hadriel_logs | Event Log: Shining, Shimmering, Splashing

Entry tags:

Event Log: Shining, Shimmering, Splashing

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the Shining, Shimmering, Splashing event, as well as new world exploration and rebuilding!
Where: All over the city, and beyond!
When: December 13th-26th
Warnings: Way too much sun, water that makes you feel weird, and some monsters

Welcome to the new Hadriel. It's pretty much like the old Hadriel, except for all the destroyed buildings - oh, and the sky above you. With two suns, and a whole world to explore if that's what you're into. But is it safe? Of course not, are you new or something? Arriving on this new world doesn't change much about the layout of the city, but it certainly changes what you have to deal with. Of course, that's mostly thanks to the Null.

Because of Hope's near-death and subsequent slow recovery, life in Hadriel overall is just a little - or a lot - harder than it used to be. Food in the shops is nearly impossible to find, the orchard has been partially burned (and with Sorrow dead, won't be growing much anytime soon), and there's no running water. It's time to explore, rebuild, and try to survive without the help of the one god that was providing most of the amenities. Of course, you're not the only ones who need to eat - the monsters that were brought along with the city are getting hungry, too. Of course, some of them are edible, so maybe the fact that they're coming into the city to try and eat you makes them more like a convenient food delivery system - if you can munch them before they munch you.

And the water... well, that's another story. There are pools around the god temples now, and the water is perfectly safe to drink. The only down side there is that it'll induce emotion in you. Drink a glass of Love water and you'll find yourself inclined towards warm feelings, fix a cup of coffee with Rage water and you'll have a bit of trouble with that temper. You might get a few blessing effects, too, if you're lucky. But what can you do? Unaffected running water won't be working for a few days, so enjoy those mood swings!

► This log covers December 13th-December 26th.
► Feel free to make your own logs, as well
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you manage to get yourself killed after you've finally escaped the Null, let us know here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Lup is laying out on the ground with her eyes closed, a blanket tucked under her head, her long hair pulled back into a braid that's laid out against the dirt. Atem's tiny frame steps forward and his shadow falls over the elf's face, who quickly peeks a single eye open at him.]

Blocking my sick tan, my dude. [Still, Lup grins while she pushes herself up, leaning back on her hands while she angles her head up towards the sky.]

I'm fine. Better than fine. This feels like home.

「One can never been too sure around people, not even around liches, what if she needed water or something!?

It's good she doesn't. More for himself. He chuckles and moves aside a little bit.
He won't tell her how happy he is to see her being herself again, but he is.」

Really? 「She too? Okay, allow him to sit next to her (mindful of not blocking the sun!) just to hear all about that!」 How is it? Your home.

[Lup scoots to make a little room on the blanket next to her.

For Lup, it's been well over a decade since she's felt the sun on her skin, so this change in scenery means everything to her. She's probably just going to live outside until someone finally manages to shoo her indoors. But for now, she's all too content to remain sunbathing for as long as possible.]

Gone. [Which she doesn't sound too broken up about, her gaze flicking over to her friend.] Our home world had two suns like this. Never knew that wasn't the norm until we left. I hated it when we were kids, daytime usually meant more people on the road, less places to hide. But then we left and I realized too late how nice it actually was.

[Alright, so maybe she's feeling a little nostalgic. It's a good time for Lup. She has her family, her friends, Barry. And they're all so much safer than they'd been a week ago. So what's the hurt in letting her emotions run a little deeper than normal? She's feeling good.]

「She might not sound too discouraged about that, but it certainly makes Atem wide his already big eyes a little bit. It's certainly surprising to hear that, but it is fleeting, soon he's focusing more on the other details and the way the words are spoken. She misses it, and why wouldn't she?」

May I ask what happened to it?

「He asks without much intent of getting a reply, but he's curious anyway.」

[If she knew he wasn't expecting an answer, Lup would have taken a little more delight in proving him wrong.

The elf's tone remains the same, casual and even, but her posture shifts as Lup finally sits up completely, turning her head towards Atem. She's still sucking up those good rays, but she's giving him a little more attention now, just stretching her long legs out in front of her.]

It got gobbled up. Consumed and forcefully assimilated into another plane.

「Atem just stares at her as if she had grown a second head.」

... What... How?

[The look she shoots him speaks plainly enough: It's a long story.]

There was--[she pauses, quickly backpedaling to correct herself.] There is this giant, sentient plane that travels across the planar system just eating up other planets. We were just taking off from our own, this little two month exploration expedition to see what was out there beyond our home, and we saw it swoop in and everything we'd ever known was just gone-o.

My pal called it the Hunger and the name stuck. Seemed fitting. [The corner of her mouth lifts.] Been totally homeless ever since. Crashing on whatever planet's couches we could.

「While he looks at her with a bit of a puzzled stare, she seems rather cool. It doesn't sound like something anyone could have avoided.」

Is that... something natural?

[That manages to drag a quick laugh from Lup, mouth tugging into a smile.]

No. The apocalypse isn't super normal where I come from, can def promise you that.

I'm sorry, Lup.

「As usual, she can bet he means it. Losing friends, family, being practically alone forever, except. He's not sure if he should call her lucky or not, sounds like a very tough luck to be honest 」

It's cool, hun.

[Lup hadn't been the one who'd been hurt by it. She'd only ever had Taako. There's never been family or friends or even a home for the twins who'd been abandoned so young and set out into the world on their own as children. She's only had her brother. So Lup came out losing so little. The rest of their crewmates hadn't been as lucky.]

The apocalypse is just a little on hold while we chill out here, but we'll get back to kicking it's ass whenever Hadriel lets us leave.

What about you? What's your home like? Our home world had a purple sky. Lotsa people around here say theirs had been blue. What color's yours?

「Oh, wait, that's right... she went back home and returned, how could he not ask her before.」

Is it as they say? You go back and don't remember anything?

「But his whole expression and demeanor changes at the question, to a brighter one, that's it.」

Heh, mine is that boring blue as well, but... I missed it.

「A beat.」

I know I hadn't been in the caves for as long as others but... Before I got here, I don't remember thinking about it, about how it felt to feel again. The heat of the sun... The taste of the water... Everything felt a little dull then... But now, I'm alone in this body and--「He smiles, sheepishly. He's sharing too much.」 I'm not sure how to even explain it.

「He blurts that out because maybe, of all people, she might understand. Truly, he doesn't go around telling these things to people, but somehow it seems he's been wanting to share it for a long time now.」

Hmm... My home is very much like this place, except, not as rocky but more sandy. Golden, not pale. No pools, but a river, the River. And there is only one Sun, not like these, no, much more fiery and intense, unforgiving during summer, gentle during winters. The desert is ardent, the sand under your feet could burn if you're not careful, but it would cool down during the night, but never freezing...

「He looks up, now.」

At dusk, it would go purple too, orange, even pink... and the sand would look as if the world was burning.

「Eh, tl;dr, it pretty and he misses it.」

[Only one or two people have thought to ask.] Yeah, unfortunately. The second you leave, it's like nothing. One sec I'm here, the next I'm spending sixty-five years back home, then popping back in here where only a week's passed. Pretty fucked.

[It had been difficult to just slip back into, but Lup likes to believe she's done it with as much grace as possible. Much more grace than when she'd gotten her body back, at least.]

Blue's not boring. [She gives his side a playful nudge, smiling.] Purple's what I was used to, so seeing different colors across the sky is pretty cool.

[Either way, he continues and she lets him talk, nodding along at his description. Even if their experiences were different, Lup can relate. Without her body, her senses had been dulled to the point she'd barely felt like a person. Even her sight had felt like it was a touch cloudy, like her vision was obscured with a veil hanging over her eyes. She'd gotten used to it, sure, but it wasn't until she'd gotten her body again that she'd realized how cut off she'd been from the world.

And maybe it's that commonality that has her casually throwing an arm around his shoulders, grounding Atem with her. They've lost enough in the past, but right now they have each other, the physical touch between them a reminder of just how alive they both are now.]

Oooh, a desert kinda biome? That sounds amazing. We had golden sand on our home world too, but there was one planet we visited that's sand was like--[Lup raises the hand not draped over his shoulder, waving her hand around vaguely. It's been decades, but the memory is still so clear.] It was blue, but it looked like glass. It was still sand, could still walk on it, but it shimmered under light and was just so beautiful. Under the moonlight, it looked like a beach full of diamonds. I'll always remember that one.

[She'll never forget any of the planes she couldn't save, but there a few, like that one, that hurt just a little more than she'd like to admit.]

Wish I could've seen your world, though. You could've showed me around. Given me the royal tour.

「Oh, well... That's not good news for him, even if it doesn't come quite as something new from what he's heard around, but having someone he trusts confirming it, it has a different weight. So, all that's he's done here will be for nothing? ... No, wait, that's not it, if it helps, even if a little, then it all would be worth it, right? No matter that when he leaves home, he will forget. He never did anything for the glory after all.

It totally still sucks to know he might forget people like Lup anyway.

Which is why he pushes the thought into the darkness of his mind and lets out a breathy, surprised chuckle when Lup puts her arm around him, but he doesn't oppose any kind of resistance, he will not even consider how touch deprived he's been all this time, and how nice it feels to be lying down next to his friend, admiring the sky.」

At night, when there is moonlight, the sand would look bluish, but not as amazing as you make that place sound... Maybe if we continue traveling like this we might fall into some place like that.

「He doesn't even stop thinking that such place doesn't seem to exist at all anymore.」

Hah... The royal tour, huh? You would be treated as a queen, believe me. But you don't strike me as the type that would enjoy being pampered while traveling on palanquins all day long.

「He knows he isn't, never was. Though he must admit it's great from time to time. He will never admit he's a little spoiled, though certain Thief would say the opposite.」

[It's best to put those thoughts out of mind, especially considering it was something impossible to change. Lup had tried, promised herself she wouldn't forget, completely ready to put up a fight for them, and had still lost in the end. It was just another one of the many inevitabilities of this place. You leave, you lose your memories.

Atem doesn't push her away so Lup is content to keep her friend close.]

Maybe. Wouldn't mind if they picked a beach world to drop us off onto next. Just warm sand and cool water as far as the eye can see. We could really party it up there. Start a volleyball league, build some cute beach-side huts to live in, have big bonfires at night. The works. [Lup reaches over to give his side a playful poke.] You could grow your hair out and go surfing with my brother. Fuckin' choice.

[That would be the best of both worlds. They'd still get the beautiful sun overhead, but instead of these kind of sketch pools they had here, they'd have a big, beautiful ocean to hop into anytime of day it got too hot. Talk about perfect.]

Like a queen, huh? I'll hold you to that if I ever manage to pop by. [The chances are little, but let a girl live.] And I dunno, guess you might be right. It'd probs get real boring after awhile.

We can do all of that here. 「He seems to be imagining it already, bonfires at night, because it's frigging freezing, and yeah, why not, volleyball league, they'd be in the winning team!」 Except for growing hair out and surfing.

「The chances that she ever shows up are, in fact null, unless she could jump between dimensions like the Netherworld and the world of the living. But he will not tell her that. They know already, don't they?」

Well, we could always escape the everyday life, explored a little. I used to do that a lot—「Then he seems to ponder something.」 Say, your brother has a badass pony, but what about you?

[Naturally! Lup always had to pick the winning team.

Her eyes roll at the question, like it's something she's heard before. Their schools of magic may be different, but the twins have always borrowed from one another's schools when necessary. Why stick with just one?]

Hey, I don't have my own Garyl, but all of my magic is fucking bomb, alright? Most of it's offensive--[She reaches a free hand over to rest against his shirt, instantly cooling the fabric against his skin.] But I've got other shit too. Fire isn't all I can do.

[It's just her preference.]

「Wow, that's new! He jumps slightly at the temperature change, then chuckles.」

Show off. 「Look who is talking.」

But, nah, I didn't ask because of that. Though, it'd be cool if you had like a cool dragon pet, that throws fireballs and you can ride. Anyway, I asked because I was remembering how I used to ride my horse around whenever I sneaked out the palace and that there is nothing like that here. Then I somehow thought about Garyl and thought you could do something like that too. But since you can't, 「He teases with a smirk.」 tell me what else you can do.

Edited 2017-12-31 03:42 (UTC)

Natch. [As if he'd want her any other way.

Lup reaches back towards Atem to give him a playful poke to the side for that one, though she's laughing, so there's clearly no offense taken.] Pretty much anything with a little practice. I could get my own Garyl, but that's a lot of studying I'm not ever going to touch.

Schools of magic aren't a one-and-done kinda thing. I'm evocation all the way, but I've got a few transmutation and necromancy spells on tap too. And Taako, for all his shit talking, probs is up to half evocation spells at this point. So, short answer is, whatever I want.

You've seen levitate firsthand, but I've got some illusion magic too, some shield spells. There's blink, for popping onto the Ethereal Plane, and sending for delivering messages before we had texting. And obvs my huge array of offensive spells. I've got 'em all.

「He wouldn't!

The list is amazing, the possibilities, endless.」

Can anyone learn that?

「He can't say he's curious.」

[ho ho ho, color her intrigued.]

What, interested in learning a little magic, my man?

What can I say? You make it sound like fun.

「He's not holding his hopes up, he's got his own magic, albeit from a questionable source.」

So... You think I can learn?

Anyone can learn. Sorcerers are like, born with magic, but with wizards it's all earned.

It's not easy, takes years of studying and practice. Taako and I went through university to really get a firm grasp on our shit. But I could probably teach you a few smaller spells, like prestidigitation.

「Aw, the crescendo of that grin comes to a halt all together. What does that even mean, like card tricks?」

Hmm, sure, that's cool. I guess the student can only be as good as their teacher.

「Yep, she's challenging her.」

Sooo, fuckin' bomb, you mean? Cause I'll blow your socks off, little man.

Event Log: Shining, Shimmering, Splashing

two suns!

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