LANDFALL | TAVIMBI | FEBRUARY MINGLE LOG

[ironwood]

Characters: ALL!
Date: January 27th to ???
Location: City of Hatal, Tavimbi
Situation: After anchoring Tu Vishan to the coastline of Tavimbi, the city of Hatal welcomes kedan and Foreigners alike.
Warnings/Rating: Add warnings as needed.


( click for full size )
The southern port city of Hatal is used to getting its fair share of visitors, so after the initial surprise of having a continent-sized turtle washing ashore and parking there like it's going to be a while, the Tavimbians recover with admirable poise and begin processing the new arrivals through their customs procedure. After providing a basic summary of their informátion (age, species, duration of tenure on Tu Vishan, and list of "potentially disruptive abilities") they'll be issued a pass stamp, which they must keep on their person while in Hatal. It's made of a brassy metal, a little larger than a credit card, and inscribed with their information, their date of arrival, and whether they've had any run-ins with the laws in Tavimbi (it will be stamped accordingly by the authorities if such happens.)

Once that's all taken care of, visitors will be welcomed to Hatal!

OOC: There are starters in the comments for various areas of Hatal, or you can use the rest of the post for anything on Tavimbi which doesn't fit under those headings.

---

LINKS
Hatal Exterior - The Metal Heights | The Causeway Level | The Reservoir Level
The Artery Level | The Lorn Level | The Jagaiz Rings | OOC Post

Comments

[hellboundheart]

"I somehow doubt that."

Who knew which statement he was answering. She had the poise and conduct of a woman who realized her worth, not one that had to fish for compliments in Constantine's opinion. He'd met enough of both types in his time.

There was something about John though that met that empathic sense and sent it sliding off him as if he didn't exist. If Valdis could feel that nothingness, it would have been a lot like running up against one of Anton's sigils that said 'Ignore me, nothing here' but with a different magical structure.

"You going to try your luck in the rings? Heard they have some interesting crystals for the winners. Like to see one for myself."

[hellboundheart]

John wasn't rude enough to lift the lens to his eye to study her through it blatantly, but he did study the reflection for a few short seconds. Gave him enough time to see the patterns and who might have helped with them given her accent and mannerisms.

"Can't say I have many morals. Might not like it, but it's not my problem or concern. They've rolled along for who knows how long without the likes of John Constantine butting in."

That much he meant. Not his problem was a common refrain in John's life. When he looked back up to China, his smile was back in place and dark eyes watchful beneath the mildly appreciative look any man might give a pretty woman.

"Dead useful. Never know what's about with all the legends on the turtle. Been thinking of checking out the mines. Found something odd once in this little mining village in Pennsylvania. How close do the locals usually let people get to them?"

The mentioning of a place in the States was purposeful, seeing if she recognized it. He drew his hands back to him, a flicker of orange racing across the tracker before it went dim again.

[hellboundheart]

"He's a show-off," John said more to himself than anyone else with a rueful grin. He felt less bad about tossing Obi-Wan to the rings now, not that he had felt all that bad in the first place.

And making a leap like that? The Grasshopper name was really going to stick after John explained to them what a grasshopper was in the first place. He liked to leave his mark on people.

The lizard next to him had the same look of disappointment that John did when he explained to the Foreigner that death wasn't part of the Games. Well. At least he wouldn't be toting a corpse home no matter how useful a good dead body could be at times. Probably for the best. At Obi-Wan's age, John doubted anything in him would have the good attributes of a virgin.

"Might have to switch my bet to the Foreigner, mate. Thought you said your champion in there was tough. Looked to me like he can't even whack someone's fingers right."

[pompous_today]

Simon rested his head against River's and closed his eyes. She would, indeed... she'd saved his life more than once, out in the black. Certainly had saved them all from death when they faced down the Reavers, which hadn't been all that long ago. But he wished she never had to. Wished, even though he knew it was over and done with and he couldn't change things, that she'd never been made into this.

"I know you would," he murmured. "And you'd do it very well. But hopefully you will not need to."

[pompous_today]

"That she is," Simon laughed. "Or I have gotten that impression of her, anyway. She is a very sweet young lady, too- I'm glad my sister has befriended people like the two of you." Simon then nodded slowly, still very interested in this technology.

"So you had no choice but to take it... it's true, though. Things that go into or on the human body normally need months and months of testing before it's determined to be safe. I hope you have never had any ill effects from it."

[hadthehighground]

A show off? Really now. To be fair to the Igheeri though, Obi-Wan was still subtley using the Force. He just wasn't using some of the more... obvious tricks that were up his sleeve. Besides, he considered it a natural part of himself. It wasn't exactly something he could completely turn off.

The Igheeri was getting mad now, though. He had thought this would be an easy defeat, and it wasn't proving to be as such. Obi-Wan could sense it as well, and that gave him the edge. He watched as the brute then launched himself off the platform and extended his wings. The champion gliding down towards him rapidly.

This time Obi-Wan didn't flee. He waited, weapon in hand, for the right moment. Then just as he got close enough, the Jedi made a spectacular leap into the air, did a flip, and landed on the Igheeri's back. This drawing a startled gasp from the crowd as the man then struck with his weapon. With a shriek, the Igheeri lost his balance in the air and plummeted, with Obi-Wan jumping off just in time. His opponent landing hard and awkwardly. The snap of bone resounding through the arena.

Landing and rolling across the ground, Obi-Wan then got to his feet with a grimace. He was going to have some bruises after this. But his opponent didn't seem to fair as well. As the Igheeri stood up, it was clear that his arm was broken.

[redlightgreenlight]

Valdis wasn't planning on using the shield, her goal was to simply remove one of his defenses. The moment he released it, she continued with her turn and flung it across the arena like a Frisbee. It skidded across the ground when it landed and struck the wall. Then her sword struck his, blocking his slash.

[redlightgreenlight]

She laughed, genuinely this time.

"I have spent lifetimes studying human behavior, feeling what they feel and seeing their spirits wax and wane with the choices they made. Yet I never understood those feelings, those choices, until I came here." She sighed, "Morality is based upon emotions and feelings. It is for each person as unique as their soul. With time, I am certain that you can learn, just as I did."

[wolf_of_war]

Wag wag wag goes the dog tail. While Bladewolf didn't "feel" in the same way most people did, he had vague sense of pleasure, particularly when people treated him as a sentient being. The bar was low, sure, but Bladewolf knew better than to get his hopes up, for the most part.

"It is...funny. A time before I arrived, I was under the servitude of an organization that terrorized people, committed violence purely for the political unrest it would inevitably lead to. One of the agents of this organization, Mistral, expressed disappointment that I would not engage in violence on their behalf any more than was necessary. Here, I will show you."

Bladewolf stops, and projects a memory recording into the air in front of them. When it stops playing, Bladewolf lowers his head. He really hates the woman in the recording.

"I have begun learning more of human morality, justifications for immoral acts, and when...bad things are done for good reasons. I am...unsure if I could bring myself to commit such acts."

[redlightgreenlight]

The image of a giant, mechanical dog wagging its tail was somewhat amusing, but the creature's words quickly washed away that amusement and Valdis watched the recording in silence. In a way, it reminded her of when Malicant had taken Fenrir's form. The King of Hounds had spoken of taking her soul away, of destroying who she had become in order to regain the power they had once had, to reign down chaos, destruction and death.

"No bad thing is ever done for a good reason," She replied, laying a hand on his head. She almost couldn't believe how much she and this robot had in common. "Don't worry about that woman, she can't touch you here."

[wolf_of_war]

Bladewolf remembers when Mistral had effectively stranded him in Abkhazia, guarding the roadway to the oil refinery that Desperado had been hired to take for the Russian General who'd hired them. He hadn't expected to encounter Raiden, nor to be defeated as soundly in battle as when he'd fought Sam. It was in that defeat that he had finally gained his freedom, from Desperado in general, and Mistral in particular. It was sort of ironic, he thought, gaining freedom through defeat and the sympathy of a trained killer.

"Hmm, perhaps. Raiden killed hundreds of men, employed by the organization that held me prisoner. He did so because they stood between him and his goal of stopping the organization's plot to turn hundreds of children into killing machines, as Raiden himself had been as a child. He killed both because he desired to, as a result of the trauma he suffered in childhood, but also because he was given no other choice. Were his actions immoral, simply because he enjoyed them? Or did his ultimate goal absolve him of any guilt he may have suffered?"

As far as Bladewolf was concerned, his analysis of Sam's actions was still inconclusive. He struggled with the morality of nearly everything he'd witnessed, even though he didn't have a defined sense of morality himself.

"Mistral is dead now. Killed shortly after I myself was liberated from my captors. I simply...hate her. An emotion I do not commit to lightly."

[redlightgreenlight]

That was a difficult question, but someone had once told her that the ends never justified the means. Pity that so few managed to live by that saying.

"If he truly killed them out of a sense of vengeance, then even if the end result was good, he has still fallen short."

She resumed walking, trusting that the metal hound would follow.

"I was created to ravage the realm of men, and for a time, that is exactly what I did, and I did it joyfully. But now..." she paused for a few breaths, "I hate what my creators did to me and the rest of my kind. I would destroy them if I could and I, like your friend, am fallen because of it. There is too much darkness in me for such an action to be truly good."

[denyamenti]

"Then congratulations, seba-rekhet." The swiftness of the answer is well noted. "Yes, he did, and I said I would."

Seizing the opportunity to change that subject, however, he thinks back to that venture. "Oh?"

[lasergrenades]

If Pepper ever decided not to be a superhero or a SHIELD agent or a fashion designer, she'd probably make a killing in marketing. Fortunately, she uses her powers of persuasion for good. She grins when Bakura nears.

"Not even remotely. Even if the sponsors weren't covering everything I seriously doubt you'll lose anything," she answers smoothly. "Besides, I'm not in it for the money - this is just awesome fun."

Although the money really wouldn't hurt, to be honest.

[ruinsprofessor]

"Good." Bakura was one of her closest friends here -- however improbable that had seemed at first -- and it wouldn't have seemed right, without him.

His smile was something complex, and, mindful of what Solomon had told her, Raine moved with the subject change she herself had instigated. "Dreams," she said. "My dreams have changed. I know that's not so strange, with the Dreaming being what it is, but it took until that time to do it, which makes me suspect they're related."

She sighed, turned away from the artisans who were done with their current project, and tilted her head back the way she'd come in tacit invitation. "Typically they would be dreams of friends, or fragments of memories surfacing again, but now it's just... impressions. Moments. Always the same thing: white scales, white feathers. It has no basis in anything I've experienced. Does that combination perhaps mean anything to you?"

[inkulcation]

Her accent was recognizably Irish, though somewhat fainter than the rest of the Irish mages in Keeliai. It would be reasonable to draw some link between her and Shudder, though she herself would just as soon ignore his presence.

In her world the fact the look he gave her was only mildly appreciative would be a dead giveaway that there was something more beneath the surface; here, that charm missed as many Foreigners as it caught, for no discernible reason. She could conclude nothing from that. But his watchfulness? Oh, yes. And she had a name. China smiled.

"Oh, where are my manners?" she murmured. "My name is China Sorrows. It's a pleasure, my dear, I'm sure."

But she curled her lip at the mention of Pennsylvania. "Ah," she said, dismissive. "The States. They have different problems. As for the mines here, there's no trouble if you really feel the need for spelunking. Foreigners have felt out the area before. But they are for the most part abandoned, and you'll find no help there if you happen on something unpleasant."

[purered]

Klaus looked up when he heard the commotion and recognized Skulduggery immediately.

"I beg your pardon," he said, excusing himself from the two scientists he'd been deep in conversation with, and strode over to the kerfuffle.

"Mr Pleasant," he said with a bow. "It's good to see you."

The Tavimbian woman gave Klaus a skeptical look, and he straightened up. "I can vouvh for Mr Pleasant. He's likely as curious about the workings of the Xunetune as I am."

[problematical]

River starts a bit at the suit's appearance, even though Pepper's voice comes through the comm and then she can see it is indeed her friend without the faceplate. "Are you going on an adventure?"

omg I just realized... do they know they're from different canon points??

[problematical]

She smiles a little, but then gets an idea. "What if you wanted something here?" she asked, gesturing a little to reference the whole of Hatal. I could get it for you. I want to be able to help."

[ironcoin]

Charako whistled in appreciation of the talent. "Now that's quite a trick," she said. "I know other people come from places that have magic, because we get a lot of visitors from other continents, but it's still a sight to see. You know I have to ask though, what does my presence feel like?"

[denyamenti]

Raine is turned away, so she doesn't see the expression which crosses Bakura's face at the description -- white scales, white feathers -- and it's enough to stop him, briefly, a stutter in his step that he'd taken to follow her at the unspoken invitation. He's only just sweeping it back under wraps when she turns to see why he hadn't moved to join her after a moment.

"It's... not a usual combination, scales and feathers."

[denyamenti]

"Your faith in me is stirring," he returned, amused at her confidence. "We'll see how it goes. Now I'm glad I've been keeping up with a few monsters for sparring," he added.

He flipped one of the un-powered blades over to offer her the handle. "What do you think?"

[hadthehighground]

While he didn't care much for his abilities being referred to as magic, he knew that was the easiest thing people could relate with when it came to the Force. Thus he often let that slide. Just as he will now.

"Energetic," was the first word that came to Obi-Wan's mind. "I sense an admirable intellect and a pride in your work."

Because I can't resist a Skyrim quote >_>

[wolf_of_war]

Bladewolf listens intently as Valdis explains her story, plodding along beside her.

"Hmm, perhaps you are right. Raiden struggles with his true nature, the so-called 'Jack the Ripper' persona that was born of his childhood conditioning. He hid it for many years, trying to do the right thing for the right reasons. According to him, doing so limited his potential in battle."

All it had taken for Raiden to lose all of his nerve was a dressing-down from Sam, after all. Reminding him that almost all of the Desperado soldiers he'd fought were humans, who hadn't necessarily had a clearly-defined choice if they wanted to fight or not. He dipped into Jack the Ripper to overcome the guilt he felt, or so he said.

"Let me ask you this; is it better to be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort? One could say there is...nobility...in what you have chosen."

[gistful]

Fast. Faster than him. But Anton didn't hesitate; he put the whole of his weight against his blade, where it might test even Valdis's strength. While she was focussed on that, he lashed out with his other fist to distract or wind her so he could use the Jagaiz blade.