EVENT ▸ EMPIRE OF THE CRASHING WAVE

[futurologists]

EMPIRE OF THE CRASHING WAVE The royalty of Guild Ophelia has managed to hold an audience with Empress Nama of the Celestial Mountains, urging her to meet with the Empress of the Crashing Wave in the interest of finding an accord between their clans. In return, Nama requests that Ophelia take two letters to the Crashing Wave's court, where, as foreigners, they should be received better than any of her own people. The Empire of the Crashing Wave is a week's travel by foot from the Land of Celestial Mountains, through the forests and farms of the Flowerlands. There is no visible indication that this universe was once two, with even the road leading through the Flowerlands heading seamlessly toward the sea. The farms and villages in the outskirts of the Empire of the Crashing Wave are decorated in seashells and motifs of the sea, and the closer one gets to the city, the stronger the scent of the ocean becomes. Once the city proper is reached, Ophelia's magitek projects words in front of their eyes that only they can see: Location reached: » EMPIRE OF THE CRASHING WAVE A progressive society that values innovation. Main sources of income: fishing, pearl diving, jewelry crafting, shipbuilding. Politically matriarchal; socially egalitarian. Empress YOUMI resides at the PEACEFUL TIDE. No events scheduled. You may wish to survey the surrounding area. The city is built right on the ocean's edge, with some parts of it even jutting out into the sea on bridges and piers. The castle, Peaceful Tide, is built high above the rest; guards will stop anyone at the gates and, if shown the correspondence from Empress Nama, will deliver the letters directly to Empress Youmi. Attempts to seek an audience with Youmi will be rebuffed for the time being, so you may as well take in the sights... ▸ A PROMISING DEVELOPMENT Unlike the Land of Celestial Mountains, men may move freely here, the matriarchal rules of the land only extending to politics. Men and women work alongside each other in all sections of the city, nobles and commoners alike, and even the guards have men among their ranks. In the Artisan District, potters, musicians, and artists line the streets and sell their wares, work, or discuss their craft with each other. Closer to the Beach, there is a boardwalk where young couples stroll alongside grandparents chasing after their grandchildren, electric lamps bathing the wooden planks in a warm glow at night. Fishermen haul in their daily catch in buckets and nets, trailed by a gaggle of hopeful cats. Beachcombers and pearl divers populate the beach as well, making it a clear place for work instead of play. A few days after Ophelia's arrival in sea clan territory, a bell rings loudly in the late afternoon, drawing citizens toward the castle. Guards stop anyone from getting too close, though the populace seems to know what to expect -- soon, a beautiful woman in an elaborate blue kimono appears in an upper balcony. When viewing the woman, Ophelia's magitek will tell them: » EMPRESS YOUMI Leader of the EMPIRE OF THE CRASHING WAVE. 30 years old. SPECIES: Human. MEDICAL CONCERNS: Lactose intolerant. The crowd cheers at Youmi's arrival, only quieting once she raises her hand. She speaks clearly and confidently, her voice carrying easily across the assembly. "I have received a letter from Her Imperial Majesty Nama of the Land of Celestial Mountains. She informs me that their spring festival was interrupted by an attack from our own people, working without my knowledge or consent," Youmi begins, holding her hand up again when a displeased rumble begins to ripple through the crowd. It's unclear if they're perturbed by the ambush or by Nama herself. Once all is silent again, she continues. "She has detained the criminals, for that is what they are, and assures me she will not bring this to the battlefield. I will send her an agreement to the terms, but hear this: any who escalate this further will be slain by my order. I have spoken. The spirits of the sea watch over us all." Youmi then retreats back into the castle. While some citizens cheer their empress's decree, others mutter unhappily amongst themselves as they disperse and go about their business. ▸ BUT TROUBLE CONTINUES The rest of the day following Youmi's decree goes by without incident, leaving time for Ophelia to stop by the sake breweries near the sea or travel back through the forests of the Flowerlands for hunting, hot springs, or simply enjoying the nature of Hanabira. With war averted and the empresses in communication, it seems as though Ophelia's time in this universe will draw to a close soon. As the sun sinks down, finding a place to sleep might be a good idea. There are hotels in the city, but for those who are trying to be a little more frugal, the Flowerlands is a good place to set up camp for free. Doro, the Lord of the Flowerlands, has heard of Ophelia's efforts in starting communication between the empresses as well, and offers rooms in his castle in thanks; if war were to start between the two, his land would suffer for it. During the night, those who accept Doro's invitation will hear a commotion very nearby, steel clashing against steel. Doro and his daughters rush out, weapons drawn, and straight into a skirmish between sea and mountain clan ronin. The warriors are fighting to kill, and in their fervor, someone's fire arrow alights a farmhouse on Doro's property. The farmers need to be rescued and the fire put out, and while the warriors will likely kill each other, they could also be subdued to prevent further damage. Please let the mods know with a link to the thread if your character is killing or capturing any of the ronin. After the skirmish, Doro must be brought back inside his castle, having been wounded during the battle. He pleads with Ophelia to continue to help, as it looks like a tentative truce by the empresses is not enough to calm the citizens. Since they were so successful in receiving an audience with Nama, he believes they can propose a way the two empires can live in harmony. Throughout the next two weeks, skirmishes between the clans are peppered throughout the Flowerlands, some leaving bodies behind and some leaving damage to farms and forest. It looks like Ophelia's peacekeeping mission just became a lot more hands-on: keep the skirmishes from getting out of control while still working toward a way to end the conflict once and for all. ▸ OOC NOTES This log will last for two IC weeks: the first three days will be free exploration, and day four is Youmi's proclamation and the skirmish in the Flowerlands. Your characters are free to explore for the next ten days, during which further skirmishes will occur. If you have questions about this log or the overall mission, please ask them on the dossier. Questions about Futurology in general should be directed to the FAQ. ▸ Coming next log: Peace proposals! Get your brainstorming started now. ▸ Activity Check is due on 5 February 23:59 UTC. We do not accept late submissions, so make sure you fill it out! ▸ Uniform Design Contest is open! Submissions are due 28 February 23:59 UTC. Gamewide voting will be in March. ▸ Bounty Board ▸ Items Page ▸ Exploration Group Planning ▸ General Plotting ▸ February Calendar

Comments

[forcevisions]

Well ...

[ very aware that the locals are still listening, rey decides she's about to invent allegory. ]

Great monsters of the air fought one another above my home. One of them wanted to devour the whole universe. It nearly had. But it had been weakened, and so ... it was over my home that it was finally defeated. The monsters both fell to earth and were buried over the next decades by the sands there. The monsters, and their armor, and their weapons, hold great value now.

[ and that's the battle of jakku, boys and girls. ]

[datapoint]

[Aloy's quiet, listening. She can tell this isn't the whole truth -- it sounds too much like some silly myth the Matriarchs perpetuate for her to take it at face value -- but some of it rings very familiar.]

There's something like that in the Sacred Lands. A-- devil tried to break into the door where life originates from. It was stopped by All-Mother, or so the story goes. [Her tone indicates that to her, it is just a story.] You can still see it, though my tribe isn't interested in scavenging that kind of thing.

[forcevisions]

A devil?

[ Rey looks more interested in that, at least. The locals start to share some of their own stories, legends, and Rey gets to her feet, thanking them. She looks to Aloy and nods down the rocky beachside. She wants to hear more about it, but perhaps where they can be more open about it. ]

[datapoint]

[The look Rey gives her is clear enough, and Aloy raises her eyebrows as she moves down the shore. She waits until she thinks they're far enough away from the locals before she continues, though she still pitches her voice low, just in case.]

Metal Devils, [she says, glancing at Rey sidelong and rolling her eyes just a little.] That's what my tribe calls them. They're -- they were war machines, from a long time ago. Their creators called them "Horus."

[forcevisions]

'Star Destroyers.' That's what they call the war machines that I scavenged from, mostly. Old battleships. But it wasn't so long ago. They're still building new ones. [ She smiles a little. It sounds surprisingly familiar. ] I'm Rey.

[datapoint]

Rey, [she repeats, then gestures to herself with a smile of her own.] Aloy.

The Star Destroyers -- they're still making them? So they're under control.

[forcevisions]

Of course. [ Rey looks puzzled by that. ] They're machines. They're always under control of those who operate them. I wish someone else were operating these, but ... They're certainly not acting of their own accord. [ and it's a weird enough question that she figures— ] ... Are the Horus out of control?

[datapoint]

[Aloy is thrown off by the machines of Rey's world not acting of their own accord, but her reaction is only a slight twist of the mouth.] Not just the Horuses, but every machine. [Her response is quick and a little frustrated, but it's not directed at Rey. She takes a second to calm down, then continues.]

Machines... --the machines where I'm from, they're AI. Artificial intelligence, [she clarifies, in case Rey doesn't know what that means.] No one controls them.

[forcevisions]

Droids.

[ A beat. ]

In my world, the machines that have an AI, they're called droids. But even then, they aren't ... I mean, people control them. They don't think and act on their own. [ Debatable, by droids rights activists, but Rey is spared the complexity of those politics by growing up in a junkyard. ] They have programming.

[ A true, wholly sentient AI would be different, especially if it had control of weapons. ]

Who's building them?

[datapoint]

[Programming -- Aloy understands the concept, the way the Old Ones in The Cut had programmed CYAN, the way she can hack machines to follow and defend her. There was no "glitch" in Rey's world that caused the machines to turn.

Aloy grimaces.] Themselves. There are scavenging machines that bring parts back underground facilities where more machines are built. Even new types.

[forcevisions]

Sounds efficient.

[ But the way she says that is not necessarily complimentary. Rather, it's unnerved. Rey is the kind of person who reaches out to droids in the same way she'd reach out to a person, and even she is like that seems sketchy tbh. Like it would be a big mess. A really big mess. A people dying mess. ]

They taught themselves to do that? That's quite the program.

[datapoint]

[They don't waste resources, that's for sure.

Aloy tilts her head at the question, trying to figure out a way to explain "people taught them hundreds of years ago but I don't know why and I can't ask them because they're all, like, dead" without sounding like an idiot or a crazy person.

But she can't really figure out a non-idiot, non-crazy way to say it, so she just kinda says it anyway.]

They were programmed by people to do that, a long time ago. I don't know why -- I can't ask anyone. The machines wiped everyone out, so now there are only ruins and very few answers.

[forcevisions]

I have a hard time imagining a droid programmer who'd happily give it that kind of ... freedom.

[ Which is a little bit of a yikes thing to say, but it's the truth. That's just how it works in the Star Wars universe. Droids are like pets. ]

And apparently, for good reason. That's a grave threat you face.

[datapoint]

[Luckily, it's not yikes to Aloy -- machines are just machines, she doesn't feel any emotional attachment or empathy towards them.

She nods grimly, pushing some braids back over her shoulder.]

There are some people who are learning to control the machines. Naturally, [she adds dryly,] they're learning to do this so they can wage war. So I guess they never really stray too far from their programming. [War machines gonna war.]

Anyway. Yeah, I'd count yourself lucky your droids aren't the same. It's, uh... messy.

[forcevisions]

Sounds it.

[ Grim and empathetic. She shakes her head. ]

Sounds like the people aren't straying far from their programming either. Of all the things I had hoped would be the same across different galaxies, war wasn't on the list.

[datapoint]

[That earns a little huff of amusement from Aloy, and she points up to the sky to indicate other worlds.]

All people are like that. Humans, anyway. I don't know much about the, uh. Other types of people. [Hayame being her only exposure so far, though if all non-humans are like her... then war doesn't sound like an unreasonable quality, either.]

[forcevisions]

I've met my share of aliens, and I'll tell you: they aren't that different.

[ said as though she were merely discussing people at the corner store. ]

All sorts of people are greedy and selfish and hungry for power. Humans have been the most efficient at getting it, where I come from, but you see it in the others too.

[ Unkar Plutt comes readily to mind. ]