hadriel_logs | Intro Log: Bird Brains

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Intro Log: Bird Brains

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for June
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: June 10th-16th
Warnings: Harpies, newbies, oddities!

You wake up on the floor of an old and crumbling structure, with nothing but open air between you and the odd cave ceiling far above you. Unfortunately, this means that you're in Hadriel, a lovely cave city with lovely inhabitants- some of whom you'll probably be meeting in a few minutes! Around you are others who have woken up at roughly the same time as you, who are probably just as confused as you are- but you might want to team up with them, because there are dark shapes lurking ominously above you...

These dark shapes just so happen to be harpies, half-bird, half-women monsters who definitely have more emphasis on the 'monster'- you'll find no beautiful women here, unless you're into razor sharp claws and teeth that hunger for human flesh. Maybe that's your thing!

Alongside you on the ground are also a strange assortment of finger puppets, some of which may have faces that look like yours! What a novelty gift!

After you've got a puppet on each finger, you're free to start heading outside!. 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 June 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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"So I've heard." Over and over again. How terrible and awful a person he was or would be or whchever it was. How frightening. How dangerous. How mad. How unforgivable. He'd almost gotten accustomed to the accusations and then they were gone. He almost wasn't sure what to do with that silence.

And then Seel had to show up. No doubt he'd continue to hear worse and worse things about himself. Why not? Rage needed something to feed on. Or would it be Sorrow? Depended on the secret, he supposed.

"A new body doesn't mean the same soul." How could it possibly? But if even half of it was true, then Thiede was a damn god. As close as the earthly could get. How terrifying. And they'd wondered why Cal had never trusted him.

"Why do you always have to be such a drama queen?"> Seel asked bitterly, before shoving himself at Cal, and sharing breath, showing him. Don't worry bout prying Cal, Seel had a wall up that would make the great wall of china look quaint. He hadn't wanted to show you this Cal, you asked for it. He showed him Pell in the vat, his black eyes open, Seel asking if he wanted to die. Pell telling him that he was loved, in that brief moment of consciousness. And then, that first meeting. The one Seel had been fearing, envisioning a lich or zombie on Thiede's thrown. Instead. Pell. Adorned in turquoise and silks. Raised up, but still Pell. That same innocent excitement. Pure.

Cal didn't need to see the rest. He pulled back, crossing his arms.

"It's Pell." Be scared Cal. Be very scared.

Goddammit, Seel, you couldn't just let him keep his innocent, naive vision of the angel that Pell almost certainly was. Or had been. God knew it was the last bit of innocence he had. He didn't want to see that...creature that floated there, wearing his skin. The thing Thiede had built to replace him. He fought--mentally and.physically--against Seel until he managed to pull himself free with that image of Pell's new perfection still in front of his eyes. What room was there for him in all of that? Pell didn't need a beast anymore, no matter how much he might or might not love him anymore. Surely he could have anyhar he wanted now, without the taint of his past about him.

He swung blindly toward where Seel's face had been--it might not be anymore, he couldn't tell. He was too busy trying to find the real world again.

"Fuck! What the hell are you doing?! What was that supposed to accomplish?!"

Cal impacted with Seel's face. Fuck that still hurt, you know?

"That har you still love? That har you think is dead, is not fucking dead. Get it through your goddamn thick skull that Pell is alive. And just because he has a different life doesn't make him a different person. He's still Pell and always will be." Read between the lines Cal. He needed you. He'd always need you. Just because he looked pretty now, you couldn't cut away half of your soul.

As for the jar? Well Seel hadn't wanted to see that either. So now they were even. Or more even. They'd never be even. Would they?

"He doesn't remember, if it's any consolation. While he was being...made."

At least he'd hit something. That made him feel a little better. And yet the more he learned about the future, the less he wanted to actually return to see it himself. The shit he was buried in was probably six feet deep. Not even mentioning that he was half certain Seel was there too, holding his head underneath every time he tried to dig his way out of it. Or if not Seel then some other har who'd heard a story or seen one piece of a fractured soul and decided he was trash too.

"It isn't," he finally answered, still glaring. He didn't miss the past tense, either. Pell needed him. And he wasn't there. But was that because he didn't know or was somehat keeping them apart? That felt a damn lot like Thiede's wishes. Or he would have taken Cal too.

"So he's alive. I'll believe it. Are you happy now?"

Oh for goodness sake Cal, would you like to re-enact your own death too? Complete with gasps and melodramatic stumbling? You are such a pain in the ass. He wasn't showing you your future dammit, so stop guilt tripping him into it.

"It is." Seel replied just as stubbornly. "It. Is." He rolled his eyes like he was thirteen again and Cal was goading him about something. Dammit Cal no, he wasn't happy. He both wanted to hurt you and wanted you to smile. And you weren't going to smile until you knew about your damned happily ever after and it was really pissing him off.

"No, I'm not happy. Why do you have to make everything so complicated?" Maybe it wasn't Cal. Maybe it was him.

"Why, because you say it is?" Cal was angry. He was always angry, but this was worse. Maybe he should have had a better rein on his tongue but he didn't care anymore. Seel had started it as far as he was concerned. That didn't exactly say much for his maturity, but wasn't Seel supposed to be older and wiser now or something?

He felt his hands clench into fists at his sides again and he instead folded his arms to keeo him from hitting Seel again. That would end badly and Seel had only just gotten here. He didn't doubt the har had more ammunition he was saving for later fights.

"I didn't make it complicated. I didn't ask to be dragged here. I didn't beg to be blind to the things I haven't done. I didn't dream of you here with me. You have no fucking idea what I feel right now, don't dare try and tell me what to."

Ag, he wanted to hit him. It would be so damn easy to just hit Cal and unleash all his frustration. Cal, this place, the chaos from back home. He unleashed, but perhaps not in the way he expected. One day perhaps Seel would realize the power his words held over Cal and he'd hold his tongue. But not today.

"No, because you do." Seel's fist flew toward Cal's cheek, because dammit fair was fair. As his fist moved hopefully toward the other har, his anger dissolved. What did he expect? Of course he was confused. And all Seel was doing was making it worse.

"Shit. Sorry."

Once Cal got over the surprise of being hit, it stung. Unsurprising, really. They both deserved each other. He maybe looked shocked at first when he turned back to stare at Seel, knowing that he really shouldn't have been. He'd provoked the har just as much as Seel had provoked him. Sooner or later that was going to end in one of them bloody.

He was half tempted to hit him back, but...was that an actual apology?

His voice was low when he continued, but at least he didn't look so shell-shocked anymore. He tried to look like nothing in particular, but he was seething. That might have slipped through.

"Right now it isn't a damn comfort, alright? Maybe it will be later, but I doubt it. At least not now with what I know. Maybe it ends well and maybe it doesn't. Either way if I want to know I'll ask. You don't have the right to tell me which feelings are or are not correct. You aren't me."

In that moment, Seel slipped. He stopped seeing Cal as the teenager who conned him into following him into the Uigenna den, or the har who came half crazed into Saltrock after Pell's death. For a moment, he saw what Cal would become. He saw a bit of Tigron in him. Authority. The har who knew what he wanted and gave orders. Cal was pissed. But it wasn't the crazed anger that ended in Orien's murder, this was cold, and white and he controlled it.

Seel nodded, bowing his head respectfully and kept it lowered. "Yes, I understand," he replied quickly before he caught himself. Old habits.

Edited 2017-06-17 13:16 (UTC)

Cal had been expecting more of a fight--more yelling, more rage, maybe even more hitting. If nothing else, it shocked him completely and shut him up for a moment. He stared at Seel, not sure whether he should be disgusted. This was definitely not the har he'd left behind when they dragged him down to this cave. He was... almost meek, obedient, cowed. He really wanted to ask what the hell had happened to him again, but he'd already said hadn't he? Thiede did.

Instead he sighed and looked away, keeping his arms folded over his chest. What the fuck did he do with this now?

"Good. Can we move on then?"

If it wasn't you, Cal, there might have been. But Seel was still trying to adjust to the you that was in front of him versus the you that he knew back home. And even if he was fully adjusted, there was still a little bit of Tigron in you Cal. It was always there, just wasn't given solid shape.

But Seel had changed. He just hadn't realized how much until he saw it on Cal's face. A little here, a little there, until he'd been shaped into what Thiede had wanted. Molded before he had realized what was going on.

"Lead the way."

He didn't want to see that look on Seel's face and Seel probably didn't want to see him, either. They'd have time to glare at each other later, probably. It wasn't as if there was much to do between bouts of nearly inescapable death. Sitting and glaring was just a touch more interesting than sitting and doing nothing.

He turned and started moving again. Where he was taking him he wasn't even sure yet.

"I suppose it would be polite to take you back to Pell's house. Unless you'd rather find your own."

"I suppose that's your decision. Or Pell's," Seel tried to answer diplomatically. "I could save you the trouble and find a place on my own." He wasn't entirely sure Pell would want to see him, if Flick had been here previously. The har probably didn't have a whole lot of nice things to say about him. Pell may have been a friend now, as Tigron, but who knew when this Pell was from?

"Do you want me living with you Cal?" They had a lot of history. Sorting out all those feelings could be complicated.

What a question. And judging from how the conversation was already going, Cal was only certain that he had no idea what Seel's reactions would be for either answer. Indifferent, maybe. Or at least he'd act that way. There was no way he couldn't have a preference. Cal wanted to like him--to be friends again--but really, what could he expect? He knew his future. He knew he wasn't forgivable.

"No," Cal sighed. He didn't want Seel in their house after that. "But there aren't enough of us here. We should at least pretend that we like each othere." Since sooner or later one of them was going to end up needing to pay Seel a visit before he went crazy too.

"I suppose we'd better at least let Pell know you're here."

The real problem here wasn't Cal. It was Seel. He held grudges. He threw away their entire friendship, granted not without reason, but he was unwilling to see that Cal might have changed, anything but unforgivable. But he also knew that Swift wanted Cal in their life, that he was family, and here, now, Cal was right. There wasn't enough of them here. It wasn't like they were going to have a choice. Somehar was going to need take care of Seel, and it was easier if they were all in the same place.

"I'll try not to cause any problems." At least Seel knew he wasn't often easy to live with.

"Yes, I'm sure you will." Seel would certainly try not to cause problems. There would still almoat certainly be problems. Whether or not he was the cause of them would remain to be seen. Although gave it a generous estimate that Seel would cause about half of them. Or be the reason, at least. There'd probably be a fight with Pell, but Cal had put up with the snake he'd dragged inside attached to his friend, Pell could put up with this.

He changed course, then, toward their house, not really certain whether this was a good decision, second guessing far too late to do anything about it. Like always.

"I'm sure you have more questions. About the place," he quickly clarified before Seel could drive another knife in. "I'll do my best to answer."

Seel did in fact have questions. A whole lot of questions. As they walked, he tried to compose the questions in a logical manner. He had other questions too of course, but Cal had narrowed his list of possible questions to Hadriel. Alright, fine. He'd save the rest for later.

"The Door that brought us here? It's obviously connected to the otherlanes somehow. Does anyone know how to work it? You mentioned someone called Hope before?"

He looked around, trying to get a sense of this place. The architecture was all wrong. Weird. What was up with the buildings? Was the interior like that too?

"Who designed these buildings? Is the entire place like this?"

"One of the gods who run the place. I think he was the first, but you might want to check on that." He didn't really care what order they arrived in. "And no. They don't even seem to have a goddamn grasp on it." He shuddered at the memories of that damn wall, of feeling completely alone again and Flick drunk and raving. Had that been them messing with the Door? He was too out of it to remember what they'd said about it, and then too relieved to pay attention.

"Besides, we're supposed to feed them our emotions, so as long as it keeps bringing people why should they care?" He was still a little bitter about that.

"As for the buildings, yes, for the most part. Some of them are in better condition than others. I'm sure your skills would be appreciated."

Great. So he'd ended up in a place where Gods ate his emotions, didn't really care about fixing their mistakes because people were food, and the building structures looked like they'd been designed by a madman on heroin. This was getting better and better. He might have to start smoking again...then again living with Cal that was probably going to happen sooner rather than later.

"So we're what? Batteries?" Seel paused, smirking for a moment. "Remember batteries Cal? God, I haven't seen one in years." At least it was Cal next to him to hear him swear by the old fashioned 'God'.

"How many of these Gods are there?"

"Essentially." Yes, he remembered, but he didn't say anything about it. People here probably still used them. He hadn't cared enough to check that either. Never mind that the place was so goddamn isolated. What they got for setting up shop in a cave, probably. They had the damn phones and some light, at least. Better than a lot of places Cal had slept. At least the cave wasn't filling up with smoke. That wasn't the good kind.

"Eight. Hope, Fear, Rage, Delight, Sorrow, Confusion, Tranquility, Love. Damn meddlesome, too. Expect to be toyed with for the sole purpose of creating power for them. As I said. Much worse than those damn beasts."

"Great." Just what Seel loved, being toyed with. He'd been toyed with for years, and had obeyed mostly like a good little har. And now, away from Thiede's territory he now had to jump to different masters. Eight of them. And so far they all sounded kind of psychotic. He was actually preferring Thiede.

As for the batteries, he noticed your lack of small talk Cal. "So they'll keep us alive to sustain them. That kind of puts Fear at a disadvantage then doesn't it? It's hard to be afraid if death isn't on the table."

"Believe me, not it isn't." Seel wouldn't believe him, but eventually he'd get slapped across the face with it and then he'd have no choice. He almost sighed, but bit it back. Every time he swore he wasn't owned by these damn gods, they went and manipulated them all again, and he wasn't any more immune to it than anyone else. And he wasn't certain he wanted to shate the extent of how much they'd played with him.

"They have their ways. Just try to be prepared for it. If that's even possible. It seems they've always got some new thing to try. And its seldom something anyone likes."

Seel wasn't blind to the fact that Cal didn't want to talk about it, whatever it was. He might find out later, or he might learn from experience. But that was the end of that. He wouldn't press into what happened, but obviously something had. Something with Pell maybe? Or one of the other hara, Flick and Ulaume? It didn't matter, Cal wasn't going to tell him and it didn't affect him either way.

"I'll do my best. I have no doubt these gods are adept at manipulation." If they were anything like Thiede that was.

"Like you have no idea." Or maybe he did. Cal couldn't say what else Thiede had done since he'd murdered Pell. Maybe he'd find out but he really didn't want to. It would only make him futilely angry, and there was nothing here to rage against that would be remotely satisfying. Maybe that was the whole point, learning a lesson he didn't care about. He wouldn't have put it beyond anyone who could be involved.

"At least they try to make sure we're cared for. Half the time I wonder if they actually know what anyone needs."

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