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!.

needfully: (pic#14782380)

setting out!

[personal profile] needfully 2021-05-25 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
[ If things were completely up to him, he'd want to just get this mission over with as efficiently and as quickly as possible— aside from maybe the investigative peek into the Adamant if its not too far out of the way. For totally selfish reasons. Looking at plants and rocks, though, is... well, not what he really expected out of another Hatchling. He thought the fear of acid rain would others try to go through the motions of retrieving the Starspire as quickly as possible, but maybe he guessed wrong.

Similar to Cal, he doesn't actually look all that prepared for the mission, as he doesn't have any sort of gear on him, aside from strange, metal, yellow dots sticking out of his clothes, which are clearly not a part of the original outfit. ]


Is it actually telling you anything?

[ Illumi pipes up; so far, he hasn't been particularly chatty outside of a basic introduction, but it seems the little droid has caught his interest. Machinery this advanced is foreign to him, and he finds himself wondering the full capacity of it's intelligence— it must be so useful! ]
morozova: by @myrmidon (gk-sab71)

[personal profile] morozova 2021-05-25 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
( to his credit, he does oblige what is obviously a very absurd attempt to derail her discomfort, peering down at her hands with a furrowed brow and look of serious consideration. )

Would you believe I have met mermaids, Alina Starkov? ( the world is a large and terrifying place, certainly, but there is a magic to it as well. and things of such unexpected beauty that they would make your heartache. )
Edited 2021-05-25 02:36 (UTC)
neversmall: (036)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-25 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
[ Nina doesn't miss that hesitation; friend can be a loaded word. She doesn't ask, she doesn't push, and she doesn't retract her offer. She lets Alina loop her arm through hers, pushes that further awareness of Alina's heartbeat to the back of her mind. ]

That's a high standard to live up to, [ Nina responds lightly. ] I hope you realize I am only intending to share these biscuits once.
rhapsodical: (Default)

[personal profile] rhapsodical 2021-05-25 02:40 am (UTC)(link)
[ Good ol' BD-1, always there for his best buddy Cal.

Soon Zeta will also always be there for her good buddy Cal, though maybe not in the way he wants. He shows off his lightsaber and she wanders closer for a better look, eyes wide with curiosity. It almost looks as though it's alive with the way it hums. ]


Nuh-uh. I've never seen anything like it before, and the Society has some pretty crazy stuff.

[ Speaking of Society stuff...she's interested in his lightsaber, sure, but she's also not about to pass up a chance to boast about the latest and greatest in Society tech. ]

Oh this? [ Said with a heft of her spear and a grin on her face. ] This is Arvess.

[ Yes, the spear has a name. No, she didn't name it (though she totally would have if given the opportunity). ]

We've been through a lot of stuff, Arvess and me. It's basically my partner wherever I go.

[ Is she talking about her spear like it's a sentient being..........yes, don't question it. ]
trassel: (33.)

1/2

[personal profile] trassel 2021-05-25 02:41 am (UTC)(link)
[ why this......... ]
trassel: (13.)

2/2

[personal profile] trassel 2021-05-25 02:42 am (UTC)(link)
— Fine.

[ Fine. Think of it like the shower, do it, get it over with. Matthias's jaw clenches briefly, and then he nods at her to lead the way. ]
sunmon: (Default)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-25 02:42 am (UTC)(link)
[ there's that slack-jawed wonder again. he keeps catching her off-guard. she has to find a way to steel herself better against that. she can't go soft and weak-kneed every time he gives her a glimmer of the world that he could show to her. he'd be showing it to her in chains.

but still, she asks,
]

I thought they were a myth.

[ just another storybook invention. like the stag she kept seeing — the one baghra had strongly suggested to be real. ]

Are there any other mythical creatures running — or swimming — around that I should know about?
sunmon: (100)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-25 02:44 am (UTC)(link)
Well, I didn't even know they were biscuits until you just said, so now I'm doubly sure.

[ she grins ear to ear. she had found her own stash of sweets — hard honey candy that she will be doling out just as cautiously to return the favor, which she keeps hidden in her locker. better spent on nina than anyone else. but they're a warm sort of comfort, not a snack. ]
neversmall: (110)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-25 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
[ Nina can only shake her head; five would have been impressive if she'd succeeded in taking them down. The four who'd come to her were established drüskelle officers and Matthias had been the one waiting for her to lift her hands up and prove that she was what they thought she was before attacking. It didn't matter how many it had taken for them to take her down; they'd succeeded, she'd failed, and as a result they'd almost lost the sun summoner. It's enough to make her feel sick.

So, it had been Arken. She'd thought it might be. It wasn't that her cover had been blown, she thought, but the Conductor was possibly the only person in the world who'd managed to make a profit off of the Fold. She can see the pattern of what must have happened. She hoped he'd died afraid, for trying to take hope from the rest of the world so he could sell it at a mark up.

Nina swallows this back as protesting that she should have done better and she's sorry she failed will do absolutely no good. If he'd felt she'd been inadequate in her response, he would have told her - there was no greater reassurance that she was not going to be held at fault for her failure than what he's already said.
She did not need to belabor the point. She'd been outnumbered and betrayed and it hadn't been anywhere close to a fair fight... but seeing what it could have cost them was horrifying on more than just a personal level. ]


Thank you, sir. [ She forces herself to go on and finish her report. ] They were taking me back to Fjerda, for one of their trials. They had a Squaller and a Fabrikator there too. I didn't recognize them and - they spent much of the time unconscious. There was a storm, and I do not believe they survived the shipwreck.
Edited 2021-05-25 03:09 (UTC)
neversmall: (031)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-25 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
[ He's humoring her, though it looks like it pains him. She gives Matthias a quick little smile and turns to lead the way to one of the dressing rooms.

Dear reader, I would like to say that Nina simply forgot to button up her blouse as she went, but that would not be the case. She considered buttoning up the blouse, and then decided, overall, to leave it.

She enters the small dressing room and turns on the light, stepping to the side as the door shuts behind Matthias.

...instantly, her awareness of him increases. It is a small space and he is not a small person. She presses her lips together as her concern for him fades into the background.

Lightly, teasing, with an undertone of wicked: ]
Should I offer to turn around?
trassel: (40.)

[personal profile] trassel 2021-05-25 03:19 am (UTC)(link)
[ This fact has not gone unnoticed. Nor has it that they are now in a very small room, which is not unlike a small cave, or an empty hut. Heat that had flared from the time of the whaler's hut licks at his insides, but her wicked invitation is simply returned with a stony mask. There's no joy in that play for him now, not when he is this close to feeling suffocated. This is not — ]

[ This is not how any of it should go, and whatever reason she may have for it can't stir him elsewhere. ]

Just stay there.

[ Maybe she should look, and have to feel as off-balance as he does. Those damned buttons. Matthias strips off his outer coat, knowing that he can't just pull his collar down, he will have to remove the shirt. ]

[ Which he does, without a word, and starts turning it inside out that he can put it back on quickly. ]

Here it is.

[ In the centre of his chest, just over his heart. ]
portolan: (c o n v e r s a t i o n)

[personal profile] portolan 2021-05-25 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
[ balthier realizes he was abrupt. he keeps his face smooth but it unsettles him. he's normally collected, relaxed, and able to read others. but the last week has him ill at ease, and his habits are more reactive. he feels like he's 16 again, on the run in a desert he's never known among people he has no idea about. it nearly broke him.

he needs to stay busy to keep those thoughts away. he follows her to drop their dishes off.
]

Didn't catch it -- we weren't there long. She had dark hair and a coat fancy enough to rival mine. Asked about my accent. Thought it was...Kerch maybe?

I have some supplies ready, but I'm happy to wait if you need some time.

neversmall: (039 (oh no he's hot))

1/2

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-25 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
[ Nina stays there. And since he doesn't say she can't look, she looks.

And.

He is. So beautiful. Iron molded over marble, not that that makes any sense, but cut from all things strong and golden, lean and fast. It's entirely unfair, and she bites her lip. ]
neversmall: (087)

2/2

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-25 03:40 am (UTC)(link)
[ She sees the mark on his chest as he presents himself to her almost defiantly, his face set to Stern. And -- Saints -- all she wants to do is ignore the entire reason why she asked him to come in there, wrap her arms around him, and finish what they didn't get a chance to start in the inn.

But her concern for him is a hotter brand in her chest than her desire for him, and that is the motivating force when she takes a half-step closer. ]


May I? [ She makes an abbreviated movement with her hand, stretching out to touch him before yanking her hand back to her side. ] I just want to make sure you're all right, [ is her raw confession. ]
portolan: (a r m s c r o s s e d)

[personal profile] portolan 2021-05-25 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
[ the thing balthier loves about teenagers is that, no matter the circumstance, they can find something to be cheery about. alina reminds him a big of penelo -- she's a lot smarter and more tactful than vaan.

he wonders how those two are doing with the strahl. has it only been a weak there, too? they probably think he's dead. or maybe they don't -- he's a pirate after all. he's disappeared before.
]

Well, lucky for you, I'm an excellent actor with formal training at Archades premier preparatory academy. They turn out world famous performers.

Your Grisha power doesn't sound so different from Mist. With the right training, I could have learned to call fire or water or a number of other elements -- anyone could, really. I chose different specialities, but I think like does call to like. My Quickenings -- they're combat magic, I guess is the best way to put it -- are more unique to my affinities. The Mist is harder to reach here, but I can reach most of what I need. [ he's hoping the recovery time is similar. ]
morozova: @easystreet (pic#14701935)

[personal profile] morozova 2021-05-25 03:52 am (UTC)(link)
Just reclusive.

( they continue their journey to the chapel, his hand resting carefully over hers. as ever, his power seeps through the touch, calming her. )

They possess a wild, strange sort of power that leads to them often being misunderstood. Rather like the Grisha.
sunmon: (pic#14852203)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-25 03:58 am (UTC)(link)
[ her tension is draining with his hand in hers. it's because he's an amplifier, she realizes. because in places of her nervousness is the low thrum of her power, buzzing at the surface of her skin. she should be outraged, but —

but it feels good. the comfort it provides is real. even if nothing else about this is.

they enter the chapel. the doors are propped, and inside is a plasticky craft table with cubes of supplies wrapped in fire blankets. alina steers them a bit. there's no crowd. a few people in pews turn around to glance at the disturbance. there is a small gaggle near the table — four people or so — who seem to be lingering in hopes of seeing the hatchlings firsthand.

the helper at the table offers them warm smiles, and each of them a bundle of supplies. alina releases kirigan's hand to take hers, and that warm feeling dissipates. she misses it instantly.

'there's a razor in there,' she notes to kirigan, and alina balks at the audacity of telling the black general that his beard is overgrown. she searches him for a reaction.
]
Edited 2021-05-25 03:59 (UTC)
neversmall: (Default)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-25 03:59 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, didn't I say? [ Nina grins innocently, retrieves the tin that's carefully stuffed in with her kefta, and moves to carry it all out. ]

Let's find someplace private-ish. Maybe a roof.

[ She will share with Alina, but she is not interested in sharing with anyone else, thank you. ]
sunmon: (Default)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-25 04:01 am (UTC)(link)
Luckily, I happen to have found the roof access for the theater.

[ which speaks to the troublemaker that she is, but also to the fact that she'd had to wrangle a six year old who had been determined to clamber up there after disappearing for just a little too long with the blue paint yesterday.

alina leads the way, winding them through the crowd arm-in-arm.
] So if you haven't been at the Little Palace, where were you stationed?
sunmon: (Default)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-25 04:05 am (UTC)(link)
Really? [ she looks more perplexed by that, somehow. the bit about actor training — he really is a jack of all trades, isn't he? — falls to the wayside for the moment. ]

I don't think any Grisha are so diversified. The corporalki — among them, healers — can't summon elements. Only etherealki can. I mean, there's some flexibility. A corporalki could be a healer or a tailor.

[ or a heartrender, she thinks, but she's trying not to make grisha sound terrifying. she'd already come from one place that people wanted to experiment on them or murder them or drink their blood for some kind of bizarre cure-all. ]

But they couldn't be a squaller. At least, I haven't heard of anything like that before.
unfastens: (my love)

[personal profile] unfastens 2021-05-25 04:16 am (UTC)(link)
... They're only clothes.

[ nice clothes, sure, but clothes nonetheless. He'll worry about trying to salvage them once he's certain he's not about to be executed or experimented on or whatever else... and that he's not just hallucinating this whole thing. For the moment, he gives up on de-blueing his jacket, looking up at Balthier instead. ]

Did any of them pull you away? I've seen people get taken out to be questioned a few times.
unfastens: (what i'm given)

[personal profile] unfastens 2021-05-25 04:20 am (UTC)(link)
[ a reasonable pursuit. ]

Why not ask the refugees? They wouldn't still be alive here if they didn't have some kind of hunting and gathering system set up.

[ he has to imagine it would be easier to fit into whatever the people here have already organized than try to form up a hunting party of strangers from the ground up. ]

It's a good idea. But that's why someone here has probably had it already.
unfastens: (so i'm asking from above)

[personal profile] unfastens 2021-05-25 04:27 am (UTC)(link)
[ huh. his brow furrows, and he lifts a hand to his own chest, shifting his lace undershirt enough to reveal... basically the same mark. It's true: it wasn't all that noticeable, and considering everything that happened to him both before and after his arrival here, Bruno had assumed it was just a bruise when he woke up and saw it. God knows he has enough of them. ]

I assumed it was... [ this is worse! ] Are they marking us?

[ he doesn't want to assume badly of the people here, considering they've been feeding and sheltering them. ]
trassel: (49.)

[personal profile] trassel 2021-05-25 04:40 am (UTC)(link)
[ It is a very reasonable suggestion. It's not what causes his expression to darken as he shakes his head. ]

They already do. The problem is we [ read: him ] cannot yet join it.

[ And really, who can blame them, he wouldn't be especially keen to share all his hard-won information with people who came out of goopy eggs. It doesn't mean it's not annoying though. Matthias knows where his skills lie, and they've always been in soldiering and killing. ]

At least, if we have our own party, we can be well-equipped.

[ And earn some goodwill. ]
unfastens: (lost in a world)

[personal profile] unfastens 2021-05-25 04:40 am (UTC)(link)
[ there was at least a 50% chance of Illumi totally ignoring that, based on his odd behavior before, so Bruno is fortunately not taken off guard by the rejection; he smoothly drops his hand and shoves it into a pocket, and decides to pretend nothing happened for both of their sakes. It's fine!! ]

Mm. And protection in a place like this means prevention, as well. People like us are probably in short supply here.

[ sending out vulnerable scientists without any guard - or at least without any sufficient guard - is a clear sign they're lacking in firepower. ]

Your ability back there impressed me.