hugtopia_logs | ♥ July 2019 Intro Mingle

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♥ July 2019 Intro Mingle

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.

❥ 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!

❥ 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.

❥ 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!

❥ 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.

Outdoor party space with hanging lights and flowers

❥ 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:

Attach your ribbons to yourself in a clearly visible location.
Tag and hold someone else for more than 1 minute. You can bear hug them, hold their hands, link arms, anything!
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.
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.

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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[Tailgate might not be made of the same metal that cars on Earth are made of--not that Regis would know that since he's not from Earth--but the metal is also different from that which cars are made of on Eos, so the point stands. He takes a few moments longer to marvel at the differences in just the feel and then focuses his mind back on the topic at hand.]

My Shield may make sure I stay in good shape, but I assure you, I am nowhere near that weight.

[He pats Tailgate's roof and then looks around for the cart in question.]

So where is what we need to move?

Your shield?

[He's thinking literally, of course, so he's a bit confused as to how a shield can help an organic hold a shape. Does he turn into a weird goo blob without it?? Gross.]

Oh, it's just right over here!

[Once Regis' hand is clear, he zooms off around the corner, beeping his horn. The cart isn't very far off, just near one of the entrances to the temple. Tailgate stops in front of it, turning around to get in place for when Regis caught up.]

I'm ready whenever you are.

[Oh Tailgate, no.]

Yes, he is my oldest friend and the best training partner I could have asked for, even if he is stricter than I would like. He is five years my elder.

[Regis jogs after Tailgate as he takes off back toward the temple. Once there, he gives the cart a look over, deciding where the best place to hold onto it will be. After a few moments of thought, he steps back away from both the cart and Tailgate and summons his sword out of the Armiger with a crackle of crystals. The pommel will be better to wrap the leather straps attached to the cart around. It can take a lot more pressure than his hands will be able to.

Just give him a few moments to get that done and they can be off!]

[Look, he only knows about humans from movies. And most movies don't explain how humans work, since they are the intended audience.]

[It can't be seen since he's currently a car, but Tailgate squints. So either the shield was sentient in some way, or maybe... another person? Another person made more sense. Once Regis catches back up, he asks.]

Wait, so your shield is another human?

[He's not in any rush, but he does watch what Regis does curiously. Summoning a sword out of no where is pretty cool, even for a giant robot that can turn into a car.]

Wow, how did you do that? That's a cool trick!

Oh, yes. He most certainly is.

[Regis pauses in his work, turning back toward Tailgate with a sheepish expression on his face.]

Apologies, I should have specified. I'm used to people knowing exactly what the title 'Shield' means. Clarus is his name. The eldest child of each generation of his family has served my own as our protectors for nearly 2,000 years. We call them shields because they do exactly that when attacks or threats are directed at us. They act as our shields from that harm.

[His expression becomes melancholy for a moment.]

It's very strange to not have him at my side right now. I cannot remember a time when he wasn't there.

[Fortunately, Tailgate's curiosity about Regis' summoned sword is enough to distract him before he can become to sad thinking about his best and oldest friend not being here.]

One of the special abilities granted to my family line allows us to store things in a magical space we call the Armiger. What you just saw was me drawing my sword back out from that space.

Ohh... I think I got it now. Kind of. But you don't need to apologize! I don't know a lot about organic species, so sometimes things are just lost on me.

[Like he still doesn't understand the whole 'keep in shape' bit, but the look on Regis' face says that now might not be a good time to press about small details. The description kind of reminds him of Cyclonus. He always tried to keep him out of trouble, even when he was being ungrateful and stubborn...]

He sounds like a really good friend. We'll have to save this world as quick as we can so you can get back to him.

[And so he could get back to Cyclonus. But thankfully he's easily distracted from being bummed about that.]

I didn't know some humans could do magic! That's awesome... I've got a few compartments where I can store stuff, but nothing as big as a sword.

Perhaps we can help each other out in more ways than just this? I would be happy to answer any questions you have, and I would love to learn more about your world and people.

[Regis returns to the task of wrapping the leather cords around his sword's pommel, finishing shortly thereafter.]

I suspect there was a reason I was brought here. As much as I miss him and many others from my world, if I am to learn something here, then I will not rush through the learning. I owe that much to them.

[Plus he is not egotistical enough to think he has nothing left to learn. Especially not after that crushing defeat at Adagium's hands.]

Magic is limited on my world. It was granted as a gift to my bloodline since we watch over an artifact of great power. We, in turn, can give some measure of that power to others should we choose, but no magic comes without price. This is true for ours as well.

That would be really great, actually.

[Hope you're ready for 2AM texts asking what a toilet is used for Regis.]

Huh, guess I hadn't really thought of it like that before... That we're supposed to learn something here.

[It didn't feel like he learned much the first time he helped save the world, save for the importance of punctuation in legal documents. It was more the travels that happened between that had taught him a lot. Though he learned a bit more the second go around, what with Rodimus' inspirational speech and all.]

So I guess that rules out just using it for fun. What's a bloodline though?

Excellent. I look forward to it.

[He's going to be a father in just a couple of years. It will be good practice for all of those "But, why?" questions.]

An ages old prophecy is tied to both my family and the Crystal that we protect. As a result, I always assume things happen for a reason, even if the reason isn't obvious at the time.

[When Regis gets back home, for example, he knows that he will have to seriously rethink how Insomnia and its people are protected. An attack like Adagium's can never be allowed to happen again.]

Oh, I still use it for fun.

[A grin crosses Regis' face as he holds his empty right hand palm up. After a moment ice begins to fill it, slowly forming itself into a miniature of the form that Tailgate currently holds.]

I just have to be careful not to over-extend myself. And please accept my apologies. A 'bloodline' is a very organic term as you would put it. I am referring to my ancestors, those who I have descended from. So, my parents, their parents, and so on back through history. Do your people have a word like that? How do you define a family?

[The 2AM texts will also be good practice for lack of sleep from baby. Who knew a six million year old robot would be a good test run for having a child.]

Has that worked out for you so far? It seems like most of the reasons for things that happen in my life have been kind of stupid. Not that it's been bad or anything, but I ended up going on a quest to find Cybertopia because I fell in a hole in the ground. It's just not very poetic.

[He made an awed noise as Regis made a little ice miniature of him. Tailgate rolled forward enough to clear the cart, before his plates started shifting with a mechanical noise, transforming him back to his much larger robot mode. It was way easier to get a good look at the ice sculpture this way.]

Cool...

[The blue light of the visor covering his optics blinked as he processed Regis' words.]

Oh, that makes sense. You have to have a 'mom' and 'dad' to be born, right?

[Tailgate shakes his head.]

Cybertronians don't really have 'families' like that. Sometimes a spark - that's what keeps us alive - can split in two when it's being formed, or if two are in close contact when being formed, we call that 'Spark Brothers'. That's pretty much it though. Otherwise we just make friends, sometimes romantic interests.

[Not Regis, that is for certain.]

It has worked fairly well so far, though sometimes it is much harder to find the reason why than others. Real life very rarely is as neat or poetic as stories are. You will find many human quests end up starting from things just as silly as yours did. Did you end up learning anything from your quest?

[Regis has to hold back a flinch as Tailgate starts to transform. His mind immediately wants to start throwing warnings about the danger of magitek at him, but there is noting about Tailgate that is similar to those soulless machines the Niffs so love.

He looks up to meet Tailgate's flashing eyes--no, there is probably another word, but it's not one that Regis knows at the moment--with a grin.]

I'm six foot tall. How is it so many here make me feel short?

[A chuckle slips form his mouth and then he nods.]

That's correct. A child needs genetic material from both parents in order to be born. That is why we refer to family lines as 'bloodlines.' Genetic material is passed down through the generations from parent to child and so on. It sounds like what you are describing is what we might call adopted families or 'found' families. These are not people who share a genetic link, but love each other as family nonetheless.

Hmm... I did? But it's hard to really compare because I was only born two weeks before I fell in the hole. So that was all just basics like learning to move and talk.

[He's too distracted thinking about if their quest was really the reason he learned things, or if it was just because it was really one of the first things that happened to him, to notice Regis' discomfort when he sudden turns into a bipedal robot a foot taller than him. The magic ice was also still very neat to look at. But the comment about feeling short makes him try to stifle a snorting laugh.]

If it makes you feel any better, I'm normally one of the shortest Cybertronians of the group I travel with. And I even lost about three feet in height when I showed up here. Having to look down to talk is weird for me.

[He laughs. Sorry Regis.]

That's probably what I'd call everyone I was traveling with before I showed up here. My family. It's kind of lucky that you organics are guaranteed that, it was really nice. Well. Unless one of them ends up being a jerk and you're stuck with them because you can't pick. That's not so lucky.

Learning is learning. A quest so soon after one's birth can hardly be anything but beneficial.

[As Regis talks, the ice sculpture slowly starts to change into Tailgate in his current, transformed, state. This obviously takes more focus since Regis' voice becomes a little distant as he works on the shift.]

I am both frightened and extremely curious to find out how tall some of your taller friends are if you are the short one.

[Is everything on their world scaled up, then? It would have to be.]

Found families and adopted families exist for just that reason. Sometimes people have children when they really should not. Sometimes, life just changes someone after they have a child. At least those kinds of families allow children to experience the love they deserve if their own blood parents cannot or will not give it.

I guess that's true.

[It technically wasn't so soon after his birth, but when you go into a six million year coma, it might as well be. When the sculpture starts to transform, Tailgate's optics widen a little and he leans in closer to watch. He's a bit distracted, so he isn't bothered by Regis being distracted as well.]

I'm about half the size of most Cybertronians. But there are some taller ones, like Megatron, or Ultra Magnus. I only came up to their knees.

[AKA humans were kind of a tripping hazard for most of them.]

What about your family - the one you were born with? Did you like them?

Half the size or less? Astrals, that's amazing. I can hardly imagine.

[It's just a little terrifying too. What hope would humans have if such large creatures decided to attack them? Thankfully, Tailgate has been nothing short of kind and pleasant to talk to.

There is a long moment of silence before Regis answers his question though.]

My mother died when I was young, so I don't remember a whole lot about her aside from her being my father's shadow. My father and I never got along that well. Should it have been needed, we would have had each other's backs, but we did not see eye-to-eye on much. I have several very close friends who might as well be my family, though, one of which I grew up with. I also was childhood friends with the woman who became my wife, so I consider myself fortunate. I was not nearly as alone as I might have been.

Right? That's why being one of the tallest around here is so different.

[Tailgate is generally kind and pleasant. He also knows nothing about the time Cybertronians did invade Earth. It wasn't exactly to attack humans, but it didn't exactly go great for them either.]

[The pause makes him realize that maybe that was a rather loaded question to ask a relative stranger.]

I'm sorry about your mom. Your dad too, that sounds rough. But at least you've got good friends.

It's all right. I know you didn't mean to bring up bad memories.

[Regis sends a small smile toward Tailgate and then allows the ice sculpture to fade, shaking the last of the water from his hand once it's gone.]

Shall we see about getting that cart where it's needed? I would be glad to talk with you about things more afterward.

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♥ July 2019 Intro Mingle

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