INTRO LOG: WELCOME TO THE BATCAVE

[hadrielmods]

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for January.
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: January 10th-15th
Warnings: Bats, but not Batman. Weird arts and crafts. Confused newbies.

You awaken on the hard-packed sandy floor of the colosseum. As you blink the sleep from your eyes and begin to try to get your bearings, you might hear the gentle, soothing sound of wind chimes tinkling through the air. It's a peaceful sound, a pleasant sound. As you look around, you'll find tall stands with curved hooks at the top here and there throughout the arena, each supporting a different handmade wind chime.

You could stay and enjoy the sounds, even if what they're coming from is a bit less than aesthetically pleasing. Or you could pause for a moment and wonder where the wind that's sounding the chimes is coming from, considering you're in a cave. There are breezes in Hadriel now and again, but what's causing this wind is something else entirely. Spend too long out in the open and you'll find out what.

Perching atop the broken walls of the colosseum, hidden in crevices and shadows, are a number of Ahools. These giant bats can have wingspans as big as 12 feet, and they're certainly strong enough to lift smaller and lighter people off their feet entirely, carrying them away to devour at their leisure. Don't think you can hide - their echolocation will find you as easily as a bat finds a moth in the black of night.

If you manage to escape the Ahools and get your bearings, feel free to go explore the rest of the city! Find a house, find a new monster, or simply scavenge for supplies until your belly is as full as that giant bat's was supposed to be. Good luck, and enjoy your stay in Hadriel!

► This log covers January 10th-15th.
► Feel free to make your own logs, as well!
► 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

[vendetta]

[ The war. Which war, Kaz could ask, but he gets the feeling he wouldn't recognize it even if this guy told him. His claim is that the war had ruined everything, wiped technology as simple as a telephone off the map, but Kaz has only seen war lead to progress and greater innovation. It's a source of economic stimulus, a weapon that can be wielded with finesse if in the right hands.

Not that he imagines that argument will curry any favor with this particular stranger. ]

I'm saying that I don't think we're from the same place... or time, period. [ Which is a hard pill to swallow, he's fully aware, but he's met enough people here who speak of places and events he's never heard of that he has no choice but to believe it. ]

What year is it where you're from? [ His brow knits. ] If there's any record of that left, anyway.

[fervence]

[lloyd gives the question genuine consideration, staring off faintly into the distance as he replies.] I think... that a lot of things are possible, even stuff you normally wouldn't consider to be. And Hope seems to think it's possible which I guess is half the battle.

[he frowns and ducks his head, scuffing the dirt around his feet and adds:] And Mithos could bring Martel back in my world but it meant destroying a lot of stuff and hurting a lot of people.

So maybe it's not about whether or not they can but if it's worth the price?

[xiake]

[Not the same place is obvious enough. Not the same time is something else. Sunny's brow draws together. He gives a look like the man might be missing more than a limb.]

I don't know what you mean. [That's an extreme conclusion to make. No one knows what goes on between borders. Until now, Sunny hadn't even been sure there was anything out there. He can see why a man far enough outside of the seven territories might live with different laws and technology.

It doesn't occur to him someone could actually be aware of everything happening around an entire planet.]

It's been a hundred years since the first barons came together. [He glances back.] But that means nothing if you haven't heard of the badlands.

[xiake]

[But. He doesn't need to ask to know what that means. Instead, he chances it and pulls out a circular gold pedant with a city etched into it. It dangles from his hand in front of the man.]

What about this? Have you seen anything like this?

[dangerous_dog]

No- that's unfamiliar.

[Admits Bob, peering at it, then up at him.]

Did you just find it?

[xiake]

[Sunny shakes his head.] I've had it on me. They etch that symbol into things. Books and cards.

[He knows M.K. was right; he kept it for a reason. But a part of him imagines even if Azra is out there, it doesn't mean it's still standing.]

[dangerous_dog]

Who's 'they?'

[Bob wonders, because it's so unfamiliar to him, trying to take a closer look and see if it's anything like home- maybe a pocket watch?]

[xiake]

Artisans maybe. Who knows.

[After a second, he hands it over. The pendant is less useful than the compass, though he doesn't have the book it goes with anymore.

Still, with how easily the man talks to him, Sunny knows he doesn't recognize the uniform or the swords. It means he's from somewhere outside, even if it isn't Azra. He must be the fourth or fifth in as many days.]

You're not from the badlands, either, are you?

[closerift]

"I can't speak for the others, but it's been on my mind." Cecily glances sideways at the other woman, not exactly willing to go into the details of her half-baked plan, but willing enough to suggest a basis for it, which is: "If there are any clues to be found, they would be in the temples. I'm sure of it."

Where else? Unless the artifact is located somewhere they haven't found yet, or can't access, in which case... that needs to be their next exploit. But, first, the temples.

"I suspect if we try, one or more of the gods will have something to say about it. That is, if it's even possible."

She can imagine them getting close to the surface only to have Fear send a horde of monsters after them to slow or stop their attempts.

[dangerous_dog]

Brooklyn.

[He admits, with a shake of his head. It would take quite a stretch of the imagination to describe it as 'badlands.']

[hybridification]

"Huh- oh, yeah."

He nods, making his way toward them. The bottom lobby is open to the general public and so he guides Rey inside, before taking the stairs.

"You can probably just kick down a bunch of doors and take whichever one you like best, I guess. I mean, if nobody is inside."

[theresolve]

Rainier gives a nod.

"I'd best make sure there's no one in there that needs help out." It's as good a goodbye as any, since Rey clearly has herself handled and he's mainly here to save possible newbies in danger.

[xiake]

"Sunny." Unlike Amos, names mean nothing in his world. It's not even his real name; all that counts are titles and how good you were with a sword.

But Amos has been helpful in a way that few people are, and Sunny feels he should acknowledge that. "Thanks for the information."

[xiake]

[Sunny still doesn't know if he buys it, though he can admit there's not a lot he rules out, either. The world's always created forces to balance itself out. They might be made by man, they might not, but they're there.

And he understands a thing or two about paying a steep price.]

Are you saying we're the price? Is that why we're here?

[hotspurred]

'Tis an isle, with borders to the north and west. The land is green, and where there is neither forest nor hill, there is farmland. A great number of castles stand guard across the country. Our towns and cities are walled, each with gatehouses, and many travel in from surrounding villages for market days. In the south our cliffs are famously white, and 'tis also in the south where our capital, called London, lies. No city is so large or so busy. Within its walls resides our royal court.

My family holds the county farthest north. 'Tis a wild place, unlike southern parts. The landscape is oft untouched, with few people who call it home.

[Henry rubs his aching eyes, warding off sleep. He only needs to hold on a little longer.]

England has its own long history, full of invasion, triumph and tragedy. England is a kingdom crowned in glorious legend.

[circumitus]

Rey casts a glance to Cecily at the mention of the temples.

"Can you take us there? To one of them?"

Not that she has any plans on raiding the temples for this artifact right away, but it would be good to know the layout of her environment before she makes any half-baked plans herself. Perhaps even listen to what this woman has in mind, as it sounds like she's equally as in a hurry to get out of this place.

[circumitus]

A quick glance is all she needs at the lobby before returning her attention back to Rhys. She hopes that he isn't talking about literally kicking down doors, but you can never be too certain.

"So these rooms are just unlocked for anyone to move in? That's all there is to it?"

No rent or form of payment or anything? Which comes as a surprise. In Rey's experience, nothing is ever just handed to you.

[fervence]

"Demeleier?" Lloyd asks, leaning in a bit curiously. "Is that the world you came from?" He grins up at the twigs on her head, somewhat charmed by the whole arrangement. "I like your crown, by the way."

He frowns a little at Chie's stuttered question, casting his mind back to all the different things he's fought in this place so far and trying to be both reassuring and honest at the same time with his answer. "The normal kinds mostly I think. Ones that look like really big versions of animals and that kind of thing, I guess. There were a couple weird ones though I guess..."

Reassuring and honest, as it turns out, are a little tricky to accomplish under these circumstances. Still, he did try.

[vendetta]

[ For all that they can understand each other, they may as well be speaking different languages. The term baron is one meant for European nobility, and isn't in common use in the modern world which Miller comes from. At least not in the circles he runs in, which is a far leap from anything approaching noble.

The term "badlands" doesn't mean much to him, either. There may be countries that have areas called that, but nothing so well-known that it would immediately ring a bell. ]

Barons and badlands, none of that means anything to me. And I'm pretty well traveled. I guess the best way to think about it is that we're from different worlds.

[ Miller bows his head and shakes it, mainly to himself. It still doesn't make much sense to him, but it's the only way to explain the bizarre mix of people who exist here. ]

[sparkler]

[He listens as they walk. The picture Henry paints is lovely indeed, and while Dorian knows enough of the world to be certain not everything in England can be so perfect as it sounds, for a moment or two it's nice to imagine that it might be so.]

No wonder you love it, if it's such an unsurpassed land. Quite a disappointment to be here instead, no doubt. I would hope that you can return one day.

[Just as he hopes to return to Thedas - and perhaps even Tevinter, eventually, though he knows that won't be so easy.]

Here, just ahead. These spires have living spaces within them.

[closerift]

Good woman. Her lip twitches upward approvingly and she nods.

"I can," Cecily says, still watching the caves around them for any sign of the bats, or of other monsters that Fear might have set on them today. "But, you'll have to decide which you'd like to see. There are three, now, after all."

Any of them might have answers... and, any of them might be fairly dangerous to go wandering through. Not that that's stopped her before.

[faithfulwolf]

[ There are definitely worse ways. Although he doesn't say anything, he does nod once in a while to show that he is following the conversation, and he appreciates being told where to find things. ]

[faithfulwolf]

Ba..ron..? [ He didn't think there were any barons in Hell... But he didn't know what the other monsters had been up to Up There. But they did have a leader, sort of.. ] ...K.A... runs the Market..

[hotspurred]

[Henry doesn't bother to disguise his relief as he takes in the spires. Sighing, his posture slumps with exhaustion now that there is but a short, visible distance to drag himself. Already he begins tallying a mental estimation of how long it will take to clean each piece of his armour; once that is done and he has washed himself he can sleep for at least a solid day. Truly processing all that has happened -- those last desperate battles in Champagne and Normandy, finding himself here -- can wait for days to come.]

Thank God.

[He mutters to himself, before he stops walking, turns, and specifically addresses Dorian.]

Your timely assistance has spared me considerable indignity... whether deserved or not.

[He pulls off his right gauntlet, tucking it under his left arm, and holds out his mercifully clean bare hand. The gesture is an offering of respect. To his shame, he cannot say that he would have done the same in Dorian's position -- another thing he will reflect upon.]

I thank you.

[circumitus]

"Three?"

Well, that shouldn't come as surprising, but it is annoying. Stupid people thinking that they're stupid gods.

Rey then thinks about it, and then shrugs. "What's the difference? Can't really decide without knowing."