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

[thebigredog]

[well something in what peter just said seems to have gotten through to cliff because the panic at least seems to be draining out of him slowly, leaving him mostly looking tired and ready to be disappointed.]

You don't even know what I am. [clifford tells him mulishly, because it's so hard for him to believe peter right now, so hard to trust a stranger. but...

oscar had never looked at him like he was a monster. had given him a ride home, and let him hang around the house when home was literally the last place he wanted to be. and yeah, oscar was weird so maybe he didn't count but. what if he wasn't the only one who just... wouldn't care what cliff was?

was that even possible?]

[werewolfing]

Which only makes my point, doesn't it? Monster is as monster does.

[peter is a hand-talker, and he waves his cigarette in a way that reminds him he's supposed to be smoking it, so he does that while cliff thinks his words over.]

Threatening to knock out my teeth was pretty rude, though. I have nice teeth.

[he does have nice teeth.]

[thebigredog]

You were talking about biting me. [cliff says, and it doesn't sound like an apology or an excuse but there's still something almost childish about the response regardless.

he gives peter's cigarette an almost yearning look as he waves it around before something settles in his eyes and then he's squaring his shoulders determinedly and telling him:]

Give me another cigarette and I'll show you.

[werewolfing]

I was talking about not biting you unless you asked nicely.

[peter snorts, but he also smiles. gotta give the kid credit where it's due.]

I'll give you another cigarette after you show me.

[thebigredog]

[cliff rolls his eyes, says:] Fine, but you better deliver.

[and then literally between one breath and the next he's gone and in his place is a large red wolf. there's no sign of the transition between the two at all, it all happens in literally the blink of an eye.]

[werewolfing]

Oh, look at you. That's why I couldn't figure it out. You don't have a damned thing to do with the moon.

[peter squats down, letting cliff be bigger than him, and offers the wolf his hand to smell, because he knows it's a whole other world. under the leather of his jacket and cigarette and the smells of clothes and such, there's the fact that he lives with someone else, and more than that, that his skin smells sweet and warm and fuzzy, kind of like a puppy. ]

[thebigredog]

[it doesn't take much of a crouch to put cliff higher than peter, for such a skinny kid he's a pretty big wolf.

when peter offers his hand for perusal, cliff gives it a suspicious, almost judgmental look, huffs out a heavy breath and goes ahead and gives it a sniff (never actually touching though), only to backstep suddenly with an unsettled expression instead.]

Why the hell do you smell like dog? [cliff asks, still a wolf, so honestly the accusation in his tone is almost hypocritical, and maybe if peter's eyes are sharp he might catch sight of a quick flash of metal from a tongue stud in that wolf's mouth.]

[werewolfing]

Wait, you can talk? That is unfair as hell.

[for a moment he looks petulant, and it's hard to tell how much is put on and how much is real, other than the fact that he doesn't actually radiate upset.]

I donno, why do you think I might smell like that and care about the moon?

[thebigredog]

[peter gets the distinct pleasure of witnessing a wolf rolling his eyes now. enjoy that, buddy.]

How am I supposed to know, all the other werewolves I've met didn't have anything to do with the moon. And they were all raging assholes too.

[the unspoken insinuation there being that peter isn't.]

[werewolfing]

You're not a werewolf, I'm a werewolf. You're...a something-else-wolf. That can just change on a dime whenever he wants with no consequences, and can still talk, and--do you seriously have a tongue ring? I'm kind of envious. Not of the tongue ring.

I'd tell you werewolves aren't raging assholes, but really it varies by individual. Just nothing like the ones in the movies.

[thebigredog]

[another blink and cliff is a human kid again, hands shoved in his pockets and scowling down at peter in confusion, silver flashing on his tongue when he opens his mouth to speak.]

I don't know why the stud stays when I'm a wolf, who cares it's just a fucking stud, whatever. I showed you, so give me a cigarette already.

[no consequences, like being threatened to join some freaking cult in colorado wasn't a consequence, like those crazy assholes trying to eat oscar wasn't a consequence. werewolf was the only word he'd ever had for any of this, and he wasn't just about to let it go just because peter said he wasn't.]

[werewolfing]

[those are an entirely different kind of consequences, cliff, gosh.

peter's as good as his word, though, and hands over the cigarette, filter first so cliff doesn't have to touch him because he's an anti-touch weirdo like that.]

The fact that you get to keep your stud makes you a shapeshifter, man, that's why it's relevant. And also pretty fuckin cool, I've never met a shapeshifter.

[thebigredog]

What's cool about it. [cliff grumbles as he snags the cigarette from peter's hands and brings it up to his mouth without a second's hesitation, the lighter quick to follow.

he definitely needs the cigarette for his nerves now, and if you think he's going to be dropping this one you're deeply mistaken peter.]

S'not like I know jack shit about it, those assholes wanting to start some kind of fucking pack or cult or whatever in Colorado are the first people I've met like me, and they tried to eat Oscar. [which, yeah, cliff hadn't exactly even liked oscar back then, but it still hadn't done anything to endear those freaks to him any.]

[werewolfing]

And this is why magic just shouldn't happen to people without anyone to teach them.

[he looks balefully up at the sky, well. cave ceiling. because obviously this is the fault of some higher power. or someting. who knows with peter.]

Basically everything is cool about shapeshifting, it's other people who are assholes. This is a pretty constant fact of life, but you seem to have gotten that one on your own. Not that being a werewolf isn't cool as shit, but it hurts a hell of a lot more. Also, eating people? Not cool.

[thebigredog]

[cliff shrugs uncomfortably and scuffs his shoes across the ground.]

I've been able to change ever since I was a kid. Mom never said anything about it, so I figured she didn't know. And up until Oscar showed up in town and started dragging me into shit I didn't know there was anything else weird in Podunk to compare.

[giving peter a mildly curious look now.] Why does being a werewolf hurt?

[werewolfing]

Not weird, awesome. Tons of people would give their left nut to be able to do that.

[seriously, cliff, get with the program.]

Let's just say that me turning into a wolf is a little more hardcore than blink-and-you're-done. I actually shed my skin. Both ways. Uphill, in the snow.

[thebigredog]

[cliff rolls his eyes and takes another drag on his cigarette, but doesn't bother trying to argue the weird versus awesome thing with peter. clearly they're just going to disagree on this.

though, mostly, he brings the cigarette up to his mouth again to hide a very faint smile that he can't help at peter's insistence because, honestly? he really doesn't mind that peter finds it cool.] Pretty sure that wouldn't help them, or at least, I don't remember making any deals like that.

God, you are not old enough to use that phrase, stop. That sounds... [wrinkling his nose] ... messy though.

[translation: gross.]

[werewolfing]

I think you'd notice if you were lacking a left nut. Two is the normal number, for the record.

[peter is a helper, really.]

Messy is one word for it. A pretty accurate word.

[thebigredog]

[rather than actually verbally acknowledge peter's "helpful" little tip, cliff just chooses to roll his eyes at him instead.]

Sucks to be you, I guess. [cliff tells peter without an inch of sympathy in his voice. sorry peter. he's a shitty teenager though, so what were you expecting really.]

[werewolfing]

[nothing, luckily. he was expecting nothing, so he's not disappointed to get it..]

Nah, I like being me, and what I am. Skin tearing and all. Wouldn't want to be anybody else.

[thebigredog]

[cliff narrows his eyes and gives peter a dubious look at his claim, brows furrowed.]

Must be pretty fucking nice. [he doesn't bother to explain what exactly he considers nice, but there's only so much he could actually be talking about anyway.]

[werewolfing]

It's admittedly cool being me, except when it isn't. That's kinda life for you though. Some shit sucks, other shit doesn't. You pick which shit you're gonna dwell on and which shit you leave behind.

[he says this like it's easy, when in fact it's merely simple.]

[thebigredog]

Uh-huh. [cliff gives peter a suitably dubious look for that. because look, there's not hating yourself and then there's being unnecessarily smug and peter you've crossed right over that line several times just now.

and then he's just simply scowling in disgust.] Ugh. You sound like some kind of motivational speaker or something you realize that?

[werewolfing]

[peter shakes his head and waves a hand with a pssh sort of sound.]

Nah, there's no money to be made off suckering you. But I'm also being kinda literal. My mom and I, we move around a lot. Every time you go, you pick what shit to keep and you leave the rest behind. It's not a bad way to live.

[thebigredog]

Yeah well some shit you can't leave behind.

[cliff tells him tetchily, though with very little heat behind his words because he's busy thinking about his own mom's escape from gerogia and how easily he could have been something she left behind as well.

sometimes people were things too.]