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!.

angerberg: (Default)

[personal profile] angerberg 2021-05-26 01:35 am (UTC)(link)
And what wrong ideas.

[ every culture takes very seriously the indoctrination of its children. she'll give him that. ]

Yennefer. [ she lifts her chin a bit. ]
spalten: (pic#14544826)

[personal profile] spalten 2021-05-26 01:39 am (UTC)(link)
I'm familiar with it. But it's also probably familiar to anyone who's experienced a huge divide between those who have something and those without.

[ rather gently - ] In my opinion, the only way we can do them justice is to contribute well to the life here.

[ so at least there's meaning in them taking someone else's belongings, dead or otherwise. ] What kind of ship were you in before? What's the name?
trassel: (40.)

[personal profile] trassel 2021-05-26 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
Obviously it was a wej. It was not anything else.

[ Annoyance coats over all the words — maybe this sounds like crazy superstition, to her? He's not actually sure, but he's not going to concede he may have been mistaken about it when... nothing felt wrong. It was no blight or demon, it was the nearest thing to home he'd had since he turned his back on it, and the pull is strong. ]
sunmon: (Default)

[personal profile] sunmon 2021-05-26 01:40 am (UTC)(link)
A few years. [ her little nod suggests much the same as nina. ] I think a few of them were coming around to liking me, despite ... [ she shrugs. her smile is a weak flutter of acknowledgment. ] You know.

[ it was always the first thing anyone pointed out about her. even those who knew. even the king and queen themselves. she exhales. ]

Or at least they were before ... [ she thinks of alexei going over the edge of the skiff that she'd put him on. she ducks her head. ] But the Little Palace has been nice. Let's see, I've made friends with Nadia and — [ marie. poor, dead marie. all around her are the corpses of friends. alina clears her throat and surges on. ] Genya. Fedyor. [ she crinkles her nose. ] Ivan and I need a little more time, I think.

[ time that they won't get because alina won't be staying. it's hard to even imagine leaving them behind. ]
spalten: (pic#14544807)

[personal profile] spalten 2021-05-26 01:43 am (UTC)(link)
[ vidar hums softly at his words. 'feels ancient'? how strange. ]

... That an ability of yours, then?

[ similar to what would pass as something fantastical back in his world. though he'd probably accept this as a consequence of being in this world, too; he'd never imagined sharing this with someone else let alone in a dreamlike state. ] I wouldn't know if this is ancient or otherwise. But it's interesting. Proof that this place will change you, eventually.
spalten: (pic#14544816)

[personal profile] spalten 2021-05-26 01:44 am (UTC)(link)
Certainly. If it's accidental that the Adamant ended here, then being here is a giant inconvenience everyone must bear with.

[ rather thoughtfully, ] But I also don't think we know everything about this world. I highly doubt they've the tools to survey it properly.
neversmall: (006)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-26 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
[ Nina looks at, and quickly memorizes, the sketch he shows her. It lines up with what she remembers when they'd been marched toward the cells. ]

Well, let's hope there's less goo involved this time. [ She'll be happy to carry whatever her share of the supplies he is, well, willing to share. Then she'll set off. ] What sort of things have you heard people have recovered?
neversmall: (109)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-26 01:50 am (UTC)(link)
[ ...yup, there it was. What she'd been worried about. She doesn't want to take a hatchet to what comforts him, but she doesn't want him to be built up on a false foundation either. ]

I wasn't aware you had so much experience with wej that you could identify one on sight, in a dream, in an alien planet. [ Her hand goes up, underneath her locket, to brush against her newly buttoned buttons and over the small lilac mark. ] I certainly haven't. For all I know, it may very well be a wej -- of this place. It certainly... felt like it belonged here. Didn't you feel that too?
cryptoherpetology: (006)

[personal profile] cryptoherpetology 2021-05-26 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
[ Alex looks almost surprised at the grin at first. He's clearly not used to being as social as the last few days have demanded of him, nor at being befriended as quickly as Sam seems determined to. It's a welcome kind of strange in a world where there's a lot lot of weird. The surprise twitches in to momentary confusion, clearly not familiar enough with his co-hatchlings yet to assign even descriptive nicknames to faces. ]

I think Crow might get jealous if he finds out I've been petting other aerial scouts. [ It's a joke, but man is his delivery dry. ] I was talking to Mattias about too. I agreed to start trying to find something here people can eat without any poisonings- if you'd be willing to have Redwing do some daily surveillance on the same route, I can start studying the local- well, everything. [ It's not a proper expedition, but it's a hell of a step up from a trail cam. ]
needfully: (pic#14879365)

[personal profile] needfully 2021-05-26 02:00 am (UTC)(link)
[ He'll be honest: he hadn't thought of it that way, not at all. When you put it like that... he supposes it makes sense. Clothes really do "belong" to people in a way that's different from food or beds. Not that he feels it really changes his opinion on whether or not he should be wearing this stuff, which will become obvious with the way he folds up the shirt to rest on top of the jacket he already has. ]

If that's how you feel, then I won't stop you. [ Illumi gives a shrug, his blank eyes giving Trish a once-over. A seemingly normal girl, probably someone who really hates to cause conflict if she doesn't even want to be associated with something like this. An attitude like that is understandable, even if its not relatable. ] Washing that one outfit might get tiring, though.

[ Because she'll have to take it off to clean it? Right...? Or maybe she could wash it while bathing? Either way, he's not here to chastise or try to needle her (pun unintended) about her decisions. Clearly, he either respects her choice, or flat out doesn't care. Abruptly, like a lightbulb just went off in his (empty) head: ]

—Oh, I know. Making your own clothes would solve your problem.
cryptoherpetology: (013)

[personal profile] cryptoherpetology 2021-05-26 02:04 am (UTC)(link)
[ Alex is taking absolutely everything seriously right now. There's no option not to. ]

Does the dragon count? It looks something like a species I've seen back home, but that might just be a case of convergent evolution. Nature likes to repeat the same shapes a lot- probably why humans show up in so many worlds. [ And snakes in so, so many more. Nature really likes that shape. ] There's an animal that arrived with me as well. He's not edible. [ One meal is not worth losing the emotional stability of the cryptozoologist, lest Alex go all John Wick. ] He's trained to fetch small prey, should we ever find any. [ Usually after eating one or two of his own first, but he is a cat-bird hybrid, not a dog-bird hybrid. ]
Edited 2021-05-26 02:04 (UTC)
trassel: (51.)

[personal profile] trassel 2021-05-26 02:06 am (UTC)(link)
[ Sometimes, it feels like they understand each other completely. ]

[ At other times, it feels like he could shout for hours and Nina wouldn't hear or understand a word he said. She may not have meant judgement, but judgement is what he hears in the first half of her words, and his mouth presses into a line, drawing himself in towards his own body. ]

It is of this world.

[ His tone is flat. ]

If it is something else, then its nature will become clear. [ with slightly more force in the words, ] As I said, we will be meeting again.

[ But right now, he very much feels she should have just let it be. (But she so rarely lets him be.) ]
needfully: (pic#14877873)

[personal profile] needfully 2021-05-26 02:09 am (UTC)(link)
[ Oh, so that's what she meant. Well, in that case: ]

I've had worse, [ Bluntly, as he scrapes up what remains on his plate to one side. ] So I don't mind.

[ At the very least, he doesn't speak with his mouth full, waiting between bites to respond to her— but his plate is almost gone anyway, so she soon won't have to watch him anymore regardless. His eyes remain on the food rather than on her, expression unchanging even as he moves the clumpy, grainy bits around with his spoon. ]

Dragging it out will only make it last longer, you know. It's better to get it over with.
trassel: (36.)

[personal profile] trassel 2021-05-26 02:14 am (UTC)(link)
[ That's a good question. Matthias' brows furrow as he considers, then, instinctively decides, ]

It may.

[ Although he wouldn't eat that or kill it. It's not a pet. He does not want to court the wrath of anyone by hurting their companion, he absolutely would go berserk if anyone so much as considered Trass a meal, even as a joke. ]

Small prey — like birds or rabbits? [ Pigeon meat, perhaps. He's had a lot of experience digging out winter rabbits lately. ] Trassel, [ with a nod to the wolf, whose ear flicks at his name, ] is used to dealing with bears, when we found them on the ice, at home.

[ But they both hunted very human shaped prey. ]

He can manage anything reindeer-sized or smaller.
needfully: (pic#14777356)

[personal profile] needfully 2021-05-26 02:19 am (UTC)(link)
[ Illumi gives a hum of agreement. He gets the feeling Bruno is saying that for a reason, so he goes along: ]

You surprised me, too. Your "Stand" is different from my nen. [ Breaking eye contact, he lets his eyes drift back to the weapon shelves, holding his arms loosely against his chest. ] That's what we call abilities like mine, where I come from. To put it simply.

[ Normally, he would be more hesitant to even mention the existence of nen to someone who clearly doesn't know what it is. But, for now... its probably fine, he decides, since the man has no way of finding out more about nen except through Illumi's mouth. ]
cryptoherpetology: (027)

[personal profile] cryptoherpetology 2021-05-26 02:22 am (UTC)(link)
[ Like Nina, Alex has been making regular circles around the base camp and memorizing the layout and the faces. It's hard not to notice when he sees someone else doing the same thing. He places her age somewhere around his youngest sister, which only sends a momentary pain of regret through his chest. He takes that regret about Antimony and tamps it down hard until it's flat enough to slip into his mental "stay alive, deal with later" file.

He himself is more noticeable in the days following the trip to the Chrysalis chamber. It's not that he found any particularly garish clothing, and his weapons are hidden well enough not to show through his tweed jacket. What is noticeable is the animal wrapped around his shoulders.

At very first glance, it looks like a black bird sitting on a furred cloak... until one realizes the feathers and fur are from the same animal. A large furry housecat's hindquarters and tail and a big black corvid bird's wings, beak and talons in place of front legs. Crow the church griffin has been clinging to him since he'd found him curled up in the egg Alex had hatched from, laying over his weapons like a bird guarding a nest of tiny, deadly eggs.

Alex is about to do the usual politely-passing-someone-familiar nod-smile when Crow decides that no, it's time to make friends now. Not having to hide himself is as novel to the griffin as it is to Alex- and the griffin has less impulse control. Before Alex can grab him, he swoops down off his shoulders and glides to the ground in front of Nina, chirruping curiously, trying to see if this person is a threat to his person or, more importantly, if she has food. ]


Crow, get back here. [ Alex is quick behind him. ] Enough people are probably wondering how close you taste to chicken, stop wandering off. [ Crow seemingly ignores him. Alex sighs. ] I'm sorry, he's been a bit overstimulated lately.
neversmall: (041)

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-26 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
[ She watches him physically close off from her and Nina wants to turn and punch a wall. To do so would be to invite a tone of violence to this that she never wants to see, so she has no outlet for her sudden flare of hurt and frustration. Aggravating, arrogant, impossible -- what is she doing? What is he doing?

At times it feels like the only way to move forward with Matthias is to bare her heart wide open, shave off a piece of her defenses, and wait for him to hurt her and walk away. But each time she's managed to do it... well... I will keep you warm. He hasn't walked away.

Her hands flop out at her side, the sides of loosely curled fists hitting back against her hips. ]


You sound so certain. [ He always sounds so certain. ] Forgive me if I question and try to understand. Everything here is so different. I just don't want you to rush to conclusions or be disappointed. And I am trying to understand.

[ Both his perspective... and just what had happened, why they were all, suddenly, here. ]
rhapsodical: (pic#14008807)

[personal profile] rhapsodical 2021-05-26 02:35 am (UTC)(link)
[ Worse? What could possibly be worse than brown goo, dessicated rat carcasses?

But Zeta chooses not to ask that question, positive that she'll hate whatever answer comes out of his outh, and so she just sighs - loudly! - when he offers up his oh-so-helpful advice. ]


I know, I know.

[ Cue another groan as she picks up her spoon. It hovers over her plate before slowly sinking into the goop. ]

I can't believe I'm going to have to eat this for the rest of her life.

[ It's enough to make a girl cry. You know what else is enough to make a girl cry? The taste of this "food" as she shoves a heaping spoonful of it into her mouth, chews, and swallows. The look on her face is pained, to say the least. ]
trassel: (42.)

[personal profile] trassel 2021-05-26 02:38 am (UTC)(link)
[ Not a heartbeat ago he had been frustrated with her for not understanding, when it had come to Alina. And now — shame floods him, at having shut off the second she did try to understand, question what he'd seen and felt to be able to look at it properly. She is so different, and nothing of this is easy, but she's always worth the pursuit. ]

[ It had hurt more, then. It barely stings now that Matthias can recognise it. He sighs, takes a step towards her to reach for her hand. ]

It's certain because that's what it was. Maybe next time it will be something else, and it may be disappointing. Last night, it was not.

[ And she doesn't have to flit around him, hands joined, willing to defend every part of his internal structure. He needs no shield, and Nina isn't that besides; Nina is a hailstorm, a cataclysm. ]

Can that be enough?
Edited (i can type omg) 2021-05-26 02:41 (UTC)
rhapsodical: (pic#14008809)

[personal profile] rhapsodical 2021-05-26 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
[ She sighs again, looking down at the package in her hands before clutching it a little tighter to her chest. ]

Yeah, I guess you're right.

[ At least his question has her brightening, a bit of color returning to her cheeks as her attention turns towards something happier (for her). ]

Oh, the Grandcypher? [ Because that name totally means something to a person who's never heard of it before. ] It's an airship. You ever been in one of those before?
cryptoherpetology: (002)

[personal profile] cryptoherpetology 2021-05-26 02:45 am (UTC)(link)
"I don't think I could have survived something piercing into my chest like that in the waking world. At least not without a lot of bleeding and panic."

He rubs his hand over the spot again, almost itching at it while he searches his memories for missing pieces- then wonders if there's a point to doing that in a dream. "As inviting as a swim is, maybe we should try to wake up to test this theory." And then a frown, because he's not sure how to do that. It's not like he can pinch someone who appears to be made of metal, for one.
portolan: (c h e e r y)

[personal profile] portolan 2021-05-26 02:50 am (UTC)(link)
Cheers to that. [ he spent most of his first precious shower trying to soak goo out of his clothes. it had taken several more days' soaking in cold water and manual scrubbing, but they were mostly restored. his hat was off to laundresses. ]

I've heard mixed reports. Weapons, something called a robot, and some personal affects. [ last he remembered, balthier was preoccupied with the impending destruction of the Bahamut self-destructing and Fran having gotten stuck beneath a collapsing doorway. the only thing that had been on him that he didn't have now was his gun. but he was hoping -- and trying not to hope too strongly -- that there would be...something else. a note from home? some piece of information to make this make sense? some object that would reveal the path forward?

he didn't know. he just knew checking was the right next step.
]
neversmall: (057)

i really, really hope this works for headcanon with genya

[personal profile] neversmall 2021-05-26 02:53 am (UTC)(link)
[ ...ah. Yes. She knows. The Shu thing. It's not easy to resemble the enemy in a land that's at war, she supposes. Grisha have more reason to fear the Shu than most, but they also don't have the luxury of turning anyone away who wants to help them -- let alone the sun summoner. Nina imagines Alina must have, very abruptly, been thrust into a very different life.

The Little Palace was many things, but nice was not the first word that came to Nina's mind. It had been, however, good to suddenly be in a place where she fit, where she had a purpose, and where there were people who wouldn't turn her away.

She imagines that it might have been similar for Alina, if... impossibly more, to have gone from who she'd been to who she was. The politics could be brutal, and, well... at least Nina knows the names of some of the people Alina befriended. Poor Genya; she was glad she'd found a friend there. And Fedyor and Ivan... Nina feels a pang of sorrow, thinking of how they would view her now. She doesn't regret it; it hurts all the same. ]


Nadia, I don't know well. Fedyor is a sweetheart. Ivan... [ she trails up, her hand brushing against the silver locket she now wears ] ...has had to do many difficult things. He has a true heart. They're both very good. [ At what they do, at being Heartrenders. They'd been a few years ahead of her, but she'd still competed with their class - Ivan could beat her out at times, still. ]

[ She doesn't mention Genya, because Genya is not mentioned. The white kefta speaks loudly enough for her. When they had been younger... even then, it hadn't truly been that different. But Nina did not like being cruel, and sometimes that was close to kindness, and when Nina had become a spy Genya had shared a few things with Nina that, perhaps, she should not have as in the past Nina had done a few things for Genya that, perhaps, she should not have. ]
cryptoherpetology: (056)

[personal profile] cryptoherpetology 2021-05-26 02:53 am (UTC)(link)
[ They may be outside of his particular specialty, but Alex knows enough about wolves not to admire it with his eyes only, letting Trassel see that his hands are empty and open. ]

If I call in something a bit like a large bird, can you keep him heeled? [ May as well see if the pets can hunt together without trying to kill each other before they're in the woods. ] Explaining what he's capable of is a bit easier when he's with me. He's... unique.
trassel: (28.)

[personal profile] trassel 2021-05-26 03:00 am (UTC)(link)
Yes. One moment.

[ He half-turns, and Trass is up on his feet at once, coming over to nose at Matthias' hands, and push his snout and ears into it. He sits, attentively — leaning forward a little to look at Alex's hands, then up at him, and back to Matthias, who says, ]

Now you may.

[ He rests his hand on the back of Trass' neck, ready to hold him back if necessary. ]