Intro Log: Busy Little Bees

[hadrielmods]

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for July
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: July 10th-16th
Warnings: Fun for kids of all ages!

Another day, another mysterious transportation to a strange and alien city inside a cave surrounded by monsters. Or maybe that's not normal for you? Weird! You awaken on the ground of a large arena, a stone ceiling stretching high above you. Welcome to Hadriel! Oh, but you aren't alone. That 'surrounded by monsters' bit? Yeah...

Do you hear a buzzing? Better start running now. Along with all the newbies, the Door has brought in quite a few tracker jackers. Wasps are already horrible, and these things are even worse. Bigger and much more dangerous than the insects they were genetically modified from, tracker jackers will sting anyone they think is a threat. Their stings cause extreme pain and hallucinations, and if you're stung too many times - well, that's it for you. You can try to calm them down with smoke, fight them, or just run like hell. Maybe you'll get lucky.

It's hard to fight if you don't have a weapon, though. But hey - you're in luck! Rage, who usually supplies the city with weapons, is currently gone, but the Door has provided you with some instead! That's right, you might find a sword, a gun, a bow and arrow, or an exotic foreign weapon to defend yourself with! Of course, they're all made of plastic and completely incapable of hurting anything. Have fun!

Let's hope your legs are faster than those wasps, and you survive your first few minutes in Hadriel. After you've find your way out of the colosseum there's plenty of other distractions. Feel free to go 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 July 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

Terrence Ephemera/Sharkface | Open

[requiemshark]

Arena

[It's not supposed to be like this. He's not supposed to be here. If he's breathing then he's still in the and if he's breathing that means Carolina still needs to die. Sharkface jerks with a shout, scrambling to his feet even as his everything protests, HUD blaring damage damage damage. No. Get up, get up--

Only it's not Chorus that greets him. The terrain is strange and unknown, insects buzzing about. A few of them bounce off his armor, buzzing unhappily.]

What the fuck.

Shops

[At least this place has better stuff than Chorus. There's food - real, non-mushy food - and miracle of miracles, he's located some tubes of acrylic paint.

Awesome.

You might notice a guy in full tactical armor crashing around and amassing himself a small horde of paints and food. And nothing else.]

Apartment

[Well, this is happening. It's happening and Sharkface has decided he's going with it, for the moment. That means settling into a new home base, fortifying the shit out of it, and then--

He hasn't decided exactly what he's going to do next, but something will come to him.

In the meantime, he's painting. He was never much of a canvas guy - no need when the walls are so bare - and has the doors thrown wide, along with all the windows. The smell of paint is heavy. Sharkface doesn't seem to notice. He's out of armor, dressed in a loose shirt and pants, and currently in the process of getting the base coat down for a mural.

He's painting what looks the recreation of a photo, blocky armored figures crowding around each other.]

Wildcard

[Hit me!]

apartment

[restinglichface]

[While Lup waits for her twin to come collect her, the elven woman spends her first afternoon here taking in the (limited) sights there are to see in Hadriel. So far, nothing is very impressive, but she's never been one to just stand still and wait for others to come to her. So she's making her way through various parts of the city, eventually ending up in one of the apartment buildings, her hand splayed against the curved wall as she investigates, until a familiar scent catches her attention.

Boundaries aren't something Lup has ever been well known for, so peeking her head into a stranger's open apartment doesn't seem at all odd to her. Then again, she's spent the last half a century on a spaceship with the same six people packed into the same space, so boundaries don't have much of a meaning at all anymore.

Lup whistles, low and awed. If he turns to face her, the woman is leaning up casually against his doorframe, slender arms crossed over her chest.] Not bad. I've always been a little jealous of painters. I deffo don't have the patience to sit there that long.

[Her head cants to the side, quizzically, her long hair falling to one side.] ...Sooo, what is it?

[requiemshark]

[Ephemera stiffens. There's a downside to leaving the door open and he's beginning to wonder if it isn't worse than just dealing with the smell. No one wears armor around here and his face is exactly what it is. Telling.]

It's not done yet.

[He turns slightly, watching the woman with his good eye.]

Knocking is a thing people do.

[restinglichface]

Well, yeah, [comes her easy response, as if that's the most obvious thing to say in the world.] If it was done and I still had to ask what it was, we'd be having a totally different conversation, compadre. Though I am kinda into that abstract shit. Some of it is pretty beautiful. The rest must just not be my thing.

[Whether she senses his discomfort or not, Lup simply grins when Ephemera turns towards her, lips curling mischievously. She reaches up and knocks twice against the door frame.] So do I get an answer or not? Cause whatever it is, I'm totally into it. It's got my attention.

[requiemshark]

[What the fuck. Ephemera - he's decided to be Ephemera for a while - stares at her for a good ten seconds.]

The fuck is with your ears?

[restinglichface]

[It's the first time in a long time that anyone has managed to get any amount of silence out of Lup (a once-in-a-lifetime miracle). She looks completely taken back for a second, blinking mutely across the way at the strange painter before her expression cracks and she's laughing.]

Holy shit, are you serious? What? Never seen an elf before, son?

[requiemshark]

An...elf.

[She looks serious. Ephemera squints at her.]

Huh. I have not.

[restinglichface]

[Lup pushes herself off of the door frame and gestures grandly at her own body. Besides the ears and the rather etherealness of her appearance, she would look like a normal human. Laughing again, Lup's grin widens in amusement.] Well, now you have. A high elf even, which is obvs like twice as rad. You're very welcome for the experience.

[requiemshark]

Is there a scale?

[High elf to low elf to somewhere in the middle elf? Ephemera sets his brush down. There's paint up both arms and his clothes.]

Don't touch anything. It's not dry yet.

[restinglichface]

[It's as much of an invite in as she is going to get, so Lup steps inside of the man's apartment, not bothering to hide the way her eyes drift from here to there taking it in. She's had the same tiny room in the same spaceship for the last half a century, so getting to look around what other's considered a 'real' home seems almost strange to her.

Home is just a weird concept for her in general though. Her home has always been more of a person than a structure.

Lup reaches out to touch the wall, admiring the way it curves, how it almost looks organic. What is this stuff even made out of?]

You could say that. There's a few different kinds of elves, but most of the others aren't really worth knowing. High elf or bust, my man.

[She finally comes back around to inspect his canvas closer, keeping her hands held behind her back as she leans in.] I'm not gonna fuck up your art, don't worry. I have a friend who is into the whole artsy-fartsy thing. She writes and sketches and does like, everything. So, since she's not here, I'll just appreciate this for her. So I can describe it detail when I see her again. [Lup thinks Lucretia might like that.]

[requiemshark]

I'll keep that in mind.

[And of course the first thing she does is touch stuff. Ephemera doesn't know why he's surprised. No one here acts like he expects them to.]

Uh huh. Assuming you get to go back.

[Ephemera watches her for a moment.]

Apparently it's a trick.

[restinglichface]

Or she could come here. You don't know.

[Taako hadn't given her the whole rundown yet, but Lup was at least a little more up-to-date on the situation than she had been at arrival. People left. People came. It was a cycle. What the hell wasn't a cycle in her life?

Lup squints her eyes, as if it will make whatever this painting is make more sense to her, but his question has her peeking up at him instead, eyebrows raised.] Huh? What's a trick?

[requiemshark]

Could. Might.

[Probably won't. He's not an optimist.

Ephemera shoots her a crooked grin. He can still smile, even with the scars. It just feels odd. Everything pulled taunt.]

Everything here, apparently. But going home. Or anywhere else.

[restinglichface]

[Could. Will.

Lup's practically an optimist, so there.

The elf straightens back up to her full height under his grin, a hand coming to rest casually at her hip. Lup's met thousands upon thousands of people during her journey of planet-hopping from plane to plane, but she's not quite sure she's ever met someone like this man in front of her. His smile seems almost painful. For a woman who smiles as often as she breathes, that seems like a curse.]

Do you always speak in stunted sentences? I mean, chase your own bliss and all that, but yeah, obvs. This whole place feels like a really crappy giant prank. Like some deity put a giant 'kick me' sign on all of our backs.

[requiemshark]

[Oh, she's a smartass. Wonderful.

Ephemera snorts, turning back to his painting. She's in his space, he can act how he pleases. Even if he is out of armor and dangerously close to unarmed. He's got his pistol tucked into the small of his back, perfectly reachable, and a knife up one sleeve, but that's nothing. It's hardly going to be enough in a fight. He wants his armor back, suddenly. Wants to get his helmet on and scan the room with his HUD. Identify possible threats.]

It's how I talk. And yeah. Welcome to the world.

[Somebody's always going to try and kick you down.]

[restinglichface]

[Lup can be a fairly dangerous woman when she chooses to be, but hurting innocent people has never been her thing. And she's so overly confident in her own offensive magic that she never really feels the need to be cautious or careful when interacting with people she doesn't know. Which has led to her dying more than once, but death was kind of a non-issue for so long, the threat of it doesn't weigh as much to her as it really should.

Her lips twitch into a grin at that response.] Fair enough. Soooo--[She points towards the canvas again.] I'm guessing this isn't going to turn into cute animals, right? No bunnies?

[requiemshark]

Why the fuck would I paint bunnies?

[He's never actually seen one, but that's besides the point. Ephemera eyes her suspiciously. What he's painting isn't anything yet, because it's not done.]

[restinglichface]

[Lup shrugs, eyes lighting up in amusement as she tries to not laugh.] You just seem like a real fuzzy bunny of a guy. Don't ya think?

apartment; the 13th

[braveoff]

[ It's two days after the whole tracker jacker fiasco, and Drake's a bit nervous about seeing Ephemera again but he knocks on his friend's door anyway. This is important --since his other arm is draped around Liv affectionately. And maybe for balance too. He's still not doing so hot. ]

[alabasterbadass]

I feel like I should have brought him cookies or something. You think he eats cookies? [ not she particularly has a way to bake cookies, but she can't help thinking it regardless. she's grateful, above anything else. she waits for him to answer the door, casting a sidelong glance at drake as she does, just to sort of give him one final scan.

her voice gets a little softer. ]

And tell me if you start to feel worse. There's no reason to push through it. You need rest.

[braveoff]

Who doesn't eat cookies? Maybe another time. [ He turns his head, pressing a kiss to her hair and lowering his voice. ] Just don't stare.

[ He's warned Liv about his new friend's scarring, but it's pretty dramatic in person. ]

I'm feeling okay, just tired. It's not like sitting and talking will take much out of me.

[requiemshark]

[Ephemera answers the door promptly enough. He keeps one hand behind his back, ready to go for the pistol if needs to.

Just in case. New people get dangerous, sometimes.

He smiles a little when he sees Drake. Shifts to put both hands in his pickets.]

'sup, Drake. And you must be Liv.

[He leans forward a little, grinning.]

Drake! You didn't say she was pretty.

[He totally did, but Ephemera feels like teasing a bit.]

[alabasterbadass]

What? You didn't?

[ liv turns slightly, swatting playfully at drake's sleeve as she affects an air of mock hurt. ]

How dare you! [ she turns back to ephemera then, grinning a little and offering her hand to shake before she realizes that he's just put both of his own into his pockets. she drops her own a little awkwardly, trying not to let herself seem as nervous as she is. ] He knows how vain I am. And hi, I'm Liv, it's nice to finally meet you.

[braveoff]

You're such an asshole. [ He's smiling at Ephemera though, amused he tried to get him in trouble so fast. ]

I said you were beautiful, babe.

[requiemshark]

I know, [Ephemera agrees cheerfully. But it's fun to needle Drake a little, lighten the mood, and he smiles as he steps back let them in. Liv hasn't stared at his scars once. She didn't even tense up. Probably seen a whole lot worse as a doctor. But it's a point in her favor.] C'mon in. I even cleaned the place up.

[Slightly. But there aren't drop cloths spread everywhere and he's put the paint away. The walls are in the midst of being painted or sketched on, but nothing is dripping. Ephemera figures that's polite.]