PORT: MEODRIOTOPE

[returnjourney]

PORT: MEODRIOTOPE

Feb 11, 2022 – Feb 13, 2022
Welcome to Meodriotope! (Try spelling that without double-checking. I double-dog dare you.) This is our first port. Ports are, as the name implies, a visit to "shore", which can be just about any planet in the Oos Galaxy. This time, the Peregrine is dropping in on a flower-gathering errand, but it's a good opportunity for characters to stretch their legs.

The full OOC write-up for the port is here. If you have any questions about the event, please ask here.

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Questions & Answers

1. Disembarking

For some passengers, this will be the first time they've touched land in almost forty days. Is it unusual, stepping down onto solid ground and breathing cool, fresh air? Is it frightening, to look upon the sea of blue grass and pale sky and realize you have never been so far from home? Is it exciting? Awe-inspiring? Gross, because who likes the outdoors anyway?

Of course, not everyone will disembark. Inmates cannot leave the ship without a warden as escort, and wardens will be responsible for inmates in port — they don't have to be glued to each others' sides, of course, but it's harder to make trouble under a watchful eye.

2. Camp

There'd be a lot of walking without the ATVs, so the Navarch has deployed both vehicles to serve as transport and support for housing. The campsites, once set up, look very much like regular Earth camping — turns out at some point in human development, people pretty much perfected what a rapid set-up/rapid tear-down camp can be, give or take some aesthetic trappings. A sleeping bag is a sleeping bag. A camp stove is a camp stove. It's just cooler when it's made of sleek white metal with designer rounded edges and blue lighting, and all.

There are four tents set up, each sleeping 4-6 people, so even if everyone decided to camp, it won't be too crowded. They are equipped with a solar-air tube that can generate power from sunlight, so they are climate controlled and have built-in lighting. An additional tent serves as a mess tent, though you'll all be eating on little folding chairs. Plastic trunks store rations. Those who want a bit of local fare will have to work for it.

Wardens also have a locked toolbox containing a hatchet, a firestarter, and a pair of utility knives. Should be handy for setting up a campfire at night. Shame no one picked up marshmallows from the commissary; that would have been nice.

3. [Mis]adventuring

There's plenty to see out in the world of Meodriotope:

Burrowing holes — Beware your ankles: the fields are home to colonies of littari, rabbit-like creatures the size of labradors. They leave large holes that are easy to fall into, if you're not watching where you step. This time of year, they usually stay deep in their warrens, but occasionally they pop up to smell the wind and scavenge for edible plants in the thick grasses. They're largely harmless, preferring to flee when possible, but they may go for the calves with their large, blunt teeth when cornered or struck. (They also taste good with mint sauce.)

Lover's Kiss — These little plants can be difficult to find, as they thrive under the grasses' shade, but when you find one, you find a lot of them. Each vine has fifty or more bright, red blooms, pinched at the sides and bowed in the middle like a pair of juicy lips. The Navarch requests that they be harvested; they're used in medicines on a neighboring planet and the Admiralty has asked the Peregrine to pick some up while we're in the area. Be careful, though: if you pluck them too roughly, they'll explode, and the red markings take weeks to wear off skin, even with dutiful scrubbing.

The Fishwives' Village — Five hours west is a small village close to the shore, home to...well, who knows if they're wives, but they have fish heads and bodies with humanoid arms and legs, and they wear little robes. Kind of like reverse mermaids. They are quite small, barely reaching four feet tall, and they speak their own language, leaving communication to little gesticulations and gestures. They live in small stone huts, arranged in concentric circles with a small market in the middle, and barter roast seafood, handicrafts, crabgrass beer, and small tools for off-world goods. Most of their culture seems to revolve around fishing and goods made of woven grasses. The fishwives are fussy about outsiders and carry little fishing spears when they visit, just in case.

The Shoreline — Long, long, long coastlines looking out at the sea, with beaches made up of smooth stones. There are plenty of interesting sea creatures to see in the rocky tide pools, but try not to handle anything indiscriminately (many things bite and some of those things are venomous). You can walk a long way out before the water gets deep, but be careful and make sure you aren't too far out when the tide comes in.

Rock Formations — Weathered in fascinating shapes from centuries of storms and high winds, these formations curl across the southeastern plains. They make swooping sounds when the wind passes through them, like deep and echoing woodwinds. Suneoff, resembling cat-sized mudskippers, dwell in the formations' shadow, while the bat-like knassu nest in the better protected crannies.

4. A Very Wet Last Day

Looks like we didn't manage to miss the rain. The storm clouds on the horizon take their sweet time to arrive, but on the last full day before departure, wardens and inmates will wake to the sound of heavy rain on the roofs of their tents. For some, it may be a struggle to leave the warm, dry confines of the tent to venture into rain. It's the kind that comes down relentlessly, soaking you to the skin within minutes, and cold to boot.

To make matters worse, the rain has transformed the long grasses into a veritable slip-n-slide. Step too quickly and you might find yourself shooting down a sloping hill, or at the very least on your ass. Visibility drops to barely twenty feet ahead.

Packing up in this? Ugh. We have to be back on the ship by nightfall! Anyone who isn't aboard gets left behind.

Comments

[saklas]

What? Oh, William.

[Volk chews on his lip.]

You know how to hit him, right? He's guilty about being on that side of the bars.

[He assumes whatever Rhys's Court culture is like, Volk doesn't need to tell him that this is the big one and that no one's here to make friends. Knife him in the gut and run.

Figuratively.]

[smugreport]

Yeah, I was thinking I'd do the ol' switcheroo: I'll fill up a pair of my clothing with leaves and grass, then I'll tell William I'm not feeling well and need to lie down. Once I'm out of his sight, I'll put the fake Rhys to bed and sneak out unnoticed, join up with you and the others, and hit the road before William realizes his inmates been replaced with foliage.

[ He's imagining a whole montage right now and hopes he's painting a vibrant picture for Volk too. ]

[saklas]

...No. Don't do that.

Just make him feel like shit, he'll have to leave to regroup.

[smugreport]

What? That's stupid. Hurting his feelings isn't going to distract him for more than thirty minutes tops. We need hours of downtime here.

[saklas]

Hours, why? Travis has a warden. We can just say we're going with Waver, then get Travis to -

[Volk punches his palm.]

[smugreport]

[ Rhys may not know William well, but he knows he takes his job as Rhys's keeper seriously enough that he'd want to follow along. One warden will be enough of a pain to shake loose once they've hit the road. ]

What?

[saklas]

[Quietly, but insistently:] Hit him on the head, or stuff him in the trunk or something.

[Louder:] Circle back with him at some point about some redundancies in our workflow.

[rank1]

[Travis' head turns at a raised voice, an eyebrow raised. What the fuck?]

[smugreport]

[ Just as quietly ]

Hit him on the head with what, it's not like we're going to crowbar and bricks planet.

[ As per usual, Rhys has forgotten a key element about himself. ]

Shhhh!

[saklas]

Any shoe. Any. Your metal arm! Okay, look, let's go over there, he's looking.

[Volk is walking over. Big smile. Hi Travis. Guess what.]

[rank1]

[Travis, thumbs hooked into his belt and eyes shaded by a pair of pink aviators, does not match Volk’s smile. His resting bitch face is currently an active bitch face. He doesn’t even look at Rhys.]

You ready?

soem day i'll have these icons fixed up but Where Is The Time

[saklas]

[Volk, with his own tint, says mildly:] Nice glasses. How long can you get along with a guy who knows how these things start and drive?

[Volk tips his head towards Rhys.]

[smugreport]

[ Rhys keeps his arms crossed, expression set in a scowl, but he will Play Nice otherwise. ]

I've been in one.

[rank1]

Thanks, but I didn't sign up for this guy. [He jerks his thumb towards his "warden", his new pal.] Jack over here's from space too. Bet she's done more than just be in one.

[smugreport]

Yeah? She build technology for a living, too?

[saklas]

As soon as we get out of range and to a road, nobody ever has to see each other again. How does that sound?

[rank1]

[Travis shifts pointedly so his shoulder is to Rhys, attention solely on Volk.]

Until then, I’m dumping him the minute he starts shit.

[smugreport]

Who died and made you king?

[ A scoff before he reels himself in. He only has to get along with them for a few hours.]

Look just get me to a transport station and we can both forget eachothers existence, everyone wins.

[rank1]

[Good question. There's a flicker on Travis's face, something dark and stormy, and he gives a little roll of his shoulders like he's ready to turn and throw the fuck down, but he doesn't turn. Last chance, buddy.]

[saklas]

Stop.

[Why why why does the plan hinge on these two acting like adults?]

Whatever the fuck this is, -

[Volk gestures between them, keeping his voice low.]

- it's a luxury we can't afford. I don't know about either of you, but I have things to get back to. Once we're free, we can hate whoever we want, but as long as they've got us, every time we get in each other's way we're doing their work for them. You two fuck with each other and make this not work, they don't have to lift a finger. We all pull in the same direction until we're out. Don't enjoy it, don't forgive each other, just pull. Got it?

[smugreport]

[ There's no chance he'll admit it out loud, but Volk has a solid point. Not that he's the one starting shit!! But finishing isn't doing himself any favors here either. It's going to take a boatload of self control to not snap back at whenever Travis opens his stupid mouth but he'll do it for the end goal. ]

Fine, okay, I got it. Team work makes the dreamwork, enemy of my enemy whatever.

[rank1]

[Rich talk from a guy who isn't constantly getting his buttons pushed, Travis thinks. At least I have a mother. What a fucking crock.

But it is what it is.]

I know how to get the job done.

[saklas]

Good. That's all this is.

[Volk flips up his collar. Fuck it, fuck it. He wants to go home so badly. His gaze flips up to Jack.]

Who are they?

[Their fashion is completely killer but that's not always a good sign.]

[rank1]

[Who? Oh, Jack.]

Jack. She's cool, big plans to get out of here. She found Waver first.

[saklas]

Is she reliable?

[Hmm, wait. Travis isn't a good judge.]

Actually, never mind. She's here, she's in I guess.