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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Speaking of sunset and the sea...

Ibtisam arcs gracefully through the water, the fins on her legs fluttering at full extension, wider and gauzier than they had to be when she compressed them into boots. Her wetsuit is highly reduced. She calls out happily, waving a webbed hand to show where the telepathic voice is coming from.]

Hello! Are you looking for something?

[ Ellana pulls herself up short, a startled blink at the ease with which the other individual is moving pairing up with that niggling newness that said speaking in my head isn't just a spirit or demon phenomena here. Not that it need be limited to such things, she could always simply be going insane, but with a check that she wasn't pulling on the Fade, it helps reiterate that she's probably 'hearing' the individual who just swam by.

She treads water for the time being. ]

Aside from the surface?

[ Comes the neutral response. ]

I was looking to get up on one of the sand bars and catch an eyeful of the ship off in the distance.

[ At sunset, with the dark rolling in. She trusts her sense of direction and ability to see in the dark, and past that, being evasive to an unknown creature isn't necessarily going to be helpful. Honesty it is. ]

[A number of people here seem taken aback by Ibtisam's appearance, she's noticed. It's a weird feeling. Most of the galaxy - most of the local galaxy - has at least an awareness of Admiral Ackbar.]

Well, if you want the surface you should just follow some bubbles! But you know, there's a point on one of the rock archways that's only about a meter from the surface, depending on the waves. They'll push you around if you go stand on it, but if you want to get high up, that's the best bet right now.

[ This is actually good advice, though it does occur to her she should have, or could have, been more specific. Besides, she hadn't run across this archway earlier, but whatever a meter is sounds promising enough. Can't be taller than she is, right?

Hopefully. Still holding position, she cranes her head up, having a fairly accurate sense of up and down. Absolute darkness would potentially confuse that, but it was a problem to worry about later. ]

Would you be willing to take me there?

Sure thing!

[She turns over in the water, fins streaming, and on her back, looking back at the air-breather, starts a gentle tireless kicking. To Ibtisam swimming is like coming home, now that she's acclimatized. She wants to be sure not to leave this person behind, and also, eye contact is important.]

How comfortable are you in the water?

[ Is this a trick question. She's not sure; she actually believes it to be sincere, and answers in turn. She makes her own headway, but there's no inherent grace or... much of anything commendable in the way she moves, aside from her not wasting as much energy as she might have, and compensating for the way her left arm ended at the elbow. ]

Comfortable enough with wading. Swimming isn't bad, it simply isn't something I'd spent a great deal of time doing before. On the other hand, you look like you're in your element.

[ She can admire that! Even envy it, though there's little point in doing more than acknowledging that emotion. None of the significantly odd individuals she's run into so far have proven to be truly demonic, but with her general run of luck, she's not so sure that's a record that will be left unbroken. Including for amiable fish (?) people. This one looks different than Fukami, which... she supposes makes sense. Probably different species.

She manages to keep eye contact as she presses on, keeping her breathing as even as she can. It helps keep the lurking urge to panic at bay. ]

[It's tough to see this woman's tiny Quarren-style eyes through her goggles. The effort is important, though.]

That bad, huh? Don't worry, you just need more time to get used to it!

Me, I was born in a place like this. Most of our cities are like URSULA, but larger and with some flooded rooms.

[ She actually pauses, having decided these goggle things are too much effort, pulling them off and letting them rest against the crown of her head. It takes her a moment to adjust to the feel of water on her eyes, but once she has it, it's not so different than some of the places she's swum before in the past. It's a decision she'll regret once her eyes dry out, but for now?

It's all bearable. She starts swimming forward again, parsing what she was being told. ]

It sounds like a wonder. Most the time an encounter with a flooded room is a sign of ruins caving before the elements, where I'm from.

[ Then again, how many species does she know amoung those who trot around feeling self important and as if they rule the world are water dwelling? None, though plenty sail on water. ... None that she knows of, at least. The undead coming out of the swamps and lakes and the like didn't particularly count, in her opinion. ]

[Ah. She hadn't been certain if humans, or Sephi or whatever this woman is, could do that. Their little eyes seem very delicate.]

Well, they take maintenance! It's harder in some ways to keep water fresh than air.

By the way, I'm Ibtisam, and I'm a Mon Calamari. You looked like you were wondering.

[ Mon Calamari. She doesn't say that sounds edible (... though it almost does) since that's an inappropriate response. Or at least one she'd expect out of a few of her close friends, and a fondness for them, on their own paths, fills her chest. There's more resolve behind her movements, but little more in strength. She's conserving what she can. ]

I was. I've never met one of your people before, Ibtisam. It is a pleasure, circumstances aside.

[ Tipping her head toward Ib, she adds: ]

I'm... Ellana. An elf.

[ Dalish, if she wanted to make a useless clarification; Ellana now, because she was always Ellana first. Lavellan would have been simple to call herself too, but there were parts of herself that were on hold in what looks to be a quest in getting back to her world, and to the place she belongs. Assisting "humanity" on this world does nothing for her or her people or her world, and its people. Who might also need to be her people, to an extent. (What an uncomfortable thought.) ]

[Looking at the woman's eyes, the cast of her small face and the positions of the two strips of fur over her eyes, Ibtisam guesses she's thinking of something elsewhere. Mon Calamari expressions are largely very different, but she's had a lot to do with humans and near-humans.]

Well, I guess it's not too surprising. We move in very different spheres! I met someone who had no idea what droids were, after all.

[ The hair on her face quirked up, the term being casually tossed her way unfamiliar. She makes herself keep the rhythm she's found, anticipating cool air on wet skin. Standing above the surface, simply because she could. ]

I don't find that term familiar. So I suppose that's at least two who've not heard about a droid, then. ... What is a droid?

Oh no, not you too! [Ibtisam turns the corners of her mouth up in a good approximation of a smile, a learned behavior. Her 'voice' is brightly amused.]

Robots? Metal devices that move and do things for you. Oh, we're getting closer, I should keep an eye open.

[With easy grace Ibtisam turns over in the water to face front again. The seafloor here is stepped and riddled with caves and columns, coral and plants growing all over. Fish flicker around, though so far it seems like they are content not to interfere.

Ibtisam heads for a particularly large stone archway, which has caught quite a lot of sand up top against some coral shelves growing on it. It's not dry land - the little bit of sand exposed to the air is lapped by small waves and footprints quickly fill with water - but it's about as close as it comes around here.]

Edited 2016-03-17 01:40 (UTC)

[ That's probably a smile. She'll take the approximation, either way. Robots as a term makes little more sense than droids, but she can pull a sense of meaning out of it through comparison to the flying metal golems earlier that day. ]

Something similar to a golem made of metal? Without being magic or spirit powered?

[ Ibtisam makes for a generous guide, Ellana angling for the arch that barely brushes against the surface of the water. Coming up on one side, she holds on, getting her feet under her before carefully, slowly walking forward and upward. Gravity reasserts itself as she breaks the surface, cooler air a pleasant shock against her skin. Her eyes feel a little dry, but no worse right now than when she's crossed seas before. She pulls herself up, standing and turning until the only object on the horizon makes itself clear. Pulling off her breathing apparatus, she contemplates what she sees across fairly placid waters. ]

I'd seen it coming in, but seeing it again now... how large must that ship be?

Now I'm the one who's lost! I've never heard of golems.

[Ibtisam always feels cold and heavy coming out of the water. She doesn't go as far, letting her pedal fins serve as feet and standing knee-deep, a bit to the side.

Her air-voice doesn't perfectly match her water-voice, which is very close to the sound of her voice in telepathy. In air her voice is deeper and more gravelly, with certain inflections.]

I'm not sure. It's a mining vessel that had about a hundred people, I'm told, but it seems big for that.

[ The change in what she'd been hearing underwater to above the water is starting enough to prompt Ellana into looking back, contemplating the features of her companion. It's almost stranger here, above the water, but it's as apparent that Ib hasn't suffered greatly breaching the surface. Ellana had suspected as much with the talk about her home, but it's something yet again to hear one of the differences. ]

Mining?

[ She finds herself frowning as she looks back toward the ship. Mining operations contained within one vessel? The dwarves were living proof of how extensive and deep mining projects could, would, and did go; the Titans... were another element she feels aren't related to this so much. ]

Might have been for all the equipment. Was it supposed to mine this world for resources?

[ Water pumps. They'd need significant water pump systems to keep anything functional until under the seabed, wouldn't they? There's no one who she knows is an expert on the topic around. Unfortunate, lamentable, but also true. ]

Still seems large for only one hundred humans.

[Ib also seems bulkier and more solid out of the water. Hard to say by how much, since she's not moving about. Her skin gleams with slime, though in the breeze it dries to a damp, tacky texture]

It might be. I know it's mineral-rich, I've seen deposits lying around on the seafloor.

One of her huge eyes points at Ellana, the other scans the wide open horizon. Winged shapes, tiny at this distance, fly about.]

I hate to think of this planet stripped for resources. It's so full of life. I feel more at home than I have in a long while.

[ Oh... oh that thing she can do with her eyes is weird. Ellana catches herself staring, making herself look away. She knows she's being rude. It's difficult to check that impulse when faced with someone alien and not bent on killing her.

It's probably a thought she should look at more closely, though she sets it aside for now. ]

When you say stripped, is that as bad as I'm imagining? Killing off what lives here now to claim resources without respecting the lands that produced them? ... Or the seas, as the case may be.

Pretty much. Most miners go after dead rocks, asteroids and so on. Usually it doesn't matter what you do to those, and it's easier than mining a living world. Still. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen sometimes.

[She turns her head, and trades which eye is looking at Ellana and which isn't.]

Your people haven't gone into space, have you?

[ Those eyes... she shakes her head, answering the question while also shaking herself out of her preoccupation. ]

No. Unless space is another word for the Fade, I don't believe we've ventured into whatever that is.

[ Space isn't even an intuitive word for the stars in the sky, from where she stands. Space is what one takes up, is what an object requires, what one needs for a building or a campsite or any number of things, but "space" is not much of a location. ]

I've never heard it called a fade. It's the place past the sky, the great black void. Every star is a distant sun, and so many of them have worlds of their own.

[She struggles a little finding a way to phrase these things, but space is clearly important to Ibtisam. A love of the potential inherent in star travel is very common among Mon Cals.]

...

[ It clearly means much to Ibitsam, and it still doesn't make a great deal of sense. ]

That's what you mean. All those stars in the sky are suns, many with their own worlds? [ A pause. ] Their own peoples?

[ ... Okay given the world she's standing on now that's believable, but it's only really sinking in how vast a picture she's looking at. Her eyes widen a fraction, and she's looking up, into the brilliance of that sky. That's... overwhelming, in a way this endless ocean is overwhelming, but also... humbling.

She figures she can use humbling after all the inflated importance given to a series of chances to a survivor of another elf's misguided work. Life sure works in fascinating ways. ]

Exactly! Many of them are dead things, not like this at all, but there's so much life up there. Up here. Everything is part of space.

[Ibtisam pauses. Someone whose people have no concept of space as a place...]

...I guess telling you these things is technically making first contact. Oops. How'd you get here, anyway?

[ She stares directly at Ib, then offers a small shrug of her shoulders, her hand remaining at her side. That's... not an impossible thought. It's large, larger than she can hold in one moment or in many moments strung together, but not impossible. So many worlds, so much potential for both the good and the ill. ]

Magic, I suppose.

[ She's being entirely serious. ]

I'm beginning to suspect none of us arrived here under the same means, or for the same reasons.

Hmm.

[If she sounds grimmer, she is. Ibtisam's experience of 'magic' hasn't exactly been positive.]

That's definitely possible. And here I thought I was here to recuperate!

March Intro: Head First

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