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

[pighead]

[Because clearly this is the best possible outcome, it's Josh who turns toward her.]

Oh, hey Emily.

[He says it almost as if he expected her to be there, as if he's not surprised at all. He is, of course, but after all the weird as hell bullshit that's been happening, Emily suddenly appearing is less surprising than maybe it should be. Anyway, Josh is tired, strung out, lacking the energy to be shocked.

He manages to put on a reasonably friendly front, though. He's always been good at that, at least up until the moment he can't do it anymore and everything collapses. But hey. That probably won't be for awhile.]

Nice of you to join us.

[unfollowing]

Josh?

[What the fuck.]

Didn't you just get, like, taken by one of those things?

[Wait a second.]

Did you fake that, too? Was flamethrower guy even real? Goddamnit, Josh! What the fuck is wrong with you! I almost died! Twice!

[Emily had intended to be a little more together when she started in on him, but he surprised her just now. She's doing the best she can, okay? How dare he take her moment, though. God, what a dick.]

[pighead]

[There are a lot of things Josh could say. He could ask what she means. He could ask what 'one of those things' means, and what 'taken' means, and what the hell she's talking about. Flamethrower guy? Josh is lost.

He's pretty sure he knows some of it, though. The others all knew about his plan, it figures Emily would. He's - thinking more clearly, these days. Sort of. He regrets it, when he understands that it was a terrible idea, which is not all the time. But he's not quite ready to jump straight into apologies and whatever else.]

Hey, whoa. I mean, you're clearly alive, right? So it's cool, we're cool.

[This is clearly logical and something that Emily will definitely agree with.]

Anyway, there's no monsters chasing you or anything, right?

[unfollowing]

We are not cool, Josh! Matt might be dead! [But he's not, he's totally not, Emily refuses to believe that.

As for the monsters--] I don't know, jackass, why don't you tell me? It's your grand master plan or whatever.

[pighead]

Nah, not this place.

[Matt might be dead? That's news. But then, a lot of the stuff the other have said is hard to believe. Something about monsters on the mountain, that kind of thing. He doesn't remember setting anything up to make Matt seem dead. He thinks he'd remember that.]

This is totally different. Nothing to do with me. Some kind of crazy gods or something like that.

[unfollowing]

[Given what flamethrower guy told her and the others about wendigos and the mountain's curse, Emily is inclined to believe Josh is telling the truth. Doesn't mean she doesn't still think he's an asshole, though.]

Then where the fuck are we?

[Josh how dare you ignore the part about Matt being in trouble.]

And did you not hear me? Matt is lost somewhere. He could be hurt. You're going to help me look for him, got it?

[She totally blames you for this. All of this. Whtever this is.]

[pighead]

[He totally didn't miss this. Oh, Emily, you never change. Josh manages to keep from sighing dismissively, just barely.]

They call it Hadriel. It's some weird city where we're all stuck. Chris and the others can tell you more.

[Because Josh wasn't totally in his right mind when he arrived - well, he still isn't, but he's doing better. He's not sure what was real and what wasn't, though, so they'll do a better job explaining.]

Hey, I'll help you look for Matt, but he's probably not here. You weren't here until, like, a minute ago.

[unfollowing]

[Same to you, jackass. You're fucking useless when you're not screwing with people.]

I'll be sure to ask them for the welcome schpiel when I get the fuck out of here.

[She sighs, rolling her eyes. There's no saving this night now that she's stuck in some weird-ass city with this asshole for company. God, if only Matt were here.]

Wait, why would he 'probably not' be here? If you and Chris and whoever else and I are here, why wouldn't he be?

[pighead]

Like I said, you weren't here until just now. Chances are he's not gonna just show up out of the blue too - but hey, you never know.

[After all, Emily did, and so did Josh, not so long ago. Maybe Matt is here.]

Why are you so worried, anyway?

[He kind of thinks he already knows, since everyone else has unbelievable tales of monsters and near-death experiences, but he could be wrong.]

[unfollowing]

If I just showed up out of nowhere, so could Matt. [Fucking moron, Josh.]

Because he fell into the mines when the fire tower fell, and there are fucking monsters in there.

[Monsters with an appetite for human fucking flesh, as her shoulder proves.]

[pighead]

Yeah, yeah.

[He mostly just lets Emily's Emily-ness roll off him, though sometimes that's harder than others.]

Wait, what? The fire tower fell, and you believe in those monsters too? I swear, these stories get crazier and crazier.

[Monsters. Really? He barely believed it when Chris said it.]

[unfollowing]

Stories? Does this bite on my shoulder look like I'm making shit up?

[She actually pulls on her coat to show him her torn, bloodied top, just long enough so that he knows she's not fucking around.]

The tower fell. Matt tried to save me. I fell anyway, and I haven't seen him since. [The words are said slowly, as if saying them is a chore. Which it is, to her. Josh is always so difficult, and after the night she's had, she has even less patience for him than normal.]

You're going to help me look for Matt once we find the others.

[pighead]

[Well, something definitely bit her. What, Josh can't be sure, and it's hard to believe in monsters. Or it would be normally, except for all the monsters he's already seen here.]

Whoa, that looks nasty. All right, I'll look for him, but don't get too pissed if he's not here.

[Though if Emily and Matt were parted in such a dramatic way, it's no wonder she wants to find him so badly. Josh can at least try to give her a hand, even if he sort of doubts whether Matt will turn up.]

I'll take you to the house first, then we can go look.

[unfollowing]

[Fucking typical. It takes seeing some skin -- even gross, wendigo-bitten skin -- to get a guy to listen to you at all. No wonder Jess is such a whore. It's a hell of a lot easier than working your ass off to get half the recognition some jerkoff like Mike does.

Fuck them both. All that matters now is getting out of this goddamn arena and looking for Matt. If he's not here, then... he's not here. That's all there is to it. For now, at least, she has hope.]

After you, then.