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

[ushahin]

One of them will end up dead when they do.

[He sounds prophetic as he says the words. Ushahin has already seen where a war between the gods ended up in his own world. He thinks of his poor master Satoris, dead and all for nothing.]

They need power from us. Why else do gods ever keep people around? The power of emotions fuel them.

[benumbing]

[He almost answers with sport. That's what he'd felt like at the end, like he was on the losing side of a canned hunt.

But power, emotions. Now he knows what to deny them, or at least try to. Numb it with ice. He'll take those few words from his father and forget everything else.]

They're parasites.

[ushahin]

Perhaps. But I would not say as such to their faces, unless you wish for death.

[Even Ushahin, crazy as he is, knows better than to insult a god. That's a good recipe for disaster. He stands up a little bit straighter, holding the coat hanger close. He likes it and has decided to take it home with him.]

[benumbing]

There are worse things than death.

[His father has proven that to him. But maybe that's exactly why Jack should tread carefully. This monster-filled cave offers him a second chance.

He glances at the coat hanger, nudging one at his feet before he picks it up. Jack turns it over in his hand before offering it to Ushahin.]

For your wardrobe.

[ushahin]

Aye, there are. I've lived through some of them. They'll make you wish you were dead. The last god I served left me a reminder of his wrath.

[He points to his left arm. Curiously, it's the whole one and not the broken one he refers to.

He takes the coat hanger, which is shaped like the claw of some great beast. This is a much better haul than the month that he showed here.]

Thank you.

[benumbing]

For what transgression?

[He's guessing that's what happened to his cheekbone, his temple, those injuries done to him. He won't be surprised if it was for some petty crime. Jack's faith in higher powers has fallen low.]

[ushahin]

I tried to kill someone after he told me not to.

[What an irony that was. Had Ushahin succeeded, his master never would have died.]

He punished me by grinding my arm down to dust and rebuilding it bone by bone.

[He'd screamed loud enough to be heard throughout the entire castle.]

[benumbing]

Murder is a very serious offense.

[Like he hasn't attempted worse. Jack tsks before turning serious again.]

Did they deserve it?

[ushahin]

Of course she did. If I had killed her, the prophecy she was a part of would never have come to pass.

[Damnable things those prophecies were. No matter what a person did, they always tended to succeed due to loopholes and multiple interpretations of the words.]

Because she lived, it gave her a chance to kill him. She succeeded and killed the only god I have ever found worthy of serving.

[benumbing]

And what made this god worthier than all the others?

[Jack's feelings about such things are probably clear by now, or at least thinly veiled. And he doubts that he's alone. Jack suspects that more people would be godslayers if they only had the opportunity.]

Especially after he did this to you.

[ushahin]

Because he was the only one that listened. He offered me a place when no other would take me in.

[Listened as a poor madman screamed about how the world was unfair and then offered him what he wanted in return for eternal service. It was the best bargain Ushahin had ever made.]

Not a one ever has ever done that for me.

[benumbing]

[Jack's quiet for a moment, his expression betraying nothing. Gods are supposed to listen, isn't that what prayer is for? But he can't recall the last time one of his was answered. So yes, maybe Ushahin had found a special one.]

And it may be that one never does again. [He says it quietly.] For any of us. [He sighs and offers him a bitter smile.] Oh well. At least we have each other. Who needs gods when we have our fellow man.

[ushahin]

[Ushahin could tell him much of gods and how self-serving they were. Seven gods there were total in his world and only one had ever bothered to give a damn about the people in the land.]

This is true. Sometimes, a man's loyalty is worth its weight in gold. [He thinks on the loyalty of his cousins, a loyalty which had stretched out for over a thousand years, all the way up to their deaths.] But that is rare in and of itself.

[ushahin]

Gods are fallible. But then so are men. [His own mouth twists into a sardonic smile.] I suppose the best we can do is find someone worthy of our loyalty and pray they do not betray us.

[There were precious few in his own world. Here in Hadriel he has been fortunate enough to find a few more.]