etrayalogs | 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⏴

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Young me is unfortunately looking to be angry and vigilante.

[And he can understand why because he used to be like that too. It's like watching his own mistakes getting played out again]

The other guy...

[Jason hesitates. Getting any outsider involved with the "family business" always has that potential of getting messy. He's not sure yet how much detail would be good to give]

In my world he's caused a lot of terror just for fun. One of those mad scientists types.

Oh, another one of those angry guys. This place definitely needs more of those.

[There were a lot of angry kids around these parts, which lead him to believe that much of what they were doing here was just show and not to save their worlds. He was actually surprised people weren't out there more often beating each other up with the amount of rage that was around this place.

He sensed the hesitation, and he turned his head to observe the bar in case he had to rise and give Jason the space to not answer under an excuse that he made rather than awkward conversation stalling out on the subject.]

Ah, we have plenty of those. What do you mean by terror for fun?

[Another sip before Jason replies in a careful manner]

He's obsessed with seeing how people are when they're terrified. The thing is, the guy who just came here is from a different version of my world so I don't know how similar he might be the one I know from home.

[Vander remained relatively unperturbed for the moment. People taking it upon themselves to terrorize others was hardly an unusual play. Yet, Jason seemed rather agitated about it.]

So he forces people into situations that would provoke terror in them? I assume that you and yours will keep him handled.

[Jason nods]

We can't take our chances so we're all gonna be monitoring.

[There are probably at least a dozen bugs planted in the Scarecrow's apartment by now]

And yeah. Provoking terror would be the right way to describe it. No agenda behind it other than he enjoys it.

Anything that the rest of us should be looking out for in your opinion?

[He wouldn't actively interfere as it wasn't his business, but any of those he was protective of came to harm or even this whole community business he was slowly trying to establish was disrupted too much, he would consider taking action.]

Does he have a usual MO for his acts of terror?

He likes to think he's smarter than the rest of us and won't be an obvious megalomaniac for now.

[Another sip]

He's best known for his fear toxin. It's a drug that'll make you hallucinate your worst fears. Usually it's in gas form but it being made into another form wouldn't surprise me.

Edited 2025-05-09 01:04 (UTC)

[Vander knew someone like that. That person happened to be here, which was starting to raise the hair on the back of his neck.]

Ah, tough person to deal with at the best of times.

[And there it was. He stilled in his seat, feeling dread crawl up his spine. This place was going to shit, wasn't it? Just when he was starting to settle in.]

Great, another drug. I assume he'll find the means and ingredients to manufacture it, so he needs a distributor. [Silco.] There's a drug from where I'm from that I'm watching out for too. Those two effects in combination could be deadly.

[Jason sees that change in body language and tone. He has a feeling what Vander might be thinking of]

What's the drug?

[He sighed and reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose.]

They call it Shimmer. I don't... know that much about it, but I took some before coming here. Muscle growth, uncontrolled impulses, feeling like you can do anything, extreme healing properties. I've been told the recipe has changed since I took it, but... it's still dangerous.

[Jason frowns as Vander describes it. It sounds similar to another drug from his world]

Yeah, sounds like it could cause a lot of trouble. We got a drug back home that's similar. It's called venom.

Yeah, your little brother already asked me about it and mentioned Venom. They do have similar attributes.

[He sighed because it brought them around to the point at the start.]

Venom isn't here from what I've been made to understand. Shimmer has a high likelihood of arriving. And if this doctor has his fear toxin involved, we might be finding ourselves contending with a drug trade.

[Dryly]

Great.

[Jason drinks some more]

Would they be brewing that shit here or would they have already bought it here from your home?

[Jason is keeping "they" vague but he suspects it's Silco that Vander's concerned about]

[Vander hadn't found their bolthole yet, but he knew one existed. He expected it was somewhere underground and probably in the city. He sighed and sipped from his own tumbler, mulling over the risks.]

Don't know. I expect the intention is to make it here.

[He had no doubt that the pair in question might make contact and try to forge an alliance to better their production.]

What about yours? I assume he'll manufacture it here?

[Jason nods]

New place means new opportunity for his so-called experiments. It might be a disaster if he makes contact with your so-called buddy.

Edited 2025-05-11 22:31 (UTC)

At this point, I think all we can do is watch them. I'm not a fan of punishment before a crime. I think it would be smart to put in contingency plans as a just in case.

[It seemed that he and Jason would be working together after all.]

[Jason nods]

We're working on it. You got any suggestions regarding our neighborhood drug distributor?

[He nodded. He supposed he would have to keep better track of his own world's affairs more.]

Education. If people know it's out there, they may be less inclined to experiment with it if they're aware of the effects. Stopping the distribution needs to deny them customers.

Makes sense. Lines up with what I've learned from experience. One of the trickiest things about this is you always got someone who knows how to read people and manipulate their emotions.

APRIL MINGLE

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