Intro Log: None Hadriel With Left Shark

[hadrielmods]

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for February
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: February 10th-16th
Warnings: Shark week

Once more, new arrivals will wake up on the ground level of the ruined colosseum. There isn't anything particularly comforting about it, either- everything is a bit cold and impersonal and there is, of course, the fact that nobody remembers just how they managed to wind up here in the first place. That can all be explained in time, though- until then, you've got quite a bit on your plate already.

And why is that? Well, that may be because you're also surrounded by sharks.

Yes, on land.

It doesn't mean that they're totally incapacitated though- you still have your two headed sharks, your giant sharks, and your sharktopus that are more than capable of flopping in your general direction before taking you into a death roll. And don't forget the (far more dangerous) sand sharks, capable of swimming through the ground as if it were water itself. You might want to start to find a life raft high ground soon.

But hey, if you manage to get away from the sharks, feel free to help yourself to one of the odd food shaped blankets. These cozy comforters are perfect for your new bed, but they tend to carry a faint scent of the food they represent, so be sure not to sleep on an empty stomach!

Listen to the Jaws theme, grab a harpoon, and get cozy! On your way to safety, make sure to explore the rest of the city! Find a house, a new monster, a project to help with, or simply scavenge for supplies. Good luck, and enjoy your stay in Hadriel!

► This log covers February 10th-16th.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well!
► All characters arrive with phones that have network communication and the newbie guide installed.
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!

Comments

B (hope you don't mind prose! I'm on my phone and I got excited)

[circumitus]

Synths in this multiverse? It's more likely than you think!

At least it's harder to differentiate Rey from a normal person upon first glance. She bears no visible metal marks, no robotic eyes.

When she speaks, her voice sounds very human as well: "Wouldn't go that way. There are sharks."

Soon as the words leave her mouth, she slaps a hand over her face with an exasperated sigh.

"Can't believe that is a valid sentence here."

Even after a year of being in this damned place, it's still hard to get used to.

For the time being she is hanging in an alley Danse happens to be passing by, blood on her bare arms and hands. It's hard to tell if it's hers or a shark's (or a person) -- but with the way she holds herself and doesn't seem to be in any pain, one can probably take a guess.

Prose away~

[manofmettle]

See, that's the thing about synths. They're supposed to look, sound and act like real people. The only thing that sets them apart is that little metal compartment in their head, an unwanted reminder that their humanity isn't genuine.

And sadly enough, there are no metal detectors in the Commonwealth.

Danse glances at her and the blood on her, and his mouth twists into a slight frown. "Are you harmed, civilian--"

...bad habits die hard. Technically, such distinctions (civilian, brother, paladin, lance-captain) no longer mattered. Yet his tongue continues to fall into familiarity, and Danse stops to correct himself. It's then that he also realises his worry is misplaced. A second, closer look reveals that she's not hurt. And he recognises that air around her: casual, confident yet alert and ready for action when needed. This woman is likely a fighter, and since she's hurt none of that blood must have been from here.

"--sorry. No offence meant." She looks tough as nails, and he suspects she might not be the type to appreciated his concern.

"And thank you for the intel. Has there been any mobilised efforts to destroy these sharks?"

[circumitus]

Her eyebrows raise at the designation he had just given. Not something she gets called very often, or ever, as someone who has never a day in her life lived a civilian routine. If nothing else, his tone and demeanor in addition give way for some educated guesswork.

"Nothing organized, though the Guard likely has something set up for situations like these. They'll have to retreat into the caves sooner than later."

She hopes, anyway. Which is fitting, as that is Hope's job.

After a pause, Rey cants her head, as casual as one not speckled in shark blood can be. "Are you a soldier, by chance?"

[manofmettle]

"Former." He's had his time to adjust to his exile. Long enough that used to be able to answer that question without anything but a twinge of melancholy. But now that the Brotherhood is all but wiped out, it's been harder to keep up the facade that he's moved on from losing his place in the Brotherhood. He can still do it, be as casual as Rey is about being covered in blood and gore, but it's in the inside that the sadness and anger has taken deep root, causing a flash of misery and self-hatred.

But onto more pressing issues. Danse looks surprised at the mention of a defense force. "There's a Guard in the city? The debrief in these telecommunication devices had failed to mention any kind of organized entity for handling threats to the city."

[circumitus]

Something about his response almost makes her laugh. Not out of mirth, but out of bitter familiarity. Yes, former soldiers have that look. She's seen it even in the crazed type such as Sato. It's a different demeanor, yet she knows it all.

"Same," Rey simply replies.

It's clear to her where his interests lie. It had been among Rey's own when she had first arrived to this place. Seen the Guard come into fruition some time thereafter.

She snorts at the mention of the 'debrief', recognizing the welcome packet he's referring to. "Not surprising. Doubt the asshole who wrote that would bother to mention it. People act like it's some organized police unit with law and order in mind, but it's more of a group that works together to help those who show up that can't help themselves."

Considering the many-teethed company that came in with the new batch of arrivals, Rey doubts she needs to elaborate as to why such a force is even necessary.

[manofmettle]

The harsh, guarded lines on his face softens almost imperceptibly; her situation may be different from his, but it looks like she understands his emotions on the matter despite that harsh bark of laughter. In the past he found comradeship with his fellow brothers and sisters. Now, he finds it in the outcasts and the exiled. There's so much irony and hypocrisy on his part; how he hated those who deserted or betrayed the cause, so firm that he wanted nothing to do with them.

His eyebrows goes up as he recalls an encounter in the colloseum. "If they've taken the responsibility of protecting newcomers, then I may have met someone from the Guard at the colosseum. A man in ancient armor, wielding a sword." The news that the Guard had been deliberately omitted from the message causes no small amount of irritation. Danse scowls.

"If I had known such a group existed, I would have made for their headquarters immediately. Another woman accompanied me when I exited the colloseum; it would have been safer for her to seek shelter there then the public housing units."

[circumitus]

Camaraderie among her fellow soldiers was actually quite a rarity for Rey's many previous lives. What few her old selves did manage to befriend were often short-lived, all things considered. Since coming here, however, Rey has learned a few things about solidarity among her fellow captives.

A swordsman in ancient armor, though...

"You must have met Henry. Talks funny, like someone out of an old medieval flick?"

It occurs to Rey that not everyone would understand what a 'flick' even is, but whatever.

"Well, it isn't necessarily safe there," Rey adds with an uncomfortable expression. "It's become a target of a few recent attacks. Your best bet of safety would be the temples, but even those you wouldn't want to stay at for very long. They have a way of messing with your head after a while."

[manofmettle]

Got it in one. Danse might not have caught the slang and he may ask Rey about that later, but Henry was most certainly out of ye olde age of knyghts and fayre maidens.

"Yes. He exhibited exceptional skill with his blade and his speech was rather...traditional." It wouldn't be polite to call Henry outdated. But geez, speak for yourself Danse. "I hadn't expected to be saved by an actual knight, but then again, I hadn't expected to be here at all, fighting long extinct sea life."

And oh. Well. That's too bad to hear about the attacks. That earlier frown returns, deeper this time. "I see. I suppose the presence of a city guard would invite trouble from unsavory types. The best option then may be to hole up in one of the housing units above ground and wait out the attacks."

There's no reason to suspect that Rey might have been in any way involved in any of those attacks. So perhaps her discomfort is simply that the headquarters had been attacked, and maybe the guard hadn't been able to fend off said attacks that well.

And then later he beats up a member of the city guard, but honestly, "hypocrite" is Danse's middle name..

[circumitus]

It's always good news when she doesn't have to explain certain everyday habits and routines of the modern world. Modern to her, at least.

"Long extinct...?"

Such a mention catches her attention, if only because of timeline discrepancies from the various people taken from different dates and realities. Sharks, still scarcely extant when she's from, would possibly hint a day further into the future. Maybe.

While Rey might not have been directly responsible for the last attack on the HQ, she was indirectly involved. In that her evil dead ringer saw fit to try and do as much damage to the place as much as it could. Bitch even used up a good supply of her explosives cache. On the plus side, there was no mistaking the psychotic imposter for the real Rey, who had been buried six feet in the ground at the time.

She then nods. "That'd be the safest bet. Saw some of those things come up from out of the ground, too. Would hate to see if they're able to break their way through concrete."

Rey, however, is not in any hurry to make such a retreat to safety.

Awesome move great job, Dansemaster. Making friends already by knocking the lights out of one of the most well-liked Guard member in the city.

[manofmettle]

He will not apologize for anything, and especially not for a FILTHY LOWLIFE SYNTH.

The benefits of having read that welcome message means his initial confusion at Rey questioning the supposed extinction of sharks is easily explained as Magic Door Bullshit(TM). As much as he dislikes the fact that the guard had been deliberately left out, the debrief had definitely help to explain the who what where where and how...albeit the how is still explained quite loosely because it's really all just summed up as Magic Door Bullshit.

"Where I come from, sightings of any deep-sea aquatic life has so far been limited to carcasses, none of which match the appearance of a shark obtained from pre-war records. With the dangerous level of radiation present in the water and the lack of water-based plants to support pre-war ecosystems, it's a widely accepted view that a good percentage of marine life has not survived to present day times. Fish can be found present in less irradiated waters, but consuming them presents multiple health hazards."

Hopefully Rey didn't mind that little detour into the Life and Times of the Commonwealth. Danse coughs, a little embarrassed at having let his mouth run. Again with the facts...

"Sorry. Those were unnecessary details. I'll keep myself to the higher grounds then.

What is the average duration of each monster wave when the Door abducts people into Hadriel? I'd like to know if I should spend some time scavenging for supplies or if I can focus my efforts entirely on eradicating these sharp-toothed threats."

[circumitus]

Okay she can't argue that synthetics suck BUT NOT HER DADBOT.

People now are more fortunate than when Rey first arrived. She didn't have a handy guide explaining the details of this place. But then, there weren't that many here who had answers to her many questions, anyway. The Door's phenomena had still be relatively new even for the gods, as most of them were... ah, pretty dead at the time. Including the one who understood how the damned thing worked.

Even after the long-winded explanation of unnecessary details, he isn't treated with glazed eyes or disinterest. In fact, his story sounds rather familiar. And still too early to draw any quick conclusions. After all, even her world has patches of radiation from wars ripped all across the globe. Rey has seen her fair share of mutations and the eradication of entire species.

She just waves a dismissive hand, silently disregarding his apology. Besides, he'd probably be more interested in details that are necessary, wouldn't he?

"About a few hours to days. They're finite in numbers, so it's possible to exterminate them completely. Don't think they're capable of breeding, either."

In all of her frequented visits to the caves, she can say that she's never stumbled onto a breeding ground of any sort.

[manofmettle]

ESPECIALLY THE DADBOT. If he had his way, the dadbot would have been a dedbot

He's glad she's gracious about his rambling; it's not like he has a fascination about what's under the sea, but one of his passions had been learning about pre-war times. He's spent hours pouring over book after book in the Citadel's archives, absorbing every minute detail about life before the bombs fell. Some of it was useful, but honestly he'll be the first to admit that the history of Gwinett Brewery is hardly going to help in recon missions and tech retrieval.

"Thank you. Your insight and experience is appreciated. If you're going to hunt down more of those sharks, I'd like to make a request to accompany you around. You know this place better than I do, and I can tell you're no stranger to a fight. I promise I won't be a burden to you."

[circumitus]

Wow, rood.

As someone with the memories and knowledge of several women hard coded into her brain, Rey knows a thing or two about useless facts. At least it keeps her entertained, sometimes.

She pauses to consider his proposition. It isn't that she thinks he'd be a burden so much that -- well, there was a reason why she did most of her missions solo. She tends to be... destructive.

"If you'd like," she finally says. "Need to make a few stops before going home, anyway."

Suppose he'd rather a better tour guide than herself, but here she is. And she needs to grab something to clean up a bit in. Nick probably wouldn't appreciate her coming home covered in blood.

[manofmettle]

He waits for her response; if she says no, then no hard feelings on his part. But when she does say yes, he lets out a slight sigh of relief. Having someone familiar with the city at his side will definitely keep any unnecessary dead ends to a minimum.

"Outstanding." Danse extends a hand. They can't exactly bash shark heads in without each other's names. "The name's Danse. I'll do my best not to lag behind."

[circumitus]

Sadly, Rey could have gone a long time without learning Danse's name. Things are easier being in the know, however.

After a thought, she steps forward and gives that hand a firm grip. Thankfully it's a part of her that isn't soaked in blood, or this would be awkward.

"Rey," she replies. "Do you have anywhere you're trying to be, or are you just looking to learn the lay of the land?"

[manofmettle]

Funny how the smallest, seemingly innocent gestures can snowball in to something much bigger and messier. Danse certainly has no idea that it might have been so much better for him to have kept his name to himself. A bloody handshake might have been appropriate; this is the start of a potentially dangerous acquaintance for Danse.

Still, hindsight is always 20/20. Danse returns her handshake with a firm one of his own and his eyes meeting hers squarely. "Good to meet you, Rey." With introductions done, he releases her hand and takes a step back.

"Some of the former. I'm also trying to gather some rations in case the situation is prolonged, but but mostly? Its to hunt these monstrosities down." There's an added note of heat when he declares his primary objective, grimly setting his jaw.

"These dangerous creatures need to be stamped out before someone gets killed. Not everyone came in here with a gun, and god knows how many of these sharks got out into the city."

[circumitus]

To be fair, Rey has no reason to assume that Danse has any familiarity to anyone here than he could know of her relationship to the one person he does share more than a world in common with.

20/20, indeed.

She folds her arms. As she does, there is the clank of a long weapon with a curved blade hanging at the belt on her hip. The same blade tainted with shark's blood, which she has yet to clean.

"Believe it or not, it's been worse." Boy, would Danse sure have loved to have been around when deathclaws first showed up. Rey did not so much enjoy that mess of an encounter. "Have dealt with a few of them so far. One of them had eight arms like an octopus. Damn thing was huge."

Letting herself get eaten by it might not have been the wisest decision she's ever made, but Rey was never renown for positive decision making skills.

[manofmettle]

Eyes flick to the source of the metallic clank, observing the long blade at her side before snapping back up. The second person to use a sword instead of advanced weaponry. Were there no other advanced weaponry available in Hadriel? Especially since there are worse monsters than sand digging sharks. How he wishes he'd been in his power armor when the Door pulled him from his world to this one. Danse's grip on his makeshift weapon tightens slightly, fingers digging slightly into the groves.

"I just fought a shark that fits that description. Damn thing hid itself underground while sticking its arms out to strangle anything within reach. I used up more ammunition than I would have liked to take it down." He looks down at the board, brow wrinkling with frustration.

"Don't suppose you know a place where I can get something better than this? I'd rather not be caught unprepared again."

[circumitus]

Glancing down at the board in Danse's possession, Rey makes a face. "You'll definitely need something more effective than that, yes."

You wouldn't want to get caught dead going at a shark or a deathclaw with a plank, unless you'd rather be dead.

She gestures in the direction across the river.

"There's an armory that way, near the Guard headquarters. You won't find anything like guns and munitions there, but you should find some things to better equip yourself to dealing with the shit here than nothing. Unless you want to strike a deal with one of the 'gods' here for an alternative, if you're feeling desperate."

By the tone of her voice, she does not recommend that latter part, though.

[manofmettle]

He grimaces, making an expression that mimics hers. He knows. It's really embarrassing. "Noted." A sword, a hammer, a knife, anything's better than going around with a wooden board.

The second part of her advice stands out more than the first though. The edges of his mouth deepen into a scowl at the mention of those enigmatic beings. "They sound like a mixed group. I read that at least one of them is able to bring back the dead, but some of them also contaminated the meat. Have you dealt with any of them?"

With names like Sorrow, Rage, Confusion and Fear? It doesn't sound like they've got the people's well-being in mind.

[circumitus]

Just about anything is better than a wooden board.

His next question is a bit of a loaded one. A question that takes a bit of time, after having been in this place for as long as she has. She waves her hand in the direction of the armory, and starts heading the way, assuming that Danse is smart enough to take the hint.

"Rage and Fear messed with the meat, yes. It's been taken care of now, but still try to avoid it if anything killed in the tunnels can be eaten." Hm, sharks were once a delicacy in some Asian countries. Maybe she should start gathering while they're still fresh. "But yes, have dealt with them on a number of occasions. Hope, Delight, Tranquility, and Sorrow are all fairly reasonable. Rage is good if you're looking to trade for any specific weapon or ammo. Fear and Confusion are both collective assholes."

Seriously, fuck those guys.

[manofmettle]

He gets the hint, following her from behind. He's got an eye out on their surroundings and will be watching her back.

"I can see why you're wary of dealing with Rage for weaponry." God, just the thought of it is enough to make him feel mad. Food was hard to come by in the wasteland, and the thought of someone deliberately ruining a food source to turn people into meat-eating monsters boils his blood fierce.

...no wonder Rage had a hand in it then.

"Are any of the gods trust-worthy? I know Hope's the one that can...bring back the dead." Saying it out loud doesn't make it any easier for him to believe in it.

[circumitus]

While acutely aware of her own surroundings, Rey is grateful for the extra set of eyes, as it isn't like she can keep her attention on every side at once.

She can also understand Danse's wariness at the fact that death is not always a permanent state here. Not only is Hope capable of bringing back the dead visitors, he also has a hand in the revival of the other gods as well. Someone with that much power can be dangerous, if not for what Hope had told Rey: It isn't in his nature to pick and choose who he 'wants' to resurrect. That much is evident when bringing back even the siblings whose opposition was expected and inevitable.

"They're all frustrating to deal with in their own way, but Sorrow is the one more likely to be straight with you."

Rey has gotten more answers out of him than most of his dodging fellows.

[manofmettle]

"...I suppose that makes sense. Sorrow hurts the most because it's truth." Still, he'd rather not have anything to do with the god of sadness. He doesn't really want to know what that kind of god would do to encourage its aligned emotion.

"Has Sorrow ever been behind any terrible incidences in Hadriel? You've mentioned that Fear and Rage were behind the food supply poisonings; I'm willing to bet that Confusion would enjoy a little havoc as well."

[circumitus]

He isn't far off the mark when it comes to someone like Sorrow.

"Confusion's a bitch," Rey says flatly. "But no, Sorrow hasn't done anything beyond make people feel inclined to be more... honest with each other."

Which can have its downsides as well. People can sometimes be at their worst when they feel like speaking what's really on their mind.

She pauses. "Think he also knows how the Door that brought us all here works, but he's of the opinion that we're better off staying."

Also not too far from the truth -- for some of them here, anyway.