AFTER THE CRASH

[ataraxites]

CHARACTERS: Any and all.
LOCATION: The wreck site and the jungle beyond.
WARNINGS: Will update as needed.
SUMMARY: Characters recover after the crash and begin to establish means of survival in the new environment.
NOTES: Open log for general play for the rest of the month. Prompts are included for inspiration, but do not need to be strictly adhered to!

T H E   J U N G L E The dense vegetation of the jungle surrounds you in every direction, the green of thousands of trees and plants vibrant and lush under the bright sun. Life buzzes and calls through the branches, leaves stirring in a long, fluid shift as brief cuts of wind flow up over the cliff. Stood alone facing it, it almost seems as though it breathes, one giant force of life looming over you, overwhelming and awesome. Tangles of trees and roots stand in your way as you venture in, every step needing careful navigation to avoid standing on some strange plant or another. A blade may be necessary to cut a path through the areas where sunlight breaks through the canopy high over your head, allowing thick growth on the soil below; other areas are clear, a natural pathway developed but for low growth and fungi. Either way, it's only a matter of meters before you can't see back which way you came, the jungle setting behind you, covering the signs of your passing as if you'd never been. Something lets out a cry, high in a tree above you, a warning shriek before it and another tumble and climb through interlocking branches, fleeing your presence. Whether you came out here to hunt, forage or simply explore, proceeding quietly and carefully may offer more success - and some way to mark your path back, least the jungle manage to swallow you whole. T H E   W R E C K   S I T E The long tail left in the ship's crash path has destroyed a huge swath of jungle, trees, upturned soil. A ready-made clearing, some shelters already built out of the remains of the fallen trees, the small amount of supplies salvaged from inside the ship, more being worked on. Without the thick canopy of the jungle, the sun beats down relentlessly, shelter and shade the only respite. Dehydration threatens and food is scarce, making work slow but all the more necessary. You may have remembered enough to know your skills are best used towards the building efforts, or picking through the debris for salvage, or putting together improvized power systems; no matter which, you'd better pace yourself properly to prevent the heat catching up with you. M E D I C A L The hole up on the crest of the crashed ship still yawns open, leading down directly into the medical area you woke up in - the only readily accessible point you can see. Inside, the alarms and looping audio have stopped, leaving the space eerily quiet but for the drip of water and fluid, the creak and groan of strained, damaged metal. You may be here to assist in the medical efforts outside, to find usable equipment or supplies, or maybe you're looking for more personal answers. The elevator shafts the voice recording had previously directed you towards still stand empty, dark tunnels leading deeper into the unknown, evoking some flicker of memory of miles of corridors and rooms. Did you live here before? What happened? Whether you're here with a purpose or following curiosity, watch your step - bodies still litter the space, half buried under debris or floating in pools of collected rainwater from the storm, likely to cause a smell if left any longer. N I G H T F A L L The days are long and night, when it comes, falls quickly. The temperature drops, perhaps offering relief from the heat of the day or bringing a new threat of cold. The jungle quiets, then seems to stir to life again, the sounds of insects changing, the cries of any animals falling silent. With the only light offered by the two moons high in the sky and any small generators scattered around the makeshift camp, it may be best to stay close to shelter or find your way up off the ground. The darkness can hide any manner of new threats, and they are not so new and unsure of this terrain as you...

Comments

OTA

[acapriciousthing]

Around Camp

It takes a while for 'Robin' to really find a place she can be useful. At least until she realizes she apparently has magic. Then she at least has a sense of direction. Magic can heal people. Magic can help build structures.

Then the memories start coming back in spurts. So many battlefields. Fires. Bombed out buildings. They all look different. Some of the people aren't even human. And the technology is always changing. The... first day of existence. It comes in bits and pieces and leaves her with one question. "Never mind who... what am I?"

On ship

Like many people, she eventually ventures into the wreckage in hopes of finding answers. There's more time now to actually look around for answers than before. Broken down lockers seem the most likely. After a while, she actually comes across things that seem familiar.

And photos that she can't say are anyone's but hers. Or at least, she's in them, and that means something. Family? And in one of them, she has an arm draped affectionately around... a skeleton? "Okay, this just raises further questions."

Ship adventures

[likescats]

He's decided to take a look around as well and while she examines the photos he pulls out something more familiar out of a nearby locker.

It's like a photo, sort of. But he knows instinctively ....

AN ICONOGRAPH....THE IMP KEPT RUNNING OUT OF BLACK.

But more importantly that would explain why his memories of being taller come from. He glances over as the women he's with speaks up.

DID YOU FIND SOMETHING AS WELL?

[acapriciousthing]

She smiles. Even though she still wasn't sure about his name (or hers, though the question of what she was had quickly become more pressing), there had been something comforting about sticking near the man she woke up near. Besides, the cat seemed to know them both and that had to count for something.

"Pictures. Family, I think. I think imps would have run out of black with some of these two." Some of the people in the pictures wore colour. But there was a lot of black. On her, on the skeleton on... whoever the others were.

[likescats]

He's still looking at his own in confusion....that is slowly starting to make a weird sort of sense. He glances over holding his iconograph for her to look at.

IT SEEMS AS THOUGH I WAS A SKELETON WHEN THIS WAS TAKEN.

He probably should be more distressed about this, but he's finding that hard. Also he remembers a giant turtle flying through space and something about witches. Perhaps that was normal. His clothes match the skeletons in the picture anyway. The black robe with the clasp is now being worn over the jumpsuit he'd found.

[acapriciousthing]

"You were a skeleton." She would probably find that more shocking if she wasn't already wrestling with the fact that her own memories seemed to span billions of years and multiple planets. There was only so much shock one person could manage at a time.

If she was even a person, that was. She wasn't so sure about that any more. "But now you're not."

Was it really that strange? Well, yes. But it was the same cloak. "You were a skeleton. And... I think I love you?" Skeleton and all, it would seem.

[likescats]

It was the same cloak. And apparently same master of feelings wearing it as well.

SO THAT IS WHAT THAT EMOTION IS. I WAS WONDERING....

He was just confused about it mostly. Perhaps, he looks down at his hand. Then over at her.

I BELIEVE WE MAY HAVE BEEN MARRIED. WE APPEAR TO HAVE MATCHING RINGS AND I SEEM TO RECALL THAT BEING A THING PEOPLE THAT LOVE EACH OTHER DO.

And he did, seem to love her. It was all very confusing as he was still not feeling many emotions. He had the distinct feeling he'd had to practice in the past.

[acapriciousthing]

She looks down at her own hand. The design on their rings is pretty distinct. It wouldn't just be a coincidence. "We must be. It explains a lot, really."

Sure, there were now a whole bunch of new questions. But the way she felt around him, even without remembering their history. It just seems so natural. Of course it's love. Skeleton or not.

She looks down at the picture. "Do we have children?" He was a skeleton. Was that even possible?

He was not currently a skeleton. Was that even possible? Apparently.

[likescats]

He glances at his own picture. He remembers taking it, he remembers the people but she was not in it.

I .....HAD AN ADOPTED DAUGHTER. BEFORE, ON THE TURTLE WORLD. PERHAPS WE ADOPTED OTHERS.

He has a feeling that is making him....sad. Yes that is it, but the full memory isn't yet back. He looks at the young girl in his own picture and then over to the woman's picture. There was a stern looking woman in it with similar hair.

I BELIEVE THAT MAY BE MY GRAND DAUGHTER....GROWN UP.

[acapriciousthing]

Adoption would... definitely explain a lot. She looks between the pictures. "It looks like her. And I think I'm older than I look."

There's no way she can be as young as she looks with how far apart some of her memories are. She's still not sure what she is though.

[likescats]

There is a slight pause.

DO YOU REMEMBER THE BEGINNING?

He doesn't feel the need to add the beginning of what, he has a feeling she knows.

[acapriciousthing]

They must be married. How else would he be able to get exactly to the most troubling memory without even asking? How else could he say it in so few words, without even needing to specify the beginning of what? Obviously they understood each other on an absolutely fundamental level. "I do. And I'm not sure why."

[likescats]

CONSIDERING I USED TO BE A SKELETON I WOULD SAY IT IS HIGHLY LIKELY WE WERE NOT STRICTLY ALIVE IN THE SAME SENSE OF THE WORD AS MOST.

[acapriciousthing]

Once you accepted that a sentence could start with 'considering I used to be a skeleton', the rest came relatively easy. And there are only so many ways to explain remembering the beginning of everything. "We must be something... older than that."

Somehow, the fact that it was we helped.

Camp

[mothergoose]

Tenenbaum is walking past when she hears this. It strikes a different memory in herself. One that she strives to keep from her face. She's starting to remember what she is and she doesn't like the answer.

However she is curious what this woman means by it and turns.

"You are having trouble?"

[acapriciousthing]

"I'm remembering... just enough for it all to be very confusing." Presumably there are things that she could be remembering that make any of this make sense. Explain why she seems to remember things worlds and eons apart. But so far, those ones haven't come back. Very inconvenient, regaining memories piecemeal like this.

[mothergoose]

"Yes, it is coming back in patches for many people."

Herself included. However she's been isolated here and so she stops herself from just leaving and continues the conversation with the woman.

"Are you remembering your name?"

[acapriciousthing]

"I remember being called different things in different places. Didi. Teleute. Faucheuse. Which really just confuses the issue more." Because the times and places she remembers being called those things are dramatically different. Hence the what. She can't actually be human.

[mothergoose]

"That ...is most strange." She thinks it over, her mind is still sharp and analytical even now. "Are you remembering who was calling you by such things? Perhaps that may help."

[acapriciousthing]

"I think my nephew called me Teleute. Most of the rest, it was a lot of people. Most not for very long. It's all very confusing." It's becoming clearer and clearer that there was more unusual about her than just the magic. She was something else. Or at least was at some point.

[mothergoose]

"Yes. A family member might have a different name for you but the rest is very strange. It is possible it will be making sense if the rest of your memories return. ...I hope it does. I remembered my own name recently though not much else."

Her own memories are slow to return but she does know that one. Even if she doesn't remember her own family.

[acapriciousthing]

"I'm starting to get them impression I'm very old." It might explain why she had different names. Maybe she'd changed it for some reason.

"What's your name, then?" She does know that's the sort of thing she likes to know about people. She could tell she liked people from the start.

[mothergoose]

"Dr. Brigid Tenenbaum." It's a relief to have a name rather then the two strings of numbers on her arm. Even if it doesn't mean much other then giving her a hint of what her job was likely.

[acapriciousthing]

"Good to meet you, Dr. Tenenbaum." Doctor was good. They were going to need doctors here. Of whatever field she might specialize in. "I like people, I remember that much."

[mothergoose]

"That is...." weird, strange.... "I do not remember how I felt about people. I believe I simply did not think of them much at all. I was....focused on my work. But perhaps there is more I need to remember."

[acapriciousthing]

"I think people were my work, I'm just not quite sure how." SHe's starting to realize she has a lot of memories that are missing. So this might all take a while to figure out.