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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Much to my everlasting misfortune, yes. [There's only a daily struggle between the two of them to not kill each other. How they've survived this long is more due to sheer luck than anything else.]

[Darth Vader just called him his heir. It's a good thing he's got the helmet on because he's grinning like a idiot. His face is far too expressive, which is one of the reasons he wears it, aside from his emulation of Vader. The moment of hesitation before he answers should tell Anakin exactly what that means.] ...for thirty years now.

[He is well-aware that people can rub each other the wrong way; sometimes violently. What stands between Hux and Kylo Ren really doesn't concern him, so he doesn't ask.]

...how? [His death doesn't bother him as much as Padmé's. But he does want to know how it happens. There must be significance to it.] Who are you to me?

[Not an apprentice unless Kylo Ren is considerably older than he estimates. It's hard to tell with that mask. He reaches out, fingers barely brushing it.]

What is this for?

[So many questions. Kylo supposes he would have them too, if someone thirty years from his future showed up here.]

A moment of weakness. [At least, that's what it was to Kylo's mind. Love was nothing more than weakness ready to be used against someone.] To save your son from death, you lost your life. [That part was truth enough. He'd heard the story often enough from Luke. Kylo had just never bothered taking away the message from it that he should have.

He goes very still when Anakin's fingers come up to his mask, ignoring the second question for the moment.] A sign of respect. You'll wear one...eventually. I'm-- [Leaving aside those ominous words, he pauses, trying to get the words out. It's no easy thing, being face to face with someone he's idolized for so long.] --I'm your grandson.

[Everything is so uncertain for him that he feels like he needs to know the truth; he needs to know of his future. Are all of the sacrifices worthwhile?]

You consider that a weakness? [He would die for Padmé and he would die for their child too. The fact that Kylo Ren cannot understand why is puzzling to him.] Who was threatening my son's life?

[Anakin feels certain he would have killed them in the process even if he succumbed to his wounds. His fingers pause right before the mask and his eyes widen, shock and uncertainty warring in his gaze.]

I want to see your face. [More than anything in this moment.]

Of course. [He just doesn't understand it. Love was of the Light and it was holding him back from his true potential. Therefore it was a weakness.] The Emperor. Luke wouldn't turn to the Dark, so he decided to kill him. Very, very slowly, with Force lightning. So you killed him instead.

[He doesn't say anything. Only for Anakin would he do this. Kylo brings his hands up to the sides, pressing his thumbs down on the pressure sensitive points on either side of his mask. The front slides out and and then up, allowing him to take it off. It reveals a dark-haired young man, just a little older than Anakin himself. As far as looks go, he's taken after his father and mother both. There's something very intense about his eyes, something that hints at either fanaticism or insanity.]

It's not. [His tone is short, stubborn. While his love for Padmé and her love for him have brought complications, he does not regret marrying her or starting a family with her. This grandson owes his very existence to that decision.] ...that was foolish of him. Only a coward would stand aside and let their family be tortured.

[Oh the image hurts him greatly. His words are as much an admonishment against Palpatine as they are against himself. He had been too late for his mother. There's no way in hell he would be too late for Luke.

He holds his breath, waiting until he sees Kylo Ren's face. There are similarities between them - especially in the eyes - and he swallows hard. His grandson has chosen the hard path. Like him. But...not like him completely.]

Kylo Ren isn't the name you were given, is it? [What happened to Skywalker if he is Luke's son?]

He underestimated you and paid the price. [They'll just have to agree to disagree about the idea of love. Kylo knows that love will be his downfall too if he's not careful. History, especially with this family, has a bad habit of repeating itself. He won't get caught in the same trap as his grandfather, caring too much for those around him.]

No. My mother-- your daughter, Leia-- she named me Ben. Ben Solo. [No one has called him that in a very long time. Snoke had forbidden it to even be mentioned, afraid the reminder of his old life would be too much temptation for his apprentice. He'd embraced his new name wholeheartedly, wanting no reminders of the path he could have otherwise taken.]

I'm not going to mourn him. [Since he should have been dead long before that. Anakin's jaw clenches and he barely calms the urge to find Palpatine and punish him prematurely. As if he can reach him. Kylo Ren is a decent distraction and he focuses on him, memorizing his face...and his voice.

This is his grandson.] So it's true. I do have twins.

[Hux had said so, but now he has further proof.] Ben... I like that better. [He can't talk and he knows it.]

Are you becoming a Sith? I can sense your Darkness, but it's not...complete.

Yes. Luke and Leia. [And now they've gotten on the soul-crushing subject of family. Exactly how is he supposed to tell his grandfather he rejected basically everything he'd fallen to the Dark Side in order to save? That's a conversation far too heavy for the present moment.]

I'm not sure you would if you knew who I was named after. My parents named me after Obi-Wan Kenobi. [Perhaps they'd hoped he'd live up to the old Jedi's legacy. That plan had failed miserably. Or maybe they'd wanted to honor the memory of the man who had brought them together. He was sure they'd told him the reason at some point, though he couldn't remember it right now.]

[The expression on his face falls a little, eyes downcast.] I'm on that path. But it's...difficult. The Light keeps calling to me.

What are they like? [It hurts that he must ask his grandson for such precious information - though he would anyway considering the twins are still in Padmé during his time. But he senses that he will not know them as a father should. That bothers him since he has fought so hard for a family; for a sense of belonging.]

... [His eyebrows lift and he gives a faint snort.] Obi-Wan is a fool. He will see how much of a fool soon. But...

He wasn't a bad Master. He's just too passionate about being a Jedi. [They're all wrong in his eyes. They need to be quieted or extinguished.] I will kill him.

[Lifting his chin, he considers the call of the Light. It's not as if he hasn't felt it. It's not as if he hasn't spent many nights, alone, sobbing in desperation.]

What do you want? How can you achieve it?

[Talking about his family hurts. He hasn't thought of them in so long and it's tempting to paint them in a bad light. But as a boy, Ben once thought the world of them, so he lets that guide his words.] My uncle...he always seemed like the perfect Jedi to me as a child. Wise and strong and having all the answers. He sees the good in people, even when they don't see it themselves. He looks like you. I trained with him until I found a better path. [Would now be a bad time to mention slaughtering the rest of his students? He'll just skip that part for now.] My mother, she's the strongest person I know, intense, and with a sharp tongue. She's kind without being weak and knows how to take charge of a room. She's a natural leader and the best shot with a blaster I've ever known.

[It's not the first time he's heard about the Jedi he was named after, but it is the first time to hear about him in a different light. Anakin paints a different picture than the wise old master Luke had spoken of.] You will. Someday. [Just not as soon as Anakin thinks.]

I want to purge myself of the Light. Only then can I complete my training. [After training with Ahsoka here in Hadriel, Kylo has the germ of an idea growing in his head that Snoke has been deliberately holding him back. But loyalty to his master isn't easily dislodged as all that. If he believes Snoke was lying to him, he has to face the idea that he's been wrong this whole time. That's something Kylo might never be ready for.]

[Regardless of the despair and disappointment to come, Anakin is soothed by the descriptions. His and Padmé's legacy will continue - as it should.]

Luke sounds like Padmé. [It's a shame his son chooses that path. It's a waste of time and energy. Someone must misguide him.] Your mother might be more like me, actually.

[That's unexpected, but pleasant he finds.] I should spend as much time with them as possible. Now that I know of them, I will. Luke will not be a Jedi. He will follow in my footsteps, which will make your path much easier.

[His eyes flash; he needs Obi-Wan out of the way. If he's not -] Someday...? That might not be soon enough. He will never stop defying me. I know him.

[Anakin summons his lightsaber into his hand and brings out the blade.] Let me see what you can do, grandson.

[He briefly wonders if he's changed the future by telling Anakin of what is to come. If things don't occur as they did in his own time, he might never be born. But such thoughts are pushed away easily. Thinking of the what-ifs doesn't matter when at the present time he has his grandfather right in front of him.]

He never did. He was able to train Luke before you killed him. [And was also responsible for Leia and Han meeting, so Kylo essentially owes his very existence to the old Jedi. Strange how things were connected in the galaxy.]

I'll show you plenty. [There's a spark of eagerness in his voice. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think he'd be dueling Darth Vader. He ignites his own lightsaber, holding it lower to the ground in a style different than most Jedi or Sith. It's immediately apparent that the blade is an unstable mess, crackling as if it's about three seconds away from exploding. The cross-guards take some of the pressure off the main blade, acting as vents to keep it from overheating. He raises it up high and brings it back down in a slashing motion, putting a lot of strength behind the motion.]

[There are so many possibilities at their fingertips. Anakin can only see how to better his future for himself and - he assumes - his family. It's his duty to protect them. No one will interfere with that.]

...no wonder Luke is so confused. [Another mistake to rectify. He spins his lightsaber lazily, the blade humming as if it is eager for battle. The blue should be familiar to Kylo; this blade has been with him for years, but soon it will be traded out for another. One of red.]

That's the spirit! [His head cocks at the crackling and he observes the weapon critically. Well, well well - that is an interesting blade! It reminds him of Darth Maul's, except...enhanced.] You need to take better care of your saber.

[Easily, he deflects the blow, barely seeming to move his arm. Every motion is fluid - quick - as if he were born with the lightsaber in his hand. His mechanical arm is no hinderance to him, but he chooses to be on the defense - letting Ben show him what he can do.]

[There's a small ripple of surprise at how easily Anakin deflects his blow. He should have known that he would be a master of the lightsaber. He's not the most powerful Sith for nothing.]

Why does everyone assume it was poorly made?

[~~Well, it was,~~ but the design flaws had been deliberate. The cracked kyber crystal, less so. He takes a step back, twirls the blade, and tries for a undercut, again putting a lot of strength behind the blow.

While it's clear he's got power behind his attacks, it's also clear that he's very untrained. He hasn't had many people to spar against, and even then, his technical knowledge of fighting with a lightsaber is piecemeal. Hell, Ahsoka had managed to beat him in just one swift movement when she was done putting up with him. But what he lacks in skill, he makes up for in potential. Like a rough rock, he just needs to be polished.]

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Intro Log: Eat Your Veggies

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