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meta moderators ([personal profile] metamods) wrote in [community profile] metalogs2022-04-30 09:57 pm

APRIL CONFLUENCE





APRIL CONFLUENCE

It comes to the precogs in a flash: On APRIL 26th, a confluence will occur in Little Love. Any available metahumans are requested to take a trip to the tiny town and stand guard.

Just as it has the previous four times, an OMINOUS STORM rolls in. Thunder booms and a bolt of lightning crashes into the field below.... but nobody falls from the sky. In fact, nothing weird at all seems to happen. The storm runs its course and in the end, the night is uneventful. The metas standing guard are left wet, cold, and frustrated.

THE ALLIANCE and THE SOCIETY do a thorough sweep but seem to decide everything is fine. Confluences appear to be winding down once again and all breathe a quiet sigh of relief.

Yet unknown to them, the new arrivals have come through… but this time rather than crashing into the ground, the lightning strike has EMBEDDED THEM deep, deep beneath the ground.

The following morning, the residents of Little Love are stunned to find their FRESHLY PLANTED POTATO SEED has reached full maturity overnight. Curious and wary, one brave farmer wades into the towering stalks to investigate the potential cause. She fails to come back out.

A little later into the week, one disappearance has become dozens. The Alliance receives a call stating that SOMETHING has been calling to the townspeople in the crop field. Anyone who sets foot in it doesn’t seem to be coming back out, and the town is small enough as it is already. 

Once again, you’re asked to go INVESTIGATE.



HARVEST —


Nothing seems off about the fields at first. But a thermal scan reveals just where the missing farmers have gone - they’re IN THE GROUND. Alive, but appearing to be in a deep state of slumber.

And you, new arrival, have been PLANTED right beside them. You may remember a fleeting glimpse of the world rushing by, but that now feels like a bad dream. You’re having a much nicer one down here, surrounded by all your brothers and sisters.  You can HEAR THEIR VOICES in the back of your mind, compelling you to stay here with them forever. The earth around you is like a warm embrace. Why would you ever want to leave it?  Your body will feed it and give your brethren strength. 

Some of you may snap awake at that particular thought. You begin to desperately CLAWING YOUR WAY UP. Your hand breaks the surface and someone screams at the zombie, but someone else is there to quickly grasp your hand and yank you up and out. There are THIN WHITE ROOTS all over you - easily torn off, but unsettling all the same.


PRUNING THE GARDEN



Your captors do not appreciate their garden being invaded. And for every person that’s pulled out of the ground, A MASSIVE POTATO the size of a large dog is disturbed and springs free. They don't appreciate being woken up. 

These YOUNG SPROUTS are full of piss and vinegar, ready to fight anyone who comes too close to their nesting grounds. Others are eager to return to the soil, and keen on adding to the collective by taking you with them.

Meanwhile, the remnants of last fall’s harvest appear to have adopted a persona not unlike that of a SENIOR DOG. They want to be left alone and will lash out at any of these whippersnappers intruding on their space. You may find an unlikely ally in a particularly CRANKY SPUD.  If you're patient, kind, and maybe a little off-kilter (who are we to judge), you can try to ADOPT one of the SENIOR POTATO MONSTERS. Good luck?


ALIEN CAVERN —


For those of you unfortunate enough to be pulled into the earth, you’re in luck - the potatoes seem to be overestimating how much room they have to work with. The next thing you know you’re falling through the CEILING OF A CAVERN, splashing into a shallow glowing river.

There’s NO WAY OUT, and even if you're able to fly, the hole above you appears to have sealed itself up.

Your mouth is full of dirt. Perhaps you feel compelled to DRINK THE WATER to clear it, or perhaps you swallowed a mouthful as you hit the ground. Regardless, swallow any of the glowing water you’ll BEGIN TO GLOW as well.  You’ll also become keenly attuned to the nature in this cavern. You’re probably a little stoned, but your senses tell you all of the organic material appears to possess a RUDIMENTARY SAPIENCE

Follow the stream to its source and you’ll find an impressive piece of ALIEN TECHNOLOGY. It’s difficult to discern exactly what it does, but as its surrounding area is surrounded by exotic looking plants you guess it may be some sort of TERRAFORMING MACHINE. It looks like the bolt of lightning caused it to go haywire and its pushing energy out into the fields, trying to terraform the planet into whatever its now warped parameters tell it to. A VISCOUS BLUE LIQUID is leaking from the tank and into the water supply. And you may feel regrets about drinking that.

Bring it offline. Once the machine has shut down, the POTATO-BEASTS abruptly crash through the ceiling and burrow through the ground underneath your feet. Your rescuers look down at you through these massive holes and as the sunlight strikes your skin, FLOWERS begin to bloom all over your body.

Someone makes a reluctant call to HQ and tells them to prep the medical team.


AFTERMATH —

RETURN TO HQ



After the potato beasts are taken care of (or adopted?) and the chaos from the strange underground Confluence abates, the guild places a call back to headquarters to bring everyone back with a teleportation spell. The spell reaches out for whatever metahumans it can find in the area and pulls.

All the metahumans who were involved in the Confluence — new arrivals and old — to a white training space that has already transformed into a luxurious waiting room. Everyone present receives a cellphone.

Atomight isn't there in the flesh this time, but there is a broadcast over the network to those stuck at HQ:

Thank you for your help out there. We would like to issue an apology for the way you arrived here. To those of you grappling with your new abilities, please rest assured that this room will give you a much needed reprieve. We have staff on site who can work with you to gain control of you new abilities, and nullifiers if you find it's still too much.

You are the fourth set of newly powered individuals this confluence has brought. To those of you who have been flung far from home, we'll put you in connection with the others. Many of them are here today and can advise you of what your new reality is.

We of the Guardian Alliance are committed to doing everything we can to get you home, and to give you some time to get your feet under you. And as this may be your home for a while longer, I wish to formally extend an invitation to those of you who wish to use your powers to defend the innocent to join us.


Once everyone gathered has been looked over and attended to they're directed to:


THE DIADEM



As always, there is space aplenty for new arrivals in the DIADEM HOTEL. (Though there's a lot of you now, so you'll definitely be matched with a ROOMMATE, possibly at random.)

The Diadem Hotel is a luxury hotel usually reserved for the obscenely wealthy. Its rooms are enormous, the beds quite literally enchanted to offer the perfect night's sleep, and the food would usually cost your life savings just to sample. But don't worry! Everything is COMPLIMENTARY, and everyone gets an Alliance credit card to spend on entertainment, clothing, and whatever other necessities they might need. The cards appear to have an obscenely high limit and there doesn't seem to be an expectation for you to pay it back.

You might get approached by GUILD REPRESENTATIVES and invited to join. Depending on your character's actions during the Confluence crisis, they might get approached by one guild and not the other. Recruiters are charming and personable, talking up the perks of being in the Guilds (see more on our FAQ and GUILDS pages). They won't be harassing anyone, but a "no, thank you" might be returned with a "think it over" and offer of a calling card. Be careful, though. You only have TWO MONTHS to join a guild and secure guild housing. If you don't join one or the other, you'll be on your own. Oh well. Live it up while you can, right?


IN SUMMARY...

  • NEW ARRIVALS arrive in LITTLE LOVE during a storm. At first, the Confluence escapes notice, as these arrivals arrive UNDER THE GROUND.

  • At first, sleeping arrivals may feel compelled to STAY underground with their newfound root brethren. Eventually, they realise the error of that thinking and CRAWL OUT OF THE GROUND like freaky plant zombies, covered in roots. "Get this stuff off of me!"

  • MUTANT POTATO-BEASTS also crawl out of the ground with arrivals! You may be able to make an UNLIKELY ALLIANCE with one of these creatures and even take it home with you!

  • Those PULLED INTO THE EARTH can explore an ALIEN CAVERN completely with glowing, questionable water. Arrivals need to shut down an ALIEN TERRAFORMING MACHINE before being rescued by farmers and potato-beasts. Delicious(?).

  • As always, new arrivals will later be transported either to GUILD HQ or the DIADEM HOTEL. Enjoy your new guild perks for the next two months! Decide to join a guild (or not)! Pluck that last stray potato root off yourself and meet your fellow potatoes arrivals.

  • Ask any mod questions HERE.
mostdangerousbird: (039)

[personal profile] mostdangerousbird 2022-05-08 10:59 pm (UTC)(link)
That was, perhaps, one of the worse things that she could say. It wouldn't be so bad if he knew how he'd wound up buried in the dirt of... wherever this is. As he can't remember at all, though, and she's here to help the people who are buried, he expects that she's involved in the situation.

"I'm fine. Where do new people usually arrive from?" Robin takes a step back and doesn't let her touch him.

[personal profile] pinkxeno 2022-05-08 11:30 pm (UTC)(link)
She is involved in the sense that it also happened to her. Not being buried, but arriving to a whole different Earth. So it's fair enough to say she is involved, sure.

Mina doesn't mind if he steps away, instead focusing on the question. " Oh yeah, from the sky" she looks up. There is really no one falling this time, huh... "Usually we fall down from there and smash against the ground but we don't get hurt from it. Still, it's really scary. AND! We end up destroying stuff too, like houses and cars."

It's a huge mess, actually.

"I dunno if coming from the ground is better tho."
mostdangerousbird: (029 didn’t recognize u w/o the handcuffs)

[personal profile] mostdangerousbird 2022-05-09 03:21 am (UTC)(link)
Making a rewinding motion with his index fingers spinning counterclockwise, Robin shakes his head. “I’m going to need you to start at the beginning. Who are you, who is we , and why do you fall from the sky?”

If the options are falling from the sky and being buried in the dirt, Tim is glad to have been in the dirt. Despite her reassurance, he is fairly confident he wouldn’t survive the fall.

[personal profile] pinkxeno 2022-05-09 11:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, right, right, as usual Mina had a lot she wanted to say and explain that she ended up not following the right order of things. "Sorry, Confluences are always somewhat messy. I'm Mina! Mina Ashido." she smiles wide.

"You have just been through what they call a Confluence, here. Confluence happen because magical, supernatural and powerful forces all merge together from many different worlds, and that causes instability and it ends up bringing people from all kind of places: different countries, different planets, and even different dimensions." she looks around, as if wanting to make a point, but since there is no one falling from the sky, it's hard to make said point. "This world is called Earth but it might not be the Earth you are used to." it's hard to explain multi-universes, she only became familiar with that when she arrived here herself.

"People who arrive here through Confluences or are affected by them are called Metas. You are one, and so am I. I arrived four months ago, from the sky though." and she did survive te fall.
Edited 2022-05-09 23:20 (UTC)
mostdangerousbird: (050 he doesn't look a thing like jesus)

[personal profile] mostdangerousbird 2022-05-11 09:41 pm (UTC)(link)
"Mina. Nice to meet you, I'm Robin." He could get to like her. Maybe she started a little scattered, but that's actually a significant amount of information delivered in a short amount of time. If it's not made-up for his benefit or hers - after all, she is still maintaining he arrived from the sky (thinks the boy who arrived in the dirt).

He doesn't think it is, though. There are far easier explanations to offer him, which makes it alarming information, but he'd rather know what's going on. A Confluence is what this world calls two or more worlds in the multiverse to connect, allowing involuntary crossover, and Metas are the people who are brought over to this world on more than one occasion. "If that's true, what's the designation of this world in the multiverse? I've never heard of a Confluence in that context, and the only Metas I know are metahumans."

[personal profile] pinkxeno 2022-05-13 03:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Mina shakes her head. Those are questions she didn't even know she could ask. She did hear someone mentioning it'd be easier to give names to all the different Earths, but it all sounded really technical to her.

"Uhmm, I don't think universes and planets have like... a specific designation like that? I mean, in my planet nobody knows there are other Earths or dimensions, so we only called ourselves Earth."

But! She nods quickly. "Metas is short for metahumans tho! They call us that because we have powers. Sometimes the Confluences even give us new ones, or give the natives powers too, so they become Metas as well. That's why things can get so crazy." People who have just arrived are given new powers, or people who never had them are given new powers... it's naturally chaotic.
mostdangerousbird: (042 monitoring you like machines do)

[personal profile] mostdangerousbird 2022-05-15 09:46 pm (UTC)(link)
"They do in my world," Tim says. He tries to pull up a hologram and connect it to something, anything that would let him connect to the Batcomputer or Oracle's network and get a message across to them. There's nothing. Point in Mina's favor. He wouldn't expect there to be a connection if she was telling the truth.

Metahumans do make things crazy, and new metahumans are a potential can of worms. "The Confluence sometimes gives people powers? What's the determining factor on if it does or doesn't?"

[personal profile] pinkxeno 2022-05-15 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
How come so many places are aware of multiuniverses? it makes Mina feel like her world is kind of falling behind, here.

"Ohh, what's that?" without any shame she tries to glance over the hologram to figure out what it is, but Tim's question at least distracts her from that.

"Hmmm, nobody really knows. Which is why it's so chaotic. Honestly, I heard Confluences happen because this world is a bit broken, so it's hard to follow patterns. But anyone who's nearby can be affected." Mina touches the back of her pink head, thinking for a moment.

"Apparently Confluences stopped being common in the 80s, but it seems this year they started happening again for some reason." oh she is sure there is a reason, but people still haven't figured it out.
mostdangerousbird: (026 i’ll admit i was never wrong)

[personal profile] mostdangerousbird 2022-05-19 12:49 am (UTC)(link)
Because some of them are from worlds that regularly splinter apart and recoalesce back down into one.

"It's a projected comm screen," he says as he cancels it and closes the panel in his gauntlet. "It sounds like someone told you all of that?"

It's not an accusation or a knock. If Mina's relaying all hearsay, then Tim wants to also hear it from the sources themselves, rather than playing telephone with anything so important.

[personal profile] pinkxeno 2022-05-21 11:08 am (UTC)(link)
Mina is still glancing at the comm screen, but his question makes her turn her head back at Tim. "Yeah, the internet!" She grins wide.

"I mean, the Guilds also explain all off this when they get you, but the Internet made it easier to understand." the Guild is so... scientific. A lot went over Mina's head.
mostdangerousbird: (Default)

[personal profile] mostdangerousbird 2022-05-25 01:36 am (UTC)(link)
Oh sweet merciful gods on New Genesis, he is at the mercy of someone who learned everything off the internet.

"When they 'get me'?" He repeats this like she's just suggested that he's about to be kidnapped. "What if I don't want to be gotten?"

[personal profile] pinkxeno 2022-05-25 06:15 pm (UTC)(link)
The internet is a great place to learn things!!

She hums softly "I guess... They somehow manage to get everyone." wait no, that sounds wrong and she just realized it! "I mean that after all this is done, they come meet us and take us to the Hotel where they explain everything! After they give you a credit card and a room and you later on can decide if you wanna be part of the Alliance Guild or the Villain Guild."