INTRO LOG: A TAXING JOURNEY

[hadrielmods]

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for December. Watch your step!
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: December 10th-17th
Warnings: Taxxon-related violence, teeth shoes, general unpleasantness, mass confusion.

You wake up in the dust of the colosseum with no shoes on, regardless of the state of your feet when you arrived. There's dust covering your clothing and in your hair, but other than that, there's no signs of injury or bruising. You're also not alone- nearby, there are others, either still passed out or just waking up like you are. Feel free to take solace in that fact. Or don't- some of you aren't human, and are clearly not great people either. No offense.

To your left, there is a door in the wall of the arena, supposedly leading to the halls which will then show you to your freedom. To your right, and scattered haphazardly on the ground, are a myriad of teeth shoes. These shoes might be better than going barefoot right now, but good luck finding a matching set, let alone one that fits you.

When you do eventually try to escape, be careful. The halls are crawling with Taxxons. Large and grotesque, these caterpillar-like creatures have circular mouths and multiple rows of sharp teeth. Their sense of smell is impeccable, and they will stop at nothing to feed when they scent blood. So, you know, try to avoid stepping on anything sharp on your way out.

All done with the horrible monsters and awkward greetings? Try your hand at exploring the rest of the city! Find a house, find a new monster, or simply scavenge for supplies until your little heart is content. Good luck, and enjoy your stay in Hadriel!

► This log covers December 10th-17th.
► Feel free to make your own logs, as well!
► Characters may find their own shoes scattered around with the teeth shoes if you like.
► All characters now arrive with phones that have network communication.
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!

Comments

Exploring!

[amos_moses]

Amos whirls to face the call, hands automatically going up with palm out, a pacifying and surrendering gesture in response to the hostile tone. He blinks on seeing the other, rapidly taking in the otherworldly appearance and slotting him in as one of the fae-kind. Oh yay, Amos's least favorite sort of creature to deal with: the fae-sort were generally tricksters and liars and very, very cunning, and Amos didn't often have the wit to keep ahead.

Still, being polite and mostly-harmless works best with every kind of being, human or not: so Amos puts up a friendly smile.

"Oh, well, at least there's more than just me here. This place is too damned empty."

[respired]

Koltira glances at Amos's palms, his eyebrows furrowing. He should have moderated his tone. It's not an easy thing; there's a reverberating, gravelly texture to his voice no matter what he does. But he didn't have to shout quite so angrily. Perhaps.

"It's desolate," he says. The boy's response suggests that he, too, is a recent arrival. "Aside from the monsters."

He wonders how this young man got past them.

[amos_moses]

"Yeah, an unfortunate lot of those," Amos agrees, wryly, and lowers his hands slowly, Despite the alarming appearance and some funky accoustics going on with the voice, the other doesn't seem to be immediately threatening. There's something...off about him, though. More than usual, given he's a fae-kind...

"I don't s'pose you might happen to know where we are?" Amos asks, hopeful. It would be nice to have some idea.

[respired]

Koltira shakes his head, 'no'.

"I don't," he says, "and I've found no host to tell me." He gestures towards the spires; he can see light in some of the windows, possibly movement. "I hoped to find answers there."

A beat, and then he adds, "Or from you. But that is clearly folly."

[amos_moses]

Folly indeed, and Amos's lips twitch a little at the archaic phrasing, amusement bright in his dark eyes. Glancing after Koltira's gesture, he nods a little. He hasn't yet been brave enough to enter any of the buildings, wary of traps.

Amos isn't normally so cautious, but ending up somewhere unknown with no idea of how he got here, and with a group of other strange people with monsters lurking just outside the door...well it all adds up to magic or an elaborate trap or some epic cautionary tale. Where Amos is from, any of these are likely, and he knows already he's not the sterling hero-type. His chances of surviving without all due caution are slim.

"Sorry to disappoint. You've probably got the right idea, though, heading for the lights." He'll probably do the same, after he's wandered a bit more.

[respired]

He shrugs. "I am not disappointed," he says. "But it's clear that you have no more information than I do. Unless I'm wrong?"

[amos_moses]

"No, you're right. Just got here a few hours ago, have no clue what's going on. Good luck, though, finding out." Amos hesitates, then adds, "Try not to get eaten. There's more than the giant bugs out here. Not a lot of them that way-" and he pointed towards the lighted towers, "-but out that way, there's a few of them."

He pointed towards the slightly more derelict areas. "Not insects, but...well, I can't tell very well, it's almost out of my range, but I think there's two other kinds of large hungry monster out there."

[respired]

"You think?" Koltira says, his eyebrows furrowing. He catches on the word 'range'. "Do you have some sense of these things?"

[amos_moses]

Amos nods. "I can talk to animals. That's all the magic I can do, though, and it ain't very useful when it's monsters trying to eat you." He rolled an easy shrug. "Hungry things don't listen well." Be they monsters or regular animals, and Amos has faced off with more than one very large predator trying to make him lunch. He prefers to avoid the confrontation altogether, honestly. It's not fun.

"So, there's the insects, and something else animal-like, I think maybe a reptile and a mammal? But I'm not close enough to be sure, an' I don't 'zactly wanna meet 'em and find out. If there's other kinds of monsters, or demons, well, I can't tell you that." There are a lot of dangers he can't actually sense, but he's managed to survive this long anyway. Mostly through luck and good instincts on when to dodge.

Koltira might be fae-kind, but he doesn't seem to be an immediate threat. Amos feels pretty sure of that.

[respired]

"Hmm," Koltira says. He takes the presence of other monsters--animal or otherwise--as a good thing. He needs creatures to hurt; to kill. So do the other death knights. To hear that this world was at least populated with beasts brought him some relief; it would make his task in minding his subordinates--and himself--considerably easier. "That's useful information. My thanks--"

And here he pauses, indicating that he expects a name.

[amos_moses]

Ah, crap. Where Amos comes from, giving any of the fae-kind your name is a very stupid thing to do. Amos generally refrains from handing his name out first for just that reason. But being rude is even worse, and Amos only hesitates a moment before answering.

"Name's Amos." He smiles. "An' what's yours, if I may ask?"

[respired]

"Koltira Deathweaver." He did not miss the hesitation, and his eyes narrow slightly. "What troubles you?"

[amos_moses]

Well, having a name in return - and with a surname of sorts - is a nice gesture, and it relaxes the suspicion sparked in Amos's thoughts. He rolls a little shrug at Koltira, and after a moment comes up with an answer that's mostly true and hopefully won't give offense.

"I don't deal with the fae very often, sorry. It was rude of me not to introduce myself earlier."

[respired]

"I am not fae," Koltira says. He spits the word, like it's foreign, and possibly an insult--because it is, as far as he knows.

[amos_moses]

Amos grimaces. "Ah, fae...it's a group term, where I'm from, covers elves, faeries, unseelie, brownies, the like. I just figured you were an elf, from the ears, but I'm not sure which sort? So I just went with fae to cover all my bases."

Obviously his mistake, and Amos hopes Koltira won't take offense and decide to kill him. Amos really, really likes not being dead. He shifts his weight a little, nervously. He's not met very many supernatural creatures with a lot of patience.

[respired]

"I am an elf," Koltira says. "But I don't recognize your other terms."

His mood is simply more irritated than anything, and it doesn't seem even particular to Amos. It's just his default attitude.

[amos_moses]

"Oh. Alright. Sorry if I offended you. I didn't mean to."

Amos almost wishes Kat were here, as he doesn't make these sorts of blunders, with his superior senses and being able to tell a difference between species.... But no, if Kat were here, he'd probably just set Koltira in fire for being annoying, as Kat does when irritated. And he's always irritated.

[respired]

Koltira makes a dismissive gesture with his hand. "It's fine. I'm merely correcting your perception."

He looks beyond Amos, towards the tall, lighted spires. Time to move on, he reckons. Glancing back to the boy, he nods curtly. "In any case, I still need answers. But I expect I'll see you around. Mind yourself."

And, with that, he's walking.

[amos_moses]

"Oh, ah, thank you. And take care."

Amos blinks a little at the dismissal, then smiles. Well! This has been a very entertaining adventure, and Koltira hadn't cursed him or cut him open or anything. That definitely counts as a good experience in his book.