0001: A New Beginning

[crux_mods]

Whatever your activities before, they're interrupted by a sudden lurching feeling, like someone's put a hook into the pit of your very being and yanked. There's a brief burst, a brilliantly twisting tunnel? And then silence. Stars fill your vision, along with bodies, machines, and not much else before everything mercifully goes black. The shock of it, more than the lack of air.

And then, there's sound. There's not much at first. Beeping. Lots of beeping. Some of it is irritatingly loud, and apparently it's the cause of a lot of excitement. When vision returns, the first thing to note would be alien writing blinking in your field of vision, displayed on a monitor or a clear bubble somewhere. Alien, but familiar enough for you to read "Awakening". Whatever that means, you're apparently not alone, as people in black and white uniforms are rushing through the large room you're in, the room filled with people hooked up to all kinds of machines. Of course, some of them don't look entirely like people.

All of a sudden, a haggered face fills your field of vision. "Great Shades of Elvis! Another one! Look, please remain calm." The poor nurse turns and starts to fiddle with some of the machines surrounding you. "There's been an accident, but you're okay. Try to stay quiet and don't disturb the other patients. Someone will be with you in a moment." They turn away to shout across the room, as if that wouldn't disturb anyone. "Hoi, Oglaf! Mark this one as alive so Security can take them for the briefing!" He gestures at some official looking people in red and black uniforms assisting other patients into wheelchairs. "Just flag one of them down, they'll take you to the briefing. We'll explain everything. Just don't panic, you're in good hands." He grins and pats your shin. "Welcome to the Fleet, eh? 'scume, someone else is starting to budge and I gotta make sure it's not some poor sot swallowed his tongue again." With that, he leaves you alone with your thoughts and the bright lights.

[Medical Arrival | Hangar Arrival | Briefing | Post-Briefing 1 | Post-Briefing 2]

Comments

Aibghalien Marsai | Birthright, D&D, OC

[wizardsaregodtier]

One of these things was not like the others, one of this things just didn't belong -- in other words, the tall, imperious elf was signing an immense amount of paperwork with a quiet but growing anger that he had to laboriously explain the purpose of each and every single wand or staff he possessed.

Now, the sensible person might suggest that he probably ought to go into somewhat less detail on his descriptions, especially after he had to attach five supplemental forms to the description of the Staff of Evocation, but he simply gritted his teeth and took it as a challenge. if they wanted to know what a Wall of Force was and could do, then by the gods he actively rejected! they would learn!

He added each item as he received it to the growing inventory of blatantly magical paraphernalia on his person, because at this point, being an elf clearly wasn't distinctive enough.

[fonewearl]

"You know, it's less painful for everyone in the long run if you just summarize it," came a voice from off to one side. "They'll ask for the details if they really need 'em."

A blue-haired girl—similar to an elf in appearance, but with enough differences to suggest that she was not one, or at least not the kind Aibghalien knew—stood there with a tablet-model comm device in one hand, having already signed for her own admittedly very few possessions. She had chosen that moment to look back toward the line of people who still had yet to gather their things, and what she saw was that line being held up by a six-page report.

[wizardsaregodtier]

"I attempted a summary. It was deemed inadequate." He probably could have attempted a slightly less succinct summary before waxing into this much detail, admittedly, but at a certain point he felt that the resulting confusion would be less harmful in the long run. "I am certain I will be called upon to explain eventually anyway. Technology and magic appear to have an antithetical relationship on a societal level, an observation born out by the lack of magic anyhwhere."

He swept a hand around to encompass the room and by extension, anywhere else on this ship-world he had seen.

[fonewearl]

Magic, eh? Thankfully, Mirys was at least familiar with the term, seeing how several people back where she was from would use it to describe Techniques. That small bit of familiarity gave her a rough idea of what the issue was, here. After all, she had to explain to some people the things that Ila—her Mag—was capable of, and rattling off Ila's small selection of Techniques had gotten a blank stare until she'd explains their effects. She considered herself lucky that none of the things Ila could do were offensive in nature, as she'd probably have been held up longer if that were the case.

They hadn't thought to ask her what she was capable of on her own.

"They really do want the full explanation right away then, don't they." It was more of a statement than anything.

[wizardsaregodtier]

Strangely, none of the questions Aibghalien had been required to answer had been, 'Are you capable of reshaping the fundamental building blocks of reality in six seconds, or less if you Quicken the spell?' either. Woefully neglectful of them.

"I intend to provide it," he said, putting the final touches on a particularly inspired essay about the targeting parameters of the Staff of Evocation, and at last receiving that item in return. "Unless I greatly misunderstand the situation there, they have spent an extraordinary amount of time creating what is supposed to be a teleportation effect that in actuality caused a vast multiplanar tear, and nothing about that sentence or its underlying concepts is easier to address with technology than with magic."