transport log » ❝ welcome to Exsilium ❞

[initiates]

Date & Time: Oct. 24th
Location: The Initiative Hold
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: New Transports have all arrived and have been led to a banquet room within the Hold.
Warnings: None.

NOTE: This takes place during this plot, though the plot log will not be posted until tomorrow. The Transports already in game have returned from their mission to find the island overrun with monsters. The log is set within the safety of the Initiative Hold, however, so while characters will be aware of what is going on outside, they can otherwise go about their business as usual if they choose.

--

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. She looks worse for wear, pale and gaunt, though is putting a great deal of effort into maintaining her energy and professionalism for the new Transports. "I am truly sorry that you came at such a bad time. That wasn't intentional, I assure you."

She leads the way through the Initiative Hold. The walls bear the occasional claw mark as a sign of the misfortune that has plagued the island, but it hardly seems deserted anymore due to the other Transports recently returning from their mission. After turning several corners, you arrive in a large room that has been transformed into a makeshift banquet hall. The food presented is perhaps not as luxurious or bountiful as one would hope, but it is certainly enough to go around, and isn't inedible by any means.

"We wanted to try and make this up to you," she explains. "It's meagre, but we did not have much time to prepare." There are a number of Transports already present, some looking over the long banquet table, others seated throughout the room at large, round tables meant to each seat eight people. The mood is grim, despite the Initiative's efforts to raise morale.

Before the Greeter turns to leave, she is reminding you that it will be perfectly safe to explore the Hold, the courtyard, the housing building, and even a several block radius around it. "Hopefully things will be back to normal soon."

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

Comments

[alwaysforhim]

I suppose I'll have to eat eventually.

[Still, he eyes it a little doubtfully before nibbling at it. He's not stupid, after all.]

I quite like your-- um-- eye-pieces.

[slingshots]

'Shades. [ He's gotta be one of the non-modern ones. Which the clothes heavily imply, sure, but he could have come in from a... set of a play, or something. You never know. ] And thanks.

[ She takes another bite from her own apple and offers a smile. ]

Figure if anything's poisoned around here, it means they want us down and will get around to it one way or another. Right? May as well dig in.

[alwaysforhim]

[He tilts his head, acknowledging this bit of logic, and bites a little more firmly at his apple.]

I'd just rather not die stupidly in my first five minutes here. I can't imagine what my master would say if I did.

My name is Merlin, by the way! Yours?

[slingshots]

[ Merlin? This guy had weird parents. Well, that, or this place is a lot more interesting than she'd thought. ]

Figure I'm about even with you there. My boss'd kill me if I died that easy. [ And with a sidelong glance over: ] Always figured you'd be older.

[alwaysforhim]

[He frowns.]

Sorry?

[The thought that perhaps she knows him from the future flashes through his mind-- after all, his destiny is to make Camelot into a magic-accepting place. Perhaps he's famous. Perhaps she's from Camelot's future; perhaps he's down in the history books. Perhaps--

--perhaps he's being a bit too arrogant.]

[slingshots]

[ She watches close, looking for a telltale reaction. Something that will tell her which option this one lends itself to. But so far this isn't the reaction of a guy who knows he has a weird name and has heard it a million times before, so maybe... ]

Just-- not what I think of when I hear the name. Figured there'd be more beards. That's all.

[alwaysforhim]

It's sort of a beard-y name, isn't it? I'm not really one for them, though. I've tried and it's rather a sad effort.

[He gives her a bright little grin.]

[slingshots]

Yeah, me too. Keep trying, figure it'll work out one day.

[ Dammit, this could go either way, couldn't it? She glances away, back down to the table, casual as ever. ]

Seen Arthur yet?

[alwaysforhim]

[He stiffens at first, his chipper smile melting into something far harder-- because although her tone is still casual, those are the sorts of words that usually precede some sort of awful magical battle.]

Not yet. Can I assume he'll turn up shortly, or do you not know that bit of it?

[slingshots]

[ There's a part that notices that look, but it's pretty much entirely drowned out by rising excitement. There wasn't a trace of "haha very funny", not even of someone playing along with a joke. That was a pretty authentic reply. She can't stop her face from brightening, the smile from creeping into a grin. ]

What about — uh, Sir Lancelot? You know him, too?

[alwaysforhim]

[The name springs a sudden wave of homesickness coursing through Merlin, and he glances away for a second before nodding.]

Do you mind telling me how precisely you know all this?

[slingshots]

[ ...Oh.

Shoot.

She hadn't really thought this through. Working out that she's talking to the actual Merlin is one thing, but she hadn't counted on having to explain to him how she knows about him. To buy a little time, she promptly crams a few crackers into her mouth, staring with a nervously blank face. ]

Whu? Forry, ha' on—

[alwaysforhim]

[But Merlin waits patiently, one eyebrow raised. He sees through her technique-- seriously, come on, stuffing crackers into your mouth?-- but he's not going to call her out on it.]

[slingshots]

[ And Robin's brilliant delay tactic yields... a tiny little ray of hope. So she finishes her bite with a smile, brightening again. ]

Heard about it from Lancelot.

[ Skimming through the network earlier had yielded someone with that name, which she'd thought was just a... codename, or something, but it's the best thing she's been able to come up with. And, hey, maybe it'll even be the Lancelot. And maybe he'll be willing to play along. (It is, she admits, a lot of maybes.) ]

[alwaysforhim]

[Merlin brightens up considerably and begins glancing around.]

He's here? Where?

[slingshots]

Sure. Haven't seen him lately, but he's around.

[ omg omg gotta track this guy down first before Merlin does, and see how deep she's just dug herself. Kinda... subtly pulling out her tablet, trusting this guy is too magic-based to know what she's doing with it. ]

Keep looking, you gotta run into him sooner or later.

[alwaysforhim]

[He simply assumes she's writing something down, which she's more than allowed to do-- and anyway, he's far too preoccupied with the thought of Lancelot here!]

Oh, I most definitely will. Thank you for letting me know, that's-- I owe you, I really do.

[slingshots]

[ She is, in fact, flinging a plea out into the ethernet and hoping this guy, whoever he is, checks his technology once in a while. She darts a slightly guilty glance up at that, though. She'll feel kind of bad if these two end up not knowing each other at all... ]

No sweat, spud. [ A beat, and she puts the tablet away to train a smile on him. ] Robin, by the way. Figure I skipped that part before.

[alwaysforhim]

[He nods.]

It's a nice name. Er-- where are you from, then?

[He can't help glancing around again and again, though, hoping to catch sight of his friend wandering through the crowds.]

[slingshots]

Gotham.

[ Seems safer than... "Nottingham", or something. Did they even have that back then, or was that just the Robin Hood stories? ]

Nowhere you heard of, probably, figure it's pretty far off... [ She sorta trails off, seeing that distraction. It might be a little easier on everyone if she slipped away right now, actually. ] You wanna go look him up? I could let you go.

[alwaysforhim]

No-- sorry, no.

[He turns his attention back to Robin.]

Sorry. Anyway, I might have heard of it. Arthur-- um-- well, you obviously know who he is, but he's traveled quite far. I know quite a few places.

[slingshots]

Yeah? Figure maybe you know it, then.

[ chyeahright. But she'll go along with it, and even offer up a little smile. ]

Nothing like Camelot, I bet.

[alwaysforhim]

It's . . . I've never seen anything like it. It's fantastically huge, it can house hundreds of people-- I still get lost in it, even after living there for years.