exsiliumlogs | (no subject)

Date: August 1st
Location: The Initiative Hold & Courtyard.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: New Transports arrive and are shuffled into the Courtyard after their initial briefings. Now with 200% more People-Seeking lists!
Warnings: None.

You've just been hustled and bustled through mazes of information and literal, wide corridors of the Initiative Hold and you've been equipped with your weapon—be it a gun, a sword, or even your existing powers. They've handed you this light netbook and a small pouch of coins (or a debit card, if you're more inclined), and there are several Transports before and after you going through the very same motions. You can hear the Greeter's voice as she walks alongside large groups, telling them all about the history of this place and sharing with you your purpose here in a hurried and urgent tone. "You're in luck that we have enough rooms for all of you; the housing building is getting awfully full. Please, let me show you into the courtyard."

You pass what looks like huge gymnasiums, all with dummies and targets strewn and splayed around the room. Training areas. There are even classrooms, and a few small offices. You're rushed past a large library while the Greeter informs you that you can find almost all your information there, if you've got the time to look—and trust her, you'll have time. You don't spend a lot of time in the bank, and it's a bit of a blur of exchanges with more and more of these strangely-accented and oddly polite-seeming members of the Initiative.

Soon enough, you're in a massive courtyard bustling with all the other Transports. It's not exactly what you'd expect, and it looks more like barracks than anything—huge walls of concrete and stone, separating you from all of the hallways you'd just passed through. It's raining heavily, and dark clouds loom in the air, though it hasn't turned to snow. It's a chill cold, and there are shelters—long cloth hangings that extend from the walls of concrete to house you from the rain, but not enough. Most notably, the courtyard is filled with a marketplace. Even in the cold and the rain, there are several citizens seated at their covered booths and tables, bundled up against the weather. They're selling all manner of their own handmade goods and foods, and citizens and Transports alike are traveling from one small covered shop to another in search of all manner of necessities. Now and then around you you might spot paper fluttering in the faint wind from somewhere relatively dry. It looks like a list.

The Greeter's voice has become so faint now, but you swear you can make it out in the back of the crowds as she tells you, "Good luck. Be safe!"

Her voice is drowned out by the busy marketplace, though even the transactions taking place are somewhat subdued. Nobody is overly happy, really, though most citizens can be found with smiles on their faces. It doesn't seem like they're that shocked to see you, either; even if you're not bound in tattered rags and wrapped in heavy shawls as they are. You're welcome to walk up to a shop, and find yourself something to eat—hey, maybe you'll even find something akin to a raincoat. Or, you can join the others under the coverings against the walls. Where am I? What war? She was talking so fast, and it didn't all make very much sense… did anyone else catch it all?

Welcome to the courtyard. Welcome to the Initiative Hold—and most importantly, welcome to Exsilium.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

This is not a sight that one sees every day. Is that... a squirrel? A talking squirrel, crowded by wet and pathetic-looking kittens.

Sango is led up to Codpiece and his charges by the pioneering Kirara, who meows a hello upon getting close enough.

"You know, somebody did mention a squirrel handing out kittens, but... I didn't expect an actual squirrel."

Kirara has most of his attention, and is the reason for his paw at his dirk. She holds herself to good behavior, and so he holds himself to the same.

The kittens meow in return to the somewhat larger, more adult feline, one sticking out its neck in order to try and catch the strange cat's scent.

"I am much different than most expect, my lady, but for all my size or species, a knight I do remain. Have you come in search of me? Or is it merely an interest of fate that brings our paths to crossing?"

Sango smiles, somewhat charmed by the little squirrel and his knightly demeanor.

"Just a coincidence," she says as Kirara gently greets the kittens. "We haven't met yet... you are a Transport, correct?"

"I am indeed," Codpiece confessed, the kittens around him nosing and nudging themselves forward to press noses toward Kirara. "Brought in a moon or two or three ago. If but we could see the moon, I might better know, my lady. What of yourself?"

"I've been here around three months," she replied. Kirara indulged the kittens enough to let them sniff at her, looking somewhat amused. "I'm Sango, and this is Kirara."

"Sir Codpiece," he says, stately in his bedraggled appearing situation. "At your service, Lady Sango, Esteemed Kirara."

He wasn't sure if Kirara counted as a lady or a companion; esteemed seemed to fit the bill nicely enough. "How have you been fairing in the onslaught of never-ending rain that marks this city so pervasively?"

Sango was enchanted by the dignified little squirrel at her feet, and grinned in response. "Well, a little better under this," she said, drawing an umbrella from the blue wrap at her shoulders and maneuvering it open. With Sango crouched down, it was big enough to shield both herself and the small group of furry creatures in front of her. "Why are you out here, if I may ask?"

Codpiece was quietly appreciative of the lady's generous spirit, offering her safety from the rain to himself and his charges. "I am in search of homes for the last of those charges given to me by a wise woman met on my arrival. Part of a quest, you see," he offered as explanation. "These three remain with me until I find them homes in the service of a lord or lady."

He fully expected the felines to earn their keep. 'Allergies' nosed up against him and sneezed, opening its mouth to gnaw at his tail. Codpiece flicked it away, armor and all, without blinking.

"Well, it's as good a place as any. They're very cute, you shouldn't have much trouble..."

There was one kitten that seemed particularly fond of Kirara, chasing the demon cat's twin tails as she flicked them. Sango eyed the tiny thing, feeling her heart melt. Note to self: stopping to look at kittens is a bad idea.