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RETURN TO CEREBRO
The morning after the repairs to Cerebro are completed, Emma Frost and her established entourage (Kitty Pryde, Manuel de la Rocha, and Illyana Rasputin) return to Cerebro with one aim: for Emma to pin down the physical location of the mutant entity they've been tracking as quickly as possible and then get out. Illyana prepares her magical protections, Kitty and Manuel focus on monitoring the device and the telepath respectively, and Emma begins to search.Now that she knows who she's looking for and where to search for them, that expansive mind is not easily hidden. She finds it much as she had during their first encounter, preoccupied and engaged with the untethered mind of Charles Xavier. She's tempted to press further, attempt to get a glimpse at what holds their attention or make contact with her former mentor, but forces herself to focus on the task at hand. Obscuring herself as much as she can, aided by Illyana's protective presence, she tries to ground her senses in the body that houses the mind and the physical world around it. It doesn't take long and a location solidifies in her thoughts just as she feels that now-familiar mind turning toward her. Beginning to take notice.
She's able to pull the helmet off herself this time, slamming back into her body with a gasp, flustered but victorious. Because she knows where they are: on the western coast of the Palmer Peninsula, on the northernmost part of the continent.
The celebratory donuts are certainly warranted, but maybe they should enjoy them on the Blackbird. They need to tell the others!
MARGALI COMES CALLING
While the others are utilizing Cerebro, Kurt Wagner is approached by a nervous-looking student who tells him that a 'weird lady' is waiting in the parlor to talk to him. The woman the student describes sounds like Margali. Alarmed, Kurt goes to meet her.Once he arrives, Margali greets him and tells him that she's aware of their predicament. The threads tying them to another reality and another version of themselves. While she admits that the connections are too potent for her to sever, she produces eight charms: polished stones held in an intricate design of knotted and interwoven cord. The charms thrum with magic and she informs Kurt that if they are worn or otherwise kept in contact with the body, they should prevent the influence of their other selves from being able to reach them and should (hopefully) obscure them from the magical senses of the entity that marked them. These charms could be useful...but does he trust them?
With the charms delivered, she asks Kurt if he's been taking care of himself through this endeavor. Throughout the exchange she hasn't been as cold to him as she was the last time she was here and she seems to have some amount of concern for him now. Regardless, she soon departs.
It will be up to Kurt whether or not he passes these along.
ABOARD THE BLACKBIRD
Not wanting to waste any time, the decision is made to set off for Antarctica within the next few hours, giving the team just enough time to make arrangements. Responsibilities are handed off. The jet is stocked. A flight plan is set. By mid-morning they're in the air.With Scott Summers and Kurt Wagner at the helm, the Blue Team sets off.
The flight is long and mostly uneventful, much of it spent speculating about what they might find and planning for the worst. As they finally approach their intended destination, they find that it is the midst of an immense, swirling vortex of ice and snow. The force of the wind makes the small plane shudder, even from a distance. They'll either have to land and wait for it to pass or attempt to fly through it. However, Illyana Rasputin is able to identify this for what it is: a potent magical illusion. Something is being hidden. Something is being protected. With this information, Kurt Wagner gives the order to fly through.
At first, it seems like the storm or the vivid illusion might be too much for the Blackbird, which shakes and rattles as it is pushed into the wind. Then, suddenly, the air stills and the ice and snow seem to part like a curtain. Beyond, the world is bright and altogether different than they could've ever expected...
THE SAVAGE LAND
Encircled by massive volcanoes, a lush tropical jungle sprawls out before them. While this is shocking enough, the sudden need for an evasive maneuver to avoid a flock of startled pterodactyls is even moreso. While the pilots aren't quite quick enough, Kitty Pryde is able to push her powers to the limit and make the entire Blackbird intangible just long enough to avoid a collision. That was close!But where in the world are they?
The dense trees make finding a place to land difficult, but they eventually set down in a large lake and start to get their bearings. Whatever this place is, Charles Xavier and the unknown entity are here somewhere. Emma Frost reaches out with her mind to search for either of them, but comes up empty. Without Cerebro, she's lacking in either the range or the power to locate them. It seems like they'll have to explore the region the old-fashioned way. While she's making this attempt, the others are quick to discover that communications still seem to function...but only within the confines of the magical barrier. Attempts to send a message back to New York are futile. Illyana Rasputin finds that her powers are similarly interrupted; she can teleport anywhere within the barrier, but a quick trip back to New York or Genosha or anywhere else is off the table for now.
Reluctantly, the team sets off into the jungle. The air is humid and hot. The terrain is difficult and the dense with wild flora, some familiar, some seemingly prehistoric, some altogether otherworldly. With no clear direction to take, they have no choice but to explore everything in search of their lost mentor.
Exploring the Savage Land will take the team however long the game collectively decides to spend on it. This will be flexible and can work around levels of interest/outages/etc. Along the way, the team must contend with things like:
- Dangerous encounters with dinosaurs, other prehistoric animals, and enormous insects. While all of these creatures are grounded in things that have existed, the Savage Land has been isolated for a long time and strange forces may've resulted in unexpected changes.
- Survival. While the Blackbird was fully stocked when they arrived, they couldn't have anticipated this situation and so will have to make the most of what they have and supplement by hunting, collecting resources, and otherwise being clever little mutants. Hopefully nobody will starve or eat the wrong berries. They'll also be cooking over a fire, washing their clothes in the river, and the like. Time to rough it!
- Finding a natural spring with regenerative properties. Its waters are cool and welcoming. They also seem to soothe both the physical aches and pains of travel and the emotional pains of endured hardships. If push comes to shove, they may also discover that these waters can heal minor to moderate injuries in moments and can progress the healing of severe injuries considerably. Could it bring someone back from the dead? Likely not. Hopefully they won't need to find out. The properties of this water remain if it is bottled and taken, but only for a few hours.
- Eventually encountering a tribe of primitive animal-like humanoids. While initially hostile, Manuel de la Rocha is able to the deescalate the situation with his powers and Emma Frost is able to establish communication telepathically. The team is invited to spend a night (or more) in their village and gets their story. According to them, they were created by human-like creatures with strange magic or technology many moons ago, though said humans have since disappeared.
When asked about Charles Xavier or the unknown entity, they don't have any information, but they do reveal that there are signs of another advanced creature dwelling there: a structure that shines like the sun on water that appeared on the far western edge of the jungle. Also many moons ago. (...They don't have the best grasp on time, it seems.) Something resides there, but they're afraid to go near it. Some have gone closer in the past, but have never returned.
Use the form below to tell others how your character is handling this unexpected excursion!
To keep track of the order of the threads and the events in the Savage Lands, reference the timeline here!
THE TOWER
Eventually, after days (or weeks) in the wilderness, the team reaches the western edge of the jungle. There, they find a sheer cliff overgrown with greenery. Near the top of that cliff, patches of dark stone and what appears to be shiny, opaque glass seem to grow out of the natural rock. These patches become more dense higher up the cliff and, at the top, form into something that resembles a small tower. It thrums with magical energy.This seems to be what they've been looking for. Better get climbing.
THE SAVAGE LAND: Bobby & Kurt & Taxes
“I don’t think he embezzles,” Kurt says with 90% confidence.
THE SAVAGE LAND: Bobby & Kurt & Taxes
THE SAVAGE LAND: Bobby & Kurt & Taxes
THE SAVAGE LAND: Bobby & Kurt & Taxes
THE SAVAGE LAND: Bobby & Kurt & Taxes
THE SAVAGE LAND: Bobby & Kurt & Taxes
THE SAVAGE LAND: Bobby & Kurt & Taxes
Kurt crosses his ankles as he thinks about the couples he knows, successful or not. The stick is nearly ready for whatever other people want to do with it. “I somehow doubt that Erik would have chosen a telepath if it were up to him. Matters of the heart are unpredictable.”
THE SAVAGE LAND: Bobby & Kurt & Taxes
"Do you think different mutations attract each other, or's it just a like-and-like thing?"
THE SAVAGE LAND: Bobby & Kurt & Taxes
"I hope it's not a like-and-like thing. Otherwise you need to find another ice man, and I need to find a blue teleporter." Scott will probably turn his creation into another spear, so Kurt tests it's weight, seeing how easily he can balance it on a fingertip. A little more needs to be taken off the end, so He starts shaving curls of wood from the of the stick-turning-to-spear. "I think it is much like any personality trait. Maybe they compliment one another, maybe they don't match at all. Important, but not everything."