theunrivaled | Open Log - Welcome to the Main Camp

Moments ago, there was an earthquake. You might not have felt it, but it definitely happened. The collapsed tents and spooked horses serve as evidence that something unsettling shook the main camp not that long ago. The soldiers and citizens don't seem terribly frightened, as if they've gotten used to the ground trembling by now, but more than one stops to look toward the tall spires of rock separating the comfortable and well-ordered areas of the camp from a deserted battlefield. It's as if they wonder to themselves whether something deep in the pit on the other side might have caused it...again...

And then they realize that something else has happened.

You are here – or near here.

Prompt 1:

Immediately after the latest quake, people simply appear in and around the main camp. The residents don't actually see it happen, but they turn around to find a person where there wasn't one a moment ago. You might be that person! You might wake up inside a canvas tent, perhaps even lucky enough to be resting comfortably on an unoccupied cot. You might wake up on the open ground outside with an awful lot of gawkers standing around you. Or, you might wake up about ten meters down the road from the gates of the camp, in clear sight of the guards and the tents just beyond them. This is definitely the time and place to start grabbing strangers and asking them where you are, why you're there, and what the hell is going on.

Prompt 2:

Maybe it's not so right-away, but you've woken up all the same and had a look around. Maybe some of the soldiers have done their best to answer your burning questions. At least one thing is clear: the natives all dress in simple robes and tunics, the soldiers in similar plate or mail armor, making anyone in other garb stick out like a sore thumb. The women who run the Teahouse have noticed this first, and are doing a fine job offering the utmost in hospitality to the strangers in the off chance that they're allied with one of the lords of the land. They'll make sure you have a place to sleep, a good meal, and the best tea the Han Dynasty can provide. It may be a bit rustic for some, but it's comfortable and pleasant. Can it be worth settling down here for a while? Or is this place missing something crucial – like the ability to use your magic?

Prompt 3:

There's a lot to explore in and around the Main Camp. The various tents set up on different levels overlooking the middle area are open to be claimed, and some of them look a lot more fancy than others. As long as there's no famous lord laying his head there, why shouldn't you? The central ground of the camp contains the Merchant's stall, the Teahouse, and the Armory, as well as the stocks for the misbehaving. The bathing area is downstream from everything else, where the river passes under the rocks and empties out onto the plain beyond. There's a few areas of interest outside the camp perimeter, too, and none of the guards are stopping you from going out there. The main road looks well-traveled and vanishes eastward into the distance across rolling plains. On the west side there are high cliffs of cooled lava separating the camp from the former battleground where the Hydra was destroyed. It's rocky and perilous ground, but the adventurous can climb down winding, crumbling paths into a deep crevasse. There doesn't appear to be anything down here, but those of a magical or mystical inclination will sense the lingering aftereffects of great power.

If one were to travel a short distance northward, they'll find the Wuzhang Plains standing quiet and empty, the fortifications left in whatever half-damaged state they were in from the last battle waged here. There is also a temple along the southern ridge, looking decidedly like it doesn't belong there with more traces of mystical energy at its center. Here, the wayward traveler will be beset by small units of spindly, gray-skinned soldiers bearing spears and swords, no more than half a dozen at a time.

Prompt 4: Wildcard

Whatever floats your boat or isn't covered above! Refer to the Arrival page for details of what is and isn't to be found in the Main Camp.

In time, the Merchant makes an announcement. Not long after the Great Cataclysm, some of the mystic soldiers now guarding the main camp arrived with mirrors they claim to have enchanted so that the scattered warlords can speak to each other from a distance. He is under obligation to give one to anyone who asks, and suggests that they may try it out whenever they have the courage to do so.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"My name's Robin," she said. Even on her world, she'd rarely felt a need to deny who she is. Here?

Well, it's not a name of any note.

"Yours?"

That was a more difficult question than Robin knew. Polgara still didn't know where she was, and didn't trust her companion. Robin didn't have any titles, did Polgara try to overwhelm her with them? Identify herself as a sorceress (how gauche) and try to frighten a confession about what the other was hiding? In the end she decided to keep things simple and see where they led.

"I'm known as Mistress Pol," she said. "Where did you say you were headed?

"The camp," Her response was purely truthful this time. Her plans had already changed. "There isn't anywhere else to go, as you can see." Robin eyed Polgara sidelong, smile a touch impish. "Unless you prefer sleeping in the withered grass at the side of the road..."

"You mentioned ruins," Pol clarified.

She looked around the woods distastefully. They were pretty enough, but she'd slept on the ground enough for several life-times. Even an army camp would be preferable. "Well then, shall we test the camp's hospitality?"

"I mentioned hoping to find ruins," Robin said. "In my experience, it's a rare form of luck when one get what one wants on the first try. The camp is, however, quite hospitable."

With a nod, Robin started back up the road, heading at a good clip toward said camp and its conveniences.

"So, Mistress Pol, where are you from? I won't have heard of it, of course, but it does help in getting acquainted. I'm from an island in a sea called West Blue, though I've spent the last decade in a place known as the Grand Line."

"You're right I haven't heard of those places," Pol agreed. She couldn't see any issue with sharing some information. "You won't know where I'm from then either. I live near the border of Algaria with my family."

"What is the West Blue and the Grand Line?"

"Oceans," Robin didn't expand further, because there's really not much else to say. At least she assumes oceans exist in other realities. "What's your family like?"

Polgara was torn between a mother's pride in wanting to share everything about the family she'd waited so long to have, and the continued caution that situation required.

"I have a small but close family," she replied. "My husband and two children live in my mother's old cottage. My father and uncles are all nearby as well. Yourself?"

"I have no family," Robin's voice was sorrowful for a moment, but then brightened. "But I do have nakama- a word meaning people with whom you share a bond. A few of them are here as well. Perhaps some of your family will arrive later." She laid a hand on Polgara's shoulder and gave it a squeeze, offering what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

Polgara was no stranger to losing people and picked up on her tone immediately. She wouldn't press...for now...but would remember the reaction.

"Nakama..." she repeated the new word, always happy to learn something new. "That's a useful word. As for my family, I would rather return to them."

"Naturally," Robin nodded. "I would think all of us returning to our original states would be ideal. But reality rarely gives us the ideal, and instead we must hope for something a touch better. I only thought that if members of your family were to show up, then at least you wouldn't be alone for the duration of your stay."

"Thank you," Polgara replied sincerely. She didn't want to think about being away from them.

Not liking the melancholy turn her thoughts were taking, she sighed over-dramatically and obviously changed the subject, "I had a nice rest, I suppose I should have expected something new to come up."

"You're an adventurer, then?" Robin guessed.

"Oh no," Pol replied with a shake of her head. "Adventurers are something out of bad Arendish epics, with dashing heroes and damsels in distress. My family is just unlucky enough to be called upon every time something in the world needs to be fixed. It's much less glamorous."

Robin nearly giggled. "Oh yes, the difference is quite clear, from your description." They're totally adventurers. Capable ones, at that. Perhaps Robin shouldn't have worried, though now it's a little late to disengage without being rude. Ah well, they're nearly back to the war camp anyway.

"I suppose that explains why you were brought here, however. It seems something in the world needs fixed, and for better or worse, someone thought we might be up to the task."

Open Log - Welcome to the Main Camp

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lame short tag is short, I'm sorry. Hopefully it will open other avenues of conversation tho >.>

Short tag that opens conversation = good

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