epidemiology | EVENT ★ WELCOME TO TERRA FELIS

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EVENT ★ WELCOME TO TERRA FELIS

WELCOME TO TERRA FELIS

Characters leave Woodhurst suddenly and without notice, but once they come out the other side of the rift, they aren't in Oska. Instead, they'll find themselves in the middle of a springtime meadow. Flowers are in bloom, the bright blue sky is above, and birds chirp overhead.

And then there are the cats.

From all sides of the meadow come housecats of all shapes and sizes, indistinguishable from mundane felines in every way until one of them speaks: "You're the third team today," it says in the calm, clear voice of a man. "Come along."

CENTRUM COLONIAM

Centrum Coloniam is the primary city of Terra Felis and is where the government, a constitutional monarchy, is located. Situated high above the ground, the city is accessible via teleportation pads located at guarded entrances all around its base; the teleportation pads to return to the ground are not guarded at all, and anyone may travel freely whenever they wish.

Terra Felis operates on magitek, a complex combination of magic and technology that recruits should be familiar with: it's the same technology that runs Oska and the jewelcomms. Centrum Coloniam is lit by glowing, floating orbs that turn on automatically in the darkness, and its machinery seems to run itself, with only a few technicians scurrying about every now and then. The buildings all have tall, vaulted ceilings, as the cats prefer to walk along raised platforms rather than the floor, though furniture and utensils might give larger species (that's you) some difficulty.

However, the cats receive enough visitors where most buildings (except private residences) have been situated with human-sized doorways, though if you're very tall, you may have to stoop a bit. All in all, characters ought to be relatively comfortable here if they have a good sense of humor -- though dogs or other canine companions will be met with suspicion if not outright hostility. Even enlightened sapient felines are not without their prejudices.

The city of Centrum Coloniam is shaped like a circle, with the government in the center and four districts located to the north, east, south, and west. Radiating out from the city are four long spokes of parkland, separating each district.

AREAS OF NOTE:

ROYAL SQUARE. Where the Queen's opulent palace is located. She is much too busy to see visitors right now, but the Prime Minister, a plump persian, will greet anyone in her stead and answer any questions. Surrounding the palace in a circle are the parliamentary buildings and other governmental structures.

ACADEMY SQUARE. To the north of the Royal Square is Academy Square, Terra Felis's university district and home to the Royal University. The cats focus mainly on scientific, mathematical, and magical pursuits, though there are smaller colleges for history and law. This is also where the library is located, though it is all nonfiction (and written in Latin), as the cats don't seem to have much use for entertainment.

Also located within the Academy Square is the Royal Magitekkery, where the magitek specialists are hard at work developing new spells and technology. This is where the interdimensional rift machines are located, and where scientists and wizards are monitoring for news from Oska. If characters would like to ask more about magitek or inquire about Oska, they may speak to the Royal Scientist, a rather snobby sphynx.

GROOMING DISTRICT. Home to many spas, salons, and other businesses focusing on individual pampering, the Grooming District is located to the east of the Royal Square and is where the majority of the locals are employed if they are not involved in politics or magitek. Though their primary clientele are, naturally, feline, they are largely excited to work on aliens and will do their best to provide whatever services they can.

Of particular note are the Terra Felis spas, where soothing mud baths and shi-miatsu massage are very popular with their regular alien visitors. They also have natural hot springs available, though you'll have to wait for a Turkish Van to assist you, as all other spa attendants refuse to risk getting wet.

RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT. Unless you are going to be roughing it down on the ground, your lodgings will be here at a hotel especially outfitted for human-sized visitors. The proprietress, a friendly tabby, will give you directions if you need them.

Hotel rooms are outfitted with private bathrooms, a table and chairs, a vanity, and a television -- though the programming is primarily educational and news, except for the channel that plays nothing but endless videos of birds and fish, and the "alien station" which plays what appears to be soap operas starring bloblike creatures. The beds are probably the most unusual thing here for visitors -- although they're big enough for humanoids, they're just gigantic, fluffy cat beds.

The houses here are not built for alien visitors larger than a cat, so if you make a friend, you'll have to visit them elsewhere. This district is also home to a number of shops and restaurants, though you might have trouble finding something to eat at the latter unless you live on a purely carnivorous diet. If you would like a little more variation in your meal, you will be offered a tray of wheatgrass; the kitchen at the hotel is staffed with cooks more accustomed to a human diet, so you might have better luck there. As cats are allergic to alcohol, there is no liquor in Terra Felis, but locals will offer you catnip on the sly if you mention you want something to help you loosen up.

MUSEUM CAMPUS. The pride of Centrum Coloniam, the Museum Campus is located to the west of the Royal Square and home to museums covering everything from history to astronomy. (There is no art museum. If you were interested in seeing what cats consider art, the answer is nothing.) There is also a rather large and rather popular aquarium, as well as a zoo which features both native animals and animals from all across the galaxy. The zoo is home to an extremely complex breeding program, and the Royal Zookeeper, a scatterbrained black longhaired cat, is happy to explain their methods.

Outside the city, the ground is home to meadows and forests, plus smaller villages for more rural cats. Characters are welcome to spend their time exploring the wilds if the city life isn't for them, where they may run into animals that one may expect to find in medieval Europe (deer, bears, wolves, etc). Apart from the cats, there is no other sapient species on the planet.

OOC NOTES

Welcome to Terra Felis! Contact with ALASTAIR NPCs remains mysteriously closed, and the native cat population has no idea what's going on with Oska either.

Please use this post to plot amongst yourselves!

The two other ALASTAIR teams in Terra Felis are Team Unicorn, an elite team of six (five humanoids and one talking kangaroo), and Team Ambrosia, a 20-recruit magic-focused team that consists of elves, humans, and satyrs. Unicorn had just begun their mission when they were suddenly rifted to Terra Felis, and Ambrosia was in the middle of what was apparently a very epic battle.

Questions about Terra Felis can be directed here. You may also use this comment to ask (brief!) handwaved questions with cat NPCs.

Questions about the game in general should be directed to the FAQ. You may also submit mission ideas or player plots at any time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Aqua isn't a child soldier, but she feels a similar sort of wonder whenever she visit someplace new. Having been raised in the isolation of the mountains to take the mantle of keyblade master, it's really only been in the past couple years that she's stepped foot outside the green spires of the Land. Certainly, the ponds back home are only raindrops compared to the oceans she's seen since, the tanks she observes now...

...Whatever she's currently mulling over, it's interrupted by somewhat heated chatter next to her. Her eyes flick over and catch sight of a young man (recruit, she assumes, if he's not a cat), interrogating one of the natives.

Better put on her PR gloves... She moves herself a bit closer to the pair and asks, as politely as polite can be, ]

...Is something the matter here?

[It comes as a surprise to Eight when someone steps up and inquires, but then, what about the situation isn't surprising at this point? He woke up in some foreign place completely healed, greeted by talking cats and some chatter about an organization he's apparently been conscripted into. None of it makes sense in the slightest.

Just how very lost he is doesn't show as clearly on his face as it might another his age, when he glances up at her. Eight's always been good at maintaining a pretty good poker-face, maintaining composure except in rather special cases. Special gil-grubbing cases who never did respect the rules, damnit Carla.

And frankly, Jack jabbing at his height, but that's his life he expects that]

I've just got some questions. [He pauses for a slow, purposeful glance around at their surroundings like he expects she's asking about something else] Any reason you're asking?

[ Her reason for asking... Well, she thought that might have been readily apparent (YOU'RE SCARING THE KITTIES, EIGHT) but he seems quite intent in whatever string of thought he's pursuing.

She keeps her voice calm, placating; no need to spark an argument here, though she's not nearly so timid to stand down when it looks like some peacekeeping is needed. ] ...It just seems you're making our hosts quite uncomfortable.

[ (She's not the only one who's noticed his posturing, just look at those tiny, fuzzy onlookers trembling in the corner!! Have you no mercy??)

She offers a kind smile, gesturing to herself with an open hand. ] I'd be happy to try and answer some of those questions, to the best of my ability.

[ Given his behavior, the way they'd all been suddenly whisked here, she pieces together he must be a new recruit who hadn't gotten their customary debriefing in Oska. (An introduction is probably in order here...) ]

My name is Aqua. May I ask yours?

[Making them uncomfortable... Eight's pretty sure there'd be some humor in that, were he less serious than he is. Considering the fact that he's been abducted and apparently conscripted into some organization he'd never heard of in some world with talking cats instead of moogles, he's not too sure how anyone expects him to be concerned with their comfort.

Does any captive consider their captors' comfort? He'd honestly like to know that.

But these thoughts he keeps to himself, rocking back on his heels and standing at his full height. And that much is obviously not as tall as this woman he's faced with, though the way he holds himself suggests nothing of being intimidated by that difference.

He's from Class Zero, after all]

Eight. [It doesn't seem like he's getting anywhere with this feline] You have any idea who's in charge of this?

[By this, he means dragging people from where they belong and pressing them into service, of course. Not a system anyone should leave in place]

[ (Interesting name, not that she's one to be talking...) ]

If you mean the reason for you being here, I'm guessing it's the same as the rest of us.

[ ...An aquarium really doesn't seem the best place to be going into specifics, though it's not like the existence of ALASTAIR is a secret to anyone in their vicinity. And, he seems pretty adamant on answers so she'll try to offer some before suggesting they displace themselves. What she can briefly remember from Lloyd's explanation, more than a year ago: ]

You must have fallen through a rift into this world. It happened to myself over a year ago, though the place I arrived in wasn't Terra Felis at the time.

[ A pause... This is all piecemeal explaining, but to be fair she's never had to give the full tutorial before. ] These 'rifts' occur due to instability in the Timeline—the natural course of the universe, you could say. The organization that's in charge of maintaining the Timeline is ALASTAIR, though if you're looking for a chain of command, I'm afraid there isn't any.

[ That is... a lot of information to give and to digest. She'll start with that much and give him some time to process...... ]

[It's not the first time Eight's heard about rifts today, though that doesn't make it any easier to process than the first time it had come up. Now he's got more people saying it, and not in an entirely uniform manner, but he hasn't yet decided what he's going to make of it.

There's a small hum behind closed lips, eyebrows pressed together over eyes that don't speak entirely too much of any trust. He's been deceived before, more than once in his brief and tumultuous life, and that hasn't endeared him toward strangers with wild stories.

Still, it's something that there's an overlap that doesn't sound entirely scripted.

But there's one thing he's not going to get past so easily-]

No chain of command? [That...sounds insane] How does any organization have no chain of command?

[ Tough crowd, huh... ]

It's a collaborative effort. We rely on each other as a group, though at times a veteran team will step in to assist us.

[ She won't take it upon herself to try and convince him—it's entirely up to Eight whether he'll believe her or not. These things take time, if not a degree of mental preparation... And as he'd been caught entirely off-guard, it only makes sense if it takes all the longer for reality to sink in. ]

...I know it all sounds difficult to believe, and I'm sorry you've been brought here against your will. However I'm unable to change that, and the same goes for anyone else here.

[ What she's getting at is... Stirring a commotion won't get him any further to his goal, only create potential setback. ]

[He folds his arms across his chest, and for all the perceived tension, his tone remains quite calm]

An effective unit still needs a CO.

[Eight's got enough experience in this department that he's quite sure he knows what's what. Not that he's concerned with this unit being effective, because it's most certainly not his own. Class Zero is where he belongs, and he's not so readily going to accept anything or anyone in their place.

Especially not when...

...He can't think about that, right now. Focus on getting back, the rest will follow]

I have a tough time believing that people just accept this.

[Especially since if people are being dragged here like him, there must be those who have something they have to finish. People they have to return to. Things that they had to face-]

[ Well, Audentes isn't always the most coordinated, it's true, but somehow they've managed to complete the past few missions together. (That ought to count for something.)

Her expression softs at his next statement, almost sympathetic. ]

There are many of us who wish to return to our former lives. And I'm sure there are many who have tried to find their own way.

[ She wishes she could tell him that the yearning lessens with time, that things get easier... But she knows it isn't the case. Homesickness is a malady without a true cure, its symptoms only abated by the multitude of distractions ALASTAIR has to offer. (Whether it's missions or festivities, odd quests or pitstops.) ]

...I'm not sure what the exact criteria for selection is, but there have been a few members of Audentes sent home before. [ A good friend of hers, in fact, had been returned shortly after Woodhurst. ] So it isn't a lie that they'll eventually rift us back to where we belong.

...For now, our only choices are either to remain where we are, or to keep moving with ALASTAIR. ...I choose to protect the Timeline, the best I'm able to. You have the same choice as well.

[ (Sorry Eight that was a long speech...) ]

Are you sure that's where they went?

[Home, that is. There's no derision in Eight's tone, bastion of patience that he is, though the doubt is there in force. But it isn't homesickness that he's concerned with so much as the knowledge that every moment is borrowed time. And every moment he has may be on the others do not. He's got no way to confirm their status from here.

If he's as far away as he's led to believe, his COMM would be ineffectual even if it weren't broken. It leaves him in an uncomfortable limbo, unsure whether there's something to return to or not. Even now, he might be too late. Even now, he might be the last one left.

Were that the case...what would he even be returning to?

It's not something he wants to consider — not now or ever. But the longer he lingers here, the less certain he can be of what lies ahead]

I'm not sure what makes them think people will just comply.

[Hell, he's unsure why she does]

[ It's a good question, one she's mulled over herself, and her response is as honest as the inquiry. ]

No one can say for sure, but that's what I'd like to believe.

[ Not all recruits are so keen on returning to their origins, but for those who are... Perhaps the simplest and most straightforward answer is a sense of hope. A sort of necessity to keep going, as no other options or means has presented itself as a viable way home. But even if she knew how to put it into words, she doubts it'll have much effect on him, as skeptic as he is now. ]

...Not everyone here trusts ALASTAIR, but there are many that do. I can't tell you any more than what I know, though it might help to speak with some of the others a well.

[ She doesn't expect to change his mind on her account. (She barely has more than a name to go by in the first place...) ]

...Just know that the civilians here aren't to be blamed for what's happened, and are accommodating us best they can. The rest of us were brought to this planet without warning as well, and no one has been able to contact Oska since.

[She's protecting the cats. That's the conclusion that Eight is left to draw. By no means would he have ever attacked them, but he thinks that he gets where her priorities are now. And as a soldier by virtue of his upbringing, he can respect that much, even as her answers present themselves as being no less dubious than the others he's received today]

Is that also to say they don't know any more than the rest of you do?

[You and not us, because there's only one "us" to which Eight belongs. And so far as he can see, none of them are here. None of them have been spared their inevitable fate in the way that he has, unless they're somewhere else and he simply hasn't found them.

The lack of resolution gnaws at him, and he doesn't imagine that feeling will go away anytime soon]

I've spoken with a few people who say they're not locals by now.

[And so, he's asked them some of the same questions he's asked her]

[ (PROTECT EVERY CAT.) She nods to both comments. ]

There are a few veteran members of ALASTAIR from this planet, however I highly doubt the locals are a part of it otherwise.

[ The cats do share in the same technology, so perhaps there is some sourcing and exchange of magitek, but she assumes that's a different matter. (Eight would have to seek out the scholars here for any scientific enlightenment...)

Anyway, she won't hold him up all day and she has quite a bit of exploring left to do herself. (And she doesn't mean it as a cold disengagement by any means, just that she doesn't feel there's much more she can offer him that he's looking for.) ]

...I'll excuse myself now, but please feel free to contact me over the network, if you'd like.

[ She understands he doesn't trust her, but she'll extend the courtesy anyway as a teammate. (Even if he doesn't accept it, she still wishes to help him in some way, and won't take rejection personally.) ]

[The idea of a network is still pretty alien to him, and it'll be a while before he figures out this tek in the form of jewelry is similar enough to COMMs. Even so, Eight takes note of the offer, though he doesn't intend to start chatting people up over long range if it's not necessary to a mission.

He is, after all, the guy who responded to a status check with: I'm busy punching people. All business...most of the time]

I'll keep it in mind.

[That's all he thinks to say. Better than claiming that he will contact her, having never been one for small-talk. That sort of thing was better left to the others, not that they're here. At least, he doesn't think they are.

But he'll keep looking]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

EVENT ★ WELCOME TO TERRA FELIS

ii!!

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