hadriel_logs | Intro Log: Eight Legs No Heart

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Intro Log: Eight Legs No Heart

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That's good. [It's a start, at least. Maketh nods.] The things in charge here call themselves gods. They feed off the emotions they're named for, and engineer situations to their liking when they get hungry enough. They're in the process of resurrecting their kin. Which is where you come in. Every month, more people are dragged in. Fuel for whatever they intend to do.

[ Things. He does approve of the distinction. Perhaps they have enough power to make it a meaningless linguistic technicality, but it's too distasteful to call them gods. Hermann frowns. ]

Given the circumstances, it's seems appropriate to be wary of whatever will happen when they finish raising them.

[ They'd died before, hadn't they, and possibly took their people with them. This alien architecture, some in better repair than others, spoke to that. And in that, wasn't too dissimilar from Haven. ]

What sort of situations, if I may? I expect there's been no luck with the Door.

I think that would be wisest, yes.

[Perhaps they have no choice in the matter, but Maketh intends to do all she can to thwart their efforts. She shakes her head.]

We believe that it is a physical device of some sort, but we haven't been able to find it. Yet.

[When they do, Maketh intends to take it.]

It depends which one is hungry. Fear buried people alive. Bragged about it. Rage poisoned the food and made us turn on each other. Delight got everyone drunk. Things like that. Some are more painful than others.

What is your basis for the belief? Other than the logic and probability of it. Have you learned anything about it, though not the location?

[ He wonders, idly, if there's a meaningful difference between a Door in an unknown location, and the rumored interior of a locked convenience store that fair guaranteed death with any attempt, large or small, to break inside.

Fear, Rage, Delight, Hope. With behaviors and manipulations that sound appropriately aligned. A cautionary tale, a myth, absurd reality. Again: different, truly, from a corporation with almost complete control? ]

I suppose gods will brag. So the food may not be trustworthy? Was there any indication of a chemical additive?

[ To thus test for. He casts a wary, somber look at the shelves. Little choice, he expects. That or starve. ]

The fact that it requires a large amount of power to operate and the gods claim not to know how it works. If it were simply an extension of their own power, even one that required their collaboration, then it would likely be much more efficient.

[Part of that is likely a lie told to keep them on their toes. There's no way to determine the extent of it just yet, though. Maketh exhales slowly.]

No. I'm not even sure where they found it.

[She's quiet for a moment.]

They added human flesh. It made people susceptible to...possession. By certain monsters.

[ Perhaps it comes down to words, the inherent failings of words and their limitations as symbolic representations. One can use any word regardless of how appropriate. There are different meanings and different truths, meaning no truth at all, not that way.

So while the knee jerk response may be to question the power of gods who are equally flummoxed by a purportedly more powerful device, which -- ] ...if they are truly clueless, then it would logically predate them and suggests another creator... [ -- musing, as much to himself. Or they claim to be flummoxed. Really, the problem's as much in the word god, and the attached assumptions.

To that end, he's not so sure it would be more efficient if as hypothesized. But, he doesn't have anything like enough information, so he only nods.

He... doesn't react to the explanation about the food. He's aware he should, should blanch with horror and disgust, and hates what that suggests, the deadening effect of Haven, but that had been there (here?) as well. The monsters in the tunnels that had been people. The poor fools who'd been eating them before knowing, or fresh arrived, unknowing.

Instead. ]

Well, possession's new, I suppose.

Possible. Or a hierarchy that they've been concealing.

[Hope might be the most powerful currently, but Fear has his own game and apparently Sorrow is the oldest of the bunch. There's too much that Maketh doesn't understand, that she's afraid she doesn't have the capacity to grasp in the first place. She hates that. Feeling helpless. Feeling stupid.

She nods just once.] They do things like that. Almost on a schedule. I suppose it's when they get hungry. There's nowhere to run at this point.

[ A hierarchy -- then the dead gods, perhaps. Were there other options than dead and the currently known? He's barely been here an hour. Not that a year in Haven had made tremendous difference to the known and unknown -- what it had done was well acquaint him with feelings of helplessness and stupidity.

Haven, too, had been almost on a schedule. It doesn't help the columns in his head, the running calculations on probabilities. That might matter. Sussing out a god feud versus the aspirations of a corrupted corporation. Similar tortures, different stories. ]

Because of the tunnels, I suppose. How very convenient. I noticed the phone display rather lacking -- no discernible time or date?

No. The ceiling does an approximation of the sun cycle, but that's it. [Likely on purpose as well. Keep them confused. Maketh rubs her face.] It's a containment measure. We're no good if we run away.

That does call into question the claim that we were an unintended consequence -- that they won't let us go.

[ Though, go to where? The Door, of course, but the experiments needed to be done before sending someone through... Hermann tilts his head, considering. ]

Well, thank you. I expect you didn't come in here to further explain things to a newcomer. Am I keeping you?

[So he noticed that as well. Maketh nods, face going hard.] Exactly. Though I would not say as much to them.

[Her antagonism has not gone unnoticed. Maketh shakes her head.]

No, no. I only meant to pick up a few things.

Are they vain gods, then? They care about that sort of thing?

[ There's a thin thread of amusement in that. He has noted her expression, but it's an absurd, bitter thought. Really, no different than Yao, except even the megalomaniac, sadist corporation hadn't particularly cared what the lab rats thought of them.

How funny that so-called gods would be easier to offend. ]

By all means, continue.

Hope does. Appearances are important to him. Less so for the others.

[Fear, at least, has made no pretenses about his intentions. Maketh smiles just a little, moving towards the shelves.] Have you found a place to settle? They're comfortable, as these things go.

[ It may not be quite Hermann's place to judge that -- when put like that. He won't recognize his own vanity, but there are appearances he cares about and those he does not. He likes it when things run properly and look the part.

There is, however, a legitimate criticism, because things cannot simply look right, they must actually be right. ]

Then, [ Dry again, ] he might take care that things are beyond reproach.

[ Hermann watches her move, reminded of his own intentions. Trouble is, there's too much variety. He isn't used to having a choice. It close to overwhelms. Speaking of -- ]

Not yet. I looked here, first. In the last -- [ He shakes his head, considering. There's no need to blather on about going without both and knowing which to put first. But, something related. ]

Actually, that is -- where I was [ Here or not ] -- we'd gotten a book going. People recorded any information they'd learned, whether from those in control or gleaned from the wreckage, and what sort of things had happened.

Has this lot got anything like?

Any suggestion otherwise annoys him dearly. [Thus far he's done nothing beyond getting annoyed, bu Maketh is wary of the day that changes. It will. It always does. One day she might be the one who pushes too hard and then she'll have to deal with the consequences.

Maketh rocks back on her heels, surprised.] We do. I've been collecting reports since I first arrived here, and the rest of the Guard have been adding their own information to it. One of our healers, Carlisle, was in a place like this before, and has his own notes on it.

[ Naturally. As befits a vain god. His head wants to ache with the absurdity, but it's not much beyond all the rest he's seen and had to accept. He simply smirks, thin and acknowledging.

The expression passes, shifting thoughtful, interested. ]

Are they accessible, these reports? Would I be able to read them?

[ Noting the name Carlisle, as if he has his own notes, Hermann will likely have to ask him directly. ]

[Maketh nods, pleased with his questions. Aside from Carlisle, she's found very few people who think like she does. Hermann appears to be a kindred spirit. How refreshing.] They are. I keep coded copies in several locations, but the majority of the records are in the Guard house. They are free for anyone to examine.

I appreciate it. Do I assume correctly that, as you've coded copies, there is information you intend to keep private? From the gods?

[ Otherwise, he would suggest a network copy, stored and accessible. His phone only shows recent posts to the network (he'd skimmed it while walking here, not finding much). Something that new arrivals could read would be ideal. ~~Perhaps even an application that could be updated by submission, though he's not thinking about applications yet.~~ ]

[Maketh nods. She's also hidden a few extra copies away just in case The Empire was nothing if not paranoid, but some of their teachings have been useful here.] They control the network, thus paper copies seem - for the moment - to be the best option we have. Primitive as it might be.

[ A slight smile for that. Hermann only leaned in this toward a network copy because of the practicality and utility of providing such a resource. So-called primitive methods he often liked, favoring chalk and the board, having just as many CRT monitors.

Primitive -- they weren't near to calling paper that in 2025, and he doubts they would be even without the kaiju severely derailing development outside of the war effort. It is easy to speculate that she had been taken from a time well future to his. ]

It is generally a good idea to keep many copies and not to rely solely on digital storage, especially when such storage is provided by less than trustworthy gods. I only thought it might be useful for the new to have a source other than that god's message upon arrival.

[Maketh nods. She likes Hermann. He's practical and thinks along lines that she can follow.] That's a good idea. We've been sharing the map and a list of the more common threats, but it wouldn't hurt to develop a way of getting that information to the new arrivals.

[ His smile sticks with that, if still only just, and angled, sharper at one corner. ] I'd certainly appreciate a map and that sort of list.

[ Hermann reaches into his pocket, pulling out the phone, considering it. Now it begins to formulate. ]

I haven't had the time yet to study this, to determine whether its operating system behaves as it should and thus if anything can be done with it. If it can, it should be possible to put something right onto it. I suppose they'd still have to download it, though.

[ Then again, that god had put his message on each phone. Or, on his, and Hermann doubts very much he was special in that. Perhaps he might be prevailed upon to equip every new phone with that sort of thing, if it could be and was done. ]

[Maketh pulls out her phone as well and begins to type, finding the proper file.] There. I'm afraid very little of our information has been typed up, though.

[Aside from the security issues, the phone aren't very good for writing on.]

A few of the people here have some skills with computers. They've even developed...'apps'? I believe that's what they're called. But perhaps they could assist you with that.

Ah--

[ Hermann reaches with the same hand clutching his phone, finger tips getting hold of his glasses to push them onto his face. He then opens the files and swiftly peruses them. ]

This is a terrific start. As it's his message, is it the god Hope who provides the phones? It's enough to know that apps, yes, applications, can be coded. I ought to be able to sort it.

[ Not that he's wholly opposed to assistance, but it would be a waste of time if it's a standard OS, without any Hadriel or god trick to it. ]

[Maketh nods.] Indeed. There's a man here-- [Well, more of a boy.] -- named Chris who understands such things. You should speak to him.

Intro Log: Eight Legs No Heart

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