Intro Log: Eight Legs No Heart

[hadrielmods]

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for June.
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: June 10th-15th
Warnings: Spiders. Soooo many spiders. New people. Probably swearing.

For once, the new arrivals to Hadriel will not be waking up on the cold hard ground of the colosseum. Oh, sure, you'll still awaken in the arena - but this time the Door has been kind enough to ensure that you wake up comfortably arranged in a very nice chair. Or maybe not so comfortably. Some of those look pretty awkward - hopefully you didn't wake up with a crick in your neck! And hey, feel free to try to drag some of these super cool chairs to your new homes. They're probably not cursed or anything.

As you make your way out of the arena, be careful getting to close to the walls - well, except that's the only way out, so good luck! Chilling up on there waiting to get the drop on you are Skulltulas. These funky-looking spiders have squishy underbellies, but their upper exoskeletons are hard and very difficult to break through. They really just want to nibble you a few times, and maybe suck out all of your blood. No big deal, right? Have fun!

Have you conquered your arachnophobia and managed to escape? Great! 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 June 10th-15th.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well!
► All characters arrive with phones that have network communication.
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!

Comments

[scarletcast]

[ Wanda frowns. ]

What do they ask in return?

[casperdisaster]

[Noah shrugs uncomfortably. This is the weird part. (Because waking up in an underground cave city powered by no discernable light source but ambient light just the same and full of monsters that part is totally not weird.)]

... Us to ... feel things. They kind of. Uh. Use our emotions as batteries. Not like in a way that hurts us? Like we don't get drained of it or anything. [He gives an awkward half-grin that drops just as quickly as it appears, sighing.] People would be a lot more calm if that was the case. But uh. Us feeling it helps power them. So. Being hopeful is what Hope asks for in return.

[scarletcast]

[ Even amongst impossible things, there's always a threshold where it becomes difficult to swallow. ]

So it is like prayer.

[ In a strange church. Wanda has no hope to offer anyone, only anger and grief. ]

[casperdisaster]

[‘Like prayers’. It’s such a simple analogy but such a concise one. Noah had never considered it before, but Noah was never terribly religious in life.]

Yeah, like prayers.

[He doesn’t mean to listen in, exactly. He never does. Like usual, he doesn’t directly comment on it, only uses it to steer the conversation to safer or more helpful harbors.]

Right now there’s Hope, Fear, Rage, and Delight. Um, there used to be a bunch of them, but they died… so they’re trying to bring their friends back. I think they’re going to revive Sorrow next?

[scarletcast]

[ Neither is she. Wanda believes in what she feels. In fighting for something greater. In Pietro. It echoes. Pietro, Pietro, Pietro. No steady crescendo this, but sharp spikes of it. ]

And when they have enough power, what will they do?

[casperdisaster]

I don't think there's a plan beyond 'revive their friends again'. Uh, not that they've shared. Delight mentioned maybe trying to send us home.

[In spite of being trapped here, Noah doesn't sound terribly thrilled about that idea. He brings it up anyway, because maybe the name is someone she has to return to.

No, no one living has that kind of pain tied to it.]

If you have to talk to any of them, Delight's probably the most... personable. Hope's kind of a dick, but I guess I can't blame him.

[scarletcast]

[ Her mouth quirks down; he radiates reassurance but the words don't fall that way on her. That's not his fault. Wanda sighs. ]

Thank you. My name is Wanda.

[casperdisaster]

Nice to meet you, Wanda. I'm Noah. ['NOAH CZERNY' according to his bag, in case it ever gets lost. After an awkward pause he holds his hand out. Right. Handshakes. They are a thing, when you've got a pulse and all.]

It isn't as bad as it seems here, promise.

[scarletcast]

[ Noah. The ah crests, and she smiles, taking his hand. ]

I believe you.

[ All this time he's been nothing but reassuring; he is very quiet, but she likes that already. ]

How long have you been here?

[casperdisaster]

[Relieved to have made an if only minor improvement to mood, Noah smiles. It’s a tentative and awkward thing, but it’s there.]

Um, about… nine months now? Give or take?

[scarletcast]

[ Her hand drops, eyes widen. ]

Nine months?

[casperdisaster]

[Noah gives a little cringe. Yeah, it's... kind of a long time, he's realizing.

Time used to have little to no meaning to him. Being on a linear path at all is weird.]

Not everyone’s been here that long. Some people vanish. I guess they go home. Others vanish but come back later. Sometimes they remember being here, sometimes they don’t.

My friends and I - we were someplace else before here. Not home. I’ve been away from home for more than a year now, including that time.

[scarletcast]

[ Curiously, ]

Where were you?

[casperdisaster]

A place called Harborview. It had sunlight, so... that was in it's favor.

[not, you know. A cave.]

But it also had gods or whatever there too, and they wanted us for sacrifice of the actual blood and death variety. And you didn't get exemption from having been one already. Lame.

[This has a lot to do with why Noah's happier here.]

[scarletcast]

You were dead before you came here?

[ That's far sharper than she intends, and Wanda briefly grimaces, apologetic. If he was dead and he feels alive here, then Pietro — ]

Sorry. How can you be — ?

[casperdisaster]

I was a special circumstance. I think.

[Noah's quick to clarify. So, Pietro was dead. Noah frowns, apologetic.]

... I was murdered seven years ago. Almost eight. Back home I'm a ghost. Cold spots, knocking things off desks, whole nine yards. Here I get a body. [he shrugs, awkward. Months in it and he's still not really used to having one. He doesn't think he ever will be.

He tells himself that's a good thing. If he never gets used to it, he can't miss it when he goes home and has to return to what he was.]

I don't know if - if other dead people get the same... deal. I guess.

[scarletcast]

[ She softens. It must be a terrible thing to linger like that -- he didn't deserve to die. Then again, few his age do. ]

I'm sorry. Do you know if they will let you keep your body from here?

[casperdisaster]

No.

[The word is a quiet one, doesn't leave really any room for question either.]

It's not so bad, though.

[The reassurance is for Wanda as well as himself. He gets the closest thing he can get to a happy ending. He makes sure his friends are okay before there's nothing left of him. That's what matters.]

[scarletcast]

I will worry.

[ A little sternly, like it might have been playful in another life. Things could be worse, it's not so bad, but it's not good either. ]

You should wear the blue. It is nice on you.

[casperdisaster]

[Well, Noah's not about to protest a cute girl worrying about him. Or telling him a better color. He gives Wanda a crooked little half grin, setting down what he grabbed and getting a blue one instead to hold up against himself.]

Yeah? Alright then. Red's my favorite color though.

[scarletcast]

It's mine, also.

[ She reflects his smile, however brief. It's a good smile, with innocence despite what he said about being murdered. He has found his corner of happiness here. ]

I think this one goes better with [ gesturing to the others he's picked out and laid on the bag. ]

[casperdisaster]

You're totally rocking your whole look, so I'll trust your judgement.

[And well he'll also just change his shirt here because his current one still kinda smells like alcohol.]

While I was a ghost I got stuck in the clothes I died in. School uniform, seven years. So lame.

[scarletcast]

[ Smiling, she ducks her head. ]

You did not have to — rattle a lot of chains? Say "boo"?

[casperdisaster]

[If Noah had any body shame it died along with him, though all sources seem to point to Noah Czerny only having a passing nod kind of familiarity with shame of any kind. So he talks as he tugs the shirt off, and the other over his head.]

Mostly I was only visible if I could pass for alive, but not everyone could see or hear me. Other times I couldn't manage more than the cold spots, displaced wind, slamming doors kinda deal.

[He gives a little huff once he's got the new shirt on, smoothing it out and then holding his arms out to show Wanda. Good look, yes/no?]

One time I knocked Gansey's mint plant off his desk. Adam said that wasn't helping anything though.

[scarletcast]

[ She's turned away while he changes, hands behind her back, pondering idly kicking at something on the ground as she waits. Once he's done she looks over her shoulder, mouth still curved into a smile as she looks over him. ]

I was right.

[ A little smug. The colour brings out something in his face, some softness she likes. ]

What were you trying to tell him when you did that?