etrayalogs | FEBRUARY MINGLE

Entry tags:

FEBRUARY MINGLE

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: February 14th - March
WHERE: Etraya
WHAT: The arrival of newcomers, a mini mission, and some new city features!
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.

In the hospital's lobby are several party tables set out with miscellaneous baked goods: croissants, cookies, breads, cake slices, as well as tea and coffee to accompany them - or hot chocolate, for those who are opposed to the other offerings.

Outside the hospital, the last remnants of snow are melting in the sunlight as the weather begins to warm up. It's still chilly enough one might want to put on a coat, but not so cold a jacket is necessary for wandering around without freezing off one's fingers.

We hope you enjoy your stay.

⏵ heroes return ⏴

As the Quantum Rail train glides to a halt, returning passengers step out onto familiar ground - the train station, right where they had initially begun their mission. When exiting the station, their earpieces vibrate, indicating the automatic download of a detailed map which highlights key locations, transit paths, and notable landmarks. As Aurora promised, she had been working on a few renovations around Etraya! A sleek trolley system now winds through Etraya, following clearly marked pathways through the city bubble to make travel across the city smoother. However, the trolley only moves one way, eternally following the loop Aurora has set it on. And because of this, it takes six hours to complete it's loop all the way around. Don't miss your stop!

Pets and animals have been returned to their usual preferred areas, some awaiting the arrival of their owners, and others keeping to themselves in the forested areas throughout Etraya.

Beyond the small upgrades, things seem relatively unchanged - until one familiar sign catches the eye. One marked by four vertical lines, methodically crossed out one by one: the final slash has now been drawn through. The tally is complete. What it indicates has yet to be made clear, but it has to mean something, right? No one would go through the effort of making an ominous-sounding sign without following through.

⏵ love in the air ⏴

This Valentines Day, Aurora and the companion bots have opted to try something a little different: they have scattered mystery valentines across the city. Hidden within mailboxes, tucked into cafe menus, slipped under doors, on the outside of high windows for those wall-crawlers to spot. There are countless of these little slips of papers, strewn throughout the city. And within each valentine, is a challenge or gesture to complete. Please feel free to make these up yourselves as long as they fit in with the theme!

Some examples include:

Deliver a flower to a stranger.
Write a heartfelt poem for someone.
Share a box of chocolates!
Confess your feelings for another.
Play matchmaker for two people - this can be platonic, or romantic!
Gift a friend with a stuffed animal.
Give five different people a genuine compliment.

While not mandatory, completing five tasks will earn an individual an additional ten points to use towards anything they would like!

Each little Valentine is signed "Your Secret Admirer. ♡", and some of them may even be addressed to specific individuals. Don't be surprised, Eddie, if you see one or two that are specifically addressed to you lurking around your collection of chicken friends!

And while most of these are harmless, some of the valentines cards come with effects for those who come into contact with the paper. Perhaps they thought it was a piece of garbage, or were just kicking it out of the way rather than intending on taking part. It doesn't matter! They get to join in on the fun, too.

Heart Eyes - your pupils literally turn into hearts for a few hours, making it hard to focus on anything other than things (or people) you find attractive.
Love-Struck Stammer - You can only speak in poetic compliments or romantic declarations, regardless of whom you're speaking to.
Chocolate Bliss - Everything feels good. Simple. Easy. As if there's nothing in the world to concern yourself with. You feel happy, without any concerns or worry.
Rose-Tinted Vision - everything looks soft and romantic, as if you're in a romance novel. You know the ones.
Magnetic Attraction - regardless of what you had been doing, you suddenly find yourself unable to leave the side of the person closest to you. Had you been eating chocolates while walking down the street? Well, have fun getting stuck to the guy who'd been out for a jog!
Serenade Syndrome - you find it impossible to resist the urge to sing your words, turning all conversations into love ballads.
Heartstrings - A thread appears, connecting you to someone close by who you share many similarities too. Perhaps you had never met this person before, but the threads tied around your pinky fingers that refuse to let go until you allow yourself to open up to them clearly means you should be a little more familiar with them.

Love is in the air—or maybe just a bit of well-intended chaos! 💕

⏵ NOTES ⏴

Welcome back from the mission, and welcome to Etraya for our newcomers! We've tried to keep this log simple for an easy introduction, as well as some downtime for our mission-goers who worked hard to solve the Quantum Rail mystery.

There is something else going on, but. . . well, no one seems to know what! The computer that had been on the lower floor of the hospital is now missing, and Aurora may seem a little flustered as she flits around Etraya, in search of something.

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

[she's a romantic, John. it's bound to happen.]

I did. And thank you for agreeing to share with Harold after all...that. [she has a hard time putting into words how someone had died for her.] I thanked Harold before and you should hear it, too. It was a little thing but Heather and I really did appreciate it.

I hope things are okay for you?

Neither of us minded, Harold and I are used to close quarters.

[ Not that close, but still. It wasn't uncomfortable, they live together in Etraya after all. In fact, it was... good, for John. He has no clue how Harold felt about it, but John has long desired that kind of closeness. Even under an artificial premise he slept well, Harold's breathing lulling him to sleep. He just wishes one day Harold will choose that— though it's an impossible dream. ]

And yeah, we're doing well. Glad to be off the train. Never thought I'd be happy to return here, but it's nice to sleep in my own bed.

Are you now? [and Harold was his partner...how else does one take this? Harold was clearly fond of him and while he didn't say much in the way of anything too deep, didn't give anything away, Maria is beginning to come up with her own assumptions.]

That was my first mission and everything. People told me to be prepared but I wasn't prepared for all...that.

[ John is going to pointedly ignore that question. He's not as good at Harold as being mysterious and unknown, but he knows better than to dig himself a deeper hole. There's nothing he can say here that doesn't sound bad. He hasn't forgotten that he said "partners". ]

That's the most involved one I've been on. Before that was just building and racing cars. If there's any trouble in future missions, find us. We'll help.

[ He feels safe making that offer. Harold is fond of both Maria and Heather and John won't hesitate to help anyone Harold cares for. ]

[the avoidance speaks volumes. but this is her first introduction to John and he meant so much to Harold. she respected him and so she wouldn't want to be on John's bad side. he was safe. for now. ]

You and Harold really are nice. It's been an adjustment. Meeting people like you two and others. The sentiment is the same, though. I'm a woman of few talents but I'm happy to help how I can. Even if it is just walking the dog.

[ If he's being honest, giving up Bear like that is just taking away one of the few things he has to do here, but Harold likes Maria and has explicitly told John that he wants her to walk Bear, so John concedes that. He supposes everyone needs something to do here and he can always go clean the library some more. ]

Bear always needs walking, he's an active dog. We'd be happy for you to do that.

[ He can't avoid the "we" here. This is something they need to be a united front on, so she doesn't think it troubles either one of them. ]

[we...? not fighting the allegations. though she knows what he means.

but she nods.] He is, isn't he? I was never much of a dog person. Or an any animal person. So I'm happy to do it. It's given me something to do which I guess was Harold's motive, huh?

Harold is clever like that. Suddenly you realize he's done something you didn't ask for.

[ John means this in the best of ways. He did precisely that to John, just gave him countless little things that have added up over time. His loft, his suits, his job. ]

But he doesn't like to be told thank you, I noticed. He's helped me out a couple of times and it's fun to tease him but he should know how good he is.

[he had no reason to help Maria when he'd only met her once. but he had. one of the very first friendly faces.]

[ Oh. John likes Maria. She can see the goodness is Harold, she understands that. The smile he gives this time is a genuine one, not one he's put on just to be nice. ]

Yeah, he should. Should I let him know you think so?

[ John probably doesn't thank Harold enough, but that's not really the way things are between them. He's not sure where he'd start. ]

[it was easier to see goodness when you had only known the terrible. Maria can see the good in Harold and now in John.]

Absolutely. Let him know I'm a huge fan and I'm sure you will get to see him blush.

[subtle little nudge there.]

[ John has always just seen Harold take everything in stride, or at least mostly in stride, so he doesn't think he'll get that reaction, but he'll do it anyways. Harold deserves to hear that and it's easier if it comes from someone who is not John, even if he deeply agrees. ]

We'll see about that, he's got a good poker face.

Tell him you agree with him, then.

[she shrugs, smiling.]

He does have a good poker face, though. You're right. I'm trying to break it...nicely.

[ That's something he can't imagine doing: talking to Harold about his own feelings towards him. It's impossible to even consider. ]

Good luck, you're going to need it.

[ Somehow he trusts her when she says "nicely". Normally he'd be protective of someone trying to get under Harold's skin but he doesn't think Maria will do him harm. And he also doesn't ask her to let him know if she succeeds; Harold should have those moments in private. ]

Oh, I know. I tried to get him to agree he was a good person and helpful and it was like I was asking him to agree to torture.

[she rolls her eyes good naturedly.]

Has he always been like this?

[ Has Harold always been like this? John hasn't really gotten a chance to see. Very rarely does Harold come out from behind the curtain, make himself known in any way. And it's not like either of them regularly express their feelings to each other. John only thanked him for the job when he was about to die, about to be captured by the FBI. ]

Harold tends to keep to himself. He doesn't get a lot of chances for people to tell him that, even if it's true.

[that's interesting.]

A place like this must be hell for him. You almost have no choice but to be around people. So many chances for people to tell him he's a good person.

Too few people, [ John agrees. ] We're used to being another face in the crowd back home. Big city. What's it like, where you're from?

[ He can't say too much more about Harold without getting more personal than he wants, so it's time to move the conversation away from that topic. ]

[this is always the complicated question. home is the biggest secret she has.]

Small town. They tried to make it more popular for tourists but well, still just another small town so who's really going out of their way? [cultists were. but she's not mentioning that.]

It'd be nice to live in a big city.

You should visit New York City if you have one back home. Big as they get, almost. They call it "the city that never sleeps."

[ He wonders why he's being so chatty with Maria, but it's surprisingly easy to talk to her. He understands why Harold likes her, why he has her walk Bear. ]

Oh, we have a New York City, too. [she knows she's never making it there but she'll play along.] People really romanticize living in a small town and everybody knowing your name. Overrated, really.

[funny how she only ever had one person to talk to before ever coming here to Etraya. being desperate for conversation apparently did wonders. she thought John was easy to talk to as well.]

Not all that different from here. I'd have to agree with you that it's overrated. I much prefer getting lost in the big city. For one, there's better food.

[ His cooking skills have certainly improved since arriving, but he misses takeout. He also misses feeling like he can trust anything he eats. He cooks groceries only because he'd starve otherwise. ]

You mean food that doesn't make you worry you're being poisoned? [a beat and then:] Well, I guess that's a concern for everywhere. Depending on quality.

But I mean more about the effects of this place.

Finch and I are more used to keeping to ourselves. I never thought I'd get to know so many people before I arrived here.

[ There's so much of Etraya that's out of his comfort, though some parts of it are easy for him. Easy to just follow orders, do whatever Aurora asks. Harder to get along with people, talk to them. Harder to accept all the wild and crazy things that happen here. ]

And so many different types, right? Where I'm from, there isn't all this...magic? And for so many people, it's so common. Just normal.

[and that is really strange to accept.]

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