♥ November Intro Mingle Log

[hugtopiamods]

November Intro Mingle Log
Welcome to Hugtopia, and to the city of Havenwell. This mingle is meant for new arrivals to get settled and meet the other inhabitants. New characters should be the only top-levels but everyone is free to tag around and make new friends. Who knows, you may find that Perfect Hug in here. You can use the prompts here, or create a wildcard of your own.

ICly, this takes place from the 2nd to around the 10th, with a proper event coming soon after applications are processed. The prompts below are optional, but are a way to get you started if you wish. To help you create your own prompts, please take a look through our Settings and FAQ. Click on each prompt's title to see the text.

If you have any questions, feel free to direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread below.

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❥ PROMPT I: Awakening

When you awaken, you're in the last outfit you remember wearing, (up to) three of your belongings laid nearby or your animal friend curled up by you, waking as you do. A stone slab is not the most comfortable place to sleep, but once you're awake, a humanoid-looking robot comes into the room and explains that you're in Havenwell, then leads you out of the room and into the main portion of the temple where a welcoming committee of similarly humanoid-looking robots hand over a clear smartphone-sized tablet, some starting funds, and explain their dilemma. Then they release you into Havenwell to pick your new home from free housing in the city and give you the chance to settle. It might be a bit disorienting, but thankfully there seem to be a lot of robots and even some non-robots around. Maybe ask them for help? Strike up a friendly conversation, get to know your neighbours! It seems as if you may be here for the long haul.

❥ PROMPT II: Buddy System

With all the changes and the fear of a secondary attack lingering, the natives are a lot more protective of their newest arrivals. When new characters begin to appear at the temples, they receive the welcome speech, get their communicators and the simple map of the city, and a warning to stay away from the walls. Then they get taken to the front of the temple by a helpful robotic priest. Rather than turn the newcomers loose right away, they pull someone seemingly at random off the street and push the two people together with a cheerful, "It's dangerous to go alone, so please show our newest resident around. Please be buddies!" They wait until they're certain the pair is going to be moving off together before going back inside.

They try to place a new arrival with one of those who previously arrived, but who can keep track of all that, right? Characters may find themselves thrown together with an actual veteran or with another new arrival who only came here a day or even just an hour before them! Good luck helping each other out, offworlders, and don't lose your buddy!

❥ PROMPT III: Virtual Research

After the attack, every part of the city is on repair duty and the means the Entertainment District as well. As new arrivals wander the city, they might be called into one of the numerous Virtual Reality cafes. These cafes vary in layout, but most have areas for the natives to plug directly into the machines and other areas which have older looking virtual reality helmets that allow flesh bodied people experience the games. For those who need assistance with their sensory inputs, basic options like audio descriptions of visual scenes, enhanced audio and descriptive speech, closed captions, and crude mobility chairs are available. A handful of cafes have other options like direct visual or audio cortex stimulation to simulate vision or hearing, or suspension tanks to allow simulated movement, but these are currently unavailable due to damage.

All of these facilities are, unfortunately, under repair. The direct plug-in systems are easier for the robot natives to fix because they can do the most important part of it - testing - by themselves. But for the helmets and other interface systems, they need your help. Naturally, they'll pay you for the work, but they need the offworlders to play the available games and record any areas where they find glitches. Playing with a partner increases your chances of finding and fixing any issues, so feel free to log in for free for once and test any of the following games:

• Big Bass Fishing
The beautiful lake has blue-green waters surrounded by forest and rocky, reedy shores. You and your companion are on a small single-motor fishing boat and you have fishing gear - two poles in the water. As the game starts up a read-out announces the objective: Catch the largest fish before the time limit ends. What's the time limit? ...Well, that's your first glitch because it reads as static. Might as well start fishing though, right? It doesn't take long to catch a few regular sized fish, nothing too exciting, and then? You get the big one - it bows your fishing rod nearly in half as you reel it up. The fish leaps into the air and you realize this is your next glitch because the fish hangs there - the size of a minivan - and yells, "BIG. BASS. FISHING. ATTACK." The fish slaps its fins and tails at the boat and now you and your fishing companion better fight this fish or you'll end up in the lake or worse.


• A (un)Familiar Experience
Jump into the life of the temple familiars and see life from their perspective! Choose the temple, any temple is fine, and be transformed into a fledgling rainbow dragon, a purple mouse, a white raven, or a blue feline. You're free to move about the virtual confines of the temples and, in fact, you can even interact with other familiars in their temples - who may be other players in this game. Play, climb, try to get your fledgling wings to fly, tumble about with the other mice, enjoy your simple life as an animal! --or you would if you weren't an insane size. Rather than being a small mouse, you're the size of a horse. That fledgling rainbow dragon? About the size of a fly. The building sizes are off, too - one might have door that's 30 feet tall, but a ceiling that's only 12. Everything else seems fine, but those sizes? Well, you better figure out how to get around that.


• Robot Crossing
Logging in with another character will net you a little farm and a variety of games to choose from:
1. Pick and harvest as many Aellyn vegetables and fruits as you can before the timer runs out! The more you pick, the better your score. Work together with your partner to clear the field in any way you can. Strangely, once you finish clearing a tree or a field row of their bounty, they seem to magically refill when you turn your back. Strangely, when the timer runs out? It flashes 00:00 and the game...doesn't? Stop? In fact, the fruits and vegetables just keep multiplying and multiplying and if you don't hurry up you might just get buried in them all!
   
2. With a partner, use the giant slingshot to launch comically large fruits into a garden patch of other colored fruits. Match a line of 3 or more similarly shaped fruits to clear it from the field. The more fruits you can clear, the higher your score - aka welcome to Fruit Crush. Stack lines of 6 or more to get shining clear diamond fruits that clear the entire row and snag yourself some bonus points. Or they should, but whenever you clear away a matching set, the fruits explode, sending fruit bits and juice everywhere - most notably on you and your partner. Still, the game is going on and it looks like it won't stop until you finish, so good thing it's all a computer game, right? Sure feels real though - reeeeeeally sticky.
   
3. You and your partner(s) are given a magical golden pumpkin and it's your job to grow it into the largest pumpkin possible. Why? There's a county fair of course and the largest pumpkin wins! But how do you grow this pumpkin? Well, for whatever reason? This pumpkin is already the size of a grizzly bear and it just won't stop growing! You and your partner better find a way to stop it from growing out of control or you might get (virtually) crushed! You could do a song and dance routine together to touch the pumpkin's soul to teach it moderation or calm its insane vegetable puberty. You could hold hands and share stories and entertain the pumpkin until it feels satisfied that it's grown enough. You could just hack and slash at it in an attempt to reduce its unwieldy bulk. The possibilities are endless and so is the pumpkin's growth, so you better hurry!

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Comments

[meridio]

[Whether or not he noticed Noctis upon entering the temple, Somnus only turns his head the former's way as he's leaving. While he doesn't step too close, they're not so far that he needs to raise his voice. Moreover, he can see what Noctis is up to out of his periphery well enough.]

Have you spoken with the young king?

[carbungle]

[The voice makes Noctis glance over, puzzled at first by the words, and then- oh, right.]

My dad? I mean, yeah... we talk sometimes. It's weird with him this young.

[That's probably not what Somnus means, but he's wary of breaching that subject unprompted.]

[meridio]

[Noctis' evasive reply is an answer in and of itself. There's little point in prolonging the charade, but Somnus doesn't press for action. The truth will come out in time, and he's no stranger to what Noctis is feeling when he thinks about his brother.

It's time to move on from that topic.]

Is this the temple of your chosen god?

[carbungle]

"Chosen god"... guess so.

[Noctis absently looks down at one of his hands before shifting his gaze towards the temple statues. He's already made covenants with two gods and more to come, and the expectations of all of them on his shoulders. Isn't that enough? How many more gods does he need to pledge himself to?]

I just like to see the animals.

[meridio]

[Of which there are plenty to observe on these sacred grounds. Then Noctis may be here for some time. Somnus closes the gap between them, stops in front of Noctis, and extends his hand.

Hold it.]

I would hear your thoughts on this world.

[carbungle]

[.....what

Noctis does nothing at first, merely stares down at the offered hand. He's... taken this world's requirements to heart, huh. Like, immediately, despite how grim and distant and cryptic he acted. Yeah, he really does not understand this man at all.

However, with a quiet sigh, he reaches back to clasp Somnus's hand anyway. What the hell, it's not like they're totally strangers.]

If you'd asked a few weeks ago I'd have told you it's too quiet. Kind of boring, compared to home. Things didn't seem all that bad- it's peaceful, they've got all they need, it didn't feel like we were making that much of a difference... so what was the point of dragging us here?

[meridio]

[Their palms meet. Somnus closes his fingers around Noctis' hand to solidify the contact. Of course, Noctis is free to pull away anytime.

That was a few weeks ago, though it strikes him as a rather optimistic assessment. What's changed since?]

I was informed of an attack on the city.

[carbungle]

Yeah, there was. That's what I meant about timing.

[He uses his free hand to lean back, shifting a leg so it doesn't fall asleep under him. He's fully healed since the fighting stopped, but some leftover soreness can't be helped.]

We've gotten a look at what's outside, what the rest of the world might be like, and it's bad. This whole city's like a painted door on a house that's on fire. I don't know how far it goes, but it's worse than Eos is these days.

[If nothing else, it's made him more sympathetic to their plight and slightly less eager to return home in a rush. The issues they described seemed so trivial when the city looked... normal, the way they display it to newcomers. It's a whole different story now.]

[meridio]

[Once Noctis has shifted, Somnus settles down next to him.

He imagines that it was easy to be taken in by the manufactured peace of the city when the true state of the world is tucked out of sight. Such is the depth of mortal vision. Very little is ever as it appears.]

You saw what lies beyond the wall. That reality is why you and I are here.

[carbungle]

No kidding. [He lifts his arm, raising their joined hands as he does so.] Is that why you're so eager to do this? No offense, but I didn't get the impression that you'd care.

[...Okay, even as he says it, he's not sure if there was a way to phrase it that wasn't going to end up kind of offensive. But Somnus doesn't immediately strike him as a bleeding heart for a strange world.]

[meridio]

[He always cares. He just never stopped diluting that care with ulterior motives. Knowing this, he can take no offense.]

I swore a vow to protect the world. With this body given flesh by the gods, I do what I must.

[carbungle]

Even though this isn't Eos?

[Not like he's opposed. Worlds in trouble ought to be saved, people in trouble ought to be helped. He may complain along the way but it comes as naturally to him as breathing.]

[meridio]

[Eos or not, the worlds are linked as long as they exist on this side. Coming back to a flesh body has left him beholden, too.]

I live now to serve.

[carbungle]

So it doesn't matter who you're serving? Kind of a weird perspective for a king.

[His tone is more curious than judging.]

[meridio]

[Somnus lifts his head.]

You have seen the state of this world. What will you do next?

[carbungle]

...What I can, I guess. I don't know why they picked me, I'm better at fighting than any of what they need here, but it's not like I can't roll with it.

[He gives their joined hands a lazy wave. Not like this is high-tech, he just needs to learn how to not be so... awkward?]

[meridio]

[That'll come with practice. Somnus readjusts his grip, lightly pressing his fingers into the back of Noctis' burdened hand.]

We were called upon by the gods to heal this world. What the city does not need may be needed elsewhere.

[carbungle]

Outside, you mean.

[It's barely a question. The world beyond the walls has always been his calling back home; it may as well be that here, too. And the residents of this city seemed so ill-prepared for a breach, so it can't have happened often.]

There's... a lot of people here who can fight. And most of us came with our weapons, too. If their gods did that on purpose, there's probably more to come.

[meridio]

[Indeed. Somnus looks down at his unoccupied hand, which rests on his lap.]

This is the beginning of the end.

[Again. For a third time, the end has begun anew. Will this one span months or years? In the last world, he'd gone to the church—not to pray to the deities of a colorless town, but for the day that his brother will find peace. Now, here, he can only wait and pray once more.]

We must take care not to falter.

[carbungle]

[Noctis grimaces, glancing off towards one of the looming dragon statues decorating the temple.]

Isn't one world enough? I've got plenty on my plate as it is.

[This is admittedly less tiring than fighting soldiers and daemons, collecting old relics, and exploring dungeons all the time, but it's not like he wasn't busy.

Despite his words he's not mad, exactly. There's just still too much they don't know.]

[meridio]

[One world alone far exceeds the weight that should be shouldered by one man. Noctis has been dealt a fate most heavy time and again, and Somnus' heart feels laden with that knowledge. Yet what else can they do?

He already burned himself once in trying to overthrow the gods' will. Somnus has no power to alter the weight on Noctis' plate, but he can share the load for as long as he's in Aellyn.]

There are others. The burden of a world is not yours to bear alone here,

[carbungle]

Is that what you're here for?

[He glances briefly back down to their hands before focusing on Somnus again. The man's even more of a mystery now than when he was just a story from ancient history. His grim personality exists in stark contrast to the ease with which he wandered right over and held what is essentially a stranger's hand. Hard to make sense of that.]

[meridio]

[Somnus' gaze has risen to fix itself on the temple goers and animals in the distance. He's merely here to serve—to help in what little ways he can.]

Do you object?

[carbungle]

Not really.

[It's the logical decision, and from the impression he's gotten of the man so far, logic is a big factor in how he views things.]

You can do more than that, though.

[meridio]

[Somnus falls silent as he continues to watch the sparse crowd. It's a roundabout invitation for Noctis to also continue, though he already has an idea as to what he's about to hear.]