etrayalogs | DECEMBER MINGLE

Entry tags:

DECEMBER MINGLE

WHO: Everyone!
WHEN: December 21st - Early January
WHERE: Etraya
WHAT: Newcomers, a surprise gift from Tatianna, and a visitor!
NOTES\WARNINGS:

⏵ arrival ⏴
Welcome to Etraya!

Arrival goes as expected - characters awaken on hospital beds and are offered an explanation of their situation: that they have arrived in the city of Etraya, and they are their world's only hope. They are welcome to wander the hospital if they would like to - the upper floors are mostly empty, full of pristine hallways and numerous rooms filled with supplies, cots, and things one would expect from a relatively average 21st-century hospital.

The lobby is filled to the brim with tables of freshly baked goods. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" banners are taped to the walls, and several other typical birthday decorations can be found in this area. A few of the baked goods tables are lined with massive cakes covered in unlit candles, just waiting for someone to grab a lighter and sing off-key. Is it anyone's birthday? Who knows! The companion bots seem to believe it's every new arrival's birthday and will greet them as such - with friendly waves and cheers as they make their way to the lobby.

A coat rack is situated by the doors leading out of the hospital, covered in warm clothing that fits the new arrivals just right - whether it's to their preferred style or not is something else entirely. Some of them appear normal enough. Others? Well. They can't all be perfect, now can they?

Outside the windows, the grass is covered in a couple of inches of loosely packed snow.

We hope you enjoy your stay.

⏵ an unexpected gift ⏴

Out by the hospital stands a tall, decorated tree covered in candles and golden pinecones with a handsome, red velveteen tree skirt. In front of it are a few oversized wrapped gifts for show- and atop one of those sits a familiar woman. Or unfamiliar, if this is your first time.

It's Tatianna in a slutty Santa outfit with a big ol’ burlap sack.

“Hey, I got something for you,” she says, digging into the bag and rummaging for a moment.

She produces a painted egg and holds it aloft.

“It’s your Winter Solstice Egg! This is the egg holiday, right? Wait, shit. I’m mixing them up, aren’t I? ...Well. It’s a little late to change it. Here you go!”

How one treats their egg is fully up to themselves. They can choose to ignore it entirely, or destroy it and leave the yolk and innards to rot on the ground. They can hand it over to someone else or care for it as if it were something precious. No one will prevent them from doing whatever they please with it!

⏵ naughty or nice ⏴However, how they treat the egg will define how the egg treats them in return.

Those who keep the egg and tend to it will get the benefit of being able to watch it hatch seven days after they are handed the egg. Eggs that are treated with attention and love may yield a loyal companion, or a weapon of choice that always returns to its owner, while neglected eggs may yield a curious, cursed trinket or an animal who treats its new owner very much the same way its owner had treated it before it was born.

Please submit an egg request below for what items you would like your character's eggs to hatch into! Please note that these cannot be things that would be applicable in the game.

Those whose eggs are destroyed or forgotten will simply get the gift of... nothing!

⏵ free your spirit ⏴

With the winter chill gripping the air, a mysterious figure makes their presence known in Etraya - a towering, horned creature dragging a massive sack behind them.

𝓐 𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖘𝖊 𝖇𝖚𝖎𝖑𝖙 𝖔𝖓 𝖑𝖎𝖊𝖘 𝖍𝖆𝖘 𝖆 𝖜𝖊𝖆𝓴 𝖋𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖉𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓.

Regardless of a character's strengths or weaknesses, they will find that when Krampus raises his massive sack over their head, they are powerless to stop him from catching them. Those capable of great magical feats or other supernatural abilities will sense something... otherworldly about Krampus, but will not be able to place the source of that sensation.

Once within Krampus' sack, they are welcome to fight, but escape is impossible. It will feel as if Krampus is dragging them over every rock possible, dragging the sack in through the rivers to the point it soaks through and drenches them - potentially almost drowning them.

When the sack opens, they will find themselves in an impossibly dark space. Around them are others who have also been captured and dragged here by Krampus, trapped in small cages hanging from a massive, wiry tree.

Krampus will return often, banging clawed hands and birch rods on the walls of the cages and knocking them into one another.
𝕮𝖔𝖓𝖋𝖊𝖘𝖘𝖘𝖘𝖘𝖘𝖘.
The whisper resonates through the darkened area, regardless of Krampus' presence. Confess your secrets, and be freed. Otherwise? You'd better hope someone figures out where Krampus has set up base; those who refuse to confess may find themselves stuck here forever.

⏵ NOTES ⏴

Krampus' base is under Etraya! Deep within the catacombs, he has set up multiple cages to capture those who inhabit Etraya to punish them for their naughty habits. Fighting him is possible! Defeating him by means of combat is not, however, possible. Think of it like fighting a god: Krampus creates the rules in the space around him, including who can use what ability.

For all questions relating to this log, please refer to the mod queries comment. All other questions can be directed to the FAQ.

⏵FULL NAVIGATION⏴

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It’s certainly a much more optimistic outlook than Kirk’s. He’s still assessing and isn’t happy with what he’s seeing around so far.

“How so?”

The question is asked in a guarded monotone and without judgement but also nowhere as cheerful as her. Maybe she knows something he doesn’t.

"Because I'm amazing, that's why!"

She puffs her chest out as she declares the reason why things will be okay.

Unfortunately for her, Kirk doesn’t look very impressed with that reasoning.

“And you are…?” He says, maintaining his monotone.

"Kimie Arashiyama! Hamster User!" Something else that she says with her whole chest.

It's a second later before she adds: "I'm a detective. Not a Specialist anymore." Not that she had any kills under her name to even be allowed to have the title of Specialist, but it's all right. She doesn't think killing is - or has ever - been her thing. Beating someone up? Maybe! But she's not won a fight yet so, she isn't sure on that front, either.

"Anyway, you're a Specialist, right?"

Kirk is feeling less impressed by Kimie the longer they talk. But he only just got here so he'll take whatever information he can get for now. He's also getting the sense that her definition of a specialist is different from what he knows.

"That depends. A specialist in what?" He asks.

"I ... I don't know? What sort of user are you?"

She blinks owlishly in return, not quite understanding the question that she's been given. The man is a Specialist, isn't he? She from a sub-branch so she's not met any of the others, but he doesn't seem like a scumbag like some Specialists are. So?

One could see the question marks starting to form around her head.

Well this is awkward and seems to be a case of coming from different worlds. Kirk gets the sense this is going to happen a lot as long as he's in Etraya.

"It sounds like it's what Aurora said. We're from different worlds," he calmly explains. "I don't know what you mean by a specialist or a user."

"Oh."

Her head drops a little as she almost wants to comment on the outfit that he has really makes him seem like one, but that seems rude now. Maybe these are his fashion choices. Gosh, that was kind of rude.

"A Specialist is an assassin. No, that's not quite right. It's like the top-of-the-top of Assassins. You can only be called it if you're like really good, you know?"

Kirk's expression is unchanged after hearing Kimie's explanation. He's not offended at all. It's funny how close she is to the truth of what Kirk is but he won't admit it to anyone anytime soon. He doesn't know yet how well Etraya's population would take to knowing someone is a vampire. It could be similar to his world.

"And what did you mean by 'users?'" He asks.

"It's what your bloodline - ah, your family - specializes in."

Holding her chin, she realizes that it probably sounds confusing since she introduced herself as a Hamster User. It bothers her to have to bring up her ex-family line, so is it all right to explain it another way? She supposes that it would be.

"There are Specialists that aren't part of any family, but those are like super rare." A beat. "Anyway, a user means what your branch uses to kill."

Interesting. By that definition, Kirk would apparently be a Specialist. He makes a mental note of that piece of information.

"And so you use hamsters?" Kirk asks. His monotone hides the hint of dubiousness he's feeling from Kimie's previous statement.

"It's what I can control, but well, it's a little complicated than that, ah?"

She pauses as she realizes that he knows her name but he doesn't know his name.

"Anyway! I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I didn't have a kill count and still don't plan on having one." Holding her hands up, she waves them wildly to indicate that she's not that kind of Specialist.

Kirk remains unbothered. His monthly body count is probably higher than what most people have in their whole lives.

“It’s fine. Most people don’t have a kill count.” He says. With his deadpan tone, it’s hard to tell if he’s making a joke.

“What exactly can you do?”

"Well, most people aren't from Specialists' families or sub-branches, but..."

It's nice of the guy to be understanding that she's never killed anyone. For someone that looks like a Specialist, he's pretty understanding even if his tone of voice is a little monotone.

"Lots of stuff... infiltration. Usually, my hammies go into places to get a good blueprint of the area." She spins around. "They're also great at gathering information and tailing people!" Opening her arms out, she finishes. "And they're so amazing. They can do circus acts and know all the major constellations!"

"Constellations? How?"

Now Kirk sounded more clearly skeptical. It's easy enough to imagine hamsters being useful for infiltration and spying because of their size. That last particular act sounds like a reach though.

"Because I taught them." Obviously!

She pulls back a second before looking down. "Um, anyway, we've been talking a bit - is it okay to know your name?"

Ah right. Introducing himself isn't something he does often these days. Usually his infamy precedes him and most only care to know him as Batman and not the man behind the cowl and fangs. Though in this case, Kirk supposes it was only fair and she did talk for a while. He doesn't know how long he'll be in Etraya. It could be a while.

"It's Kirk. Kirk Langstrom."

"Nice to meet you, Kirk!"

She flexes her fingers a few times, nervously. If Sirius was with her, she's sure she'd feel a little braver, but Kirk has listened to her kindly all this time. He had some questions about her odd comments, but overall he's been a nice guy about everything. She feels a little bad about bringing up kill counts to him, but - well, there is no but, right? An average person doesn't want to be thought of as an assassin.

Her head dips down for a second. Flexing her fingers a few more times, she finally works up the courage to take two big steps so that she's in his space. Reaching out, she attempts to take one of his hands and hold it close with both of hers.

"Thanks for being a great guy! I already feel at ease knowing that I met someone so nice! And like I said, you can rely on me! I'm pretty amazing! I said that from the start, you know?"

Today is apparently a day of many firsts. "Nice" is not what most people would call Kirk. Hell, Kirk wouldn't call himself that. The very nature of being a vampire firmly knocks him out of that category. He wonders if Kimie just hasn't met a lot of actually nice people. Her openly talking about assassins and body counts seem to suggest that.

Further surprising him is Kimie moving right in his personal space and taking his hand. But he doesn't see her as a threat so he goes along with it for now. It helps that his gloved hands are hiding the fact that his skin is abnormally cold for a human.

"I remember," he calmly responds. "You're surprisingly chipper about this."

She continues to hold his hand as her chin drops a little. Her fingers twitch around his gloved one, but she tightens her hold more.

"Well, there are people who would be worried about me if I didn't smile." Kimie decides that she should be honest with Kirk. They're going to be saving their worlds together, so it seems wrong to hide things. "They aren't here, but even if they aren't, I wouldn't want them to worry."

As scared and uncertain as she is, she can do one thing. She can make sure the people who care about her have one less thing to worry about. "Smiling is the hardest and easiest thing to do, you know?"

What Kimie says is quite the opposite of what Kirk usually is. More often than not, Kirk is guarded and keeps things close to the chest. He's used to sticking to the facts and trying to be logical. It makes navigating the world easier, even if he comes off distant at times. It became especially important after his transformation and being forced to adapt to his new... diet. There are very few people he would trust when it comes to emotionally opening up and in the aftermath of Will's betrayal, that trust was even more conservative.

"Just be careful and not lose the facts of the situation," Kirk calmly replies. "Even if they're grim."

"Are you worried about me?" She peers at him with wide eyes before smiling even brighter. "Don't worry. I'm always aware of the facts, but that doesn't mean I won't hope for something a little better."

It may be that such a hopeful ending is impossible, but if she stops hoping for it, doesn't that mean what is near impossible becomes impossible?

"So, Kirk, don't lose your heart no matter how grim the facts are, okay!?"

Kirk's red goggles hide part of his expression as he remains poker-faced. He's not as quick to take on such a hopeful outlook yet as Kimie. The funny thing is that her confidence somewhat reminds him of Hernan. Sheer undiluted confidence despite certain odds. At least he's used to it by now.

"We'll have to see," he says. "Do you happen to have any hamsters with you?"

Maybe that can help give them a better idea of Etraya's layout.

"Oh, uh, no."

Kimie deflates a little at admitting she is without her hamsters. But her lips press into a thin, determined line.

She perks up. "But I intend to make friends with the rodents here. I hope they don't have too different a language from the hammies back home."

"Your abilities can apply to rodents in general?"

Kirk still finds Kimie's ability very unusual but it applying to rodents as opposed to just hamsters does make it more useful.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject