etrayalogs | MAY MINGLE

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: May 17th-31st
WHERE: On Etraya
WHAT: A mingle log!
NOTES\WARNINGS: N/A, please note any needed warnings in threads.

⏵ a hero's return ⏴

As champions exit the Labyrinth, they’ll find that their environment has gone through some fairly drastic changes. Where there used to be larger bodies of water is now thinner rivers going through land; the amount of bridges connecting landmasses has decreased, given what had been individual islands are now much more connected. In addition, Etraya is significantly more green; flowers bloom, birds chirp cheerfully, and there are numerous additional species of insects, mammals, and aquatic creatures throughout the lands. Baby foxes roam through forested areas, bees pollinate the flowers to spread them more thoroughly around the inhabited areas, and it feels brighter. Or perhaps that’s just in comparison to how the Labyrinth had been.

There are more areas to explore, new facilities, animals, and Etraya feels significantly more settled than it had before. Aurora’s promise of renovations had been true. And if one looks up, they may notice a city bubble visible on the closest planet that hadn't been visible before.

⏵ coffee break ⏴
After hearing Clarke’s suggestion, Aurora sets up a new cafe close to the apartment complex, and sends out notices to individuals with mandatory coffee hour times listed for them to come to Corrine's Cafe and make a few friends.

While the note does state that it is mandatory, there will be no follow-up from Aurora nor the companion bots to ensure those who receive notes do show. Given this is Aurora trying to take suggestions in mind and see how successful they are among the citizens of Etraya, however, following directives may not be a terrible idea.

It's up like a modern-day, smaller cafe. One walks in through the front door, and is greeted by a companion bot behind the counter who offers a wave of their hand and a friendly “Welcome! Let me know when you’re ready to order”. The menu offers lattes, mochas, espresso, black coffee, several different kinds of teas, and a few drinks that are a little odd to find in a cafe; ale, canned sodas and coffees, numerous bottles of wine, but only pinot noir.

Soft music plays in the background, impossible to place but it sounds as if it may be based on tracks that were popular in the early 90s.

Tables and booths are set up to seat two to four, with packets of sugar and small containers of creamer set out towards the middle. There are charging stations set up at every table, which may seem strange considering phones and laptops aren’t widely available, but Aurora’s doing her best. There are also a few bookshelves full of the classics, a few historical fiction, and several written by H.P. Lovecraft.

Each seat has a placard in front of it, with a name, and a ‘fun fact’. One might say “Hello! My name is Joe, and I like to paint!” Another may say “Hi, I’m Jill! My sister died tragically in front of me and I’ve never gotten over it.”

⏵ new horizons ⏴

Several of the new bridges found in Etraya now have signs posted just outside of them, and on those signs is a QR code that the earpiece’s HUD can scan. Scanning this with the HUD will bring up a scavenger hunt, listing several items and circling areas where they can be found.

Some of these objects will be obvious: find Corrine at Corrine’s Cafe - the companion bot who runs the counter, find a delicious meal at Bangsan Market, break into S.T.A.R Labs, or find room 87 at Point Blanc Academy. Some will be less obvious, like locating a bat, becoming friends with an archer, find a pink shirt, open bagged milk without making a mess, or get a drink at the mutant-friendly pub. Please feel free to make up your own items to find around Etraya!

⏵ NOTES ⏴
Welcome to our mid-month mingle!

Please feel free to use this to explore Etraya, put up wildcard prompts (you don't need to use the above!), or use the open prompts to assist in jumpstarting cr.

This mingle covers the period from May 17th to May 31st. Our next mission (and next mod log) will not go up until June 7th.

⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

(Well isn't he a nice surprise! Padmé is completely distracted from the weird book about Lovecraftian horrors by Fabian's approach. Now she wonders what exactly his card says?)

Likewise...ah... May I know your name?

(It's nice to see a broad smile like that if nothing else. Everyone looks so worries and hesitant - not that she can blame them.)

No, no. I'm not a queen or a senator here. Just Padmé suits me.

(When was the last time she had been herself - without the robes and trappings of office? Too long.)

If you haven't tried the coffee, I recommend it.

Just Padmé, then! And who would I be to ignore such a suggestion? [ Which is to say - he does immediately take a sip from the coffee he ordered and brought with him to the table. Fabian seems to enjoy it well enough, since he lets out a satisfied hum after swallowing said sip.

Then he grabs his own card that was already sitting there on the table, turning it around so she can see it.

It reads: 'Hello, my name is Fabian Aramais Seacaster and I killed my school's principal!'

You'd think he'd comment on the fact, but instead he just pipes up to say: ]

Ah, but just Fabian is fine for me too, really! No need to be all formal when we are just two people stuck in the same situation here, right?

(She laughs softly and enjoys another sip of her own brew. She likes him well enough (and has no reason, at the moment, not to) until...

He turns that card around. Then her expression turns pensive and she arches a dark brow. Fabian Aramais Seacaster, you have some explaining to do, sir.)

I guess not. (She sits back and motions at the card.) What did they do to deserve death?

(No, she isn't jumping to conclusions. Not right off the bat. Maybe the principal had been abusive or maybe they had threatened Fabian's life.)

[ .. ah. Why does that raised brow suddenly make him feel like he's about to get scolded..

It's not really like Fabian thinks very badly of murder - not the kind of battle-justified murder, anyway - so he didn't exactly expect the initial judgement. Maybe that's why he puts up his hands in front of him, palms out, as if it's supposed to be some sort of sign of peace and his own relative innocence. ]

It wasn't our actual principal! Or, well, I guess that was our principal in that current moment..

[ Maybe it's not really the thing he should be justifying or clarifying first here, huh. ]

Anyway, principal Grix was attacking students and other people at a local festival! I stopped the rampage by doing the only thing I could do-- which was putting a stop to him!

(...only a little. Murder gets that reaction from her, though Padmé is well-aware that no one lives in a purely black and white world. (Or maybe someone does? But she hasn't met them.) His reasoning is what matters since she has no way to verify the truth.)

Why was he attacking people? (Is this another case of a Sith Lord revealing his true self? If so, she can empathize.) That seems like a very strange thing to just do. I'm glad you could stop him nonetheless.

Well, Interim Emergency Backup Principal Grix is a robot. Uh, was a robot?

[ Hm. Maybe the past tense is more appropriate, given what Fabian did to him.. But this year has been so busy that he never really took the time to process anything like this before, really. It's only now he's outside of his own world that things feel like they're slowing down just a touch. ]

Either way, I think either his programming was all messed up to begin with, or someone intentionally messed with it. It could be the latter, since there's been a lot of weird stuff going down, but considering the way our actual principal acts.. I wouldn't be surprised if he just programmed Grix that way from the start.

[ Aguefort is always causing trouble, okay. The problem with having a very whimsical principal.. ]

But-- Yeah, I definitely took care of him before he could actually kill anyone! [ Fabian grins. ] That's just what I do, you know? I'm an adventurer! [ An adventurer who is.. in school, apparently, considering all of this principal talk? ]

A robot? (That does change things. She loves droids - R2D2 is a dear friend - but things can go amiss and when they do, they are like any other machine.)

Then you are a hero. (She knocks his card over with a finger.) Your fellows should be praising you and this card doesn't give you adequate credit. I feel bad for the droid, too, since he had no say in his programming.

(Which leads her to ask:) What became of your actual principal?

[ Doesn't give you adequate credit, huh. Don't mind Fabian as he straightens up and puffs out his chest a little, clearly basking in the compliment.

Even though - for once - he seems decent enough to first answer her question before basking a little too much. ]

Oh, he was on vacation. [ Fabian definitely is even saying this like it's a normal thing. You know, principals bail out on work all the time in the middle of the school year, right? ] I think it was some sort of.. weird time vacation? Honestly, I don't understand that guy.

[ Fabian shakes his head a little. ]

Especially when he thought the best option was leaving us with a malfunctioning backup robot of all things!

I would say the robot was doing more than malfunctioning. Your principal should take credit for making a poor decision. (She tries to work out what "time vacation" means, but...) Are you saying you can travel through time in your world?

(What a dangerous power!)

I don't know if I would trust such a person to go to the past.

[ There's a slight hum of confirmation at the question about travelling through time - like that isn't even the most interesting thing in this conversation to Fabian. Like it's just normal, somehow.

(Look, maybe it's not normal enough for everyone to be able to do it, but chronomancy is a thing.) ]

Yeah, he is a little..

[ Fabian definitely looks like he's trying real hard to come up with a polite word to use here, only to come up blank. ]

.. He's definitely weird. I don't really think he should be trusted with much of anything, honestly. There's been so much happening at school while he's just off on a time vacation!

(Chronomancy worries her deeply. Is it really overseen so laxly in his world? She hopes not. Padmé is the sort of person who believes everything happens for a reason - even if the result is painful.)

What of your teachers? Can you go to them for guidance? (And protection?) Masters are supposed to look after their pupils.

[ His expression turns a little more complicated before he admits: ]

It kind of depends on the specific teacher.

[ Some of them are very helpful! Fabian is very fond of his bard teacher, for one. But some of them are also.. questionable, to say the least. Not to mention some of them turned out to be evil before..

He doesn't want to worry her with that, so he just shakes his head. ]

You make me curious though when you say something like that! Did you have a good master back home? Or any sort of teacher, I suppose.

MAY MINGLE

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