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

[If completing little gift-giving tasks is a mission, Caitlyn is going to complete it. She has plenty of people she'd like to give a flower or a compliment or a box of chocolate to who aren't Sevika, but something compels her to seek Sevika out nonetheless. She wouldn't exactly consider Sevika a friend, but there's something resembling a sense of morality, or justice, or fairness, or something lurking beneath... everything about her that Caitlyn can't help but respect. So she opts to visit her at the pub, a piece of paper that says "Share a box of chocolates!" in one hand and a box of chocolates in the other.]

I brought you something.

[She sets the chocolate down in front of the broken prosthetic as she sits opposite Sevika.]

Has anyone ever told you that you have beautiful eyes, like molten dark chocolate?

[And then she freezes, because she has no idea why that just came out of her mouth. Caitlyn isn't one for overly poetic compliments like that even when she's attracted to someone.]

Erm. I mean—

[It's not that Sevika doesn't have nice eyes, it's just that Caitlyn's never really noticed them before, and she hasn't really noticed them now, and she can't think why she would say such a thing.]

[ As if that hadn't been awkward enough all on its own, the silence that drags on for a whole minute between the two after Caitlyn has said that is nearly suffocating. This is her fault, Sevika realizes, for opting to work in public, and here sits the consequences of making herself accessible to anyone willing to walk on up to her. In her defense, she didn't anticipate one Caitlyn Kiramman to drop by and... hit on her. Really? What the hell? ]

No. They haven't.

[ The words come out deadpan. ]

Probably because my eyes aren't brown.

Oh.

[Upon closer inspection, yes. They are grey, aren't they? She has to lean closer to be sure in the pub's dim light but... yes. Sevika's eyes are grey.

She looks down at the piece of paper in her hand, as though if she stares at it hard enough it might come to life and fly her away from this situation.]

I brought you chocolate. Which is... unlike your eyes. Beautiful as they are. They could outshine any stars in the firmament.

[ Why is this happening? Sevika can figure it out, at least partially. When Caitlyn stares at the paper she holds, so does Sevika, and, aha. This must be one of those ridiculous challenges from those equally ridiculous cards.

This leaves her with two options: ignore it, let the cop escape unscathed, or— ]

If you want to sweet talk me into bed, Kiramman, you'll have to do better than that.

[ Or make it worse. Of course, she picks worse. Offending Caitlyn is by far one of the most entertaining things in Etraya. ]

I— That is— You are—

[The embarrassment is becoming more excruciating by the moment. She can feel an almost physical pain in her stomach.]

I am not trying to— to sweet talk you! I would follow you to the ends of the earth for the chance to spend one night in your arms, and I—

[If this is the only sort thing that's going to come out of her mouth, she needs to stop talking. She places the paper on the table facing Sevika, so she'll be able to read its instructions to share a box of chocolates.]

I suspect I'm being affected. [She means to say 'by magic or drugs,' but unfortunately what comes out instead is:] By your beauty.

[ This doesn't happen often, but Sevika can't help it. Caitlyn's struggle to speak to her normally but failing the entire time ends with her laughing uproariously at the poor girl. A night in her arms! Affected by her beauty?! Ha! ]

Shit, they got you good, didn't they?

[ Whoever they are. Echo, Aurora, the robots, maybe all three. She laughs hard and sets aside the delicate makeshift pliers she'd been using on her mechanical arm, instead reaching to pluck the paper Caitlyn set down up to read it. ]

Ha, share a box of chocolates? Seriously? Can't say I care for much for candy— [ Which is where she would have stopped speaking, normally, but she finds her mouth running on without a brain to guide it after with, ] —when your lips are sweeter than any chocolate.

[ wait what ]

Edited 2025-02-21 22:58 (UTC)

[ Excuse her, what did she say...?!

Sevika's amusement dies on her face right there and then. A look of disbelief is given to the little valentine with the task on it. This quickly shifts to anger, and she crumbles it up before settling a look of disdain on Caitlyn herself. She does not say anything else, but she sure hopes the message is clear on her face. She is 100% thinking this is all Caitlyn's fault for bringing the damn valentine here in the first place. ]

Edited 2025-02-21 22:58 (UTC)

[All Caitlyn can do is sit there and take Sevika's mockery with a frown on her face. It's not as though she can say anything in her defense. And when Sevika's mockery becomes the same poetic praise that's been coming out of Caitlyn's mouth, her frown only deepens.

It must be the paper then.]

Perhaps if we share the chocolate, you'll understand that I want to wake every morning to your kiss and fall asleep every night in your embrace. [What she means is: perhaps completing the task assigned by the paper will end the paper's effect on them.

She pushes the box towards Sevika.]

[ Sevika looks like she'd rather die, but one fate is worse. She'll have to accept chocolate or get stuck in a loop of telling Caitlyn Kiramman, of all people, flowery bullshit. She does open her mouth to say something in return but thinks better of it and instead settles into an even deeper scowl as she discards the crumpled-up valentine to the floor.

Sure, fine, she'll reach for the box and pick the first chocolate she comes across. That, she pops into her mouth. There? See? She's eating the damn chocolate and not enjoying any of it. ]

[Caitlyn likewise selects a chocolate, puts it in her mouth, and chews it with the determined focus of someone fixated on the completion of a task. It tastes alright, probably – nowhere near the delicious imported chocolate she's used to eating at home – but she barely tastes it at all for how hard she's concentrating on chewing and swallowing it.

Once it's done, she directs her frown up at Sevika.]

Do you feel less inclined to compliment the sweetness of my lips? Because you look... angry.

[She's managed to finish that sentence without praising Sevika's beauty. That's a good sign.]

[ Sevika finishes with the chocolate, giving Caitlyn a pointed look. She looks angry? Really? Wow, wonder why! ]

I'm more inclined to give you a fat lip instead. Come on, have you ever seen me not look angry?

[ But it's talk, mostly. She doesn't make any move to get up and take a swing, thankfully. At the end of the day, whatever trap the piece of paper had laid on it wasn't entirely her fault. ]

Surely you can't be angry all the time. Don't you have anything that makes you happy?

[At least sharing the chocolates appears to have worked. Caitlyn slips the cover back on the chocolate box, to save them in the hopes that someone will be able to test them for drugs.

Likewise, the paper will need to be tested, and she glances down at the crumpled sheet in front of Sevika, then at the pliers she's been using on her arm. They'll do as makeshift tweezers.]

May I borrow those for a moment?

Edited 2025-03-02 19:22 (UTC)

[ Sevika's initial thought is to say no, she cannot borrow them, but she does note where her eyes go. To the crumpled valentine, which Sevika would prefer no one else touch again. So, it's with a roll of her eyes that she passes it over. ]

I'm not helping if you start spouting nonsense again.

[ Just so she's aware.

But no, Caitlyn is right. Even Sevika isn't actually angry all the time. It'd certainly be easy to fool someone, though, with how rare it is; only she was enjoying that card game until she wasn't, and she was enjoying talking about murders, until, again, she wasn't. ]

Hm, let's see. You're a self-proclaimed detective, Kiramman. Why don't you detect whatever it is that does make me happy?

[She takes the pliers and uses them to gingerly pick up the crumpled paper, pulls the lid off the box of chocolates just enough to tuck the paper inside, replaces the lid, and sets the pliers back down in front of Sevika.]

You drink something that smells more like a cleaning product than alcohol. I suppose that must bring you some measure of happiness, or you wouldn't subject yourself to it. And you seemed to enjoy playing cards. And discussing serial killings.

[She has no desire to bring up how that card game ended, but up until a certain point Sevika had appeared to be, more or less, having something that resembled fun.]

[ She takes the pliers back when they're returned and sets into working on her arm again, tinkering away. ]

Ha. If you think what I pick to drink from her is vile...

[ This place had nothing on Zaun's liquor. Moonshine with a hint of other alcohol at best. She's had good Piltover or imported whiskey before, sure, but that wasn't for everyday drinking. The rest, she's at least got two down. ]

Though the killings were just shop talk to me. I know enough about what's gone on in the undercity, even before my time.

[ So, that makes drinking and playing cards things that make her happy. It's too bad the card game ended so poorly because she'd been having a great time up until then. ]

Edited 2025-03-03 22:02 (UTC)

Someone with your breadth of knowledge would be a phenomenal resource. There are so many unsolved crimes in the undercity...

[It occurs to Caitlyn as she says it that Sevika, as much as she may enjoy 'shop talk' when it comes to decades-old mysteries, would probably not be interested in incriminating herself or any of her contemporaries. So she rather awkwardly finishes:]

...from before your time.

Yeah, you're right. Someone like me would be a phenomenal resource, but not for enforcers. My taste for those discussions soured after yet another card game was ruined.

[ She can't even get through a night of cards anymore. It's impossible. Someone always disrupts it, and she's getting really tired of it. ]

Yes.

[Her lips press together in a tight line as her expression falls, her stomach curdling at the explicit reminder of how the card game was ruined.

Despite herself, Caitlyn rather likes Sevika. The woman's the right hand of a criminal who's done nothing but evil, but she herself has proven honest and, oddly, in her way, honourable. And she has a fascinating breadth of knowledge about crime in the undercity that Caitlyn would love to hear more about. So Caitlyn offers:]

Perhaps we could try again. The two of us and... different friends? I could teach you to play whist.

[ For worse, Sevika has realized the two from Piltover aren't worth hating on all the time. However, that doesn't mean she can be seen as friendly with them. Talis was easier to shrug off; an enforcer was not, even if she was, technically, no longer one.

They were destined to be enemies.

Nothing in Etraya will change that. ]

That wouldn't be a good idea. [ And so, it has to be a rejection. ] I intend to do what I can to keep the peace between all of us, but that doesn't make us friends, Kiramman.

[The rejection stings more than Caitlyn would have anticipated. Still, she musters a faint little smile to cover up the disappointment and the hurt to her feelings.]

Of course. I understand.

[She doesn't, really. But it's a way of saying that she won't try to force an unwanted friendship.]

Thank you for sharing the chocolates, in any case. That's one mission I can tick off as a success.

[ A faint smile can't truly cover that disappointment, not completely, and it does baffle Sevika behind her own stoic expression; only a little, but it still does. She can't fathom someone as law and order-minded as Caitlyn actually wanting to be... what? Friends? In another life, perhaps, or maybe even in the future, if they ever put aside their differences.

She won't explain, though. It's political for the most part. Silco seethes over the thought of even Vander being friendly to her and Talis, and to lose influence over him would put them all in danger.

So, all she offers is a nod. ]

Yeah, sure. Just don't bring any others my way. This lovey-dovey shit doesn't suit me.

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