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

[fortunefavored]

[Newt's gotten to the point where if someone tells him to duck, he will absolutely duck down as far as he can go. So yes, the deck is absolutely being hit as Newt curls in on himself, hands going over his head. One shot, two. The sound of something splattering apart. At the question, he slowly, cautiously uncurls, lifting his head to glance over at the remains of the spider. Yep. That thing is definitely dead. At which point he's going to glance up towards Maketh, pushing himself back up into a sitting position]

Uh, yeah. I'm okay. [Right okay time to stand up, Newt] Y'know, you'd think by now I'd be used to things trying to disembowel me all the time, but, like...nope! Definitely not used to it! [his voice has pitched a little higher, and the cracking laugh that comes out of him edges hysteric. But he's holding it together, at least.]

[mismanagement]

[The longer she's been in Hadriel, the less strange things seem. Maketh stands at attention, back perfectly straight, and watches the spider's legs twitch with no small amount of suspicion. It looks dead, but it could be faking. These ones are new. No notes have been made yet. She'll have to be careful.

The man is fine, probably, if now dirty. But at least he wasn't eaten. Apparently he's encountered such things before.

They all come from strange places, Maketh thinks. Some more than others.] It's not safe here. There are more.

[fortunefavored]

What else is new, huh? [it's a little sarcastic. But he's glancing at her, tense, wary of any other spiders dropping down] Is the housing near here? That's usually a safe spot. [he's reaching for his switchblade, then, pulling it out and flicking it open. It's not a great defense, but never the less it is one.]

[mismanagement]

[Well, at least he has a weapon. That's better than nothing. Maketh nods, lifting her rifle again.] Yes. Follow me.

[She pauses.] You...have you been here before?

[fortunefavored]

Yeah, I've been here for over a year and a half. [he says, having not actually read that note on his phone and assuming this is Haven OOPS]

Gotta say, I don't remember this being in the decor, though. [he glances around the colosseum] They've upgraded. I mean, if you'd call it that. Which I really wouldn't because nothing here is ever an upgrade, there's always some catch.

[mismanagement]

[Maketh stops, frowning. She knows everyone in Hadriel, by name and face, even if they've never spoken. But not this man. He's a stranger to her.] I don't know you. Where do you think you are?

[fortunefavored]

[Newt pauses as she does, arching an eyebrow] Uhhhhh Haven? Run by the Yao Corporation? I mean, what other place is going to have you wake up some place covered with blood and bones and then leave behind some monsters to attack you?

[mismanagement]

[None of those things are familiar to her. Which means that he's been pulled from a place with a similar premise to Hadriel's particular kind of madness. Wonderful. Maketh rubs her face briefly.] Apparently this one. I don't know that place you're talking about, but this one is called Hadriel.

[fortunefavored]

[...the fuck what now???]

What? [Newt wrinkles his nose] Where the hell is that?

[mismanagement]

[It can't be a pleasant surprise. Maketh exhales slowly.] We don't know. Only that it's underground and containment measures have been enacted so we can't leave.

[She taps her rifle.] Come on. It's not safe here. I'll explain what I can once we're clear.

[fortunefavored]

Great. [Newt scowls] I mean, not that it doesn't sound exactly like Haven 2.0 except underground or anything. [That was totally sarcasm...but he'll follow. The next thing he asks is a legit question, though.]

Okay, so how long have you been here?

[mismanagement]

Five months now. [Too long.] This Haven...did they feed off emotion as well?

[fortunefavored]

I dunno. Maybe? [Newt's mouth twists, trying to keep an eye out for any spiders] It was honestly hard to tell what they wanted, other than to just play with people's lives and cut them apart and sew them back together. [literally.]

[mismanagement]

[Maketh grimaces.] I'm afraid they do that here as well. Though should you die, you'll wake up again in a few hours with your wounds healed. I wouldn't recommend trying it, though. It's not without pain.

[fortunefavored]

Oh, so they got the revival machine back up. Not sure whether I'm happy about that or not, considering it destroys someone else's soul every time it revives someone. [he shakes his head] Dying is always painful. Trust me, I know.

[mismanagement]

It...what? [Something in her belly goes cold. That can't be right. That can't--no.]

[fortunefavored]

The revival machine that Yao uses. We broke it once, but they must've put it back together. It's made of Philosopher's Stones, which are made of the sounds of 100 people. Each. So every time someone is revived, it uses one of those souls.

[mismanagement]

[The words fly through her. It sounds like something out of those holotexts that the Inquisitor hid away, the ones that Maketh had pretended not to know about.

A death for a death. No.

This can't be happening. She died and that had been her choice, but someone else--]

No. No, it's not like that. It can't be like that.

[She killed someone. She got someone else killed for her own fucking stupidity.]

[fortunefavored]

[Newt, unfortunately, is far too focused on getting out of the colosseum to notice Maketh's crisis]

Unless this place isn't actually a front for Yao, then yeah, it is like that.

[mismanagement]

[Focus, Maketh reminds herself. Be sensible. Power through your weakness, because it is not relevant.] I don't know that name. There's no one called Yao here.

[fortunefavored]

[Newt waves a hand] It's not a person, exactly--I mean okay, it is, but he's the head of the company. It's an entire corporation with lots of employees, most of which view us as nothing more than lab rats.

[mismanagement]

[That....makes no sense at all.]

There's no company here, either. Only the gods.

[Maketh exhales.]

It's called Hadriel. This place.

[fortunefavored]

[Newt's attention jerks around towards her now, arching an eyebrow]

The who-what now?

[because he doesn't really like the sound of that 'gods' thing]

[mismanagement]

Hadriel. [She repeats it slowly. Perhaps he's like Carlisle and coming from a similar situation?] The things in charge here, they feed off emotion. And they're hungry. I'm sorry.

[fortunefavored]

[Newt's jaw clenches a bit at that, mouth pressing into a line] Can you, uh, maybe expand a little more on that maybe? That's kinda vague.

[the fact that they're still in danger not withstanding oops]