Open Log - Welcome to the Main Camp

[musoumods]

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.

Comments

Polgara - OTA

[sorceress_polgara]

Prompt 1:

Polgara’s entrance into this world was not one of grace or dignity. She found herself on the dirt road outside the main camp moments before an aftershock. She had a brief moment to be surprised before the aftershock threw her to the ground.

Soon she’d be back on her feet and seemingly composed. For now, she was on the ground, holding herself up on her elbows and looking around.

Prompt 2:
Polgara thanked the serving girl for the tea. Outwardly, she looked entirely calm. The only indication that she was tense was the steely gray of her eyes and the intensity of her stare. She had been given some answers, but they had just led to more questions. She considered herself lucky that she'd been wearing her peasant gray dress when she arrived instead of finery. It helped blend in more, but it was still an obviously western style.

At least the tea was good.

Wildcard
Polgara stood next to a campfire near the mess tent, over a nearly complete stew. In the middle of all of this uncertainty, she'd decided to deal with the practical first. Everyone got hungry, and she knew how to cook. She didn't have access to all of her spices, but the smells coming from the pot were acceptable.

"Dinner is ready," she called out to anyone nearby.

Food!

[arcadiawanderer]

Harlock has many talents cooking is not one of them. Whatever she's made it smells delicious so Harlock ends up at the head of the line. That's when he realizes he's missing something

"You wouldn't happen to have an extra bowl?"

[sorceress_polgara]

Polgara smiled at him, and pulled out a hidden bowl from behind the her pot, and began to fill it for him.

"I found some in some of the empty tents," she explained. "The camp is nicely stocked for them not expecting visitors."

[arcadiawanderer]

Extra bowel lying around means someone didn't come back to use them. Harlock's not about to voice that hypothesis to the woman. It's not polite conversion to have around food.

"Well they won't need to turn us out," he said. He looked at the pieces being laded in. "What type of meat do they have here?" Not that he's going to be picky but there doesn't want to big a surprise in there.

[sorceress_polgara]

Polgara looks away slightly at the question. She doesn't want to explain to a stranger that she cheated and created the meat out of nothing. She could borrow spices and vegetables from the women at the teahouse but they didn't have a cow to spare.

"Honestly?" she began covering her hesitation quickly. "I have no idea. I was lucky enough to have some beef with me when I arrived."

[arcadiawanderer]

So it's not any sort of lizard at least. Not that it likely wouldn't taste good in a stew, or fried.

"Where you traveling somewhere?" asks as he takes a bite of stew. Interesting didn't seem like one component had been salted or cured.

"It's very good", he added. Never upset a cook, or you really would end up eating strange parts of animals.

[sorceress_polgara]

"Thank you," Pol replied, setting the ladle to the side. The nice thing about stew was that it could be left to its own devices when needed, so she could focus on the young man instead.

"I wasn't planning on traveling no, " she said as a slight joke. After all didn't they all end up traveling whether they wanted to or not? "I live near Algaria...a kingdom of cow hearders. It's never hard to find a caravan. Yourself?"

food hell yes

[nyanhat]

He's perhaps not quite as nearby as some others, but he's got the hearing and the sense of smell to make up for it, so Ranulf's over there just as quickly. It's been a long day, and there are a few surefire ways of making that better.

"I like your priorities."

Food = friends apparently

[sorceress_polgara]

Polgara notices the quick approach, but keeps her amusement mostly to herself.

"It doesn't matter how strange a situation is," she replies, handing him a bowl. "Everyone still has to eat."

[nyanhat]

He takes the bowl with a nod of thanks and a cheery swish of his tail. "The unfamiliar works up an appetite, after all."

[sorceress_polgara]

She noticeably pauses at the movement of his tail. Fortunately catches herself before any overt staring.

"I've found most things do. Especially according to young men."

[nyanhat]

"I'm older than you might think I am, but probably not old enough for that to stop applying." Just old enough to complain about kids these days, just young enough to get looks from the real old men when he does.

"So, what is dinner?"

[sorceress_polgara]

"Is that so?" Polgara asked amused. She's fairly sure she'll still win the 'doesn't look her age' game.

"Dinner, is just a simple beef stew." Simple by her standards, which is 4-5 star by other's standards.

Prompt 1

[fantasykiller]

Touma was not someone who could ignore anyone in need of help. When he had spotted that lone woman lying down on the road, his first instinct was to immediately go over to her and make sure she was alright. In practice, this meant dropping everything he was doing at the moment and sprinting full-tilt towards her in a panic. It wasn't until he was practically on top of her when he finally realized that the woman was perfectly fine.

"You really shouldn't be lying around in a place like this. I thought for sure you had collapsed on the road from exhaustion or something." he said with a mixture of annoyance and relief.

[sorceress_polgara]

This was not how Polgara would have chosen to meet a new person. The look she gave her "rescuer" was more steely than it might have been due to her embarassment.

"It wasn't by choice," she snapped. To hide her confusion she raised an eyebrow and asked imperiously, "Are you planning to help me up?"

[fantasykiller]

Touma couldn't help but shrink back from under the weight of her steely gaze. It hasn't even been ten minutes since he woke up in this strange place and he has already managed to piss off the first person he came across.

"Y-Y-Yeah. Of course I am," he stuttered as he quickly held out his right hand for her to grab. "It wasn't like I was planning on abandoning you here."

[sorceress_polgara]

Polgara accepted the hand, already in a much more agreeable mood once she was standing.

"I don't suppose you could tell me where here is?"

More agreeable, but still snappish apparently.

[fantasykiller]

"I was hoping you knew. Sorry, but I have no idea where this is. Wherever this is, it must be pretty rural part of the world. My cell phone doesn't get any reception out here." Touma said with a far off look in his eye.

This was far from the first time he found himself suddenly waking up in strange place without his consent and given his luck, most likely not the last. Because of this and how all his previous experiences usually go, he felt much more concerned with how he got here than with why. For now, he did his best to shove all his worries to the back of his mind and focus on the current situation right in front of him. It wouldn't do him any good to start jumping to conclusions and freaking out.

"So, how did you end up here? You don't look like a tourist."

[sorceress_polgara]

"That is the question" Pol said, less brusquely than anything else she had said so far. The further away from the embarrassing moment the more cordial she could be.

"If you can't tell me where we are, can you tell me who you are?"

1

[thetruehistorian]

Polgara wasn't the only one taken by surprise by the sudden aftershock, though Robin is beginning to get the idea that they're a somewhat common, if unpredictable, occurrence. More to Robin's surprise was a person appearing out of thin air when a moment before, she had been walking alone, exploring in solitude. Between the two, it gives Robin enough of a start that she also loses her balance and winds up in a rather undignified heap in the roadway. Robin laughs, staying seated until the earth stops bucking beneath them, then stands and perfunctorily brushes some dirt off her shorts and t-shirt before offering a hand up.

"Ah, what a relief. I was beginning to think I'd be the only woman magically conscripted by... whatever it is bringing us here. Need a hand?"

Hope the description of her mind is okay.

[sorceress_polgara]

Polgara looked over at the laughing woman sharply. She didn't know what was going on, and was certain she'd been alone a moment before. The laugh and greeting sounded friendly, but that didn't mean anything.

"Thank you," she said schooling her features and lightly brushing the other woman's mind. She'd decide if that meant 'no I'm fine,' or an acceptance of her help once she knew more. Her mind was blue, but not a Rivan blue. Closer to the color of the sea, and were those swirls?

Deciding to take the risk, she held out her hand to be helped up. "You don't seem surprised to see me."

I guess? I don't know the symbolism of blue or swirls in polgara's canon but it sounds good to me!

[thetruehistorian]

Robin was a lot stronger than her spare frame might imply, and she lifted Polgara to her feet with ease and a gentle but firm hand.

"It seems people have been appearing out of thin air all day- myself included," Robin said with a shrug. "One person is much less disconcerting than an entire war encampment."

That'd be because my ooc tag disappeared...let's try that again

[sorceress_polgara]

((ooc: All races have different mind colors and sorcerers are glossier. Essentially she can recognize her as being from One Piece world and as a devil fruit user - not that she knows what those are yet. I thought the swirls were appropriate to mark a devil fruit user. :) ))

If Polgara was surprised by her strength, nothing showed. She nodded briefly in thanks, and smoothed out her dress in habit.

"I don't know that I would still call it normal," Pol said taking in the surroundings. That was a war camp they were in front of. "You were translocated here as well? Do you know by whom?"

aha! Yes, yes, very good.

[thetruehistorian]

Shaking her head, Robin turned to retrace her steps. It'd be rude to just leave at this point, wouldn't it? Satiating curiosity about the lay of the land can wait.

"It's all very mysterious. There's quite a bit of talk about snakes, or snake men, as the case may be. It seems this world is accustomed to such tampering, but it's hard to know truth from superstition. I had hoped to find some ruins that might offer a bit of context, but I realized I forgot something. Would you like to accompany me back?"

If Polgara's still poking around in Robin's mind, she may realize that Robin isn't being entirely truthful.

[sorceress_polgara]

Polgara was still poking around in Robin's mind. Everything about this was suspicious, including the invitation from a stranger. She hadn't noticed any of her talent in the other woman's mind, so she wasn't a threat. That didn't mean she was entirely safe either.

"Perhaps," she said evenly. "Though, I would prefer to know who I'm traveling with."