hadriel_logs | Intro Log: Eat Your Veggies

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Intro Log: Eat Your Veggies

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for January
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: January 10th-16th
Warnings: Luscious greenery and confused newbies

As has become tradition within the good (well, okay) city of Hadriel, new arrivals will awake on the floor of the half-destroyed colosseum. Confused and disoriented, you may be wondering where you are and what you're doing there. Don't worry! Someone will probably tell you sooner or later, as long as you get out of the colosseum alive.

Oh, right. About that. Along with the poor, innocent, vulnerable new arrivals are a number of other new friends! Well, maybe less 'friends' than 'horrifying monsters', but are you really going to be picky? Wandering the arena are Shambling Mounds. These creatures are large, unattractive piles of vaguely humanoid-shaped vegetation. They hit hard, they can take a lot of damage, and if you're really unlucky they might manage to engulf you with their weird plant bodies. If that happens, you'd better try to get free fast - otherwise they'll just walk off with you stuck inside and kill you later at their leisure.

The Door appears to have cast a wide net for 'plant monsters', and while Shambling Mounds are the only ones that can actually hurt you, it's managed to pull in a number of smaller, less dangerous carnivorous plants. Some of them are even kind of cute! So if you were looking for a pet venus flytrap or a new pitcher plant, you're in luck. Scattered around the colosseum are carnivorous potted plants, just waiting to find a new home.

Make a new plant friend, or get eaten by one, or run screaming! Whatever you choose to do, once you find your way out of the colosseum there's plenty of other distractions. Feel free to go explore the rest of the city! Find a house, a new monster, a project to help with, or simply scavenge for supplies. Good luck, and enjoy your stay in Hadriel!

► This log covers January 10th-16th.
► Feel free to make your own logs as well!
► All characters arrive with phones that have network communication and the newbie guide installed.
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!

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Looking the part was, indeed, the whole point of Rey's appearance. It has proven to be just as much a foil to herself in the past as it had been for others.

She just shrugs at his first comment, hardly one to take offense since it isn't like she is the only one clueless in their objective here. It would help if their not-so-gracious 'hosts' were a little more forthcoming with their information.

"Yes. About a year ago, now."

At least that much truth she can tell.

She's just a human, so what does she know? AM doesn't expect much out of her, but obviously something here is powerful enough to rip him from his world. It's unlikely to be her, so she's just another hapless victim of whatever happened.

"And..." He stops, almost asking if she was human beforehand, but he realizes that may not be the wisest question to ask. Even if he walks awkwardly and looks out-of-place, he's not about ready to give away the fact that he's a war machine stuck in this vulnerable position.

"...You are simply here. No way to get home." There's a marked frown on his face, one that he still cannot quite regulate. "Was there anything special about you that you might think had you come here?"

Where many would be left despondent at the notion of being ripped from their home with the prospect of never seeing it again, Rey simply regards it with a shrug. "It's hardly the worst thing to ever happen."

No, the worst thing is going back to a curious megalomaniac AI with every intention of ripping her apart piece by piece. Not something that Rey is all too eager to go back to.

"Doubt it," she replies, waving a dismissive hand. She's convinced that she is actually rather expendable. "Don't think anyone winds up here because they're 'special'."

Hardly the worst thing to happen... That would be difficult to evaluate, given that AM has never been a humanoid before. But in that sense, yes, this is truly the worst thing to happen. This woman can afford to be cavalier about it because she's human, used to simply being cattle.

His expression doesn't change much, though. He still gazes sternly at her, evaluating everything he can. These human eyes are limited in what they can observe, unfortunately. "And why do you say that?" Rounding up random humans he can understand, but not literally ripping a machine from its body...

Casting him a jaded look, Rey just huffs.

"Because. If anyone brought in here was important, then so many of them wouldn't be taken out for no rhyme or reason, either."

It'd defeat the whole purpose, she would think.

At first, AM thinks that she's using the term "taken out" in a colloquial sense - that is, death, and his chest tightens. He's here, he's human, he's vulnerable, and already death has crossed his mind almost constantly.

His voice is a bit more quiet, the fear evident in his expression. "And... where do they get taken 'out' to?"

Maybe Rey should consider her wording more before she speaks?

...

Nah.

"Wherever it is they came from, supposedly. Have been sent back before, only to return and after losing just a few days' time."

Okay, at that revelation, AM feels himself relax slightly. No, he has no reason to trust her, but he does realize that she was in fact, speaking literally and not colloquially.

Even if what she says makes no sense.

"And you have no idea why?" She's lying. She has to be hiding something. He leans in and bends down slightly, glaring closer at her face

"No," she insists flatly. "Not even the lot in charge of this place has any idea. Some of them want us to leave. Others want us to stay. The latter isn't surprising, since we're their source of power."

Maybe that's the information he's looking for? The 'reason' why they're here. (AM certainly does fit the bill of prerequisites for the Door.)

AM gives an indignant sniff when she harshly tells him no. Useless idiot this girl is. Not that he's really surprised at all, but still.

But what she says next widens his squinted eyes once more. Being a source of power? Well, that's new. Is human energy harvested then? If that's the case, then why was he brought here as a human when he is nothing of the sort?

"What is that about being a source of power? Who are we powering?"

Her answers are as met with as much scorn as she would expect out of anyone just arriving here. Every person reacts differently to having their entire reality upended by some otherworldly force. Not that they don't have good reason to display all the admonishment their angry little hearts desire.

"Some assholes who call themselves gods. If shit gets turned upside-down here every now and then, chances are you can blame them."

Or some of their fellow residents, but we don't talk about that.

Gods. There are no gods. There is only man, and what he creates. Something created is in charge here, powerful enough to bring AM and others from other worlds... Regardless, the answer is still useless. It doesn't tell anything about how he got here, why he's here.

"So that's it then. We're here for the pleasure of some gods." He over-emphasizes the last word with a sneer. "Supposedly stuck here, powerless, until they decide to send us home." The part about sending them home doesn't make as much sense, though. If they're after power, why wouldn't they just kill off the ones who aren't useful anymore?

He had heard a similar explanation from another, but he doesn't want to believe it. He's in a human body, forced to live a masquerade of a human life like he's in a zoo. (But if another race wanted to study him, why make him human? He's almost tempted to ask this, but decides against it. He'll ask the gods himself.)

"And I suppose there is no way to directly contact these gods, is there?"

After her recent contact with Sorrow, Rey wouldn't necessarily be quick to say that they're powerless. But she knows better than to reveal the cards in her hand to just anyone. This place brings in all kinds of types, and not all of them are good.

So she focuses on his question instead.

"There is. They have phones just like we do, and you can sometimes find them in their respected temples. Delight is sometimes in her bar."

Seeing how much of a ray of sunshine this guy is, she isn't sure if Delight is the one he would seek out first. People are full of surprises, though.

Finally, something useful! The gods are around and can be spoken to, and AM can hopefully get answers. But he doesn't exactly count on getting answers right away. He expects to run into hurdles, to encounter vague, discouraging answers, or simple sadism.

"A bar? I wouldn't think a god would be frequenting a bar." These gods are sounding more like Greek mythology, the more he thinks about it. But at least the phone and temple things make more sense.

"But I'm sure if anything useful came out of contacting the gods, I would have found out by now," he scoffs. The humans he has already met have given him vague answers, as if they have only found out little bits and pieces.

Le shrug. "Delight likes to keep people happy. For obvious reasons."

For someone named 'Delight', it should be no mystery as to what she draws power from.

"Maybe you're just not asking the right questions." Though what is considered to be the 'right question' can be subjective. Anyone who wants to know how to get out of here, they're going to find themselves sorely disappointed.

Not asking the right questions... The corner of AM's mouth stretches slightly in a concealed irritation at that assumption, but then he realizes that this woman is exactly right. He has purposely avoided mentioning anything about his nonhuman origins.

"Perhaps you're right," he begrudgingly admits. "It would be better to ask them myself." But then, if such a god wants to keep people "happy" then why is it bringing people here?

"Where are the temples, and where is this 'Delight''s bar?"

At least he isn't completely beyond reason, she sees.

"Your best chance at not getting a whole lot of bullshit is from Sorrow. His temple is on the other side of the city, across the river. Between the orchards and the lot." It's about as direct as directions in this place can get without there being proper street signs. "There should be a map at the center of the city. If you take a picture of it with your phone, you should be able to have it with you at all times. Provided that you don't lose your phone." Pause. "So don't lose your phone."

Just a suggestion. Rey already knows her way around the city, so she doesn't have much use for a handy map. Others might not be so lucky.

When she mentions his phone, he glances down at it. It is rather primitive in technology compared to what he's used to, but it's still strange to hold such a thing in his hand and operate it. A human using a machine. As technologically savvy as he is, it may take him a while to get used to using it.

"I'm assuming the gods won't give you a new phone if you lose it, will they?" It isn't quite a joke, but he already knows the answer it seems. There isn't much amusement in his face, only irritation. But there is a slight relief at knowing where to go... provided he doesn't run into more man-eating plants.

"Which god is the one responsible for those sentient plant creatures?"

Phones are very much old technology to Rey as well. These models appear to be nearly a century and a half old when she's from, and are very much different from a nexus or vox. Still, it didn't take long for her to figure out.

She shrugs at his question. "They might. But you'll be fucked if you lose it and you get lost in the tunnels or the more risky corners of the city."

The Silent Hill zone comes to mind when she thinks of that last part.

By 'sentient plant creatures', she assumes he's talking about the walking hell garden that came in with the newcomers. She scoffs.

"None of them. Shit like that just shows up every month, the same as new people. Hope is probably the closest one to being 'responsible' for them, though, as he makes sure to send them into the tunnels as soon as he's able."

Assuming that she's telling the truth and has knowledge of what she speaks, her comment regarding the plants is actually quite interesting. The creatures just "show up". The gods here are not all-powerful at all. Something else may be pulling the strings.

"Hm..." He considers this for a moment. "So the gods are also mere puppets in this whole thing." Regardless, it's a web that he has yet to make any sense of, as he has just arrived here with no knowledge of anything.

Knowing that the gods can be killed -- as she had arrived when only three of them were still standing -- is certainly helpful. She knows that they aren't invincible, and Sorrow seemed to express some concern in regards to the maser from her world. That has to be worth something.

"Wouldn't call them puppets. Just not omnipotent in that even they are limited by things that are beyond their control. For instance, it's possible to fight or be unaffected by their influences at all when they decide to fuck with your head for a few days."

Something Rey was more than grateful to exercise when Rage almost made her kill a kid.

"I see." There isn't much he can say at this point as he tries to piece together all of the information in his head and formulate a plan. But it seems to come crashing down the moment he realizes that not only is his body under their influence, but his mind as well.

"So... They can decide to experiment with your mind, and as a result you gain immunity to their influence." It's a poor tradeoff, as his mind would be affected regardless. "And what do they do to your mind?"

Not wanting to give conflicting information to a newcomer, she shakes her head. "Wouldn't really call it immunity. More like a temporary oversight on their part. Sometimes their bullshit don't affect you, and sometimes they do. Then there are the matters of them messing with your environment rather than your mind."

To a lesser degree that is preferable. Rey doesn't like it when one of those assholes messes with her mind, but she can usually handle whatever else they throw at her.

"It differs from which god of the week has decided they're bored. You could wake up one day to finding that everything is either spiders or rainbows or on fire."

Sad to think that all of those possibilities can be very literal.

Strangely, Rey has painted a fair picture of what to expect for AM. He knows exactly what a "bored" god can do, and he even smirks at the thought of waking up to find everything as "rainbows or spiders". No, it's not funny at all to picture himself in this situation, but he's sympathetic at least to the gods in a sense. He knows how they think.

"I see. Thank you." Not that he cares to thank anyone, but he has to play nice, of course. If he plays their game, then he could get more information.

At least AM has gotten a better idea from her. Perhaps she'll be useful in the future. She looks rather tough, as if she knows how to defend herself. That could be useful as well. "What should I call you? You surely have a name."

Even if it's been over a year now, Rey still feels weird to be thanked. Typically because her line of 'work' didn't involve that many deeds worth thanking.

Then she pauses at his question. Oh, right. Names. People tend to give those.

"Yes. It's Rey."

And people tend to return the favor when you give them your name, right?

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