subnautica | March Intro: Head First

March Intro: Head First

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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

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[Fukami watches with faint curiosity himself, watching the rabbitrays sliding up along what seems to be an almost-invisible surface. He turns to better observe, scattering floaters who attempt to, well, float too close once again.]

No. My sea is far from this one.

[One rabbitray happily flits about one of his tentacles and Fukami lets it, before it dashes through the water toward its fellows.] So far, these ones haven't proved dangerous. [A tentacle indicates the rabbitrays, then:] But these can be, so don't allow them close.

[The floaters... of course jellies would be more dangerous.]

Edited 2016-03-05 02:41 (UTC)

Is that so...

[ So much for that. She'd sigh, but keeping her breathing regular so she doesn't freak out with the breathing apparatus means she keeps the sigh internal. Of course nothing would be so easy... and that's what she'll have to continue to expect. Plan for the worst, enjoy pleasant surprises when they come up along the way.

Her eyes flick from the rabbitrays to Fukmai, then further to the other strange creatures. She has no ready word in her vocabulary to describe them. ]

Are they venomous? Blood sucking?

[ Are they giant floating leeches? They're not so pleasant to look upon, but that in and of itself doesn't indicate their natures. Meanwhile, the rabbitrays continue to skate along the surface of her barrier, flitting past and underneath each other as they glide up then curve away, coming back in again in loops and barrel rolls, playing with their newfound aberration of oceanic movement. ]

They'll try to eat anything. They have stingers, and latch on.

[One tried. Fukami swatted it off easily enough, but that's him. He's used to swatting sea creatures off of him. His gaze often breaks away from her to the rabbitrays, so happily they play around.

But, as if to show off said stingers and the floaters's mouths, he casually waves a hand to disturb the water, flipping one of them. It struggles a little as it tries to right itself, but there's its sharp mouth and its little stingers. None too pleasant-looking, especially if you think about them being embedded in you somehow.]

[ She lets go of her perch to move closer, the small floating creatures less apparent in their features than the larger rays who flit away from her and her shield, sliding over the top and spinning around on the far side. They reminded her a little of butterflies on a gentle spring breeze. Smoother swimmers than butterflies were fliers, but the comparison still flitted through her mind, then out again.

Close enough to see the sharp mouth and stingers as the floating creature finally rights itself, its drift taking it toward one of the cave walls, Ellana furrows her brow. They're something like leeches? One way or another, bad news in larger numbers. Small ones could be removed much like a leech or a tick for as unappealing as the prospect might be. ]

Thank you, I'll keep that in mind.

[ The floater bumped up against the wall, turning and latching on. Looks like "try to eat anything" truly meant trying to eat anything. ]

... On the bright side, they don't appear to be all that intelligent, so tactical avoidance should work in our favour. Unlike whatever's burrowing in the sands out there.

[ Not advanced tactics, but hunting methods were still some kind of strategy. Probably. ]

...Sharks, of some kind.

[He's had a couple of encounters. They thought his tentacles looked tasty or that his tentacles were a threat. Either way, Fukami was not particularly pleased about this. He hesitates visibly, however, as though there's something he feels he ought to mention about them but he doesn't actually want to say it.]

It appears they're in season. So they're quite aggressive.

[Please don't ask him how he knows, he'd be perfectly fine not knowing, ugh, being an animal sucks.]

[ He is spared from her asking how he knows based on her presumption that he has enough familiarity with observing animal patterns of the sea to guess at the reason behind a given activity. Several naturalists she's run into in her time have been able to deduce as much without any insight past observation. So have many of the hunters.

His animal instincts are left unexposed to being precisely aware of what's going on for now! She still wonders at the hesitation. Unless he's simply reluctant to mention animals in rut, it makes her wonder if there's anything else he's not mentioning. She also finally drops her shield, more to conserve energy than anything else. The smaller rabbitrays around her notice, dipping in closer and brushing against her shoulders, her thigh, before darting off again in playful, lazy loops. ]

Right, so they're all in rut. Sounds like the most intelligent thing is either take advantage of that to pit them against each other or get out of the area. I'll admit I favour the "get out" plan over the first. More blood in the water seems like it'd be a less desirable outcome.

[He's relieved he doesn't have to explain. Thank you... Fukami glances over again once her shield drops, wondering about it. Perhaps she's a witch? They come in all kinds back in his world (and he knows of few others who can do anything like make a barrier).]

Yes, it would. That would most likely just attract more of them.

[There's a mental sigh. It's always bad news being so close to dangerous animal's breeding grounds!] But for now, this area is safe. They don't come near the caves. Not enough space for them.

[One of his tentacles idly lifts as a rabbitray swoops about it, as if to coax him to play. Alas, he's not as playful, but he does little to discourage it.]

[ At this point there's little doubt those tentacles are all equally under his control. Part of her is almost amused at the allowance for the rabbitray, for all she's doing much the same in not actively swatting the creatures away. If they get too intrusive, she'll shoo them off, but needless aggravation solves few problems.

Allowing her barrier to go is part and parcel of leading in to another question once the security of where they are (from one specific danger) has been addressed. ]

I suppose I should have started with introductions.

[ There's very little chance she would have without entering someone's specific territory or holding, but that's beside the present point. ]

My name is Ellana. Who are you?

[ A rabbitray flits by her side, heading for the one swooping around Fukami's tentacle. Soon he may have two of the smaller rays playing ring around the tentacle, as it were. ]

[They're endearing, in a way. Can't be helped.]

Fukami.

[--and here we are, double the company, double the rabbitrays. Fukami glances down at the ones making circles and loops about his tentacles and bubbles drift from his mouth as he sighs into the water.

No. Be off with you, small creatures. He is not a jungle gym. His tentacle is waving lightly.]

[ One of the rabbitrays glides in closer, brushing against Fukmai's tentacle as if it had been an invitation. The other coasts right by, changing direction to glide toward his head. It's an odd sense of disconnected amusement, like watching overly friendly animals investigating the odd intruders into their environment.

Which didn't change much in what laid in wait outside of this cave, or any of the other rocky structures in the region. She glances back toward the entrance, the first time the bulk of her attention has shifted away from Fukami since they ran into each other. ]

Lovely to meet you might be a stretch, but it's pleasant if confusing nonetheless. Any thoughts on how to get back to...

[ She trails off, furrowing her brow. ]

To wherever the metal golems flew in from?

Yes.

[Oho, a promising answer. Fukami's gaze cuts away briefly and he eases himself out of the rabbitrays's persistent attention in order to bring himself closer and point with one of his tentacles.]

That direction, roughly. I went there briefly, but decided to come back out.

[ She looks in the direction he indicates, a beat late. It's... unsettling to have anyone with that many limbs coming closer. She has to wrestle with the suspicion that at any moment he'll turn out to be a demon having an amicable face and lo, there will be tentacle fights ensuing.

Hard to push past the suspicions, but better if she tries. Thus she doesn't pull her shield back into place, instead giving an exaggerated single nod of her head. ]

Thank you. Why come back out here?

...

[Quiet, for a moment. He glances away pensively, his arms folding.] I need to familiarise myself with this sea.

[Besides, he is a sea creature. He's visibly comfortable underwater, much as she would probably be at ease on land.]

[ She supposes it makes sense. Particularly when she would want to do the same in his position, in an environment she better recongised as similar to her own. (Like on land.) As it is, this is where she's living at present, and for who knew how long. Familiarising was a step she'd do well to mimick.

Yet not right now. She merely inclines her head to him after a few moments thought, acknowledging the sense in what he says. Or... the sense she can make of it for him. ]

How long did it take for you to familiarise with your own sea?

[ Asked because it's a question to her of what counts as familiar; to what kind of lifetime that does or doesn't take. To what degree he means it, when a sea is a very vast thing in her eyes; much as land is. ]

...I don't know.

[It's an honest enough answer. Fukami shifts his gaze to her, his own level, contemplative.]

I don't know all of my sea, of course. [That's too vast.] But where I lived... it's been a long time since I was born. I could not say for certain.

Well, unless you're confessing to being thousands of years old, then you're still younger than some of those I've met.

[ Can a mental voice be jaunty? There's a lighter lilt to it; she's in her thirties, and she's loved someone who was, for most intents and purposes, at one time immortal. Not unkillable, but extraordinarily long lived, before he destroyed what allowed that existence in favour of freeing people from their overlords. Age feels so relative after that... and knowledge as vast and deep as a world's worth of unknown ocean.

Strangely grounding, for all she's far from dry land. ]

Which means you have time yet to learn about this place, too. If that's what you want.

[ She dearly hopes they're not here for long enough to rival whatever lifespan he's already lived. ]

As for me, I'm going to focus on swimming that direction.

[ With a gesture, she indicates the way he'd shown from earlier. ]

Familiarity will be important for all of us, but... speaking as someone whose fingers and toes protest constant submersion, so does some time drying off. I'll see you around?

[ Is he planning on living out in the open waters? She wouldn't judge that, honestly, but knowing where one of those here plans to live is information she figures she should be keeping track of as she goes along. ]

[Fukami shakes his head. Not thousands, no. Hundreds, certainly, though it does pique his interest slightly that she knows someone who has lived for as long as that. It's not unheard of where he's from either, of course, but even he hasn't had an opportunity to meet many like those.]

Yes.

... I will return before nightfall, most likely. [Just to be on the safe side. Hey, Fukami's used to living in a house as well. Albeit an underwater one.]

[ Elves, man. Her understanding of her own race and their collective history has changed far too quickly in the last handful of years.

What he says seems to be enough for her, Ellana inclining her head to him once more as she heads out. ]

Safe travels to you.

[ A simple statement before she heads out of the caves and considers her options in heading back toward the base. Safe travels for us all. ]

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March Intro: Head First

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