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expiationlogs2023-03-17 12:00 am
- !event,
- ai tsf: mizuki date,
- arcane: violet / vi,
- bungo stray dogs: nikolai gogol,
- final fantasy viir: aerith gainsborough,
- final fantasy xiii2: noel kreiss,
- fire emblem geneaology: ethlyn,
- my hero academia: izuku midoriya,
- original: astralin turnont,
- persona 3 portable: kotone shiomi,
- persona 3 portable: shinjiro aragaki
{EVENT #1} ADVERSITY 131425.845119
| MOD NOTES: Welcome to the first event! Please direct any questions to the corresponding comment below. Note that characters can be involved in multiple prompts (whether you choose to thread that out or not), and that character decisions and actions taken on these prompts will affect future events, storylines, and relationships with other peoples of Expiation. In two weeks from this event, the moderator team will be posting a poll on the OOC community that will allow players to share what actions their characters took and two weeks after that, there will be an announcement made sharing said results, how those actions have impacted the state of the world, the game's story, what information can be used ICly, and so on. The various prompts are, of course, optional, so you're not required to travel to Rumpitur if you don't wish to. You're not required to help the locals or other Chosen during the food shortage. There is an option to simply not be involved, and that too can have potential repercussions on the future of the game's overarching story and other characters. |
WE'RE STARVING HERE!
HOW TO REPAIR A REFRIGERATOR 101
Do you remember the fishing tournament where a variety of locals and Chosen alike submitted a bunch of fish for a very modest and unimpressive wooden sculpture? Well... about that...
Aldrip's refrigeration has catastrophically failed and as a result, the food stores that the locals have been keeping are now on the verge of total and utter collapse. The townspeople are in an absolute uproar. According to them, this has never happened before and though they would normally just pray to Those Who Were There for a resolution, they kind of need something immediate. Otherwise, all residents of Aldrip are facing the very real threat of starvation.
The good news is that you can help!
The more handy of the Aldrip townsfolk are going to get right to work on repairing the refrigeration units. At present, the only units that exist belong to those who are making food and providing them to the townspeople. This means people like the tavern keepers, the inn, bakers, and other miscellaneous cooks, are those who possess and control these refrigeration units. If you've got some handyman skills, put them to work, though be aware that working on repairing the technological malfunction might just be an electrifying experience. Literally.
THE ALTERNATIVE TO COOKING MAMA
There sure has been a lot of opportunities to cook, but now Aldrip needs cooks and would-be cooks like never before!
Those not necessarily good with repair work might find themselves better suited for hunting the local wildlife, whether that's on the meadowland plains or taking, yet again, a fishing pole into hand. A good deal of the meat, vegetables, and fruit that was already preserved has spoiled and will need to be replaced hastily if people want to continue eating.
With bodies going to retrieve replacement food, there's suddenly an open and demand for people who either already have experience with cooking or just really want to learn. There's no better way to learn than some truly hands-on experience. For those with some cooking in their background, even if it's simple at its best, the kitchens are free and available. You might not have your choice cuts of meat or whatever else you might be accustomed to preparing, but fortunately the dried spices and herbs aren't impacted by the food shortage. Consider making something flavourful or just really spicy. (Alphen, we're looking at you.)
If you haven't cooked before and you're one of those who's just dying to learn, pair up with a buddy in the kitchen, or fumble along. Beggars can't be choosers, after all, and we're facing a crisis. Maybe the threat of having no food will encourage people to try whatever you make, no matter how black, crispy brown it might turn out.
The more innovative and creative individuals may find a way to dry / dehydrate anything caught or harvested. Or we can just have a huge impromptu grilling adventure where people hold raw meat over fire. Your choice!
WE'RE OFF TO SEE... THE NAGA?
WE COME IN PEACE
Aldrip is hardly the only settlement on the continent of Expiation and though the various peoples of these settlements can often stick within their own, when times are hard and adversity encroaches on livelihood, they're not against seeking the aid of others. Some of the more well-travelled of the Aldrip locals are planning an expedition to visit Rumpitur, an impressively-sized village on a peninsula to the east of Aldrip.
They are ready and willing to take all volunteers who are interested in accompanying them to barter for food and other potentially needed supplies. The visit to Rumpitur will require travel through the Pessiria Forest, a thick veil of trees that one can be easily lost in, but if everyone's together, then it shouldn't be an issue.
Consider joining the expedition and getting to know some of Expiation's other peoples.
Rumpitur is home to a race of naga-like people with scaled features, tails, sharp teeth, and forked tongues. Their way of life is considerably more simple in comparison to some of Aldrip's fancier advancements. They are skilled combatants and a fishing people, whose diet primarily consists of seafood. In Rumpitur, one may take note of their many-in-number stone constructs, depicting a notable and perhaps significant naga.
Although they may seem intimidating at first glance and can have terse ways of speaking, they are amicable enough and will be willing to do business with Aldrip and her citizens.
OR MAYBE WE DON'T
The visit from Aldrip, which is a rare occurrence indeed, results in much confusion for the Rumpiturian people, and this may or may not be considered a blessing to those who could be more unscrupulous in nature.
Although the visit to Rumpitur is meant to be one of peace, locals of Aldrip and the Chosen alike have the opportunity to steal supplies from the people. If they choose to do this, they may find that there are no immediate repercussions for this course of action. The likelihood is that this visit has caught the Rumpiturians so off-guard that they're not expecting to be robbed. Of course, how this will impact things in the future remains to be seen...
Individuals may grab as much as they can carry, depending on what they've brought with them. The locals of Aldrip who planned this expedition provided convenient-to-carry containers that can be filled with anything retrieved from the village and her kind. Larger containers will require at least two people to carry when filled, so perhaps you're inclined to work with a partner-in-crime. Just remember that for every action, there's a consequence, even if you're not seeing it right away!
Rumpitur will not notice that they are missing inventory until well after Aldrip has left and travels back through the forest to town, so no one need fear the chasing and hissing of snakes into Pessiria.
Probably.
HOLD ONTO YOUR VALUABLES
IT'S NOT REAL... RIGHT?
Those who've decided to brave the forest will find on their adventure to Rumpitur that it's rather straight forward and proceeds without incident.
The sky above the trees is a difficult thing to see, blocked out by the way the evergreens stretch and imposingly tower above. At times light may scatter through various openings in branches, but it is a largely darker atmosphere, and at night requires the assistance of candlelight or related.
Travellers with the courage to make way through the forest with the others may hear occasional snaps, cracks, whispers, and more enigmatic sounds that are difficult to justify with logic. Of course, whether this is all in the head or something truly more sinister at play is up for debate. Despite the strange occurrences that one may experience, no members of the Chosen will find themselves harmed or otherwise physically disturbed initially. That said, some may later find themselves haunted by strange dreams and visions of the forest in the future if they are especially sensitive to such things.
Were those sounds real? Were you just hearing things? It's probably wisest not to investigate further. At least, maybe not now...
COUNT YOUR NUMBERS
Aldrip has a great many stories about Pessiria Forest and many of the other towns, landmarks, settlements, and people scattered across the continent. Most of these stories seem to depict folklore or a certain mythological feeling about them, implying that many of the locals don't truly believe in any of the more macabre tales. Pessiria Forest has no shortage of poetry and song that pertains to its supposedly 'holy' grounds and mysterious happenstances.
There are several alleged accounts about people having gone missing in the forest, due to how complicated it is to navigate by one's self. The more people travelling together, the safer it is purported to be.
Before leaving for Rumpitur, heads have been counted to ensure that wherever they start is also where they end up, however, for the more observant, one may find that the returning party is short of a few heads. Maybe some of them stayed behind to further the diplomatic efforts with the Rumpiturians. Maybe they're going to catch up later. Maybe they took a different pathway through the forest with some of their mates. Maybe there's something more untoward going on.
If this is brought up to the locals, the leaders of the expedition will warily make note of it and conduct their own investigation. At least, they say they will. Either way, it's suspicious no matter how you may turn it. Perhaps put heads together with another and see if you're just miscounting.
Izuku "Deku" Midoriya | My Hero Academia
[Izuku can best be described as a passable cook. He's not terrible and knows how to make a few things perfectly well, but no one is going to be blown away by his cooking and what he actually knows how to make on his own is limited pretty much entirely to the simpler dishes from nutrition education class. His cooking is plain, to put it bluntly. But plain food is still food, and what he lacks in precision and skill he more than makes up for in one very simple, unexpected way: he's been trained on the importance of knowing how to work as part of a cooking team for the express purpose of feeding a large group of people. Good heroes need to be able to provide aid to citizens during large-scale evacuations and rescue operations, and that includes helping make sure displaced people have something to eat.
So Izuku is wherever he's needed the most, doing whatever task allows him to do the most good. Setting up grills and piling logs for fires, cleaning fish and cutting meat and chopping vegetables, cooking some grilled fish or a simple stew, serving out portions to the hungry...and if there is anything needing doing that can help you cook, he's more than happy to do it. Need firewood, ingredients, or an extra set of hands? He's your guy!]
2) It's not real...right? | Not this shit again
[It's deep in the middle of the forest, and Izuku is having a bad time.
He started out doing okay. He's been in woods and forests before, so the occasional snapping and cracking in the distance wasn't too bad. That's just normal forest sounds, after all, twigs and small branches giving in the wind and animals moving through the underbrush. It was all fine.
And then the whispering started.
Those traveling with him can actually see him getting more and more anxious as time goes by, spending increasing amounts of time scanning the trees around them and moving up and down the group to check on everyone. Scanning the branches above them, as if something or someone might suddenly drop down in ambush. Checking the back of the group, as if simply being behind him is enough to cause people to disappear at a moment's notice.
Eventually he hits his limit. Maybe a whisper sounded particularly close, or particularly loud, or maybe it's an entirely new and deeply unsettling noise altogether; whatever it is, it's enough to make him suddenly grab your character by the arm.]
Did you hear that?
[He's far more tense than the situation really calls for...but the last time he was in a forest with a lot of people and things went wrong, things went really wrong. He's not taking chances.]
3) Wildcard
[Come at me! Izuku's mostly going to be helping out around Aldrip and escorting the Rumpitur trip. If you want to hash out something specific then reach out via PMs or at
Soup Kitchen Hero
Izuku is a busy little bee, isn't he? She watches him flit back and forth, ever consistently keeping himself busy. He might not be a professional (and frankly, neither is she), but he sure does seem to have a lot of heart. She also can't help appreciating that he doesn't mind getting into the grime when it comes to preparing fish. She's certain Law wouldn't take to it in the same way.
When she gets the chance, she decides that maybe there's something she can do to help him. If he's always going around helping everyone else, he won't get a chance to breathe, after all.]
You've been keeping yourself pretty busy. Anything I can do to lend you hand?
no subject
Oh...of course, as long as you don't mind! [ Though, even saying that...he still has to give the actual question some thought. Is there anything needing doing that would go even better with two people?] Do you know how to cook fish? We could check if there's any more that needs to be prepared before they go bad.
no subject
When he seems agreeable, she smiles reassuringly. It only grows when he continues. Does she know how to cook fish? Is there anything she’d be better at cooking? (Probably not.)]
I can definitely do that. If there’s something I know, it’s anything to do with fish. Is there something particular you want me to do with it?
[She asks it as she’s already looking over the necessary resources. If she gets carried away, she could probably make something fancy, but she’s going to guess that in the circumstance, less just might be more.]
no subject
I don't have anything specific in mind. Most of the ways I know how to cook fish aren't as easy to do in big batches, but if there's any smaller whole fish left I know how to skewer them for grilling. If one of us cooked and one of us prepped, we could get through a lot of them pretty quickly.
[He's not adverse to learning new tricks and techniques in the process, either. And frankly, if Kisara wanted to do anything he doesn't know, he'd be perfectly happy to be a sous chef.
...they may be in a reciprocal loop of helping each other at this point.]
no subject
[Why have them both do the same thing when they can work cohesively as a unit and pump out a finished, well-made product? She’s probably approaching that with too much professionalism, but she supposes that one can take the guard captain out of her home world, but not out of the woman herself. Besides, he started it.]
There something you like doing more than the other? I’m pretty good at both. I’ve cooked a lot of different kinds of fish, and I’m not half bad with seasoning, so my skill is probably about the same with either one. Pick the one that you’ll enjoy more. We’ll be more efficient that way.
[She’ll be easily satisfied by just getting to be involved, it seems. He might not be far off from the mark when it comes to them as a team.]
no subject
[And he'll be less nervous about messing up and burning things, ruining her hard work. There's not nearly as much pressure when he's doing the part that has time to correct mistakes.
He may be starting to overthink this already.]
Let's go see what kinds of fish we have to work with. They should be this way.
[One side benefit of running around everywhere doing a little bit of almost everything is that Izuku has a fairly good mental map of where things currently are. Or at least, where they were the last time he saw them. He's perfectly comfortable leading the way to whatever they happen to need, as long as Kisara's okay with following along.]
no subject
I've fished up quite a few different kinds since my arrival, but I doubt I've caught everything the waters have to offer, so I'm looking forward to a challenge.
[She rubs her hands together with a pleased expression.]
Although I guess we probably shouldn't get too over our heads. This isn't exactly a grand festival or anything, after all. Maybe when this all gets taken care of we can do something really nice for everyone.
2!
He nods, firm and unbothered.]
Yup! The sounds around here are pretty creepy, huh. But don't worry, if anything jumps out to attack us, I'll-- [He punches the air in front of him with a wild, mildly unhinged grin.] punch it right in its ugly face like the dumb bitch it is.
[His grin warms happily, pleased with his approach.]
Kay?
no subject
Seriously, this guy become unexpectedly Kacchan-like for a moment, he doesn't know what to do with that...]
Y-yeah...yeah, okay. I guess I shouldn't feel like I'm the only one on guard, huh?
[He's still tense, but from the way his grip relaxes before he takes his hand back, it at least helped get his mind off things for a moment. Please nobody judge him for finding manic grins and swearing and promises of violence grounding, his life is incredibly abnormal.]
no subject
Mm-hmm! You know, at the place I was in before this-- [He taps his temple, his bell earring jingling in response.]-- I walked around with a voice in my head at all times, telling me to do all sorts of crazy things. Scared the living shit out of me at first, but then, eh-- [shrugging]-- I got used to it. Then everything acclimated.
[He glances around the woods, tucking his hands back into his pockets.]
This place feels the same. It's spooky, but once you get used to the anxiety, it sort of.. becomes normal.
I'm Kazutora, by the way-- [He extends his hand out to his new friend, western style.]
no subject
He tucks those thoughts to the side for now. Instead, he gives the best smile he can manage (which is not...great...) and reaches over to shake hands. Izuku's right hand is heavily scarred to the touch, with a few of the fingers slightly misshapen. But it's still strong and steady, and if he's lost any flexibility in that hand it's not enough to effect his grip.]
I'm Izuku. Izuku Midoriya.
[He's quiet for a moment, then takes back his hand and shrugs sheepishly.]
I'm sorry for bothering you, by the way. I just...keep getting reminded of something.
[If Kazutora's going out of his way to try to talk him through his, Izuku feels he at least owes him an explanation of what's actually going on. An extremely vague and minimal one, but...well, it's more than anyone else has gotten out of him.]
no subject
He smiles warmly, tilting his head and exposing his neck tattoo a little more - a sumi art style drawing of a tiger that went far below his collar line.]
It's no bother at all, Izuku-kun. This place is creepy as fuck. .. but, what's it you're being reminded of, if it's okay to ask?
no subject
The continued casual swearing complicates the whole shebang even as it keeps being oddly comforting. Is this what talking to a Kacchan who isn't perpetually low-key angry around him would be like? It is weird that he's projecting this on someone he just met? That's really weird, right?]
I...I'd rather not talk about it right now. I'm sorry.
[In all fairness, he'd probably be a bit more open about it if he wasn't currently trying to make himself not think about it. He's not really sure how to actually say that, though. And he doesn't want to burden Kazutora with his problems.]
I just need something else to focus on, I think.
It's Not Real
He's kept his eyes on him, though, especially as he's gotten jumpier as time goes by. When he grabs Zack's arm and speaks in a voice that's a bit higher than it should be, the former SOLDIER turns to the kid. He's grown up in a village in the middle of a jungle, so the sounds don't really bother him, but that doesn't hold true for everyone.]
Sounds like a wild animal going through the trees. Are you expecting something else?
no subject
Case in point.]
M-maybe? I mean, I-I don't know, I just-- [--am trying really hard not to remember the time when me and my classmates got attacked in a forest when we were supposed to be safe, but it's not going so well and I don't really know how to process it.] I-I'm sorry, I guess the weirder noises are getting to me. I didn't mean to bother you...
no subject
However, seeing this guy makes him wonder what things would have been like if he had been more quiet in his life before. Probably wouldn't have made any difference in the long run, but he'd have a better idea how to relate to this kid. But he knows fear and dismissal of that fear to appear strong.]
Hey, it's okay. I mean. I grew up in a jungle. You shouldn't dismiss things as just figments of your imagination.
[He looks around, searching for anything moving where it shouldn't be. He doesn't see or hear anything right now, but that doesn't mean anything.]
I'm Zack. What I need you to do is just keep an eye out while we walk through here. Think you can do that?
no subject
Yeah. I...I can do that. [He pulls his hand back at this point; he's still tense, but he's no longer stuck inside his head for the moment.] I'm Izuku. Um, Izuku Midoriya. You can just call me Deku, if you want.
[His eyes are already scanning the forest again, half because of Zack's grounding request and half borderline paranoia. But there's a new lurking thought intruding into his mind: Izuku's been in the woods a few times before, sure, and summer camp...happened, but he's a city kid at his core. He knows walking trails and field trips and supervised rescue drills - hiking and camping and mountain climbing were always Kacchan's thing, not his. Keeping an eye out for lurking people he can do...but he's never had to watch out for animals before.
What if he misses something important because he didn't realize what it was?]
Is there...anything specific I should look for?
no subject
Great. Nice to meet you, Izuku.
[He can see that his words have helped, but there's still a rigidness to Izuku's posture that states that he's not going to be okay until they're out of this forest.
And, honestly? Zack doesn't blame him. There's something off about these woods, but he's not sure what it is and he really doesn't want to deal with this when he just wants to get back to Aldrip. However, duty over desire, right?]
Strange flashes of color, mostly. Sounds in forests are always going to be off, because if you're not spending a lot of time in it, things are going to sound weird. And, no offence, but you don't strike me as the type who lives in forests.