etrayalogs | DECEMBER MINGLE

Entry tags:

DECEMBER MINGLE

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⏴

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Let's start with the basics then. Your tools, you have a few tension rods, and a few hooks and rakes, yes?

[ Here is Silco, in a jail, trying to teach a kid how to pick locks.

Truly, this is his lot in life. Fitting, actually. ]

You're going to start by using the tension tool to build tension in the bottom. Then you're going to start with a hook, and feel for when pins lock whenever you tap them. You have to figure out the order.

[ He goes on to explain in short this. ]

[Accelerator gives a small nod, silent. If by 'tools' Silco means a supernatural ability to manipulate the inner working of a lock indirectly via the vectors of the pins' molecular structure then yes, yes he does.

During the entire explanation Accelerator is quiet, committing everything he's hearing to memory as he quickly builds a plan to substitute his ability for traditional lock picking tools. From what he's hearing it shouldn't be that difficult, it's all just a puzzle of movement and tension, something his power is ideal for.

When Silco is finished Accelerator takes a fraction of a second to run through everything he's just learned, then reach up with his free hand to hit the switch on his choker. The light on it changes from green to red.]

Okay. Give me a minute.

[And he proceeds to tap the lock with two fingers. The first to convert the kinetic energy into the tension that's needed, the second to start moving the pins. Tapping again, he starts building a mental image of the inner lock mechanism in his brain. It seems pretty simple, all things considered, so it shouldn't be that hard --

And then he spits out a curse.]

Goddamnit.

[He taps the lock again. A couple of times.]

The mechanism's just changed.

[Give him a second to rebuild that image and manipulate another pin.]

Changed?

[ Now he's actually invested, because that's different, and odd. He narrowed a single eye at the lock that he's touching, but he can't see anything different, but that's probably not all that surprising. ]

Do you mean the inside is changed?

[ That's impossible. Isn't it? Even the best of locks can't change mechanisms, or else the same key wouldn't work. ]

[Accelerator gives the lock another tap, just to make sure he isn't just mistaken, and frowns.

Nope, this isn't just him being new to lockpicking.]

I don't think there are pins anymore, I'm getting flat pieces of metal instead. [He clicks his tongue.] I'm guessing it's some magic bullshit.

[Sadly, he isn't familiar with the fairly common term, 'lever lock,' and looks over at Silco for help.]

Hm.

[ He rolled his eyes. ]

That's impossible for it to just change. Are you sure I wasn't describing wrong kind of lock?

[ No, Silco... You're just not used to magic bullshit because you're the most normie guy ever.

Well. Except for the glowing eye. Whatever. ]

Flat metal is different. It's still a padlock, isn't it? You're going to need to change where the tension comes from if it's levers now. [ Tired. So tired. Why can't anything be simple? ]

What you do is put your tension rod into the side where the padlock closes. Slip it in and feel for the tension. That's how you're going to trigger the opening. Then you're going to use your pick [ magic, whatever. ] You're going to do something similar. Feel for when the different sheets lift and hold, and then move to the next, same thing as the pins. Just with a different method.

[ He sounds so... bored. Like he's reciting something that should be easy. ]

[Shooting a glare his way, Accelerator bites back the urge to argue. It wouldn't help, and he's still getting information, so he'll just adapt and keep going. It's fine.

He shifts his grip on the lock and taps it again, re-applying the tension, then another few taps as he quickly builds a new blueprint of the lock's interior in his brain. This time, he needs to do this fast, before it can change again. Thankfully it being a similar method as the lock type with pins helps, and after a few more seconds there's a click and he's quickly yanking the lock open. Hopping to his feet, he removes it from his cage's door and swings it open.]

Fucking finally.

[They're running on a time crunch here, so he doesn't hesitate to hop on over to Silco's cage with a burst of air under his feet. Landing on the edge of it, he grabs a bar with one hand and the lock with his other.]

Give me a second.

[ Silco watched him suspiciously from his cage, as the boy finished off his lock, and it clattered to the ground. That was good, it worked, but now... Well.

He half expected the boy to leave anyway. Foolish types often did — and it might have not even been all that foolish, considering that he was limited on resources, power, and prominence at the moment — so perhaps he would have done exactly what he expects of Accelerator.

Which is why he actually jumped, when the boy leapt from one cage to the next. That was a bit far for even a Zaunite, though only just. ]

Right.

[ He said, with a tip of his head, but that eye doesn't blink and it watches him 'pick' it, trying to figure out how he's doing it without tools. ]

[Leaving this guy behind briefly crossed his mind, but he's firm in his stance. An easier short term escape likely makes for a more difficult long term. While Accelerator is antisocial by nature, he isn't looking to actively make grudges in Etraya. Besides, he isn't sure if he would've been able to pick his own lock so quickly without the help, so as far as he's concerned this is only fair.

The second lock is easier to manage thanks to his bit of experience. The interior mechanism changes again, and this time he's prepared for it, so he adjusts according and speeds along until there's a click and he's yanking the thing off the door.]

Got it.

[ It's quick, this time. Quicker than before.

Now mind, they still have to escape, but when he hears the click, and watched the kid yank it off the door, there's an irrational part of him that settles down. The one that would have tried anything other than giving this thing what it's looking for, just to make it through.

He pushed at the door. ]

I'll remember this. [ He says. It half sounds like a threat, but that's just Silco being... Silco. ]

You picked that up quickly.

[ He kept his voice low, in case the thing noticed them. ]

[He's going to go ahead and assume that's a good 'I'll remember this' and not a bad 'I'll remember this,' mainly because the latter would be a big pain in the ass after he's gone out of his way to be helpful. If it isn't, then he'll deal with it when they're out of here.

He leans away from the door of the cage, looking down at the ground.]

I'm a fast learner. [Ha ha, understatement!] Can you get down on your own?

[Seems like a good idea to ask that before attempting to touch the guy.]

[ Silco looked down at the ground.

Then back up at Accelerator, and then back down. He looked around, trying to figure out if there was a way to scale down. He wasn't... as good as he'd been in his youth, back when he could run up and down the fissures like they were nothing. Now he has aches, his fingers can't grip as well, he has none of the strength but all of the instinct that would lead him to trying, and failing.

His lips twitched in silent defeat. ]

Not very likely. It's been a long time since I attempted to try something like this.

[ He reached up, and tapped his eye. ]

Lost the ability to do this well a long while ago.

[ A truth, but the implication was wrong. He'd use it, though. ]

[Accelerator has to wonder if the eye thing is the kind of injury that's expected as one gets older in that universe or what. Unfortunately, this isn't the time to be poking and prodding, so he just looks him up and down, then gives the ground a short glance as he runs some math in his head.]

Okay. Then don't freak out.

[Because after a few split-second calculations to adjust his reflection's blacklist, he is unceremoniously grabs his upper arm and yanks him straight out of the cage, stepping off the edge of it.

They don't fall, though, they float. Or sink, since floating would suggest he's keeping them up in the air, and this is more of a very slow fall. It's easy enough to adjust their gravitational forces using his ability, and compared to Accelerator's other preferred option of manipulating air molecules, it's a hell of a lot more subtle. This way there won't be any excessive noise or wind to draw attention to them.

Once their feet touch the ground Accelerator lets go and moves a few steps away, mentally readjusting his blacklist.]

[ No, Accelerator, unfortunately, he's just special like this. his special, special eye.

Silco does make a concentrated effort not to freak, but it's a barely thing. He doesn't struggle, but he does... breathe out when he pulled him out into the open air.

Wouldn't that be just his luck. The one time he actually helped someone (in his own best interest) and he ends up falling to his death? Sorry, Jinx, you've gotten one of your fathers back, only to find him dead on the ground.

But no they float. He's composed himself in moments, before he brushed off his top, as if there was dust to be found. ]

Interesting.

Is everyone else here like... [ you? ] that? Able to do that?

Edited 2025-01-15 03:47 (UTC)

[Once they're on the ground Accelerator is looking around for any signs that that monster has noticed their escape or is on its way back to the tree. There aren't any vectors of unusual sounds reaching him. Reluctantly, he even uses the method Aleister had taught him - reading the air currents by using the dust floating in the air. There's nothing, though he doesn't relax, since they still need to get out of here.

He barely glances over a the question. There are a lot of answers he could give, so it takes him a few moments of mulling before he replies.]

Nope. I'm the only artificial esper around here. I think the exit is this way.

[He's turning and heading towards what looks like a tunnel.]

[ Silco follows, his eyes sweep back and forth, but he doesn't have any extra senses. He's essentially about only as good as his vision, and one eye is already... well.

He needed to do something about that. It was getting faintly blurry. He knew it was a matter of time. ]

What...

[ he kept his voice low, just above a whisper. ]

Does that even mean?

[He starts walking towards the tunnel, away from the tree. It's a dark tunnel, since there doesn't seem to be much in the way of a light source, but he keeps on going. Once they're in the tunnel he reaches up and fusses with his choker, checking on the time he's got left. He doesn't want to switch it back to normal mode until they're well away from the tree, just in case.]

It means I've got psychic powers, but I wasn't fucking born with them like a naturally occurring esper. [Ugh, terminology not being universal is such a pain in the ass.] That's a gemstone. Artificial espers are made when you take a human kid and put them through a series of specific medical procedures in order to disassociate their brain and body from normal reality. The end result is that I can influence normal reality using mathematical calculations, replacing it with my own reality.

I see.

[ He says.

He doesn't. Of course.

To be fair to Silco, whose exposure to "magic" is his daughter designing a weapon and hexgates that are so far out of reach that they are literally icing him out of; and that math is bookkeeping that he taught himself, most of this — hell, all of it goes right over his head.

He is trying, so very hard, not to show any ignorance in the face of all this, so he keeps his eye narrowed, and focused on moving forward. ]

[Yeah, it's never not going to be weird running into people who aren't familiar with Academy City's whole deal. It's fine though, Accelerator isn't noting anything unusual in the dust and air in the tunnel, so after waving his hand dismissively he pulls a perfectly normal-looking smartphone from his pocket and turns the flashlight app on.]

Short version is espers are scientific guinea pigs who have supernatural powers using math. I think most people around here use magic, have some special biology, or are completely normal humans.

Hm.

[ He says. he still doesn't get it. Supernatual powers via math? Gee, wouldn't that be nice. ]

Well, if they wanted people to do this "saving" [ The airquotes aren't physically present, but boy to they come out in tone, along with the roll of his mismatched eyes. One of them is more than obvious in the dim light. ] Perhaps they should have chosen more of the first two.

[ He'll downplay what he can do plenty, but it surely isn't going to be feats of extraordinary power like this. ]

[Accelerator clicks his tongue at that statement. He does not agree!]

Why should it matter whether someone has powers or not? You don't need to be able to fucking control electricity or be super strong to be competent. [A certain Level 0 comes to mind, as well as a powerless delinquent.] If you've got some special talent you might even be too used to relying on it for dumb, everyday stuff. Then it's just a crutch you're dependent on.

[He knows about that part very well.]

[ He laughed. ]

I would agree. After all, as you saw — you could not pick the lock on your own, could you?

[ BUT at the same time... ] However... there is something for being able to do that what you must do. That's what power is. Whether it is manifested in... [ Math... psychic... powers... ] Your artificial esper work, or that of another; those without power will be forced to work harder than the lot of you to contribute.

Think about it this way. I know how to pick a lock. However, I did not have the supplies. I can keep a lockpick on me from now on, but how many encounters am I going to got through, where I wish I had just what I needed? Will I be comically loaded down?

[ Imagine it, Silco with his pockets full of crap. ]

No, we must be smart, and deft, and predict for what we need.

It is a precarious place for us to be in. Dangerous, in fact.

Sure.

[He certainly isn't going to disagree. Accelerator is very aware of the advantages his ability has conferred on him, even compared to other espers. He's got it easy compared to normal, powerless people, because he remembers what it was like when he was six or seven, before his power fully manifested. He had been tiny and helpless, until he wasn't.]

You need to be twice as stubborn and three times as creative, and even then it isn't a guarantee you'll come out in one piece.

[He's known weak idiots go up against astronomical odds regardless. In some of those cases those astronomical odds happened to be himself, and that's left an impression on him. A certain Level 0 immediately comes to mind - Kamijou Touma has left such an irritating, terrifying, awe-inspiring impression on him that the other boy caused him to rethink his entire life several times.]

But unless you're fine with rolling over that's all you can do. Bring a gun to a knife fight and pray the other guy isn't bulletproof, and if he is, figure something else out.

[ There's a scoff behind him. ]

It's more than simply figuring it out, boy.

It is about being willing to do Everything imaginable, to take what you want. Sacrifice anything, give no quarter, find the weak spot. Take, use, what is needed is more than simply being smarter, or creative.

It is about relentless pursuit in the face of greater odds.

[ 😑 Powerspeech.mov ]

[There's a long period of silence from Accelerator as he processes this, his mind still hanging on Kamijou Touma. When he finally speaks up, his voice is low.]

I know someone like that.

[Relentless is the perfect way to describe that idiot.

He glances over.]

I guess it goes without saying that's been your whole fucking life, huh?

[Well, there is the possibility that this guy is just being hugely overdramatic, but Accelerator would prefer taking him at face value for now.]

[ Silco's lips curl upward, slightly. ]

It's a lesson I learned when I was... oh, just a little older than you.

[ Silco shut up you were in your early thirties probably. He reaches up, and tapped the skin under that eye. ]

Once learned, however, it is a difficult lesson to forget.

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