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

[ All things considered, this world isn't so bad. He can respect the tastes and interests of natives, even if they're just a fraction of his size. Knock Out wanders through the rooms with his holomatter avatar (it would be more convenient to use his human "spell", but he prefers to reduce himself to that as little as possible), head tipped back and enjoying the celestial show put on for his sensors.

It takes him a second to realize that the voice is directed toward him, and a second longer to refocus his attention from upward to forward. It turns out to be another human. Of course. There are an awful lot of them on this team. ]

Cybertron. [ He says it with a thin smile, already sure she's never heard of it. ] And you? If I could take a wild guess, I'd say Earth.

[ Wanda is staring. ]

[ Not because he's an alien — that's not weird to her. She's not getting any kind of read on him at all. It's like he doesn't exist beyond her human senses saying so. There's always something she can feel from another person in the room. ]

[ It's creepy. ]

I'm from Earth. What kind of beings exist on Cybertron?

[ He finds it interesting she should ask. Wouldn't most assume that the man standing before them is the kind of being that exists on Cybertron? She's either stupid or more intuitive than most. He'll withhold judgment for the moment. ]

Cybertronians, naturally. [ He knows that wasn't the answer she was looking for, he just has to be a shit for a moment. Bear with him. ] We're inorganic beings. Robots, I think you like to call us.

[ The look on her face says bullshit. She would sense a machine moving. Wanda narrows her eyes. ]

How are you doing this?

[ She gestures up and down to him. Pietro would have stuck his hand through the hologram by now or run through to disrupt it. ]

What happened to your body?

[ Friendly, isn't she? ]

Edited (fusses) 2017-04-15 04:56 (UTC)

[ Well, that is interesting. It must have been the latter after all — which means he's happy to make allowances for any shortness. His eyebrows arch upward from behind the oversized sunglasses he likes to generate on his avatar so much. ]

Oh, it's fine. I've left it outside. I'm a little too large for most of the accommodations in here, so you're seeing my avatar. [ He glances down at himself. ] It looks good, doesn't it? Not nearly as good as I look, but that would probably be impossible for a human to achieve.

I see.

[ Sentient robots are perhaps the lowest on her list of beings to ever trust. She can read Vision, she'll never have any idea what this one is ever thinking or feeling. ]

[ He's obviously far more advanced that what she's used to, plus she's honestly curious, which prompts, ]

Is this common? Everywhere is too small for you?

[ She's handling all this well. Despite her questions, maybe she has experience. He studies Wanda for moment or two, his interest in this particular human growing somewhat. ]

No, not everywhere. You humans are a bit on the small side of things, universally speaking, and natives of this planet are unusually miniscule. [ And, since he may as well slip in a question of his own, if she's going to have so many: ] Are you familiar with much outside of Earth?

[ So not only are they small, they're probably outgunned and outclassed. It's not just Asgardians. There'll be plenty like him out there in the universe. ]

[ She thinks of herself as an Avenger in an abstract sense. It's a means to an end: protect people. She should find out everything she can about him and determine if he is a threat. ]

No. We do not have space travel yet.

Some of you do, if you ask humans from the right timeline. [ He offers a shrug. Magnanimously: ] But the humans I'm familiar with didn't either. You're still a young species, you'll get it eventually.

We will soon, we have been visited by those from other worlds.

[ She can't imagine the military of any country sitting tight while Asgardians walk around wherever they please. ]

[ Also, ]

My name is Wanda.

[ Aha, there's some explanation for how well she's taking this — maybe even that she knew there was more to him than met the eye. She's met aliens. ]

Knock Out. [ And because he knows how humans (the ones he's seen, anyway) feel about their handshakes, he sticks a hand out for that. It will feel solid, if not exactly human-warm, and a little too smooth. ] Are you on Audentes?

[ Manipulated into their worst nightmare counts as meeting, we suppose. ]

[ Wanda sort of just looks at his hand, hesitating before shaking it. The lack of feedback from her abilities versus positive feedback from her skin is unnerving. ]

Yes. I'm new.

Edited (icon) 2017-04-15 05:38 (UTC)

Then you've been here for, what, a few days? You're taking this very well, all things considered.

[ Better than he had his first few days, he plans to never admit to anyone ever. When he has his hand back he pockets both of them, and nods to indicate that they continue their little stroll through here. ]

I'm not easily surprised.

[ And she'll have time later to be angry. Wanda keeps pace with him. ]

How long have you been here?

[ A good question. It takes him a few seconds, but he's got it eventually: ] Just six months, I think.

[ Earth-months, obviously. Look how considerate he is, answering in a unit of time she'll recognize. ]

They say they'll send you home again if you're here for long enough. After enough building energy, or whatever it is we're doing here. No one's offered me any return trips though, so apparently six months' worth of energy isn't quite enough.

[ What a nice robot. ]

I thought it was a convenient excuse for their technology not working reliably enough to send us back.

[ It helps that this is a cat-planet with comfort and not a burning lava pit going to kill them all. It makes Wanda more inclined to be charitable. ]

Does what they have interfere with your systems, or have you compensated for it already?

[ That earns her a curious look, one he opts to translate through the avatar to her. ]

Are you used to robots whose systems get interfered with? [ It strikes him as a strange question. Whose systems are so primitive that outside technology could accidentally interfere? ]

[ She'll take that as a no. Wanda returns it with a neutral look. ]

I would not assume anything about what I do not know.

That would be a wise choice.

[ He turns his attention forward again, in particular on a little cluster of stars that almost looks familiar to him. Maybe that's one he's been to before? ]

I expect here's where I should mention that you shouldn't compare me to any human-built robot. We're not built by anyone, and aren't on the same level at all as any of that.

I have only seen human-built robots.

[ Even Ultron was created by Stark, and Vision by Helen Cho and Ultron. She frowns at him. ]

What is it like, on your world?

I'm not surprised.

[ It seems like the only kind of robot any humans are familiar with. Sigh. Her question gets a little thought put into it though, and he watches the little map of stars in silence for several sections. ]

Dead, [ is the answer he finally comes up with, delivered dispassionately. ] It's gone dark and cold. We haven't inhabited it for at least a million years.

I'm sorry to hear that.

[ She doesn't think he needs compassion from her, and especially from strangers it looks a lot like pity. Still, she's sorry. She's too-familiar with the pain of losing the whole world. ]

Did many of you survive?

[ He shrugs, and decides he doesn't recognize the little cluster of stars after all. It must just be a similar pattern to them. This is a different universe, after all. ]

Hard to say. We scattered. There hasn't exactly been a census in a while. [ And with a little twist of a smile: ] Some of us eventually made it to Earth — maybe we're on your Earth, too. You probably wouldn't have noticed us, if we were.

I would have.

[ Her mouth curves in a small smile. If they're walking around like this, she would know instantly. ]

[ There's no others like her yet, but she'd like to think Natasha would notice as well, as would Stark. Stark would notice quite loudly. ]

Are you sure? You're observant, [ evidently ] but we don't all make it so obvious.

[ And, to be fair, he's still not sure how she so quickly detected that something was off about his hologram self — but he's perfectly aware that it doesn't look quite human, what with the eyes that he just couldn't give up. ]

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