Tera

[Hollow Earth Aftermath] Urban Creatures: Contracts (Died of Natural Causes)

the first chapter of an original story: Urban Creatures

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Current week: [Nov 1, 2017 - Nov 7, 2017]

Curiosity and the Cat

Name - David Reynolds
Age - 57
Role - Private Investigator

Story/History - As a Solo mercenary/private eye, people think that his ways are too old-schooled and outdated. He never had cases enough to sustain a living for him and his only daughter Jess, as he could never take cases that are too involved in cybernetics. As a result, his daughter always had to work part time jobs (she told him it was cleaning the dishes) to sustain the family. To him, Jess was his whole world. She was always cheerful and positive in front of him. He thought his daughter would live a happy live under his protection; until her 22nd birthday when she disappeared...

Obvious Cyberware - The only thing he has that can (barely) be called a cyberware is his augmented knee brace. His daughter gave him for his bad knee joint on the wedding anniversary he made-up about (He never had a wife and he actually adopted Jess).

knee brace

Curiosity and the Cat

Designation: David Reynold
Location: Sammie's 2257-35ul
Time: 21:10:00

Quietly, he enters the bar.

Lean body build with mobility enhancing cyberwares... She's a runner.
Fancy glasses and bag filled with surgical tools... a medtech.

He frowns slightly glancing at the number of cyberwares the two non-regulars have. Sliding into his usual seat within the shadows, he orders himself a drink and rolled a joint. PI Reynold likes this place quiet, but today doesn't seem like one.

[Hollow Earth Aftermath] Urban Creatures: Contracts (Died of Natural Causes)

@tigersloth I have a permalink up in the Tradings post on first page, will add in more purchasable overtime. :)

Also seems like everyone's gathering at Serpent's Lair now o3o but where is @Drakey ?

[Hollow Earth Aftermath] Urban Creatures: Contracts (Died of Natural Causes)

Apartment Units for Sale

	Personal	Family	Luxury
Lower District	11,500 Js	42,000 Js	99,500 Js
Upper District	98,000 Js	160,000 Js	350,000 Js

Personal: Comes with a cozy bedroom and a simple toilet.
Family: Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room and a kitchen.
Luxury: Master room with a balcony, a built-in bathroom and a walk-in closet. A theater style living room, a professional kitchen and a wide hallway leading to three extra guestrooms.

*Apartment owners of the Upper District will gain access to additional facilities such as gym, swimming pools, and added security from apartment guardhouse. Cleaning services will also be available upon request.

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"You will only be able to buy a unit if you own a Letter of Consent to access the districts. It is almost impossible to get one from the Mayor herself. So you might have to buy a fake one from the forger if you know the right people, or you can steal from someone who has it."

Darkest Dungeon: Suicide Run

ikr :/ Using imgbb now xD

[Literary Work] Agartha [The world in 21th century]

Expedition Team 9 (part 2)

AUDIO ENTRY #4

[silence]
...
[soft sound of movement on grass and dirt]
...
???: [giggles]
[silence]
...
???: [whispers] Shhhhhh~ don't tell anyone~ but I'll kill them all~
[girl giggles in background]
...
[cut off]

JOURNAL ENTRY #0

AUDIO ENTRY #5

Brad: Log entry 3. The day is Saturday, 16th of October, 2004. Just borrowed a portable microscope from Adam. Thanks, Adam. Won’t be able to progress without it.
Adam: No sweat, just return me later when you're done with it. I'll be back with Don and Charles over there... [voices of arguing in background] Jesus those two sons of b****** are at it again, I really hate my group. See you around Brad.
Brad: [laughs] Alright.
[cut off]

Brad: Fucking no cell walls! How do the trees even stay in shape without?!
[silence]
Brad: B-but the tree barks feel like wood... how can it have no cell walls at all?
[cut off]

Brad: I still don't get it... they look so weird... the leaves, the bark... the periderm... is that chitin? But the cell arrangement does not resemble chitin in fungi cell wall at all... more like an exoskeleton of an arthropod? No no that's ridiculous... Grace specializes in invertebrate zoology, better ask her to have a look at this.
[cut off]

JOURNAL ENTRY #9

PHOTO ENTRY #3

AUDIO ENTRY #6

[sound of packing items in background]
Brad: Log entry 4. The day is Sunday, 17th of October, 2004.
???: Yes, they have the structure of an exoskeleton. These were from the tree barks?
Brad: Positive. I tried a few trees, and they are the same. Any idea about why they have it, Grace?
Grace: Well, for an arthropod, the exoskeleton is used primarily to harden the organism's body and protect it from extreme dehydration or getting too wet. A chitin exoskeleton however, does not grow with the arthropod because it is not a living thing. If the trees really have the same exoskeleton like arthropods, they will need to shed their skins from time to time. Have you seen any skins laying around so far?
Adam: [shout out from distance] Alright scientists, time to go!
Brad: I-I guess not. That means it's not exactly an exoskeleton? [shout back] And okay Adam!
Grace: I'm just as puzzled as you Brad.
[cut off]

[inaudible sound of arguments in background]
???: So you mean that all the plants here are red and have no cell walls? I've seen some green ones back in the embassy row [men shouting in background] Oh god... [shouts back] shut the fuck up boys!! I hope Don and Charles don't start arguing every few minutes.
Brad: [impatiently] Yes, the ones in the city were imported - Vincent told me about it... anyway Felice I've read your work on evolutionary biology and I would like to hear from your perspective. What could have caused this difference?
Felice: There is a lot of factors that can drive natural selection in a certain way, but it all comes back to survival of the fittest. So the key to understanding how a species evolve is to understand what it needs to do to survive. Does the survival feature aid in reproduction? [a fight broke off in background] Does it help better in catching its prey? [people shouting] You get the idea... What the fuck?! Stop it Don! Charles!
[cut off]

JOURNAL ENTRY #10

JOURNAL ENTRY #11

JOURNAL ENTRY #12

PHOTO ENTRY #4

AUDIO ENTRY #7

Brad: Log entry 5. The day... 20th of October, 2004. It's a Wednesday.
Felice: Dude, you are seriously doing it now?
Brad: ...I'm just trying to do something to keep myself sane. I really want to believe what just happened...
Ivan: Someone needs to keep records i-in case we~
Emily: Ivaaan~! You will scare the girl.
Ivan: AND [sarcastic] you are saying she's afraid of my words, but not all the blood in the tent.
Emily: [annoyed] Oh my god seriously you kno~
Felice: Okay kids!! Don't start again now... we all went through enough for today.
[silence]
Felice: Alright Emily come with me I'll help you with the kid... Ivan can you help with rationing the food? Those two bastard guards took so much off our food supplies when they abandoned us. We really have to make sure we have enough till we get saved.
Ivan: ...sorry Felice. Sorry Emily. Okay I will do that.
[footsteps]
Felice: And carry on Brad, I'm really sorry for being insensitive. We all need time to calm down.
[footsteps and silence]
[cut off]

AUDIO ENTRY #8

Brad: Log entry 6. Wednesday, 20th of October, 2004.
[silence]
Brad: It is really hard to find words on how to say it but...
[silence]
Brad: First we lost Helen yesterday. She went missing trying to find Grace herself. And...
[silence]
Brad: ...Adam killed Charles and Don. [sad laugh]
[silence]
Brad: It is... really hard to digest the news. I still don't want to bellieve everything that happened today.
Brad: So we all woke up wondering why Adam's group never came out from their tent... Adam's always the early bird...
Brad: I was the one checking first... and there was blood and ... body parts everywhere in the tent... They were all dismembered.
[silence]
Brad: Adam was there sitting in the middle of the tent. Blood all over him and a hunting knife... I was shocked and looked at him, hoping it was some kind of joke. He simply smiled and looked back, just staring. Then I asked him what happened, a-and what he he said...
[silence and chuckles]
Brad:

With all the meat in his mouth, he laughed and said,
"They are better off being food than teammates"...

[cut off]

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Afterthought

Who was the person giggling in one of the audio entries?
What happened to the missing food rations?
Where are the missing people?
Why did Adam kill the two guys?
What exactly is happening in the mysterious forest?

Darkest Dungeon: Suicide Run

@LordofthePies that name and face are so familiar o3o

Darkest Dungeon: Suicide Run

How are we going to conduct this btw? Never played tabletop before

[Literary Work] Agartha [The world in 21th century]

Expedition Team 9 (part 1)

A series of records documenting the tragedy that befell an expedition team in the City of No Names.

JOURNAL ENTRY #1

JOURNAL ENTRY #2

JOURNAL ENTRY #3

-Entry was ripped off from journal-

AUDIO ENTRY #1

[Train motion can be heard in background]

???: Testing testing~ 1, 2, 3~ I am a botanist~
???: Is it working?
???: Yeah amazing we can find something useful among this trash. We might need to find batteries for it soon though...
[cut off]

???: Watch my back Emily, I'll record something.
Emily: [whispers] Okay I will be over there... but be quick please! [inaudible motion]
???: ...okay so we are underground now -possibly some old secret subways- on our way to this.. No Names City. I met eight other scientists like me here; we are now heading for the expedition...
[cut off]

???: Security is really tight. They don't want us to record anything... can't blame them though after knowing what's at stake. Emily got me this audio recorder here and I'll try to keep entries whenever I can just in case... well things could go really wrong. [nervous laugh]
Emily: [whispers] Pssshh~ Brad! They are here!
[inaudible loud man talking in background]
[cut off]

PHOTO ENTRY #1

JOURNAL ENTRY #4

JOURNAL ENTRY #5

JOURNAL ENTRY #6

JOURNAL ENTRY #7

PHOTO ENTRY #2

AUDIO ENTRY #2

[Sounds of footsteps on grass and inaudible chattering of people]

Brad: Log entry 1. The date is Friday, 15th of October, 2004. So we are in the forest now~
Emily: [interruption] Do you think she had a name? Maybe we should name her according to our pseudo-names. She can be the tenth expedition member! (excitedly)
???: I-I don't think it is a good idea Emily... maybe you should listen to ambassador Vincent a-and..
Emily: Urgh... you are such a coward, Ivan. What could possibly go wrong with bringing a cute little girl to the surface?
Ivan: W-well, are you planning to raise her yourself? ...look, she looks like six but she doesn't even know how to speak. She's so quiet and doesn't even understand what we are saying. It will take a lot of time and effort to blend her into our society, not to mention how hard it would be to get her an identity.
Emily: Of course I know that! But what? We leave her here to be tortured by some freaks and die? I can't do that! A girl like her is better off out there!
Ivan: E-Emily w-we have been over thi~
Emily: (annoyed) Okay stop. Nevermind. Come on girl lets check out the trees over there... (left)
Ivan: [sighed] Brad I'll check out the rocks over there. Lets meet up back here in ten minutes or so.
Brad: [sighed together] Alright.
[cut off]

AUDIO ENTRY #3

Brad: Log entry 2. Same day, afternoon. This is absolutely fascinating!
[Sound of brushing against leaves and grass]
Brad: Just look at this leave sample. It is red... there is no green pigments at all... chlorophyll test negative... no signs of photosynthesis...
[Silent]
Brad: Doesn't seem like the chlorophyll broke down to stop food production during fall... more like it's never been there... there are plants I know that react like that, but something seems off about the leaf cells... I need a microscope.
[cut off]

JOURNAL ENTRY #8

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Afterthought

What exactly is weird about the leaves in No Names City?
Why is there such a high iron content in the air?
What will happen to the team as they started to uncover the truth of the forest?
Stay tuned for Urban Creatures: Expedition Team 9 (part 2)