etrayalogs | APRIL MINGLE

APRIL MINGLE

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: April 25th - Early May
WHERE: Etraya
WHAT: The arrival of newcomers, spring activities, and feathered friends!
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.

However, if they are arriving from Aphaia, it's a little different, though mostly through means and familiarity. They will still show up in the hospital of course, but how can vary. Either through Aurora offering a portal for escape, their own demise (however it might have happened), or even a simple blink of their eyes and they're in the hospital. They had been given the briefest explanation last time they were here, but at least Aurora can better answer their questions now. No time constraints nor rushing them off to a dying world, this time!

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, spring is sprung, it is warm and comfortable. Flowers have bloomed, and everything is in a sharp contrast to Aphaia—there is life within the bubble, and even the myriad wildlife seems to be basking in the glow of it all. Almost as if a celebration of that life itself.

Bees are buzzing, birds are—warking?

⏵ Birds of a Feather ⏴

Etraya has always had its interesting assortment of critters, but there seems to be a particularly colorful array of birds wandering around. Those familiar would know they are named Chocobos, those less so familiar, well, these are some strange looking ostriches, or whatever large bipedal bird equivalent fits. While the birds all seem to be of the same species, there are certainly some variety in their features. Some with friendlier faces and others looking a bit more eagle-like.

They are not particularly congregated in any one spot within Etraya, seeming to stick to groups, while others don't, yet even some are accompanied by newly hatched chicks. The observant might be quick to notice that their colors dictate some level of behavior, or even where their little groups mingle:

Colors	Behavior and habitat
Yellow	Can be found just about anywhere in Etraya, they don't necessarily stick to self-made groups, and typically are more likely to be friendly to people. However, if they are in the company of a newly hatched chick, they can become wary, though easily won over with some greens.
Green	These Chocobos are mostly found in grassy or woodsy areas, almost always in pairs, and sometimes found in the trees themselves. They are more wary than their yellow brethren, though if they see someone struggling or in danger, they are quick to offer assistance in what way they can. Doting like motherhens.
Blue	Most often found by bodies of water, these Chocobo seem content to keep to themselves. Three to a group, they are not so easy to approach without being noticed. Their skill and love of water is clear, however, and it's not unusual to find them flapping about or swimming. Though they may flee to the water if you spook them.
Brown	The most skiddish of the Chocobo, they can be found throughout Etraya, though further away from anything occupied by people. They stick to groups of four, though they have a clear leader who sports blue and green feathers, but seemingly is not of the other two types. Should they catch sight or sound of someone approaching they are like to run off, or they might attempt to defend themselves.
Red	There seems to be only one of these running around. Highly aggressive to anyone who dares to approach it. Best to avoid it. Very likely to hurl comet-like balls of fire your way. Untamable.

The birds all favor these strange cabbage looking plants that can be found out and about in the wilds of Etraya. Some proving a little overeager in their voracity to eat the leafy greens. One should be careful, with those large beaks of theirs.

⏵ Gift Hunt ⏴

It isn't only the birds that have shown up out of nowhere. Small to medium sized boxes, wrapped as if they should be under a tree, and maybe not hidden in a tree, have also appeared. For whatever reason (possibly the same reason eggs were given out over winter) there seems to be gifts hidden all over Etraya! Some in more difficult to find locations (in trees, on top of a roof, on snake island), while others look as though whoever "hid" it gave up halfway through and simply dropped it on the ground and put a leaf over it.

For those who need a little extra help, well, certainly your fellow Etrayans could lend a hand, however there are also perfectly capable birds about for those still left wanting. Certainly that blue chocobo could assist with crossing the river to obtain that perfectly balanced gift on a rock! Or what about that green chocobo roosting in a tree not too far from that gift stuck in the branches because it has entirely too many ribbons?

With that said, there might also be some dangers in trying to take one of the myriad gifts from a chocobo's nest, especially if there's a chick presently sleeping next to it. Perhaps befriending them would be a good idea first, besides, isn't friendship with a big bird the truest gift of all?

On the tag of each and every gift box says the same thing:

To: You
Love: 💋

Each gift has a random assortment within. Some contain candy, others contain alcohol, make-up...maybe even a pair of socks, very perfunctory gifts with very little thought or feeling put into them. However, there is at least one gift that is personally relevant to each character in Etraya. This item will be the equivalent of a 5 point AC reward, and does not have to be found by the person it is intended for.

What better way to break the ice than to give someone their gift which you opened!

⏵ NOTES ⏴

Welcome to Etraya newcomers and happy spring to everyone!

It appears that someone is trying to correct her previous mistake of handing out eggs during the winter holidays, and now there's a hunt for gifts accompanied by a bunch of lovely birds to help out!

Some notes in regard to Chocobos:

-Each color can be tamed except for the red one, he's a free spirit. Should someone wish to harm or attack this chocobo, let us mods know. There is only one of him, after all.

-The others will just take various amounts of work to win over, however, but they are loving and cute companions for those who are willing to put in the effort! And who knows, maybe more colors could arise with time and patience...

-Feel free to pull from all the designs of chocobos throughout the Final Fantasy series. If you fancy FFXII's, for example, there are some that look like that. Variety is the spice of life!

Concerning the personal item, be sure to plot out and get permission when finding someone else's item. This is meant to encourage possible new CR and mingling, but the choice of the item should ultimately be within the hands of the player who is receiving it.

If you are uncertain if your item is appropriate for the reward cost, feel free to ask here!

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⏴

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"I mean, who knows at this point. It's a surprise each day."

Lumine's busy with the chocobo when Alex comes up, trying to keep it happy so it doesn't attack anyone - if they attack anyone, she corrects herself. She waves back, giving him a smile. "I haven't heard of ostriches, but these remind me of a saurian from the place I was at before. I'm not sure if these can fly though."

Once Lumine's put her mind to something, there's no stopping her.

When she lands, it's obvious that she's ridiculously shorter than he is - almost by a foot. She stays a bit back so she doesn't crane her neck so far up to look at him, though still being nice. "I'm not sure..."

The box and turned upside down and right side around, looking for a tag that might be on it. "No tag or name. I don't want to leave it where it could get stolen by someone."

Lumine's looked into her box already, then takes a look into Amy's, shaking her head. "Nope, I don't recognize it, sorry."

She's getting a bit down at this point, seeing people all over the place find gifts and exchange them with someone. She still hadn't found anything that could be remotely hers... though she wondered what the world would give her. "Have you found anything of yours yet?"

Tea would be great, thanks.

[ It occurs to her that she's never seen where Kaeya's stayed before, even in Mondstadt. There was always so much to do that she wasn't sure if there was ever any chance to do so. Seeing his apartment now gave her a bit more information about him, about how he lived.

She doesn't set her box down immediately, holding it close for a moment before setting it down next to his.] If you don't mind me asking, what was in your box?

Pet—?! Okay, okay, I gotcha!

[He's not about to question why the grumpy alien knows how to calm down a panicking Chocobo. He starts petting his hand down the creature's soft neck, and adds as a softer garnish:]

Shhh, shh. It's alright. You're alright...!

Silver finished off his tea, then turned to head back to the table so that he could pour himself some more. As an afterthought, a cookie floated over to him from the table of snacks. "Want one?" He offered to Amy. He'd float one over to her if she said yes. He turned back to her with tea and cookie in hand.

"Yeah that's my thinking too. Might as well explore this place if we're going to be stuck here a while." He pointed up at the earpiece on his ear. "I also figured out how to find the map on this. Pretty handy!" He munched on his cookie. "We can always make a day of it. Explore together!"

[... Oh, that's...]

That's really nice.

[He says it with quite a lot of earnestness, carefully holding the card in his gloved hands. It reminds him of the few but welcomed moments where citizens around New York offer him things like this. Little notes, little cards or letters. Sometimes... he really misses working. It's strange to get a card from Loki of all people. But.

Stranger things have happened — and stranger things have changed.]

I should probably get back to gift scouting, but — thank you.

I'll see you later?

... Stay out of trouble, don't do drugs, all of the usual things.

[He's full of surprises. The chocobo gets another burst of energy when there's suddenly another hand touching it's feathers. Shadow shifting accordingly to keep the bird from flailing too much. Once it's mind starts to register what the hand is doing though, petting along it's sweet spot, the flailing starts to slow.

It blinks a few times, still caught between flight or relax. It's enough of a pause for it to realize how exhausted it was after trying to free itself from that gopher hole, and fighting these two. And the petting felt really nice. It's cries slowly becomes quiet whistles and coos. Once he's sure the bird has gotten to it's senses again, he'll loosen his grip, eventually letting go once the bird is fully relaxed.]

[He holds out a hand, smiling.]

You've got yourself a deal, Chrissy Cunningham.

Let's try to teach me how to make edible food.

[Laura smiles a little.]

... It's okay. I can be very serious, too.

[She doesn't mean to be. But when you're a weaponized child from a lab, you tend to be a little less goofy than the typical child. It's fine, though; she's playing catch-up.]

And I've met much more serious people. Like Accelerator, or Damian.

They both need to... Cuál es el dicho? "Loosen up."

[Silver shrugged with a wry chuckle at the 'sorry to hear that man', before taking a bite out of his cookie.] Heh, I don't actually have anything personal against him really. He's just tough to get to know, that's all.

[He blinked at the suggestion though, ears perking up a little from his fanned quills.] Huh...I suppose I could. I actually hadn't thought of that! Still getting used to the ear piece. I did manage to find the map of this place though! I didn't realize Etraya was so big! [He figured that they wouldn't want to answer him. At least the one from his world. But it never hurt to give it a go sometime.]

Oh...well I'm actually not sure! It all happened so fast. I was just sitting there on a bench munching on a ration bar when all of a sudden this huge alien just slammed into the bench like he had been thrown there. Then before I could react to that, this car comes screaming out of nowhere down the street and the aliens inside were shooting firearms of some kind...the car was on fire, it was crazy! [Silver spread his hands as he recounted this.] Car flips and comes flying at me. I manage to catch it with my powers and the thing explodes. Almost didn't shield in time. It still managed to slice my arm.

I didn't know Shadow was involved until I spotted him through all the chaos. I had been helping bystanders get to safety. He took something from the injured alien on the bench and disappeared. As for if he made the car explode I'm not sure. It was already on fire...

You did indeed.

[ Dion smiles encouragingly, though he doesn't know whether the girl even sees it in her excitement. It warms his tone nonetheless. How long had it been since he'd seen a child enjoy something simple like this? In a life largely spent in one military campaign or another, it's a rare sight for Dion, and he realizes this as the chocobos once more eagerly devour the greens with which they are presented.

The reality is that they will happily consume as much of their favorite food as they can get. As soon as it's gone, they begin glancing around for more. Near as they are to the satchel, they can certainly small that more gysahl is in the vicinity, even if they haven't spied it just yet.

Perhaps he ought to tell her that, but Dion wouldn't want to spoil her fun. Dominants like himself and Joshua were expected to fight for their homelands from a young age, but this girl seems younger still. For her entire world to have been placed upon her shoulders... Even for him, it's difficult to fathom.

Let her enjoy the respite as she likes. ]

[ Dion claims the seat across from hers, sinking into place there with the air of a soldier rather than the poise of a prince. ]

Perhaps, if others have not exhausted the subject, what to make of all this.

[ He gestures toward the window, though he means more than just their immediate surroundings. They've been told their worlds hang in the balance, that they are here to serve as their champions, yet answers are so incredibly few. ]

[ He glances toward the chocobo as it coos, evidently quite content between both treats and attention. ]

It seems a fair few of us joined the ranks at that time.

[ Dion knows the description doesn't quite suit, yet he knows not how else to describe it. They have been enlisted, in a sense, though they are not a formal military force. ]

Perhaps it is to be expected... Yet I hope not all missions are to worlds we cannot aid.

[ Dion opens his mouth to say he has already found something familiar, but he pauses for a moment. He has no way of knowing whether such objects are singular. Perhaps more than one exists that individuals might recognize. If that were the case, and he cannot prove otherwise, then Scott's question isn't one he should so simply rebuff. ]

I fear it would be avaricious to expect more, when I found something a friend once tried to give me already.

[ He acknowledges this, because it only seems right to disclose the fact. ]

Were there more than one such item... Perhaps a book from home.

[ What he already has is more than enough though. He'd never imagined he'd see that flower here. ]

What would you wish for?

[ Yuri suspects most trueborn Faerghans would feel exactly the same way. They were raised on adversity, on struggle, taught how to fight and claw their way through and survive. Cutting a path to the future was something many of them strongly believed in, because they had to. Anything less than an acceptance of needing to take hold of one's fate with their own hands was a recipe for defeat.

Sometimes, it makes them reckless fools, but it's better to die on a hill for a purpose rather than close one's eyes to reality. The decadence of Enbarr had always repulsed Yuri, a den of privilege for those with money to live decadent lives well away from the reality of their people. In a twisted way, Aphaia reminded him of that callous excess. ]

Seems to me when the going gets tough, too many people give up on doing good.

[ Yuri's instinct is to number himself among these, yet the crimes he committed were still for the sake of his people. Ashe had thrown the fact in his face before, in fact. He may not do the right things, he may have that royal knight dogging him until the fact ever changes, but what he does, he does for those who need someone to fight for them.

It's a tragedy that none among the Aphaians have the will or interest to fight for their own any longer. ]

It's an ugly reality, but maybe that was the point. Some people don't want to face that kind of thing, or imagine that it exists. Giving up can be pretty damn hideous... But our countrymen simply aren't built for it.

It is beautiful here.

[ The question of what Silver was finally answered and he would commit that to memory; wierd was the normal here as could be evidenced by the as-to-now very wierd situations that everyone had been thrust into. But man, was he glad that Silver took no offense. Now that it had been breached, it did not need to be breached again. Silver was just some guy, like him.

Also, Silver was doing him with favor for when he was finally introduced to Amy. ]

It is, and they look so happy floating around in it.. I've seen several splash through here so I've been trying to warn them to be quieter so that they do not disturb these birds, I think I heard them referred to as chocobos? But it is nothing like my home at all which is, I think a good thing.

I think you are right.

[ He did not know why he was brought here but he was assuming it was for some reason and not just as character building involving interactions with his ex-enemy now turned best friend. ] But there are some entities I would imagine-- that would want us to discover that for ourselves.

[ He tucked the snack cakes underneath his arm and then looked to Kaeya ] Have you found a named package for yourself yet? I know that certain people have.

Huh. Not the kind of answer he was expecting. It’s interesting though.

“And has intervening in the past worked so far?” He asks, curious. “Have there been any unintentional consequences?”

That's fair. [and it is.] Words won't make it better but I think Heather's going to be expecting some.

I know I'd like a word here and there, showing you have some regret.

[ He hums at that. ]

Idle hands and all that.

[ It's a problem. And Carver's never done well with boredom. He wonders if Maria is the same. ]

I scout. Run patrols. And I work out a lot.

[ He huffs. ]

Do I look like a bird expert?

[ Judging by the way Fabian says that, he doesn't think that being a bird expert is necessarily something to be proud of.. Or maybe he just thinks it's uncool. He very much look and sounds like a teenager, after all. ]

If I'm an expert of anything, it's an expert of how dumb this place is. And the dumb things this place always makes appear out of nowhere for no reason.

[ Of course are some wild words to use when talking about feelings. Especially when Fabian's relationship to emotions has been.. complicated. Better now, sure, but it's not often that he runs into someone who treats having intense feelings over something that seems relatively simple to him as something so natural!

Fabian blinks once, then twice, then manages to shake it off enough to speak. ]

You met them in another world and liked them that much?

I've read about bears before. [Not so much the others, but...

A nod!] That's right. The Northern Base is located— [give him a second to remember—] on the continent of Asia. I was living elsewhere though, when I arrived here. Is New York in Asia too?

Ah, well, I suppose we don't have to worry about it any further, then.

[ Unless more of those followers happen to appear in Etraya. But as it stands, they aren't able to do anything for them save work on the annihilation of their universe or the manifestation of God.

Somehow, he thinks Claudia will take more offense against the latter than the former. But he thinks he can word it right - he can keep her on his side about the universe ending. God could re-create everything, after all.

Perhaps, Her madness would be cured, as well. ]

We're going to solve the main issue of our universe and go from there.

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APRIL MINGLE

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