(no subject)

[initiates]

Date: July 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.

Comments

THE WELCOME TENT || OPEN TO ALL (ESPECIALLY NEWBIES!!!)

[hostage]

[There's a tent here that's almost the size of a small store, set up for business like the surrounding stalls but large enough for several people to enter and linger a while. At its front, a few tables hold trays of cookies in a wide variety of flavors and shapes, each lovingly decorated with colorful frosting. A sign beside the cookies reads in handwritten block letters: FREE - TAKE WHAT YOU WANT. Inside the tent, clusters of chairs have been set up for ease of conversation.]

((GREETERS: start a new thread for your character! VISITORS: tag a specific person or tag the main thread if you're up for interacting with any random greeter!))

Jesse Pinkman | Breaking Bad | OPEN

[hostage]

[Jesse is seated closest to the cookie tables, slouched in his chair and watching the newcomers pass by with great interest, as if eager to be saved from boredom. From his position there, he seems to be the man in charge of this establishment. A strange sight, to be sure. The cookies in front of him look so sweet and cheerful, but he looks like a thug who wandered out of the bad part of town: hollow-eyed, unshaven, dressed in black - complete with a leather jacket - with a cigarette hanging from his mouth. Still, he doesn't look unfriendly. Just out-of-place.]

Re: Jesse Pinkman | Breaking Bad | OPEN

[payback]

[Look who's out and about today. Rin slips under xover from thw rain and selects a sugar cookie to nibble, with a small wave.]

Hey...

[hostage]

Yo, Rin, what's up?

[He tips back dangerously in his chair to look at her, sort of letting his head fall slack so she looks upside-down.]

whattup

[paracosmic]

[babydoll is, essentially, comfortable around jesse up to a point. after helping out with baking the cookies, she's seemingly more relaxed and even picks up a cookie.]

You're here every time, aren't you?

[payback]

You're gonna smash your head open... [She sticks the cookie in her mouth and looks for a place to sit, eventually perching on the edge of a stray crate. A thoughtful munch.]

Nothing's up except me taking advantage of your generosity.

Sango | InuYasha | Open

[taijiya]

[Ever since Thereth taught Sango the wonders of making cookies, and Jesse made a post about welcoming the new Transports with them, Sango's made sure to whip up what she can and bring them to the tent.

Nothing softens the blow of arriving here like something sweet to eat and a smile. There's also the helpful fact that Kirara, Sango's two-tailed kitten demon who is particularly cute and open to attention, is seated on a chair near a table of cookies ready to provide extra consolation.

Sango herself is something of an oddity to behold, a short girl arranging cookies in clothing from a far older time period than the one here, a six-foot boomerang tucked safely behind Kirara's chair. Every once in a while she glances up with a look that's equal parts curiosity, hope, and apprehension--and occasionally she'll catch the eye of a newcomer and wave them over. Is it you?]

An innocent little message

[iniquitas]

[Quite apart from the people-seeking lists fluttering about, there are a few pieces of paper strategically placed in or near the Courtyard in discreet locations--just inside an alleyway nearby, on a far wall inside the Courtyard itself, a short distance away from the entrance to the nearest bar...]

[The paper, to anyone not familiar with the script, looks as though it's written in gibberish. The words do not conform to any real language. In fact, the message written upon them is in cipher.]

[Specifically, it is a code used by the Knights Templar.]

[If your character is a code-breaker or something like it, or an Assassin, or simply curious, feel free to snatch one of these pieces of paper.]



[[ooc: If you feel your character would be capable of breaking the code, please let me know and I'll tell you what it says :3 ]]

[hostage]

[Well he's getting dizzy doing this anyway so he straightens back up.]

How's it tasting?

yo

[hostage]

Mostly, except the couple times I was too sick.

[Withdrawal. He means withdrawal.]

[paracosmic]

[her brows go up in sympathy as she takes a bite of her cookie. she decides against asking what he's had. instead she nods in return and once she swallows she speaks up again,]

They're good.

[she feels a little guilty for not trying them when she had first arrived.]

The transports that come in every month, is it always the same number?

[she hasn't had a chance to ask anyone yet, she's been a little too busy.]

[hostage]

[Jesse smiles at the compliment. He wasn't even offended, he's just glad she's starting to warm up to him now. For her sake, rather than his. He knows how hard it can be, going around not trusting anything or anyone.]

Umm, it's pretty close. I never tried counting like officially, but it looks like it's about the same.

brb using your cute cookie thing to cause hideousness elsewhere

[lazyinlove]

Which ones did all those nuts go into?

[This inquiry is made while unabashedly pocketing a handful of the sweetest, most interesting looking cookies on the table. Can't fulfill a stupid quest without snacks, right?]

[lazyinlove]

[Actually, he doesn't understand it at all. And he's not interested enough to put in the code breaking effort. But he pockets one anyway, because it's a curiosity.]

oh dear

[hostage]

Um...

[Jesse gives Stan a quizzical look but leans over to point to a particular tray.]

Those are the nutty ones. Why?

you're welcome

[lazyinlove]

[He shrugs off the weird look and snags a couple of those too, depositing them in his other pocket.]

Uh. Protein.

[hostage]

Right on. There's some more back in the kitchen, too.

[paracosmic]

[babydoll's shoulders sink by a fraction, she's holding back. if there's anything she can't stand, it's being vulnerable. she takes another bite of the cookie -- a bigger bite -- and takes a few steps closer, sitting on a chair that is one chair away from jesse.]

I've been thinking about what you said, about not being able to find a way out of Exsilium.

[she pauses,]

I don't believe you. I know you told me about how the Initiative tried to send you back, but -- there has to be a way. There's never just one exit.

[lazyinlove]

[Wait, did he just get permission from a sort of adult to substitute cookies for real food?

...Ha. Somewhere his Dad just got the urge to slap them both over the back of the head.]

Baked or unbaked?

[hostage]

[Ha. Adult. Ha ha ha.]

Baked.

[lazyinlove]

[Sort of! In the like. Never get turned away from the movies without a parents kind of way.]

Good for them.

[hostage]

[He shifts uncomfortably in his chair, casting a glance around to make sure there's no one nearby who's paying too much attention to them. He keeps his voice low when he responds:]

There's a lotta ways outta Exsilium. It's just none of 'em lead home.

[hostage]

Haha, yuuuup.

[Yes. Mature.]

[lazyinlove]

[Whatever, he just wanted a laugh. Jesse looked pretty down.]

If you see a little furry guy in armor, tell him Lord Stanley requests an audience with him.

[hostage]

Uh, okay.