raiamods: (Default)
raiamods ([personal profile] raiamods) wrote in [community profile] ethyraia2021-05-21 04:56 pm
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◣ OPEN ◢ HATCHING LOG 001

WHO: All PCs
WHAT: New characters arrive on Ethyraia, get interrogated, and settle in at the basecamp.
WHEN: May 21 onward
WHERE: Basecamp Leviathan
NOTES/WARNINGS: Potential character nudity, violence, trypophobia (images) as well as light mentions of gore, alcohol and drug-use, light aphrodisiac effects (optional), and references to mass death.


HATCHING LOG 001 ❀
CONTENT WARNINGS: potential character nudity, violence, trypophobia (images) as well as light mentions of gore, alcohol and drug-use, light aphrodisiac effects (optional), and references to mass death.

Players who participated in our TDM are welcome to keep their CR and the content of those threads. Please make sure to chat this out on the OOC intro & CR meme before making assumptions. Please take your time reading the hatching and basecamp bullets, as some items have been altered or expanded.

❀ HATCHING


Congrats, you've woken up in an egg. I'm sure this is exactly how you wanted to spend your Saturday, right? There's no time to get curious and check out the other egg sacs. By the time you've fought your way out of the membranous sac, spilled electric blue goop everywhere, wiped it out of your eyes and sundry other orifices to get your bearings, you have a spear (or a gun) leveled at your face, throat, or other vital organs. Even if you might be inclined to fight, you can barely lift your arms to protest being grabbed and dragged off. Before you can even get a word in edgewise, you've been thrown into a holding cell.

Characters will not have a chance to retrieve their items at the time of the first hatching, and may not even know there is anything left in the remaining eggs.

The holding cell stinks of something sour and acidic, like rotted citrus, but you are not alone. Several other detainees sit in similar squalid confusion, dressed strangely and equally gooey. Time to make nice, ask questions... figure out what the hell is going on, and maybe do something about all that slime?

Over the next few days, a few things become clear. Despite the alien greeting, your captors speak a language that you understand, and the unpleasant circumstances are revealed to be a matter of necessity, not choice. Supplies are low, but they ensure that the new arrivals' time imprisoned is as painless as can be — they offer hot communal showers of less than three minutes, some strange starchy meal-replacement, and medical treatment to those in need. You might strike up a conversation with your new best friend in the shower over a low soap dispenser or when you realize you might need to share towels.

The cost of these luxuries comes in the form of touch-and-go interrogation by the security officers keeping tabs on the cells and supervising the shower time.

A few notes:
Your character may get pulled away for interrogation at some point. No torture, no drugs; just questioning. If you would like to thread this out, please reply to CAPT CHILDE'S top level comment! A caveat: threads will not go beyond (TEN) NPC replies, and new tag-ins will not be responded to after MAY 24.

☆ Locals will be stopping by outside the freestanding holding cells to ogle or ask questions. Are you really going to be mean to that little kid staring at you with wide eyes?

☆ Characters will be let out for bio breaks. No one has to pee in a bucket, that's just inhumane!

Attempts to escape will probably get you tasered. If your character composes a genius jailbreak, you are welcome to submit it in the MOD QUESTION comment to work out how that might go with the NPCs!

❀ EXPLORE THE BASECAMP

On the heels of a little benign interrogation, a medical inspection, and a stern talking to by Captain Childe, the survivors at Basecamp Leviathan determine one thing: you don't appear to be an active threat.

Released from the detention center after three days, you are given the run-down by the locals — you're on a planet called Ethyraia, and the people around you are survivors of the catastrophic crash of the UCSS Adamant several years prior. You, in fact, showed up on the third anniversary of the crash. Weird coincidence, huh?

The first order of the day is having a proper meal at the mess hall — some of the Adamant's survivors will be friendlier than others. They've been stranded here for years, remember? Some of them will be so desperate to talk to someone who has news of other places, and some will be giving you the cold shoulder.

You'll be fed the same as the rest of them. A plastic plate of crumbled protein of unidentifiable origin and gravy over rice with a single wilted stalk of broccoli and a cup of the worst coffee you've ever had. Maybe somebody bumps into you and spills said coffee, maybe you make it all the way to one of the long tables set out for communal eating.

Time to strike up a chat with your neighbor — maybe ask them to pass the salt?

(What do you mean, there's no salt!?)

During this time, characters will be able to return to the Central Chrysalis where they hatched. While there are no clues as to how they got there, they might find items — their own, or someone else's. Everyone is strapped for supplies, but try not to snatch up anything that isn't yours. The security officers don't look kindly on people chasing one other down the hall, trying to get back their dirty magazines.

A few notes:
☆ Feel free to help out anywhere. Every little bit of assistance you offer to the locals will raise their estimation of you. You could easily help clean dishes after the meal, help fix leaky piping or repair hammocks. You could stop by the aid station and assist with the wounded. You'll be watched closely and some of the survivors will be warier than others, but most will appreciate the opportunity to have a 'break'.

☆ If your character leaves the basecamp and wanders outside the Leviathan, they may begin to notice that what they perhaps took as a giant cave is actually an enormous dragon. Everything that seems human-made will look varying levels of worn down, patched, repaired and patched again. This is not a place of prosperity and happiness. Many people are recently injured, or have new scars or missing limbs.

☆ PCs will be warned about the acid rain and inhospitable wildlife that they'll face if they venture beyond the shade of the dragon's wings.

❀ RECRUITMENT FAIR



You've been here for a week, had a chance to show your mettle. Maybe you've demonstrated a propensity for fixing gadgets (or plumbing!) or you have the command of a natural leader and the ability to wield a gun (or a tire iron!) to great effect. Either way, the Adamant's survivors are eager to put you to work so they can have their first real 'days off' in three years! Survivors have set up their various areas in the hopes of catching your attention and (possibly!) bolster their numbers! Feel free to wander around, talk to other PCs, and get the lay of the land.

ENGINEERING CORPS

Thorkil has welded a sign to a post out front, cheerfully painted by a gaggle of children to say "WELCOME!" The children are crowded around the area, and Thorkil is telling them stories about one of his many tattoos as you approach — he has a magnificent eagle tattooed on his arm, and in a hush he is explaining how it landed on him and tried to bite him like a mosquito, and how he slapped it and it just splattered right there on his arm and he's never been able to wash it off!

The children seem mesmerized by the story (maybe you are too?) and will scatter at the story's conclusion, tugging you over to the various areas, pointing things out excitedly. What is an Ehlers-Chau sublight engine? You're about to find out whether you like it or not! Or maybe you can teach them a thing or two. Those who seem to know their stuff will be eagerly invited on board by Thorkil.

The Engineering division has salvaged its tools and scrap from the Adamant’s wreckage, so it has all of the essentials from metal mills to CNC routers to circuitry tools. A holo projector throws schematics on the wall — a drill, a few potential shelter ideas for long-term settlement, and a new communications tower.

SECURITY DIVISION

Rémi has barely deigned to participate — and seems to have done so only at the request of some of his companions. He's sitting at an unadorned table and he is cleaning a variety of weapons. He will scowl if approached, and seems openly mistrustful of your intentions should you speak to him. Questions about how a conversation with Rémi might go may be posted to the MOD QUESTIONS thread. (Note: We will not be threading Rémi, so these questions will be handwaved!)

Characters who make a positive impression on him will open up the avenue to work for the Security Division later, but he will not be extending any offers now — please allow for a realistic period of development here!

Feel free to lean into another PC's space and comment on how frosty that dude seems! You can also survey the various weapons stored in racks, help out with building spears, the usual suspects.

THEATRE

The theatre doubles as a childcare center, and many of the NPCs bustling about seem very excited and eager for the chance to talk to anyone who ventures in to visit. The theatre is bright and cheerful, paintings have been done on the walls of scenes from children's stories featuring colorful characters.

The thespians will not only try to recruit you (for acting in a play, for teaching, for script writing, for drawing on the walls or caring for children) but they will actively put you to work if they see you standing idle longer than a moment! Your character may find themselves with a paintbrush in hand, or taking part in a recital for a play (you're free to invent one, or put a new spin on an old classic! Romeo and Julio, anyone?) or building a set piece for one of the many local productions.

The Theatre doubles as the protective hub in times of need, so beyond arts education and babysitting, your character may also be tasked with shoring up those defenses, helping to fortify the walls, or other such tasks. And who knows, they may be paired off with someone else rather unexpectedly!

AID STATION

Sunya Hyacinth is the local medical doctor, fueled by coffee and spite. She doesn't have the time to recruit personally — she's flitting about the aid station seeing to the injured.

If you follow her, she will put you to work. Hold this stent, articulate this dislocation, take this blood pressure reading. If anyone appears to have a proficiency for this sort of work, she may inquire after credentials — and anyone who seems to have medical experience is going to immediately be handed the medic's armband, a white band with a blue cross emblazoned on it. This armband will grant any PC an extra amount of respect and trust from the Adamant's survivors — but you'd better be able to live up to it!

Feel free to treat any injured PCs, converse with other 'recruits', help pin that white and blue arm-band on... you know, anything under the sun. Some of the patients in the medical bay seem to be suffering from the adverse effects of some of the local flora — itching hives or burning pustules. One unfortunate soul seems only able to speak in limericks, which the medical staff will admit is one of the odder things they’ve seen.

SANITATION

CONTENT WARNING: DRUG REFERENCES

It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it! There are always latrines to be dug, pipes to be repaired, general maintenance to be done on the various sanitation systems.

A nervous-looking janitor will approach your character almost shyly, and ask if you wouldn't mind giving her a hand. If you are willing to help her (fix a pipe, dig a hole, etc), she will gradually warm up to you and seem more animated and lively and very, very grateful. Won't you please consider working with the Sanitation crew? Sure, it's not as glamorous as some of the other duties, but they're the backbone of the Basecamp and they could really use the help!

She'll even let you in on a little secret if you really butter her up or show an interest — the Sanitation Crew? Totally has a little underground greenhouse where they're growing marijuana. They're totally willing to share...

Feel free to dig latrines alongside your fellow PCs, or maybe even share a joint. It's a way to pass the time, right? PCs serving in sanitation will also have an easier time overhearing the gossip that spreads around the base, since no one looks twice at them.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

CONTENT WARNING: REFERENCES TO MASS DEATH

During their first two weeks in the basecamp, any character who stops by one of the various houses of worship (in addition to a church, a synagogue, and a mosque, there is a temple with small statues to fifteen different unfamiliar deities, many of whom seem to be from different faiths), the gymnasium, or the mess hall will come across a stand that hosts a dozen or so packages.

Wrapped in the black emergency blankets that many bring with them to and from the bunks, these packages are about one cubic foot and contain folded clothes in roughly the same sizes. The styles are all different and highly individualized. Some are luxe, some are basic, and some are clearly the undershirt (but not the proper outerwear) for uniforms of the Adamant’s crew. Warm-faced folks eagerly give out a single package to each new hatchling. Along with the clothing and blanket, hatchlings will receive basic packages containing basic toiletries — bar soap, a toothbrush, a straight razor, etc.

Come by at the wrong time, and you might see a fight break out. A young person, red-faced, shouts at the volunteers working these stands, “Those were our people! Our families! We should be the one to decide what’s done with what they left behind.”

In hushed tones, clearly trying to keep this from becoming a conflict, the lead volunteer insists, “Take it up with Captain Childe.”


A few notes:
Feel free to have your character sign on to help out with any of the listed divisions, with the exception of security.

☆ Characters may collect one (1) care package from the community outreach program. If your character intends to come back for more, please let us know in the Mod Questions thread.

☆ Feel free to ask for light NPC interactions in the MOD QUESTIONS header; we can give you a general idea of how a conversation might go! Like with the Captain Childe threads, none of these threads will be lengthy, and new tag-ins will not be responded to after MAY 24.

❀ THE DREAMING

You are standing at the edge of an immense, underground lake. Water laps at the shore, echoing in the cavern. There is a sense of peace and warmth and — welcome.

A creature emerges from the lake and approaches you. Its gills flutter, its eyes are a faint bioluminescent glow in the darkness. It reaches out to touch you — one long, elegant finger presses against your chest. It feels as if it might crack your sternum open and ferret beneath your bones as if looking, looking for something. Yet, there is no malice from it, and you feel no fear.

But the creature relents. It backs up. Bows to you once, and then turns and walks back into the water.

You stay for some time at the edge of the lake. Eventually, it seems as if another person is here with you, or perhaps they simply came into focus after being here just as long as you. Should you speak with them?

A few notes:
PCs may interact with one another in the dreams. They will be in a semi-conscious state, not wholly aware they are dreaming and not wholly under the impression of its normalcy.

☆ Your character will wake up naturally from the Dreaming, they will feel peaceful and refreshed.
The lake, if they choose to swim in it while dreaming, would be perceived as the perfect ambient temperature for them — some characters may prefer it to be warmer or colder!

☆ If they duck below the water, they will see far-off glittering city lights, but no matter how they try to swim towards them they will never get any closer!

☆ If your character tries to drink the water, they might notice that for a few minutes after they wake they can hear little snippets of NPC thoughts. Weird!

☆ Every character will have a small, pale lilac mark where they were touched on the chest. It will fade over the next few days.

❀ FETCH QUEST

CONTENT WARNING: REFERENCES TO LIGHT APHRODISIAC EFFECTS

A small, perky woman corrals you somewhere near the latrines. "Hey!" she says insistently, pushing her hat back and sending a spill of inky curls askew from her forehead. "We need a hand. There's this plant we get for Sunya — the Doc? You met her yet? — it's a painkiller. Go through a shitload of that, which I'm sure is quite surprising," she says all this in a single breath, and her expression is sour despite her cheery tone.

"You any good at botany? We need another round of Starspire root. Can't harvest the ones we've got in camp, they've been a little cranky lately. You'll have to go about four kilometers due west, towards the old Adamant wreck. Just watch them — if they start to sweat, you'll need to get under cover, means the acid rain is coming. I'll upload the specs to your Comm."

Seems like you're being partnered with somebody else for the run — another person looking perhaps about as equally haggard as you, and at least as equally voluntold. Hopefully you won't run into any difficulties — how hard can retrieving one plant be?

A few notes:
☆ Feel free to have random monster encounters along the way! Don’t forget to wait for approvals on bestiary submissions before incorporating them into threads.

☆ The plants are at a high elevation, so they will exist on rocky outcroppings along a cliff-face. The landscape here is mostly high desert, which means it is full of thin, calf-high grasses, scrub plants, and non arable land polluted by dense, alkaline soil and rocks. Be creative in how you get there!

☆ Somebody gets hurt? Here, chew this root! They said it was a painkiller, right? What's the worst that could happen? (People can get a little ... flirtatious, shall we say.)

☆ Or you could go one step further and try exploring portions of the Adamant! Remember, the ship itself was built to house seventy thousand people — it's the size of a city, and it cannot be adequately explored in an afternoon! If you'd like anything specific to come of this, or if you’d like to know specifics about the Adamant’s layout, please consider submitting a plot request!.

neversmall: (029)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-23 09:54 pm (UTC)(link)
It's been less than two weeks. If a bunch of strangers hatched from rocks in the middle of Os Alta, do you think any captain of the guard would be eager to let them help with guarding the city in that time?

[ Nina gives Alina a wry grin and then shrugs a shoulder. ]

They're going to need help and they're going to need time. If you want to help with mapping, and you're any good at it, I'm sure you'll get your chance. [ Quick, teasing, friendly: ] Are you any good at it?
sunmon: (Default)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-23 09:57 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm very good at it. I was in a cartography unit with the First Army, before ... everything else. [ she's grinning, at least, not taking any offense. frankly, it's bizarre enough to think about kirigan doing anything that isn't leading the second army. she bears no hard feelings over anyone who might wonder if the sun summoner was any good at anything but summoning sun. ]

I'd just hoped that after the rat warrens... [ she sighs. ] But you're right.

[ even when they had found her, kirigan had begun with disbelief and mistrust. he would have put her to death, she's sure, if she had been anything less than the sun summoner. the ravkan armies were at least as desperate as this one, and they viewed even hope as an enemy. ]

Anyway. It's smart of you, foregoing the kefta. [ she gestures at nina's clothes, then starts buckling the front of her own kefta. ] That's all I meant.
Edited 2021-05-23 21:58 (UTC)
baum: (l a s h e s)

[personal profile] baum 2021-05-23 10:10 pm (UTC)(link)
This is not, honestly, John's first time being interrogated. He's been arrested before, for one thing, and he's had more than his fair share of social workers breathing down his neck. He's also had guns pointed at him far more often than he'd like, and thus, nothing about this situation makes him panic.

It does piss him off, though. For once, absolutely nothing about this is his fault. He'd like to stop being treated like it is.

He sits looking at the captain, head held high, expression unreadable. He'd checked the exits when he was brought in, though, and noted how many other officers were around. He hadn't done it consciously, but he'd done it.

"Look, I have nothing to say," he says, lifting his brows. "I don't know how I got here, it wasn't deliberate, and I don't know anyone here. So whatever it is you want, you have the wrong guy."
baum: (s u n l i g h t)

[personal profile] baum 2021-05-23 10:23 pm (UTC)(link)
[ John looks from the man, to the wolf, and back again. It's an interesting question, and one he would automatically excuse himself from at home. Here, though, it's different. He's openly carrying the rifle slung across his back, which is probably what invited that question.

He looks on the young side, but he shrugs.
]

Yeah. It's been a while. Is that wolf coming?

[ And is it tame? ]
neversmall: (108)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-23 10:29 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Ah, good. Nina notes the pride in a skill, an accomplishment, the confidence in Alina's tone. Very good. That's the sort of thing she likes to hear from people. It's good to know that Alina has a touchstone of it to build upon.

A cartography unit was a necessary unit; Nina had relied upon that sort of intel more than once. It tells her a bit more about Alina's character that she'd been successfully involved in that sort of work.

The rat warrens were a step, but just a step - no need to belabor that point, Alina gets it, and Nina's brows come together as Alina continues, the compliment leaving her a little confused. ]
If you want to stop wearing it, why are you wearing it?
baum: (s u s p i c i o u s)

Basecamp - Redwing

[personal profile] baum 2021-05-23 10:35 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Exactly one occurrence of that electronic chirping is enough to put John on alert. Sight of the drone sends a wave of panic through him, one he hastily smothers down.

When it flees, he follows. There's a rifle slung over his back, and a handgun in the waistband of his jeans. He's acutely aware of their presence, but neither make it to his hand just yet. Instead he moves fast, careful to give himself the cover of a crowd, or the side of a building.

Finding himself facing Sam, of all people, at the end of that hunt, is the last thing he expected. He stares at the machine.
]

It's yours? It was tailing me.
sunmon: (Default)

cw: just ... darklina ... idek how to describe. grooming??????

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-23 10:54 pm (UTC)(link)
[ for a moment, alina looks very young, very surprised that nina had gleaned that discomfort from her willingness to admire a good strategy. perhaps that did make her naive, as baghra had said. ]

I didn't mean to make it sound like I want to stop wearing it. [ she drops her chin, embarrassed. but there's something else there. discomfort simmers under the surface, quickens her pulse. it's not quite fear, but it's a close cousin. ] Just that it's smarter.

[ she needs to commit to this. she needs to stop hedging, stop feeling sorry for herself. she takes a deep breath, smoothing her hands down the front of it. they hadn't exactly been hiding it, back at the little palace.

there's something deeply disingenuous about her flirtatious confidence as she says,
] But I think the General likes seeing me in it. [ she seems to notice that it's not quite convincing, so she tacks something more honest on quickly, matter of factly, as if she were brushing past the subject. ] It doesn't hurt that it's bulletproof.
neversmall: (051)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-23 11:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[ ...giiiiiiiiiiiirl, what? Nina blinks.

...okay, I mean.

She supposes. The General is hot. In like. The way an earthquake is hot. Or the way a sudden jagged cut of a cliff has... an... appeal? So. Like.

It's not that people in the Little Palace haven't tried, with Kirigan. He is objectively good-looking. And power is a strong aphrodisiac, and Kirigan has power. Kirigan also controls shadows, Alina controls the sun; they are unique in their abilities, she can see the draw... she... supposes.

Sort of. See. The thing is. Nina's had quite a bit of experience in this. And every experience she's ever had pales to what she has with Matthias, and they haven't even kissed yet, because they are a wholehearted and unabashed clash of souls. They are, each of them, themselves with the other person, and anything less would never satisfy. And this, to her, sounds like Alina is making herself small in order to please the person who should be lifting her up and helping her see her own power, her own strength.

But she could be reading into it. Now is not the time to act yet, or even to ask. This strikes Nina as the first disingenuous thing that Alina has told her, and if that is the case, the other girl must have a reason. So Nina won't corner her on it yet, they have time, and she knows when to extend a rope.

So Nina smiles a little and nods. ]
Bulletproof cloth is a solid appeal. I'll probably wear it when I venture out of the camp. Inside the camp, though, I'm more worried about heatstroke than bullets.

[ Nina bends over to towel dry her hair, speaking through the sheet of it: ] You could always consider saving it for when you want to make that kind of impression.
portolan: (c h e e r y)

[personal profile] portolan 2021-05-23 11:26 pm (UTC)(link)
[ balthier hadn't been paying attention to his phrasing but delights in her playfulness -- he could use some after this week. ] Alas, breaking my heart when it's still recovering. [ as to her question, it's one he's been getting a lot. he's not really sure he's from anywhere, given the events of the last year, but that's meaningless to anyone here. ] Home's called Ivalice. Yourself?

[ he notices that she shakes hands very briefly. a custom, or a personal preference? ]
sunmon: (pic#14852476)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-23 11:38 pm (UTC)(link)
To be fair, until recently, I thought I was sharing quarters with a fearsome Fjerdan witch-hunter. [ alina towels through her wet hair one last time, but messily. ] The night of the winter fete, before I woke up here, an assassin made it into the Little Palace. He was looking for me.

[ kirigan had wielded that information against her as a weapon. she has made peace with what happened to marie now. she can't do anything about it, but she needs to acknowledge that nowhere is safe — inside this camp or otherwise — when you are the sun summoner. ]

But ... I think you might be right. I'm probably being overcautious, here.

[ she smiles, thin and tremulous. the other issue, of course, is that she is always trying to make an impression on him. there is no 'when.' she hasn't heard any stories of what happened to grisha who escaped the little palace and turned on the second army because as far as she knows there are none, and she knows that he'll see it as a weakness, a point of betrayal, if she strips off his color before she gets him out of his own. ]

I'll put more thought towards it.
cryptoherpetology: (023)

[personal profile] cryptoherpetology 2021-05-23 11:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He's suddenly really greatful he's nearsighted and not farsighted. He'll actually be able to see the display with his glasses off and Sam's goggles on. He imagines trying to layer the two would be awkward. ]

I'd appreciate that a lot. Having a literal birds-eye view will really help identify anything that might be edible. I figure expanding the menu can't exactly make the locals like us less.

[ Rising tides, and all that, he thinks. He pushes his glasses up, looking in the distance that he thinks Redwing was in last he saw. Damned if he can tell in this light anyway. ]

Assuming we come back successful from the hunt for painkillers, anyway. Any luck on that front so far?
neversmall: (002)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-23 11:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Ravka. [ She doesn't appear to be phased by the fact that she has no idea where Ivalice is, but she is, because he's speaking perfect Ravkan to her ears and she has no bloody idea why. She shakes her head a little, still smiling a bit. ]

I've never heard of Ivalice, I'm afraid. That's going to take a bit of getting used to - this whole meeting people from different worlds while on a different world thing. Every time I think I'm starting to get used to it, it strikes me as strange again.
cryptoherpetology: (Default)

[personal profile] cryptoherpetology 2021-05-24 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
[ Alex has... no trouble following that, and several questions on his little mental list get check-marked as answered as he follows, noting the use of certain phrases. Multiple earths. Alien magic. ]

So you were dimensionally displaced from an earth that had made alien contact before you got here, learned magic in that world, and then hatched with the rest of us. [ Noted. With about 5000 more questions still piling up in his mind like background browser tabs. ]

If you can pull that off with food— well, I'm not a religious man, but I'm also not above some intellectual theft from divine sources either. [ The whole loaves and fishes thing is definitely public domain anyway. ]
cryptoherpetology: (014)

[personal profile] cryptoherpetology 2021-05-24 12:21 am (UTC)(link)
I grew up hunting, yes. [ Not always for food, and not always to kill, but everyone in his family has learned tracking and hunting skills. ] I don't currently have the best weapons for game hunting, but if you're looking to contribute to the food supply I'm happy to help in any way I can.

[ Alex is dressed more like a librarian than a hunter, but seems confident enough about his abilities. ]

I'm Alex, by the way. Alex Price. [ Getting to introduce himself by his full name without lying about it is still new enough to him that he keeps doing it James Bond style. ]
wittingly: (Cᴏᴍᴇ ғʟᴀɪʟɪɴɢ ᴀʀᴏᴜɴᴅ)

[personal profile] wittingly 2021-05-24 12:37 am (UTC)(link)
( He snaps his finger and points enthusiastically at the summary - exactly. Bingo. It's probably strange to see a man seem both enthusiastic and mellow at the same time, and yet this long-haired nerd somehow manages. )

As hilarious as that would be considering how much style inspiration I've clearly taken from Christ, unfortunately there's this--

( He falters, sort of talks with his hands as he searches for the right words. )

I can mainly only do it with inorganic material. No food, no flesh, no plants, no water. I keep racking my brain trying to figure out what the barrier is, you know? What the- uh- I mean in theory, there shouldn't be a difference, but I can--

( Well. Demonstration- he reaches out and sort of vaguely waves a hand in front of Alex's neckline. Congratulations, you are now wearing a v-neck. )

Shirt made of cotton? No problem. Cotton plant? Nothing doin'.
trassel: (08.)

[personal profile] trassel 2021-05-24 12:53 am (UTC)(link)
Matthias Helvar.

[ The reference is, sadly, lost on him; he stands and offers a brief, firm handshake. Matthias isn't really what anyone would call a team player, he's tried to slough off those parts of himself. But a hunting party is more effective than a lone wolf on a strange planet, plus, he's actually finding that he doesn't mind so much, all the people he's met. Alex might look like a librarian, but his words are firm, pleasant, and most of all, don't sound like a needless boast, or a lie. ]

I am looking to help with food and supplies. [ Currently the purview of Security, and he and Remi didn't exactly see eye to eye, perhaps literally, too. ] What weapons are you used to?
trassel: (49.)

[personal profile] trassel 2021-05-24 12:57 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's not a rifle Matthias recognises, but he does know what it is and what it can be used for. ]

He's a hunter.

[ He's inured enough to questions about it that he doesn't immediately snap, what kind of silly question is that, Trass is an isenulf, he's the most useful friend Matthias has, if he thought in those terms. ]

He will choose whether to remain at camp or come with us. Is that fair?
cryptoherpetology: (003)

[personal profile] cryptoherpetology 2021-05-24 12:57 am (UTC)(link)
When Alex is brought in for questioning, he's quiet, diplomatic and as respectful as he can manage while as tired as he is. At least he's clean and dry by now.

From what he's seen from his cell and heard from the people who would talk to him from them, the newcomers are new mouths to feed these people didn't ask for at best, and potential threats at worst. As much as he's lived his life back home in secrecy, he doesn't see a lot of use for it here.

So he answers questions in the interrogation easily. Talks about his life, his upbringing, his glancing familiarity with interdimensional theory and a career in what is more or less equivalent to xenozoology. With the exceptions of the names and present locations of any of his family members, he more or less makes himself an open book to Captain Childe, assuming it will be easier for both of them that way.
He tries to make it as clear as possible that even as an unwilling stowaway, he'll earn his keep since it's the best way to stay alive, and he can only get back home if he does that much.

After he's told her more or less everything, he sits back, sighs.

"What are you willing to tell me, Captain?"
Edited (it works better with dialog, I guess. Sorry!) 2021-05-24 02:28 (UTC)
trassel: (51.)

[personal profile] trassel 2021-05-24 01:09 am (UTC)(link)
[ Clearly, they are both the last of the great conversationalists. But Matthias is used to being with a wolf, with which conversation was not necessary, as they were well-trained and well-suited to work together. Silence is very comfortable, and very known. ]

Yes, I think so.

[ If the wreck is still here after three years, there's undoubtably something to be learned from it. ]
trassel: (16.)

[personal profile] trassel 2021-05-24 01:12 am (UTC)(link)
I am not fooled.

[ Lightly. She is the most devious creature he has ever met. Matthias' attention flicks to those highlights, darting over them to appreciate them in the privacy of his own mind, before he himself feels the urge to stretch. He'd already been to the gym today, and the labour of the past few hours has been pleasant, but he's feeling the ache. ]
neversmall: (061)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-24 01:13 am (UTC)(link)
[ Nina glances up at Alina abruptly through her hair. What kind of assassin infiltrates the Little Palace? A desperate or a highly motivated one - but to even get inside? What kind of coincidence was it that the job she'd been sent on had needed her for just such an event, sneaking inside?

Well, no use regretting that someone had got inside, that she hadn't been there to stop it. She'd had her own problems at the time.

But she did regret it. How would things have been different if she'd been where she was supposed to be? ]


I'm sorry you had to deal with that. [ She stands, flipping her mostly dry hair up in the motion. ] If it makes you feel any better about the kefta, I don't think regular clothes will help us blend in >that much. And there's no rush. We have nothing but time.
sunmon: (Default)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-24 01:18 am (UTC)(link)
[ alina freezes, the weight of nina's words sinking in. just as with her arrival to the little palace, it had not fully set in for her just how long they might be here. but it's indefinite. that's the truth.

no assassins, perhaps, but also no salvation for ravka. no end to the fold. no escape from kirigan. the thought dizzies her.
]

Well, that's a bit grim, isn't it? [ she points it out more simply, more frankly, than really represents her thoughts. ] We'll find a way back. We have to.
cryptoherpetology: (007)

[personal profile] cryptoherpetology 2021-05-24 01:27 am (UTC)(link)
[ He nods along as he listens with the look of a grad trying to commit the explanation to memory. ]

Something about cellular decay, maybe? Cotton fiber is inert in a way that a cotton flower isn't- not to mention the water content. [ He pauses a beat and realizes he's started to hypothesize without even introducing himself. ]

Uh. Alex Price by the way. My degree's in vet sciences, but my life's weird enough to justify having to know a little bit about everything. [ "What you don't know CAN kill you" may as well be his family's motto. It's certainly written in his grandfather's journals often enough to be. ]
neversmall: (095)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-24 01:29 am (UTC)(link)
I'm not trying to fool you.

[ She watches him watch her, awareness between them growing more tangible. ]

And it might take more than paint to help you. You could try smiling.
wittingly: (I ᴡᴀs ғɪᴠᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴇ ᴡᴀs sɪx)

[personal profile] wittingly 2021-05-24 01:36 am (UTC)(link)
( Nobody should seem as stoked about cellular decay as Ian does right then, because it makes sense.

Right, yeah, saying names like people is probably a good thing to do. He holds out a hand to shake, because he's one of those guys that apparently still does that. Months and months in a place where skin to skin contact was taboo and he still can't break some habits.
)

Ian Fowler. Engineering. Teaching it mostly, or I was until...

( Vague you already know what I'm going to say shrug -- aliens. Also, now... planet hopping. )

Nice to meet you, man.