INTRO LOG: BLACK CATS & WALKING UNDER LADDERS

[hadrielmods]

Who: New arrivals and everyone else!
What: The intro log for February.
Where: The colosseum and all around the city.
When: February 10th-13th
Warnings: Fresh meat, creepy moving shadows, terrible luck, the screams of your loved ones.

Welcome to Hadriel, new friends. While waking up on the ground of a broken colosseum may not be the most pleasant arrival, you can at least find comfort in the fact that there's no giant monster immediately attempting to eat you. Plenty of the people already here will tell you that they weren't quite so lucky. But - wait. Is that something moving in the shadows, or is it just your imagination?

Of course it's not just your imagination. That would be way too easy. No, arriving along with everyone this time are wraiths, vengeful spirits that enjoy darkness, shadows, and misery. On the plus side, they won't try to kill you. On the minus side, their touch chills you and saps your energy, as well as inflicting a temporary curse of awful luck. Anything that can go wrong, will, including (and especially) things that might kill you. Wraiths are subtle and sneaky, so be sure to watch your back. That shadow isn't just a shadow.

Compounding the confusion the wraiths can cause, you just might wake up to the sound of chattering voices - only to be quite alone. A small flock of jabberjays has come through the Door as well. These genetically engineered birds are capable of mimicking entire human voices and conversations - as well as screams of terror and pain. Initially only in the arena and bringing only conversations from their world, they'll soon settle throughout the city and begin to learn the voices of those living in Hadriel. Your best friend screaming bloody murder just a street over? It could be them, or it could just be one of these lovely birds. Don't let it stress you out.

Once you've escaped the colosseum, hopefully without accidentally impaling yourself on your own weapon, feel free to go explore the rest of the city! Find a house, find a new monster, or simply scavenge for supplies. Good luck, and enjoy your stay in Hadriel!

► This log covers February 10th-13th.
► 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

IV

[isacrowd]

[These birds are really, really getting on Z's nerves. The first time she'd seen them, she'd been chasing all too familiar voices to the coliseum. Jack, her best friend, her brother, here. Syd, Bridge, Sky. Together, the five of them could find their way home. Z's heart had soared at the sound of their voices.

And then she'd seen the bird from whom the voice had come.

That had been two days ago, and the things still bother her, like they know which voices to imitate to rile her up. The worst had been hearing her friends from home cry for help. She falls for that every time, so desperate to be with them that she can't help it.

There's no official city watch yet, but Z figures a good way to avoid the birds is to start doing rounds. If anyone needs her help, then she'll be easy to find. The Door clearly opened a few days ago. That was when this thing with the birds had started, too. Great.

But at least there's someone here to distract her, even though she's--very, very angry.]

I saw a few on my walk just now. [But, in an effort to be helpful, Z thinks about the last one she'd passed.] Up there, on the awning over that store. [She points at it.] This place is getting crazier by the day. We just got done killing all these creepy monsters that pretended to be little kids, and now that bird is doing the same thing. It was crying for help like a little girl! That's not okay.

[hedgings]

[ You would think the birds would wear out their vocal cords at some point. In fact, it goes on so long that Julia starts to question if they have vocal cords. Maybe something else within them allows them to emit such a realistic sound of pure horror for days on end. She almost thinks they don't even stop at night. She does sleep at some point, so she can't be positive.

A thought enters her head. Maybe they're magic.

She doesn't dwell on it. Even she has a limit to how much magical shit she can take. And these birds have pushed her well off the cliff of that limit.

The other girl answers her and that's all she needs. She starts to head towards the sound, barely listening to the rest the girl has to say. She doesn't care if the girl follows or not. ]

It's about to cry louder. [ Sparks dance in her hands as she holds them in a tight, awkward position. She keeps them like that, letting the kinetic energy build up to more sparks. ] I'm done listening to these little fuckers.

[isacrowd]

[Z hasn't experienced magic firsthand before, but she knows what power looks like, and how dangerous it can be. So when she sees the sparks in Julia's hands, Z steps to Julia's side, out of the way. She's a smart girl, she knows what's going to happen here. And while she's not much for actually killing things that aren't actively harming people, she's not going to be able to stop this from happening, and honestly... her time here has started to change her definition of 'harm'.

And this crap the birds are pulling? That's harmful. It hurts.]

Roast it. Might make a good meal, too. Nothing's exactly fresh here, though it's not bad. But man, fresh meat for a good stew. You're invited to have some, effective as soon as you take that thing out.

[hedgings]

[ She's invited to have some.

Something in the back of her head clicks back to a time when she used to be invited to a lot of things. She wasn't popular, but she wasn't disliked. Her boyfriend had been popular, though. She had always had a healthy social crowd. Then she'd cut it all off like an gangrenous limb to save herself. Her circle had become tight and exclusive in the end.

They were all dead and she was back here. Being invited to things. Just now it was the prison social it seemed.

She took that rage and channeled it into the flames that grew from the sparks once she focused. She muttered words, accounted for variables around her, then her sparked hands flew into the final signs that released the fire.

It localized on the bird. Making it squawk as it tried to escape. But her fire grew as it tried to launch itself away and burned brightly. Conflagration in the 14th position using Old Church Slavonic with a twist of dismissal thrown in to project it. Yeah. She could do this.

Either way, the charred corpse of the bird fell at their feet and the rest of the flock flew away. At least she drove them out.

Julia looked back to Z. ] You want it? you can have it.

I was just looking to shut them up. I can't sleep as it is. I don't need that shit.

[isacrowd]

Uh... [Yeah, there's not much meat left on that bird that isn't ccharred. Upside, it's cooked, so she ccan just eat it as is or throw it in a quick stew. Downside? Excessive smoky flavor. Beggars can't be choosers, Z knows from experience, but she's not exactly a beggar in Hadriel.]

I'll pass. But you're invited to have stew anyway. Just-- not weird bird stew.

[Z's not one to rejoice in death, but she's definitely relieved the bird is gone. Hearing her teammates scream for help was difficult, to say the absolute least.]

Thanks, by the way. It was driving me crazy.