first scroll [video ; open]

[girlworthfighting]

[Upon awaking Mulan took her time warily exploring the ship, after having retrieved her armor and weapons of course. Finding no one to speak to, eventually she turned to the unfamiliar device she located among her belongings.

The video focuses mostly on her face, revealing a young determined looking women wearing red and black armor with a coin pattern. Her dark hair is unbound and hangs carelessly around her face, straight and loose.]

It's my understanding that wherever they are on the other end of this...object, someone can hear me. Whoever you are, I want you to show yourselves. [Tersely, teeth briefly bared.] This is not a request.

I do not know if I came to this strange place by chance encounter or deliberate action. But this is not my land, nor is it any land I am familiar with from my distant travels. And I have no memory of my arrival here, either. The only explanation I'm left with is abduction.

Whoever you are, whatever it is you may want me for, speak. The longer you make me wait, the less the likelihood you'll have of anything like my willing cooperation.

[Posturing? She is, a bit. Normally her course of action upon arriving in unfamiliar territory would be to keep her head down. But given the circumstances, she thinks it's important that she put on a strong front, let anyone out there who might be looking know she means business. That she's no easy pickings.

And that the abrupt manner of her being brought here has made her more than a little angry.]

Or if my unknown captors are too cowardly to explain themselves, then it is my hope that these words will reach someone who can enlighten me.

Comments

[Video]

[kazeninaru]

[Here, have a slightly amused but also slightly sympathetic face, Mulan. It's hard to tell whether said face is male or female; the dusty blonde hair is short, the face shape neutral, and the voice low.]

Calm down, jo-chan. Whoever did the kidnapping is long dust. Most of us would like answers, too, but they are not likely to come any time soon.

[Video]

[girlworthfighting]

[She doesn't know that reference, and her confusion briefly registers on her face.] My name is Mulan.

And what do you mean, whoever brought us here is gone? I do not understand.

[Video]

[kazeninaru]

Mulan-san.

[Haruka nods amiably to that.]

I mean, we were all brought here together, in that big ship you woke up in, in those pods... and then they died, or vanished, or went back home when it crashed, no one knows. We have been waking up in ones and twos for months, now.

Need somebody to come show you around?

[Video]

[girlworthfighting]

So they kidnapped us and then abandoned us here. Like discarded toys.

[Nope, not getting any less aggravated about this.]

I believe I can find my way down the path easy enough, unless there is some other intended destination than the settlement that I'm missing. Thank you for the offer.

You didn't tell me your name.

[Video: here, Mulan, have a dragon]

[steamosaurus]

[The large, feathered creature that appears on the device appears to be in some sort of workroom - there are metal parts scattered across the parts of the bench that are visible, and some sort of plans hanging up on the wall behind it. Its muzzle has a conspicuous grease smear.]

If only it were that easy, my friend. We've all been searching for answers and have precious little to show for it. I can promise you that none of your fellow abductees - myself included - mean you any harm. At least, none that I've met have been so inclined.

[Its voice is gravelly and dry, somewhere between a human's and a parrot's. At least it's polite?]

[Video: oh hey, a dragon]

[girlworthfighting]

[What the- She leans back, eyes widening perceptibly.

She has no idea what sort of creature this is. But it speaks intelligently and, well, it is polite.]

...How long have you been searching? What kind of a place is this?

Re: [Video: or dinosaur. Close enough.]

[steamosaurus]

Well, I don't know for sure, but some of us have been here for some months. I should ask Wing - I know he was one of the first to wake on the ship.

[Darwin ponders a moment, her feathers fluffing up a bit.]

This is... a different world than the one you're from. A different planet, and possibly a whole different dimension. It's a little unclear, but people from the ship are from many different types of worlds. Some just appear to be alternate histories, but others... well, there's some with magic, or strange creatures, or sentient robots. Not to mention technology beyond my wildest imaginings. And I should tell you- [Darwin grins] I have a very active imagination.

For example... I take it you're not familiar with my kind? No one here is. At least, not one so evolved as I.

[video]

[iwanttosettheworldonfire]

[A young woman with a smudge of grease on her cheek looks distractedly at her screen.]

Such a long story, sister. ...Well, no, I guess it's mostly a weird story. Still, easier to do that part in person, but any of us can give you the skinny. You wanna head down to the city. I can come up if you need an escort. There are monsters and junk. Best to be armed.

[video]

[girlworthfighting]

I have plenty of that. [She unsheathes her sword enough for the hilt in her hand to be visible, and turns so that her quiver is visible over her shoulder.] If you can truly provide me with answers, I will find my way to you. How long a journey do you think it will be, in this weather?

[iwanttosettheworldonfire]

[Good, she'll be set for the kind of predators that get this close to the city, anyway.]

I'm really not a better shot than anyone else, but if you wanna come by I'll give you a rundown. It's not a long hike down. You can head for the Flop to find everyone else who woke up where you did. Ask anyone. They'll point you there.

[Weather other than crippling, dry heat is so exciting to Indrani that she never considers it an impediment.]

[Video]

[nodavinci]

[The man who appears onscreen is wearing some sort of armour, red and gold, though the visor's pushed up to show his face.]

Dead, actually. For about a hundred years, give or take a decade. And probably not all that interested in willing cooperation.

Welcome to Verdana. You've been out cold for a long time.

[Video]

[girlworthfighting]

[Mulan straightens up a bit, assuming from his armor he must be some sort of military commander, someone she is trained to respect. Her mind boggles at that whole 'dead for hundreds of years' thing, so at first she focuses on what else he says.]

Verdana? I've never heard of such a realm.

[Video]

[nodavinci]

Planet. Not realm.

[He regards the screen warily for a moment.]

Asgard ring a bell? Or are you from some other part of the ren faire?

[Video from a boat]

[genoshas_general]

We're all abductees here. There are plenty of people to punish for this, though. And they will come after you unless you go after them first. Ignore the appeasers.

We face a very real threat here. Keep that warrior's spirit handy.

[Video]

[girlworthfighting]

All? You mean to say there are no captors to guard us, no jailers or overlords?

If so, then what threats do we face?

[Video]

[genoshas_general]

Oh, there are overlords here. The Outer Authorities: our own personal oppressors. Whether they're jailers is debatable, and they're not directly our captors. They are our enemies.

But they don't usually monitor this network. [She frowns.] And when they do, they don't announce themselves.

[Video/Text]

[frostedoverland]

[Jack is just gonna stare at you. At first. Never really expected someone like this to suddenly appear over the network. Not quite chancing the hope of being seen, he starts texting. Though he'll leave the video on. Just in case.]

Easy there, tiger. You'll get an explanation, no need to demand for it. You're on a planet called Verdana. A home away from home for now.

[Video]

[girlworthfighting]

[Mulan blinks at the text. Though she could probably figure out how to respond in kind if she cared to, right now she doesn't have the patience.

Oh, and Jack? She can totally see you. Believing in magic and the like isn't even a thing you think about, where she comes from. It's like believing in the sun. Of course it's real: it's there, and you see it all the time.]

Forgive me if I sounded like I was trying to provoke a fight. But considering I was the one trespassed upon in bringing me here, I feel it's only right I be given answers.

...Your hair is white. Yet you have the face of a youth. What are you? Sorcerer, or something else?

[Video]

[frostedoverland]

[sdkjhdfkg-! Why can't people warn him that he can be seen? Not that Mulan knew he normally couldn't but he just about had a heart attack. And wanted to jump up in glee. And dance. Or something.

Yup. Never getting used to it. He manages to restrain himself after taking several deep breaths and blinking rapidly as his brain caught up. Yea, we're cool. Totally.]

I'm Jack Frost, Winter's Shepherd, the Spirit of Winter, I go by many names but just call me Jack. [See? Totally calm now.] White hair kind of comes with the job.

It's okay, being confused upon waking up here is a pretty legitimate reason. Too bad I can't tell you exactly how and when you got on the ship. I don't even know how I got on there, just woke up here a couple weeks ago myself.

Video

[wrench_and_ruffles]

'Fraid no one's rightly sure how we got here, exactly. Ain't anybody claimin' to be on charge on that front, anyway.

[Not quite what she's used to]

Video

[girlworthfighting]

I'm beginning to understand that. It's the story that everyone I've talked to so far has given me, anyway.

At least I know I'm not alone in my inconvenience.

Re: Video

[wrench_and_ruffles]

That's the big thing we got goin' here. Lookin' out fer each other.

[Video]

[pepperspray]

[Caught in the middle of planning an excursion south, Pepper's response to the video comes at a delay. Still, have one poised businesswoman, the pickup showing a backdrop of books and shelving in some sort of archive.]

The ship responsible for housing us all in the pods like the one you woke up in crashed at least a century ago, and the crew seems to have died in the crash.

That said, it at least had the decency to crash on an inhabited planet, if a war-torn one, so the locals have both food and housing set up for new arrivals until we can find our feet. My name is Pepper Potts, and if you'd like any questions answered, I'll do my best with them.

[Video]

[girlworthfighting]

Greetings to you, Lady Potts. [What? She definitely gives off an 'in charge' air, and even women like Mulan don't actually get to be knights, so she can't be 'Sir'.] A few others have also greeted me in this manner and offered much in the way of information, so I think that for now, I should be all right.

[She's actually on her way to get an in-face explanation from Indrani right now, a fact she's doubly glad of now that Wanda has made her wary of the comms.]

But thank you for your offer.

[Video]

[pepperspray]

Did you know you're the second person here to call me 'Lady'? Although I at least bargained Sigyn down to Lady Pepper.

[Pepper seems more amused and accepting than irritated by the title, and nods briefly at the news that the Verdana welcome wagon has gotten in ahead of her.]

Since you've gotten the information package, let me know when you've gotten to the Flop and settled in. The supplies and accommodations are extremely basic, with barter for either goods or labour required for more. I'm fairly well acquainted with what opportunities there are here for people, so if you're willing to let me know what you're skilled at, I can probably help find you something. Military, at a guess?