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Phantasmal Rift Mods ([personal profile] phantasmods) wrote in [community profile] phantasmalrift2018-02-12 06:00 am

IC INTRO - FEB

The first thing the new arrivals will see, as the sun sets, is a set of distant lights turning on - the roof of the Station, perched on the cliffs above the beach.

The next thing, probably, will be the exploratory drone, a flying chrome thing about the size of a horse, descending near them, wherever they are.

"I can't believe it spat out people this time," says a voice through the speakers - androgynous, somehow sounding young and old enough to be incredibly tired.

Another voice, almost identical but almost unmistakably that of a different speaker from the cheerful tone, says, "Worry about it later! Hey, do you want a ride?"

And with that, the door of the drone's cargo bay opens.

--> WELCOME, NEW ARRIVALS.


Drones drop characters off on the well-lit lower section of the roof, where a pair of tall, gangly humanoids meet them. The two are clearly artificial, formed of silver metal and white silicone, and perfectly identical... Except for their standing posture, which is very different.

The one on the right, a step further back, looks indisputably excited, and peers at the new arrivals curiously. The one on the left has a bag slung over their shoulder, clearly thrown together at the last moment and not completely closed. They take a step forward and say, in a calm tone, "Hello. My name is Strange. Do you have any injured?"

A few minutes after the characters start to arrive, a third android bursts out of the door into the station, exclaiming (in the same voice as the rest), "Here! Wear these!" before shoving a purple scarf at Strange and a red scarf at the curious one. The new android is already wearing an orange scarf.

Once all characters have been brought up, the remaining three androids arrive on the roof, wearing green, dark blue, and white scarves. The one in white hangs back a little from the others, while the one in blue carries themselves with authority.

"Welcome to Keystone Station," says the one in blue, in a voice that must have the volume enhanced to carry across the entire roof. "You may call me Up. My siblings and I have been maintaining the station in the absence of our creators, and researching the phenomenon that brought you here, which we call Fissures. ...I am sorry to say that we have no way to return you to your worlds at this time, so please accept our hospitality."

They bow, low at the waist, and that seems to be a signal to the rest of the group to break up and join the confused, milling group of new arrivals.

--> INDIVIDUAL NPC TOP-LEVELS

Strange - Charm - Top - Bottom - Up - Down

--> THE REST OF THE STATION

Once explanations have been made as much as they can be, the newly arrived characters are set loose to explore the station itself. The labs are currently closed off, as is the door down to the generator level, but characters are welcome to explore anywhere else they please.

The androids, too, depart the roof, each setting off with a distinct task in mind. Charm and Bottom can be found on the lowest accessible level, the two of them working magic on stored seeds long into the night in order to tempt the infant plants into growing. Up and Strange vanish into the labs, (which open to characters the next day, the biology lab having been converted to a medical bay, along with the generator level).

Top and Down, meanwhile, make their home in the central gathering room of the residential floor for the night. Down is distributing network devices from a case at their side, while Top is noting down character housing arrangements and who is taking which of the station's rooms.

There's also a table set up near them, which is covered in a variety of snack foods that characters can grab and munch on before they head off for the night. Most of the packages have sand or dried salt clinging to them, indicating well enough their origins, and the expiry dates are of course all over the place even on the snacks characters might recognize... But it's certainly something to eat, isn't it?

--> THE NEXT MORNING

When characters come into the common room the next day, there's a set of large boxes on either side of the couch-filled lower area. One side is full of clothes of approximately modern Earth origin, loosely sorted by fit. A note tacked to the boxes says Limit yourself to one outfit, please!

The boxes on the other side of the room are empty. A clip-board set on a white folding table in the middle has a piece of paper and a black pen strung to it;

Trading Post

Found something you don't want? Leave it here in case someone else does.

If you're looking for something specific, scribble it down on this pad with your name!

Finally, those who adventure into either kitchen will find a box of plain donuts left out on the counters.

TRADING POST
stormkingofshepherds: (When all my strength is given up)

[personal profile] stormkingofshepherds 2018-02-12 03:36 pm (UTC)(link)
[Kate hisses again when he draws the gun, rearing back as if to spit acid. Nathaniel looks back and forth between the two, a bit shocked.]

What? She's my Pokemon! Put your gun down, you're making her more aggressive!
photoshooter: (GROSS πŸ“· Put a shirt on!)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-02-12 03:40 pm (UTC)(link)
She's a what? What's a Pokémon?

[Prompto doesn't drop the gun, but he does lower his aim a fraction of a hair, clearly extremely nervous and all too quick with his weapon. The chickens continue losing their poor chicken minds.]
stormkingofshepherds: (Then give to me some Cotswold fleece)

[personal profile] stormkingofshepherds 2018-02-12 03:47 pm (UTC)(link)
They're creatures-from just my world and that blond baker's, it seems. She listens to me most of the time, really. [He turns to Kate with a glare in his eyes.] We're guests here! You can't just hunt the other creatures living here like that!

[She hisses softly, but lowers her head in acknowledgement. He nods, his expression softening.] I apologize. She usually only acts like that in battle.
photoshooter: (OH? πŸ“· Kim's marrying who?)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-02-12 03:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[It takes Prompto a couple heartbeats longer because he doesn't have a trainer to tell him to stand down, but he eventually slides the safety catch back on and puts his gun away.]

Not a daemon, then. Just. A really big snake, huh? [He tries to calm his breathing.] Okay, that's. That's normal, people have pet snakes sometimes, that's not weird. Uh. Hello.

[He doesn't know whether to wave to Nathaniel or Kate, so he kind of waves at a spot between the both of them.]
stormkingofshepherds: (When I have lived the span of hours)

[personal profile] stormkingofshepherds 2018-02-12 03:56 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not quite sure what a "daemon" is, but she won't hurt you. [He reaches up to stroke Kate's head a bit, demonstrating her harmlessness.]

[He nods a bit at the wave, although he doesn't reciprocate.] Right...I don't think we've met yet. I'm Nathaniel Berger, and this is Kate.
photoshooter: (SKEPTICAL πŸ“· No seriously. What?)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-02-12 04:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Um, Prompto Argentum. And these are... too small to be baby chocobos, but they're cute, right?

[He gestures to the slightly less panicked chickens, but he's still watching Nathaniel carefully.]

You've really never heard of daemons where you're from?
stormkingofshepherds: (And breathed my last of clean sweet air)

[personal profile] stormkingofshepherds 2018-02-12 04:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[He looks them over, and actually smiles a bit.] I was always more of a Mareep person myself. Shepherding family. They look sweet enough, though. [And he totally understand the concept of baby creatures that are way larger than you'd expect, too.]

No, I haven't. But you haven't heard of Pokemon either, so I suppose that's a simple difference between worlds.
photoshooter: (WONDER πŸ“· Kingdom Hearts is LIGHT)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-02-12 04:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow. It's a pretty big simple difference.

[Prompto sits again so there's one fewer figure towering over the poor, terrorized chickens, and returns to tearing up some fresh, leafy greens for them. Food will hopefully soothe them back to normal.]

Is a... what'd you say before? A Reep? Is that a type of PokΓ©mon, too, are there different kinds?
stormkingofshepherds: (And breathed my last of clean sweet air)

[personal profile] stormkingofshepherds 2018-02-13 01:30 am (UTC)(link)
Mareep. [Kate settles down as well, coiling onto herself so that Nathaniel can lean back against her, using her as an impromptu chair.] But yes. There are many kinds of Pokemon-some species even I don't know about.
photoshooter: (ALERT πŸ“· Do I hear chocobos?)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-02-15 11:35 am (UTC)(link)
Wow. How many? Do they all work with people like this, they don't attack them and stuff?

[Asks the boy who was nearly attacked by one of them.]
stormkingofshepherds: (And breathed my last of clean sweet air)

[personal profile] stormkingofshepherds 2018-02-15 04:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[I mean, technically she was aiming for the chickens and he was just in the way.]

Most of them. Mareep are especially tame-they're always happy to let their wool be harvested. Even the aggressive ones prefer fighting other Pokemon to attacking humans most of the time, too.
photoshooter: (SELFIE πŸ“· Oh my god do I try)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-02-15 09:11 pm (UTC)(link)
Wool? Are they like sheep? Oh, I get it! Ma-reep!

[He snaps his fingers, delighted.]

That's cute. I dunno where the Mar- part comes in, though.
stormkingofshepherds: (And breathed my last of clean sweet air)

[personal profile] stormkingofshepherds 2018-02-16 06:36 am (UTC)(link)
They're sheeplike Pokemon, yes. The name...simply comes from the sound they make. [It's a Japanese pun, apparently. Too bad he doesn't have the self-awareness to realize that.] Kate's an Arbok, for example.

Arrrr. [She helpfully demonstrates with a slight yawn.
photoshooter: (IGNIS πŸ“· I can be smart!)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-02-16 08:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Huh. Do they all say their own names like that? I mean, are they all named after the sounds they make?

[Getting less afraid and more curious, Prompto shifts towards them in his seat.]
stormkingofshepherds: (And breathed my last of clean sweet air)

[personal profile] stormkingofshepherds 2018-02-22 04:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, pretty much. Although there are occasionally arguments about the exact pronunciation. I don't think they really care that much, though. Mareep don't mind what you call them as long as you get them to their grazing fields on time. [He looks kind of lost in wistful thought, now.]
photoshooter: (HEE πŸ“· A bunny smile)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-02-23 09:37 am (UTC)(link)
Haha, man, they sound really sweet. So what makes them different from normal sheep? If they're sheeplike PokΓ©mon, I mean.
stormkingofshepherds: (And breathed my last of clean sweet air)

[personal profile] stormkingofshepherds 2018-03-10 11:33 am (UTC)(link)
Well...they're Electric-types, for one. Their wool can absorb and store electricity-it's a sight to see a whole flock of them during a storm.
photoshooter: (OHO? πŸ“· Wanna see?)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-03-12 06:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh! So they're magic. [That's something Prompto understands, at least.] Cool! Coeurls are like that, except they're real nasty customers; but I guess that's the difference between predators and something sweet like sheep.
stormkingofshepherds: (When I have lived the span of hours)

[personal profile] stormkingofshepherds 2018-03-13 03:20 am (UTC)(link)
[He blinks.] I wouldn't really describe it as "magic." It's a natural thing for Electric-type Pokemon to have such abilities.

...sometimes they get a bit aggressive, especially the rams during breeding season. [That's where most of his experience with electrocution comes from.]
photoshooter: (SQUINT πŸ“· Well that's just unsanitary)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-03-14 07:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, sure, but that's natural. That's when they gotta show off for all the ewes, right? I'd stay out of a herd of garulas' way in mating season for the same reason. ...Also because they're huge, and it's never a good idea to be in a herd of garulas' way.
stormkingofshepherds: (And breathed my last of clean sweet air)

[personal profile] stormkingofshepherds 2018-03-17 01:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[He smiles at that.] A wise instinct. A good shepherd has to learn to both avoid and endure electricity. [He literally yelled at and lectured a thunderbird god to get it to stop rampaging.]
photoshooter: (SMELL πŸ“· Is that Gladio?)

[personal profile] photoshooter 2018-03-18 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Is there really a way to learn to endure electricity? I mean, I know there's stuff to help raise your resistance, but, you know. It's electricity. It's always gonna hurt.
stormkingofshepherds: (When I have lived the span of hours)

[personal profile] stormkingofshepherds 2018-03-19 05:39 am (UTC)(link)
[He seems to shrug.] I'm accustomed to it, at least. Even if it hurts, it's never been a large source of worry for me. [Not like...fire.]