thisavrou_log | April Event and Final Game Log

Who: Anyone and everyone
When: April 1-17
Where: Avagi
What: The end of an era
Warnings: Description of body horror. Label your content.

With the breach of the Namalos' locked building, and the rescue of the individual inside, it doesn't take long for a path back to reassert itself. Silver light blossoms around Avagi's residents, pulling them back to their own home... if not necessarily to precisely where they'd left it. All characters, regardless of their location when they fell through Avagi's portals, find themselves winking back into existence at the new Memorial—the one discovered by the away team. There, they will have a chance to rest, recover, and learn from their new friend.

A descendant of the intermediaries and former inhabitant of Avagi, Tamen is indebted to the group that perfomed his rescue. He speaks freely and readily, cataloging his own experience aboard the station as well as tales of what came before. The survivors of Thisavrou's fall have venerated Ingress technology for generations—for the peace it brings, and for the odd disappearances known to happen nearby. But Tamen has heard older stories too, of the twin worlds that used it as a gateway. And of a time, centuries and centuries before that: when Thisavrou's first settlers discovered a strange light. Living Energy: something that felt them and... reached out.

Thisavrou's founders harnessed that source for their machine—and Avagi's newest residents know as well as anyone how their society came to an end. But whatever their perspectives on the energy that powers this station, it will become clear in short order that the time to learn is quickly running out. The halls remain clear, all trace of Mirtos purged by the persisting glow—but tremors wrack the station's framework intermittently, a deep, erratic shaking accompanied by flickers of the silver light. The process is slow, and poses no more immediate danger than a small earthquake. But the balance between the Living Energy and storms outside has broken, and given time, the station will literally shake itself apart.

Tamen volunteers readily to return to his people—and retrieve a supply of the purifying crystals the away team had set out for in the first place. Once installed, the air clears quickly, and in a handful of days, the Avagians' home will be as functional as ever. Still, any solution is short-term against the quakes now rippling through the interior. To resolve this problem, they will need to reach its source.

Allies

Given the difficulty of travel—and the dangers a specific few know are waiting at Avagi's heart, some amount of planning is definitely warranted. But when it comes time to assess resources, locals may find a few unexpected surprises. The light that pulled them from the station in the first place is dimmer, but still present, a strange illumination independent of any source. It glows the strongest in places where many people gather, and those who linger in its presence long may feel inexplicably revitalized. Exhaustion and pains will be alleviated, and injuries will heal twice as quickly as they should.

But the current residents aren't the only ones who've been affected by the Living Energy. Or, perhaps, the only ones it values or remembers, too. Motes of light draw together here and there, coalescing in the familiar flash of silver that precedes a new arrival. The figures that emerge, however, are anything but new. Friends, enemies, acquaintances or allies—those who traveled on the Moira or called Thisavrou their home. Harnessed or not, the Living Energy is founded on connection, and in this time of need, it reaches out to those you knew.

Unlike the usual newcomers, these visitors can appear anywhere within the station. At the time of their arrival, no return path will be apparent.

Threats

Once underway, all parties will face difficulties: some, much like the travels before. The inner levels of Avagi were every bit as shattered as the outer spaces by the explosion that tore the station apart, and care and skill will be required to navigate toward the center. The activation of the Memorials has burned away the storm from the interior, and will protect all travelers from casual glances or incidental contact. Still, it presses at the outside, fluxing violently as each bout of tremors wrack the station. Immersing oneself in it directly remains very much to be avoided, and those journeying must keep their path inside Avagi's ruins.

With the storm's expulsion comes safety from the Mirtos who stalked its halls before. Of course, your goal isn't entirely unguarded. Wrapped around the center of the station is the being who ripped it apart: Mother, a psychic swarm of shapechanging flesh who once feigned alliance with you and your friends in order to hasten Thisavrou's fall. As observed in the vision a few months back, Mother has taken up occupancy in the center of the station, and will go to any lengths to maintain her hold on the Living Energy inside.

Individuals may encounter Mother in any of several forms:

The Barrier: Entirely obstructing all paths of approach, this wall of flesh is the outermost manifestation of Mother's form. Swelling and sagging faintly as it draws in air, the surface is peppered with haphazard organs: eyes and mouths, limbs and claws, all pulsing and changing with each moment. The barrier reacts violently to any approach: with wordless shrieks and new tendrils, ready to rend or crush. That said, careful investigation (or sufficient destructive force) will reveal an important fact: this part of Mother is less a solid mass and more a membrane, and once a gap is created, quick-moving travelers can make their way inside. The barrier will seal behind them so long as there is sufficient flesh left to do so.
The Hunters: If the barrier is a chaotic swarm, Mother's next line of defense is more capable... and detailed. Full-formed bodies roam the interior hallways, taking on a variety of aspects: from innocent children to monstrous terrors to visages close enough to be mistaken for your friends. Their abilities are as varied as their shapes, and while some will charge unthinkingly, others may work as teams or call for help—if only for the purpose of entrapment. Although clever in a short-term sense, these bodies are physical manifestations of Mother's survival instinct, lacking the complexity to maintain their facade through any lengthy conversation.
The Avatars: Imbued with a measure of Mother's personality and power, these bodies are the closest to a "true" form that can be found. Mother's avatars can be identified by the gold light flaring from their eyes and skin, and the aura of rage she projects on any who come close. While as vulnerable to destruction as any organic shape, the avatars will rip into the minds of any who come near, determined to do whatever damage she can, whether through words or psychic energy.

[ooc: While players can assume the presence of avatars in their own threads, they will be NPCed in a thread below. This will be opened up for tagging on April 7th.]

Combatants might oppose these threats directly, but to reach the innermost remnants of the station, Avagi's inhabitants will need a variety of resources—and a variety of skills. Shortly before their fall, the local Savrii upgraded security around the Ingress platform, installing an array of barriers, countermeasures, and weaponry that has lain inactive for the last several centuries. While some approaches remain locked off and require skill to open, accessing other systems could give opportunities: to arm, reinforce, or safeguard your allies in this fight.

Once destroyed, all traces of the flesh that composed Mother's bodies will recede, dissolving into light. An odd feeling of sorrow lingers in the places where she fell.

Renewal

By the time all obstacles are bypassed, the quakes shaking Avagi come more frequently—and threaten the integrity of its outer parts. Still, at the very center of the station, all is quiet. The Ingress platform itself appears to have been shattered long ago, but the halls around are miraculously nearly intact: a maze of components and systems that once composed Thisavrou's Ingress. Here, in the relative peace after their battles, those touched by the Ingress will find the time they need to study what remains.

Many travelers by now have their own familiarity with the Ingress—whether here or earlier on the Moira. More information can be found in the Savrii's secured systems, once they are re-activated and repaired. Present are the control schematics: the means for activating the Ingress and selecting worlds for travel. There are even notes on the machine's instability, including a sharp increase in visitors pulled in from other worlds—logged in the last year before Thisavrou fell.

But the power source, the factor bridging all the worlds, is conspicuously absent. Or, depending on one's perspective, all around. Light shines softly in these halls as well, the silver glow of Living Energy untethered from the machines that once used it as fuel. The systems designed to contain it have been almost entirely shattered... but a few remain, gleaming faintly from within. It might be possible at this point to rebuild.

Or, to dismantle what remains of the containment.

The choice is yours. Whatever outcome is decided will take time—both to settle on and to enact. In the meantime, reconnect with friends. Salvage your supplies, tend any wounds you gained through the battles. And make your last farewells: to this place and, for many, to each other.

[OOC: For questions, information, and to cast your vote on the game-ending choice, please check out the ooc post here. A final post will go up in the network comm on April 18 with the final results, but this is the last mod log for threading on. We hope you enjoy the ride!]

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Note for returning characters: If your character left before Arc III, Nova styles herself differently from when your character last saw her.

[To say the last few months have been rough on Nova would be an understatement. Transformed into a bird, her humanity stripped away from her, sucked into a hivemind. It's changed her outlook on a couple of things: Namely, that maybe, just maybe, non-humans might not be so bad, and that if she's going to share anything, it's going to be on her own terms.]

Hey. [Yes, you.] Just... Take what you need. [Rope, perhaps, or a blanket, or an air mattress to camp out on, or any number of survival items or non-perishable foods.] And something you can hit those things with. [Like a survival knife, or a shovel or a trekking pole, offered to you on the flat top of her darling pod crab.

[In a way, her terms haven't changed that much: She's still interested in seeing humans safe. She still somewhat assumes this favor will be repaid down the road. But for once, the offer is less about what she'll get later and more about protecting people now.]

[ miles, thankfully, came here with his usual sidearms, but he's lacking in pretty much everything else -- including a place to sleep. so he's more than happy to take bedroll and a blanket. the pod crab is a little unsettling, but he'll...come back to that later.

she looks different enough now that it takes miles a moment before he recognizes her -- and it's not the progenitor, the original jane shepard, but the clone. even though her appearance has changed since he last saw her -- god, hadn't it been just the other day? -- he can tell. for all that she'd been conditioned to be the same, she's always seemed different enough to miles.

he nearly drops the supplies in surprise, a little stunned but glad to see a familiar face, even if this one wasn't strictly friendly the last time they'd talked. ]

Commander Shepard -- Jane -- [ he's trying to make it clear that he knows just who she is, but the fact that last they talked she didn't have a name of her own makes that a little difficult. ] Is that you?

[It's been some months since anyone's called her Shepard, so Nova cringes - but when it clicks who this is asking, how long it's been since she saw him, it makes sense.]

It's Nova now. Nova Barnett. But... Yeah, it's me.

[She gestures towards him.] It's been over two years; you've missed a lot.

[Once upon a time, Nova - Shepard, back then, though she'd known it wasn't her name - had received a chore bot from the captains of the Moira, and had programmed it to take over her cooking shifts.

[That's the programming she's calling on now, her omni-tool glowing orange on her arm, but this time she's attached a 20cm combat knife to it instead of the kitchen knives it had used to chop vegetables.]

C'mon...

[The chore bot rolls towards the fleshy barrier, pauses, and then starts hacking away at it with a knife.]

Yes! [Nova beams, pointing at the gap the little robot's creating in the membrane.] That can get you part of the way through.

[Though Nova's been sharing mostly pointy things, she's been using her shotgun and her biotics, blasting a hole in a tripedal alien like some she saw on Thisavrou, tearing apart a Mirtos in miniature without touching it.

[Blue light streaks from her black armor with its distinctive red and white stripe as she whips around to face the next Hunter, only to find -]

Aurelia?

[People she hasn't seen in years have been coming back; she's seen them. Who's to say Aurelia's not one of them?

[And then the Hunter wearing Aurelia's face lunges for her.]

[and then the hunter ...stops. something blue is flying around it, freezing the thing in place. giant clumps of ice form around it, joining together to freeze it entirely. nova might recognise the clip clopping of aurelia's designer heels as she comes over to inspect her would-be prey.]

Bonjour, darling! [she chirps happily, like nothing's happened and no time had passed. she casually pull out a small pistol and levels it at the creature's head, seemingly unshaken by the fact it looks like her.] Ugh, the stupid creature couldn't even find the right shade of lipstick. I mean, mine is unique, made from a now-extinct plant, but it should still try.

[without further ado, she fires in the ice a few times. breaking apart the layer ontop of its head and presumably killing it in the process. let's see how well it lunges without a head. aurelia grins at her kill, then turns and... levels the gun at nova.]

Now, darling, you're not about to sprout several extra limbs and attempt to chew on my lovely coat, are you? I'd be terribly inconvenienced.

[she's also actually genuinely happy to see nova again, so she might feel more than inconvenience but shhhh not allowed to know that yet.]

[Ice, heels, criticism, bragging - this is the Aurelia she knew and cared for. Nova gazes at Aurelia, stunned, and as she accuses her of similarly being a hunter, she smiles.]

No. [She has had inhuman transformations over the last few months, but nothing in the realm of extra limbs and cannibalism.] No, it's me.

[Ah, but Aurelia had left long before she'd chosen her name - time for a reintroduction.] More me than before: My name's Nova now. Nova Barnett.

[Absurdly, she wonders what Aurelia thinks of her new look. She'd chosen it for herself and is not about to change it for anyone - but still, she wonders.]

[a pause. she squints, cocking her head, like she's wondering whether to believe nova or not.

after a moment, she lowers her gun, grinning.]

Oh, darling! Here I was wondering if you were the other one-- the boring one. No, no, of course not. She could never hope to be so stylish!

[if nova thought that maybe... one or two people had ever seen aurelia beaming the way she is, she'd be right.]

What a wonderful coincidence!

April Event and Final Game Log

Nova Barnett née Clone Shepard | Mass Effect

this is my favorite store on Avagi

slides right in here

whoooops

I'm sending the command codes now

closed: you had Miranda, I have her

evil space lesbian reunion LET'S GO

a million years later

no subject