exsiliumlogs | (no subject)

Date: June 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

[It sure does!]

Yes, unless it happened in the half-hour since I left. I wouldn't go so far as to say the Initiative are our friends, but they're not our enemies, either.

[Ordinarily, Sue would let a guest enter first, but since Anne's worried about traps, she lets herself in to show she's unafraid, and then waits beside the door, holding it open for Anne.]

[ She follows after, not wanting to appear too weak in this case. The other woman seems terribly certain of herself, but then there's no telling if she's not a spy herself. This life may not be so different from court after all. ]

I assume you opened up the walls and the floors to be thorough, then?

[Opened up the--oh, right, old-style construction and a limited repertoire of ways to deal out death. It seems almost...quaint, the idea of being set upon by men with knives and one-shot pistols.]

If someone were hiding in the walls, they'd have a hard time getting out. You'll see what I mean in a second.

[The apartments are extremely modernist. No paneling concealing secret nooks there.]

[ Anne does little to shield her distaste for what she finds as she glances around. And up, just to check for murder holes. ]

Do they have no sense of artistry? Imagination? There is no shape, nor color. No details of any sort. I would think even a soldier's barrack in my time to appear more cheerful...

[Sue looks around, seeing the place through Anne's eyes.]

They are a little stark if you're used to something warmer. Still, the amenities are good.

[Given her husband's design sense, Sue finds the apartments the most home-like feature of the place. Well, that and the regular bouts of horrible danger.]

Please, come in. Don't worry about the water; it won't hurt anything. I can lend you a robe and some towels, and we'll see what we can do about drying out your dress.

[She's already picturing the amount of unlacing that's going to be involved with getting Anne out of her wet clothes, and not looking forward to it. Sue's own outfit is already almost perfectly dry just from the few seconds they've been under a roof, leaving only her wet hair to show she was ever outside.]

[ It's better than standing in the rain, at least, but she's bringing in a lot more water than Sue, considering all the fabric on her. She had done her best to remain under awnings and tents during the trip, but Anne could only control so much. ]

My most humble apologies, I am making such a mess of your...home.

It's quite all right. The upside to the decor is that being a little wet won't do any damage.

[And if it gets too bad, one of her roommates has elemental powers and can take care of it. That seems unwise to mention right this second, however.]

Come on, you'll feel better when you're not soaked.

[ While she's genuinely kind, Sue is also accustomed to getting her way. She takes Anne's arm and tries very gently to steer her toward the bathroom.]

[ That might have gotten a very rude reaction if Anne was queen, but...fortunately she's just a noble girl without a title! So she goes along without question this time, though she is ever looking for traps on all fronts no matter what this woman says. ]

It might take quite some time for my clothing to dry... Are you certain this is not an intrusion?

[Sue would be interacting differently with a queen, but not that differently, especially in her own home.]

If it were, I wouldn't have offered.

[And her roommates can just deal with it, although Crystal could speed up the drying process if she were to put in an appearance.

The bathroom is...a futuristic bathroom, with all the spotless white and gleaming chrome that implies, which it hasn't consciously occurred to her is going to be utterly foreign to Anne. She starts digging through the linen closet for fresh towels.]

[ What the hell is this, where have you taken her??? It looks like a...very clean torture chamber at first glance, and it makes her nervous until she sees the mirror. That temporarily distracts her as Anne gets a good look at herself (this must be the clearest mirror she has ever seen) and sees what a ragged state she's in. At least, by her standards.

At least she didn't lose her earrings, but she will begin removing them once she notices Susan pulling out some sort of linen, remembering what they came here for. ]

This is your changing room? [ What's wrong with just using a screen? ]

OOC: I had a handful of notifs never come through, and this was one of them. I am so sorry.

Hmm? This is the bathroom.

[Because clearly that explains everything and there isn't any kind of culture divide that needs to be bridged in this case.

With a friendly smile, Sue offers Anne a plush, fluffy bath towel that smells faintly of fabric softener.]

[ Oh...okay. That's not a term she's familiar with, but she knows the words, and with that she glances to the tub, figuring already it was the bath, strange as it is. But then she looks to the toilet, beginning to suspect what it is and wondering why on earth it's anywhere near the tub.

Unable to do anything about it, though, Anne merely nods and reaches behind her to begin fiddling with the ties of her bodice. It is not easy, in fact near impossible to dress and undress oneself with these clothes. ]

[ ooc; No problem! ]