all this energy calling me

[agogemod]

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

TOUCH BASE;

backfill armed services echelon
COST re-appropriated vehicle 854A-5.2

read the base setting infopage

DEPARTING FRANCE

The order comes out the second day after the Tuileries is sacked:

PACK UP, 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, and it starts like a vibrating heat on the collar bone, not painful, not to start with. Just a hum of sensation. But the vibration spreads. Veteran COST soldiers often refer to this phenomena as 'the buzz'. The sensation builds, feeling not unlike standing near a great engine, or the wind rattling the branches of a great tree. There is long a moment of motion sickness, and one cannot always be sure if it is you that is shaking from the inside out, or the world that is shaking you from the outside in. It may just 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. Some swear they feel a touch of the divine; the eyes of the eternal look down upon you. Ancient bones rattle just out of earshot, cold and brittle. Or maybe it's an illusion brought on by powerful technology grafted into your skin.

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

Nausea is commonly accompanied by this shift. One moment, you're in the cold of France. The next, you're in a temperature regulated hallway, looking not unlike 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. Crows sit on high ledges, looking down, watching.

(For those of you who just apped in and didn't participate in the TDM, you'll appear alongside your comrades now, standing in this long hallway filled with droids and crows and men and women in clothing from 18th century France. Of course, you'll be wearing the minimal COST athletic issued underwear, and holding whatever one item you were allowed to bring. Surprise!)

At the end of the hall is a long table with heaps of used clothing on it. The sizes and styles vary, along with color and detail (AKA none look exactly like the linked pics, they're just a baseline, use your ~imagination~). One thing's for certain, all the clothing has been used before, with holes darned and worn edges. They're all clean, though, and each bears a single patch with the words 'KNOW YOUR RIGHTS, THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN' and 'COST sewn into the side.

They're not exactly high fashion, but they might be more comfortable than the late 18th century digs you're still wearing, if you showed up in France. Or, you know, the underwear.

Meet the Drill Sergeant

There is the echoing sound of hooves, and a strange creature emerges from a nearby room: a centaur. He smiles kindly, happy to see you've arrived. He has a significant limp in his back left leg, causing his hoof-beats to pitch an irregular rhythm as he walks slowly through the hall.

"Hello, all!" His voice is kind, but it's pitched to carry. "You may know me as Sergeant-- I am in technicality a drill sergeant. You may call me Chiron, if you wish, though I'm to understand some may know others with the same name." He laughs, amused. "In any case, welcome home. It is not much, but we have tried to make it hospitable for you in your time here. Your room assignments have been uploaded onto your BCEs, along with some technological upgrades we've been testing out. There are a few prototypes and experiments you may find in your rooms as well. Our agents are..." He looks up at the crows. "We are a curious people."

He looks over to the table stacked with clothing. "Please pick out what suits you, and make adjustments as needed. If you have any complaints, and wish to change your rooming situation, your username, anything of that nature, please send me a request. I am also known in some capacity as a trainer-"

One of the crows caws, and it sounds almost sarcastic.

Sergeant Chiron ignores it. "Hm. If you wish for me to make a training regiment for you, to better your skill in this organization, please let me know. But for now: I am to understand your last mission was... tumultuous. Please, rest and acclimate yourself to BASE."

He turns to leave, before stopping-- "And please be kind to the crows. They remember slights."

The crows' cawing sounds like laughter.

HOTSPOTS

There's been some technical difficulty since the prognosticators had their little meltdown. Coolant is in short supply, and some of the corridors of BASE are a little warmer than others. Pleasantly warm. Comfortably so, like walking through a sunbeam. In these hotspots, it feels comfortable and snug.

Characters walking through them will feel the urge to lie down and rest, maybe take a quick little nap.

Sleeping in these spots will cause unsettling or confusing dreams, but not nightmares. Dreams in these hotspots-- and sleeping in these hotspots will never be dreamless-- will be hard to remember upon waking, but they seemed very... strange. Almost as though you were intruding on something important but private.

Yet you can't quite remember it when you wake.

If you're clever and watchful, you'll notice the crows avoid these areas, so you can avoid them as well before you're seized by the urge to lie down and nap.

Particularly watchful characters may notice the hotspots are growing in size and number as the days wear on.

(More information about these and the forthcoming December plot will be coming in an infopost on the 12th, but if you have any questions now, feel free to ask here!)

read the base setting infopage

NAV. NETWORK LOGS OOC PLURK DISCORD

Comments

I WILL ADD THEM IN SUBJECT LINES IN THE FUTURE THEN

[horsepowered]

Ah, no wonder we get on so well.

[Chiron smiles, warm as anything. Being brought up in the mountains explains her connection to nature all too well, and it is nice to have someone else (who isn't himself or Achilles) who knows what it is like to live in such lands.]

I do. The world of cities has an allure, but...I'm sure you understand.

╰(◕ᗜ◕)╯you are too good to me omg

[fernbeleafer]

Cities are wonderful forests of their own. There's all kinds of things to do and people to talk to.

[ she agrees, and she does have a love for cities. but it's good that she can speak freely and without worry -- chiron will know what she means. ]

But it's easy to forget yourself in them.

shhhh no you're too excellent

[horsepowered]

Far too easy. The quality of the world around you also shifts, and it's something you don't realize until you return home.

Like here. There's a staleness to the air.

naw shucks you'll make me blush

[fernbeleafer]

Yes! I've been trying to figure out what it is that's so offputting here. I've passed through planes of existence before but this feels different.

dang you're onto me

[horsepowered]

Perhaps because it is and isn't that very thing? My understanding of this place is that it is between worlds, in a way, and thus removed from many definitions of the word.

yup and now you're stuck w me ha ha

[fernbeleafer]

There are places in my world where the separation between planes is very weak, but we rarely see time spent between them. And traversing it can be extremely dangerous.

oh no how terrible, truly

[horsepowered]

But you have done it before. How does it compare to this version?

you say that now but just wait until kiki goes full basketcase

[fernbeleafer]

I'm not sure how to describe it. I think because there's a time element here, it's ... more intense. But-- then again I've only actually traveled to three of the four elemental planes.

we're not there yet thankfully

[horsepowered]

Hm. That's interesting. Both the time and the number of planes.

i do super cherish this cr tho-- she very much needs someone like him in her life <3

[fernbeleafer]

Each is scattered across our world, and guarded by my people. But there are countless others out there. I suppose I could count this and those we visit among them, now.

i do too, and i'm so glad for it. they get on so well too :DDD!

[horsepowered]

Mm. Just with different attributes, I suppose?

[And more funky architecture, for that matter.]

💐💐💐

[fernbeleafer]

As diverse as you'd expect, it seems. Or, well-- I guess if you expect it, it's probably not actually diverse...

[horsepowered]

You'll find I have no expectations one way or the other. In a way, this is all a novelty, and that is quite enjoyable on it's own.

[fernbeleafer]

[ she smiles and nods, but it dims a little. a piece of her own doubt crops up the way it always seems to. is she worthy of this? can she enjoy a small moment without betraying the spirit of the wider landscape? ]

Even is it's in service of a war beyond that novelty?

[horsepowered]

Even so. It's the second time I've had this happen, truth be told.

[There's a look on Chiron's face that seems to be laughing at a private joke - although he's in no way opposed to letting her in on it.]

[fernbeleafer]

Really?

[ her interest is certainly piqued, and chiron's tone puts her a little on the defensive. ]

Wait, are you trolling me or something? I said something dumb, didn't I?

[horsepowered]

[Trolling is....oh. Whatever. Context is a help.]

I'm perfectly serious, I assure you. Have you spoken to the Sargent at all?

[fernbeleafer]

[ headshake! ]

I kinda got distracted by the crows...

[horsepowered]

[That....is very cute, actually.]

I see. [So much for that starting point.] To begin then: mages back in my world have a number of rituals that they rely on to reach certain magics. In one of these rituals, they summon long dead heroes or historical figures and rely on them as familiars and champions in order to do battle for an item known as the Holy Grail. It is an omnipotent thing that can grant wishes.

[That's as concise as possible.]

It was summoned to be a part of that ritual prior to being called here.

[fernbeleafer]

[ she gapes. so many questions half-form in her head and all she can do is splutter for a bit, before blurting-- ]

Did you just tell me you're famous and also dead?

[ omg keyleth you can't just ask someone if they're DEAD ]

i have never been happier for being snowed in my life right now

[horsepowered]

[That's.......


That's one way of putting it.

Chiron tilts his head slightly. That's a unique reaction.]

Well, yes. Although my form in life was not human.

SAME my toes are frozen but my heart is suddenly so warm

[fernbeleafer]

Oh, hey! Team not-human!

[ high five? chiron do you high five tho? if not keyleth will teach ]

Also I have so many questions starting with why are you historical and continuing with is there a chance you're going to disappear on us if someone calls you?

I now have a better excuse to not shovel

[horsepowered]

Do centaurs exist in your world?

[He has learned a few things. Including that.]

The first answer is quite long. The second is a very honest I don't know. [But back to square one.] This information also holds true for the Sargent in some capacity, as we are both versions of each other.

YES hey also if you've had him explain all this ad nauseum to ppl lmk and we can handwave it <3

[fernbeleafer]

[ best hi5 ever. keyleth nods, but it's not the affirmation of certainty that someone who's actually met a centaur would have. and then her brow furrows because what the what ]

Versions? That's ... what does that mean?

tbh this is the first time i've gotten into detail with it so!!

[horsepowered]

We hail from different timelines. He's retained his immortality. I did not. Hence, I am a spirit. He is very much himself, and we are both Chiron.