Intro Log: Don't Wake Tonberry

[hadrielmods]

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for September
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: September 10th-13th
Warnings: Cute monsters, a way to pass the time, and plenty of newbies!

Waking up in Hadriel certainly has its down sides, but if this weird murdercave city is good at one thing, it's keeping people entertained. As you awaken on the hard ground of the colosseum, you might see a rectangular cardboard box lying near you. Ignore it for now, as you get your bearings, but if you get bored? Well, you'll find these exciting and unique board games will keep you entertained!

But how could you possibly get bored, when there are plenty of cute monsters around to keep you company? Sharing the colosseum with all the new arrivals are Tonberries. In addition to their natural cuteness defense, they also carry very large knives. They're slow-moving and look innocent and even friendly, but be careful - one strike from that knife and you'll be a bloody mess. They won't attack unless you get too close, but who doesn't want to hug a Tonberry? And of course, if you attack, they'll counter with extreme prejudice.

Managed to resist the urge to hug a Tonberry? Safely escaped from the clutches of the colosseum, new board game in tow? 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 September 10th-13th.
► 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

Richie Gecko | OTA

[hornrims]

A. In the Colosseum

[Richie wakes with a jolt, panting heavily while lying on his back. He quickly pulls himself to his feet, head darting to look from over shoulder to shoulder for what happens next. A hand slips into his suit jacket to withdraw his knife. He flicks the blade from the bone handle while wide eyed and alert.

Monsters are expected. Something with long fangs and strong claws. What arrives instead makes Richie's face fall first, followed with a look of disgust. Eyes squint behind his glasses and his nose scrunches while lines deepen around his mouth. It's cute.

He doesn't trust it. This has to be a trick. Immediately after his eyes fall on the heavy knife in the Tonberry's hand. He knew it.

Richie charges forward with his own knife, landing the first blow into the Tonberry's soft innards. He manages another stab while the Tonberry lifts its own arm to strike. His mind quickly shifts to defense, using one of his long arms to push the Tonberry's knife wielding hand over his head.

He's not sure if there's anyone else around, but if there is they'd better get their ass out here to help.]

B. At the Temples

[After escaping the Tonberry Richie sets out to find some means of escape. He has to get back to Seth. His brother needs him, probably in the middle of a fight right now with no one to back him up.

Richie walks with a quick but lumbering pace, tall frame making heavy footsteps. When he finds himself facing the temples he stops. They're interesting from an architectural standpoint, and he finds himself drawn to the dark one that seems to want to keep people out. But they're temples, and like hell is he going to go inside and worship anything.]

Horseshit.

A.

[infinite1up]

[The one nice thing about tonberries is that they're slow enough that it's easy to get a really good shot. Sato, who's been on the hunt for a little while now, is content to peer up from behind a distant corner and, paying no mind to the safety of the person actually involved in the struggle, takes a clean shot at the tonberry with his gun, hitting the green cutie right in the side.

The bad part is that they're surprisingly sturdy little creatures and that first shot doesn't seem to be quite enough to kill this one. It shakes the lantern, and at about the same time that the blue-white aura of Karma erupts from the lantern, the same magical effect flares up around Sato. He gets off a another shot, yes, but only a half-second before he crumples to the ground, dead almost instantly.

Just give him a couple seconds now...]

[hornrims]

[The shot helps immensely. While the Tonberry stumbles back in pain, Richie finishes the job. He digs the knife into the wound that's already begun, pushing his hand past the skin to allow himself to slice the vital innards.

Though Richie does carry a gun, he doesn't know how scarce bullets are in this place. And if given a choice, he'll always watch someone or something die up close.

He leans in to smell the scent of death on the Tonberry, wanting to feel the body slow its breathing around his hand. As he feels the body begin to slump, Richie retracts his hand. Tilting his head to the side with a look of curiosity, he approaches the stranger. That happened too fast. The man can't be dead.

So to find out Richie gives him a kick to the leg.]

If that thing didn't kill you, neither would aiming your shot farther away from me.

[That's not how you say thank you, Richard.]

[infinite1up]

[Drawing his first breath after revival to the feeling of someone kicking him in the leg... he's had worse. But his KDR lately has been absolutely awful. Embarrassing isn't quite the right word, and he does enjoy a good challenge, but there's clearly a lot to learn in this place still.]

Oh, you survived after all. Well done.

[He remarks, pulling himself back up off the ground, thinking more about the tonberry than the man he had (inadvertently) saved. Magic. Magic isn't the only problem he's had with fighting monsters here, but it's certainly a big one. On the other hand, at least it doesn't leave bloodstained holes in his clothing.

temples

[64th]

[ despite having trained for these sort of situations (sort of) for most of her life, Cashmere stays the fuck away from the colosseum on the days when people arrive. she's mostly given up on the chance of anyone she knows from home showing up and she trusts they can fend for themselves. and anyone else? well, she's not risking her life for just anything.

she's not particularly fond of the temples either, but she also thinks that in their own selfishness, the gods won't allow much in the way of trouble around their temples. so they aren't a bad place to be. she's sitting on the stairs of Delight's temple but when she spots a stranger she stands to get a better look. ]

I'd agree, but you can't win if you don't play the game. They make the rules, and if you play by them, you can ahead. Well, comparatively.

[hornrims]

[Richie looks to find the person speaking. His glasses are wide behind his glasses, a little startled and feeling caught off guard. He's usually the one doing the observing, not the other way around.]

I don't care about a game or people whose egos are big enough to demand that.

[Though he's inherently curious about the supernatural and has believed in plenty of things he couldn't see, temples were for gods. Gods didn't exist.]

[64th]

[ he'll have plenty to be interested in in Hadriel, then. you know, if he can overlook the trapped in a cave part that sort of ruins everything else. ]

Trust me, I know. [ it's exhausting and infuriating to deal with everything the gods throw at them. but there's nothing left for her at home so she doesn't have a lot of options. ] They benefit from whatever emotion you're feeling - sadness, happiness, anger. So the only way to stay out of it would be to lock yourself in your apartment and cut yourself off from any emotion.

[ it is what it is. she offers a shrug. ] Welcome to Hadriel. I'm Cashmere. [ she's pretty and tall, and might look out of place if it weren't for the way she carries herself. even if she's actively avoiding trouble, she can handle any of it that comes her way. ]

B

[ushahin]

[There is a raven nearby, pecking the ground in the usual way that birds will do. This one fixes Richie with a gleam in his eye that is preternatural in its intelligence level. Right now, Ushahin is seeing everything that his raven companion is, and so this is how he knows the new arrivals are beginning to disperse among the city.

In a few minutes, the man himself arrives. He's got a face that was clearly broken and never healed correctly. One cheekbone is sunken down, while the other rides high up. His jaw is a little crooked and his left temple is sunken in. Mostly, it is the eyes that draw attention. The left's pupil remains fixed and frozen, unable to to contract or expand. It gives him an uneven look and his stare is never fixed right on the person he's looking at. With Richie, he stares just off to the side. The raven flies over to his right shoulder and settles onto it.]

They won't harm you. Not on the outside. Inside, that's where it always hurts worst anyway. A man can survive almost any pain but the torments of his own mind.

[hornrims]

[Richie doesn't pay the raven much mind, save for taking note that one is in the area. He continues to look at the temple when the stranger arrives. Richie tilts his head, making no effort to hide the sizing up of the stranger.

This place makes him suspicious, but the man's words catch his attention. This could be a load of convenient words meaning nothing. It could also mean that this was someone who could get inside his head and see the swirls of thought inside.

If he was even real. At the current moment Richie can't be entirely sure.]

What do you know about that? Mind torment.

[ushahin]

All that there is. It once was my specialty and my name was synonymous with madness.

[Back when he had been younger and more vicious towards those he felt had wronged him. The years have helped to mellow the old psychic out. These days, he's much slower to anger.

His mind reaches out, a tendril of thought going towards Richie's. He seeks out what makes the man up, curious as he always is about who this place pulls in.]

B

[illegally]

[ Richie's saying what Stan is thinking. ]

Careful talkin' like that. You might hurt their feelings. The "gods" are emotional and all.

[ Emotional, emotion-based, same thing. ]

[hornrims]

[Richie snickers a little at the man's remarks. Good to know he's not the only one not buying it.]

They're gods right? Should be able to do anything. Including suck it up.

[illegally]

You'd think. But who knows? They might rain giant spiders down on us for disrespecting 'em.

[ He kids, but... sort of wonders if that might actually happen, too. ]

A

[dedikated]

( she comes back to the colosseum after leaving Faith to do some exploring, mostly out of curiosity. these creatures show no indication of supernatural abilities beyond their incredible resilience, but being hard to kill isn't a supernatural power, just annoying.

she watches the new arrival grapple with the little devil creature of the month for a moment, eventually deciding to step forward.

and send a knife flying at it. )

They're slow. Can always run.

( it's easier, because these things like to fucking counterattack and it's annoying. )

[hornrims]

[A knife. Cool.

Richie has just enough time to give a half smile in appreciation of this person's weapon of choice and their skill with the blade before there's another counter attack from the Tonberry. Thankfully the repeated attacks seem to slow down its reaction time, leaving an opening.]

Running's for babies.

[He pulls the newcomer's knife from the body of the Tonberry and tosses it back in her direction, aiming for it to land on the ground. The grappling between Richie and the creature continues, with the followup spoken through gritted teeth.]

They can still come after you if they're slow. Can't if they're dead.

[dedikated]

( she can appreciate that point of view. and the return of her knife, although there's a bag of them strapped to her thigh. more knives are always good, even if she's forever, forever bitter that they're not the same as her preferred knives from back home. )

Point taken. ( speaking of tonberries, she's... just going to kick one that has been creeping up on her. a boot to the face is a good way of getting rid of these blighters, right? ) Just seem like they don't want to die.

( that's an understatement. these fuckers are hard to kill. even Faith's fire barely affected them. )

A

[foundafamily]

[There is someone else around! Firo's strolling by on his way out but pauses when he sees the struggle. He has his knife out and ready from fighting more of the creatures earlier.

...But, eh, this guy looks like he's doing okay so far. Firo stands back a few paces and just watches.]

You got it under control?

[hornrims]

Mostly.

[It's true that he's taking care of the Tonberry as best he can, but Richie's not about to say no to help.]

Don't know how you feel about stabbing things in the back, but now would be a good time.

[foundafamily]

Normally I'm not nice enough to help just anybody out like this...

[He sighs but starts walking over anyway. He speeds up at the last few paces, plunging his knife in right where he thinks the back of its neck should be. Sometimes it's hard to tell exactly with monsters.]

There you go.

A

[dogsanddaughters]

[There's a low growl right before the impact, and then a large dog slams right into the Tonberry, jaws clamping down hard. The monster squeals. Barnaby does his thing.

'sup new person. Meet Barnaby, the cypernetically enhanced death machine. He likes belly rubs and bones with the meat still on them.

Miriam, for her part, just stands back from the carnage and claps, giggling cheerfully. She's holding a stun baton just in case.] Get 'im, buddy! Fuck his shit right up!

[The dog barks happily, blood on his muzzle.]

[hornrims]

[Richie only has a second to dart out of the way before the... dog? He supposes it's still a dog, makes quick work of the Tonberry. Just like Barnaby's owner, once Richie has stepped back and out of harm's way, he grins. With every tear of flesh and rupturing of an organ, Richie's smile grows wider and wider.]

Finish him off. Go for the throat.

[He can't help but get a little caught up in the moment. Though Richie's a fan of the carnage, his voice remains level.]

[dogsanddaughters]

[The dog obliges.

Miriam laughs, clapping to the carnage. Baby boy's been so good lately, he deserves a treat. And it's fun to watch him against the larger monsters. Not the bad ones, who might actually hurt him, but the small ones, they're okay. They squirm and thrash a little before they die. Miriam likes that part best, when they're flailing and realizing they're fucked.] Yeah! You got 'im, buddy!

[Barnaby sits down triumphantly on his kill, tail wagging.]

Treat time!

[Miriam giggles again as Barnaby settles in to eat. Dinner time. She grins at the new dude.] 'sup, mister. You're new.

b

[unknowable]

Well, yeah.

[Regardless of the actual intent of Richie's words, Adam would likely agree. The gods are horseshit, the temples are horseshit. The whole cave is. He approaches carefully, never sure what to expect from a stranger, but willing to help if help is needed. He's not sure that he is.]

There's a lot of that here.

[hornrims]

[Richie's cautious too. He regards the young man for a few moments, allowing the silence between them to shift from pause to discomfort. Without his sense of bearings, anything and everything is regarded with suspicion. The kid is young, but that doesn't mean anything.

When he finally breaks the silence, it's abrupt and brusque.]

So do people actually worship those things or what?

[unknowable]

[He is probably not as bothered as he should be. He's used to his own socially awkward friends, some of whom do it on purpose and some on accident. It does make him wary, though, returning suspicion with suspicion.]

No. They call themselves gods, but I don't think anyone here worships them. I think it's more a comment on power level than divinity.

[He keeps his answer simple and straightforward. Richie seems the type to prefer that.]