transport log » ❝ welcome to Exsilium ❞

[initiates]

Date & Time: Sept 23rd, 2012.
Location: The Initiative Hold & Courtyard.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: New Transports have all arrived and have been shuffled into the Courtyard after their initial briefings.
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. "This isn't standard," she's saying, walking perhaps faster than most of the people she's dragging around. "We don't normally have so many Transports at once. 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. 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. 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.

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

open

[mentore]

[Ezio memorized everything the attendants had told him. The woman's words swam in his head over and over as he weaved through the crowd. The rain didn't bother him much and his robes provided enough protection from the downpour.

What does bother him, though, is the distinct lack of information. The words in what he could tell is a marketplace are indistinct, so he takes to listening to the people. Over and over they repeat things of an oncoming war. Panic. Fear. Determination.

He continues on to the housing area now. He'd rather find the place he was given to stay in and then come back for supplies. It doesn't stop him from exploring the area a little bit though.]

[whatsupcroc]

[ Burr! Collette had conceded defeat when it felt too cold to stay outside, for all it was exciting to finally have new people arriving again. Exciting and scary all at once, seeing the evidence that the Initiative was pulling more into their efforts not just to fill in empty spaces left by those who... went back home.

Still, she shakes those thoughts off once she's in through the doors, bringing her wheelchair to a stop off to the side of the entrance-way to fiddle with collapsing the umbrella attached to her back handlebar. ]

There's got to be a better way of handling this.

[ She pauses to pull a glove off her hand with her teeth, still twisted around trying to untwist the bolt that held everything in place. ]

Just a little more -- ah!

[ Her umbrella clattered down the ground, flinging droplets of water outward as it fell. ]

Not exactly as planned.

[mentore]

[Ezio turns his head at the noise, finding a woman sitting a chair with a glove in her mouth and an umbrella on the floor. Of course, he goes over to her, picking up the umbrella and shaking it off slightly before closing it.]

I doubt anyone plans on their things falling.

[whatsupcroc]

[ Still talking around her glove at first -- ]

You're probably right --

[ Makes for a muffled statement, followed by Collette's taking her glove back in hand and dropping it down into her lap without comment. As she strips the other glove off, she smiles at her umbrella benefactor. ]

-- still, I thought I had it. Oh well! Thanks for picking it up for me. You really didn't have to.

[ She held out a hand expectantly. ]

My name's Collette.

[mentore]

[He shakes her hand before returning the now closed umbrella back to her.]

Ezio. A pleasure to meet you.

[And he dips his head as he usually does when meeting someone.]

Do you need help?

[whatsupcroc]

The pleasure's all mine! I'm good, thanks for asking. All I need to do is get a chance to dry off.

[ Wrinkling her nose, she laughs and shakes her head. ]

Which is like every day here. You'd think I'd be so tired of the water that I'd stop going swimming! But no way, I wouldn't give that up for anything other than flying.

[ She shoves her umbrella into a make-shift holder by the opposite handle from the one it'd been connected to. ]

You came in with everyone who showed up today, didn't you? Have you been finding everything okay on your own? Things can be kind of a bummer around here sometimes, but aside from the war and the rain, it's not so bad!

[onblackwings]

[ She's had a chance to stumble around in a confused daze, and that was all well and good, but now Khisanth is done being bewildered and ready to think her way out of this. ...Somehow. She has no leads yet, but she's taken the first step and found herself the nice foot of a broken monument to sit at. She'd cast a spell to keep the rain off of her, and it runs in rivets off of something invisible overhead as she sits below, frowning.

Thinking isn't really going very well, though, considering that she keeps getting distracted by all the humans around. Holy crap, she hadn't known they'd come in so many different sizes and outfits! Her eyes find Ezio quickly, and she stares at him with open curiosity. A hood, to keep the rain off? Now there's an idea. It probably works a lot better than her white-fuzzy-bathrobe-and-nothing-else ensable. ]

[mentore]

[Well, his hood isn't entirely for that, but it serves that purpose rather well. As he scans the area, his eyes fall upon a young woman wearing... something strange. And not getting wet. That earns enough curiosity from him that he actually tilts his head a little before diverting his current path towards her.]

Are you not cold?

[onblackwings]

[ What is with these humans and immediately assuming she's cold? (Nevermind that she is a little cold, she'll happily ignore that.) She gives an answer she'd already practiced, never moving her wary stare from him: ] No. It was snowing, where I was last.

[mentore]

[The stare he can get past, it rarely bothers him receiving looks as such, but her reasoning is a little strange. He simply shrugs. Who is he to argue?]

Mi dispiace. Most are not so easily accustomed to this weather.

[onblackwings]

[ whoa wait hold up, she thought she knew the languages humans speak. She blinks, and the wariness melts into something more puzzled. ]

Mi dispiachi? [Oh yeah, she totally butchered that. ] What's that?

[neveraskedforthis]

[ There is a certain grace to the way Ezio moves, Adam notices first--not his outfit, not his quiet demeanor he's displaying so far, but the way he moves. Apparently it stands out to Adam so much that he can't help but watch him and even follow, though not obviously so--just for as long as he's around the courtyard.

Hmmm...

Doesn't stop him from digitally marking Ezio on his radar anyway, just to be able to keep track of his movements--something tells him this guy is pretty good at blending in with crowds and disappearing if he feels like it. And lo and behold, not even ten seconds later, during which Adam had averted his gaze to follow a minor verbal scuffle that turned out to be nothing, Ezio's gone.

Towards the apartments...

Oh, Adam was totally heading in that direction himself anyway. He's really very curious, so he's going to hit Ezio up at the first opportunity anyway, likely when they cross paths at the building. ]

Looking for anything in particular? Or just lost?

[mentore]

[Ezio turns his head towards the man who is obviously addressing him now. Beneath his hood, he gives him a once-over. The way he speaks is pointedly even, calm, making him wonder just who exactly is this man.]

I am not so sure as to say I am lost, but I am going somewhere.

[neveraskedforthis]

[ Could wonder the same about you, buddy. And he sort of has his ways to find out. UNSUBTLE NUDGE ]

The apartments?

[ Well you don't sound very American. Adam's also still trying to place this particular fashion style--sort of vaguely renaissance-y, isn't it? ... European in any case. ]

[mentore]

[Ezio, on the other hand, is trying to place this man. He's used to a variety of accents and he's starting to get used to the different looks, but this man looks distinctly of his time with the way his beard and hair are styled.]

Si, since it seems we are to stay a while here.

[ladyspitfire]

[A very large and muscular looking dog is leading his master back to the housing district as well, a bag thrown over her shoulder. She doesn't seem particularly disturbed by the rain, her coat's hood pulled off enough to expose the red hair that's pulled into a braid at the back of her head. She looks more distracted than anything, mostly because of the new arrivals she's seen. It's been too long since the last influx; is something going on?

One in particular catches her eye, a man in red and white robes who looks far too suspicious for her to discount. Against her better judgment, she walks after him.]

You're a new arrival, aren't you?

[She's nothing if not forward.]

Are you all right? Were the people you met at the Hold forthcoming with any information?

[If something's going on, she needs to know what it is.]

[mentore]

[Now that is an attack of questions if he'd ever heard one. He narrows his eyes slightly, taking that this young redhead has been here long enough to ask these kinds of questions.]

I am new, si and I am fine.

[Forthcoming with information? Not exactly. He knows they're not telling them everything, he's lived this sort of life long enough.]

They told me all they deemed necessary for me to know.

[ladyspitfire]

[Her expression does not sour, held in check by thin control. Her frustration, however, is evident in her eyes.]

So they told you next to nothing.

[She's not entirely certain if she expected something different. It hadn't been any different for her or for any of her companions.]

I had been hoping there was an explanation to the influx of arrivals. There are more now than have been at any one time. It's...disconcerting, to say the least.

[mentore]

[Ezio narrows his eyes at all she says.]

This is a war, si? And we are to fight in it? I can only think this is because they need the numbers to fight back.

[Speaking from experience? Perhaps.]

[bearnecessities]

[Normally, Belle would spend most of her time outside of the city, but it's too wet and too cold to even try that, and she's ill-dressed for it. By the time she makes it back to the building that houses her assigned quarters, she's drenched, unruly hair plastered to her head and face.

It's only then that she notices the man nearby, dressed in strange robes. Which tells her only one significant thing: he's new around here, because that kind of attire would have stood out before, and she's noticed that most people begin to wear the clothing of this time period soon enough.]

Are you a priest?

[Because who else would wear robes like that, right?]

[mentore]

[The sudden question almost makes him snort with laughter. Sure, he could pass for a priest, considering the priests of his time were hardly holy.]

Far from it, signorina.

[bearnecessities]

[Hey, it's a perfectly reasonable question. She's seen very few men wear robes in her own world, and usually they were priests. Or weirdos.

Looking him over again, she frowns slightly. He could be a weirdo.] So you dress like that because you want to? I guess you have the smart idea of at least being dressed for the rain. [She pushes her wet hair away from her face.]

[mentore]

[How to delicately word it's more of a uniform without giving himself away...]

It is necessary for me to dress this way. And it would seem no one else to think to wear protection from the rain.

[totallytrustworthy]

[Woah. Now that's clothing you don't see everyday, even on an island full of multiverse collectibles like this one. There's a story there, and she's had a long enough day to need a little distraction. So why not?

Iced coffee in hand, she slips up beside him to match his pace.]

Nice outfit.

[Look, ma, no sarcasm. That's gotta be a Chloe first.]

[mentore]

[He glances over to the newcomer, a woman younger than him with a distinct accent that he can't place.

At least she doesn't think it's a priest's outfit... yet. Hopefully not.]

So I have been told, yes. Grazie.