Intro Log: Welcome to Your New Home

[hadrielmods]

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for December
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: December 10th-12th
Warnings: New folks, fire everywhere, and there are still killer robots on the loose

As far too many others have in the past, you wake up on the sandy ground of the colosseum, the stone ceiling of the cave stretching high overhead. But this is probably the first time this has happened to you - and even if it isn't, things are even more chaotic than usual right now. You've come at a weird time, friend.

The first thing you might see when you wake up is a salamander, or maybe a lot of salamanders. These amphibious creatures may be kind of cute, they're also incredibly flammable. Anything that brushes up against them has a very good chance of lighting on fire, so keep your distance, and make sure all your stuff keeps its distance too. Oh, and maybe keep them from crawling into the city to light that on fire, too. And in case that isn't enough warmth for you, you can also find a collection of different socks scattered around the arena. So that's... nice.

Of course, you've come at a remarkably bad time. A whole army of evil AI robot creatures recently attacked the city, and all you newcomers have arrived just as the attack is winding down. Does that mean you're not in too much danger? Of course not! There are still Null running around, and while they will ignore you if you ignore them, the second you attack them or deliberately get in their way they'll turn on you too. On top of that, the city itself has been devastated by the attack, with buildings destroyed and people killed. Welcome to Hadriel, let's hope no one tries to use you as a distraction while you're confused and frightened.

Once things calm down, the city's going to be on a different world - but you'll still have a life to live. You can 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 December 10th-12th.
► 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

Alana | Saga

[badchoicesmadeeasy]

She certainly doesn't remember the room feeling this hot.

...but she also doesn't remember going to bed.

Alana finds herself breathing in dust, or sand, or something else her lungs don't really enjoy, forcing her to cough. Pushing herself, the coughing makes for a few more seconds of not really looking around, until she does, and...

Well, this is definitely not the tree.

She gets on her feet right quick, almost throwing off her own balance.

"What the hell-"

The words come muttered under her breath as she takes in her surroundings, and it makes just about as much sense as you'd think it does. Chairs--stands? An arena, sand, weird glowing lizards, and...socks??

"What the hell is this?"

[justmath]

Tim's made his way back to the arena, to see if there's anyone else who might be in need of assistance - and from the looks of it, his instincts were right. This woman looks and sounds just as confused as Tim feels; the difference is that Tim has pushed his feelings aside and turned his focus toward helping everyone else make heads or tails out of where they are and what's happening. He approaches Alana carefully, still wearing his uniform and mask.

"I think we can definitely scratch Kansas off the list." He smiles wryly at his own joke. "Watch out for the lizards - they seem to just catch fire when they touch something." More importantly, though: "Are you injured?"

[badchoicesmadeeasy]

"Kansas? --wait, fire?"

Alana is suddenly very careful of where her feet are planted, as the lizards seemed mostly harmless, despite their size.

Until she notices one stepping on a loose sock and it just going in flames.

"Whoa. Shit.


Huh, I think I'm okay?"

She feels okay. No immediate aches or open wounds. Her head feels a bit light, though.

"What the hell is this place?"

[justmath]

OK, that's good - no visible injuries, and her confusion levels seem consistent with anyone just finding themselves in a random place they're not supposed to be.

"It's called Hadriel. You should have a phone on you - there's a document with a lot of information on it you can check out, but I'd suggest doing it later." After she's found someplace safe, outside of the arena. Tim waves her toward the exit. "The rest of the city's a lot less full of combustible lizards."

[badchoicesmadeeasy]

"A phone? What-"

Her head's spinning. Who is this guy? Where is she? How is she here?

Should she even believe him?

She doesn't have much to go by, and she looks around at the arena and the lizards and the socks in a lost haze. All of this feels like a weird dream.

"Who even are you?"

[thelastjoy]

She's here out of curiosity. One person she knew showed up last time and Girl hopes another might be here now. The odds are slim, she knows. Further, it's stupid to be running around while their little town was still a war zone.

It's still disappointing that none of the faces trailing from the coliseum are familiar.

As long as she's around though, she might as well stay. The socks are worth scavenging at least. Girl isn't cold enough to ignore the people around either.

"Hey! You there," Girl shouts from several feet away. She waves at the woman wandering the area, keeping herself rooted to avoid the lizards milling around. She's not willing to become ash just yet. "Feelin' like motorin' out of here yet?"

[badchoicesmadeeasy]

Alana was keeping her eyes on the lizards, specially after being almost sure one set a small pile of socks on fire by just walking on it, but the voice snaps her out of it.

"Huh.

Who are you?

And where are we?"

[thelastjoy]

Girl lowers her arm, shrugging at the onslaught of questions. Once she's sure the woman is watching her, Girl's attention turns to the lizards and making sure to stay out of their path. "Right now you're in the middle of the world's worst barbecue. I think you kinda got kidnapped into cave full of weird shit and weird people."

Girl sidesteps as a curious lizards scuttles too close. She grimaces. "You wanna talk 'bout this somewhere there ain't fire?"

[badchoicesmadeeasy]

The lizards don't seem malicious - in fact, they just seem to be minding their own business, being...lizards.

Very combustible lizards.

(...she still thinks they might be amphibians.)

She's suddenly very, very aware of her own position and all the lizards around her.

But that's an easy fix: she stretches out her wings and, with a gentle buzz, she's soon a couple of feet off the ground.

"Yeah, I think that'd be a good idea."

[thelastjoy]

Girl's eyes are still on the creatures as she carefully starts to walk back toward the exit. She takes the woman's words as an affirmative, gesturing to be followed. "Only idea, really. Just give 'em space and we'll be out in a few. These things are a lot less persistent than las-"

She makes the mistake of looking back, part of her wondering what the buzzing is but mostly just to check the woman is keeping up. Girl stops dead in her tracks, eyes widening and words choking in her throat. "You're flyin'."

Obviously. But Girl's having a hard time getting past that fact to say anything clever.

[badchoicesmadeeasy]

Alana stares back at the Girl, in confused silence. It just doesn't register why she'd be surprised - for better or worse, there's not a lot of folks who don't know about Landfalleans.

So she takes it not as complete surprise that a humanoid is airborne, but that perhaps she shouldn't have outed herself so quickly - but it's not like her top makes for great cover.

"I--yeah?"

Is this going to be trouble?

[thelastjoy]

"Yeah," Girl echoes faintly. The woman says it like it is normal for her. "'kay."

Girl turns away abruptly, throwing her arm towards the entrancement. She's seen a lot of weird things, many within the month she's been here. It's still strange to see someone flying, but things are catching on fire and she needs a moment to process. "Way out is just a lil' hop that way. Um. You wanna explain those things while we jet?"

[badchoicesmadeeasy]

"What things?"

Alana is very much mostly focused on getting out of the place where the bug combustible salamanders are just walking around. You know, besides figuring out where she is and how she got here, that sort of thing.

She does start making her way to where the Girl pointed out.

[thelastjoy]

"Wing things," Girl says, voice slightly strained. She's pointedly not looking at Alana. She'd like to keep her cool until they get out of danger.

She's walking quickly toward the exit, giving most of the creatures wide berth. She makes a dash away from a too curious salamander, glad it seems more interested in heading towards some rubble than herself.

"Ain't never seen somebody with those kinda growths before. That supposed to happen?"

[badchoicesmadeeasy]

"Y...eah?"

Okay, so this girl really has never seen a winged person before. Alright. Alana is not sure what to do with that information, but at least it means she doesn't hate them?

When they get close to the door, she lands, ready to continue on her feet.

" What's even outside of here? Is it safe?"

[restinglichface]

Surprisingly? This isn't even the weirdest shit Hadriel has to offer.

Lup can always be found near the arena during this time of the month, whipping fireballs into life over her head and using the excuse of saving newcomers to burn through whatever monsters the door brings in. Unfortunately, this time around, the creatures are kinda small and cute and mostly harmless outside of starting a few small fires.

For what it's worth, the fires she starts are way better.

"Welcome to your new cave prison, kid." Due to the battle that's been raging outside of the arena walls, Lup's looking a little worse for wear, clothes singed and blood staining her clothes, but the elf's grin is wide and curling. "Pick up some socks on your way out, dinner's at six, and watch out for the murder 'bots."

[badchoicesmadeeasy]

" I--what?"

Alana turns to face the voice, and it's not that the stranger's look is anything all that shocking and new to Alana, it's just that she still has no fucking idea what's going on.

"What is this place? And who are you?"

[restinglichface]

It's a confusing place, kid. Time to pick up on it fast or pay the price.

As far as arrivals go, Lup knows this batch is definitely getting the short end of things. Usually, there's safety outside of the arena walls, a whole new city to settle into. Homes to make, friends to find, the usual. But Hadriel's in a war zone right now and that means proper welcomes have been kicked to the curb for the time being.

Lup shoots the woman a slightly sympathetic smile. She gets it, she really does. "This is Hadriel. Long story short, it's like a pocket dimension. You got picked up from your home world and popped into here for the time being. It's like, a vacation to a place that you never planned to go to. We're all basically trapped here against our will. It's a thing."

That probably did nothing to alleviate her confusion. "The name's Lup."

[badchoicesmadeeasy]

There's a long pause. Too long to be comfortable, and Alana just stares at Lup.

"...what the fuck are you talking about??"

She can probably be excused for her tone. It's obviously not meant at Lup, so far should be obvious, but it's probably natural to be nervous.

"Where's my family? Who--*what* brought us here?"

[restinglichface]

To be fair, Alana's response isn't completely out of place given the situation. Lup just doesn't have the time or patience to deal with it today. Her family's been under constant attack this last week, her twin nearly dying in front of her. The elf is just overeager to get back to him.

"Look. It's a long story. You got a phone, right? Everyone comes in here with one of those on them. It'll dig deeper into all the deets you need, but here's the short of it: You got pulled off of your world to come here by the shitty gods in charge."

[badchoicesmadeeasy]

"A phone? What--"

But as soon as Lup tells her that, she becomes aware of the weight in her pocket.

Reaching in and taking out the phone, she just stares at the device in her hand.

Another pause before she looks at Lup again.

"I-- why?"

[restinglichface]

Hopefully the new model is an upgrade for her.

"Look, sis. Shit's complicated. There's a ton of drawn out exposition I could give you, but right now's not the time. You want a guide to the safe house or not?"

[badchoicesmadeeasy]

"But--"

So many questions spinning in her head, but it's clear she's not going to get any answers right now. She has half a mind to not let this chick go, to demand information, but something about her honesty (and, perhaps, in part, the signs that shit has definitely going on fairly recently) stops her, at least for now.

"I...yes? Okay."

[restinglichface]

Lup rolls her eyes, but she's grinning when she reaches out to grab Alana's hand, tugging her forward. "C'mon then! These killer 'bots aren't gonna wait around for us. Give me the deets on who you're lookin' for as we walk. I'll let you know if I've seen 'em around."

Since it's a good two weeks into this battle, Lup knows what path to take to avoid most of the Null, dragging Alana with her while they navigate some of the empty backroads, carefully going around any combat that might be happening out there in the city right now. It's not a long trip, but it's a careful one. Lup's not at her best, so it's safer to stay out of any fights they come across.

[badchoicesmadeeasy]

"Huh--"

And, before she knows it, she's being dragged by this stranger and they're off.

She doesn't even process enough to pull her hand away, just doing her best to keep up on her own feet.

"I--a-a a man, tall, dark hair, horns, big horns- his name is Marko. And a little girl, she's- dark hair about this length, small horns--"

Shit, shit, she's straight up just blowing their cover. Think, Alana, think, you're going to get you all killed.