hadriel_logs | Intro Log: Fly, My Pretties!

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Intro Log: Fly, My Pretties!

What: The intro log for May
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: May 10th-14th
Warnings: Flying monkeys! New friends! Prosthetic limbs!

Here in Hadriel, we do introductions right. That means dumping you on the ground of an old Roman-style Colosseum with a bunch of scary monsters and also a bunch of weird shit. Your monster of the day happens to be Winged Monkeys, more commonly known as flying monkeys, from the Wizard of Oz and affiliated stories!

As you may have been able to guess, these creatures can fly and they're rather intelligent- intelligent enough to wield spears and daggers as crude weapons and strong enough to pick someone right up off the ground and fly with them to a perch, where they'll... you know, stab them with their knives and stuff.

Why? We don't know. It's Hadriel.

Just in case you lose a couple of limbs in the process of escaping these critters, we've got you covered. Scattered around the newbies are prosthetic limbs for various body parts. These limbs are all fully functional, even if they look a bit... odd, so if you've lost an arm or two, or a leg, or even a pinkie finger, feel free to grab one and try to figure out how to use it!

Good job dealing with those monkeys! It's kind of a weird thing to be threatening, but clearly someone was afraid of them once. Once you're done, 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 May 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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Avisheh bursts into a fit of giggles -- and maybe the alcohol is making her a little more laugh-happy.]

Not the worst way I've been turned down! Good form, teases with an inkling of false hope while giving the firm sense it's all but impossible.

[Is it bad that she feels bad? Even though Avisheh is laughing, Rey still feels a little bad. Her mouth tightens into a thin line as she ponders how to break this to someone she's only met a couple times now.]

Um, well, it's not... that, but just... Some pretty shit experiences, especially of late, so, um. [Don't mind her, she's just going to finish downing the rest of her bourbon now.

[Good god, "of late"? It's nearly been a whole damn year since Bianca.]

You don't have to explain yourself! If you're not interested you're not, and fuck anyone who tries to push you into whatever.

[Avisheh shrugs, still grinning. She doesn't seem that put off by it; rejection's not the most awful thing that can happen to her, and she wasn't kidding when she said it wasn't the worst way she's been turned down.

Besides, it's not like she's In Love with Rey. Gods, no.]

[Love would definitely be pushing it. Rey can count all the people she could say she loved on one hand, minus a couple digits.]

Can't really say it's about a lack of interest. Just never really took a plunge and guess some people don't care to wait around for that.

[She shrugs, tapping the side of her glass with her index finger and wishing her drink would magically refill itself somehow. No such luck.]

We'd be incompatible, anyway. I'm more of the impatient type.

[In other words, she's a one-and-done type of girl. No frills, no strings, no complications.

She glances at the tapping finger and the empty glass it's associated with.]

What are you drinking?

Can tell.

[Everyone has their types; Rey's just had some pretty bad luck in that field.

[She blinks.] Ah, it's bourbon... Was bourbon. [Heh.]

[She lets out a little laugh. Well, at least Avisheh is being on-brand. In the meantime, she stands and picks up Rey's glass silently, taking it back to the bar to refill. She leaves her cane behind, propped against the table, to better balance two drinks with.

And Rey can have a short time to herself to cool off, if she needs it.

She returns with two bourbons, placing Rey's replenished glass on the table before her.]

I don't normally do bourbon, but I'm feeling adventurous.

[Rey doesn't say anything when Avisheh takes her glass. She's patient, she can deal, she rubs her forehead while tending to an ache in her skull. Part of her thinks that this would be a better place to just lay down and sleep for a while anyway, because moving sucks.

[But then the lady returns with a full glass, and that thought is immediately defenestrated from that metaphorical window. Rey might have a love for lager, but bourbon has a stronger hit for someone like her than beer.]

Ah, thanks. Wasn't sure if I scared you off. [She might be joking, but she'll be taking an immediate drink from that glass.]

You'll find I don't scare easy.

[She takes a seat once more, and a sip of her own bourbon.]

I wouldn't go far without my cane, anyway.

[She indicates the black one she left propped against the table. But then, Rey has been drinking hard liquor, and she has reason to be distracted on top of that. Avisheh feels as though she hit a nerve with her.]

[Happy to hide her face between a few more drinks of bourbon, Rey pauses. Despite that nerve, a little bit of liquid courage goes a long way.

[She glances to the cane that Avisheh had left aside.] Right. That.

[Sip.]

Knew a couple people with robot legs in my world. Also a guy with a robot arm. Tech's gone a long way. [She pauses, a little curious.] Does it ever hurt?

[It's not a question she's often asked, so it takes her by surprise.

She takes a quick sip of bourbon.]

Phantom pain. [She experienced it even when her parasites were Separated by Vida Veisi, all those years ago, before her legs were ever gone.] Occasionally. Nothing unbearable. It's been a while since they've been gone.

[For the first few seconds Rey immediately regrets ever asking, but fortunately Avisheh doesn't seem rattled by it or anything.]

Hmm. [She pauses a moment. As if her last question wasn't shaky enough-] You don't have to answer this if it's a touchy subject or whatever, but do you mind if I ask how you lost them?

[Well done.]

[Now this is a question that's been asked before.

Avisheh told Vida Veisi how she lost them without being asked. She wanted to hold it over the god's head, wanted to taunt her with the knowledge that she was, in some way, responsible for yet more misfortune.

She's told some others. The receptionist, some amputee patients who wanted to swap stories. Sometimes she lies. She prefers when she's telling the story as a weapon. She doesn't particularly want to weaponize this story against Rey, and she doesn't particularly want to make Rey feel pity for her either.

But then, a lot of people feel pity for Avisheh without her permission. It's all very annoying.

There is a long moment when Avisheh considers all of this, playing her finger around the rim of her glass and staring intently into the copper-colored liquid, punctured by cubes of ice.

Then, she swings up her legs onto the booth seat to rest with her back against the wall, placing her elbow on the table and making a show of looking very comfortable.]

Let's play a game. If you guess right, I'll tell you the truth. If you guess wrong, I'll tell you a lie.

[As someone who has come from a very long and complicated life of misfortune, Rey can very much understand Avisheh's aversion to pity. Hell, even her response doesn't surprise her; it's always easier to make a game than to spin a tragic yarn.

[So she thinks for a moment, taking a long drink of her bourbon before resting her glass on the table.]

All right. You're on.

[Accepting that Avisheh could tell Rey anything, what does it matter whether she's lying or giving the truth?

[Besides, this is starting to sound like an old drinking game she'd seen people play. It could be fun.]

Right.

[She takes a nice swig of bourbon. She'll need creative juices, to spin her tall tales.]

True or false: I lost my legs before the age of ten.

Hmm...

[It's tricky. She knows the Chancellor's daughter was born with bad legs, but Rey was there when Colonel Lyonene had lost hers in a mine blast. There are a number of reasons for the end result, but only one is the answer.]

Going to go out on a limb and say it happened... after. So, false.

[Correct. But Avisheh doesn't confirm, only gives a smile behind her glass of bourbon.]

Was that a pun?

[Ha.]

I lost my legs at 13, so not long after. I had just traveled from my world of origin to another world, where I'd have a slim chance at a better life as a refugee.

True or false: they were amputated as a result of an accident.

Maybe.

[Sip.

[She hums again as she mulls over Avisheh's next question.] True, but it really depends on your definition of an "accident". Almost anything unintentional could be considered an accident, whether it's a freak explosion or you stepped on a crocodile's face.

[False.

Everything that happened to Avisheh's legs, from the time her parasites were Separated to the time the limbs were amputated, was entirely, purely intentional.

She takes a quiet sip of bourbon as she thinks up a lie.]

I was hit by a tram car and my legs ground beneath the tires. Shouldn't have been playing on the tracks, but then, there were no such vehicles in my world of origin.

True or false: I was born with uniquely deformed legs, before they were ever lost.

Tragic.

[Which would be an asshole thing for someone to say, if not for the fact that someone with "uniquely deformed legs" would have no business playing near tracks, if that was the case, so one or the other doesn't add up. Trams aren't ninjas.

[So that leads her to believe:] True, because that last one sounds like bullshit.

[And yet she would believe that Avisheh stepped on a crocodile's face more.]

[Avisheh grins.]

Ooh, you saw through my lie. I need to work on my storytelling.

[But Rey got the last one right, which means she needs to tell her a true thing about her "uniquely deformed legs".]

It's a mutation unique to my world of origin called a parasite. They're not parasitic, despite the name; they're a part of you. They extend from your body in the form of veinlike appendages. I had parasites on my legs.

[Now, she may give Rey a second chance at the truth, since she caught onto the earlier lie.]

Multiple choice. Who amputated my legs? A Nexian doctor, the god of Separation, or neither?

[Rey arches a brow, the index finger wrapped around the glass of bourbon unfurls to point at Avisheh.]

Now, was that really a lie, or are you lying that that was a lie because that was actually false? [A rhetorical question, really. Avisheh could say whatever she wants and Rey would have no choice but to take her word for it. Such is the problem with secondhand accounts.

[Oh well.]

Multiple choice, huh? Ooh. [She pauses a moment to think, leaning back in her seat.] Mmmneither.

[Avisheh simply shrugs with a knowing grin.]

I'm as earnest or as sly as you make me, you're the one with the power in this game.

[Completely untrue. Avisheh could say whatever bullshit she wanted. But she isn't breaking the rules of the game, of course. That wouldn't be fun.

Besides, the truth can be useful. The truth is part of why she has a god and a half wrapped around her finger.

Avisheh takes a long drink from her bourbon, finishing off the second half of the glass. Rey got the last question -- the doozy -- right. Maybe Avisheh made it obvious on purpose. Maybe she wanted to tell someone the truth. Maybe she just wanted to see Rey's reaction.]

This isn't part of the game, I'll tell you who did it in a second, but care to take a guess at who did?

[That sounds like a joke in itself. Rey has the power of guesswork, which isn't always the most reliable, though she can be a good read on people sometimes.

[She snorts at Avisheh's question, not a true-or-false one this time. After a long drink of her own bourbon as well, Rey just makes a face.]

Can only guess it was just about anyone, but it probably wasn't the tram car. [Already called her out on that.]

[Avisheh gives a predatory grin, which is at odds with what she says next.]

I did it. Botched cutting them off at age thirteen. They look pretty bad underneath the attachments. Hard to saw through your own bone, imagine that. I was smart enough to pick a joint, but I didn't have an understanding of anatomy just yet.

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cw: gore imagery

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cw: self harm