expiationlogs | {EVENT #1} ADVERSITY 131425.845119

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{EVENT #1} ADVERSITY 131425.845119

THUS DO WE HUNGER

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He's thinking about it!! He won't be stopped, even if that was somewhat of a joke. Maybe, he will casually return the sweet later just to prove a point... who can say...

Anyway, ah. He shrugs, another mouthful of bread preventing him from giving a nutrition-based lecture right this second. Maybe later. He, too, is winning now that Mikey is eating bread.]

"Even then"? Seriously? .....Don't fight on broken bones.

You don't fight on broken bones. I'm fine.

(cocky, absolutely cocky, and it's almost irony that he says that, considering what shin is hiding under the coat.

his intuition always brings him answers like these, but this time? a funny coincidence.)

Keep that up and I'm making you eat all the bread.

[A real threat, just on principle. Do as he says and not as he does, although in Shinji's defense, he has not gotten in any fights with his handful of broken ribs. Yet. His track record is bad, of course.

Wow, though. Rude.]

....I know what it looks like, [because he is carrying this axe around, after all,] but I'm not planning on starting any fights. That's all you.

I said 'if it's gonna help anything', don't give me that selective memory shit.

(only one of them can have that. the bread is over, he's eaten it, and he's even showing his palms -- see?? see?? to pacing it is, at least to distract himself a little bit, hands on the small of his waist to crack it.)

You brought it up...

[Maybe he's just used to hotheads who like to swing first and think real thoughts about any given decision later. Or maybe it's selective memory so that he has something to grumble about, either way.

Shinjiro watches him pace while still picking at his own bread; one of them (Mikey) should probably go to sleep (Mikey), but in a bit.]

....You don't like the axe. [It was kind of a pointed question about not using it, so he must assume. This, itself, is supposed to be a question, but he just lets it hang there. What's wrong with the axe, guy.]

(pacing, pacing, pacing. he'll stretch later, when shin is asleep. his back is jelly, it's hard to keep concentration from others when he's doing that - what he can do at least is stretch his arms above his head, mikey's fingers intertwined as empty, hollow eyes fall to the axe.)

Not on principle, but since we don't know what to expect, might as fucking well. I grew up in a karate dojo, I can use all that shit. Just-- don't think it's fair in a fight, is all.

It's not for people.

[A quick reply, but not any more impassioned than the rest of his subdued manner of speaking. He's not going to take a swing at anything that doesn't look at least a little bit like a brainless monster— but he'd do better to remember that most people don't fight fucking monsters, he supposes. Anyway.

It's not for people. He doesn't want to think too long about the metrics of a "fair fight," as if doing violence to a thing has ever been fair. Instead, he shoves the last bit of bread in his mouth and leans back until his shoulders hit the nearest tree behind him, with only a slight wince. Mmph.]

I guess you're right. ...You know more about fighting than me, anyway, if you've never lost.

[He means this, but there's also about 0.05% of a tease in there. Mr. Never Loses Fights...]

(that's thankfully what he's thought. without a clear idea of what to expect, it's not like shin had been wrong in bringing it here, albeit mikey has to wonder if that will be effective against anything, really. perhaps a tree or two, before the blade dulls?

not his problem, so a 'tsk' leaves his lips as he reaches for his toes. too easy, so his forearms rest against the grass. this is too boring.)

My division captains are here, if you want receipts.

(and there goes any question that he's a gang member, damn, mikey. you're fifteen!!)

[Luckily he has his fake gun tucked away to summon his own weird monster— but no one has to know about that until it's entirely too late to avoid, so the shitty axe it is. Shinjiro would rather just not... fight things at all, honestly? He would rather just get through this trip and go back to the inn and resume his favorite hobby of sulking between meals? But alas.

In other news: how on earth does a person's body make that shape. Why's he doing that. Stop doing that.]

Pfft. I don't. That's not something anyone would lie about.

[Because what happens when someone else wants to test their might, etc-- therefore, this tiny gangster is being truthful. Shinji shrugs.]

I'm giving you credit. Don't get defensive.

You'd think. You have the look, but I don't think you're the same as me.

(therefore, why would shinjiro know how many people are just damn talk in the streets, but falling apart with a single kick? pathetic, really, really, really pathetic.

a crack in his back tells him it's time to shift positions, so it's slow how he turns back to a stand and back to pacing.)

In a gang? [It's, pretty obvious,] No, I guess I'm not. You're better off not being like me, anyway.

[Like, does Shinjiro have the overall personality type for being in a gang long term... no, but someone with as much pride and authority as Mikey exudes here in the middle of the night in a spooky forest of all places isn't suited to Shinji's sulky isolation, either. He figures. Most people aren't.

Anyway, look at him go...]

Sooner or later you're going to have to go back to sleep, you know.

Oh, wow, self-loathing issues.

(not like he can't relate, but he absolutely will pretend he can't once he plops next to the other. there's a smile on his face, and perhaps being closer will bring attention to just how hollow and devoid of light his eyes are.

something to be said about isolation, but he's never going to say it.)

And leave you to fend off for both of us? Fuck no.

[Ah, that's... Somehow that makes him laugh from how casually Mikey says it, totally without the poor, sad Aragaki-senpai energy he usually winds up faced with when he says that depressing shit. So. He laughs.

....It's not much of a laugh, more of a dry bark of a sound that immediately makes him wince and cough again, but it's a laugh by any definition.]

Yeah, well. I'm not going to pretend otherwise.

[And hey, he has an axe--]

I can take care of both of us. I've got that much pride.

You're cute, so at least you have something going on you can hate less, I guess.

(shoulders raise, shoulders slump, but there's no pity. everyone he knows has had pain, manjiro has had pain, and hating oneself or their surroundings feels more of the same. mikey too hates himself, but well, he doesn't have much time or room for that, when there are so many people who need him standing on both feet.)

Pfft, what kind of shitty President would I be if I just let a stranger take care of me?

[......

....Cute? Him, cute? He, Shinjiro, the king of resting "fight me" face, cute? Surely, Mikey is confused. It is pretty dark out here. Maybe it being pretty dark will conceal the light dust of a blush that blooms across his face, caught somewhere between confused and, like-

bwuh???]

.....I— guess. I don't see why that matters.

[This one isn't a self-esteem thing, this is just, what does it matter if he has a cute face, really. In the grand scheme of things. Anyway,]

I'm not gonna call you President, do you don't have to worry about that. I can take care of you for free.

You could be miserable and ugly as fuck. Then you'd be double miserable.

(he sees the flush of red, and he shrugs. ah, so it's like that. a pity, truly. at least he didn't deny it, so there's some type of salvation to be had there.)

I take care of you, understood? Pipe down, go to sleep, tell me a story or something.

[Please, red is his color. No, he just doesn't know what to do with a genuine compliment, he turns just as red when his friends back home call him motherly (a compliment.....). One day, he'll muster up pride in his cute face.

But not today. Hmm.]

Who put you in charge? I'm not one of your guys. [so there, etc. tell a story, jeez.....] It's too late, anyway. I'm already taking care of you.

....With the bread.

... Shut up.

(hopefully, that works perfectly for his means and wants, don't throw him off his high horse, please, shin, he's suffering here. manjiro gives no indication that he will give in to the drowsiness, to the heavy eyelids weighing his eyes closed...

absolutely not.)

We're dead, all this is bullshit either way. We starve, and then what? Extra dead?

Yeah. And then I show up to give you a hard time about it.

[See? Real threats. And no opposition to the suggestion that they're all dead, so, that's probably at least a little true and he's choosing not to think about it for too long.

Also, he's not shutting up, nyeh nyeh.]

You think I want some guy who leaves it at "bullshit" taking care of me? It is bullshit, but we still have to live in it.

I mostly mean that, if they have fridges, where are their damn mechanics? I didn't say I wouldn't, either. I just said it's a bullshit situation, to have us dead and then make us have to eat.

(damn, shin, help a brother out.)

[Shinjiro makes a face... because of this dumb thing he now has to say... the only compelling explanation he can think of.... sigh:]

Maybe it's magic.

[But never mind that!! Maybe it's all stupid actually.]

....I think we're getting off topic. ...We can just sleep in shifts.

I just came from another Afterlife, and I ain't ever heard of 'self-fixing fridges' over there, either.

(did motherfucker just drop the fact he is dead dead DEAD like he is talking about the weather?? yes he did!!!)

Nah. You sleep.

[Hmm... another afterlife... Mikey, how dead are ya?? Shinjiro gives him a Look, briefly, curious about that - but he knows better than to ask. He assumes with no other knowledge that being dead dead DEAD is probably why Mikey keeps looking, ah... empty? It tracks, as far as he's aware.

He can be sensitive enough to not ask boys how dead they are, he's got that skill. Ahem.]

First time for everything. I'm not tired. You sleep.

You sleep.

(no, no, shinjiro, he has always been like that. being dead actually is a good thing.)

[mikey ffs

He crosses his arms very seriously, hmph.]

I'm not sleeping. You first.

{EVENT #1} ADVERSITY 131425.845119

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