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

[leastdramatic]

Jason pauses in his kicking and turns to where he's hearing Cato's voice. Great. Of course what looks like Krampus would have taken a whole load of people for the holiday spirit.

"You too?" He says.

[furtitude]

"Yep." Him too.

He keeps kicking.

"Nobody. Gets. To put me. In a bag!" he says as he kicks, because the cage part is not the part he's most annoyed at. Being shoved in the sack had been very undignified.

But no luck on the kicking. If he had his gun he'd be better off, but he'd dropped it when he'd been grabbed.

"If I just had my gun, I could break out of here. I could pull off a shot at the bars easy." They're right there. Realizing someone here might have different types of guns at home - or maybe no guns at all - he adds, "It's particle-beam based. It'd melt right through."

[leastdramatic]

Jason whistles. It sounds like Cato has the kind of toys he would love to have.

"Yeah, I wish I had my gear too," He says. "Could've tried to at least weaken a couple of bars. Don't have particle beams though."

Jason gives the bars another futile kick, thinking.

"Did you sense the guy coming at all before the bag happened?"

[furtitude]

Ah, a fellow murder connoisseur. Cato nods approvingly.

"Nah, I didn't feel anything."

He is 100% pure mundane alien. No magic or supernatural biz here.

He takes a moment to stop kicking the bars to use a paw to fluff up some of the fur of his arms. Embarrassing to look like Zendarian puffball but he's a little damp from when the furry guy dragged the sack through some water and it'll dry faster that way.

"Why, did you?"

[leastdramatic]

Jason scoffs indignantly.

"Afraid not. I don't know how he got the jump on me," He replies. "Usually I'm pretty good at knowing if I'm gonna get ambushed."

Then again none of his Bat training or assassin training factored in Krampus.

[furtitude]

"I usually am too. I didn't hear or smell him."

His senses were far stronger than human's. And he hadn't felt the familiar throb in his neck of his danger gland picking up anything either - but given it mostly acted up based on Ventrexians picking up unconscious cues in their environment, not smelling, seeing, or hearing anything had probably been responsible for that.

He gives the bars one last futile kick and sits down at the bottom of the cage, huffing in annoyance. Then starts on fluffing up his neck and face fur a little to try to get it to dry.

"Where did this guy even come from? Does this place just have weird guys running around, forcing learning moments on people?"

He doesn't need extra character development please and no thank you.

[leastdramatic]

“It’s not always a guy,” Jason says with a scowl. He thinks about previous incidents such as when he tried to investigate the hospital and then there was the tea…

“Sometimes it’s more sneaky like wandering into the wrong place. This is the first time I’ve seen it as something just blatant.”

Jason gives another kick.