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

[once_reborn]

"Yep, but I'm still a jam-a-chair-under gal, myself."

Which she figures is something the other will understand.

"I don't trust any lock I haven't made myself, you know? Or modified, at least."

She looks over at Sameen as they move across a square.

"So what do you do back home?"

[cactusy]

Shaw's face stills, though her pace remains steady; after a moment, she shakes her head, just slightly.

"I'm between jobs right now, so-- I don't know. Maybe that's why I was snatched up to plead my case to save the world; they figured I had the free time for it."

[once_reborn]

"It's possible; though personally I think they're lying to us about that - haven't seen much in the way of proof that we can save our universes. Or that the infinite universe is somehow running out of space like an overused datapad."

She's a bit suspicious for a Jedi. But grow up on Nar Shaddaa, a world that is half con people and half criminals and see if you don't have a jaded streak.

She reaches the apartment building, pushing open the main door.

"And whatever else it is, at least it's warm," she says, which might be a bit revealing about parts of her background, really.

[cactusy]

While roughing it to that extent isn't necessarily Shaw's usual MO, she's nevertheless spent enough time living in tent barracks that she's able to appreciate central heating; the comment gets a grunt of acknowledgement.

"What about evidence that they're lying? You make any progress in figuring out what might really be going on?"

[once_reborn]

"Wish I could say there was, but the biggest thing I can point to is...well, nothing we deal with ever seems to, y'know, involve our universes at all. Things happen, things come here, but..."

She shrugs.

"Anyways, the idea is to find a vacant one...you have any preferences about location?"

[cactusy]

"Nothing too close to a stairwell."

She can always move, if need be, and it's hard to make any decisions that feel long-term right now; she's still wrapping her head around everything she's experienced in the last hour.

"I don't know if I'd expect anything here to deal with our universes, at least not directly. We're the ones being tested, right? It sounded like... they're looking at us as representatives and products of our worlds, not looking at the worlds themselves."

[once_reborn]

She nods.

"Pretty sure that won't be hard to find."

She turns a corner, pointing vaguely before finding the stairs. "That's me over there," she says, "if you need any help."

"And oof, I hope you're wrong. There's way better candidates than me to represent my universe."

[cactusy]

Once they hit the stairs, Shaw climbs without slowing: when it comes to apartment buildings, she prefers not being too close to the ground, either. Unless Mal stops her, she's aiming to go all the way to the top, and scope out potential options up there.

"What's wrong with you?" she wonders, glancing over at her. "You seem like a helper."

[once_reborn]

Why would she? It's Shaw's life, she's not going to interfere with her choices - certainly not this sort of choice, anyway.

"Heh, well, helper or not...my universe had a lot of better choices than me."

Luke Skywalker, for instance. Leia Organa. Han Solo. Chewbacca. Wedge Antilles. Masters Tionne, Solusar...most of the Jedi Order, really. Her list could go on.

[cactusy]

"Why?" Shaw presses - trying to figure out whether or not this is just run-of-the-mill self-deprecation, or something bigger. "Have you done something wrong, or are you just, I dunno, ordinary?"

[once_reborn]

"I'm one of the helpers now, but...I wasn't always. I was fortunate enough to be given a second chance. By people who are real heroes."

She runs fingers through her hair, chuckling a bit sheepishly. As she does so, the scar that runs along her skull under her fringe is momentarily visible.

"I've been down a lot of bad road - but there's people where I'm from who've...well, saved the known galaxy. And no, that's not hyperbole - heh, I'm from an old, big galaxy."

[cactusy]

Shaw doesn't slow her pace, but she does go quiet for a moment as she considers that answer - that very familiar-sounding answer. If innate goodness and lack of moral complication are prized above all else, then sure, this woman is a poor candidate - and so is Shaw. But...

"Maybe that's why you were picked," she finally says, as they reach the top of the staircase. Despite the long climb, she's only slightly out of breath. "You were changed for the better because of those people. If they're proof that your world has people who try to do good, then you're proof that those people can succeed."

[once_reborn]

Mal can say much the same - whatever else she is, she's durable. Conditioning will do that - and she's gotten two rounds of it. First in service to the Imperial Remnant, then again in the Jedi Order.

"Well, I can't argue with that-" she says, after a moment of thinking about it. "I was...so very lost, and they did find the good in me, and...well, here I am. They gave me a chance to prove them right. And I suppose I did, even though it's...well, complicated."

Then, after a pause:

"Pretty insightful for someone who just met me."

[cactusy]

"You're not the only one it applies to," Shaw points out, scanning the doors as they head down the hall. "Hell, maybe it applies to everybody here. It's not a bad way to measure a world."

[once_reborn]

"I can certainly think of worse," she says, with a slight nod.

She puts her hands in the pockets of her jacket, shrugging a bit.

"Not that we can know that for sure either, with this place. But it sounds like - if you don't mind my saying so - you're one of the people it applies to, as well."

[cactusy]

"Yup," Shaw says easily - it's the implication she'd been going for, so she doesn't try to hide it, nor does she seem bothered by Mal putting two and two together. She pauses in front of a blank door, trying the knob.

"This one's okay."

[once_reborn]

She nods, taking note of the number, then feels about in her pockets, finding a scrap of paper and a pen - you take whatever you find that's useful, wherever you find it - and she scribbles down her own apartment number.

"Great. If you need anything, this is where to find me. I'll leave you to settle in - and hope everything is well for you."

[cactusy]

"Thanks," Shaw says, taking the paper. Just like when Harold had first given her his number, she has doubts that she'll be reaching out for help. But unlike back then, she does take it, folding it into thirds and slipping it into her pocket. "You've, uh-- you've been helpful."

She seems like the sort of woman who will appreciate hearing that.

[once_reborn]

She smiles, nodding a bit before turning to head back to her own apartment.

"That's all part of the service," she said, with a bit of a chuckle. "Welcome to the weirdness - I'll be around if you need anything."