FEBRUARY MINGLE

[etrayamods]

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⏴

Comments

cw: light csa mentions

[ingestion]

Thanks.

( that's all she can really say to his kind words, a soft blush taking over her face as awkwardness settled deep within her. it was strange to admit it but it was kinda nice being so vulnerable with someone and having them care about you―

she didn't want to say it was a new thing, because her father had done that for her, but gorgug knew of the abuse she had gone through and this was nice to have in her life for once. especially when he remembered the little details about her. )

Yeah actually I started kinda scribbling the little details, key events. I'm just...wondering how much of it I can write before it starts sounding like some kind of fantasy novel you know? The poor guy...he also went through a lot with that cult.

( as gorgug made his way down next to her, her pet rat kept a focus on the flowers for now. )

[tinflower]

[ Does Gorgug notice the rat? Yes. Is he trying to ignore it while giving it a side-eye to make sure he knows what it's up to? Also yes. He refuses to trust the rat. He will never trust an egg rat. That egg rat cannot be trusted and Gorgug really needs to get the courage to tell Heather this one day, even though he's already resigned to no one caring about their safety when it comes to the egg things.

So, for now, Gorgug is not focusing (strongly) on the egg rat. The topic is on love and fathers, or a specific father, which works for Gorgug. ]

Is it that...unbelievable? Don't plenty of people have bad times with cults?

[ So it can't sound that fantastical in that way, right? ]

[ingestion]

( truthfully if something less cute than mr. cheese had hatched from that egg, she would be right there with gorgug, side-eyeing it all. unfortunately for them both, the little creature had warmed its way into her heart, making it difficult for her not to like him. )

Let's just say....he had one hell of a weird experience with it.

( but his assurance is enough motivation for her to actually go through with continuing on to write her little memoir. )

But that doesn't mean I won't write about it, it will probably just take me sometime to figure out where to start. What about you? What have you been up to since the chaos surrounding that last mission?

[tinflower]

I slept in a good bed. [ That is the first and most important part after coming off the train. Truly important.

Other than that-- ] But, day to day, I've been working on making more bots in different ways, trying to get better at it. And learning more about electrics and computers. I kinda, do that a lot already.

[ So it's not that different. He looks at the flowers he's holding, lifting them slightly, before looking at Heather. ]

There was something else. Have you... seen a message outside the bubble?

[ingestion]

Lucky you—

( she was absolutely not envious at all, not one bit considering a while back both maria and her had a small conversation over how uncomfortable the beds were here. )

But nothing wrong with keeping your mind sharp and fresh. I've actually been thinking about sitting down and doing some real homework while I'm here. I really hate feeling like a high-school drop out you know?

( as she speaks in a rather amused tone, she did find it interesting that he would ask her that. for a moment she leaned her head back and thought about it briefly before answering. )

Can't say that I have, is something going on?

[tinflower]

[ Schooling's interesting, or trying to get more of an education. Nothing different from what Gorgug's already doing, but he's disrupted the flow of that topic--something to come back around to, since...if Heather isn't aware of the banner, is that bad? Is it bad if most people don't know? ]

Uh, so, sometime before we left on our last mission, this message showed up outside Etraya? Asking if we thought we're the only people around. And with these marks on it.

[ He mimics making a straight line, but as he continues-- ]

They made more and crossed them out. [ --He slashes through the lines he makes. ] There's, uh, people out there. And I don't know if that's good or bad.

[ingestion]

( with all the shit that had been going on with her and her goals, the mission, and now this, truly her eyes had been glued to the ground for the most part. she had heard idle chatter about it, dismissing it as nothing more than one of echo or aurora's machinations—

another thing for her to disregard and face head on if it came. however if gorgug was truly concerned about it, perhaps she should be too. so she decided to ask more about it. )

Are you sure about that? I mean what if it's just Echo messing with us, to keep us on our toes? Although....you've met that guy Jayce right? He said something about trying to find out if there's magic in this world. Maybe he's onto something.

[tinflower]

Magic? [ His brows bunch together, and he's thinking, not totally following her line of thinking just yet. ] What do you mean?

[ Magic made the banner? Something else? ]

[ingestion]

Well see it this way, if magic is running this world, maybe we can find a way to tap into it and see who made that banner. Cross into other worlds if you will—

I don't know if you've met him, but Vax was telling me it took special powers or a spell to visit other realms in his world. Don't you think that maybe Echo based this world off of all of our worlds? I mean why would they know which worlds to draw from?

( really she's just spit—balling here, gluing together the pieces from what people have told her and their intentions they've mentioned. there isn't much she can actually do to help anyone, but if they all had some vague sense as to what was going on here—

well maybe they'd have more answers than what aurora was willing to tell them. )

Maybe I'm getting in over my head....maybe you already knew all this?