Intro Log: Snip Snip

[hadrielmods]

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for June
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: June 10th-13th
Warnings: New folks, crabby crabs, bumbershoots

Well, here you are. You've awoken on the ground of a large colosseum, with a cloudy sky above you - oh, and it might be sprinkling a little. It sure seems to drizzle a lot here, though it might take you a few days to figure that out. After the days it'll take you to get adjust to being in another world at all, of course. Welcome to Hadriel!

Feel free to walk around the colosseum a bit to try and get your bearings, but try not to trip over any rocks. They, uh, aren't rocks. This month, the Door has pulled in Lava Crabs and Rock Crabs. These confusing little things look just like rocks when they're in their shells, and they're content to stay that way... until you get close, and they come rushing out at you with their claws out, all ready to snip snip snip. Their hard shells make it difficult to hurt them, though you could always try to knock it off their back - or flip them over and attack their tender underbelly.

That's not the only thing you might trip over, either. Scattered across the ground of the colosseum can be found a variety of super cool and fashionable umbrellas. So if that drizzling rain is starting to annoy you, grab one of those and you'll be dry as dust in no time!

Once you think things are safe, feel free to leave whatever bit of safety you've found. 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 June 10th-13th.
► 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

Caedra Nisariel | OTA

[abyssalarcana]

Colosseum

As soon as word comes that another batch of new arrivals has made their way through the Door, Caedra gathers up a notebook and pen, stuffs them in her bag, and heads to the Colosseum.

Finally, it's time to try and put some plans into motion. This city needs entertainment and she has dragged her feet too long on its organization. Logistics are absolutely not her strong point, but this fighting arena idea of hers won't go anywhere if she doesn't at least try. Maybe the first could be a battle royale rather than a tournament - it would cut down on work and leave her with quite the spectacle to enjoy.

No matter what form it takes, she's here to get names on paper and spread the word. Are you fighting a crab and winning? Fighting and losing? Running away? New or old? It doesn't seem to matter, as she's likely to trot right up to you and ask:

"Hi! Would you like to participate in Hadriel's first-ever fighting ring? I'm taking signups!"

South Island

Caedra had come originally in search of a boat. South Island seems to be the least-populated, and so she had reasoned that here, an unclaimed sailing vessel might be found. She has no need of one, but something about the very notion of sailing around the coast is enticing. She can see why Malthus loved his so much; why he treasured that sextant he barely knew how to use. Her grandson would have made a fine sailor, and perhaps someday he still will.

But she gets distracted easily. As the sun sets, she pauses at the beach and watches the fading light dance over the waves. Abruptly, she transforms her sword into a long black glaive and takes to a sandy spot on the beach, and with the butt end of the weapon she begins to write in the sand. The lettering is unfamiliar to anyone who cannot read Abyssal, and some of the words quickly vanish as the tide washes them away, but she doesn't seem to mind.

Colosseum

[64th]

As per her usual routine, Cashmere is stationed near the Colosseum rather than actual inside it. She's not interested in whatever weird mutts tumble out (crabs??) and isn't it fair that all the newbies get the same introduction to their new home.

Cashmere looks surprised by the question, and fixes Caedra with a Look. "A fighting ring? Why would I want to do that?"

It's not that she thinks she won't win. In fact, she's sure she'd have a good chance of winning. However, she can't imagine what the benefits would be. There's no lifetime of riches to be had, and no speciality mansions either. Just the same crap that everyone else in Hadriel already has. All guts, no glory.

[abyssalarcana]

"Because it's something to do. A way to train your skills against opponents a bit more intelligent than the vermin the Door spits out at us. And it's fun!"

And what were the other reasons Alice had come up with? She can't recall. Doesn't really care. Entertainment is her main rationale, but if they want to use it as a chance to train and improve for some potential fight against the Null, that's fine too. And like Law had said, it gives the rest of them a chance to see what the others can do. Probably useful if they ever need to collaborate, or alternatively to defend themselves.

Whoever this woman is, she doesn't look much like a fighter, admittedly, but Caedra knows better than to judge solely on appearance. Power comes in all sorts of forms.

[64th]

"My skills are already sharp. And you have a weird idea of fun." It's rare that she meets someone who might actually find the Hunger Games to be amusing. She seems to have found one of those delightful people.

But curiosity gets the best of her. "What's the winner get?"

[abyssalarcana]

Pitting children against each other for their own survival would be such a wonderfully good time!

But of course, these people want prizes. And there isn't much to be given here, where money is meaningless and the gods so willingly distribute favors to those who assist them. It's a question Caedra struggled with when conceiving of this idea - sure, some will fight just for the fun of it, but others need more incentive.

"I don't have much I can give you," she admits. "I'm going to be keeping an eye out for future prizes. Until then, each competitor should bring something they're willing to give up, or a service they can provide. The winner of each pair gets whatever the loser has to give."

[64th]

Cashmere scoffs. That's a more half-assed prize scheme than she'd guessed. "Hmm. Interesting. Seems like a lot a risk for very little payoff."

She studies the other woman a moment. "And what about you? Will you be fighting?" Cash can't really blame someone who likes a good fight. And certainly it's smarter to round up a whole bunch of people who'd be willing to fight than to hope you just get lucky with finding a friend who doesn't mind a punch to the gut now and again.

On the other hand... someone who just wants other people to fight may have an ulterior motive.

colosseum

[queenkiller]

In where's what? Sorry, Hella doesn't know what a phone is, she is miles away from understanding where she is right now, but apparently it's a place called Hadriel and it's never had a fighting ring before.

She can see why she's being approached about it, honestly. She's armed with a blade she just finished pulling out of a rock crab's underbelly, and clothed in scalemail. She's also very large and imposing in stature, which makes the studying look she gives Caedra some intimidation points, if only she was up against someone who could be intimidated so easily.

The black eyes are suspicious. They certainly don't look inviting. But the woman's demeanor is chipper, and she seems... friendly enough? If only Hadrian were here to sense her intent.

"What's the prize?" Getting right to the point. No "but how did I get here" from Hella.

[abyssalarcana]

Yes, this one does look like she could take a few blows, and deal them back with just as much ferocity. Caedra had been eager to approach the woman, seeing the damage she did to the crab. She could be a future champion! Or she could lose her head to someone else, which would be just as exciting.

"I'm so glad you're interested," Caedra says with a smile. "The first set of matches will be in pairs, though I'd like to have a tournament some day. Every competitor should bring something they're willing to give up, or a service to offer. The winner gets what the loser has to give. If you're confident you'll win, of course, then you'll never lose a thing."

[queenkiller]

Hella considers this for a moment. She hasn't been here a day and already she's being approached for strongman competitions, essentially. That Hella "Queenkiller" Varal life.

But this could be a good way to earn coin, if only coin were what's being offered.

"I'd win," she says seriously. "But why not offer gold or other coin? All I have with me to offer as prize is a kettle."

Don't get her wrong, though, it's a nice kettle. And the sword and her books are absolutely not on the table, on the very, very minuscule chance she'd actually lose. As for services as an option... what could she offer but mercenary work? She's good at fighting and killing and not much else.

[abyssalarcana]

"Gold serves no purpose here, or I would. There is nothing to buy, and nobody to buy from, aside from trade and barter. There are markets of a sort here, but the items are freely provided by our captors. They tend to be ill-fitting and strange, but they are mostly functional. A nice kettle might be quite a prize to someone. Or you could offer to, say, cook and clean for a day. Or assassinate someone's most hated enemy."

Cleaning and assassination are definitely equivalent things that can be casually mentioned in the same sentence as offerings of service. Clearly.

Caedra smiles. "Whatever you think you can supply as a thing worth fighting for."

[queenkiller]

Yeah, no one wants Hella on cooking and cleaning duty, and she's not going to just assassinate someone. She is really, really good at killing people, but she's not getting involved in someone's petty squabbles. Killing is never clean. She's done enough of it to understand that.

So apparently the kettle will have to do.

"I'll fight if the prize is worth it," Hella says. So, like, find her someone that's worth betting her good kettle on, for real. "Otherwise it's just pointless."

island

[nonscriptum]

The third leg of his exploration has been difficult: the water is choppier around the south island, with less shelter from the channels and a host of enormous, pointed rocks just itching to carve a new hole into his hull or his skin. He harbored for the night, dragging the boat up past the reach of their fickle tides in a narrow cove, shot his wife his coordinates and a few terrible selfies, and went to gather firewood.

Perhaps rudely, Nate has been making a concerted effort to avoid running into Caedra. That in itself is nearly impossible, since she wanders their new home with a curiosity that rivals his own, but he is trying and, presently, failing. The only upside to meeting her like this is that Elena is nowhere near him, and he isn't slightly drunk.

Shouldering driftwood he intends to stoke with a little tinder Nate thinks it better to at least make his presence known, rather than have her potentially sneak up on him later. This close to the water the sand is firm beneath his boots, but the sea laps more eagerly at the edges.

"Hey."

[abyssalarcana]

It's a wise call, Nate. As it is, she's seemingly content here to write in the sand, but she looks up quickly when she hears footsteps approaching, and smiles when she sees who it is.

Truth be told, her memory of exactly what happened at the feast is a little fuzzy in parts. That alcohol had hit hard. He had turned her down, but there wasn't any real harm done in the process; she had just laughed him off and sat down to sober up somewhere. There was something about a wife, though. Is she here or not? Caedra can't recall.

"Planning a bonfire? That wood can't be very dry," she remarks as he approaches, planting the long black glaive at her side with its tip slicing upward toward the sky.

[nonscriptum]

"Bark's wet," He volunteers, as though it should be a perfectly sufficient explanation, before adding, "It just needs to be peeled off. It's a soft wood, it won't take long to dry."

Nate is fairly certain most of the vegetation on these islands is softer. Pines and spruces, or the alien equivalent thereof. He does give the sky a cursory glance at her point, because she isn't wrong - this place is damp by nature and it's sure to rain again soon. Scotland all over again, but without his brother and without Rafe trying to fill the Drakes with lead.

"So...what are you writing?"

[abyssalarcana]

"Essaba lukorab, idnum arrotil, sumekazj," Caedra replies intentionally in her own language, and picks her weapon up once more to make the finishing stroke on the word connecting the two phrases while water eats away at their beginnings. "It's quite famous."

Implying that of course, how could he be so undereducated as to not know a line from an old tanar'ri poem? But she glances over at him with a smirk and points down at her writing with the glaive's tip as she translates for him.

"We lie apart on distant shores, entangled."

A little personal, but he certainly doesn't know enough about her for it to matter, she figures. Just a famous poem.

[nonscriptum]

Fluent in a good number of languages Nate recognizes no roots, no particular points of origin in what she says and because of that, he looks mildly confused until she elaborates. Simply put, like he's somehow supposed to be familiar with the ancient demon tongue of the underworld. The language itself is hard, but flows in the way that a lot of Slavic languages do.

"Sounds romantic," Nate observes, acquainted with enough old-fashioned texts to recognize the sentiment. He shifts to set the driftwood on the sand, leaning up against his leg.

"And a little sad. What's it from?"

Colosseum

[stupid_monkey]

"Eh?" Goku asks, taking a break from testing the rocks for monsters. "Is that what this is?"

It would make sense, this place looked like a big arena. It would also explain all of the monsters. It didn't explain what he was doing there, or why, but it was a good start.

[abyssalarcana]

"Not yet, but that's what it will be! After we clear out all these crabs. Are you interested in testing your skills against our other fighters?"

A little unfair, maybe, to spring this on someone who doesn't look like he's been here more than ten minutes, but Caedra doesn't particularly care about fair. He also looks like he's about fifteen years old and likely someone will complain about children being engaged in combat, to which she has only to say that she doesn't care. No death is permanent and hey, maybe the kid will be a surprise hit. She's seen it before.

[stupid_monkey]

Goku looked younger than he was, even more so when he was confused. At least this was something he understood, and had even participated in.

"What do you get for winning?" he asked cautiously. "It's not some crazy outfit is it?"

The image of Gojyo in his Best of the Best speedo still haunted his nightmares. At least both Hakkai and Sanzo had thrown their match so they didn't have to wear it, that would have been even weirder.

[abyssalarcana]

"What?" Caedra asks, genuinely confused by that response. "No. No, at the start at least, you bring something you're willing to give up, or a service you can provide, and so does your opponent. Whoever wins gets what the loser has to offer."

It's hard to find much of value here in Hadriel, and Caedra assumes most who will fight will do so simply because they want to anyway. It gives people a way to train their skills, to take out their anger, whatever excuse they want to give themselves to experience the sheer joy of violence. It lurks within so many mortals, even though they are so rarely willing to admit it to themselves.

[stupid_monkey]

Goku looked genuinely relieved at that. He really, really never wanted to go through that again. It sounds interesting, and tournament fighting was fun the time he tried it (until the speedo).

"I don't know what I could wager," he says scratching the back of his head. "I don't really have anything, except Nyoi Bo and I'm not giving it up."

colosseum

[smoketendrils]

It took him a long time but Percy finally got the hang of shooting rock crabs. The trick is blowing charges of Cabal's Ruin (good practice considering he's only just attuned to it) to knock them over and then shooting their undersides in a nice explosion of whatever passes for rock crab guts.

He's just finished the last charge on the cloak as he throws it back, the underside of it still crackling with arcane energy as the final lightning strike knocks the rock crab backwards, leaving it scuttling its feet in the air. Before he can finish it, he has to reload, and before he can do that, he has to contend with this sudden arrival- the first person he's really paid attention to since he arrived here.

"I'm sorry- Is that a joke?" He sounds incredulous, like perhaps he's convinced himself that she'd been watching him make an arse of himself and was poking fun. It would be entirely deserved, but, considering his day, also bloody rude.

[abyssalarcana]

Caedra had sought out Percy on sight. Might there be a way to do gun duels? She doesn't see why not, given others will be using their powers, and she still wants to have a better idea of what those weapons are capable of. He had blown her off last time, saying he wanted no part in her questions about that very long one strapped to his back. If he won't tell her about it, maybe she'll get to see it in use. Or one of the other weapons he seemed to have. And if all that fails? She'll just have to resort to murder and theft, as usual. She would love to have her hands on a pistol, just to experiment with it.

Of course, she has no idea this isn't quite the same Percy she met. She hadn't realized he was ever gone, for that matter.

"No, of course not," she replies, sounding a bit put-off by the response. "We have a lot of people here who can handle themselves in a friendly fight. Can't you? What else is there to do around here anyway?"

[smoketendrils]

"Your welcome pitch needs work," he quips, finishing loading Retort and finishing the crab off. No others stir, and he lowers the pistol with an exasperated sigh of relief. "Not that I'm finding anything about this situation welcoming in the slightest, in general."

Now that he's no longer in danger of having things snipped off of him, he gives her his full attention, and draws back slightly at the blackness of her eyes as he meets them with his own. Hastily, to try and cover up his uneasiness, he ducks his head and turns the gun over in his hands, inspecting it.

A moment later, he clears his throat, "Hadriel, you said? I haven't heard of it."

He's not as familiar with Wildemount as he is Tal'Dorei and Othanzia- it could be there. Or another plane entirely, but the question remains, either way... How did he get here?

[abyssalarcana]

"Very funny," she replies dryly as she watches him fidget with the gun. A joke for a joke, very good, nice sarcasm there, Percy.

Wait. Welcome pitch?

"Hold on. You are Percival, right?"

She doesn't forget faces that easily, but it also isn't impossible that someone might have a twin. Or look uncannily similar to someone else. He's either trying very hard to act like he doesn't know what's going on, or he genuinely has no idea, and Caedra isn't quite sure which is more likely.