The Pilgrim's Return

[stargypsy.livejournal.com]

The quarian who comes through the door is walking a little taller than she did the last time she was here, and more confidently as well. In fact, she's very nearly swaggering. She's also in a much better mood than she was on her previous visit - although she's not as happy as she might otherwise have been.

Still, she's in enough of a celebratory mood that the unexpected appearance of Milliways doesn't ruffle her one bit. She is also feeling generous enough that she might buy drinks for friendly strangers, in the interests of spreading her good mood around.

[Tiny space tag: Tali'Zorah]

[OOC: Slowtimes are inevitable, but I promise I will respond to all tags when I can. Also, until next Saturday, I'm on mountain time, not the usual Eastern Standard Time.]

Comments

[stargypsy.livejournal.com]

"We quarians live on a great flotilla of ships. It's not actually the best way to live, but we make do. The Pilgrimages are part of that," Tali explains. "When a young quarian comes of age, she must leave the Migrant Fleet behind and seek out something of value, like a new ship, or resources, or useful technology. Then she can present this gift to the captain of a ship she wishes to join. It is how we earn our place in a new crew, by proving that we will contribute to the ship and the flotilla instead of being a drain on scarce resources."

[findthegeck.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Now tell us again about your immune system!

Thoughtfully scratching her upper lip with a thumbnail, Sativa muses, "That sounds a little like my own quest, except for the part about being on ships." And the part where everyone has to do it, but she'll spare Tali the griping.

[stargypsy.livejournal.com]

Tali perks up in surprise. "Your people have Pilgrimages?" she asks. "Tell me, have you decided what you want to bring back? A lot of our people have some idea, early on."

[findthegeck.livejournal.com]

"Not exactly," she starts to explain. "This is not something that we've needed to do before, and I'm the only one that has been chosen to go out - but I do know what I'm looking for... a piece of technology from the Long Ago called a Garden Of Eden Creation Kit."

[stargypsy.livejournal.com]

"How did they pick you?" Tali asks. It doesn't sound like Sativa volunteered for the job.

[findthegeck.livejournal.com]

"How and why it was decided that I was to be the Chosen One, I don't know. I was merely summoned by the Elder of our Village who explained what I had to do," Sativa recalls, scuffing the sole of her boot against the floor.

Looking up, she adds, "...Oh, but first I also had to undergo the Temple of Trials to prove that I was worthy of being Chosen."

[stargypsy.livejournal.com]

Tali scratches her head - well, helmet - with a spindly finger. "What was the backup plan, if you didn't get through the Temple of Trials?"

This all sounds very odd to Tali. Among her people, everyone gets some training and then they go on Pilgrimage, without all this Chosen One business.

[findthegeck.livejournal.com]

"Backup plan?" she echoes questioningly. "I guess they'd probably have sent someone else. But I passed and everything, so that issue never really came up."

It may be safe to say the Flotilla have their shit together a lot better.

"The dangers in the Temple are supposed to be real, but not overwhelming, I think. It's only otherwise used to test the future leader of our tribe, in normal circumstances."

[stargypsy.livejournal.com]

"That's part of the idea behind the Pilgrimage," Tali says. "It's a test. Were you trained for this, or given anything to help you succeed?" Quarians going on Pilgrimage are always trained and given helpful tools before they set out.

[findthegeck.livejournal.com]

"Of course," she nods. "I had the best hunters and warriors of our tribe to learn from in using weapons, my hands and feet, how to spot traps, track animals, unlock doors... no one taught me how to handle explosives, I sort of had to pick that up as I went. I was given one of the sharpest spears our craftsmen can make, as well as some money and healing powders."

Most of that she got after the Trials, of course.

"And I also got this," she holds up her left arm to show Tali the Pip-Boy strapped to her forearm. "It belonged to my grandfather, who it wore during his own travels."

She pushes a button and the small green-lit low-resolution screen displays a map of somewhere with a lot of brown and yellow. Cutting edge!

[stargypsy.livejournal.com]

Tali takes a close look at the device on Sativa's arm. "I've seen something like that somewhere before," she says, mostly to herself. "But I can't remember where exactly. Well, it was here, I know that much, but I don't remember who had it."

[findthegeck.livejournal.com]

The center grid shows a settlement marked as Vault City, with a smaller place called Gecko just to the north. "Anyone who's from a Vault is likely to have one," Sativa says, switching from the map to a screen that displays her vitals (Current status: Good!). "The only person I know of around here who has one is a woman called Ellen. Maybe it was her?"

[stargypsy.livejournal.com]

"Yes! Ellen, that was her! She told me about the nuclear war. And that certainly explains why you have one of those things although you're living in a tribal society and using spears. Er, no offense meant."

[findthegeck.livejournal.com]

She waves it off. "That's all right. Ours is a simple way of life, but it has served us well enough, until recently."

[stargypsy.livejournal.com]

"What changed?" Tali asks.

[findthegeck.livejournal.com]

"The most recent drought hit us pretty hard," she sighs. "Our crops haven't been doing well enough, and neither has our livestock. After that, our reserves and the local wild game will only last us so long, hence the need for a GECK. It is supposed to have the power to revive dying soil."

[stargypsy.livejournal.com]

"I understand. We would have a similar problem if one of the Liveships were compromised."

[findthegeck.livejournal.com]

"Is that where you store all your supplies?" she asks. "And... just so I'm clear about this, these are those Up-In-Space ships, yes?"

[stargypsy.livejournal.com]

"Yes. These are space vessels," Tali confirms. "The Liveships are where we grow our food, hydroponically. There are three of them for the whole Fleet. I grew up on one of them, the Rayya."