Intro Log: Rock This City

[hadrielmods]

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for January
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: January 10th-14th
Warnings: New folks, rockin' dudes made of rock, and collectible friends!

This time, it's different.

There's no cave, no stone walls looming up around you and overhead, no stifling air or artificial light- not that you'd appreciate it, seeing as to how you've probably never been here before. And still, when you land facefirst on the dirt ground of the colosseum, you may not quite appreciate all the improvements and steps we've had to take to get here- after all, you're still surrounded by strangers in a crumbling city on an alien planet in the middle of nowhere.

Oh, and you're being attacked by Earth Elementals. These creatures are tall, between seven to ten feet, and made of solid rock, capable of punching through all the squishy bits of you- and for whatever reason, they definitely want to start punching. They're incredibly strong and, seeing as to how they're enchanted alive and have no internal organs, they're very difficult to kill.

But don't let that scare you off. For all the collectors in you, you can also find a very special array of beanie babies all scattered at the ground at your feet. Do you know that some of these things will be worth a lot of money someday? Better find the rarest one and stockpile it while you can! You might run into the rainbow crab, the platypus, or the sought-after bald eagle, or many more! Be sure to never take the tag off and never ever let anyone play with them so they don't lose value.

Once you've got your kids' college fund squared away, it's time to start exploring! 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 January 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

[requiemshark]

[Ephemera shrugs.]

It's fine if you know what you're doing.

[And don't get blown out of the sky on the way down. Or land wrong. Or blow a blood vessel from the pressure change. The regular shit.]

What, jumping? It's complicated. Awesome. But complicated. Chorus is a shithole.

[igniting]

Not just the jumping, all of it. Interstellar travel. And don't worry, I'm used to complicated.

[requiemshark]

[......uh.]

Yeah, I'm not an engineer, I don't know how half of this stuff works. We have space ships.

[igniting]

[Yep, she looks a little disappointed, though undaunted.]

What about your armor? What can you tell me about how it works?

[requiemshark]

[Ephemera eyes her, suddenly glad for his helmet. Otherwise she might see his face and the expression of slowly increasing bewilderment. He's probably going to look like an idiot pretty soon. Awesome.]

My implants run most of the programs. There's pretty much a computer chip in my skull. Armor hooks up to that. I do the rest.

[igniting]

[Implants. What? Why would he put a chip into his skull? With how many times Sylens has spied on her through her Focus, the idea of it being permanent is unthinkable.]

I've never heard of anything like that before. Is that the only way you can use it?

[requiemshark]

Anyone can use it. It works better with the implants.

[A pause.]

People have names in your world?

[igniting]

Aloy.

[He's not giving her solid answers, and now he's changing the subject, which means he must not know. She's getting that familiar itch, the urge to just break the armor down and reassemble it herself, figure out exactly how it ticks. If she could just get her hands on it, she knows she'd understand, but she has no illusions about how realistic that desire is.]

And yours?

[requiemshark]

[Strange name. Ephemera hesitates a moment, thinking it over, before deciding not to remove his helmet. Not just yet.]

Ephemera. Don't give me that look. I didn't pick it.

[igniting]

[Well, he brought it up, so it's fair game to talk about, obviously.]

It isn't just you. All of you have strange names.

[requiemshark]

Strange how?

[It's asked with genuine curiosity. His was a bad joke from years ago. Everyone else has fairly normal names, as far as he knows. He doesn't actually talk with a lot of people.]

[igniting]

[She shakes her head.]

They sound... wrong. I don't know how to explain it.

[Aloy pauses, thinking, then tries again.]

Old.

[Admittedly, Ephemera's is closer to normal than most of the others she's heard.]

[requiemshark]

[Old compared to what? he wonders.]

....hnn. What year is, for you?

[igniting]

[The Nora don't really measure time in years, and the Carja calendar feels wrong, so Aloy says what Elisabet would have.]

3040. What about you? What year is it here?

[requiemshark]

[Okay, that's not what he was expecting to hear.]

2552, I think. How're you still walking around with bows?

[Something does not compute.]

[igniting]

Trust me, it's... a long story.

[And she wouldn't even know where to start. But 2552—that means the Faro Plague must not have existed for him, either. Weird. She has a million more questions than she did two seconds ago.]

You said you've heard of Earth, but you've never been.

[requiemshark]

[Ephemera checks his sight-lines one last time before he comes to a decision, and removes his helmet. They're out of the combat zone, it should be fine. And he has a feeling Aloy has seen freakier stuff than his scars. He tucks the helmet under his arm before he can start second-guessing himself.]

That's right. I was born on Talitsa. One of the outer colonies. Knew people from Earth. Still standing, last I heard.

[igniting]

[She's seen damage just like that before from machine hunts gone wrong, so she doesn't have a reaction at all, other than to tilt her head at his question.]

Still standing? Are there planets that aren't?

[requiemshark]

I mean, the planets are still there. But a lot of them got gassed during the war.

[He grimaces.]

Killed everybody on the surface.

[igniting]

[Ah. Well, that sounds familiar. Aloy studies him for a second, voice going quiet.]

I'm sorry. Something... similar happened where I'm from.

[requiemshark]

[Apparently other places have to deal with that shit, too. Ephemera shrugs.]

Happens. You survive or you don't. But now we're here.

[igniting]

[She shakes her head.]

I wish I knew where here is. What happened? This place isn't in great shape.

[requiemshark]

It's called Hadriel.

[He grimaces.]

Short version, we all got dropped into a war zone. People in charge call themselves gods.

[igniting]

A war between who? The gods, or did someone invade?

[requiemshark]

The Null. Machines, basically.

[Ephemera shrugs.]

Gods get their power by eating emotion. Don't ask me how. Nobody seems to know. So that's why we're here.