The Saurian Adventure Episode 1: A World In Pieces

[Naza Sutera]

On her tablet, Amelia took a few minutes to browse through the pictures she took. They were mostly scenic and detail shots of the the flora and fauna in the general area, not to mention the creative shots of Stargazer basking in the sun. She was a little disappointed that her new model was assigned to the other team with Captain Monroe, because he was actually really good for candid shots. Oh well. She'll eventually see him later. In the mean time, Gene seemed a bit photogenic...

 

Putting her tablet away, Amelia took interest in an interesting rock formation. It was a wall of rock that stretched several hundred meters long, and about thirty meters high. She examined how the rock was set in layers of sedimentary rock of sandstone and siliciclastic varieties, volcanic breccia, and igneous volcanic rock. This depicted eons of climate changes, foliage growth, and volcanic eruptions, all going in cycles. She looked around at the rich vegetation of the area, surmising that an eruption hadn't happened in a while, and looked into the distance in all directions to see if she could spot a dormant or extinct volcano. Turning her attention back to the rock formation, she mused on the terraformation. She guessed that she was standing next to something of an inactive fault line. This geological anomaly confirmed her notion that this planet was alive with plate tectonics. Taking a few steps back, she took some pictures of the wall of bedrock. A few detailing the layers of of rock, one down the length of the rock formation, and one looking upward towards the cliff.

 

"...If you do not mind my interruption--"

 

Amelia whirled around, ready to bust a move on whomever just snuck up and scared the crap out of her. Realizing it was only Gene, she took a deep breath and put her hand on her chest to restart her heart. He was offering to satisfy her curiosity about that thing he did to her arm when they first met on the transport. Which, she almost forgot about. She looked at him, releasing her camera and letting it hang by the lanyard around her neck. The almost at random, she pointed at him and asked-- "Are you a neurologist or something?"

Edited December 10, 2012 by Naza Sutera

[Gene Inari]

Gene chuckled, "Sorry. I did not intend to startle." Gene waved his hands in apology, defending himself from Amelia's pointer assault, "Merely wish to inform you, and eventually the others, of my skills, Ms. Amelia. An exchange of information to ensure efficacious teamwork, if you will." Gene eased back after Amelia pulled her hand away from his face.

"But to answer you're question: no I am not a neurologist. To put it simply, I have a form of ESP that works on a personal level. I perceive things, in my case Auras, that you cannot with senses that most are not aware of, and can affect what I perceive. Where you have five senses, I could count ten."

"Allow me to show you." Gene started, reaching into the collar of his shirt and pulling out a star-shaped necklace that was previously kept hidden, "This is the decagram—a ten pointed star. This symbol represents the ten senses, ten power centers, and ten auras, which are the basis of my abilities."

"The ten senses are, as I was taught: Sight, Hearing, Touch, Taste and Smell; those five I am sure you know; Life, the ability to sense the base power of other living creatures; Mind, which entails telepathy, mind-reading and influence; Farsight, the ability to see beyond the current location; Foresight, a rarer skill, the ability to see before or after the current time; and Aura, the sense in which I specialize in."

Gene continued, seeing that Amelia was genuinely interested, if also glaringly incredulous, in his explanations, "My talent is manipulating auras. While most, even you, can sense some these auras, being able to directly affect these auras is a rare and unique trait. Auras are the layers of power that encircle a healthy, living creature. Different layers echo different physical, mental and emotional states, so affecting those auras will affect those states."

"Remember my parlor trick with you? That was me affecting your 'corporal Aura' which is what most of us consider the physical body. The ten auras are; Corporal, Elemental, Life, Power, Health, Emotion, Mind, Red, White, and Black. With access to even a single one of your body's power centers, I could do just about anything you can conceive by changing the flow and balance of the energies within you."

"To contain what I am to a term, I am an Empath. Yet at the same time, I am something more than a mere psychic sensor."

[Naza Sutera]

"An empath..." Amelia pronounced the word, testing how smoothly it rolled off her tongue. She eyed Gene as she scratched her scalp and though about, mused on, and processed all that he told her. "Um... Do you mind if I tell you my comparisons of some of the things you just told me and things I already know?"

 

((Lemme cut myself a break from all these long posts. lol))

[manthony_Higgs]

Manthony looked at Eurydice.

She looks like she's seen some action.

"Hope you don't mine me askin', but what do those... ah, glove things do?"

[Fedora]

Eurydice was looking around the terrain while moving with her team. Upon Manthony's question she faces him while still walking.

 

"These gloves are gauntlets actually. They're called the Heracles. These babies multiply my strength quite a bit allowing me to do heavy lifting on my own or just punch someone halfway across a field. My boots are also a part of the set. Also, by channeling some power from my Line Shield..." She holds up her finger and thumb and sparks fly between them, " They can also discharge electricity."

[russiandog38]

Ryan nodded as he wass assigned to a team. He hadnt expected the team to split up so early, but he would follow the orders anyway. He looked at the others who had been put in the east group.

 

First there was the mouse, Axle he thought his name was. He seemed to be extremely interested in knowladge for the landscape and the area around him, obsessing over any maps he could get his hands on. Ryan figuered he would be most important if they ever got lost.

 

Next was the jackle. Due to Ryans own lack of attention, he did not know his name. Or anything about him for that matter except that he was the musle of the group.

 

Then there was Renard, who seemed... tempermental. Ryan assumed it was all that time studying and practicing that dark art. He would try to stay as far away from the fox and his voodoo as possible. He didnt trust Renard. He hadnt even said a word to him and yet there was a silent fued between them.

 

He closed his eyes and pulled at the coller of his uniform. He was really regreating wearing black, but that couldnt be helped now. He wiped some sweat off his forhead as he waited for the group to move out.

[manthony_Higgs]

A grin grew on the Lizard's face.

 

"Ooooh, that's nice.  Might have to get me a pair of those.  Zap someone from behind, they'll never know!  So what were you doin' before Capn' Rob hired you up?"

[Robert Monroe]

(Since I'm sure people are busy with finals, I will postpone the update until most of you all have used up your post limitations for the update. Everyone's got three, don't be shy on using them! Hopefully once finals season is over, the RP will pick up some steam again. CAN'T KEEP A GOOD RP DOWN.)

[Milkyway64]

The colonel followed along, surprisingly keeping his mouth shut. Anyone who paid attention to him may be able to get an idea why; he was staring at Gene with a sort of hawkeyed sneer. It wasn't that he didn't believe this uptight 'empath,' he just hated the whole idea. Auras his feathered ass.

[Renardfrost]

Renard looked ahead at the rock formation, getting closer to it to better see it, bust still hanging back to follow any orders should they be given. He peered intently at the large pocket of psynergy, trying to see if it was bouncing off anything, maybe the walls of the cave it could be in.. if he could find such a thing, maybe they could find a way in. If it was a cleverly concealed location, then it might be where one would hide something or somebody important. (Examining: Psenergy within Eastern rock formation)

[Gene Inari]

Gene gave Amelia an earnest smile, "You will see what I mean when I locate the Earthwalker leader that is supposedly sequestered here." In response to what Amelia wanted to share; "And proceed at your leisure. I have talked your ear off as it is. Allow me to return the favor."

[Naza Sutera]

"Well..." Amelia cleared her throat, thinking of where to start. "...So, um, some of this you actually explained to me back when we were on the transport. Then, I actually came up with all kinds of hypotheses about what actually happened and how. These are only a few educated guesses, and while I'll admit I can't say I completely believe in what you're saying, I still think it's totally worth talking about

 

She started off her spiel by expressing why she asked if Gene had any expertise in neurology. She was convinced that him turning off her arm was a neurological phenomenon. He did say something about "blocking the flow of energy" when he explained what he did back on the transport shuttle. If one thinks about it, the nerves transmit electricity, and electricity is a rather pure form of energy. She has a wee bit of background knowledge on the use of acupuncture-esque techniques where an acupuncture needle is inserted into a nerve to block it's electrical transmission, thus numbing the limb or whatever part of the body for surgical procedures. And the effect would last as long as the needle was inserted. However, the impressive and curious part was that he simply jabbed her in the shoulder, as far as she could tell, and got that effect without any tools, obvious augmentation, and supposedly no knowledge in neuroscience.

 

She found explanation of so-called auras and how the layers corresponded with emotional and physical well-being interesting. It made her think of the body's physiology and how hormones, neurotransmitters, and other endogenous chemicals change the way people think feel and behave, or how they are produced based on the aforementioned things. Physical changes such as injury, fluxes in body temperature, and immune responses came to mind.

 

One layer of the aura could be the electromagnetic radiation produced by the brain and nervous system's generation and circulation of electricity. Hormones and neurotransmitters effect the brain and body's generation and transmission of electricity. An example would be the  emotional disease such as Bipolar Disorder, where a person experiences periodic highs and lows in their mood. During a high, the brain is producing copious amounts of endorphine, an endogenous pleasure chemical, making a person happy and energetic. During a low period, the brain isn't producing enough endorphine, thereby leaving the person depressed, lethargic, and even suicidal in some extreme cases. In that example, someone close could obviously see the changes in the person's mood, whether empathic or not. But since there are periodic changes in the brain's chemistry based on the emotional high or low, it stands to reason that there is a change in the electromagnetic field produced by the brain.

 

She suggested that the second layer of one's aura is more physical, based on things like fluctuations in body heat, physical injury to name a couple. When a person is physically ill, there may be a change in body heat even before any other symptoms arise. In the occurrence of physical trauma, such as a fracture in osseous tissue (broken bone) or a tear in a ligament (sprain), or even the less obvious internal bleeding, the affected area becomes hot from increased bloodflow as inflammation sets in, even if the swelling is not obvious to the naked eye. In sort she proposed that fluxes and imbalances in body heat is a representation of the physical aura.

 

This brings up the subject of pain, which is a little tricky; it's almost in a league of it's own, yet it deals with both the physical body and emotions. First off, pain, scientifically named "nociception", and managed by nerves called the aptly named nociceptors. The most familiar form of pain would be mechanical nociception. Using a stubbed toe as an example, she explained that the physical pressure and shock of injuring one's toe activates the nociceptors, which then release an aptly named neuropeptide called nociceptine. The chemical, like other endogenous chemicals, sends specific nerve signals to the central nervous system for physical and emotional response. A physical response, which is triggered by the spinal cord, would be a withdrawl relfex or an autonomic response such as reaching down to grab your toe. Pain would cause an array of emotional respones, which happen in the brain, usually dread, or anger. But in the case of a stubbed toe, that would likely be some semblance of anger...

 

...She suddenly felt as though she was starting to railroad him with her expansion on physical pain Besides, pain is such a versatile thing, that it's hard to explain without an example. She decided to share a story and hopefully that would tie everything together.

 

"...Um, when I was fourteen, I had jump a chain-link fence. My shirt had gotten caught, causing me to fall onto and break my arm. My response, though, was just as much emotional as it was physical... I also forgot to mention adrenaline and the effects it has on the mind and body. But, uh, needless to say I was in blinding pain. The pain caused the release of adrinaline in response to the stress and trauma, though the energy boost it gave me was wasted on me screaming and crying, which left me exhausted. The adrenaline also made my mind race, which only served to give me a panic attack... --But let's move the subject a little bit back to pain. First of all, the pain left me immobilized, it left me crippled, it stopped me in my tracks as pain does to most people. The emotional part was the panic attack, because I felt scared, I felt helpless, and I frigging wanted my mommy. But aside from it crippling me and making me miserable, it triggered something else. My friend who was with me, she went to get an adult to help. And while she was doing that, I started feeling weird, like I was high on something. I started feeling relaxed and the pain in my arm, though it still hurt pretty bad, started to feel dull. By the time my friend brought me help, I was laughing as if the fact that I'd broken my arm was funny. Like, seriously, I felt high. And by the time my friend brought back help, I was laughing as if I thought the fact that I'd broken my arm was funny or something..."

 

She went on to explain that the physical trauma and emotional stress caused her brain to release endorphine, which not only has a calming effect and makes a person happy, it also acts as a pain-killer when someone is seriously injured. "Endorphine" is a contraction of "endogenous morphine". Her point was that pain is a very versatile thing; it happens in response to physical trauma, and it sets of domino effects that spur emotions as well as other physiological phenomena. And with is empathic abilities, he could probably sensed the rainbow of fluctuations in her aura if he were there with her at that point in her past.

 

((Damnit, I am TIRED AS HELL. This post took me about three days--THREE DAYS to perfect... It's probably not necessary to run myself crazy with post perfection. But I like giving you guys my all.))

[Gene Inari]

Gene listened intently on Amelia's long spiel. Gene nodded along as she explained her points and Gene could follow along well enough, not that she would stop long enough for him to get a word in anyway. It made enough sense to Gene, how the body had specific mechanisms in such small scale to respond to things happening in the larger scales. A few of the points Gene could connect with certainty to certain auras, but others less so. Some of it felt correct, but others felt off the mark. Still, Gene appreciated the engaging conversation. Gene had his understanding of how the living body works and Amelia had hers and they were trying to make a connection between the two separate understandings of the same thing.

 

While Amelia could correspond a body process to an aura changing on its own according to outside stimulus, something was still missing. It was missing the fact that Gene could manipulate said mechanisms and perceive things that, according to her, should not be.

 

Gene put the thought away for the moment and thanked Amelia for sharing her fence-falling story. Getting one-another to wrap their heads around their respective perceptions and understandings of the world around them would have to wait until some more down-time was available. They still had Earthwalker royalty to find.

[Fedora]

"I'm a bounty hunter. I've been around Lylat and a bit beyond. I'm in this business because of my brother. He's a real pain sometimes but I love him. I 'min this line work to keep him safe. Then my contractor catches wind of this very lucrative deal that needs a girl of many talents so here I am. I've been around and had to bodyguard or assist a couple of VIPs so I guess that why I'm here. I can help with simple tasks in a few field. But I guess I'm here mainly for protecting who I'm told. What about you? What's your story before doing all this?" Eurydice says to Manthony.

[manthony_Higgs]

"I joined the CDF... god, eight years ago? Right at the end of the Lylat Wars.  Back then Andross' remnants split into bunches'a splinter groups, and most jumped boat from warfare to piracy and smuggling.  I mostly did behind-the-scenes wet work, break up a smuggling ring here, off a drug lord there. It was shady, dangerous stuff, but it needed to be done.  Usually I went alone or with a partner, big groups like this hardly happened in my line of work. About, uh, two years ago, I..."

 

Manthony looked off in the distance for a moment.

 

"I was, ah, honorably discharged. Been doin' merc work ever since.  Same stuff as before mostly, but now I can scare my clients into payin' a little extra.  Getta pick what hours I work too.  Some government suits came by one day and told me I was requested for some job on this backwater planet.  Didn't really say what 'd be doin' but hot damn it payed well.  I couldn't resist the money and jumped right aboard. "

[Renardfrost]

Renard tilted his head, genuinely confused. But seeing as he couldn't find a momentary explanation, he set his mind to other things, such as what was, and wasn't edible on this planet. In case they got stuck, it would be very helpful to know what would save them.. and what would end them. "Captain." He began. " While we are here, should we not collect samples of the local plant life for analysis when we get back?" It made sense to him. the more they knew, and the sooner they knew it, the better off they would be.

[russiandog38]

Ryan almost laughed at Ren's request. Almost. He thought this was a dangerous mission to save a planet, not some 12th grade botany class field trip. Besides, it looked like every plant on this planet would either try to eat you, stab you, poison you, or kill you in some other painful way. Ryan honestly hoped Ren wasnt serious about wanting to study them.

 

And with that in mind, he turned his attention back to the vast empty field that lay before them.It was going to be a pain trying to find the dinosaurs in a place this big.

[Renardfrost]

Renard sighed softly at Ryan's reaction. " It is... merely a suggestion, nothing more and nothing less..." He grumbled something to himself before continuing his thought. " I'm merely entertaining the thought that knowing the properties of some of the local flora would be helpful knowledge.. so we know what can be useful... and what to avoid."

[Robert Monroe]

~-*-*-*-~

MUCH BELATED GODDAMN UPDATE 

~-*-*-*-~

 

 

Robert had taken to examining the stone wall as Renard spoke to him about the previously mentioned psyenergy. Running his finger over the moss and grime covered effigy, he makes out what seems to be a series of glyphs, pictographs of some sort. Unable to read or decipher them he stands up.

 

"Samples of plants... yes, a good idea for the future, Stargazer, but first we must establish a foothold here. Then, we can collect samples", Robert replies to Ren.

 

Renard, your sensing of the psyenergy by the effigy that Robert just examined leads you to realize a few things!

 

First of all, there is more than just living energy coming from within that stone. Nextly, it is indeed some sort of cave, but you can not divine  way inside! All signs point to... well, the effigy that Robert just examined! A solid wall! Surely there is some sort of trick to this, but what could it be? You are not sure yet.

 

Axle, from your treeptop you can see there is more to the circular clearing than expected! It is not a dome, actually, you can clearly see inside it. There are many dinosaurs inside, huddled deep into a cave which you can not see too far inside at this distance unassisted. The mouth of the river also flows from there, resulting in the waterfall nearby. And lastly, you notice something a rather large stone formation at the center of it all, but from this angle you can't tell what it looks like. Unfortunately, you can not see a way inside aside from the waterfall, which is a good several dozen feet up! The rest is walled off.

 

Robert calls out to everyone to regroup by the stone effigy, his voice carrying strongly across the hollow. "Fall in, everyone, we've gotten a lead!", he yells out clearly for everyone to hear him. As soon as you all are gathered around, he gestures to the glyphs he and Renard discovered.

 

"There appears to be a cave here, but with no obvious point of entry. Clearly, this means we must search for an UNobvious one, don't you all agree? These glyphs are the clue. Jami, love, can you decipher them?", Robert continues.

 

Gene, as soon as you approach Robert, you too feel the same psychic emanations that Renard felt from the glyphs and the cave.

 

And as all this transpires, the sun begun to set. It seems your arrival was in the late afternoon and is now turning slowly into evening...

 

 

~-*-*-*-~

 

Current Music:

http://youtu.be/ooC7tWUrO20

 

 

Current Setting: Thorntail Hollow, east side.

 

Posts Allowed: Unlimited

 

Days Until Next Update: One Week

 

Objective: Decipher the glyphs and find an access into the inaccessible cavern!

 

Other Notes: This update took two months to arrive, and is hardly worthy of the time wasted. I have no words for this. Nothing to say but most heartfelt apologies, for I have been irresponsible and neglectful. Part of it yes was my busy RL schedule, but part of it too was my own negligence, and there is no excuse for my lack of respect for you guys. I built this RP up, and sold it to you guys, but you've made it what it is. You guys deserve better, and I can only say I am sorry. Forgive me for letting you down. We're gonna make this SF-O's greatest RP, goddammit.

 

OTHER Other Notes: SRoberson is still MIA since December, so I am temporarily removing him from the RP. His character will be guarding the shuttle alongside the pilot NPC Dak until the start of the next episode he is able to return to (so if he comes back before Epsidoe 1 ends, he can resume in episode 2).

 

Also, it is fair for me to mention that Thorntail Hollow's much larger in the RP than the video game leads to believe. The waterfall and river for example, are reasonably sized for what they are. That said, the geography is baaaasically the same, with the Warpstone to the northwest and so forth.

 

I apologize if I missed any skill checks, I had to read and re-read everyone's post several times and its a lot of stuff to keep up with. Try to keep your posts around 1-2 paragraphs so things don't get swamped!

[Renardfrost]

The fox nodded to his captain's insight, regarding the the glyphed wall with interest, his tail flicking about as he watched the others come by, sighing at the nostalgia panging him as he watch the orangish light of the sunset tint the hollow with gentler shades. Shaking the feeling off, and dismissing it as slight vertigo from the flight.

"If it eminates psenergy, but dosen't give us clues.. I could always force it down by resonating it..." he mused

[manthony_Higgs]

The Lizard jogs over towards the Captain, keeping a light grip on his rifle the whole time.

 

A cave without an entrance? That's not really a cave at all.  More like a... Hm.  I dunno. I'm sure there's a word for it.

 

"If it eminates psenergy, but dosen't give us clues.. I could always force it down by resonating it..."

 

"Demolition is always an option I've been fond of.  Might wanna be careful though, Mr. Red-Fur damn near blew himself up just by thinking too hard."

[Gene Inari]

With the two groups reconvened, Gene took it upon himself to help Renard and Jami investigate. "So..." Gene started, "We have before us, a cave with no discernible entrance, a presence which hides what is behind it, and an inscription; all while we search for royalty seeking sanctuary from their enemies." Gene put a hand to the wall before them, "Allow me to apply Occam's Razor and say: we have ourselves a barrier."

"I can search for a weakness, perhaps figure out the scope of the barrier, find out what is inside, without resorting to something drastic and overt such as explosives. Give me a moment, I need to focus."

(Skill check! Using my Psychokinetic skill figure out what, if anything, is inside with more clarity, to confirm that it is in fact a barrier meant to protect, how large it is, and any weaknesses in it.)

[Naza Sutera]

"Okay, hold on a second..."

 

Amelia could be heard in the recording as she fumbled with the recording device. Right now it was pointed towards the sky and the top of Amelia's head was at the bottom of the frame. Then suddenly, the capture was pointed towards the ground as she switched to the forward-facing lense.

 

"...Alright! Lights, camera, action!"

 

Pointing the camera towards where everyone was convening. She narrated as she jogged to catch up with everyone else:

 

"So anyway, we were looking for the leader to the so-called Earthwalker tribe. We were split into two groups, and the other group seems to have found a lead... Let's check it out."

 

Amelia slowed her pace as she got closer to the to what appeared to be a mossy stone wall with glyphs relieved into it.

 

"There appears to be a cave here, but with no obvious point of entry," The captain said as he examined wall in question. "Clearly this means we must search for an UNobvious one, don't you all agree? These glyphs are a clue. Jami, love, can you decipher them?"

 

"Hmm..."

 

Amelia scanned the wall with her camera to see if she herself could find some kind of clue to get them into the cave...

 

((Doing a Perception check and an Intelligence: technology check))

[russiandog38]

Ryan looked at the sky and noticed the sun was beginning to set. He could see the shadows becoming longer, and feel the air getting cooler. If they we're going to find a way into the cave, they would have to do it soon. Solving puzzles in the dark isn't exactly easy. Besides, who knows what creatures came out in the night on this godforsaken planet. 

 

He approached the stone wall and looked it up and down. He was hoping to find a way to climb it, but with a lack of hand holds, that was out of the question. Also, he doubted that the dinosaurs climbed there way in, so it brought him to his next guess. A hidden entrance. He began scanning the wall with his cybernetic eye, looking for abnormal parts in the stone or straight cracks.

 

(Perception check) 

[Thu'um]

Axle reached the group at the wall last. The tree was covered in branches, and while it was easy enough to climb the trip down proved more difficult. He pulled out a canteen and took a drink. The air was humid, and the air warm. 

 

Axle looked watched the group puzzled over the the wall. He sat on the ground and sighed," leave the wall to the geeks to solve". He looked up into the sky, night was approaching quickly. Axle had three rules for surviving a foreign environment, move quickly and lightly, know how to live of the land, and find shelter by night. 

 

He also wasn't fond of explosives, to much attention. If it didn't draw the predators, it would draw the hostiles. He gazed up the wall. It looked almost perfectly smooth, not even a skilled climber like Axle could scale it. But the cave walls around it weren't ( looking for a way to climb over and around ). He paced a while longer why the group searched for an answer to the obstacle. Finally he called out " Rob, we need to find shelter or get through this wall soon or we'll be caught in a nasty spot after sun set."