hadriel_logs | Intro Log: Arm Yourself

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Intro Log: Arm Yourself

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for August
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: August 10th-15th
Warnings: Stalkers, newbies, and cute loot!

Sleeping on the cold dirt ground of the colosseum is enough to make anyone uncomfortable. It might be a little worse this month than others, as some of you may be waking up on top of or around various self defense devices (btw: that last one is a taser).

Come to think of it, you'll probably need those. Also in the colosseum and already stalking you are... uh, well, stalkers from the Borderlands game series. Stalkers come armed with claws, teeth, and sharp tails- and what's more, they can turn invisible to sneak up on you. Zap them with your newfound taser or stab them with your jewelry comb knife or just run away screaming- we won't judge, but you have to do something or else they'll kill you and eat your corpse and all sorts of unfortunate things.

Good luck finding a way out. Maybe you can make some friends along the way.

All done and escaped from the clutches of the colosseum? Awesome! 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 August 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!

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... They call themselves gods. I am still not sure if I believe that, but regardless, they are very powerful-- capable of manipulating everything in this place, including our minds. They are named after the emotions I just listed; Fear claims responsibility for opening the 'Door', through which we were all brought to this world. We are unsure as to why exactly they want our emotions; some believe they intend to use that power to send us all back home, but I do not believe them to be so kind.

There's no denying the warm feeling he gets at that rush of obvious relief from the other man. It's good to be needed. He'd started to feel just a little useless, given how well River seems to be adapting to this place, how poorly he's doing the same thing. Maybe having a purpose will help. "I am. Why, have they not brought any actual medical doctors in before now?" God, has this poor man been trying to run whatever passes for healthcare facilities in this place alone? No wonder he's relieved. "Bruce, then. Just call me Simon. The library can wait, if you want to show me what passes for a clinic." After all, what if an emergency comes up? What if they need to put those facilities to use sooner, rather than later? He can't in good conscience just ignore that need.

"Lots of big damned heroes around." River smiles, because it's a good thing. A place like this needs heroes.

Which means there's probably villains, too, but that sort of thing can't really be helped. "The weapons are small, compared to the monsters. Is the the same every turn, or do new horrors come along with new players?"

Colosseum;

[Once Natasha wakes up, it doesn't take her long to get on her feet and into action once she sees what's going on.

And then few of the stalkers are starting to surround her.]

Oh. It's gonna be one of those days.

[Welp. Time to get up close and personal with them. Does anyone want to help a woman out? She'll be trying to fight these things with kicks and punches, and this weird taser thing.]

City;

[Once she's out of that mess, she wanders the city to gather both information and whatever supplies she might come across. She needs to be 150% prepared for whatever else might get thrown her way.

So, if she crosses paths with someone, she might ask them: ] What's the weirdest thing you can tell me about this place?

"Of course," Victor remarks, with a little nod. "If you head down this street, you'll turn left at a clothing store. Look down that intersection, you'll see a large building a few blocks down. That's the library."

There's a pause, before he continues. "Again, I doubt you're familiar with the language. It's certainly nothing I've ever seen, nor others here."

"And what languages exactly are you familiar with?" It comes out as a little sharper than he intends, a little too close to insulting. He's just a little sensitive to fatalism, that's all. Too many people telling him he can't accomplish a thing the last year or two, or that he's wrong. He does at least try to clarify, sounding a little more polite.

"I only ask so I can maybe narrow it down. Perhaps there's a language I know that hasn't been covered yet. People here seem to come from all kinds of different worlds."

She squeezes back, swallowing before immediately starting off towards one of the pathways. There are voices in all around, plus that same hum, the feeling of being watched intensified by the hidden creatures she knows they'll encounter again. Nothing is ever fair, after all.

"This is real?" There should be panic; instead there is a distant calculation that comes with death, trying to sort through the new surges of voices and emotions and memories that wash over her. Is this the real exit? Is this the reality they have to live in now?

"Yes."

[ Victor just wrinkles his nose because oh my god is this guy loud and obnoxious and awful and he knows that much already. ]

For some reason, I find it more believable that the creatures will attack the loud target over the silent one.

Sounds like this place is going to be a barrel of fun. I don't like my emotions being messed with at all.

But I'll still do my part to make this place better. I can't let some fear god intimidate me. My friends would want it that way. If only I could let them know I'm okay...

[He fishes for his phone, only to find a brand spankin' new one in his pocket.] What...?

He wants to say no; he wants to remain in denial. They'd started to build something on Serenity, a life of a sort, a life he didn't hate even if he didn't love it like his old one. He could have loved it. But now they're here, and he has to assume--for both of them--that it's real, that they're on the run again. So he says yes, says it with his mind and his heart and there's a hollow feeling in his stomach even as he runs with her, adrenaline pumping through his veins.

"Yes, River. It's all real." He sees it all, too. It's not just her. Not another lapse, even if a part of him wishes it were.

"Well, the first month it was just me. The second and third month, we had an army doctor who was a tremendous help, both because he was a trained surgeon and because he had just come from the Vietnam war, where he had experience in creating treatment facilities in tents practically under live fire."

Bruce explains, as he turns them left, walking them back towards the ramshackle building.

"He helped codify the cleaning procedures, and in particular helped refine our sterilization techniques- I'd been overcompensating for how unsure I was, and we don't honestly have the cleaning supplies to waste on being overly stringent. Hawkeye knew much more than I did about risk management when it comes to supply chains and infection. He cleaned up my stitching technique, too, I don't mind admitting. I mean, it's brutal, you can hear that much, but for what we have, we're off on the right foot. The saving grace is that death isn't permanent here- if something does kill you, you come back."

[ He studies the wrapper and the cookies inside. This is what he considers a decent supply of food. ]

Do people go hunting here? Are there farmers?

[ Plucking out one of the wafers, he nearly crushes it in his hand when he does. ]

Flimsy fucking thing, isn't it? [ Sandor brings the treat to his nose for a smell before nodding at Bruce. ]

You first.

[ Has to make sure he's not being poisoned, after all! ]

He could have loved it. River could have loved it too, except she did sometimes, when everything fell into place and no one hated her (except maybe Jayne but Jayne doesn't count, being the absolute worst ever). Now they're here, on the run again, fleeing from the unknown. There's no common thread in the new snatches of song in her head, no way of assuming this has anything to do with the Alliance.

This is something else, and because it is something else it is even more dangerous. The devil you know, and all that.

She closes her eyes and starts to move faster, making them stop suddenly in order to avoid the electrical hums moving through the caverns. Something about the whole place makes her feel closed in, like she's under a bubble or trapped in some of the rubble the colosseum contains.

Glancing at Simon she draws her face into an apologetic frown. Poor Simon. Forced to give up lifetimes for his sister over and over again.

I don't-

[Can't be poisoned, he starts to explain, before realizing it doesn't actually make a difference and bringing it up will only serve to open a nasty can of worms, when the cookies aren't poisoned, so what the hell.

He lifts one out of the packet, bites into it, and swallows. Verdict;]

Sugary.

We have a garden that one of the gods implemented recently, but hunting is a lost cause, because all the wildlife is just monsters, and most of those are gelatinous or insects or rancid in one way or another.

In a way, that is a rather complicated question.

"Never really had a 'home'," she mutters. "Though, if you must know, came from Earth in the year 2153."

Judging by appearances alone, it's difficult to say what time this guy comes from, but Rey has encountered many from various worlds and points in history, including what she can presume are alternate Earths. Still, she can hazard a guess when it comes to speech patterns, mannerisms, and attire.

[ He can read! Not entirely well. And the reading he's used to is far more cursive than this modern day typing. So the scrolling only serves to make him squint and then immediately give up on it. Maybe if he's bored, he'll have a look at his own. But the old man's words earn a laugh outright at their absurdity. ]

Call the gods! Now I know you're shitting me. You and I both know no gods are going to answer the things people like us have to say! They abandoned me a long time ago. If they were ever there to begin with.

[ Shaking his head. ]

Psh. Bloody gods.

[Considering how not many here would fit the definition of "okay", Rey isn't entirely sure what to say to that at first, so that lull continues. It isn't until she's presented with that next question that she decides to abandon her previous thought entirely.]

...

It's Rey. And you are...?

[Introductions and social norms are so strange sometimes, and very often a thing she tends to neglect taking initiative in.]

Edited 2016-08-14 22:41 (UTC)

Vietnam? It takes him a moment to connect the name to the Old Earth history that matches it. He's hesitant to attach Bruce to Old Earth as well, since he seems incredibly modern, but maybe that's also his reluctance to accept that these 'gods' can not just pull people from multiple planets, but also multiple time periods and maybe even alternate realities. The mind reels--even minds like his. So he focuses on the important parts of those words, even as his legs are already following Bruce.

"Noted, I'm somewhat used to working with substandard facilities. Of course, I won't be able to do much until I see what I have to work with, but I do have some limited supplies I brought with me." That's when the last few sentences catch up, and his feet stop for a moment, too thrown off to continue. "Bù hǎoyìsi, but what do you mean you come back??"

Aye, they might attack, boy. But they won't even make a dent in this armor.

[ The jingling of chainmail emphasizes the point. And also to emphasize Victor's, one of those stealth stalkers suddenly appears out of no where and launches itself at Clegane. He's taken off guard and does take a few bites to his leg for it. But he manages to ready his sword and plunge it into the open mouth of the monster and right out the back of its head.

He kicks the carcass to the side, planting his hand over his bleeding wound. ]

For fuck's sake.

[ The reaction earns a burst of laughter. Not exactly amused laughter either. Sandor's a bit of a bully. Sorry, Kaneki! ]

What? Getting defensive over your mighty cock? You don't drink, so I figured you must be part of some religion. And most of those religious cunts might as well be eunuchs anyway with their rules about swearing off sex.

Nick Valentine. I suspected you might be new with a question like that.

[He starts off in one direction, his pace on the slower end. That limp is keeping him grounded, these days. In good news, that means it shouldn't be hard for Rashid to keep up with him, even if it was in his nature to ditch people. It isn't, but he'd prefer to have it as an option nonetheless.]

The Door brings in people around the same time every month. You said you fought off some monsters?

"Really?"

But, pausing that train of thought, to answer his question, as he slows for Simon to catch up.

"Sometimes, when people are killed, they return to life. Something like our third month here, Fear buried half the populations in coffins underground, overnight, so that they woke up down there with their communicators on. The remaining half was left to dig them out, but they were the full six feet under, so we didn't get everyone before some of them- well, died. But afterwards, they came back, they can describe the experience to you, if they're still around."

[ He stares at the interaction, not even certain what he's seeing. There's nothing outright that makes Ushahin intimidating. Unsettling, perhaps. And yet when he gets into the stare down with one of the stalkers, it doesn't take long for the creature to turn tail and flee. Sandor watches, bewildered -- looking between the departing creature and the other at his side.

And even he has to admit to feeling a little uneasy, in spite of all the false bravado he puts up. ]

How the fuck did you do that?

[ Add it to the list of weird things he's seen in his life. Right next to a man being resurrected before his very eyes. ]

That elicits a quiet snort out of her. "You and probably most others in this city."

While they do have a small handful of magic-inclined people here, it seems more uncommon of a concept, including to Rey herself. She doesn't do gods or magic either, and yet -- here she is. Here they all are.

"But no, no workaround. If there were, this city would probably be populated by quite a few less people."

Pause.

"...And birds, apparently."

"I can imagine this place doesn't have fully functional diagnostic scanners, if it's got anything at all--could it be that those supposed 'dead' were just in a comatose state?" He's looking for any explanation but the obvious one--that maybe the so-called 'gods' are closer to that title than he'd previously assumed. Finally getting his legs to start moving again, he catches up with Bruce, mind working a thousand miles a minute. "There are drugs that can induce a catatonic state as well, stop neural and cardiac functions..." He would know, he's used those himself before. It's not a pleasant experience. He doesn't imagine being buried alive would be, either.

"So does that kind of thing happen often?"

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Intro Log: Arm Yourself

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Natasha Romanoff | open ; will match format

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