Event Log: The Beach Episode

[hadrielmods]

Who: Everyone!
What: The event log for the transition to our new planet!
Where: The city, which has now been fragmented onto four separate islands.
When: May 27th-June 10th
Warnings: Surf's up! If by 'surf', you mean separation from your friends, weird sea creatures, and cold rainfall.

The sun and the sand and a drink in your hand- well, it all sounded pretty nice when you voted for the island planet, but ultimately what you're getting is a bit less glamorous.

The transition takes place instantaneously, with very little noteworthy shakeup, though those of you who are particularly in-tune with the supernatural may feel a bit dizzied or nauseated by the sudden movement. And that's exactly what it is: for those of you who are outside, the change is fairly noticeable, as in the span of a single blink, what used to be miles of desert is now rocky ocean. The city is simply in one place one moment, and then somewhere entirely new a second later.

And that somewhere new is exciting! The islands have plenty of landscape to explore and weather conditions to adjust to, fish to catch, and- wait, how do you get to the other islands? What if your friends or your home or the bar is on these other islands? Enjoy having to figure out who is where and how you're going to get by with only a small fraction of the city to work off of- hopefully those boats will come sooner rather than later...

► This log covers May 27th-June 10th.
► 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 drown or get eaten by an alien shark, let us know here.

Comments

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin smiles back. "Let's just say that in my world, I wasn't the most congenial, ethical, or law-abiding citizen. I don't know if I could have helped being what I was, but I certainly did a lot of damage. I can hardly judge another being's situation, especially since you don't seem to have had any choice -- you didn't ask to be created as you were."

"If you can only eat souls, then what happens here in Hadriel? Do you just continue? And if you tried to stop, would you die?"

[stealyoursoul]

"I made a deal with Hope to get the sustenance I need. Not quite the same thing as hunting my own meals, but it'll do for now."

His face goes very serious at the mention of stopping. "No. It's much worse than that. Sunai can never starve to death. Instead, we go dark, and assume our true forms. Wings, a tail, and horns, all made of shadow, smoke, and fire." Which makes him look a touch like a miniature Balrog.

"Then we lose control and take whatever souls are nearby to satisfy the hunger. It doesn't matter if they are innocent or sinful. Any will do. And that keeps on going until we are finally no longer hungry and come back to our senses." In other words, this was a Very Bad Thing, something which Leo tried to impress on the people around him. He'd gone dark many times, but that was a necessary evil where he was, in order to purge the city of those that were corrupting it.

[so_dark_a_road]

"A good thing, I guess. I'm not normally a fan of deals with the gods, but sometimes it's necessary. Did you have to pay the god? Usually these gifts of the gods are not free."

He listens gravely to Leo's description of what happens in the case of no sustenance at all. "This going dark sounds like a fairly dire event. Hunger truly is a driving force in your psyche, then." Leo's description of his dark self does sound a bit familiar to Curufin. The Balrogs had a different kind of hunger, but their appearance was fairly similar.

[stealyoursoul]

"No. He said since it was necessary to my survival, it wouldn't cost anything." A good thing, for Leo was wary of owing someone as powerful as a god anything like a debt. Who knew what the price to pay would be when they came calling?

"It really is," Leo confirms gravely. For Sunai, hunger was a thing ingrained into their psyches, as much a part of them as breathing or sleeping. It never truly left, only pushed to the side for a while, the way it was for a shark.

[so_dark_a_road]

"It's a good thing he understood that this is food for you." Because Leo is right, deals with the gods are perilous. Though it is true they usually make you pay up front, so it's not a debt.

Curufin nods. "I hope that you will be able to survive here without eating anybody's soul. The hunger I can understand, as I have the experience of a driving force taking over my existence -- indeed, it felt, at the time, as though it were the reason for my existence. I am controlled by it no longer. But it doesn't sound as though you have that choice."

[stealyoursoul]

Leo looks off to the side when Curufin says he hopes he won't eat anyone's soul. He hasn't done anything like that so far, but old habits always die hard. If anything happens to Hope or if he loses control, he'll end up taking souls without an ounce of regret. "We'll see."

The idea that Curufin has had something similar happen to him is an interesting one to Leo. He's shown much more understanding towards the monster than anyone else here. "Has anyone ever told you that you're pretty wise?" Maybe it was just an Elf thing, he certainly didn't know.

[so_dark_a_road]

Curufin smiles. "No, people don't generally tell me I'm wise. I've made plenty of mistakes in my time, even here. But I have things I care about, and people I care about. And I'm committed to the continued existence and the welfare of this community." He shrugs and smiles again. The smile contains mixed emotions.

But it is true that he is trying to understand Leo, and that he has some basis for understanding, different though their worlds and origins are.

"What else can we do but do the best we can?"