to Eamon. His steps slow, but he doesn't stop moving towards the door. He's here now. He may as well take a look at what's outside, rather than hide away in the interior of his newly acquired home.

While Vax found the base strange in and of itself, he realizes immediately that it's going to be acclimate to at a moment's notice than what lies outside. A bit like an airship, fallen to disrepair, and populated with little metal creatures, Vax could get his head around all of it. But what waits for him outside the door is overwhelming in a different way. He has the sense of missing a step on his way down a staircase. Lush and dense, not a single thing in his immediate view of the new terrain strikes him as familiar or identifiable. The only thing he does recognize, after a moment, is the flutter of a departing crow. Vax pauses in the doorway, watching, and likely creating a road block for anyone behind him. Whoops. ]
HOVER BIKES.
How does it work?

[ The first thing Vax asks, nudging the dull gleaming metal of the exhaust pipe with a toe warily. His interest is very hard to pick up on. It's a strange thing that looks more likely to explode under him than ferry him through the foliage, and without an emergency to motivate him Vax has the foresight to be skeptical of strange items. ]

It looks...fragile.

[ It isn't exactly the word Vax wants. The bike strikes him as insubstantial; the parts should be more firmly held together, in his opinion. He crouches to look more closely, but doesn't make any move to do more than look. ]

WILDCARD.

[ there's so many options here, and i am down for literally everything! though he'll likely want to attempt to stay in shouting distance of percy and vex, vax is relatively available for all kinds of shenanigans. if nothing above piques your interest and you want to adventure with vax, just hit me up on plurk at kanyeshrug and we can plot something out, or just fling something at me here and i'll roll with it.

[Chiron wasn't keen to use the motorbikes. It wasn't due to a dislike of technology or anything along those lines, it was because he had just been given the chance to regain his centaur form. Like hell he was going to use anything but his own four legs to get around.

But it's hard not to overhear questions and not lend a hand. Quietly he trots over in Vax's direction, his pace leisurely.]

I believe it's meant to be quite durable.

[But as for starting, Chiron can only guess. He closes the gap between himself and the bike, looking for anything like a starting mechanism.]

[ Durable. Vax looks skeptical, running a hand along the seat without making any attempt to climb on. ]

I've a friend here who would be able to tell better if it were suitable for riding or not.

[ Though Vax has asked enough of Percy lately. He stands, then brushes his hand down the front of his tunic. ]

Is there one suited for you?

[ Are the legs a touchy subject? Vax is trying to tread lightly, unaccustomed to how to speak with centaurs and unwilling to upset an ally. ]

Hm. Then it may be worth waiting and seeking out his expertise. If only to avoid breaking down far away from camp and having to walk all the way back.

[It was a logical enough concern, and perhaps one that might manifest in reality for other COST members.]

Not that I have seen, and in truth? It doesn't matter. I can cover more than enough ground like this.

[Chiron's response is cheerful and upbeat, showing that the question was no skin off his hide.]

Maybe.

[ It's not the biggest risk Vax has taken in his life, but he's already aware that he's asked Percy for quite a few things since this latest adventure began. The necessity overrides Vax's pride, or it should. But he still thinks of it, measuring the bike against Vex's arrows, the lessons with guns. ]

If I know him at all, he's likely already tinkering with one of these contraptions.

[ Which softens the request somewhat. But this doesn't matter to Chiron, and Vax raises his gaze to him as he redirects his attention from the question of bikes. ]

Do you think you'll find anything worthwhile out there?

...In that case, I'd simply just go find him and walk away from the overthinking about asking for favors.

[It seems a simple and direct thing to do. Chiron does not have a good handle on Vax's personality though, or how his mind works, and so any hesitation is something he dismisses outright.]

Oh, doubtlessly. This is the sort of world that one dreams of getting to spend time in, I believe. Completely uncharted, and where genuinely everything is new. No conflict either, just the exhilaration of exploration.

[ There's a hum of acknowledgement in answer, bike falling out of consideration as Vax takes in what Chiron is telling him. He isn't expressing an unfamiliar sentiment. He's heard similar things from Vex and from Keyleth in turns. Even though Vax wishes he shared that kind of love of nature, he'd always been more at home in the kind of shadows cast by buildings rather than trees. He'd been drawn to the bustle of the city as quickly as Vex had been drawn into the solace of the forests. Vax can appreciate it from the outside, but he knows he won't find the kind of pleasure Chiron is talking about when he ventures into this territory. ]

Until you stumble into something with teeth, [ Vax points out, though there's no concern weighting his tone. ] Do you find places like this often since joining up with our friends here?

[ Though Vax really wants to ask if Chiron remembers joining. Does anyone? Or is Vax some kind of exception, in that he can't remember how he woke here. ]

Something with teeth is not an issue as far as I'm concerned. [He was a big, grown centaur who could take care of himself in a fight. Monster encounters were hardly an issue.] But as to your question, this is really the first time that we have had the good fortune to find ourselves in a place like this.

[Forests, he means. Something that isn't a war zone or the inky black floating space that BASE occupied between missions. Chiron's tone makes it clear that for him, this an absolute blessing, and not one that he's very keen to question any further than he has.]

[ The tone is heeded. Vax lets it settle as he considers how to turn the conversation. Vex was always better at this part. Vax is charming, but it doesn't come as naturally to him as it does to his sister. And it especially doesn't in circumstances like this, when he's so far out of his element with so much weighing on his mind. ]

How did you come to be here? Do you remember?

[ Blunter than Vax had meant to broach the topic, but he had to start somewhere with it. He may as well start here, with someone he'd lived through a battle with. That afforded Chiron some measure of trust, at least. ]

The specifics? I can't say I do, and I understand that such a situation is not unique to myself.

[But for Chiron, it has never been a bother. Well, it was initially, but upon learning who the second in command was, he had simply rolled with it. Anything that a version of himself was working for was doubtlessly the right choice.

Perhaps he put too much trust in that fact, but it was far better to do that than to sit and be suspicious endlessly.]

Am I correct in guessing that you have a similar gap?

[he's exiting, as well, but only because he wanted to replenish his stock of whatever makeshift attempt at chocolate bars from the droids that had been shoved into one of his pockets.

looking at the zipper of the jacket pocket and making sure it was shut, he can hear the shift of the air around Vax before he can bump into him.

so he tilts his head, frowning at the back of his head] You on your way out or in?

Out.

[ Because retreating back into the ship certainly wasn't an option. ]

Sorry. I wasn't expecting to see...the crows.

[ Among other things outside of this vessel. He sidesteps, clearing the way as he sizes up his newfound teammate. ]

I'll be another few moments.

[ He's planning on loitering on the off chance Vex is only a few steps behind him, though he doesn't think that explanation would be of interest to anyone who hadn't already met his twin. ]

[He takes a look at the crows scattered around, some hopping aimlessly, others flying out, some others just watching everything with the occasional 'caw'.

He shrugs.] Heard they're one of our employers, but can't be too sure.

They're nice.

[ He means it, too - something as simple as daggers is a welcome sight for the Seelie Knight after guns and bombs and tanks. He's used to that sort of technology, yes, but it doesn't mean he has to like it. Give him a spear, or a sword, or a good, well-balanced dagger like this, and he'll take it over a grenade any day of the week.

Even better than the daggers is the sight of someone with ears pointed like him - no vine markings or anything of the sort, but it's still oddly comforting. The other's not a Seelie, at least not from his world, but Meliorn still finds himself pleased. He'd been tempted to take the weapons and see if the other party was willing to barter for them, but there's too much of a sense of kinship for the knight. Instead, he sets the dagger he was holding back down. ]

Well made.

[ Vax's expression tightens warily. The redirection of attention assuages Vax's initial defensiveness, but recognizing Meliorn as an elf raises a new unease. Elves at home had never treated him and Vex'ahlia very well. He doesn't recognize Meliorn from Syngorn. However, even if he isn't from Syngorn, there's not guarantee his attitude towards a half-elf is any more welcoming. ]

Thank you.

[ His tone's a little stiff. ]

They were a more beneficial purchase than I'd realized at the time.

[ And even if his daggers didn't arrive with him, Vax is glad to have his boots. It eases the transition. ]

Are you examining everyone's items?

[ JUST WONDERIN' ]

Just the ones that are strewn about. [ The quip is lightning fast, even if there is a half-smile to go about. It's the truth, of course, and Meliorn can't fault himself for this bout of curiousity.

Even more curious are the ears - no hues interwoven in his black hair, though, and no vine markings that he can see. But interesting, nonetheless. Comforting. ]

You look more like me than most do here. Earth?

[ Towel swathed around his hips, Vax emerges a step or two out of the stall. They're having a conversation. Vax is still waiting for something to splinter into cold insult. He remembers his father's people were very skilled in that regard. ]

Exandria. From Tal'Dorei.

[ What little frame of reference Vax has for Earth is the place they'd just left. Trench warfare and nothing else makes for a poor reading of a place, if it's even the same place to begin with. ]

I don't suppose you're familiar with it?

Absolutely not. [ It sounds fantastical - whimsical - and Meliorn would find it strange if he wasn't already used to the oddity of different worlds. There's also a strange sinking feeling - no, of course the other isn't Seelie, but this just confirms the fact out loud.

Ah, well. Best to press on. ]

It sounds like a land of the magical variety.

[ Do fill fill him in, Vax. ]

I suppose it is. There are those who use magic living there.

[ But inherently magical? Vax doesn't understand the baseline, doesn't grasp a world where magic isn't common. ]

What qualifies as magical variety to you?

[ It's a leading question. It would have been better to just ask how widespread magic is in his world, or maybe how common elves were. Vax tugs the robe up a little tighter around himself, studying Meliorn intently. ]

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THE AMAZING BASE.

vax'ildan / critical role / ota.

Hoverbike

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Exiting

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bath time five minutes late w starbucks

crashes in even later without any starbucks

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bursts in a million years late we are but two ships passing in the night

sadly ghosts back here