DECEMBER MINGLE

[etrayamods]

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: December 21st - Early January
WHERE: Etraya
WHAT: Newcomers, a surprise gift from Tatianna, and a visitor!
NOTES\WARNINGS:

⏵ arrival ⏴ Welcome to Etraya! Arrival goes as expected - characters awaken on hospital beds and are offered an explanation of their situation: that they have arrived in the city of Etraya, and they are their world's only hope. They are welcome to wander the hospital if they would like to - the upper floors are mostly empty, full of pristine hallways and numerous rooms filled with supplies, cots, and things one would expect from a relatively average 21st-century hospital. The lobby is filled to the brim with tables of freshly baked goods. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" banners are taped to the walls, and several other typical birthday decorations can be found in this area. A few of the baked goods tables are lined with massive cakes covered in unlit candles, just waiting for someone to grab a lighter and sing off-key. Is it anyone's birthday? Who knows! The companion bots seem to believe it's every new arrival's birthday and will greet them as such - with friendly waves and cheers as they make their way to the lobby. A coat rack is situated by the doors leading out of the hospital, covered in warm clothing that fits the new arrivals just right - whether it's to their preferred style or not is something else entirely. Some of them appear normal enough. Others? Well. They can't all be perfect, now can they? Outside the windows, the grass is covered in a couple of inches of loosely packed snow. We hope you enjoy your stay. ⏵ an unexpected gift ⏴ Out by the hospital stands a tall, decorated tree covered in candles and golden pinecones with a handsome, red velveteen tree skirt. In front of it are a few oversized wrapped gifts for show- and atop one of those sits a familiar woman. Or unfamiliar, if this is your first time. It's Tatianna in a slutty Santa outfit with a big ol’ burlap sack. “Hey, I got something for you,” she says, digging into the bag and rummaging for a moment. She produces a painted egg and holds it aloft. “It’s your Winter Solstice Egg! This is the egg holiday, right? Wait, shit. I’m mixing them up, aren’t I? ...Well. It’s a little late to change it. Here you go!” How one treats their egg is fully up to themselves. They can choose to ignore it entirely, or destroy it and leave the yolk and innards to rot on the ground. They can hand it over to someone else or care for it as if it were something precious. No one will prevent them from doing whatever they please with it! ⏵ naughty or nice ⏴However, how they treat the egg will define how the egg treats them in return. Those who keep the egg and tend to it will get the benefit of being able to watch it hatch seven days after they are handed the egg. Eggs that are treated with attention and love may yield a loyal companion, or a weapon of choice that always returns to its owner, while neglected eggs may yield a curious, cursed trinket or an animal who treats its new owner very much the same way its owner had treated it before it was born. Please submit an egg request below for what items you would like your character's eggs to hatch into! Please note that these cannot be things that would be applicable in the game. Those whose eggs are destroyed or forgotten will simply get the gift of... nothing! ⏵ free your spirit ⏴ With the winter chill gripping the air, a mysterious figure makes their presence known in Etraya - a towering, horned creature dragging a massive sack behind them. 𝓐 𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖘𝖊 𝖇𝖚𝖎𝖑𝖙 𝖔𝖓 𝖑𝖎𝖊𝖘 𝖍𝖆𝖘 𝖆 𝖜𝖊𝖆𝓴 𝖋𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖉𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓. Regardless of a character's strengths or weaknesses, they will find that when Krampus raises his massive sack over their head, they are powerless to stop him from catching them. Those capable of great magical feats or other supernatural abilities will sense something... otherworldly about Krampus, but will not be able to place the source of that sensation. Once within Krampus' sack, they are welcome to fight, but escape is impossible. It will feel as if Krampus is dragging them over every rock possible, dragging the sack in through the rivers to the point it soaks through and drenches them - potentially almost drowning them. When the sack opens, they will find themselves in an impossibly dark space. Around them are others who have also been captured and dragged here by Krampus, trapped in small cages hanging from a massive, wiry tree. Krampus will return often, banging clawed hands and birch rods on the walls of the cages and knocking them into one another. 𝕮𝖔𝖓𝖋𝖊𝖘𝖘𝖘𝖘𝖘𝖘𝖘. The whisper resonates through the darkened area, regardless of Krampus' presence. Confess your secrets, and be freed. Otherwise? You'd better hope someone figures out where Krampus has set up base; those who refuse to confess may find themselves stuck here forever. ⏵ NOTES ⏴ Krampus' base is under Etraya! Deep within the catacombs, he has set up multiple cages to capture those who inhabit Etraya to punish them for their naughty habits. Fighting him is possible! Defeating him by means of combat is not, however, possible. Think of it like fighting a god: Krampus creates the rules in the space around him, including who can use what ability. For all questions relating to this log, please refer to the mod queries comment. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ. ⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Comments

[godsandbats]

“Ah right. How often do strange occurrences happen? I’ve been warned about even food being not what it seems,” Kirk says.

The more he learns about Etraya, the more he’s seeing it’s going to be a very unusual adjustment for him.

[cactusy]

Shaw is a little too much of a realist to set her own impossible goals, but loyal enough that she's aided in the impossible goals of others at various points of her life; all this is to say that she doesn't scoff at the idea.

"Doesn't mean anything; I've never heard of it," she says. "But I know what a knight is."

And so far, it tracks.

[cactusy]

[It's a decent enough description of her grief style that it pulls a quiet sigh out of her. Yes. That. Exactly.]

You say "life goes on", and people think you're being flippant. But it does, yeah? What the hell else would it do.

[unaliveyourself]

Hmmmmm...

[He draws out that hum a little longer than strictly necessary.]

I think I'll let you keep guessing a while longer! You and I are both entitled to our secrets again, after all~

[cactusy]

You think I'm gonna be wondering about this conversation after it's ended? That's cute.

[She turns to walk out of the cavern, into one of the catacomb halls - though not fast enough to come off like she's actively trying to get away from him. There's only one exit, anyway: unless he wants to hang around, he'll need to head this way, too.]

[unaliveyourself]

[He does indeed follow after her, though he looks unhurried about it, unbothered about the possibility of being left behind.]

I don't know, maybe punching people in the face is how you show interest! It's happened before~

[He's not even kidding, here. Tragically, and in a further piece of evidence that the world is unfair, Dazai's terrible personality is not exactly unpopular with women, though it usually tends to be the ones that somehow think they can fix him, or who are looking to make some mistakes with someone attractive yet obviously unwell.]

[hexcope]

Not me. I'm freezing.

[Lying about not being cold is one of the last things he'd do. He's about to become the biggest whiner if his body core temperature drops below 95.]

I'm still getting used to the layout here, can you give directions?

[heavensnight]

Mm, how about I just take you there? Kind of bored and I've been told making connections here is good. [she looks him over and shrugs.]

You seem like a good connection. Love a guy who won't lie and say he isn't cold. We all freeze to death. [she stands and nods her head to follow after her.]

My name is Maria, by the way.

[ascarylady]

[ It's just a fact she'll have to accept, so that gets a nod, if only so he knows she's acknowledged it. However, what he asks? That wasn't what she expected the first question to be. ]

If Zaun was given Hextech? What, was that even being considered?

[ It's a very good question if so. She has to think it over for a minute, filling that time with a long sip of beer. Hm. ]

I'd say it depends on how we were given Hextech. If it were the gems directly, there'd only be so many people capable of making anything with them. [ Like Jinx. ] But if you mean the weapons, well, they're going to be used as weapons. That's kind of a given. Although, I can't say those mittens you gave Vi were that much better than my chemtech arm.

[ Because apart from the gates? Sevika's only seen Jayce's inventions as that. Weapons. ]

[ascarylady]

[ It was never going to stop being weird to be stuck somewhere without money. Seemed wrong? Somehow? But that's how it is when you know, deep down, nothing ever comes free. ]

Hm.

[ But the topic is the mysterious eggs. Sevika won't wax poetic on the rest, assuming she's even capable of doing so. ]

I figure I'll just rig something to keep it evenly heated once I pick out an apartment. Carrying it around everywhere just puts it at risk.

[ascarylady]

Old tech?

[ Well, there's a surprise. This place is already full of so much Sevika would consider high-tech. She hadn't even considered everyone else's worlds might be the same. ]

Huh. What about automobiles? Those are pretty new, too.

[heavensnight]

[numerous times, she'd made comments about what the price could be. well, the answer was obvious. they were stuck here. that was the price.

still, the issue right now is the whole egg thing.]

I thought about just leaving it at my place but then I remembered that's called neglect and also not good. [putting so much effort into this damn egg though is crazy.]

Purse was the best plan I could think of. [she shows how hers has cloth inside. comfortable and stays by her side.]

[ascarylady]

At least it's all lit up.

[ She doesn't dare say 'it could be worse.' She knows better. Sevika tosses a look back over to Carver. ]

You good to keep going or do you need a minute to sit?

[knightowl]

He shouldn't be annoyed. Kimie is only trying to help and Bruce knows that. But he's annoyed anyway.

"Get yourself to safety if you can. I'll be fine."

[knightowl]

Thankfully, it's dark so that Sevika cannot see the look on Bruce's face. He rarely smiles, but there's something deeper about this frown. Resting bitch face dialed up to 10. He knows he's old. People don't have to keep reminding him.

"Depends. How old do I sound?"

[knightowl]

Bruce knows what it must have cost to say those words. Because he could never bring himself to say them and it cost him the people he loved dearly. He never speaks to Dick or Tim and barely to Barbara and it's usually only because Terry is involved. He never told them he was proud of them. He only made more demands and made them feel like they were never good enough.

It sounds like there was a lot of tension in Jason's relationship with his Bruce and it doesn't surprise him. Not even a little.

"I'm sure you've given him good reason to be proud, Jason." He's turned away, but only briefly.

"And for whatever it's worth, I'm sorry for what happened to you."

[knightowl]

That Heather could hear the words haunting through their cages confirms for Bruce that it is no hallucination - auditory or otherwise. He hears her yell and in the brief moments that follow, something rattles the bars of his own cage before it pitches violently, sending him and his cane to the floor. The voice makes demands of him as well to confess. Confess what? Bruce did not know nor did he particularly care.

He wasn't confessing to anything.

It's a moment before he can recover, groping in the dark for his cane so he can haul himself upright again and check for broken bones. He was going to be so sore if he ever got out of here.

"Are you alright?"

[wolfish]

It's a good question. Yuri considers it with a low, thoughtful hum as he shifts the egg bundle closer against him. Eggs need warmth, after all. "In my time here, missions come near monthly. Oddities come with it, though not all of them dangerous."

[leastdramatic]

Bruce may not know Jason's Robin tenure ended but Jason knows Bruce's apology is genuine. If the older man is anything like Jason's dad, he's not one to easily apologize. Jason also doesn't intend to tell Bruce what exactly happened to him, if he can help it. He has a feeling the man bears more than enough guilt as it is. In a different time, Jason would've gladly inflict more emotional anguish on his adoptive father but he understands now that it only leads to more pain. There's no real satisfaction in it.

"Thanks, Bruce," He says. "Sometimes I still think it's surprising."

[godsandbats]

Kirk mentally notes that. Maybe it'll be like trying to keep track of the weather. Kirk also shifts his egg so that it's not too cold.

"Small mercies I suppose," he says. "Maybe they're monthly tests then."

[definecat]

"You assume that worlds are actually at risk and can be saved."

[godsandbats]

"That's only one possibility. Other possibilities are we've been kidnapped for less altruistic reasons," Kirk says. It's the first thing he thought of after hearing Aurora's explanation.

[definecat]

"If whatever hatches isn't going to destroy us. Sure. And it's good to see you. There's someone else here who might be familiar," they say.

What Dylan will think of Eddie and Venom is not something they care to wager on but there's a factory full of chickens to live in if he wants.

[definecat]

"There are things that don't always add up. Try getting information out of the so-helpful bots."

[godsandbats]

"Programmed for so-called companionship but not so much on actually useful information," Kirk says dryly. It was clear early on they did not have the kind of AI he would've found useful.