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

'tis the season

[cactusy]

[The image of John falling to the ground in front of her comes to her mind unbidden. Shaw doesn't flinch much, but she does now, albeit so slightly that it's almost noticeable.]

I can't imagine a situation where I'd have to choose between saving my entire world and killing someone who mattered to me, so it doesn't matter. It's a dumb scenario.

[unaliveyourself]

[Ah, there it is. Her avoidance of the question just seals it. Dazai's smile grows sharp, a cat who's sighted the canary.]

Is it? A few days ago, would you have imagined being spirited away to a nexus like this, called upon to defend the existence of your world? Things are different here, wouldn't you agree?

[He doesn't comment that he can easily think of any number of scenarios where she might have to make a choice like that. Something to keep in his back pocket a little longer, to perhaps use later if necessary.]

[cactusy]

[Goddammit, he has a point. She delivers him a flat, unimpressed look, and hopes that someday, she'll get the chance to punch his face in. A girl can dream.]

Almost everybody I know already died to save the world, and I wouldn't go back and undo it, so. There. Happy?

[Her lock clicks open.]

[unaliveyourself]

[In theory, there's nothing stopping her. Their cages are open. He's middling at hand-to-hand, at best.

But no, it doesn't make him happy, not really. There's not even real satisfaction in getting her cage open, because he knew they'd find it, eventually. He's just as empty as ever, any stirrings in his chest the realization that she is in fact a different sort of person than him, after all. It makes sense; he barely considers himself a human being in the first place.

But he knows that he would damn his entire world, damn every world, without a shred of remorse if it meant Odasaku had the opportunity to live. Maybe the Krampus will drag him back here to confess that to someone else, later.

Dazai isn't someone who retreats easily from offense. He's still angry at what she'd said, about his last words, the last traces of him that he clings to like a lifeline. But he still suspects they might understand each other better than most, nonetheless. And so:]

Admirable of you. [A long beat.] If you'd indulge me one last question, why did you stop killing?

SORRY commented before i saw the edit

[cactusy]

[Shaw hops down out of her cage, landing on her feet and brushing herself off. She stands in front of Dazai, studying him impassively: that same empty nothingness mirrored in her own eyes.]

Nah. I don't think I will.

[And then she aims a fast punch at his face.]

no worries hahah

[unaliveyourself]

[He could at least dodge the blow, whether or not he could win the fight. If it were Chuuya, he'd do it just to irritate him further. But he lets her have the blow, going with the force of it so he doesn't stumble. A trickle of blood runs down his lip. He doesn't bother to wipe it off.]

That's not very nice. I did get you out, didn't I?

[cactusy]

Please.

[She says, dusting off her knuckles now.]

I got myself out. You were just present.

[unaliveyourself]

If you say so.

[Dazai does not have so much ego that he will press the matter beyond that first insinuation. Instead:]

Quite a violent reaction for someone who doesn't feel very much, though. I'm surprised!

[cactusy]

Says the guy who went into a fit of cold fury because I vaguely hinted he might be depressed.

[unaliveyourself]

What makes you think I had a problem with that?

[It’s subtle, but there’s the faintest emphasis on “that”, as though she’s correct she made him angry, but incorrect about what the problem was.]

[cactusy]

A guess.

[She says, shrugging. She's not positive, but she does feel relatively confident about it, if only because it's the only thing that makes sense to her.]

[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.]

[cactusy]

Gross; there's nothing less attractive than smugness. Especially when it's coming from a middle schooler.

[Does she actually think he looks that young? Of course not; she'd estimate early twenties. Is she going to be a little asshole about it regardless? Naturally.]

[unaliveyourself]

[He's not going to fall for an obvious provocation like that. Breezing past it:]

For the best, really. You wouldn't commit a double suicide with me anyway, so I'd have had no choice but to turn you down.

[cactusy]

[Not taking the bait earns him a small smidgen of respect, honestly. A very, very small smidgen, but it's not nothing.

Still, that doesn't stop her from slooooooowly turning her head to look at him as she walks, fixing him with the most unimpressed stare. A double suicide? What the fuck, bro.]

cw suicidal ideation

[unaliveyourself]

[Dazai is very, very used to those stares. He doesn't even blink at it. But his smile is a little less plastic when he next speaks.]

It's how I'd most like to leave this world. Not being alone at the end, yet without burdening anyone with your passing, is the most anyone can hope for in this life, I think.

[cactusy]

That's messed up.

[Sorry, Dazai: this is Shaw, blunt and unfiltered.]

Newsflash: Romeo and Juliet aren't aspirational.

[unaliveyourself]

[If there’s to be any proof that what he was upset about before wasn’t the depression callout, it might be this: there’s no reaction at all to what she says, this time, not even a minute twitch in his jaw or hands.]

No, Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy.

[It’s a little funny, he thinks, having it cited as an example to him, when he’d used it as an example of what he doesn’t want to Krouse in a conversation not too long ago.]

Each of them died alone in the darkest of despair, torn apart by a loss they couldn’t imagine how to move forward from. That’s nothing like what I’m looking for at all.

[cactusy]

No, you just want a codependent horrorshow. Totally normal.

[Shaw mutters as they reach a fork in the corridor. She slows, scanning the walls for clues or markers, but comes up with nothing.]

Right or left. You got any idea?

[unaliveyourself]

[It's almost a little disappointing. Most people don't understand; he doesn't expect them to. She's more like him than most, and yet she's no closer. He doesn't bother to clarify further, to protest that codependency implies a desire to live, an intensity of need for connection to the point of allowing others to run roughshod over oneself. That's not how Dazai operates. It wasn't even before he got onto the notion of a double suicide as an ideal.

But he doesn't need to correct her misconception, either. He spreads his hands a little dramatically.]

Haha, I don't think either of us have much business making claims toward normalcy, do you?

[With that, he lets it drop until they reach the fork, at which moment he gives it a sour look. Two roads diverged in an underground labyrinth, and neither of them are obviously traveled!!! It's very annoying.]

None at all. It seems cliche to suggest flipping a coin, so...

[He picks up some debris in the path that is vaguely stick shaped as a makeshift divining rod, and lets it fall. It lands to the left.]

Shall we?

[cactusy]

Never tried to claim I was normal.

[She says it lightly, certainly casually, her eyes on his hands as he does his little experiment. Apparently it passes muster with her: without another word, she'll head left.]

[unaliveyourself]

Ah, so you really are saying you're happy to throw stones from within your glass house! A bold choice, I applaud you.

[He heads along the left path, whistling a cheerful tune to himself, before he addresses her again, as though the previous conversation never happened.]

Say, we should play a game to pass the time while we search for the exit.

[cactusy]

[Shaw snorts, still scanning the walls.]

Lemme guess, Russian Roulette.