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

[circumitus]

She blinks, and nods, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Did. It just seems a little too convenient, that's all." Like it's supposed to make them grateful or something.

[mismanagement]

Maketh closes her eyes, the whiskey held loosely in her hands. "It's not without pain."

It's many things. But not convenient.

[circumitus]

Color Rey curious.

"Has it ever happened to you? Don't trust these people here to put us back together in one piece." She's died plenty of times to be very familiar with the pain.

[mismanagement]

Maketh keeps her eyes closed, focusing on the feel of the glass in her hands. The weight of it there. "During the wendigo--incident. The process itself...uh. Showed no adverse effect."

[circumitus]

...And Rey knew there was a good reason to be suspicious of the food. She had more or less been capable of keeping to herself at the time, save for a couple adverse encounters. Being a living fireball against creatures weakened by fire gave her an upper hand during that incident, though.

"Did you become one of those things or were you killed by one?" That may be a rude question, but her interest knows no bounds.

[mismanagement]

Maketh keeps her eyes closed. It seems better this way. "I got sick. Had--had to fix it. Got it fixed."

It had to be done. It was the most logical choice. Rey should understand that.

[circumitus]

Indeed, she does understand that. In fact, Rey would know what it's like, choosing death over harming others.

"It still bothers you. Would consider that an 'adverse effect'." She scoffs. "These people who call themselves 'gods' are assholes."

[mismanagement]

Maketh doesn't want to talk about this, actually. It ended already. It's been dealt with. She grits her teeth. "I'm going to kill them."

No one has the right to do this to other people.

[circumitus]

Rey starts to lean forward, then stops when a particular pang shoots through her chest. She leans back once again, masking her pain behind a querying look.

"How do you think we'd fair if enough of us staged a mutiny?" she says in a not-so-joking way.

[mismanagement]

Well. Isn't that just the question of the day?

Maketh opens her eyes slowly, then passes the whiskey over to Rey. It's not the best decision for someone so recently injured, but they're both goddamn adults. "We won't get anywhere until we get control of the Door. None of my plans are viable."

She pauses. "There are -- extreme measures. If it comes to that."

[circumitus]

As much as she could blame this sudden rush of thinking on the pain and alcohol, Rey is very serious now. She'll be taking that bottle, though, thank you.

"Wouldn't be so sure about that. We've got numbers, and supposedly they're the ones relying on us for power." She takes a moment to take a long drink of whiskey, fueling her focus. "Besides, was able to orchestrate a jailbreak in a high security prison over forty-five thousand feet in the sky. If we play our cards right, warring against the more problematic gods doesn't sound so unfeasible."

It's hardly the same thing. For one, the warden of the aforementioned prison had been messing with Rey for a long time. But she still survived what one would consider impossible odds. Why is this so different?

[mismanagement]

"I've only determined one way to physically hurt them," Maketh says softly. It's not a good option. She's almost disgusted for coming up with it in the first place, but she was trained to be a strategist. Look at every angle. Find your opponent's weakness and then exploit it. "Starvation. Deprive them of their food source."

She tips her head back. "If the majority of the people here were incapable of feeling emotion, they would provide no food. Animals panic when they're hungry. An advantage could be gained. Putting the civilians in medically induced comas would create such a situation. But the risk is...great."

They don't have enough doctors to make sure that everyone would survive the process. Surely there would be deaths. And without the gods, Maketh doubts this resurrection could be repeated.

Maketh closes her eyes. "Lobotomization would be the extreme measure. Should it come to that."

[circumitus]

Comas and lobotomies? "Those sound like bad ideas," Rey blurts. "Not to mention the possibility that more people can just show up through the Door to give them more power, which may backfire tenfold if we're not careful. Doubt that many people would take being comatose or lobotomized kindly, either."

Rey herself is not warm on the idea. She is a soldier; she gets things done by taking action, not inaction.

As much as she hates to consider these people holding them here as gods, it's difficult to think of their tricks as mere smoke and mirrors as she had initially suspected. No, there is definitely a power to this place that she wasn't so inclined to believe right away.

"There has to be other ways. Hope is the one who's capable of bringing the others back, as well as anyone who dies here. We just need him to cooperate." She huffs. "This is supposed to be a war between him and Fear? We can give them a goddamned war."

Perhaps this is just residue of rage from having been impaled, but Rey doesn't sound like she's giving up on the idea.

[mismanagement]

"It's a last resort," Maketh says softly. One she's not keen on turning to. It might come to that, in the end, but not just yet. She holds her hand out for the whiskey. "What did you have in mind?"

[circumitus]

Far as Rey is concerned, it shouldn't be a resort at all. Neutralizing their own shouldn't be an option.

She hands the bottle back over to Maketh, giving a thoughtful pause. "Well, it'd be nice if we could just go in guns blazing the old fashioned way, but that's probably equally as stupid." She stops and thinks for a moment. "May be worth weighing in on others' opinions. Chances are we're not the only ones with the same idea, and there is more strength in numbers."

Rey didn't always believe that, of course. But there's always chances for firsts when you've lived as long as she has.

"Shouldn't bring it up on the network, though. They've probably got it rigged."

[mismanagement]

For better or worse, that's the difference between the two of them. Maketh was forged by the Imperial army, which would eventually decide that the destruction of a planet and all its inhabitants was an acceptable tactical decision. The Empire teaches that life, as with all things, is an asset to be exploited, worth exactly what the enemy is willing to pay for it.

Maketh isn't an Imperial anymore, not really, but the teachings remain. She tips her head back and takes a long drink.

"There are others thinking along these lines," Maketh says softly. "Henry Percy. Lilith. Steve Rodgers and his friend. Between us, we have military experience. Lilith has power - real power. We are not insignificant if we work together."

[circumitus]

Good to know that she isn't alone in this line of thinking. Not that Rey is surprised, considering the people here.

"Have power as well, on top of that experience," Rey points out, lifting a hand from her stomach. "In case that should help make a difference."

From what she can tell, her abilities haven't been stifled since coming to this place like a few others have. She can still make full use of them when fighting monsters -- and perhaps 'gods', too.

[mismanagement]

"Of course. I didn't mean to exclude you." It's more than training or even experience - Maketh knows very well that it's going to be brute fucking power that wins the day when it comes to fighting something that calls itself a god, let alone a group. Maketh tips the bottle back and drinks again, before holding it out to Rey. "Do you think--do you think we have a chance?"

[circumitus]

"Of course," Rey echoes, not taking offense. "Think if we do this right, we just may. Don't know about you, but if this is supposed to be a war between those two assholes, would rather be something more than just collateral damage."

[mismanagement]

"I've never fought a war before." Maketh considers this, flexing her hands. It matters less than most would think. She still ended up with blood on her hands. "There are good people here. They don't deserve this."

[circumitus]

"You're lucky. It isn't something you should ever want to go through."

There are plenty of repercussions that come with combat. Not just the physical parts, but the psychological and emotional ones as well. As put together as Rey tries to be, especially during wartime, she can't deny that she's a wreck.

She nods. "Mm, no, they don't." Rey scratches her forehead, thinking. "Should probably sleep on this before we consider recruiting. People probably won't be game if there's no concrete plan."

[mismanagement]

Sometimes Maketh wonders about that. She's seen combat, survived it. Her mother fought in a real war. There must be a difference between the Empire's peace and a war.

Honesty, maybe.

Maketh nods slowly. "You ought to rest anyway. 's better. For healing."

[circumitus]

"You're probably right." Rey starts to rise from the couch before clutching her chest again, bringing her hand back over the bandages. It hurts, but she's dealt with much worse pain than this.

In any case, it's quite a hike from the first to the second spiral, so she figures the sooner she gets back to her residency, the better.

[mismanagement]

Oh. Maketh hesitates a moment. "You could stay for a bit. If you wanted. You probably shouldn't be walking around right now."

Nobody's using the couch right now.

[circumitus]

Rey stops what she's doing. "You sure about that? Don't want to be a bother."

Because having an injured person resting on your couch sounds like such a bother.