Scene #7989: All-Day Social: Secundus Beach Day

Owner	Pose
Staren	For the benefit of those unfamiliar with Afterus and Secundus, here are the sort of areas you pass through on the way: Afterus - Arrivals The planet known as AFTERUS is the primary inhabited planet of Bilious Slick. It has an appearance that is superficially similar to most iterations of Earth, though with its own distinct overall geography. Passing through one of the simple personal-scale transportation devices positioned at the edge of Bilious Slick leads into a clean but run-down looking public building. The buzz of chatter and vibration of countless individuals walking nearby can be heard and felt, but they are not immediately visible. A simple sign hanging on a wall directly ahead of the arrival point declares this to be OFF-UNIVERSE ARRIVALS.A row of seats like one might find in a train station or airport is positioned a few yards in front of the transportalizer, with an endtable covered in ancient magazines set between them, and trash cans set at the edges of the room. Despite the worn-out look of the building overall, this room looks underused. The surfaces are all dusty, and the trashcans haven't had anything put in them or needed emptying in ages. Those who arrive by means of large-scale gates find themselves or their vessels in orbit of Afterus. Afterus - City of Home Whether Afterus is approached by transportalizer or gate, the location that is most primed to receive visitors is the CITY OF HOME. Those who exit from the arrivals transporter find themselves in the TEMPLE OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, a rough-hewn building with many support columns that resemble the spires of LOSAF. It is a clean but worn-looking building. Rather than having terminals for buses, or trains, there are TRANSPORTALIZERS with destinations denoted by signs, small circular platforms that teleport people here and there. The relevant terminals are sorted into LOCAL, INTERNATIONAL, and OFF-UNIVERSE. The last category is essentially unused. There is a statue of ARTHUR LOWELL in the Temple's entrance, and the floor tiles are decorated with the swirling symbol of SPACE. Like most major airports and train stations, there is a mall-like feel to the greater portion of the Temple. Small shops and restaurants litter the area, and there's always a buzz of foot traffic. Seems like the only people who actually use the typical rows and rows of chairs are those waiting for their turn, or waiting for other people to arrive. Outside, the CITY OF HOME is a strange mixture of prehistoric, modern, and futuristic architecture and engineering. They coexist together without anybody so much as blinking an eye. The TEMPLE OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION proper is surrounded by the TEMPLE DISTRICT, which is more of a city unto itself than just a district. There is a Temple for everything here, celebrating the Gods and Goddesses who brought about the existence of Bilious Slick, and catering to needs and wants in accordance with their personalities. Afterus - Secundus Terminal Arthur Lowell's sway with Afterus got a modestly-sized warpgate facility commissioned just off the outskirts of the city of Home. It looks like just about any warpgate facility: The cross between a very small airport and a very large train station, a locale for anyone and everyone to drive or fly on in. The warpgate in question has open access to the outside, allowing modestly-sized vehicles and small spacecraft to enter. Screens at the control platform are filled with a shimmery green light. This warpgate looks unusual, a shimmery green geometric design adorning its rim.
Staren	While other paths through the Secundus zones and warpgates are possible, those following Staren's invitation are treated to the following route: You step out of the gate from Afterus into... someplace where it's raining constantly. There's a large crystal tower nearby, the ground right here is mud. Directions (or self-driving vehicles provided by Staren) ferry people across rain-drenched wilderness for a few minutes to the next gate. The other side of that gate opens out onto a small sky-island; Following directions with your own flight, or again, a trip in a self-driving vehicle, takes a few minutes of crossing endless sky, with floating islands visible in the distance. Another small island with a gate on it finally gets you to your destination:
Staren	Dimension 73737: Land of Towers and Dungeons This land of varying terrains' most immediately noticible feature is the so-called "Battle Towers," stone structures several stories high occuring once in approximately every 280x280 meter area. Each floor is big enough for a an adventurer or two to have enough room to battle their way through the monsters that continually spawn there, either destroying the spawners and looting a chest or racing to the next floor. The upper stories are missing sections of floor and have more monsters and more treasure. Atop each tower is a chest with higher-grade loot and a large stone golem with one eye that shoots exploding fireballs, smashes through walls and floors if anyone tries to hide, and a few seconds after being defeated, self-destructs in a huge explosion that takes out the top floor or two of their tower. These towers appear irregularly but with frustrating frequency across the land, sticking up out of the ocean if need be. They're kind of an eyesore honestly. But the real wealth is belowground, as beneath the earth (and sometimes sticking out into bodies of water a bit) are a crisscrossing, overlapping network of randomly-generated mazelike dungeons, ravines, and abandoned mines, filled with deadly monsters... and commensurate treasure! As if that weren't enough, explore enough and occasionally other structures can be found -- crumbling ruins, mysterious mansions, undersea temples, castles, pirate ships, sunken ships, sunken pirate ships, flying islands with any of the above on them, and more! But the real value is that, once a dungeon or tower or other structure is significantly cleared out, unless it is moved into as an outpost, field base, home, or the like, it will be replaced with a freshly-generated one the next day! Thus, infinite wealth can be found in LoTaD... if you infinite fight for it! The Demon Crown Islands warpgate is atop a lightly-wooded hill inexplicably just offshore of a huge desert, looking down over a distant (and yet unexplored) pyramid and castle. Staren's machines have prepared a small manufactory inside a (non-Battle) tower on the hill that marks the entrance to a dungeon far below, and cleared out the first floor of the dungeon to renovate it with reasonably comfy and spacious accomodations. (Inspiration picture: https://puu.sh/J2ALc/cdda70a13d.png)
Staren	Dimension 73737: Land of Towers and Dungeons (For a general desc, see >tz/viewzone 73737) The southern coast of the island the warpgate is on faces the ocean. Today's weather is a pleasantly warm and sunny, if windy and partly cloudy, day. The eastern end of the beach has been set up with a couple of picnic tables, chairs under beach umbrellas, a volleyball net, and a few grills. (If no one else is manning the grill, the girl going by "Knight", a fair-skinned brunette teen in a blue one-piece swimsuit with the word GIRL printed in white across the chest, occasionally prepares burgers from House of the Deadmeat when not swimming, reading, or napping.) The beach and ocean are safe. No such guaruntee is made for those who go out exploring. Besides the distant castle and pyramid visible in the eastern desert the island is just offshore of, more notable from the beach is that a sunken wooden ship is in the water just offshore of the area where everything is set up, and the water is sufficiently shallow that a portion of the mast is visible above the water. Is that safe? Who knows! Also, one of the zone's eponymous Battle Towers has sprung up from the water a little further west, the top two or three stories rising from the waves, a stone golem easily 15' tall with one baleful red eye standing motionlessly atop it. Beachgoers are warned that shooting it from beyond the tower will result in explosive fireballs being thrown their way and to please not turn the south side of the island into a cratered wasteland. Clearing the tower and fighting the golem atop it is an option for any adventuring party that can get over there, though. As for local accomodations, the tower (not Tower) on the island contains stairs and an elevator down from the top entrance level to the beach level (a door built into the side of the hill opens out onto the beach.) The beach level has a cramped and spartan indoor rest area with a bunk in the wall, a small table and chairs, and a tiny restroom; The hum of machines can be heard from behind locked doors. Should anyone wish to, an elevator ride or a LONG stair descent from the beach level takes one to what was the first level of a dungeon. Staren's machines have put up electric lights and renovated this level to include a common area with comfy chairs, a dining room suitable for a moderate-size gathering with adjoining kitchen and supply of food suitable for long-term storage, bathrooms, and a few large guest bedrooms; There's also a preexisting library of strange, short books (a sampling from https://puu.sh/J3rG1/9e7ecede2c.zip ) and plenty of empty rooms. Basic but moderately tasteful use of wooden paneling, carpeting, and fake plants in the renovated sections makes the first floor a bit less dungeon-y. Warning signs mark the stairs to the second level (doors at the bottom of the stairs have been barricaded but the groans of the undead can be heard from beyond) and a place where a pre-existing scorchmarked hallway full of scorched cages(?) just opens out into a desert ravine, splitting off another section of dungeon visible on the other side. Enjoy your beach party and/or dungeon exploration!
Inga Freyjasdottir	Well, getting here was something of a trip, but perhaps she's simply become unaccustomed to traveling the multiverse. Inga arrives in a light blue linen dress, calf length, a braided belt around her waist. Her long white braid hangs over her shoulder. On one arm is a picnic basket, and the other clutches her walking stick, which she leans on heavily as she navigates her way through the sand to a nice spot near the water, but far enough away that it seems unlikely the waves will creep up and steal her blanket. She settles on a beach chair and turns her eyes to the ocean, watching the waves roll in and out, letting all her frustrations be taken by the tide.
Staren	TL;DR: Arrive at Afterus in what feels like a bus terminal or train station. Afterus is an earthlike world inhabited by all sorts of intelligent species and a mishmash of architecture. Follow directions or take public transport to a newly-constructed warpgate on the edge of the city. THAT gets you to a world where it is currently raining. Self-driving transport takes you to another gate. On the other side is a sky island. Self-flying transport to another sky island and another gate to reach the destination: Lightly wooded hill island with a little stone tower on it, ocean around in some directions, the southern coast of a desert is to the east across some water with a castle and pyramid visible in the distance. The southern coast of the little island is beach, beach party stuff is set up on the eastern end of said beach. There's an old-timey wooden shipwreck just offshore. A tower with a menacing golem on it rises out of the water a bit more to the west, don't bother it (or do.) From the gate simply walk down the southern side of the hill or enter a stone structure and take an elevator down to beach level; there's a basic indoor shelter built into the hillside so you can just step out a door in the side of the hill to the beach.
Staren	Staren and Knight accompany the initial visitors. Staren's got a black rash guard shorts and top (with a little white brand logo that looks like a compass with the letters NG in it) and her usual messenger bag; Knight is wearing a T-shirt and athletic shorts and sneakers over her swimsuit. She comes in out of the rain under an umbrella, which turns into a watch once she's in the vehicle. "Figures, you've made sure I'll always have an umbrella now that I don't need one." She smiles at her little joke. Staren yammers on about how "So basically, Arthur has found an entire other part of the Multiverse, where doomed timelines, failed prophecies, incomplete time loops, and such go. During the recent resonance surge, new resources generated here like crazy so the Paladins and Concord were kinda fighting over them, well, more like the Concord vs Kale vs Forte, but now things have calmed down and these places are just here." She finishes with, "Anyway, people were saying it's beach season, and I figured, I found a beach, so..." While taking the lift down, she explains, "If you need someplace to rest without making the trip back, there's a whole living area under here, just take the elevator down..." BEACH! "So this is the place I call the Land of Towers and Dungeons, for somewhat-obvious reasons... It's pretty safe as long as you stay out of the towers and the dungeons. Probably. I haven't done a lot of exploring yet. Mostly clearing out a dungeon floor that I turned into a living area for this outpost." She points at the tower and golem offshore. "There's monsters inside probably. The guardian won't attack anyone not ON the roof unless they shoot first. If someone shoots it there will be a mess though..." She rubs the back of her head awkwardly.
Staren	Knight introduces herself, "Hi! I'm, um, well everyone's calling me Knight now, it was... it's complicated. Nice to meet you!" She goes for the handshake. "I haven't actually, um... talked to a lot of Multiversal elites. You've all had such cool adventures... I've been... how do I explain... um..." She looks over at the grills. "Let's get lunch going first." She looks to Staren, "Did you, um...?" Staren wordlessly pulls the matter manipulator from her bag and deploys a cooler next to the grills. Knight starts a grill, opens the cooler up and sets out some buns on a table and patties on the grill while Staren asks, "So... how have you been, Inga? It's..." She rubs the back of her head and stares out over the ocean. "Been awhile. I keep trying things and having... mixed success. Still trying to find my way, honestly it's a little discouraging to feel like I'm falling behind everyone else, even though I've been active in the Multiverse so much longer..."
Inga Freyjasdottir	Inga shakes the offered hand, smiling lightly. "Well, it is good to meet you then Knight. Are you actually a knight?" she inquires. She's brought some side dishes in her picnic basket. Potato salad, pickled herring in mustard sauce, watermelon slices, and what looks like a berry cobbler. "Well, I have had some adventures, but most of them are icky rather than 'cool' honestly, and I spent the majority of time putting people back together or doing rather boring things, so no need to feel intimidated," she replies. To Staren, she raises her brows. "Oh? I don't think I've ever thought of you falling behind. I have been well enough. There's a few new lambs in my flock, so that's nice."
Staren	"Ah..." Knight looks away awkwardly, then back at Inga. "It's a title. Everyone on the radio was talking about people like the HEIR of TIME and The Archivist... and... the phrase 'Storm Knight' kept popping into my head so I called myself the KNIGHT of STORMS, but... ahh, it's complicated, names were awkward, I mean, using two names, but I guess I'm not now... I guess thanks to my daughter from an alternate timeline there, though, I am now!" She strikes a pose, holding her left fist high in the air. Staren starts to interject, "It's not a toy!" "STORM ELEMENT POWER: HENGE!" Knight is engulfed in a scintillating orb of light for a second or two, and when it fades she's clad in colorful red-and-blue plate armor with a more modern helmet with darkened visor and golden forehead crest and holding a sword. Her nose and mouth are still visible under the helmet. She's smiling, "Cool huh? I guess now I am a knight!" Staren is facepalming. "That was for life-and-death situations... I thought we were leaving Secundus forever, I just didn't want you to get killed living a normal life..."
Inga Freyjasdottir	Inga watches all this, blinking. She claps politely at the transformation. "Well, I suppose you are dressed as such, but who is your leige? Who do you serve? Is she your servant?" she asks this last to Staren, raising a brow.
Staren	The questions get a long, "Uhhhhhhhhhhh..." from the now-armored teenager. Staren scoffs at that idea. "GODS no. She's just... been stuck in Secundus in a timeless, unaging state for... 20 or 40 years, and... I wanted to help her. Let her escape to another zone so she can live a normal life like I never had. Like Mom in my timeline never had. I thought it would be goodbye at the end of the two weeks, but Secundus is still here, or rather, we can still reach it, and..." Staren sighs and slumps. "I forgot how excited I was to get involved in things when I was her age. Perhaps it's unavoidable that we're like this..." Knight pouts a bit at the insinuation that this is somehow immature, but admits, "I guess I'm not really a KNIGHT knight, no. I don't think the title KNIGHT of STORMS actually meant all that sort of thing, anyway..." When she says it in full like that, it's true that the translation effect attaches a connotation of 'male warrior/soldier' that is devoid of the trappings of chivalry and nobility and such.
Inga Freyjasdottir	Inga looks a bit awkward and confused by this interchange, but nods. "I see, apologies for the assumption. I have been in places where things are...different," she replies, trying tp shift her mind back into that more modern perspective. It's difficult. There's so many worlds, so many people, all making assumptions, she included. "I suppose one can be a knight without a lord, as long as there is a...code, I suppose, that you follow," she offers, reaching for the pickled herring to put a bit on a piece of rye crisp bread.
Staren	Staren shrugs, "It's fine. Understandable... actually, her choice of title has already caused a similar conversation with the Tower at the End of the World." Knight points her sword at the group and opens her mouth to say something, but Staren interrupts, "Hey, careful with that! It can shoot, remember?! Gun safety!" and Knight immediately jerks her arm downward to keep it aimed at the sand. "Shoot, sorry. Won't happen again." She sheaths it. And then speaks, "But it's not about the, serving a lord or whatever anyway. Sailor Moon and the other Sailor Senshi protect people! That's what it's about, fighting the monsters that would hurt people! That's what you do with power, now I can help people!" Ah, that's the kind of world she's from. "A code, huh? I guess that makes sense... What should it be...?" She taps her chin. Staren sighs. "You did this already. You, I mean my Mom told me. You study ethics, you find Kant but it doesn't sit right, you just end up right back at a variation on the Golden Rule. And then I tried to figure it out and---" She holds a hand to her head. "Ugh. It's helpful to think about things sometimes, but most of the time you really can just follow your heart in these things." Knight just has a 'wtf are you talking about I have no idea' expression behind the visor for most of Staren's rant, but does manage to latch on to one piece of it. "The golden rule, huh? Well, it stands to reason if I were being attacked by a monster I'd want someone to save me, so that checks out."