MAY MINGLE

[etrayamods]

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⏴

Comments

[equivo]

[ There's a deflection there. He recognizes it, but he isn't sure of how to identify it. That makes a difference in how he'd turn it around, push this new question back across the table without touching on it himself.

Maybe Riz broke something he feels particularly sorry for. Maybe it's the accumulation over time. Maybe, certainly, it's not currently any of his business.

But it's something to hold onto, filed away in another section of his expanding catalogue. If only, he can tell himself, to put up some polite caution tape around the topic for Riz's future comfort. ]

No. Nothing like that, really.

[ He lies, lightly, picking up his coffee to sip its cooling contents. ]

I'd say I'm talking more experience adjacent. And [ he smiles into his coffee mug, eyes shaded unhappily amused ] from an absence of experience, I guess.

I'm not too proud to admit it. I'd be less cynical about the whole thing if anyone came swooping out of the sky to save my ass when I needed it, but - well, you get it, right? You're not exactly in the prime rescue material bracket yourself.

[stresstokens]

So... less personal, more political. I bet there are lobbying groups against them, only, most people don't wanna go publicly against someone who could totally stomp you out like that.

[ At least there's that. At least his whole adventuring deal won't be lumped in with Krouse's childhood home being crushed, or his dog dying, or whatever the hell else happens when you get superpowered people running around urban neighbourhoods. It's a selfish relief. Riz is underneath no illusions about the limits of his own morality, about the people he's killed, but he's never been in a situation where he was meant to feel sorry for it.

Maybe he should have, seeing Penelope and Dayne labouring in Hell. They'd just been kids, manipulated by greater forces. But Riz and the Bad Kids had just been kids too, and so any remorse he might have felt quickly curdled in his chest. Still. Maybe feeling no remorse is worse, actually.

There's still something there. Something personal. Someone Krouse knows, or a friend of a friend, or something. He doesn't mean for it to be an uncharitable reading of Krouse, but frankly, people tend not to give a shit until it happens to them, or someone they care about. Disliking people who the government calls heroes and regularly swoop in to save ordinary civilians just isn't natural, even if they do do an awful lot of damage.

He tucks it away for later. He doesn't have a file on Krouse, exactly, it's just... he likes to know people like that. Know them more thoroughly. Understand them on paper to make for the way he can't seem to understand them as organically as everyone else can. Professional gamer, moved away from home early, worried about disappointing his Mom, fatherless, smoker, dislikes superheroes, eager to dive into conspiracy theories, little facts that he can stack up and up and up until he can make sense of the whole. ]

We all need assists sometimes. Even Adventurers. It's just one of those things where a good action doesn't overwrite a bad one. [ He lifts both hands, as though he himself is a scale of justice. ] You just gotta hope that the good outweighs the bad in the end. [ Whoof. This is too serious. Dial it back, Gukgak. ]

Or I guess you could just get really chill with the idea of going to Hell really quickly. It's not that bad.