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

[xiake]

[Sunny looks up. It's clear he's sizing up the stranger. Unaware of the delicate object in his hand -- it might as well be as solid as a brick to him -- he tosses it over for the man to examine.]

Never seen one like this.

[He's never seen a phone at all, actually. Not in real life. He only knows from the yellowed pages of books and he has only a vague concept of what it's even for, though Veil had tried to explain to him.]

[dangerous_dog]

[He catches it, with a quick wince, and then holds it- with a lot more care, turning the thing on and turning his body so Sunny can see what he's doing with it, accessing the network, the things that have been posted lately.]

This is forward, this is back-

[xiake]

[Sunny watches, patient and more than a little intrigued. It's not impossible modern technology has survive. The stories about places beyond the seven territories span everything from miles of empty desert to cities that touch the sky. He just hadn't thought he'd ever find out.]

And everyone can see this?

[It looks like a lot. Are they all trapped here?]

[dangerous_dog]

Yes. Hope runs it.

[He says, with a little nod.]

I don't know why. He thinks it matters.

[xiake]

[Hope. It takes a split second before he catches that that's a name, the first one he's heard since he woke up here. He tilts his head. The phone is suddenly the furthest thing on his mind.]

That's his name? The man responsible?

[dangerous_dog]

Their names are Fear and Hope. And now Rage.

[Says Bob, handing the device back.]

The main problem is Fear. He does the gates.

[xiake]

The gates? [Right. The ones where they must have come through. If there's a way in, there must be a way out. But if Sunny knows anything about the price of passage, it's never cheap.]

Have you seen these gates?

[dangerous_dog]

Heard about them, only.

[He says, with a shake of his head.]

[xiake]

[So much for that. He puts the phone away and folds his arms loosely across his chest.]

There seems to be a lot of that going around. Hearing about things.

[Like gates and gods and something about bringing people back to life. He doesn't like putting stock into rumors or stories.]

[dangerous_dog]

No one has real answers. Or if they do, they're not sharing.

[He agrees, with a little nod.]

We're trying to work it out, but-

[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?

[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.']