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

[fortitudosalutis]

[ Great. Long enough that things could get worrying. Sooner than later, dehydration is going to become a problem.

He watches her intently, taking in what he can of her shape in the dark and the distant cherry of her cigarette. A big woman, it seems like. Broad shoulders, an air that says she knows how to use her body. But -

Ah. Only one arm, he thinks. ]

You get dunked in the river, too, or was I special?

[ascarylady]

[ Only one arm, though she sure tries to disguise it with the cloth poncho draped to cover what's missing. Though she's still damp from the near-drowning she, too, got before ending up here, it's less successful. ]

Sure did. It's a miracle I could still light this thing.

[ Several layers protecting her cigarettes and lighter are a real blessing now. ]

[fortitudosalutis]

How much juice you got left in that thing?

[ He doesn't smoke, or he'd ask to bum one just to see if she'd give him the time of day. Whether she can be leveraged. She's strong, Carver can tell just from looking at her. Calm enough not to lose her head. That's useful. The lighter might be too, later on, if he can come up with a plan. ]

[ascarylady]

About a quarter left.

[ Sevika has to wonder why he asks. An idea? She eyes him carefully, wondering. ]

If you're considering setting the tree on fire, I doubt it's dry enough for something this small to make a real dent.

[fortitudosalutis]

Was thinking more the motherfucker in red.

[ But they’d need accelerant and so far, he’s not seeing many options on that count. Carver exhales sharply, trying to think. ]

Not how I was planning on spending my day.

[ascarylady]

If I had a flask on me...

[ But she doesn't. She'll have to fix that. Setting that horned bastard on fire would have been a good time. ]

Mm. Definitely not what I would call a friendly welcoming party. [ So, she is new. New as new can be. ] What's with this confess shit?

[fortitudosalutis]

[ If she’d had a flask, this could’ve been a party. Carver leans back, watching her silently for a moment. Everyone in proximity to him is a threat, but there are layers. He has to be practical about this shit now. This isn’t a place anyone survives alone. ]

No fucking idea. All I know is they like to play games.

[ascarylady]

Figures...

[ That'd a place like this would play games, anyway. Sevika takes a long drag from the cigarette as she considers the word: confess. Confess what? She hasn't even committed any crimes here yet. ]

Like, what? Admit I've crossed a street without looking both ways? Because that's stupid.

[ Oh, she has far worse things to admit. She just doesn't want to. ]

[fortitudosalutis]

It's probably something metaphorical. They seem like the type to like that shit.

[ Some Grimm Brothers fable bullshit so they learn a lesson about teamwork or something, whatever their captors have decided needs to be emphasized. ]

[ascarylady]

Metaphorical?

[ Oh, she hates that. ]

Pretty sure none of my crimes have been figurative.

[fortitudosalutis]

Good for you. Doesn't get us out of here any faster.

[ To be fair, neither have any of his. He has a long list of sins, Carver knows. He has no illusions about that. But what exactly are they supposed to confess to here? Who would even know if they lied?

Of course, magic is a factor now. Because magic is real, apparently. ]

Okay, [ he says slowly. ] So, I've killed a bunch of people. There, I confess.

[ The cage sways, but doesn't open. ]

[ascarylady]

Doesn't seem that's getting us anywhere, either.

[ There's no freakout about Carver's confession. Who hasn't killed a few people? Well, lots of people. Lots of people have gone through life killing no one at all, but let's ignore that fact.

Although, his cage had reacted... somewhat. ]

Try being more specific.

[fortitudosalutis]

[ It doesn't occur to him to hold that part back. The fact that he's a murderer isn't a secret; most people are, back home. It's the toll of survival, the necessity of walking on the road they're all obliged to tread. You fight or you die, and usually that means someone else has to fall. No one has the luxury of doubt on that count.

He breathes out slow, scanning their surroundings. Trying and failing to find something that'll get him out of the damn cage without playing the game. Fine. It wants details? ]

I killed some kid named Josephine, [ he states, cool and sharp. ] Bashed her head to the wall and snapped her neck. She had something we needed.

[ascarylady]

[ Sevika watches the door of his cage rather than him directly. Still, that was a hell of a way to go; even she would admit that. ]

What did you need from her?

[ Just how much does he have to give up for it to count as a confession? ]

[fortitudosalutis]

Her people had food, medicine. Walls. Mine didn't.

[ Carver just stares at her in the dark. Is this confession? He doesn't know what counts or not. It doesn't feel like a secret, just something he's done. Pope marked that girl and all the others, and so Carver and his brothers and sisters went in and did what they did. He'd do it again, given the orders, because they were hungry and then at the end they had more food than they'd seen in years. ]

Would've killed her in her sleep, but she woke up. She was trying to get to the armory.

[ascarylady]

Seems fair to me...

[ Was it, though? Maybe it wouldn't seem that way to someone else, but if this guy's people needed those things to survive, she wouldn't judge. More often than not, that was how life was in the undercity. ]

How's the door of your cage doing? Open yet?

[fortitudosalutis]

[ He raffles the bars. ]

It won’t give. Guess they want something else. Got anything you wanna offload?

[ascarylady]

[ Why would she need to confess anything to open his cage? That's stupid. She thinks that's stupid. However, his cage is still locked tight after his confession, so it's as good a guess as any. ]

...okay, this place is officially stupid as fuck.

[ Just so they both know this. ]

Fine. There's a man here. Just arrived, too. I turned against him years ago, helped to kill him. Didn't do it directly, but it's not like that absolves me of fault.

[fortitudosalutis]

[ Carver rests his head against the bars, watching her. They’re strangers to each other. No doubt they’ll be enemies before long. In the meantime, he doesn’t want to die here. And so. ]

Why’d you turn on him?

[ascarylady]

Because he turned on us first.

[ After seven long years, you would think there'd be less venom in those words, but it bubbles up with them nonetheless. It can't be helped. She'll regret it in retrospect. Just because this guy isn't from her world, it doesn't mean he can't turn this against her later, somehow, in some way. ]

Got tired of all the fighting and danger and death that he rallied us to. That he wanted. Then we fucking lose, and he's suddenly scraping and bowing to those topsiders like the dog he is.

[fortitudosalutis]

[ Even in the dark, and knowing nothing about these people, Carver can feel the venom. All that unspoken history hanging heavy. ]

Sounds like he deserved it. He lost faith.

[ His door rattles. ]

Fuck, I think that’s working.

[ascarylady]

He did.

[ Vander did. That he deserved it. That he lost faith. That? That, she'd never be any less adamant about. He kept them stuck in the past, never moving forward, never daring to change, never agreeing to fight. The rattle of the cage doors pulls her out of that reverie.

Hers, too. Well, shit. ]

But... sometimes I regret the kids.

[ Sometimes. Only sometimes. That gets the cage doors to really react as if this might be the last push to get them to swing open. That doesn't shock her, but she does hate it. She hates it and this place and the thing that put them here. ]

We knew they would come to save him. It was a trap to get rid of the whole lot. The explosion that took everything out, though... That wasn't us. Bet he thinks it was. I don't even know where to begin with that. That part isn't my story to tell.

cw death of children

[fortitudosalutis]

[ There's a moment where Carver hesitates, breathing out slow. Sometimes I regret the kids, she says, and the two of them are strangers to each other but they're telling each other the truth in the dark. Yeah, he thinks but doesn't say, yeah, I regret them sometimes, too. He doesn't know if she means it the same way he does, but that's a detail. That's how it goes in war, in survival, in the aftermath. Things get blurred.

He doesn't regret Josephine, or her brother's trembling, vengeful rage. They were marked. But the others, the little ones?

Sometimes, he has dreams about digging graves. He's thinking about that as she continues, laying out the details. Carver doesn't have the context but he understands a thing or two about operations that go wrong, and the collateral damage they bleed.

His door clicks open. Funny, that. Carver exhales through his teeth. Truth for a truth, right? ]

If my sister's dead, [ he says, very softly. ] Then it's because of me.

cw death in general tbh

[ascarylady]

[ Sevika holds her breath when she hears that telltale click of the cage door opening. That's what it took, huh? What a nasty game this is. All of this. Hers, though... She squints through the dark towards him, listening.

His sister, huh? His sister. ]

You don't have to...

[ She offers in return, voice similarly soft. This is all getting too close to home. While Sevika never had a brother or sister, her life hadn't been without its losses. Times when she wondered if she could have saved them, done something different if it was her fault. ]

[fortitudosalutis]

[ Carver doesn’t offer a response to that one. He just grabs the edges of the cage and swings himself down, drawing his main knife just in case. His boots splash in cold, damp water. Out of the cage, at least. But he’s still fucking underground. ]