♥ July 2019 Intro Mingle

[hugtopiamods]

July Intro Log
Welcome to Havenwell! The walled city and its robotic inhabitants welcome all of the offworlders to Aellyn. New arrivals are given their tablets and showed to open housing, given tours around the city, and generally helped with settling into their new world. Some robots are more curious than others, more helpful than others, but overall the atmosphere of the city is one of hope and celebration. It is, however, a city that needs some help, and as newcomers wander, they may find that they can do a lot to aid Havenwell in its recovery.

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❥ PROMPT I: Temple Jobs

The priests of each temple have a digital bulletin board in front of their temple doors that lists several tasks that each temple is asking of natives and newcomers alike. Havenwell is protected from the worst of the damage outside the walls, but it's still an ancient city and there's always something that needs to be done. Of course, the priests won't ask you to do these things for free, so anyone who wants to join up and complete a task will receive a reward of Dora sent to their bank accounts.

The sudden weather changes sometimes results in localized floods, so businesses and homes are always looking for help cleaning debris and mopping floors. The temples themselves always need a little extra help picking up after the temple animals or cleaning the altars. Some stores need help transporting goods across the city - normally a two person job, pulling carts and wagons. And lately, temples have been asking for help in cleaning up the city square for a "big *wink wink* project" coming soon. The priests won't say more than that, but they will offer payment for anyone willing to keep the square clean. Which may be a little difficult with the influx of new people, maps, and general trash and broken debris everywhere. It may be smart to team up to keep things clean!

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❥ PROMPT II: Repli-fails

One thing that new residents might find that needs some help are the food replicators found in each home. They've been unused for so long that issues and trouble were inevitable. People who can fix them are few and far between, however, so until an antiques' maintenance-minded robotic denizen stops by, characters may have to suffer through some glitches. When characters ask for potatoes, they might find blue-flavored toothpaste getting dispensed instead. Or if they ask for 1 carrot, they get 20 hot pink ones instead. Or asking for a drink becomes a never-ending stream of said drink. Or they might not dispense anything that looks like food at all and instead inundate you with vaguely fish-shaped wooden blocks. Good luck, newbies. Even the natives are a little baffled by this one.

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❥ PROMPT III: Virtual? Reality?

The VR simulation of the month, Petting Zoo, seems to still be pretty popular. Natives are plugging in to pet animals in record numbers and it's encouraged the proprietors of the VR parlors to keep the game a little longer than normal. New arrivals are encouraged to take the VR headsets for a spin to help proprietors gauge how to better adjust them for non-robotic clientele. That said, they'll still ask characters to pay for the experience, just not at a slightly discounted rate if they answer a survey afterwards. Characters will notice that holding hands with someone else during their VR experience significantly improves the quality of the visuals and audio input.

Unfortunately, as with most things in Havenwell, the VR experience doesn't always go as planned. On occasion in the city, glitches happen while residents are plugged in and suddenly that flock of giant pink sheep they were petting? Yeah, they're now manifested in the real world. In and around the entertainment districts, illogically colored sheep, giant house cats, miniature ponies, and - of course - the dreaded aggro rainbow chickens suddenly start appearing in packs. Their images glitch in and out, fuzzing into static in places, but they're very real and very confused about not being in their happy green pastures. Which means they panic, of course, and start running amok. Help the citizens corral these strange beasts until the glitch ends, run away from the now very real flocks of rainbow chickens that want to dogpile you, or simply stand by and watch the chaos occur. It's up to you how you want to help!

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❥ PROMPT IV: The Ribbon Games

A couple weeks after everyone has arrived and had time to mostly settle into the weird weather patterns and machinery muck-ups, a notice is plastered across the network:

The citizens of Havenwell wish you well, offworlders! To show our appreciation for your assistance in saving our world, we cordially invite you to participate in an ancient tradition: The Ribbon Games! In the old days, this festival was held as a celebration of joyous events. You have a week to collect as many ribbons as you can from your temple by completing their Ribbon Task. Then, at the end of the week, we are hosting a party in your honor where you can compete to collect ribbons from the other temples to win fabulous prizes! Please visit your deity's temple to find out more and we hope you will join us for the Ribbon Games Party at the end of the week.

With all our gratitude,
The Citizens of Havenwell

Those who choose to participate and head to their deity's temple will find a priest with a sash and a box of ribbons in the colors of your chosen deity. They point to a digital board at their side that lists the task you'll need to complete in order to earn one of these ribbons, and will allow characters to complete a ribbon challenge once a day until the week is over for a total of 7 ribbons if they come each day. You may only earn the ribbon of your assigned deity, so if you are an adherent of Rawna and go to Ainea's temple, even if you complete Ainea's task, you cannot receive her ribbon. The tasks are:

• Rawna: Give comfort to someone or ease someone's pain within Rawna's temple to receive a shimmering silver ribbon.
  
• Ainea: Do an act of kindness or show compassion to someone within Ainea's temple to receive a soft pink and purple ribbon.
  
• Diacht: Reveal an honest truth about yourself within Diacht's temple to receive a bold red and white ribbon.
  
• Ohma: Learn something new about or from someone within Ohma's temple to receive a delicate blue and gold ribbon.

Once a task is completed, the priest will remove a ribbon from their box and affix it to your clothing. Don't let anyone steal your ribbons! Good luck keeping them safe, offworlders.

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❥ PROMPT V: The Fanciest of Welcome Parties

At the end of the month, once the city square is clean and the ribbons have been distributed to participating citizens, the newest residents of Havenwell will wake to the sound of music floating over the city. During the night while people slept, the natives decorated the city with streamers, brightly colored lanterns, and strings of beautiful lights that glow no matter the hour of the day. The natives have decorated themselves, too, and provide the offworlders with clothing and decorations to match. Garishly colored sashes, brilliantly (artificially) plumed hats, skirts and tunics, boas and fake flower leis - just about anything you can imagine, they're wearing. In and around the city square there are long tables of oddly colored finger foods - orange-colored grapes, bright pink meats, blue cheeses and the like are provided along with golden chocolates, fuchsia frosted cupcakes with pink cake underneath, and minty green cookies. The foods might look strange, but at least they mostly taste like they're supposed to. The citizens are trying, they promise.

All around the fountain depicting the four gods in the center of the square, pre-recorded music is playing and the natives are dancing in pairs, groups, and lines. Join them for a dance and they'll happily teach you the local customs, or break out your own moves and share your world's best moves to earn some applause and awkward attempts at recreating them.

The big game of the night is shared by the natives and it's announced halfway through the party. The culmination of the Ribbon Games is a contest to try and collect a set of four ribbons - one from each different god's temple. The rules are simple:

1. Attach your ribbons to yourself in a clearly visible location.
   
2. Tag and hold someone else for more than 1 minute. You can bear hug them, hold their hands, link arms, anything!
   
3. After sustaining contact, you can take one of their ribbons. If you aren't the character who initiated contact, you can't take a ribbon.
   
4. Gather one of each god's ribbon in order to win a prize!

If you successfully manage to get all four ribbons, a little shower of confetti will burst from your ribbons and a nice little chunk of Dora will be transferred to your account. This can only work once unfortunately, but it's a nice little bonus for your first month in Havenwell! The party continues late into the night and the natives are happy to keep the party going as long as any of the offworlders wish to keep dancing.

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As a reminder, please post your character to the Taken Character list and your own information to the Player Contact list as soon as possible. It helps us keep track of our player cap!

If you have any other questions, please ask them in the QUESTION thread below. Feel free to use the CR/Intro Meme to do OOC plotting. Otherwise, welcome to Hugtopia's first mingle log!

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Comments

[arraignments]

[ Akechi's cheeks flush at his having been caught... but he gives a sigh and a nod. ]

Considerate as always.

[ There's a tiny smile as he turns the water off. Ah, the air feels nice on it. He's going to leave his hand to air dry. ]

[velvetinmate]

[He'll just lean against a wall in the meantime.]

... Think we might have better luck trying to find a place that serves coffee?

[arraignments]

[ Back to leaning against the counter. He gives a soft snort in response to that question. ]

Something tells me we'd only have better luck if you simply opened your own cafe.

[velvetinmate]

Heh... that's not such a bad idea. Maybe if we're here long enough for it...

[arraignments]

[ He blinks. And then he gives a small smile. ]

You running your own business, hmm...? I can't say that seems far from your range of capabilities. You do have natural talent when it comes to leading others.

[ Akechi brushes his uninjured hand through his bangs and looks to the side. ]

I'm sure you'll be able to find plenty of help with it, too.

[velvetinmate]

It's something to consider, at least.

[He glances off to the side.]

... Would you like to help me with it, if it does happen?

[arraignments]

[ A blink, and then he's looking back at Akira.

He stares for a moment. ]

M-me...? You really-...?

[ Fortunately, he catches himself before finishing that question. In the end, it shouldn't be so shocking, right? ]

Um... [ cheeks... flushing... ] I'll... consider it.

[velvetinmate]

That's all I can ask at this point.

[... Don't mind him though, he's grinning a little.]

[arraignments]

[ He sees that grin, you jerk. Stop that. There's a quiet huff as he looks away. ]

What kinds of things would you serve, anyway? Besides the obvious.

[velvetinmate]

Maybe I could branch out into making sweets or something...?

[Hmm. Things to consider.]

[arraignments]

[ Annnnnnd Akechi's expression is brightening, ever-so-slightly. He sounds genuinely intrigued. ]

Oh? ... What kind?

[velvetinmate]

Cake would be the obvious choice... cookies don't sound too bad either.

What do you think?

[arraignments]

Well, it would depend on the coffee beans or blends, I'd think...

[ Oh, no... Akira, you've done it. You've unleashed the food nerd... ]

For instance, Latin American-grown coffee is known to pair especially well with chocolate, while something such as iced coffee mixed with vanilla coffee syrup does well with chocolate strawberry cake. Latin-American-grown coffee varieties being known to pair particularly well with caramel.

If you want something nice for hot summer mornings, some even work really well against ice cream desserts.

[ Yep. ]

To be honest, there are many pastries - not just sweet ones - that go well with coffee.

[ It's... just!! Going to keep going, apparently!!! ]

A plain butter croissant pairs nicely with coffee from Colombia or Peru, and savory crepes pair well with coffee from the Pacific Islands.

[ He... looks a tiny bit excited over having gone into all of this, RIP, his player, tho. ]

Last, but not least, some coffee tastes nice with plain toast.

[velvetinmate]

[Akira just listens to all of this, clearly pleased.]

I guess we'll have to see when actually making this a thing is feasible... you'll have to remind me of all this when that time comes.

[He grins.]

Asking you was definitely the right choice. We can go into more depth once we know what I'll be working with.

[arraignments]

[ Now his cheeks are darkening. . . because it's dawning on him, apparently. ]

I don't mind reminding you.

[ Ah... his old weakness: usefulness.

He glances to the side, somewhat awkwardly. Time for a subject change! He's lifting his burned hand, flexing his fingers a tiny bit. It still hurts, but it'll probably continue to hurt until it's begun healing. ]

Hm... It might be safe to bandage it now.

[velvetinmate]

Alright.

[Before wrapping it up though, we are putting aloe vera on that.]

Let me see your hand, then.

[arraignments]

[ He holds it out for Akira to have easier access. ]

Did... having a full team give you more experience in first aid?

[velvetinmate]

Not really.

[He'll start putting the aloe vera on--gently.]

There's a clinic in Yongen-Jaya... I learned some stuff from the owner. [A beat.] And from looking stuff up on the internet.

[arraignments]

[ Surprising, considering some of the teammates... and not surprising, considering Metaverse mechanics. ]

Oh? Were you planning to become an assistant, one day. [ hint of teasing ] I can't say I'm surprised...

[ He isn't elaborating on that latter sentence, so it won't be surprising if it seems connected to the first. He's glancing to the side. ]

[velvetinmate]

[He shakes his head.]

I'm... not really suited to medical work, honestly. There's certain stuff I wouldn't be able to take well.

[Once the aloe vera's on, Akira reaches for the gauze to loosely wrap it around the burned area. He looks up to make direct eye contact, before delivering in perfect deadpan--]

I'm actually pretty squeamish.

1/

[arraignments]

[ X ]

[arraignments]

[ He just gives a soft sigh and shakes his head. If Akira were to accuse his expression of being fond for a moment, he'd call him a liar.

Nevertheless, he gestures with a hand. ]

It would be a difficult job... The stress of having another person's life in your hands is possibly among the highest any human could endure.

[velvetinmate]

[Akira actually looks amused in the brief moment Akechi looks fond, but with those words, he just solemnly nods as he finishes wrapping the gauze around the burn.]

And losing a patient would be hell...

[arraignments]

[ His smile is grim... ]

... You really are a surprisingly gentle person.

[velvetinmate]

[He glances off to the side, a tinge of pink in his cheeks.

He... won't say it's because the people around him bring it out in him.]

... Want to know a little secret? I actually don't know what I'm going to do, honestly.