Intro Log: Death Comes

[hadrielmods]

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for July.
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: July 10th-15th
Warnings: Deathclaws. That's all you really need to know.

As usual, the new arrivals in Hadriel will be waking up on the dirt ground of the colosseum, and as usual, they won't be waking up alone. This month brings coat hangers of all shapes and, uh, sizes strewn about the colloseum floor around all of the new arrivals.

Get up, get out, meet and greet, find some new exciting interior decorating options, but don't forget about the more prominent threat: the (newly) local deathclaws roaming about in the inner halls of the arena. These deathclaws are vicious bipedal creatures with long arms ending in curved talons, horns ripe for goring and, of course, teeth as long as fingers. These animals have been engineered to be as deadly as they can possibly be, so you might want to buddy up before taking one on.

Have you escaped from the deathclaws? Made a few friends? Not died horribly? 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 July 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

B.

[crowboy]

[Corbin knows when he can't win a fight, and those things were well beyond anything he thought he could take out with his rifle. He'd need something bigger.]

[He's hiding right now, ducked behind a building, and he looks up when the Doctor approaches him, then looking down at his shirt. It's well covered in blood, and it's even his blood, so he can see why the man thought he was injured.]

I ain't hurt. I mean, I was. Jus', when I got here, I wasn't hurt no more.

[He's not sure as to the why or the how, but he's glad that he's not hurt, those things would have made short work of him if he'd been in the sort of shape he was in before he came through the door.]

[pullback]

[ The shirt's covered in blood and these things have talons, in Victor's mind it's a valid decision. Still, he gives Corbin a once-over: he doesn't look like he's actively bleeding...hopefully someone patched him up back home. But then again, if his bleeding's been stopped why on Earth is he still wearing a bloody shirt? ]

That's...odd. Are there still any signs of the previous wound?

[ Because what the hell, he wants to know how to stop bleeding that fast! ]

[crowboy]

[Corbin shook his head, pulling up the shirt to show his stomach. There are scars, three round wounds consistent with a pretty large caliber bullet entering through the stomach and lower chest, but they look a perfectly healed, if reasonably fresh, set of scars.]

Nah, jus' some scars. I don' know what happened, I got shot... an' then I was here an' I was fine. Well... other'n those damn things, pardon m' French, chasin' me.

[pullback]

[ Well, that's...good? Not good that he got shot, of course, but good that the scars have healed over. But that only begs the question of how on earth he got healed to begin with. ]

Based on the fact that we woke up here, I believe it's safe to assume we were all unconscious before our arrival. Someone could have easily patched you up then. The problem now is wounds cannot scar over in a day or so. You would have to have removed the bullets, stitched the wound shut, and then removed the stitches once the wound had healed, something that would have taken a much longer time. It would have been dangerous to keep you unconscious for that long.

[ Sorry Corbin, but Victor is just looking at him with utter fascination, as someone would look at a science project. This is a problem he knows he can solve, this is something that if he pieced out, he could definitely use to help aid his skills. ]

[crowboy]

[Corbin gets the distinct impression as the man keeps talking, that he's not really talking to Corbin, more that he's thinking out loud]

It didn't feel like I was knocked, jus' felt like... I fell, an' I landed here. Like ain't no time passed, but it musta.

[He's really not sure about Victor what with the way he's looking at him. He takes a look around the wall, watching the Deathclaw head off in a different direction from where they're at and breaths a sigh of relief.]

Well, thanks fer worryin' 'bout me, but we should prob'ly get outta here, I think that things gone over yander, so we should be safe if'n we go now.

[Not that Corbin is sure where exactly to go, the city seems so rundown, like those coal mining towns after the coal had been tapped out.]

[pullback]

We woke up on the floor, in the dirt, [ Victor calmly explained, frowning as he looked over at Corbin. ] Whether it felt like it or not, there must have been a time when both of us were unconscious.

[ But, as Corbin turns to look at the Deathclaw, Victor can't help but agree that yes, they really do need to get out of here as soon as possible. ]

The question though is where would we go. Are you familiar with this place?

[crowboy]

Well, I was already fallin' before, so it didn't feel too much diff'rint.

[Except he should have landed on the worn boards of his parent's front porch, not in the dirt.]

I 'spect you're right though, even if I ain't sure how it might've happened. Last thing I don't 'member nothin' 'bout gettin' knocked out or nothin'...

[In fact, he had been very much awake and in pain before showing up here, but he had absolutely no idea how in the world he had gone from one place to the other]

[he shook his head]

Not a bit, I saw some towers off yonder, [He waved in the direction of one of the spires] but I ain't precisely sure how t' get there.

[He paused then, because he's not sure if he can trust Victor, but he also needs better than a street level view of this place.]

[After a moment he just decides to trust him, the man had been worried about him a moment ago, surely he wouldn't switch over to hating him just because he was... different]

But if you c'n keep an eye on my stuff I might be able t' figure things out. But ya gotta promise not t' freak out or nothin'

[pullback]

[ It takes Victor a moment to parse through the accent. The only flavor of American accent he's heard regularly is "cowboy" so Corbin takes a bit...but then he hears the promise not to freak out and well, that's a worrying sign, isn't it. Nothing good has ever come out of someone saying "don't be scared about this."

But in fact, some interesting things have come out of people saying "don't be scared about this." Victor nods, trying to keep as cool and calm and collected as ever. Because he wants to know just what this guy's planning. ]

If one of those creatures comes back, I doubt I can keep any promises to watch your items. As it is, I shall try my best.

[ show him your freaky secret, buddy. ]

[crowboy]

If'n ya gotta run, jus' remember where ya left it. I ain't got but the one set a clothes, an the one rifle.

[Neither of which he knows if he can replace. Not that the shirt is good for anything but rags, but he'd rather not walk around without one.]

Alright...

[He starts to strip his clothes off, just dropping most of it on the ground, all but the rifle, which he leaves leaning against the building. He's skinny, but well muscled, with most of his chest and shoulders just as covered in freckles as his face. He shivers a bit once he's down to his underwear, takes a nervous look up at Victor (because yes, this is about to get more awkward than having just stripped to his skivvies in front of a stranger) and changes]

[It's not the pretties thing in the world to watch as the boy shrinks down, accompanied by downright disconcerting sounds as bones move and hollow out, as muscle and tendons grow where there had previously been none, and feathers sprout from freckled skin. But in less than half a minute, where there had been a ginger teenaged boy, there now stands a rather large specimen of corvus brachyrhynchos, the American Crow.]

[It looks up at Victor for a moment and caws loudly before taking flight, needing to get a look at the city from up above and find the best route for them to take.]

[pullback]

[ Victor just watches, absolutely confused as Corbin takes off his clothes...but he doesn't really do anything. He just sits and watches and frowns, waiting for something. Because something was going to happen, right? You don't say "hey, watch my stuff" and then do nothing. If needed, he can ask about why he's stripping later. But right now, Victor's waiting for something to happen.

And hoo boy does something happen as he shrinks. Victor can't help but take a few steps backward when Corbin shrinks, feathers growing from his skin..but he just keeps watching in utter fascination. Obviously not one of his vampires. Stories said they could turn into bats, not crows (though Victor wasn't entirely sure how true the bat thing was.) And he was too male to be a witch. So the main option was that this boy was something entirely new.

HOT DAMN did Victor want to learn more about him. You're gonna get so many awkward questions when you return, Corbin.

Still, he keeps his promise, awkwardly loitering around the clothes and rifle, but keeping an eye out for any sort of sign of those creatures. Thankfully, it's looking like his strategy of keeping quiet and hiding is working...but Victor honestly doesn't know for how long. ]

[crowboy]

[Well, the fact that he didn't immediately start screaming and trying to shoot Corbin with his own rifle was probably a good sign. That meant that he would hopefully still be there when Corbin got back.]

[The city is a good size, and he can see the broader streets and the narrow alleys, the latter of which seem to be completely clear of those monsters. He goes higher, having to work a bit harder without any thermals, he can still manage, but he'd hate to be an eagle or anything bigger, caves were for bats if you asked him.]

[He's got a good idea, and turns back toward where they had been hiding when he spots a Deathclaw heading right for the spot where he and Victor had been hiding. His curse comes out as a harsh caw as he all but dives, he had to warn him that he was coming and lead him into some of those small side streets.]

[His landing isn't pretty, he'd started changing before he hit ground, opting instead for his half crow form instead of human, looking like nothing so much as a bipedal humanoid crow, covered in black feathers, long talons clawing at the rock for purchase, wings where his arms should be, and a long beak that opened, a harsh croaking version of Corbin's voice coming forth]

We gotta go, one ah those things is comin'!

[He scoops up the gun and his clothes, heading for one of the alleys, clearly in a very big hurry]

[Victor's going to have a whole hell of a lot of questions for him, he's sure]

[pullback]

[ Victor just watches in utter fascination as Corbin arrives, landing in what looks like some half-formed mixture of crow and man. It's a damn shame that he never learned about werewolves from Ethan because hoo boy Victor has nothing but questions. What exactly is that? How can you shift from human to bird? Is that a magic thing or a species thing? How can you talk without a larynx because birds don't have the same sort of things that humans do?

All of those questions get put on hold though as Corbin scoops up his gun and clothes and oh, one of those things is coming? It takes Victor a moment but eventually he stops gawking and starts to run following Corbin to one of the alleys. ]

Lead the way.

[ As he runs, it...is becoming very obvious that Victor's slow. Sorry buddy, he's a bit terrible at exercise. ]

[crowboy]

[Corbin does, taking turns seemingly at random to lead them deeper into the city and toward the tower. He turns back to keep an eye on Victor and notices him lagging behind.]

[He was hoping the Deathclaw was far enough away that they didn't have to worry, but he wasn't going to bet on it until they were in a building of some sort.]

The tower ain't far, y' might wanna get the lead out.

[pullback]

I'm moving as fast as I can! [ Victor snaps, trying his hardest to follow Corbin, running as fast as he can, skidding through every random turn the younger boy makes. But it's still massively apparent that due to a variety of factors including childhood illness, academics over exercise, and his just plain inability to be any sort of athletic, Victor's still a tad slow. ]

[crowboy]

[Luckily they take the next turn and the tower looms ahead of them. Corbin stops at the mouth of the alley, both to look around, to let Victor catch up, and to change back into his human form so he can get his clothes back on. Victor was taking it well enough that this person he just met could turn into a crow, but he wasn't going to trust that everyone was going to be that good about it]

I think we lost it. Least, I don' think it could follah us through those lil streets.

[He didn't like pulling on the shirt, the front had gone all stiff from the blood, but that was what he had, so that was what he was going to wear.]

Y' caught yer breath?

[Corbin, for his part, is only breathing a bit heavier. A life spent out doors, keeping up with older siblings, much more concerned with hunting and fishing and flying than with books, meant he was in much better shape than the doctor]

[pullback]

[ Victor's hilariously out of breath as they stop. He is not very good at running. And, as Corbin starts to put on his clothes, Victor respectfully turns away to not look, trying to take deep breaths to just calm down.

It's taking a bit. ]

I'm fine, [ pause, huff, deep breath, trying to catch his breath. ] Just...give me a moment.

[ He is so out of breath. ]

[crowboy]

[It wouldn't have bothered him much if Victor hadn't turned away, he'd already seen him all but naked, but he does appreciate the attempt at privacy. It was nice of him]

[And then he waits for Victor to catch his breath, poking his head out the door to the tower.]

I don' see the thing as was chasin' us. We're prob'ly safe, least for now.

[Of course, he's also watching Victor, and he hasn't put his rifle away, or even down. He's not sure if the man is going to suddenly decide he needs to do something about Corbin, even if he was unarmed and Corbin was pretty sure he could take him in a fight, if it came to that.]

[pullback]

[ Victor just watches, looking at Corbin, trying to see if he can spot any sort of tells as to what he can do and just why he is the way he is. Because again: crowboy's interesting, in a sort of way that Victor desperately wants to figure out. ]

I'm sure you realize that I have a few questions.

[crowboy]

[The teenager continues to look completely and utterly normal, if a bit nervous at all the staring.]

[He laughs, almost more of a snort, leaning against the wall of the tower]

Fair 'nough, I c'n answer a few questions. But if'n I don' wanna answer anythin', you gotta agree to drop it.

[Because there are some things that Victor could ask about that Corbin, friendly or not, just isn't going to answer]

[pullback]

Of course, [ Victor remarked, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The question is...what first to ask? ]

The change is obviously voluntary. Was this something you could do from birth or did something else gift you your ability?

[crowboy]

[Corbin pauses for a second]

Yer born able to or not. It's a fam'ly thin' mosta th' time, but my ma had it an' nunna her fam'ly were crows.

But, ya can't change right when yer born it's... somethin' that happens when yer older.

It ain't like the stories, when ya get bit an' yer a were. Ain't none of 'em like that. It's allus a fam'ly thin'. Mah uncle, he called it...junnetics? Somethin' like that.

[He shrugs, all he knew was that there was something in his family that meant they could all change into crows. And the stealing things part. That was a family thing too.]

[pullback]

[ Well, that's good. From what Victor knows, vampires can only be created—although, he knows nothing about werewolves ]

And that midform you did—when you were part crow, part human. You obviously cannot fly, but do you have a crow's eyesight?

[crowboy]

[Corbin nodded in response]

Good eyesight, an' I c'n glide too. Not proper flyin', I gotta start up high to get anywhere, but they ain't useless neither.

[pullback]

I assume that your innards shift when you're in the half-form as well. Hollow bones, a lack of teeth, et cetera.

[ Holy invasive questions, Batman. ]

[crowboy]

Wouldn' be able t' fly if'n they didn', an' Ah'd look awful funny with teeth in mah beak.

[Despite not knowing a lot of technical stuff, he's actually pretty well versed in bird anatomy.]