March Intro: Head First

[subnauticmods]

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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

[oneandmikleonly]

I haven't had much luck so far. But maybe -- now that we're actually out of the ocean and off the sea life.

[Mikleo might be gathering information in the evening too, honestly; between getting totally thrown off by his element today and getting talked at by a lot more people than he ever expected to be, he's keyed up enough that he's not sure he'll be able to sleep. It's in his expression and the set of his shoulders; subtle, but there.]

[imsorey]

I thought the ocean was pretty neat. Just, you know, salty. But treading water kind of takes it out of you--it's good to be on solid ground again.

[It's hard for Sorey to miss the subtle tension in Mikleo's body language, even after an eventful day. But he doesn't want to comment on it, at least not right now; if Mikleo wants to talk, he will. Right now he just wants to stick close by and see if by some strange chance Lailah or the others show up. He's pretty wiped out, but if Mikleo's staying up, so is he!]

So! Are we asking around, then?

[oneandmikleonly]

Guess we are. Don't push it too hard, though; you should get some decent rest tonight. You're not used to swimming around the entire day, either.

[He's staying right by Sorey's shoulder for now; he doesn't feel like letting him out of his sight again tonight, not after the long strange day. It would be a relief if one of the others popped up, but so far? All strangers.]

[imsorey]

I'm fine for now, I've still got plenty of energy.

[Mostly true. Sorey always has energy until he just suddenly has none.]

Besides, I do want to take a look around, even if we don't get answers out of it.

[With that said, he picks a direction and goes, heading down the nearest narrow hallway with only minimal glancing out at the ocean around them.]

[oneandmikleonly]

[He makes a noncommittal noise, because he knows perfectly well how to tell when Sorey's really starting to flag (Shepherd pact KOs aside, that is). He'll bother him more if he gets past that point.

For now, he'll follow, mentally matching the places they pass through to the layout Ursula provided. Where are you headed first, Sorey?]

[imsorey]

[Without having picked a proper direction, he heads to...the bathroom.

And then backtracks, changes course, and places them in the kitchen, which seems like a much better place to be. (It's good to know where the bathroom is too, though.) From there he decides to take quick stock of how much food they have, doing a mental headcount of the people he's seen nearby.]

Think we've got enough food here?

[oneandmikleonly]

[WHAT A GREAT START. Mikleo just...shrugs a little at the query, though, folding his arms.]

Depends how many people here actually need to eat, doesn't it? If they all do, we'll probably need to see if some of those fish cook up as well as prickleboars do.

[imsorey]

Doesn't that mean we'll have to learn how to hunt underwater?

[Well...if he taught himself to hunt once, he could do it again.]

I'll get a headcount of how many people know how to fish later.

[oneandmikleonly]

At least it's a valuable life skill, right? ...and I think it'll help us to do a headcount in general, too, since it looks like everyone's pretty scattered.

[What with being randomly thrown in the ocean, and all.]

The situation here doesn't seem very -- healthy, overall.

[imsorey]

[He sighs, having no problem conceding to that point as he closes the cupboards and straightens up.]

I have to agree with you there. URSULA seems like she's trying her best, but what we have right now doesn't seem sustainable for very long. And even if we make it sustainable for us, that doesn't get us any closer to making it back home.

[oneandmikleonly]

Whatever the way back home is.

Even so...

[He feels like he should be playing the good Sub Lord, cautioning Sorey about his duty as the Shepherd here, the focus on the bigger picture he should be keeping, but -- how does one fit that into the context of suddenly, inexplicably, being on another planet altogether?]

[imsorey]

I'm fine with doing what we can here. I'm just worried about the others. With both of us disappearing so suddenly they've got to be worried.

[His duty as a Shepherd is always something to consider too, but he's not sure what that would even entail on a different world that, so far, doesn't seem to contain any malevolence at all. Helping people is something he doesn't mind doing in the least, and maybe this is considered a part of his journey to find his answer, but at some point he needs to get back before things get any worse. What's the right thing to do when there are two worlds in need of help?]

[oneandmikleonly]

[...finally, he just puts a hand on Sorey's shoulder, trying to muster up more positivity. He can't manage a lot at the moment, but he does his best.]

There's got to be a way to at least get a message back, right? If there was a path through from there to here, there'll be one from here to there. We've just got to find it.

We can look while we work, together.

[imsorey]

[Even lost, confused, and worried, Sorey can bounce back as long as he has a thread of hope to go off of. Mikleo being with him is a consistent thread, but knowing they won't give up on looking for a path home is another bright spot. A little multi-tasking never hurt, and he can't help but be touched by Mikleo's concern.]

I know. Or, that's what I'm hoping for. And they're probably searching on their end too.

[oneandmikleonly]

[That gets a little smile out of him; the problems haven't vanished by any means, but Sorey brightening up has always made Mikleo feel better, too.]

Every nook and cranny. Except the water, I suppose, but -- seems like we've more than got that covered.

[He indicates the glass walls around them with his other hand. Right? Right. More like the water's got them covered, though.]

[imsorey]

[His eyes follow Mikleo's gesture, looking dryly amused.]

"Covered" is one way to put it. There's so much of it I don't know if we'd get through it all. Or, it would take a while.

[oneandmikleonly]

We're really going to need more practice. I wonder how well our armatus'll work under all this? We've never used it while completely submerged...

[Something to analyze.]

[imsorey]

[The nerding intensifies.]

It shouldn't be affected by the pressure, right? At least in the shallows, it's not enough to be a problem. Or were you thinking the water might be an issue?

[oneandmikleonly]

We have better control over it in that form, but to keep our movements free we'd have to be manipulating the water around us all the time, keeping it manageable. Even in the shallows, that's a lot, you know!

[imsorey]

But we could try it!

[Look at how much he believes they can do it]

I'm not saying we'd get it right on the first try, but we could try manipulating the least amount of water possible to make it work. It might not be as much as you think.

[oneandmikleonly]

Fine.

...

[Wait.]

But not tonight!

[imsorey]

Tomorrow's fine! It'll be easier to practice if we can actually see.

[oneandmikleonly]

Good. I still want you to get some proper rest.

[They've been walking as they talk, presumably...Mikleo opens the door to open of the 'free' rooms with a little 'huh' noise.]

[imsorey]

[He pokes his head over Mikleo (sorry you're short, Mikleo) to get a better look at the room.]

I'm not that tired, but I can rest. It looks pretty cozy.

[oneandmikleonly]

[He puffs a little bit (just a little, though), before walking ahead of Sorey into the space.]

Hope you brought that mattress along with you, then.