driftfleet_ooc | The Message

We're here with a small update for passengers trying to get at the core of the ruined host-ship down on the planet, as well as some more details about the mysterious SOS message for any character who is spending a significant amount of time on the planet.

THE CORE.

After several days of work, those who have been trying to find or make a passage into Virsua's heart finally succeed. Because of how this area of the ship is buried in the deepest reaches of the crater it rests in, its walls are still mostly intact. Once a path is found into the inner shell, it is still a significant walk downward through the guts of the ship, ending in an absolutely massive chamber. The walls and ceiling of the heart are lost in shadow, lit by the dim, eerie glow of the power core.

Even though the ship's reserve power cells should have burned out long ago, anyone with the technical or magical awareness for it will be able to tell that the ship is somehow siphoning (or being fed) energy from the planet itself. It's just enough to power the systems needed to keep that message playing.

There is one more thing to note in Virsua's heart; exploring the walls reveals a battery of huge structures lining the chamber. Each pod-shaped device is the size of a small ship, though their exteriors are nearly featureless and sealed up tight, like giant metal seeds. Though they've been deteriorating in this crater for years, neither the core nor the pod-like structures can be broken into or dismantled.

THE MESSAGE.

As many of the passengers who have been spending time on the planet's surface have been noticing, something is in the air and in their heads. The more time each person spends on the surface, the more this feeling clarifies and condenses. And then, all at once, the visitors begin to understand words.

It has taken some time for the planet to find its 'voice,' but passengers now have a chance of being mentally contacted with clues toward the meaning of the Virsua's broadcast message. As with the other portions of the event, this is entirely for in-character flavor. There is no pressure out-of-character to band together or actually scramble to figure out what the message says--the entire meaning will be revealed in the end, and it will not be a time-sensitive message, or anything else of that sort. These clues are just meant to give you guys something to interact with if you choose to, so if this doesn't sound like fun, or if you've got enough to play with already, you are welcome to ignore it!

It is also up to each player to decide whether or not their character has likely spent enough time on the planet to be contacted, and if the planet decides to contact them at all. Furthermore, it's up to players how exactly their characters are contacted--the clue could appear in a dream, suddenly strike them with realization in the middle of the day, dawn on them slowly over time, etc.

So, to start with, untranslated transcripts of the message go something like the following:

Yei equoa seh ouat ti unduo ti akun. Yiat deht quoi yiat seh kiskhan. Yiaht seh yesui ti yiat seh enduan, tal yei vissai atuav yei ti esat yiat lehir hanui. Esat yiat lehir evess. Esat yiat lehir illua tal giskat deht. Wes sahat lehir enila yei, wes yei vissai seh nan sahat ista, sahat yayet quoi adaht woru vitsahn. Hanui gisketi ideht yesui ti tokia gisketi ideht uaru, tal adrifa deseht adtah.

When passengers are contacted by the planet, each will find themselves with the new understanding that one particular word in the message means another particular word in the common language, regardless of whether or not they have ever even listened to the message to begin with.

If you would like to have your character receive a translated word from the planet, reply to this post with the character's journal, and we will send you your translation via PM to that journal.

There is no sort of deadline for this, since it is all for IC fun. The whole meaning will be given at the end, but if a latecomer wants their character to have received a word for backtagging purposes or anything, feel free to comment anyway!

We'll play it by ear! Have fun! And if you have any questions about the message or the inside of the core, go ahead and send them towards the previous questions thread.