solmara plotting

[etrayamods]

⏵ Solmara ⏴ Hello, Etrayans! We've had several people reach out to us for plotting with the Solmara reveal, so we wanted to give all of you one space you can use to discuss your plans, and plot with other players! For those who had originally come from Solmara, please feel free to reveal anything that hasn't been brought up on this post! For those who have reached out to the mods regarding Solmara in different spaces, we would like to ask to move all plotting in regards to this other city bubble to this post, to ensure visibility for others participating. Thank you! Etraya Mods

Comments

mod queries.

[etrayamods]

Please feel free to post any questions directly to the mods under this header. This includes future plotting that may need some mod guidance.

[clavesregni]

Hi mods! Moving my question over here: Caitlyn's thinking of organizing a small team to scout out Solmara and gather information on Alrys and everything going on over there and report back what they learn to Etraya. Would getting to Solmara for recon purposes be a thing she could do?

[etrayamods]

This is something that we're open to! However, characters must find a way to travel to Solmara. Outside of Etraya's city bubble, and extending out towards where Solmara's begins, there is no atmosphere.

[ascarylady]

Okay, so I've been thinking and have a few questions:

1. Does Aurora know when Solmara is off on a mission?

2. Is it possible to break into another bubble city from the outside? Clearly, someone was able to cross over to place that sign, and I know about the robot the Bad Kids sent out at least OOC (but not IC).

2a. If possible, would Aurora know the location of Solmara? And would it be close enough to try cracking open if they had a way to survive the vacuum outside? Or would AI-generated portals be the preference overall?

Because if Etryans go in the same way that the four from Solmara did here, it sounds like they would end up registered with Solmara instead. It's not the best outcome for people intending to return.

[etrayamods]

1. Aurora does not know their mission schedule. However, it does follow the same pattern that Etraya's does. Each city has it's own schedule - speaking to those who originated from Solmara could get theirs. For OOC reference, they usually leave on missions one week after Etrayans do.

2. It's difficult, but possible. Figuring out a way to cross the planet would be their first step. Gorgug has experience handling the material that makes the city bubble, although if Ree is occupied elsewhere, PCs can always fuss with the Etrayan barrier to try and figure it out.

2a. Aurora does know where Solmara is. If one were to drill straight through the planet from Etraya, they'd come out the other side into Solmara. However, the planet is small! Travel there is possible, it's just figuring out how to survive out in space where there is no atmosphere that will be their challenge.

[fatedfinality]

Hello, mods!

I'll let the questions about potential recon missions and getting to Solmara be answered, but piggyback off it by asking what happens if someone wants to stay and/or would infiltrating their ranks instead of returning be something that could be explored?

No worries if not, Ardyn may still try it/betray Etrayans in a greedy perceived potential at a power grab and suffer the consequences of his actions accordingly. But the opportunity for a villain to villain is a fun idea!

[etrayamods]

Staying in Solmara would be possible, depending on how PCs choose to handle dealing with them. But it would also take characters out of play for the most part; Solmarans go on their own missions and live in their own city bubble separate from Etraya.

[tinflower]

Adding some questions here that Gorgug would ask Aurora!

1. If people are still coming and staying in Solmara, that means they must still be connected to the city's AI there, correct? From what Aurora told Maria and Gorgug about them being connected to her. Does Aurora think there's a way of helping to fix the AI?

1a. Would Aurora want to help her other sister? Does she think she could do something to help the AI if another copy of her body went over to Solmara? If it would be a smart idea, tbh. Solmara AI may not be very happy.

2. Will Aurora support people going outside the city to investigate/do something about Solmara?

If so, since this is semi-relevant to the question about reaching Solmara, Gorgug could help would the atmosphere issue, but would need help with the materials, etc! He can provide oxygen masks (not very glamorous) that will give people air, but it will take him time to make some! But he can do it on the side while people are away, to at least lessen the workload, if Aurora will support people going out. (He needs time to build them + the magical energy to do so.)

Gravity is an issue, though I think he could work with other smart individuals to make a means of making some devices to help with that!

I don't mind having Gorgug help with dealing with the barrier, but I'll keep him as support in supplying items than deal with any of the NPCs.

[etrayamods]

1. They are still connected to their AI! Aurora's uncertain if there's anything wrong with them, but they also have not been in contact for some time. She could help fix them if they did need repair, though.

1a. She has a decent relationship with her siblings she has been in contact with, and would also want to make sure this one is okay! She could bring her back up body, given it's only on the other side of the planet... Aurora thinks that would work out okay if needed.

2. She'll support Etrayans investigating and trying to discern why her sibling on that planet has gone no-contact, yes!

She could support him in providing additional supplies and hands while everyone else is off on Aphaia. Aurora will not be as present as she'd prefer, but the companion bots will be able to assist Gorgug whenever he needs a hand. Aurora may need to power down for a rest for a few days at a time, but she'll warn Gorgug before this.

[overconfidently]

Here comes the telepathy questions. 🙋‍♀️

Is Nate able to locate any of the people of Solmara via his scanning with his mind? I know the hospital has been brought up to see how many people are/may be there. Also if there’s anything he might be able to pick up about the planet itself, more in the whole what he can feel sort of way. Is it dying, unstable, corrupted, fake, sentient, etc.

Are there any potential minds he could pull information from on Solmara? Like if he were to skip across minds looking for various keywords in thoughts and conversations that could help them with this mission.

For my own curiosity, are there any spots or things on Solmara that might block his telepathy? More curious for me to potentially play around with if it comes up.

I think that’s it for now, I may be back as the mission progresses. 🤔 Thank you either way, mods. 😎

[etrayamods]

Nate can find a significant amount of Solmara's crew telepathically, but oddly enough, while he can skim a few names off of people of who might be important to Alrys, those individuals seem to be indetectable! He isn't the only one with telepathic abilities around. :)

There are around ~200 people present within Solmara, which he can sense even if he can't get any information out of a good fourth of them.

The planet feels almost exactly like Etraya does. Artificial, but this city is significantly less well-maintained than the one on the other side of Etraya (which is the planet's name also, because Aurora wasn't particularily creative when naming her city bubble. The planet: Etraya. The first city bubble on it: Solmara. The second?: Also Etraya. ) It isn't dying, but it may feel a little.. neglected.

What keywords would he be looking for? We can give you some information suited to that!

There are a few telepathic blank spots, such as around some of the more mind-oriented creatures (which Max chatted about), around a few of the homes (belonging to Alrys and a few of her generals), and the main supply hub within the city.

Monster question!

[tinflower]

For the Whisper-Vipers, would Gorgug's Rage ability (topped with Mindless Rage, which makes him immune to being charmed/frightened) be able to block out their mind static? Rage usually means that his head becomes focused on pure anger and he can't even pull off spells that require concentration well on his part because his mind is Busy already.

Also, are the armoured scales literally like metal or just really tough snake scales? Since we have a few people with heat abilities!

[etrayamods]

Gorgug's rage can block out their mind static, yes!

The armored scales aren't made out of metal, but are really tough scales. However, they are tough enough to endure most heat-based abilities for short periods of time.

[cantilevers]

Vander is going on a scouting mission for locals and trying to ingratiate himself with them and learn whatever he can. Nate is helping him to provide names, descriptions and things to say/not say to the locals to help them. He will be using both bribery, his natural charm and social talents to earn him their trust.

He will not be going back to camp except to provide information of what he's found out so as to limit the risk of giving away that location. He will probably be meeting up Sevika to exchange intel and make a web of who knows who and what so they can cover more ground.

Vander would specifically be seeking the following information:
- entrances and exits to the city compound
- how many people and/or bots are inside
- city defenses / weaponry
- what alyrs' charm power looks like or feels like and range

Oh and I forgot to ask: is the cost of dying in Solmara the same at Etraya or is it permanent? Asking for a friend.

[etrayamods]

- Entrances and exits to the city compound: There's one main entrance, but there's a couple places along the wall where one could theoretically break in, and where people have slipped in a couple times. We've marked them on the map here in red, with the big circle marking the main entrance.

- How many people and/or bots are inside: There are a couple bots guarding the hospital, mostly to ensure nothing happens to it by the residents around! These bots are extremely advanced, and do not communicate with Solmarans at all. They do also usher Solmarans out to their missions, and try to ensure the barrier around the city remains in tact. Aside from this, they don't do much, and there are maybe half a dozen of them wandering the city total - no one has seen more than six at a time, at least. About half of the Solmarans reside within the walls proper, but they do venture out on occasion.

- City defenses / weaponry: Weaponry is what the Solmarans brought along with them, and mot much else. Many of them have special abilities - such as Beckett who can block telepathic abilities, Alrys' charm ability, etc. Some are tinkerers who build guns/swords/etc out of the scrap they find around. These are what they use as their defenses.

- What Alyrs' charm power looks like or feels like and range: It's difficult to find someone who can describe this. Most will say something akin to what we wrote to Missy here regarding Alrys' being more helpful than anything else. A few might shrug their shoulders at the mention of her and not say anything at all, because those who aren't under her influence know better than to say anything against her. He'll get the same responses close to the city borders as he would inside the city, so Vander can safely assume that the range to her ability includes the entire city bubble.

For Vander, the cost of dying on Solmara is the same as it would be on Etraya. Anyone who dies within Solmara whose body remains in tact enough to be revived would need to be brought back through the portal. If their body is destroyed enough to make bringing it back up not feasible, they would revive on Etraya proper within a week or so and wake up in the hospital under Aurora's care.

If we missed anything you were looking for, let us know! Hope this helps.

[laserguy]

Hello mods!

Scott and Nate (and maybe another person??) will probably be investigating/scouting the abandoned mansion. Would they find anyone or anything of note there?

The old observatory will also probably be investigated too, either by the same group or a different group, and wondering the same thing here, if they would find anything of interest over there?

[etrayamods]

The abandoned buildings on the outskirts are going to be relatively empty: these have been raided countless times in the past for supplies, metals, and anything else useful. They're husks of what they had been before, and serve mostly as shelters for people who need a place to hunker down when they've wandered out this far.

Scott, Nate, and their mystery third person will find one thing of note: a body, left tied in chains to slowly starve out. By the time they reach him, Thamien, will have already been deceased long enough for his body to have started getting cold. Thamien is a bi-pedal alien, close to 3 meters tall and covered by a massive piece of cloth to protect his skin from the sun.

The relevant OOC plotting thread for this guy can be found here, if that helps any!

Outside of this, there isn't much to scout for outside of the city. Their team would have better luck within the guarded walls.

[tinflower]

Hey mods! There was some discussion about giving you an idea of where we are with planning, so that it might help you know what we're thinking about, how it looks, etc. We're still asking individual questions! This is just an overview.

For the first couple of days to nearly a week, the idea so far is to set up a camp with some individuals sticking back (Accelerator, Gorgug, possibly Charlie) that others will come back to from time to time. This is close to the portal I think, since there were concerns about Solmarans noticing it anyway, and it's a good starting point. People won't always go back so as to not draw attention, but it's there.

Some characters will go schmoozin' and look for intel (Vander, Sevika, Dazai; Max will hit up anti-Alyrs folks he knows, Furiosa will be with him), to get a feel for the mood of people, and potentially getting allies who would help them out in dealing with Alyrs and her crew, and possibly creating a distraction so some folks can go into the hospital with less of the bigger guns. If people are fairly tightlipped about Alyrs, then if people press on it, they can let you know individually!

Items are going to be bartered (cigarettes, foods, alcohol, useful essentials taken from Etraya; Gorgug has also made and supplied drinking flasks of water/alcohol that will refill each day, as well as oil to be bartered) if there does seem to be any potetial allies. Some Etrayans will target a couple of the tougher monsters and get materials from them to be used and shown as proof that they have some power behind them if there seems like there's wiggle room to get people on their side.

Another group will be approaching the city (Yuri, Dimitri, Caitlyn) who want to investigate and see what they can find out there. They're talking about this with you, but just mentioning it!

The idea so far is potentially gathering allies, getting as much defence as they can (Gorgug and Accelerator using parts others bring to create amulets that can make detection hard supernaturally/scientifically, incorporating Accelerator's reflections into them), and cause some form of distraction that will bring out Alyrs and her main crew out into the open while a well-shielded group can get into the hospital.

This part of the plan wholly depends on what they can find out and what NPC back up they can get, and if there's anything else that might do better, so it isn't set in stone!

I did want to ask just as an aside for Gorgug, for people outside of the main city, could he potentially register any charm energy/magic on regular people? He can detect magic, but is using his goggles upgraded to work with other forms of energy to, from the technology he got a while back!

[etrayamods]

The potential allies will simply not be useful people. They happily will take supplies, as they’re hungry, desperate, and tired. But this will not inspire them to go to the city with you.

There are very few of them, and they live hard, meager lives. They may be anti-Alrys, but they are also afraid of her. You will not be able to get them to do much more than be friendly or neutral towards you.

There will not be NPC back up.

Gorgug can see that the people on the outskirts are not actively charmed. They are outside of Alrys’ reach.

Yuri, Dmitri, and Caitlyn will be able to sneak in and learn things, though it is a lot of ground to cover and very dangerous as well.

[supbitches]

Quick question now that I'm no longer dying of allergies!

How hackable are the robots guarding the hospital? Also, how long would that take/how much effort would it require? Because Charlie is willing to give that a try if there's an opportunity for it.

Elevator question

[tinflower]

For the elevator, it works but won't go down, correct? Would Caitlyn, Yuri, and Dimitri have seen this, and would they have been able to find a place for a card to be read?

If the above is all a yes, would an elevator card work, with a message added into the code on the lines of 'Aurora sent us, we're here to help you'?

[sonofzod]

Hi mods!

Just a quick question: Would Hernan have to deal with any countermeasures against him?

Hospital Team

[tinflower]

Hi mods! A team will be going into the hospital around the same time that another group will be dealing with Alyrs and co, hopefully they'll come to you with the details soon! The hospital team consists of: Yuri, Sevika, Charlie, Accelerator, Gorgug, and Shaw.

Yuri will be helping to get the group to the elevator that they used to get to the lower floors. Accelerator will use his powers to help float the gang down as far as they need, but they will be stopping by the computer with the communication module to check that out.

Charlie, Gorgug, and Accelerator are the tech nerds of the group. Can they send a message through the computer in binary? Like, 'Aurora sent us, we're here to help.'

As a note, they will have 3 of the null- and glasswing- amulets on them to help mask their location and to mess with mind fuckery.

Re: Subduing Alrys

[hauntedsnowfall]

Would Max be able to request a meeting to hand off intel to Alrys, as well as introduce a new recruit/man on the inside from Etraya— a person who can help get her supplies? { It’s Dazai, and it’s a lie }

[tinflower]

Gorgug's going to have bagged that broken bot when he leaves, if that's ok. He wants to compare Aurora and Borealis's bots!!

Can he have also found the missing earpiece the banner NPC had before leaving? Or taken another one somewhere IDK.