March Intro: Head First

[subnauticmods]

≡U.R.S.U.L.A. NAVIGATION

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Arrival!

It was supposed to be a routine mission. Maybe you think you’ve been here for a bit or maybe you just arrived. Either way, you know there was supposed to be a completely normal underwater mission, probably just gathering resources, unless you just arrived, in which case welcome!

Unfortunately, somehow you’ve been dumped somewhere you shouldn’t be. A woman’s voice can be heard, robotic in tone with hints of emotion. That emotion mostly seems to be mild surprise.

"Life signs detected. Life forms are non-native to this planet. They... oh. Oh dear, I wasn’t prepared after all. Please refrain from dying for a moment. Your things are incoming."

Your eyes open underwater. At least you're near the surface. But the moment you break through you'll notice one thing: the ocean, stretching out for miles around you in all directions with no end in sight and only a very distant gleaming metal structure in the far distance. You're not alone but this surely isn't what you expected. In fact, you really can't understand how you managed to get from where you were to underwater so fast.

None of your belongings are with you save the clothing on your body. And the depths below you offer no comfort, the light engulfed before it can reach wherever the sea bottom is.

Somewhere, you hear a sound shaking through the water, like something between a whale and a foghorn.

No turning back now.

Prompts!

A: WHALE OF A TALE
As it turns out, there is hope for those who can't swim or get help from someone who can. Something emerges from the depths, a massive bed of coral that makes that strange sound, allowing people to climb on top of it. Of course, that bed of coral is actually the back of a massive creature that moves how it pleases and occasionally dives back down underwater.

There is a pod of them around the area calling to each other. They're friendly, or at least they don't seem to mind any poking or hangers on. But one of their long tendrils may still give you a good whack on accident.

If you’re really lucky you can probably ride one all the way back to the base. Wouldn’t that be a fantastic entrance?

B: HELP ARRIVES
At least, some assistance arrives. Strange little robots on propellers arrive fifteen or so minutes later, rushing to the scene carrying a floating bin of some sort. They drop it into the ocean and buzz excitedly around it in the hopes of luring people over.

Inside the bin are goggles, breathing devices and knives enough for the new arrivals. The knives have a compass on the hilt that has a marker for the direction of the base. One robot will play a helpful recording from the robotic woman for those getting their gear:

"Please deposit any articles of clothing getting in the way of swimming in the bin. We will be sure they arrive safely at the base. Do not try to swim in anything that will bog you down."

A pause.

"Swimming nude is not recommended. There can be... unpleasant issues. For future reference, please consult me before going on missions like this."

C: UNDER THE SEA
Of course, there's no reason to rush right to the base. This place is certainly beautiful in its own right and has a few caves to explore - watch those stingers hanging from the ceilings - with an abundance of strange and wonderful fish eager to either play with you or dart away as fast as possible. Of course there's plenty of Reefbacks still calling to each other and a large amount of floating rocks with Floaters attached.

D: MATING SEASON
On second thought, maybe heading to the base is a good idea. Occasionally you might see plumes of dust near the ocean floor. Exploring these is a very bad idea. The moment you get close, a Sand Shark will explode out of the sand, ready to attack. They range from five to eight feet in length and will pursue you without mercy. At least they give up if you get near the surface or hide in the right caves.

Unfortunately, it's mating season. That means dozens of them can appear at any time trying to court a female with acts of aggression and skill. And you really don't want to be in the middle of that.

E: HOME SWEET HOME
You did it! You made it to the base. You are probably dead tired by now having swam quite a long distance—or somehow riding a Reefback all the way here—and the sun is beginning to set. Upon arrival, URSULA will welcome you and give you a quick rundown of the lockers (where your personal items can be found, as safe as if you stored them there yourself) and the base's layout if you’re new. She will also recommend that you put on your communication device and settling in. She will then just as quickly apologise by saying that she must finish preparing the base for the others.

"Please give me a few days to finish retooling the base. Oh, I'm so excited. We're going to make a great team, I promise. And don't go back to that biome yet until mating season is over. Sand Sharks are... troublesome."

F: WILDCARD
The ocean is yours to explore! Maybe your characters will find places to take breaks. Maybe they'll start gathering things. Maybe they'll murder fish! Or maybe they'll get lost in the dark and take a rather long time to find the base. Or just crash the kitchen for some of that delicious fish, more fish and seaweed! It's all up to you!

See the Biomes page for the currently accessible areas or details on current wildlife and the Base page for all your base needs. Direct any questions and plotting to the OOC post and have fun!

BASED ON CODE BY TESSISAMESS AND SUPERSUITS

Comments

[imsorey]

[He's concerned about the humans she interacted with before if this is her reaction to talking about humans. What was their typical behavior and why was it such a big deal if they could fly or not?]

Flight capability? Is that really a big deal? I feel like there's more interesting things to learn about people. Though, don't get me wrong, it would be really cool to learn how to fly.

[logdate]

It's not that important, I was just curious as to whether or not humans could fly, since I'd seen several other Earth creatures that could.

[ She may or may not have pushed someone off of a roof. ]

[imsorey]

I thought the lack of wings might have been a giveaway...

[On the bright side, there are no roofs to push anyone off of here, but the water could still cause trouble for humans.]

But if you don't have anything to compare it to, you wouldn't know.

[logdate]

At the time, I was rather unfamiliar with humans as a species.

[ Hmmmph. Peridot sniffs, as if it's a mistake anyone could make. ]

Besides, quite a number of other creatures from Earth could fly. How was I supposed to know that humans couldn't?

[imsorey]

[He opens his mouth to say "common sense" but then decide she's actually right.]

There are a lot of factors to take into account when exploring a new world, so I guess you couldn't rule out the possibility. You mentioned space travel, but are gems able to fly around without wings?

[logdate]

That depends entirely on the gem and their position and the tools they have at their disposal.

[ He probably shouldn't let her get into lecture mode. Because she'll talk for forever. ]

We typically use some sort of vessel for traveling vast interstellar distances - at least when we're not able to utilize warp-pads.

[imsorey]

[He's more than happy to let her talk forever, fortunately or unfortunately. He loves this kinda stuff.]

Are wrap-pads pretty much like they sound? Something that lets you warp from one place to another?

[logdate]

Precisely! They allow near instantaneous travel between two points - even across the entire galaxy! It's an ingenious piece of technology and helps hold all of Gem space together!

[ She's gesturing, as if to illustrate her point. And then she starts getting into the more technical jargon. It's a whole lot of nonsense, unless you understand high end physics (and maybe a bit of magic). ]

You can actually step out of the transit beam if you want to, but I have no idea why anyone would be that suicidal-

[imsorey]

[He understands none of the technical jargon involved, but he's listening and doing his best to commit it to memory. Even if he doesn't know it now, that doesn't mean he can't learn it!]

--There's nothing stopping people from falling out? What about getting in? Doesn't that mean that someone could theoretically jump into a transit beam even if they didn't start from a warp pad?

[logdate]

Uh-

[ Actually, she's never thought of it like that. ]

I suppose not, but you'd have to be able to survive extremely low temperatures and a lack of a breathable atmosphere.

[ So, most people would be dead. ]

[imsorey]

[That does answer his question, though. No jumping out of transit beams unless you can hold your breath a really long time and survive in freezing temperatures.]

Good to know. That would explain why it hasn't been a problem before. I guess that seems like common sense if you've been in one before.