thisavrou_log | (no subject)

Who: Anyone and everyone
When: March 6-16
Where: Namalos
What: A reprieve, for now

The light spreading through the battered interior of Avagi station comes with a sense of displacement. No longer a journey they can choose, residents will find themselves traveling somewhere—being sent, it seems, by an echoing voice that can be heard on the edge of consciousness. Whoever is directing you, and whatever their intent, one thing is clear.

There is something—someone—they want you to find.

The silver glow vanishes. Reality returns... if not as smoothly as before. The space around you seems to lurch and stutter, and you feel yourself stumbling against a wall—pressed, for a moment, under a vast and dispassionate regard. And then, this barrier dissolves. As they return to reality, Avagians will find themselves somewhere completely new: far from both the storms and the light that displaced them.

No light. No portals. Around you, you may see your friends and allies—but nowhere is there any sign of a way back.

Namalos

This land is deceptively beautiful—and just as deadly. The thick forest spreads in all directions, filled with bioluminescent foliage that prevents true darkness from ever descending, but it holds few comforts. The temperature ranges from stiflingly hot during the day to frigid at night, and while there is little fauna to be found, the many insects that make a home here are hungry, aggressive—and often venomous. Even the more edible of the available plants come with a bitter taste and little nutrition.

The wilderness may seem endless, but refuge can be found in half a day's walk to the north, where larger life signs may be detected—an oasis of sorts, in the form of a clearing large enough to hold a small city. They are not alone.

Despite its untamed surroundings, the settlement of Namalos appears extremely civilized—even mundane. Unlike many worlds the travelers have encountered, it has a spaceport. Small crafts appear above the sky, descending below to trade with the locals. Perhaps because of this connection to other planets, Namalans appear to have no single native species, ranging from humanoid to tentacled to oddly reptilian.

Although surprised by guests appearing from the land, not the sky, the Namalans will cautiously welcome the new arrivals, offering them temporary quarters in the outer ring of the city where interstellar travelers sometimes rest before embarking on a return trip. There are local scientists who will offer to look for any traces of portal energy in an attempt to see if a portal can be opened again. Still, getting back isn't the only goal some Avagians might have, and those who spend some effort searching may turn up unsettling facts.

Exploration

Life on Namalos is far more organized than any of Avagi's residents are likely to have experienced before. Despite the different species that call the world home, all locals depart their houses at the same time each morning and return at the same time in the afternoon. Traffic flows freely on pedestrian paths and roads, with no lights or overt signage, but no vehicles collide—as if all beings know their place. In the afternoon, children will appear in front of houses at the same time, play games, and return indoors for dinner like clockwork. If stopped, Namalans will politely answer questions asked of them before returning to routine.

Within the city itself, the Avagians may note some places of interest:

The Central Authority: The government building of Namalos is large and ostentatious, but extremely quiet within, with little noise but the soft sounds of data processing—and there is a great deal of that. No courts can be found, but this bureaucratic machine generates an enormous amount of paperwork.
The Spaceport: This facility, located just outside the largest ring of the city, appears to facilitate trade with other worlds in this solar system—and possibly beyond. Passengers on the ships that come and go appear to be interested in commerce, not leisure visits, but will have no unkind words to say about the Namalans. Rarely will they venture into the city itself, and only for a short time if they do.
The Wellness Center: This large complex near the city's inner ring serves as a place of self-improvement for all who wish to pursue it, free of charge. Physical fitness classes that consist of rhythmic, dance-like routines exist in place of standard gym workouts, and spaces for meditation and quiet chanting in an ancient local language are available to soothe the mind. Other spaces are marked for classes on rhetoric and group facilitation, but these are scheduled by appointment only.
The Locked Building: The lack of crime or violence on Namalos means locked doors are rare, and Avagians may go where they please—with the exception of one utterly plain, undecorated building in the central ring of the city. Located in the shadow of the Central Authority, it is guarded every hour by pairs of Namalans who are no less pleasant for their refusal to let anyone pass.

While some amount of leniency is shown to visitors, the Namalans find disruptions to their routine extremely grating. As strangers disrupt their streets and lives, Namalans grow cold to the prospect of indefinite guests. Those staying in the city for longer than three days will be asked to pay back the hospitality of their hosts, and assigned a task with which to do so. For children, this will consist of school attendance, but adult jobs can vary from stamping papers to mining ore. All complaints about the suitability of an assignment will be thoroughly disregarded, and little sympathy will be provided by your temporary coworkers to those unable to keep pace.

While technically free to travel through the city, Avagians will find that no matter where they go, nearby Namalans keep watch. Their gazes are neither malevolent nor friendly, and can only be deterred through distance—though somehow, outside of the temporary quarters, they will find at least one local always in sight.

Even more curiously, the longer they remain, and the more time they spend personally interacting with Namalans, the more absorbing they may find the local rhythms. Wake up, work, dine, sleep without deviation. They may even find themselves slipping out of awareness for brief intervals... but in such a peaceful place, is this really a bad thing?

[OOC: For more information, or to note particular disruptions your character might cause, please check out the OOC post here!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Not even remotely, and Shiro might even catch Darin's jaw clench in response before he just quietly moves on.

"Oh they're accommodating. They've given us temporary rooms just outside the main hub of the city. They're just very...well, have you spoken to any yourself? They don't like their routines disturbed."

"You know that was a joke, right?"

Yeah, no, he's going to point that out.

"No, I haven't. Just people here at the spaceport. And I think they're from out of town."

"I do. You know that I find pretty much all of your jokes to be terrible, right?"

He's going to fire that one right back.

"Well, do yourself a favor? If you do try and pick their brains, do it when they don't look particularly busy and don't keep them from something they have to do. They really, and I mean really hate it."

"That's rude. I'm a comedian and a gentleman."

He's not going to fight this too hard, though. There's not nearly enough energy in his whole body for that.

"... what happens when you ask them while they're busy?"

Or does he not want to know.

"You're a pain in my ass."

He pauses and taps at his chin.

"They just...they really really do not like it. It's got this eerie feeling to it. Like you just disturbed something greater than just the one part. Does that make sense?"

"You don't hate it as much as you say."

That's not the best news ever. In fact, it's sort of alarming.

"Yeah... yeah, it does. Have you ever heard of a 'hive mind'?"

"I have not and it sounds terrifying. Please elaborate."

"It's when all members of a colony are connected to a central hub. Or brain. Something like bees..."

He shakes his head slightly. "What effects one, everyone feels. But no one has any real... free thought. They do whatever the 'hub' tells them to."

"Hm..."

Darin crosses his arms in thought.

"I didn't...get that vibe exactly from them? It was like..."

He rolls his hand at the wrist as he struggles to find a proper analogy.

"Like hypnosis. Like they were compelled to stay on routine."

"Compelled..."

And then, now more than ever, he wishes Lance were here. The one who had direct experience with compulsions like hypnosis. Without actually being under it.

But --

"Hunk. We need to talk to Hunk."

-- he'd been there. Granted, Shiro had gotten that story secondhand, but still.

"Oooookaaaaay? Hunk. We have to talk to Hunk."

He scratches his head.

"Why Hunk?"

"Sorry -- thinking too fast for my mouth."

He holds up his hand.

"Hunk and Lance ran into something like this, back where we came from. Something about mermaids and mind control. I figure he might be able to spot something."

"Alright but...were the mermaids all different species?"

Darin kind of looks around, then moves closer to Shiro and throws an arm around his shoulders like a makeshift huddle. He lowers his voice considerably.

"I don't know if you've noticed but...the Namalans...they're not one specific race. It's a big melting pot of aliens around here. But they all act the same way. Like some sort of...I dunno. Indoctrination?"

"I'm not sure. They managed to put Hunk under, at least. So..."

He doesn't even blink at the sudden closer proximity. That's normal. But his eyes flick around the spaceport, curious.

"Yeah, I noticed. Like Thisavrou was. Except they all seem in on something, this time." Like the general populace of Thisavrou hadn't been. Just their freaking intermediaries.

"Yeah well...at least Thisavrou was comfortable. We had a good thing going there."

He sighs.

"I don't know about you but I don't exactly have any experience with brainwashing."

His expression turns distant for a moment, staring at some fixed point beyond them.

"Yeah... yeah, we did."

He pushes his left hand through his hair. "I wish I could answer that, one way or another."

"Right, right, amnesia, I forget that sometimes."

He pulls his arm away from Shiro's shoulders and looks around the spaceport.

"You think we were dumped here for a reason? Or do you think maybe this was just chance?"

For a long moment, he just stares at Darin. Blinking a few times.

"Did you just make an amnesia joke?"

Because it's kind of hilarious. In retrospect.

"I don't know. Booting up the memorial wiped out a lot of my memory from the moment. If there was anything, it's not in my head."

"I don't remember."

Yeah, that's all he really has to say.

Again, Darin is rewarded with a long, puzzled stare.

Up until Shiro has to literally choke down a laugh in response.