OM NOM NOM (or: The Hadriel Community Kitchen Initiative)

[utulien_aure]

Who: OPEN
What: With the gods out of commission, Hadriel attempts to feed itself
Where: A makeshift firepit, set up on the southwest bank of the river
When: Roughly December 13-26, after Fingon's Network post
Warnings: The threat of starvation, dubious food, possibly slight fire burns.



The Null may begone, but the damage they inflicted remains: to the city's infrastructure, to it's citizens, to the gods themselves. With Sorrow dead and Hope out of commission, one problem in particular is critical: Hadriel's food supply is dwindling, and many lack the skills to catch and cook their own meals.

That's where the fire pit comes in: a great hole dug into the earth for a cooking fire, topped by a metal grate. Use of the pit is open to all in the city: anyone who hunts or gathers food can bring it here to be prepared, and anyone who shows up hungry will be fed.

The pit also serves as a place to find interested hunting partners; in an unfamiliar and extremely harsh environment, it's best not to wander off on your own for too long. Anyone interested in hunting can take a look at a slate set up near the pit: on it is a list of volunteers looking for an expedition to join.


[OOC: This is an open log, so feel free to top-level to your heart's content.]

Comments

Maglor | OTA

[bythewaves]

Three Ages of the Sun he has survived, and for much of a goodly portion of it he was homeless. Maglor knows how to hunt, how to trap, how to scavenge. He does better with fishing, and small prey around here is scarce, but he puts what skills he has to good use.

He can be found fishing, or making snares, or on a hunt, or even returning from one! He's quite good at campfire cooking too.

time to collect more elves

[hot_mes]

Fishing is Law's primary jam as well - not that he hasn't brought in some large game as well, but it's much easier for him to fit a little fish-nabbing in between clinic rebuilding and other duties.

He arrives at the communal kitchen with his bucket full, setting up near Maglor to clean and fillet everything, giving the elf a nod of greeting. "Yo."

yesgood

[bythewaves]

Maglor likes fishing too - he has spent long enough by the sea to be reasonably adept at it, as well as the preparation.

He looks up from the rather messy job to smile at Law.

"Well met! I think we've seen each other around but never been properly introduced. Maglor, at your service. Need you a hand with that?"

[hot_mes]

"I wouldn't mind." There are a lot of fish in that bucket, after all, and more hands will have them ready to grill in no time. Also, precisely why he's not offering a hand to shake.

Well, that and he's not that polite.

"Trafalgar Law," he introduces with a nod. "Maglor...your kinsmen have mentioned you before."

[bythewaves]

What is this shaking of hands

"Then set them down here, and we can work together." Maglor smiles and tips his head in a bow. "Well met, Trafalgar Law. Any friend of my kinsemen is a friend also of mine."

[hot_mes]

Law does so, placing the bucket teeming with fish of all sizes near Maglor and then hunting among what supplies they have for a knife. His sword will simply not do for filleting fish. "Fingon-ya and Curufin-ya are decent guys," he says idly, picking something out and coming back. "Of course, family is always biased about one another but..."

[bythewaves]

Maglor chuckles at that, his hands working quickly and efficiently at the messy job.

"We are." He admits fondly. "Although Curufin is much better now than he was when I saw him last, and as his brother, that pleases me greatly. I am glad he has been able to find good friends here!"

[hot_mes]

While he's not nearly as good at this as some, Law's passable. He doesn't work fast but he's just as precise as a surgeon should be.

"Brother?" he repeats in keen interest. "I didn't know that. Just that all of you are kind of related in some way or another." He shakes his head wryly. "Considering we met because I shot him in paintball, it could have turned out worse. But he helped me out with the Null, so it's all fine."

[bythewaves]

"Aye - this world seems surprisingly fond of my family! Fingon is my cousin - half-cousin, if you wish to be precise, we share the same grandfather, but not the same grandmother. Maedhros, if you have met him, is Curufin and I's older brother - the eldest of seven, in fact, with myself being second and Curufin being the second youngest, for the last two were twins. Celebrimbor is Curufin's son, you'll find him in the forges, and Elrond in the clinic is Fingon's brother's grandson."

A veritable family bush.

"And Curufin is unlikely to take a playful injury as insult - we've all done far worse to each other in our time!"

[hot_mes]

"His son? Wait." Law had to think back, his knife going still for a moment while he reached way back to his first couple of weeks in Hadriel. "Fingon-ya said your people were long-lived. Almost like giants. So it's possible to have a son who looks the same age as you, I take it."

[bythewaves]

"We are, yes - we are bound to the world, to live as long as it does, and to end when it does as well." Maglor nods.

"I have seen ... mm, probably some nine thousand seven hundred years, or so, myself. But because of that, we don't age the way you Men do, either."

[hot_mes]

Law sits up sharply, swearing under his breath. "Nine thousand years? That's...incredible."

Even giants had lifespans of no more than a few hundred. No one that he knew of had survived long enough to even remember the Void Century first-hand, that was physically impossible. Unless, of course, some past user of the Ope-Ope Fruit had used it to give someone eternal life, but that didn't seem likely. He shakes himself out of it after contemplating the repercussions. "No, I would guess that you don't," he murmurs, trying to get back his footing. "So it would be ridiculous to keep being shocked when I see all of you together looking like classmates the same age or something."

[bythewaves]

"I am one of the older ones here." Maglor laughs wryly.

"But I have known older. And yes - although you can tell relative age if you know how to look. It's in the eyes, mostly."

Alana | OTA

[badchoicesmadeeasy]

Around the 13th-15th

She's still shaken. She can't show it, shouldn't, but wouldn't you be?

It's been a few days, there's been a few people, there's been a drastic change of scenery, and the reality of her situation, vague as it might be, has hit her and left her in a panic. Another day, and she's just numb and alone.

There's been people, and they've proved to be helpful and friendly, as little as she knows them right now. She isn't sure she can trust them yet, but, in her life, she's learned you just can't deal with things alone. At some point, you have to reach out.

But that's obviously much easier said than done. But hey, where trust doesn't exist, needs like hungry will sure as fuck give you a push.

Uncertain, watchful, maybe a bit lightheaded, Alana slowly approaches the fire one evening, arms crossed over the other.

She could really eat.


Random

She isn't much of a cook, but she can help. Maybe she can't make fancy meals, but people can eat.

She makes herself useful, helping in making and giving out simple broths and soups.

She's looking for answers about this place, getting them wherever she can.

The 14th work?

[utulien_aure]

The area around the pit is a bit too warm for anyone’s comfort, but for hungry residents the smell of grilling fish might just make up for it. Four of them, neatly sliced in strips, are already grilling over the fire under Fingon’s watchful eye. Still, he’s not so distracted as to miss another’s approach.

“Well met,” he greets Alana, before reaching out to turn one of the fish. “Have you just arrived, my lady? I don’t believe I’ve seen you over the Network before.”

the 14th is fine!

[badchoicesmadeeasy]

"Huh, hey."

She doesn't mind the heat-- well, that might be a lie. She hates the heat when the two suns are up, but right now she's paying more attention to the smell of food.

"Yeah, huh," She counts in her head.

"...three or four days.


Is it that obvious?"

excellent

[utulien_aure]

"More of an educated guess," Fingon reassures her. "There are only so many people in Hadriel, so most of them become vaguely familiar. But when an unfamiliar face appears, especially soon after the Door opens, new arrival is often a reasonable assumption."

He eyes the fish pieces for a moment, then removes the most well-done bit from the fire. As it cools enough to eat, he looks her up and down. "May I ask how you've fared over the past few days? The city can be strange at the best of times, and the current moment is far from that."

[badchoicesmadeeasy]

He gives him a look, more unsure than anything else, and sits down on a nearby rock before she answers. How's she doing? Well...

"Not great."

She's tired, she's hungry, she's sweaty. She's lost, she's...alone. She could go on, but she doesn't really go into it all at all.

" I don't...I still don't really get what this place is."

[utulien_aure]

It's a disheartening response, but not a surprise. Fingon nods and checks the fish; finding it cool enough to eat, he passes it over to her.

"I'm sorry. Hadriel is rarely kind to its new inhabitants, but it usually isn't quite so hard a place to live in. But if you have questions, I will try to answer them. I've been here nigh on....eight months, now?"

He settles himself on a nearby rock, close enough to be companionable and far away enough not to be too alarming.

[badchoicesmadeeasy]

Maybe it's the hunger and lightheadedness that's making her be so honest to a stranger. Who knows.

But she eyes the fish with gratitude, mumbling a quiet but honest "Thanks".

She turns the stick in her hand, taking a moment to answer before she digs in.

"Shit, 8 months?"

She can't do 8 months. She can't be separated from them for so long again. She can't be away from her baby girl and her husband like this, not again.

"I-...I don't even know.

This person- Lup? She gave me a summary, but how does this place even work? Where are we, how does it- what even happened here?"

[utulien_aure]

"Eight months," he confirms somberly. "And there are people who've been here longer as well. But people suddenly disappear from the city as well; one day, the Door simply sends them home. There's no way of knowing in advance how long your stay here will be."

His heart goes out to her at the look of distress on her face. He's been lucky, surrounded as few are here by friends and family from home. For many others, he's now reminded, the situation is so very different.

"Aside from the city itself, where we are is difficult to pin down. You were here when Fear moved the city, I believe? Well, he has been doing that periodically for some time now, keeping his people away from the Null.

This is the first time anyone can remember it being place above ground, though."

[badchoicesmadeeasy]

"Wait, wait--wait."

She brushes her hair back with one hand, fingers from the other held to her temple in frustration. She does her best to sound calm - but after staring at him and trying to understand his explanation, she just...she can barely process it.

Of course, the frustration is not directed at him. There's a hell of a lot going on here and she just doesn't know where to start.

"Who's "Fear" and what's the "Door"?"

[utulien_aure]

Fingon tilts his head slightly, an eyebrow raised. "Fear I can understand, but no one mentioned the Door to you?"

Well, explanations given in an emergency were never that informative. He gives a side-glance to the cook-fire, making sure nothing's amiss, then considers where to begin.

"The Door is the portal which pulls us to Hadriel. It used to be somewhere in the caves beneath the city, but no one was ever able to find it. Now that the city is no longer underground... well, I suppose we shall find out in a month whether anything has changed.

"The being who knew most about it was Sorrow, one of the rulers of Hadriel. Fear is one of his kin. They numbered eight before the attack, but Sorrow is dead and Delight betrayed the rest to the enemy. It seems the rest have her imprisoned."

[badchoicesmadeeasy]

She listens carefully, though her head is still spinning. Maybe a bite of the fish could help out a little on that part, but she's almost already forgot that she's holding it.

This all sounds so...unreal? And that's saying something.

"So this...Fear? Is he the one that pulls people in here?"

[utulien_aure]

"Oh, no. If Fear had his way, none of use would be here to annoy him. His role in all of this is to transport the city away when their enemies catch up to them."

He shrugs.

"I don't believe even Sorrow knew how the Door chooses people, and if he did he never spoke of to us."