THE SQUAD DOES AN INTRO - [modplot] [event]

[wildermods]

THE SQUAD DOES AN INTRO
OOC POST
In their homeworlds, they suddenly hear water flowing over stone, the wind through the leaves, and the gentle rattling of Kodama. The hushed sound of treetops waving in the breeze lull them to sleep whether they want it to or not, and in what seems like a dream they fall through a tunnel that passes through layers of dirt and roots and then through seemingly endless boughs of trees.

During this impossibly long fall, spirits whisper in their ears. They tell them that they must save the Wilderlands and the Green. They tell them that they will be given the power or weapons to do it - or that they're already strong enough as they are. They tell them that in the times they're not needed, they may find themselves trapped in the faerie realm known as the Brugh, but that the mirrors will let them speak, and the mirrors will let them see.

And they tell them that they're about to become lost in the forest and that there are others like them, just as lost.

When they wake up, they find themselves in the ruins of an abandoned city; the forest has overtaken it, threading new life through the decay, but the green of the leaves and vines pales in contrast with the broken buildings and streets. Every single building in this city was once a vibrant shade of emerald, and even now, after the slow ravages of time, the green ruins glimmer like they're hewn from precious gems.

The only things that aren't that bright shade of emerald are the statues. Countless statues are scattered through the abandoned city, shaped like men and women and children and pets, all dressed in 1900s era Earth-style finery. These figures are extremely intricate, almost too detailed to be believably carved by a human hand. Many of them are smashed and broken.

Some of the statues don't look human. Among the humans are little beings shaped like china dolls that are made of stone like the rest, instead of porcelain. And in the middle of the city, standing near each other are three strange petrified figures: an axe-wielding man that looks like he was made of metal before being petrified, a man who looks like a human-lion hybrid, and a living scarecrow. All three have expressions of surprise or anger on their faces.

When the characters are brought into this place, the magic that brought them in seems to have trouble getting them all in the same place at first. They find themselves spending brief amounts of time in one spot (sometimes just minutes, sometimes longer) before they're teleported again. Each time they teleport they find themselves near someone new, someone just as lost as them. Those that don't speak the same language may find some difficulties communicating, but over time, the magic of the Wilderlands will kick in, and plant a whole new language in their heads. This magic works faster the more they emotionally connect with other and find understanding without words.

The teleportation keeps zapping them in different places all over the city -- and sometimes outside it, where they can see an abandoned road made of yellow brick that trails off into the distance. Fortunately, the people they keep getting paired off with seem like normal people just like them, and beyond that, they're entirely alone in the ruins.

Probably.

---

OOC INFO
✦ Post in actionspam format. Plots and mod-run events in the game are meant to be in actionspam format to keep a brisk pace.

✦ Please see the OOC post linked up top for more information about the event.

Comments

[therevanchist]

[Wait, no Basic? Weird. Revan blinks and switches to Huttese.]

How about this?

[invisibleheir]

[ Ah... That's no good. Maybe Middle English? ]

I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're saying.

[ She's eying Revan though. This woman looks like she knows what she's doing with herself, which is comforting. ]

[therevanchist]

[Sigh. If this other person doesn't at least recognize Basic or Huttese, they're not going to have a common language. How far out of the way did she land, anyhow?]

HK? If you're lurking somewhere, now would be a great time to come out.

[She's clearly not talking to Arturia. What good is having your own assassin-slash-protocol droid if he's not around when you need an interpreter, honestly. In the absence of HK, Revan reaches out with the Force, trying for insight when mere polyglotism fails.]

[invisibleheir]

[ Arturia shrugs and lets out a bit of a sigh. This isn't getting either of them anywhere. She watches Revan with a curious tilt of her head. There's nothing much to be said, is there?

As Revan reaches out with the Force she can feel trepidation, concern, confusion--nothing overtly hostile though. ]

[therevanchist]

[The Force feels so muted here, a few quiet notes where it should be a symphony, but Revan can still sense the other woman's mind, the confusion and unease that mirrors her own...but no words come.

Oh well, worth a shot. Revan shrugs at Arturia with a "what-are-ya-gonna-do?" half-smile.]

I guess you're not from around here, either.

[invisibleheir]

[ Arturia gives something of a shrug when Revan speaks again. It's all Greek to her, if she's honest. At least this woman seems friendly. ]

Are you a native of this place?

[ Might as well try to talk through what they can do. She pauses for a moment, then places a hand against her chest and bows just slightly. ]

Saber. [ She pats her chest again for emphasis. ]

[therevanchist]

Saber.

[Revan repeats the introduction with a nod, then touches her own chest in the same gesture Arturia used.]

Mar--

[She starts to say 'Marila' automatically, but her throat closes around the name, the anguish of the last few days flooding back, sharp and nauseating, and she has to take a moment to get herself back under control. Only a hint of the struggle makes it to her face, a wince that smooths back into impassiveness in a heartbeat.]

...Revan.

[Arturia can't know what an enormous decision Revan's just made...but it's definitely a weird reaction to have to something as mundane as an introduction.]

[invisibleheir]

[ Arturia tilts her head for a moment, considering the briefest stutter and pause. Interesting. Someone else who ahd reason to hide their true name? That wasn't something she needed to be terribly concerned with at the moment, though. ]

Revan.

[ She repeats the name, then smiles. That's established, at least! Now what? ]

[therevanchist]

[Little does Arturia know how backwards she's got it, and she'll have to get Revan's s-link a lot higher to find out.]

Nice to meet you. Probably.

[Saber didn't react to the name with horror or even recognition, so Revan doesn't need to worry about it for the time being, and she shoves all her emotions back behind whatever wall of denial passes for serenity in a very upset Jedi.]

I don't suppose you know a decent bar around here.

[She's being a smartass. That means everything is fine, see?]

[invisibleheir]

[ Arturia smiles a little, then blinks as Revan speaks again. Wait. Did she understand a few of those words? She distinctly heard 'Probably' and what sounded like 'decent bar.' ]

A decent bar? Why are you talking about bars?

[ Without the rest of the sentence, it's hard to grasp the context, though the sarcastic tone carries through. ]

[therevanchist]

[Oh, hey. Her words repeated back to her...with confusion tacked on. Revan's not sure why the language barrier is dissolving all of a sudden, but don't pull the maintenance logs on a gift droid, right?]

'Cause I could use a drink.

[Responsible adult galactic hero Revan.]

[invisibleheir]

A drink? Is this really the time to be drinking?

[ Oh God, it's another Lancer. Or Taiga. Arturia sighs. ]

...Though I suppose there's comfort in wine at times like these.

[therevanchist]

Is this really the time to be sober?

[She laughs, because finally, real communication.]

Besides, bartenders know everything that's going on in a city.

[This sort of counts as a city, not that she really expects to find a functioning bar. Or a functioning anything.]

[invisibleheir]

I hadn't thought of it like that. But then again, I've not spent much time in bars...

[ Arturia frowns and glances around them at the rather ruined city. Nope. No bars here. ]

You said your name was Revan?

[therevanchist]

Huh. Everyone I know always wants to meet in shady cantinas.

[You know shady people, Revan.]

I'm Revan, yes.

[She says it this time without batting an eyelash. If she's good at anything, it's committing to a course of action. In fact, she's probably too good at that.]

[invisibleheir]

A king who serves his people can't be seen to be shady.


[ Despite Arturia's wry smile, there's a deadly seriousness behind her words. ]

Well met. I don't suppose you know anything about this place either, do you?

[therevanchist]

[That is a weird thing to say out of the blue, and Revan frowns slightly in puzzlement, but doesn't find it worth outright commenting on.]

Not a thing...Saber, you said?

[invisibleheir]

[ Arturia nods. Unconsciously, she reaches back to make sure that her sword is where it's (not) supposed to be. ]

Yes, please call me Saber.

[therevanchist]

Wait.

[Something relevant to Revan's interests clicks in her head as this new language she's somehow learning settles itself in.]

Saber as in sword?

[Assuming everyone will recognize a lightsaber, Revan brushes one of the hilts hanging at her hip in an intentional gesture of her own.]

[invisibleheir]

Ah, yes. Exactly like a sword.

[ Right. Other people might find being named 'Saber' a little odd. She glances down at Revan's motion and eyes the lightsaber hilts, unsure of what exactly it is. ]

[therevanchist]

[It's not that--she travels with someone named Mission. Revan just likes swords.]

Heh.

[She plucks one her sabers from her belt, holding it out in an open palm to show she has no plans of using it.]

Lightsaber.

[invisibleheir]

[ Arturia arches a brow and peers at the hilt. She's not sure what this is supposed to be or why she's being shown it--it can't be a sword, can it? ]

...Is that a weapon?

[ She swings Excalibur around so she can hold it by its scabbard. If they're doing show and tell... ]

Excalibur.

[therevanchist]

You...have no idea what a lightsaber is.

[Okay, sure, add one more inexplicable thing to the list.]

It's a plasma sword.

[Revan lets her hand drop but keeps holding the lightsaber rather than return it to its clip, leaning in to politely inspect Saber's blade. There's no place she can see for a vibration cell in the hilt. Maybe it's an heirloom?]

"Excalibur" is its name?

[invisibleheir]

I don't.

[ Blink. Those two words make sense on their own but putting them together seems nonsensical. A sword made of plasma? There have been stranger things, she guesses. ]

Yes. I've used it most of my life.

[therevanchist]

[Someone who looks to be in her twenties at most claiming to have been a sword fighter for "most of her life" doesn't cause Revan to so much as bat an eyelash. That makes two of them, and a smile tugs at one side of her mouth.]

Lightsabers are energy blades. Apprentices in my Order make them as part of their final tests.

[Revan couldn't tell you why she's explaining Jedi nonsense to a near stranger. She just has a hunch, and those generally work out for her.]