Most human technology doesn't function inside the Great Spiral - minute electronics break down almost immediately, and gunpowder and most high explosives are extremely unstable
So by that you mean "Every time I use this power it takes a year off my life" or "If I use this power too much I have to sit down and catch my breath for a minute"
membership in the Seeker Association is voluntary, but in practice nearly all Seekers join it because of the inherent draw of the Great Spiral they all feel
but if you damage any of the trees in the forest, it emits a piercing shriek that attracts all arborkeepers that hear it and drives them into a killing frenzy
The main threat is Sandlurkers, reptilian creatures which generally ignore settlements and traveling parties, but have a tendency to ambush anyone traveling alone
the reason that this information is not publically available to all seekers is that telling someone how to survive a turn is the same as giving them permission to go there
A Seeker who's mentor was a legendary explorer who vanished in the highest known turns of the spiral. He isn't super awesome himself (yet), but he DOES have a copy of his mentor's notes from the whole spiral. That gives him a whole bunch of secret knowledge about the Spiral that lets him survive at further ranks than he should be able to
In exchange for helping him he can use his insider knowledge to power level through the ranks of The Association, and even bypass their security in places, if necessary
this is my OC, the explorasaurus. It was part of the colony's educational institution and taught a lot of children about non specific safe practices for exploring once they reach an appropriate age. And then the Death Knell happened while it was actively teaching a class.
It talks in easy to understand and friendly language (it is very intelligent it just sounds like that. It's a school teacher.) and is highly traumatized. It wants to stop the Death Knell so that humans can come back. Humans and Seekers are friends who help each other.
I have a very vivid mental image of my guy is standing in front of it holding a map and pointing forwards dramatically while Noah is lying on its back with his hands behind his head staring into the sky philosophically
The storage by the way holds various gadgets for traversing problems. It goes up and encounters problems and then thinks about what it needs to solve the problems and goes down and makes it and then does it again
I think I don't go above car size that's like. Reasonable size to be navigating things before we have to reframe the entire challenge to accommodate a mecha
On one hand I like it when non humans have distinctive non human names on the other I don't want to type explorasaurus constantly that's five syllables
my oc idea is a seeker who other seekers find sort of annoying because she's obsessed with trying to get their stories written and recorded, like some sort of roving journalist/oral historian
and the reason she's obsessed is that she had a strange situation where she was essentially created by a couple of humans who raised her like a daughter
and when the death knell happened she was out on a nice walk with them in a park and when she came back home after the shock she realized the home was full of photos and biographies and she realized that humans put all this effort into recording their very short lives
her desire to record stories coincides with a simultaneous obsession with death and loss. she has integrated several recording type tools into her chassis including cameras and voice recorders.
a school teacher.) and is highly traumatized. It wants to stop the Death Knell so that humans can come back. Humans and Seekers are friends who help each other.