hadriel_logs | Intro Log: It's All Fun and Games

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Intro Log: It's All Fun and Games

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for April
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: April 10th-12th
Warnings: None

Welcome to Hadriel. You're a new arrival... or maybe you're not. Maybe this is all very familiar, and you're already rolling your eyes at ending up here again. In that case, welcome back! And if you're new, welcome! Your welcoming committee today is a bunch of creepy floating Shugguraths. Some of them spit acid, some of them can shock you with electricity, and some can freeze you. What we definitely know for sure is that none of them like you, so you better start running - or maybe try to shoot one down. Let's hope you've got help, because that's not going to be easy to do alone!

Or you can grab one of the weapons off the floor of the colosseum and just go for it. That'll work great for about five seconds, before you realize that all the weapons are in fact fun toys for kids to play with, and not entirely suitable for killing big floating monsters. But hey, at least you tried!

Once you've finished indulging your 90's nostalgia, feel free to look around. 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 April 10th-12th.
► 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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👻 coliseum

The first thing he tastes when he wakes up is dirt. It's stuck to the sweat on his face, mixing into a gritty, muddy paste that reminds him of those months in Vietnam, the helicopters overhead and the staccato beat of machine gun fire. Rolling onto his side, Klaus moans, squeezes his eyes shut, finds that he can move his arms and legs as he curls up into a fetal position, hands coming up to cover the back of his neck as he tries to orient himself. It's not the first time he's woken up somewhere strange in a cold sweat with dirt in his mouth, but it's sure as hell the first time he's done it sober, at least in a long, long time.

Slowly, he becomes aware of the noise around him, yelling and various splatters and zaps and other sounds he'd rather not think about the origins of. Rolling over onto his hands and knees, he opens his eyes, groans again, rubs his hand across his face and just manages to smear the sweat and dirt together into some kind of muddy mask and it's just like being back in the sweaty jungle with something coming toward him...

Through the haze of grime stuck in his lashes, he sees something he can't quite comprehend floating through the air, or rather, a flock of somethings, grotesque and bloated and trailing gross tentacles (that remind him too much of Ben, he has to stop thinking about Ben because he sure can't see him right now, and that's terrifying enough in itself - when was the last time Ben wasn't around) and spitting acid or zaps of electricity, and holy shit it's coming right at him-

"No no no nonono what the fuck is that..."

Adrenaline floods his body as he makes his way to his feet, hunched over, covered in dirt, arms moving from his head to his sides, trying to keep balance on unsteady legs, in the opposite direction from the monstrosity. At some point he trips over his own feet and stumbles, his hand slaps into the ground as he gets himself back upright and looks over his shoulder, realizes that he's screaming at the top of his lungs, and runs straight into some abandoned piece of rubble (wait, is that seriously a giant pile of Nerf guns?) and lands flat on his chest and face. It knocks the breath out of him, he digs his fingers into the dirt and coughs, gags, feels like he's choking on his own heart as it slams in his chest, tries to catch his breath.

Those monsters keep coming toward him, he can still hear yelling and zapping and tremendous impacts in the air, and those monsters aren't controlled by someone he loves this time. The tentacles aren't on his side.

Klaus bunches himself up again, crouches down behind whatever it is that he tripped over, hands coming up over his ears, and he whimpers, makes himself as small as he can, chanting 'no' under his breath over and over again, eyes squeezed shut while the bright flashes of light in the darkness and the sound of bullets and helicopters overwhelms him and he can't breathe, his head spins, and all he can see is Dave. Dave with a hole in his chest, and so much blood, and all he's aware of is fear and grief and he doesn't even care if he lives or dies and...

Someone is touching his shoulder and the noise is over, it's quiet.

Lifting his head, he looks up at the person's face, his eyes wide, the tracks of tears running through the mud on his face, his lips parted, barely breathing.

"What's g-going on?"

Edited 2019-04-10 19:32 (UTC)

It's actually been awhile since Drake encountered someone so traumatized by arrivals day... it happens, sure, but most people either fight back or manage to hold it together long though to get out of the colosseum before having their meltdowns. When he hears someone screaming in terror Drake fights his way over to them and manages to defeat the tentacled creature that was bearing down on the other man. He's splattered with ooze from where he sliced the tentacles off, and he's missing a sleeve from where the monster spit acid at him and he had to rip it off but he's in one piece, his grip is strong and steady, and his voice is gentle. He's seen this kind of behavior before and it's more than the monsters, more than the sudden disorientation of being somewhere else.

One step at a time.

"Hey buddy, you're okay. Let's get you out of here, though, yeah? I can explain outside."

[it's been a long time since Tinya saw someone come through the door looking quite so traumatized. he's crouched in on himself and chanting the word "no" over and over again. it makes her hesitate to reach out to him, but she's got to break through that if she wants to get him out of here to safety.

when he looks at her, he'll see what looks like a perfectly ordinary fifteen year old girl in a white sundress. when she looks at him, her heart goes out to him, he's clearly in a great deal of pain and needs to get out of here as soon as possible.

in a voice pitched low and soothing] You're in a place called Hadriel. Follow me and I'll get you out of here safely, I promise.

Colosseum

For those who had noticed Kelson had been gone for the last week, well, he was back, flat on the ground like a new arrival. Unlike certain other kings who had recently come back through the Door, Kelson had not cut his hair. It was still long, and bound in a four stranded braid, tied with a gold ribbon. But he was older, slightly more broad, having grown from his late teens into his mid twenties. At the age of twenty-four, he'd ruled Gwynedd for ten years.

He opened his eyes, not exactly feeling entirely safe and the arena feeling rather familiar and he groaned in annoyance. Then his shield's flared red as he saw the several floating ...things creeping toward him. Kelson's strength had always been his creativity, in addition to the actual power he wielded, the ability to shape the energy into your own will became more of a battle of wits and imagination, especially when foes were evenly matched. He wasn't sure how he'd fare against these things, but....

He picked up one of the toy plastic swords, and sent a pulse of energy through it, gathering until it melted and he hurled the thing toward one of the monsters headed his way. Looking at another he waved his hand, deflecting the shot of acid headed his way back at the creature. It really wasn't that different than steering arrows toward a target. This just wasn't an arrow shaft. Shields still locked into place and glowing red around him, Kelson idly wondered if these things had hearts.

He wasn't exactly sure where to aim.

Edited 2019-04-10 23:57 (UTC)

[Margaery's not sure why she comes to the Colosseum each month. not after having her brother for a month and then losing him. and her hopes of Matt or of Maglor being returned to her have been thoroughly dashed. she's here on her own. she's getting used to that fact. everyone else from her world has lives to return to, but she has none, only the hope that she can find Matt again and somehow get him to remember her.

it's a thin hope, but it's all she has.

and finding Kelson gone, she felt another bout of emptiness inside. this place. it was always taking people away from her. she supposed that she shouldn't be surprised and she wasn't, merely . . . resigned to the worst.

but when she enters the Colosseum and sees a man there, sees Kelson there, she's thrilled. she ducks and weaves her way through the onslaught of this month's monsters and goes to his side]

--Kelson! Where have you been? You look different!

[Tinya had noticed but thought that Kelson, like many, had simply been sent back to his homeworld.

she's flying through the sky in her white sundress, lopping off the heads of the latest batch of creatures sent to them by the Door. they fall to the ground like particularly gross insects.

but then she sees someone down on the ground, deflecting the attacks of the creatures as though they were nothing with what looked like a red shield protecting him.

on a second look, he's familiar.

she dives down out of the sky to land at his side]

Hey, you're back! [a playful eye roll] Welcome to all--this. [she gestures around herself with her right arm]

[Kelson was alarmed to see Margaery bobbing and weaving through the acid spitting, flame throwing, death inducing monsters, but at least she hadn't changed regarding her attitude toward danger. Which he really wished she had.]

I should hope so, it's been six years. Do you really think now is the right time to catch up?

[Kelson remembered the colloseum quite clearly, and with those lovely monsters around, he really didn't want to have to protect the former queen or watch her get reduced to smoldering ash. He flared his shields again in warning as one got closer.]

I hope you were not alone for too long.

[He acquiesced, keeping an eye around them.]

Edited 2019-04-11 00:32 (UTC)

[what were they going to do? kill her? she's been dead before, twice over. and each time, all she knew was an empty darkness, void of anything or anyone.

she can't help but gape a little] Six years? How--how extraordinary! [and she glances around herself] I suppose not. These particular creatures seem to prefer the skies and that's not my preferred battlefield.

[she has her sword with her, out and at the ready]

It's been ten days! At least! I thought that the so-called gods had taken you for keeps.

[she also keeps a close eye on the creatures]

[Kelson took a moment to be positively scandalized by the sundress and looked away, seeing the crumble to the ground. She definitely looked like she could handle herself, as much as it pained him to admit it. He held his ground against the creatures, doing his best not to look at, or up her sundress as she dove down.]

I'm not sure welcome is the appropriate term. I was quite happy back home. But you look......well.

[what? she's worn much more revealing clothing in her life, usually at nightclubs. and he's being a gentleman, how sweet! most guys she knows wouldn't hesitate to take a peek.

wryly] Wasn't almost everyone happy back home before they came here? And I'm doing well, all things considered. You look well, too.

colosseum - the night new arrivals pop in

[Lup's been missing all day.

To those who had been in the arena when all of the newcomers appeared, when the new monster of the week had popped in through the gate to cause a little mayhem, there may have been the quickest flashes of the elf all around, long blonde hair and a red cloak appearing in the background here and there, but just as fast she was gone again, leaving no trace of herself behind. Usually Lup is always there to fend off the monsters and get newbies set up in the city, but not today.

Not when her husband's left Hadriel for good.

It isn't until the sky's gone dark that she can be found, perched up on top of the colosseum's tall wall, her legs hanging down in the empty air, the whole arena finally silent after a day of busy activity. She has the hood of her cloak pulled up over her head, but to those that know her, there's no mistaking it's Lup, uncharacteristically silent while she looks out over the empty colosseum.]

[ It's been a long day. Drake's been home between fighting the monthly Door monsters and now so he's no longer splattered with gore, but he had a bad feeling. Like he's forgotten something important. Enough that he's doing one last sweep, checking for escaped tentacle creatures or lost newbies. Nothing so far, but now he's passing the colosseum. And he just so happens to look up, spotting Lup's figure atop the wall. That's when it hits him.

He hadn't seen Barry with the handful of arrivals and returns.

Shit.

Drake comes to a stop beneath his friend, considering the hand and footholds in the wall in case she's going to make him climb it to talk to her. ]

Lup?

[Lup considers ignoring his voice, just for a moment.

But even if company isn't what she wants right now, there's no point in just pretending she doesn't hear Drake. She knows he'll just risk hurting himself to climb up here after her, stubborn as he is. So instead, she crosses one leg over the other, all too casual, taking her time to adjust her cloak, before she's peering down to acknowledge him.

At least she manages to keep her voice level when she calls back down to him.]

This magic shop's closed today, boyo. Try again tomorrow if you need somethin'.

[ Magic shop? Drake would be offended if he didn't know full well what was going on. As it is he just exhales and murmurs a soft "okay, up it is" and steps up to the wall, starting to climb. He's no Nate but it's not too hard, either, and there's very little risk if he falls since he's still a zombie.

He's coming up there, Lup, deal with it. ]

[Guess that wasn't what he needed to hear.

Drake just comes up on his own, carefully scaling the wall, taking his time with each movement, and Lup just stares down, watching his ascent with a frown. Her bare feet kick idly out in front of her.]

You don't have to do that, Drake. I kinda went out of my way to get somewhere no one could reach for a reason.

[ Drake just continues his ascent, movement cautious but steady. ]

I noticed that. But like hell am I letting you be alone right now.

[ He's almost there, hopefully she doesn't kick him back to the ground as he pulls himself up onto the wall beside her. If she really wants to be alone he'll go, but... he doesn't think that's true. That's the last thing she wants, it's just that the right person isn't here. ]

Hey.

[He's just as right as ever. Lup doesn't really want to be alone, not after how much time she's already spent being trapped all on her lonesome, but right now there's only one person she wants at her side and it's the same person she can't have.

Though she may have a stray thought or two may about knocking Drake down and just portaling away instead of facing all of this, Lup waits for her friend to pull himself up onto the ledge with her, where she's already readjusted. Her legs are now pulled tight to her chest, arms wrapped around them, her heavy cloak pulled over her body completely.]

Hey.

[It sounds lame, less casual than she'd like, but they both know why Drake's climbed up a damn wall to find her. Of course he knows.]

[He finds her without much trouble. It's not hard to find his twin, after all, even when his heart is sinking as the hours tick on. Taako was so fucking confident Barry would be in the new arrivals, but when he thinks he must have just missed him turn into hours of searching despite not being able to call him, he's dreading the truth of it all.

It's not hard for him to soar up to the wall, a dark bird against the vibrant jungle landscape, and be back to Taako before his feet hit the edge of the wall next to her. With more grace than is usually seen out of him, he sinks to sitting, reaching for her hand.]

C'mere.

[He doesn't have good words here, but gosh, he'll try.]

(Worry is a way of life; she had learned to bear it and live with it as a constant companion. However she, like everyone else in every world ever (most likely), enjoys when at least one of her worries can be put to rest. Such a miraculous event occurs when she spies Kelson in the Colosseum.

Sansa is quick on her feet as she hurries towards him, wondering in the back of her mind if he will remember her.)

My lord? I've been looking for you... (With her sword drawn, she can at last prove her skill against opponents, though it is clear what she thinks of the monsters by the expression on her face. Whether the beasts have hearts or not, few things can survive being neatly hacked in half, right?)

Edited 2019-04-11 09:17 (UTC)

( Like Kate, Lup's presence in the Colosseum is something of a constant, so she doesn't think too much when she sees the familiar, flitting hair and cloak. At least, not until she realises that it's all she sees — there's no traces of fire dancing around, no spellwork coming from the blur that she is.

She doesn't get a chance to catch her, and the day marches on until the sun sinks behind the countless trees and it's... still humid. Always humid, it seems, but the temperature lifts a little bit, enough that Kate can hop through the city without feeling completely gross and sweaty. She notices the silhouette from a distance, but with a hood up and no real light to speak of, it could be anyone, and it's not until Kate gets to the tip of the Colosseum's crumbling walls herself that she can make out enough colour, or enough of the cape to realise just who it is. )

... Want company?

( She crouches down, resting her forearms against her thighs, half ready to flit off if Lup says no. )

[He'd rather quite avoid anyone else killing her yes, thank you very much. He was quite against any more death, except those of the monsters and anyone attacking them. There'd been quite enough. He too was a little agape at the idea that it had only been ten days since their last meeting instead of six years.]

You must be mistaken, but perhaps we should leave this arena before they get other ideas. I would prefer that you not engage in any battlefield.

[Sorry Margaery, that part he had not changed on.]

Not that I am not pleased to see you again, but I had wished these so called gods would not recall me. I was quite content.

[Kelson was quite aware that there were others among his gender who would not hesitate to take a peak, or more. It was less about being gentlemanly and more that he was married and he was quite sure any of his priests and bishops back home would be quite disappointed at him breaking his marriage vows, having themselves witnessed. And, he'd be disappointed in himself. Perhaps it was gentlemanly.]

I suppose that depends on what 'home' is like for most people. Some may not be as happy about returning.

[Worry was very much a way of life for Kelson, his muscles were often in various states of knots. If he'd known the extent of which he'd made some of his friends here worry he would have been sorry, although not for the opportunity to return home. He didn't miss the sword she had extended and the expression on her face and he took a moment to pull her closer to him, if allowed.]

Sansa. I'm sorry if I worried you. And call me Kelson. I don't think anyone here is going to care. But...perhaps we should make our way to the exit before you have to use that thing more. Which, I would prefer you did not.

[Perhaps it was because he was older but she looked different. Or maybe it was just absence and time, he'd been away for so long.]

[ He hesitates a little at the way she's balled herself up, but ultimately that doesn't stop him either. The wall's more than wide enough for him to sit sideways and open his arms to her, if she wants to lean. ]

C'mere. You can kick me off this wall when you get sick of me but I think you need somebody around. I'll even shut up.

[ Accept the cuddles, Lup, he's not going anywhere but he's not going to grab you either. ]

[It's all the invitation she needs. Lup hesitates for a moment, curled up where she is, arms tight around her legs, posture slouched forward, but then she's pushing herself right into the center of Drake's hug, head buried against his chest.

For a moment, she's just quiet, letting the man take her full weight, though there's no missing the way his shirt wets from her silent tears. When she finally speaks, it's difficult to hear her, voice muffled and soft against him.]

He didn't come back.

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Intro Log: It's All Fun and Games

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