Intro Log: Faceplanted

[hadrielmods]

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for October
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: October 10th-14th
Warnings: Newbies, spookies, and evil trees!

If it's your first time here, congratulations! You get the lovely, unique sensation of eating dirt as the Door knocks you facefirst into the ground. You'll probably be a little woozy at first, so take your time getting up- meet some folks, introduce yourself, don't be weird about it. Welcome to Hadriel! You're not the only person who just got to taste alien dirt firsthand, though- there are several people in the same predicament as you, so feel free to say hi! Probably shouldn't spend too much time talking though, because the lovely trees that you thought were just scenery are starting to creep ever closer the more you let your guard down.

All around you is a forest of spooky evil trees- it seems to be just a normal sort of forest at first, but the more you take your eyes off of them, the more they shift around you and close in. Or is that just your imagination? If you move too close to one, look out! They're rather determined to pick you up and stick you into the ground so you might take root- and if you resist, well, a severed bud can still serve as a seed, right?

If the trees tear your clothes though, don't worry, there's plenty of extras to be found lying around the arena if you don't mind them being a bit dirty. Lying on the ground and sometimes hanging off of these tree branches are some free shirts, yours for the taking! You know, if you'd be caught dead with one...

But hey, after you've met new friends and found a new aesthetic, 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 October 10th-14th.
► 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

[evocation]

[Kyna hesitates, then pulls her hand back. It goes straight to her necklace, which she starts to toy with all over again.]

So...

[Give her a second as she desperately tries to think of a way to steer this conversation elsewhere.]

What's with the armor? I mean, we don't have anything like that where I'm from.

[hardwearing]

Heh. Literally everyone wears power armor where I'm from. This is the Mark VI... nothing special on its own but I've got some enhancements.

[evocation]

Oh. What kind of enhancements? What can it do?

[hardwearing]

Right now I've got an EMP, bioscan and a healing unit. And grav boots.

[ All things that can be run without an AI, not that Kyna knows the difference. Or why Wash wouldn't have one. ]

[evocation]

Cool.

[The healing unit sounds useful as hell, and Kyna's a little jealous.]

What's a bioscan?

[hardwearing]

It's... basically a medical evaluation tool. I can watch over the whole squad during combat, see who's hurt and how bad, and scan enemies for weaknesses we can exploit. Like I know your organ function is compromised by about 10% due to scarring from tissue necrosis. What caused that?

[evocation]

[She squints at him for a second.]

My organ— Oh!

[God, necromancy is the worst.]

I got hit with a necromancy spell. It sucked. Total zero out of ten on the fun scale. Don't like, punch me in the kidney or whatever, okay?

[hardwearing]

[ Necromancy. Right, magic. This is gonna take so much getting used to. ]

I'll try to control that urge. The kidney punching urge.

[evocation]

[She laughs, rolling her eyes.]

God, is that how you repay the girl who's letting you crash on her couch? By daydreaming about punching her in the kidneys?

[hardwearing]

[ ...okay, she's getting a smile for that one. ]

Maybe I want to punch everyone in the kidneys, all the time? Don't think you're special.

[evocation]

Wow.

[She presses a hand to her chest, mock offended.]

God, you don't have to be so mean. Now my feelings are hurt.

[hardwearing]

[ Wash tilts his head, like he's considering some aspect of that statement. It's not clear what until he speaks again. ]

I've been called a lot of things, but 'mean' isn't actually on the list.

[evocation]

[Kyna laughs, clinking the side of her glass against his softly.]

God, I'm teasing. Now you've gotta tell me what people do call you.

[hardwearing]

[ And with that question, his smile fades. He can hear Price in his head. ]

Aggressive, paranoid, melodramatic. Insane.

[evocation]

[Her voice softens slightly.]

You don't seem like any of those things to me.

[Then she shrugs, taking another sip of her drink.]

Maybe a little paranoid, but some dude's trying to murder you, so I'm gonna give you a pass on that.

[hardwearing]

I'm all of those things. Have been, anyway.

[ Paranoid is the only thing he'd argue he isn't -- with the way his life's gone, he's perfectly justified in always wanting to consider the worst case scenario. ]

[evocation]

Hey, not everyone likes me, either. Screw 'em. I'm not gonna judge you or whatever.

[Unless he does something stupid.]

[hardwearing]

Everybody judges, Kyna. You've got an opinion already.

[evocation]

Okay, fine, but I'm not going to call you insane. That's shitty.

[hardwearing]

[ Wash kind of goes back and forth on that one -- he definitely was, then he got better, then he got worse again, and. Alright, he wouldn't say insane now, but he knows he's not a bastion of stability. ]

I did get better. [ He settles on that, and takes another long drink. Knowing exactly why he got better -- his friends. That aren't here. ]

[evocation]

You got better?

[she frowns at him a little.]

Better how?

[hardwearing]

Better meaning more stable.

[ It's a long, complicated story that he doesn't feel like sharing with anyone, ever. Maybe Kyna can get it out of him if she asks the right questions, or related topics come up. But right now one glass of rum and a vague 'how?' isn't enough. ]

I had a couple rough patches, that's all.

[evocation]

Okay. We don't have to talk about it or anything.

[Being friends with Tucker and Harlan has taught her how well pushing on sensitive subjects usually goes.]

So, um, what's space like?

[hardwearing]

...big and dark, mostly. It's not actually all that exciting traveling through it because there's nothing to see. But zero g can be fun. Even if I was always scared of the jetpacks.

[evocation]

Wait, really? Jetpacks sound awesome. You can give me yours if you don't want it.