hadriel_logs | Intro Log: Puddle Jumpers

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Intro Log: Puddle Jumpers

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for September
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: September 10th-13th
Warnings: Fresh meat, lots of rain and angry ogres

If the rain on your face isn't enough to wake you up in the colosseum, maybe the thundering footsteps and- well, thunder- is. The first thing that you may notice is that it's incredibly wet around here, with winds that could knock you over if you aren't careful and thunder that brings with it a torrent of constant rainfall.

That's all fine though, because the gods saw fit to help you out on your way in and now everyone will be waking up wearing a rain coat! These coats are a little odd, and some of them are downright silly, but we trust that you'll make do. Of course, a few of the raincoats have additional sleeves, neck holes, and entirely too many buttons as well- but hey, it's the best we could do.

Wait, what was that about thundering footsteps? Oh right, as you're navigating your new fashion choices, there are some monsters afoot who will want nothing more than to grind you into a pulp and eat you- well, if you're organic, that is. If you're not organic, then they still want to grind you to a pulp, but maybe not so much the eating part.

Ogres are from many fantasy stories, but these in particular are from the Dragon Age series. With incredible strength and stamina and massive horns, fangs, and a bloodlust for violence, these monsters won't stop until everyone around them is a blood smear on the ground. They're also not too happy about this rainfall either, so be careful not to slip in the puddles as you run away from them!

Once you've splashed around a bit, feel free to run off into the stormy abyss of our islands. 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 September 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!

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[ Ephemera quips a smile, taking another drag from the cigarette. ]

Good. That's good. What I am I gonna do? No idea. Join the Guard, I guess. I'm good at fighting.

[ He's quiet for a moment. ]

Been a soldier my whole life. Think I want to be something else. Maybe. Maybe that's stupid.

[ Ephemera touches the peppers with his finger, gently as he can. They talked about growing peppers, once. And now it's happening. Drake did that. Got the plants together and took care of them enough that they're starting to grow for real. Ephemera wants to get his sketchbook and draw it out, maybe grab some paints and try to get the colors down. But like before, that thought fades, replaced by something far closer to the surface.

He asks a question. Drake answers.

Ephemera bows his head, rubbing his hand over his good eye. ]

I don't remember.

[ It's said quietly. He ought to remember being gone. ]

I'm. I'm sorry.

That's certainly an option. I know the Guard lost Henry Percy a week or two ago, they could likely use the help.

[and so is she]

It's not stupid. Not at all. All my life, I'd been trained with the goal of being queen. I attained that goal, but it brought me little joy in the end. I die and come here and--and I find myself training to become a vigilante and go to Earth. Life and death take us in directions we never dreamed possible. Perhaps it's time for you to explore some of those possibilities for yourself?

[ Okay, fuck the puddle, Drake crosses the living room still dripping -- he'll mop later, this is more important. ]

No. Don't, please. Nobody can control leaving and nobody remembers, it's not your fault.

[ But it seems like exactly what he was afraid of is what happened. Ephemera didn't remember. Not this place, not him, not making nice with Wash. He went back and was just Sharkface again, didn't stop the fight like they'd planned, and... fuck. His voice shakes a little when he speaks again, sounding less steady than Ephemera's ever heard him. But he's gone 138 days without ever completely letting his guard down, and it's worn him thin and raw. ]

You remember now. Right?

The lab sits right around the clinic and shops on the west island and provides a laboratory workspace for the more scientifically inclined residents of Hadriel. It consists of a main lab area and a secondary small room that serves as a break space, including a small kitchen (with a fridge and stove) and a sofa bed. In addition, it houses a large supercomputer. It is usually occupied for private projects, but the door is open for those who want to get involved. Currently, the lab is also stockpiled with raw scrap metal and spare Null parts, so feel free to raid those supplies for whatever weird stuff you feel like getting up to. If you need some help, there's usually at least one person around at just about all hours for questions, comments, and straight up getting lost.

[ooc: This is a mingle, so go ahead and top-level and/or tag around! Hop in wherever or whenever, as this will be the lab catch-all for the month of September. If you'd like to get involved with the lab in a more permanent/longterm capacity, please let us know here!]

I didn't know that.

[ No surprise. There's a lot he doesn't know. Ephemera takes another drag on his cigarette, wondering who's in charge of the Guard now. Valentine, probably. ]

Might have a point there. We're here, and we're dead. We can be whatever we want.

[ Give him a bit to figure out exactly what that means for him. ]

So. Vigilante, really? How'd that happen?

[ Ephemera rises uneasily, rubbing at his eye, and reaching for Drake all at once. It's uncoordinated, clumsy, but he just wants to fucking touch him. Hold him. Ephemera puts his hand on Drake's arm, gentle as he can. Have to be careful of the armor, Ephemera thinks. Have to be careful. Drake's stronger than most but he's not invulnerable. He can still hurt. Is hurting, currently. ]

I remember.

[ It's said firmly. There's no question about that. There never was. ]

What'd you need?

[ Ephemera desperately wants to make this better, somehow. Make it right. He's not certain that's possible, but he wants badly to try. ]

[ Starscream doesn't even notice her until she returns to her regular form. He's on edge as he sees the ghost wolf, unsure what he's actually looking at. But once her form shifts he might take a step back before clearing his throat. ] Full of surprises, aren't you?

[ But he rolls his eyes as he huffs, wings shrugging with his shoulders. ] Not that it any of your concern, but it's what Cybertronians use for sustenance. Much of it was offloaded onto various...planets. So I can't imagine this place to be lacking...

[ But without any way to search for energy signatures it'll be like finding a needle in a haystack. ]

Over a year, huh...

[He said that thoughtfully, canting his head a bit as if to reflect on that. That guide thing did mention no one knew how to get home, and that some people have been here a while, but having met someone that's been here over a year really cements that fact in for him.]

Do you mind if I ask...do you like it here?

[That might be a stupid question what with the storm and those hideous monsters, but maybe not. He's curious.]

[ Kettara nods vaguely. She could probably make the swim - probably - but not carrying supplies at the same time. And casting a sustained Water Walk is difficult enough on calm waters. The elements wouldn't appreciate her trying that in a storm, or at least not without a good reason. ]

Do you think it will pass soon? This weather is strange, to me.

[ What did he need? His best friend, he thinks. His partner. But this place had taken him, and then it kept taking, and he didn't think he'd get it back and now he's just feeling wrung out. Overwhelmed by being hopeful and scared and relieved and happy all at once. It'll be okay, he just has to take it one question at a time. ]

Someone I could trust, I guess? Lup always stuck with me. Nick came through every time. I think I dumped on Lance, at first, before trying to dial that back. Tucker got it. I didn't... I wasn't alone, and that was usually enough.

[ Ephemera was alone, though. That wasn't the plan. But they're not talking about that because neither of them are going to go back to that. They'll find another way, the door pieces are getting collected and they'll figure it out. This won't happen again, it can't.

What does he need now? This, basically. Ephemera's grip on his arm and voice in his ears instead of his head. He breathes out, tries to smile but that's shaky, too. ]

Get all this off, man, I'll dry off and grab you some clothes. Then we can just... sit for a minute, before I tell anybody. I want you to myself for a minute.

It came as quite a shock.

[she's not sure. by now, she has enough training that she could join the Guard herself, but she's not so fond of the idea of something so . . . regimented]

Indeed. And while we're here? We have nothing but time for exploration and discovery.

[it took her a while to figure it all out. time and introspection.

she smiles] For a time, we had a masked hero here called Daredevil. He and I fell in love and he asked me to go back to his world when my time to leave came. I agreed. The . . . weight of carrying two identities troubled him, though. I thought that perhaps if I was capable of accompanying him, it would lighten the load.

[A visitor comes through the door, surprisingly dry despite the storm that still rages outside. He has more important things on his mind than drinking, but there's no better place than a bar to relax and enjoy oneself. And a happier state surely will lead to a clearer head. And Tyki needs a clearer head.

All the better to deal with all of this nonsense... Right? That's what he's hoping for, at least.]

Lovely weather. [It's spoken dryly, and then Tyki comes over to the bar and takes a seat.

Things really are different here.] Is smoking allowed?

((OOC: Yes!))

Hello, Spiderman.

[ Kettara looks up, brightening. She's beginning to think he's some sort of weird druid, almost but not quite changing shape and moving as he does. ]

I don't get sick easily.

[ Orcs rarely do. And it's worth it, she thinks, if the elements see her devotion and decide to respond. Wisdom is often gained through trials. ]

I was calling for the Spirit of Water.

[ Her face falls a little. ]

It won't answer.

Edited 2018-09-11 02:25 (UTC)

I don't know. I wish I did. This is the third day it's been storming. You'd think we'd catch a break, but [she shakes her head] so far, no good.

I am a shaman of the Earthen Ring.

[ It's not her fault if he doesn't know what that means, Kettara thinks. He never asked for her to explain it. ]

I suppose you'll die if you can't find any.

[ She looks up at him, curious. And thoughtful as well. ]

You can fly. I watched you. How high?

[ Luckily he's not with the Null...but his red eyes don't exactly inspire confidence in that notion. Still Starscream will stop in his tracks when Peter swings himself up onto that roof. Is anyone here actually normal?! He'll let out a grumble, red eyes ticking towards the other. ]

That would only be possible had I arrived in this scrap heap with anything.

[ So that answer is a definite no. ] But I do hope our benevolent gods have at least taken into account that not everyone here is...human.

[ There's so much sarcasm in his tone as he speaks. ]

Yuuuup. A year and. . . two months, I think? Longer than most, but there are people here who've been here even longer.

[it's hard for her to believe at times. sometimes, she feels every day of that year and two months, other times it's like she just showed up yesterday. either way, being here is a head trip]

For the most part? [she thinks a moment] Yeah, I think so. There are a lot of good people here. And if it wasn't for here, I probably wouldn't have gotten the idea to become a doctor instead of just a Reaper.

[it's not a stupid question, it's one that makes a lot of sense]

Are the...[ Kettara pauses. ] ...the gods causing this?

Probably not any time in the near future.

[Rhetorical question, meet somewhat serious answer. Ephemera unfortunately hasn't been granted alone. Tyki isn't too close by, standing just far enough to speak without shouting, cigarette snug between gloved fingers as he watches the rain fall. It's beautiful, soothing and familiar and grounding after being pulled here.

If there's rain, maybe it's not all that different than home in the end. At least that's what he'd like to think. That he's connected still to what he was forced to leave behind.

He's not going to question the raincoat, he had one equally silly earlier. He lost it quickly though, rather than be seen out in it.

A man has to have some standards.]

[Ferrying monster debris and corpses from the coliseum to the lab is always messy work, but it's especially messy given this damn storm. Ugh. Newt will never be warm and dry again. It does remind him a bit of the day before he showed up in Hadriel, though... All that charging around Hong Kong, hunting down Hannibal Chau and dodging Otachi's destruction. Not a great way to spend an evening. That was almost a year ago now, wasn't it? Man.

In any case, on the first couple of days after Door Day, Newt can be found dragging various pieces of ogre into the lab. He's found himself a crappy little rain poncho, the least stupid one he could find, and is now wearing it pretty much all the time. It's good for protecting his clothes from monster guts. He's stockpiled another couple of raincoats under his desk for future use, too.

If he's not soaked and in the middle of transporting, he's at his workstation next to his desk, dissecting. The ogres are big, so he has to do them in chunks. Like, literal chunks. He might be picking apart an arm or the meager remains of a torso when you wander in to escape the rain, or he might be poking around in a massive, ugly head. It's pretty gruesome work, but he doesn't seem to mind.

Sometimes he's at his desk, compiling his ogre sketches and adding notes to his bestiary, and sometimes he's passed out on the lab's little couch. Is he... has he been living here for the duration of the storm? Hm. Doesn't seem totally unlikely.]

Yes. You've...mentioned that before. [ Maybe one day he'll ask about it. But today is not that day because Starscream is a jerk. Though his eyebrows raise a little at her words. Not wrong but he doubts he would be brought here only to starve...

Or maybe that's exactly why he was brought? Still he look back up at the sky, sighing as his wings droop a little. ]

Not high enough. I would fly right off this planet but something is preventing me. Almost as it there is a force field of sorts. As if there weren't enough annoyances to deal with. [ He is totally peeved and it shows as he balls one hand into a fist. ]

[Coming from the nineteenth century to this has been odd for Tyki. Whatever this place really is. He's not sure he understands exactly what's happened or if he cares to. But despite the confusion and the new situation that he's found himself in, Tyki is starting to enjoy just how odd and interesting everything around him is.

And that shirt is interesting. Enough so that he's stopped his rummaging to stare for a moment. It's worlds different than the garments he's used to.]

Someone actually chose to make that. [Road would probably adore it.]

Edited 2018-09-11 02:52 (UTC)

[That honestly gives him relief to hear. He had no reason to believe she was being anything but honest, and while he may have a different opinion than her about this place once he spends some time here, for now he feels comfort in having spoken to someone who can say that there were a lot of good people around.

Though, his attention is forcefully grabbed by something she said at the end there - as much as he wants to ask her about how she decided on being a doctor-]

A reaper? [His brows furrowed in confusion under his mask.] What does that mean?

[Assuming it doesn't mean exactly what it sounds like?]

[Laura has been wiping down the bar with a clean washcloth when he enters. she wants to see her reflection staring back at her, she wants it so clean. but she looks up and smiles when the door opens and a stranger enters]

Oh yeah, it's the best. [she says, equally dry] I mean, who doesn't love a raging thunderstorm with the possibility of flooding?

[and she nods] Yeah, smoking's allowed. Let me get you an ashtray. [she fetches one from under the bar and sits it in front of Tyki] D'you want a drink to go with it?

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