Intro Log: Off my chest

[hadrielmods]

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for April.
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: April 10th-13th
Warnings: Newbies, explosions, and things that are definitely treasure chests and not evil monsters out to get you.

Welcome to your first day in Hadriel! Enjoy your surroundings, meet your fellow travelers, and be sure to start exploring so you can collect as much loot as possible!

On the ground around you may notice bang snaps, scattered haphazardly. Try not to step on any of them, or you might burn your feet! Feel free to gather them up and use these baby fireworks however you see fit; there are dozens strewn about on the ground. Popping them will emit clouds of smoke of various colors, and... well, not much else.

Is there anything else lurking around? Glad you asked! If you look around, you may find a few innocent-looking treasure chests. Which you know, normally means free loot- except, in Hadriel, nothing is quite the way it's advertised of course and the chests are actually dangerous mimics. Mimics- often disguised as treasure chests- are monsters with surprisingly quick movements and gaping maws filled with teeth. They exist to try and fool an unlucky traveler into thinking they've gotten something good... only to lunge at them in their moment of triumph and prove that life is actually terrible and nothing comes for free.

Good luck!

Once you've managed your daring escape from the colosseum, feel free to go explore the rest of the city! Find a house, find a new monster, or simply scavenge for supplies. Good luck, and enjoy your stay in Hadriel!

► This log covers April 10th-13th.
► Feel free to make your own logs, as well!
► All characters now arrive with phones that have network communication.
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!

Comments

[fadeling]

They don't see me if I don't want them to, no noise, no notice. I can make them not see you too.

[mismanagement]

[That...doesn't really help. And they're still out in the open. Maketh claps her hands together.] Can you show me? If we go inside, can you show me there?

[fadeling]

It won't look like anything. But they won't see us.

[mismanagement]

[Then how will they know it works? Maketh shakes her head. One thing at a time.] All right. But let's go inside, okay?

[fadeling]

Alright. Sorry.

[mismanagement]

It's okay. [Maketh stands, hoping he'll follow suit.] You don't need to apologize.

[fadeling]

[He does follow, albeit a little reluctantly. Still, it's better than nothing.]

I don't know what to say, then.

[mismanagement]

[Well, at least he's up now. That's progress. Maketh takes a step back, again to see if he'll follow.] Can you fight, Cole? You said you wanted to help.

[fadeling]

Yes. If it helps. I don't want to hurry people but if they hurt someone first they need to be stopped. I forget later. That's easier.

[mismanagement]

[Maketh hesitates.] What do you forget, Cole?

[It's possible that he might become a threat. She can't allow that.]

[fadeling]

When it hurts too much. I help people forget the hurt, I help them heal it and then I take it away so it doesn't hurt again. Then I forget too so I can be clean to help again.

[mismanagement]

You--make people forget things? [That's different. That--that could be bad. Maketh resists the urge to step back. It's one thing to be shielded from the gods, but she's met men who could make you do things just by thinking it---no. That cannot be allowed.]

[fadeling]

Yes, sometimes. If it helps. But I don't hurt people. [That's the part that no one seems to understand.] I'm not a demon. I don't make them less and I don't make me more. I help.

[mismanagement]

Do you ask? [That part seems very important to Maketh.] You can't just--decide that for other people.

[fadeling]

I hear the hurt and I do what helps. It songs soft and stuck so I untie the tangles. They don't need it. I don't hurt people.

[mismanagement]

[Maketh shakes her head. That's wrong.] Cole...you can't decide what people should think. It does hurt them.

[fadeling]

I don't hurt people!

[He's getting worked up now. It's the same that Vivienne tried to say, that he was evil, that he should leave, that he hurt people. All he wants is to help and people don't listen.]

Eyes red, reeling when I taste the tears, taken, tortured with touching. Dust dancing and I try to hold it back--if they don't hear they don't take me again. It's... a nightmare but awake. A horror of hands and no escape. "Please, don't let father find out. It would break him too like they broke me."

[Abruptly, he's calm again.]

She doesn't need that. It hurts and she shouldn't be stuck. I can help.

[mismanagement]

[Maketh takes a step back, hand going to her blade before she can stop it, clench her fists to stop the trembling. Stand up straight, don't slouch, show nothing on your face. He's like the Inquisitor, Cole is, she's sure of that now. Less calculating, perhaps, but--she's seen what happens to people after their minds have been ripped open, popped like grapes, and it hardly matters what you intend if you end up doing something worse.] You can't do that here, Cole. Listen to me. You can't...make people into something else. It's not right.

[fadeling]

I don't. I don't take pieces. They're still them. I don't hurt people.

[mismanagement]

[Maketh shakes her head. She's starting to get frightened - this could so easily spiral out of her control - but fights it down. Steadies her hands.] You can't do that here. Unless people ask, you can't do that here. Okay?

[fadeling]

If it helps I have to. I help people.

[mismanagement]

But only if they want the help. [This is important. It has to be understood.] Bad things -- they happen. But if you survive, sometimes...sometimes the bad things...have meaning. Do you understand?

[fadeling]

Yes. But it doesn't have to hurt forever. I help when it gets stuck.

[mismanagement]

[Maketh hesitates. There's a lot about this conversation - and Cole - that she feels like she doesn't understand, that is possibly beyond her comprehension.] What do you mean, stuck?

[fadeling]

Clutching, clinging, clawing to hold on to the hurt so it won't heal. They keep it and it rots there and hurts more and more. It doesn't have to be that way. I shake it loose and lose it so they don't hurt anymore.