WEEK 1

[strangerpeople]

WEEK 1

[Awaken.

Fifteen strangers have been gathered to the Depths.

When the strangers awaken, they will feel nauseous in their stomachs. No doubt confused. Maybe a little sick, Perhaps, even terrified. And certainly, there is a good reason for it - they are not where they were before. If they had powers back where they came from, they seem to be all gone. And it appears that someone has left...guidelines for them. All of them addressed to a specific Title.

Their Title. Somehow, each person knows, upon seeing this, this is their Title, even if it seems to make no sense whatsoever. And its clear that whoever wrote these things knew it as well. Who was it?

Its uncertain. So far, there seems to be no one else save for them, and those who dare to venture out of their rooms - save, for some reason, the individuals in rooms 1, 8 and 7 - in this hot and stuffy place. No...'intercessor' to be seen yet, certainly. No outward signs that there's anyone else aside from the people with 'Titles'.


So, Titled: welcome.

There are fifteen strangers in this place.]

Comments

Armory

[lightnen]

[ Since he's kind of bored of what's going on around here, there's limited things to do and as such means he's holed up in the armory for right now.

Killua can be seen inspecting the various weapons and sharp implements, before finding one of the hammers. It's large and rather heavy-looking, even to him, but it doesn't stop him from reaching out and picking it up with very little effort. An adult would look to be able to wield it with ease, so a kid his age shouldn't be able to lift it normally.

Yet there's him just casually swinging the hammer back and forth, testing it's weight and letting off a soft hum. Even tossing it up into the air a short distance and not entirely seeming hindered by the weight of it. He hasn't noticed anyone around, so it'd be easy for someone to come in while he's preoccupied. ]

[zephyranthe]

[She's back in the armory to see if there are any bear traps left because someone laid them out and she doesn't want to deal with unwrapping all that cloth off the disarmed ones. She's not particularly fazed by people wielding oversized weapons, even if she favors something smaller herself.]

Those seem pretty popular here. [Seriously, Killua's probably the third person she's seen here messing with the hammers.]

[lightnen]

That doesn't surprise me. I just wanted to see for myself how it'd feel holding it.

[ With that same ease, Killua set the hammer back down and wandered over to where there were a couple of choice daggers. One of which got picked up in a heartbeat as he started to inspect it. ]

I actually prefer weapons like these since they're much easier to use.

[zephyranthe]

Probably the same as any other time.

[She didn't have any powers to lose aside from those granted to her by her tactical orbment, so she doesn't notice a difference in her abilities herself. She approves the weapon choice, though! ...Well actually, more likely than not, she doesn't really care, but it's nice to know, regardless.]

Me too. Easier to move around with 'em and all. [And considering her biggest asset is her small size and agility, weighing herself down with something cumbersome would make no sense.]

[lightnen]

Precisely. They can be used as projectiles too.

[ He can relate where being small and agile is a valuable asset of his when it comes down to the act of needing to fight or kill someone. Everyone always took him lightly because of his stature and age and usually that meant someone would pay dearly for that underestimation. ]

I don't really trust those so-called powers they've given us. What about you?

[zephyranthe]

I prefer having my guns for that, but it's better than nothing.

[Fie's definitely not in the habit of throwing her daggers; not when she usually has other options easily on hand. At the mention of powers, she just shrugs. While she's had the inkling that she could do something, she never really bothered, nor had it really come up otherwise and she's fine with that.]

I don't even know what mine does. Some guy sparkles, though.

[lightnen]

Guns always seemed too simple and loud to me. How can you get the job done with something so loud and bulky, anyway?

[ If anyone walked in on this, surely they'd wonder why these young teenage kids are talking about weapons like it was nothing more than the weather outside. ]

Really? Sounds kinda tacky to me. I don't really get what mine's supposed to do either.

[zephyranthe]

Depends on the op. Wouldn't use it if it's for recon, but if it's a full-on assault, anything's fair game.

[Good times, especially since military operations and weaponry are one of the few topics that Fie's actually good at conversing about... at least to a certain degree.]

Yup. Gets that way when talking about his girlfriend too. It's really cheesy. [Just talking behind Eric's back here, nbd.]

I wonder if they're all useless like that.

[lightnen]

Hmm... you have a point. I suppose I just favor knives and sharp implements to get the job done, and it's easier to get closer to people to do what you need to with one.

[ Killua's never been involved with military stuff as he was more a technical denizen of the underground more than anything else. Not that he tended to go around telling people that kind of thing, unless it happened to somehow miraculously come up. ]

How lame. [ He makes a face at the thought before shaking his head. ] Dunno yet... but I think the guys who trapped us here likely want us to use them in some way to murder someone, if I had to guess.

[bythewaves]

You are very strong, youngling.

[ Maglor watches him, idly testing the nearby knives for sharpness.

Poor quality the ghosts of his brothers hiss in his memory Too brittle. Not balanced. ]

[lightnen]

[ Blinking a little when he heard another's voice in the room with him, Killua turned to face him before his expression seemed to perk up some. This guy was definitely tolerable and knew how to cook so he was good in his eyes, really. Not that it meant he completely trusted people here when murder was still on the line and he wasn't quite fond of dying here whatsoever. ]

It's nothing compared to what I can do at home but... thanks!

[ Someone calling him strong was definitely a compliment so he rolled with this, vivid blue eyes noting how Maglor was testing the knives. ]

They're not the best quality, are they?

[bythewaves]

[ Maglor blinks a little at that revelation and wonders morbidly how strong the boy actually is ]

Aye. I could make better, and I am hardly the best of my family at the forge! But they are decently sharp, I suppose.

[lightnen]

At least you can actually make your own weapons. I'm good at using them but better when I can use myself as one, but they took that away from me somehow.

[ Something which has him pouting a bit a little petulantly at the idea before shaking his head and putting down the hammer so he could come over to where Maglor was, if only just so he could pick up one of them. Even tossing it up into the air and catching it by it's handle without even seeming to hesitate whatsoever. ]

I guess if they work for what they're intended for, then they aren't too worried about the quality of them as a whole.

[bythewaves]

My father was many things, but he began in the forge, and he taught all of my brothers and I that way in the beginning, although most of us left for other paths, eventually.

[ He raises an eyebrow, and privately thinks that if he ever finds this child's family, he will kill them for treating their children this way ]

"Use yourself?" What do you mean, pray tell?

[lightnen]

That kinda seems inevitable though, doesn't it? Of course you and your brothers were gonna go down your own paths somewhere along the way.

[ Saying something like that went hand in hand with the distant look that flashes behind his eyes then, remembering his own family and the expectations they held him to. If only Maglor actually knew the truth about what kind of profession him and his family were actually involved in, it'd likely change his opinion about him. ]

...Usually I can alter the anatomy of my hand and I can make my nails much sharper and that works the same as any knife does but like I said... I can't do that here. [ Killua's not really looking at Maglor right now, gaze affixed to the blade he held firmly in one hand. Why the hell was he actually hesitating in talking about this kind of thing? ] If I continue talking about this, I bet you'd treat me differently. Like everyone else has before now.

[bythewaves]

You would think so, but one never knows, after all! Father did so want at least one of us to follow - I think that is why Curvo... my fourth brother, Curufinwe, was his favourite.

[ Maglor reaches across and ruffles Killua's hair, telegraphing his moves so Killua isn't surprised by the touch ]

Why should I mind? [ He says gently ] You cannot help what you can do. And by your actions and your speech, I am guessing at a childhood which was not much of one at all - and that is not your fault, but that of those around you.

[lightnen]

[ A father favouring one of his children more because they were his favorite? It almost sounded like his dad and how he treated him for the most part, setting him above the rest because he was the to-be heir of the family business. A skill-set that he never technically wanted to start with, even if at times it was extremely useful to have. ]

That's kinda like how dad favors me over my other siblings because i'm supposed to inherit the family business, but I don't want anything to do with that.

[ Then there's the almost careful way Maglor moves, ruffling his hair in a purely innocent and father-like way that makes him hesitate. He'd expected possible judgment from an adult at hearing what he could do, though what came instead was kindness and gentle words that warmed his heart in an odd way he couldn't explain. ]

...You're right. I didn't get to have a normal childhood like other kids had, or get to spend time around kids my own age. Never really had friends, either.

[ Why is he just talking about this stuff now? His gaze casts downward, unable to really look at the older man now. ]

[kiddefender]

[She still has 'her' sword at her belt. She silently watches it go up and back down.]

That seems like it might be better than the swords...

[lightnen]

[ While his strength and speed was lowered a touch, his sharp senses still remained thankfully and it made it much easier to hear when someone had entered the room. Even if he didn't seem to react to it until a moment after, turning to face her without a second thought. ]

Probably. It's a little heavy so there's that...

[ Shrugging, he set down the hammer and put his hands into his pockets. ]

I prefer smaller weapons, like a knife or dagger. Even if the hammer looks really cool, it's not something you can just carry around with you easily.

[kiddefender]

[She hasn't even noticed any changes yet. So he's doing better than her. But anything happening to her hearing would be noticeable, given her ears.]

That's what you want in a hammer. I can't tell without looking, but did it seem brittle to you? The weapons here aren't very good.

[She turns her head to examine some, she's already looked. And she's not making any effort to hide her sword. But who knows it might have changed like the wild game had.]

They're useful for food preparation too. My first weapon was a dagger. It was chosen for the reason you mentioned, I couldn't handle anything larger back then.

Unfortunately the blade snapped.

[lightnen]

[ Ah. So she'd picked up on that little detail as well. He'd been wondering if he was the only one to notice that kind of thing. ]

No, they really aren't. It's kind of disappointing.

[ That's something he means, too. The weapon quality here wasn't honestly that great. Especially considering they wanted them to kill using these so-called excuse for weapons. ]

It snapped? How did you manage to do something like that??

[kiddefender]

Maybe they want them to break while we were using them. It's not something you'd really plan on normally.

[Weapon parts would be pretty good evidence. Her ears flatten at the question and he gets a sheepish grin.]

...Monsters have very hard skulls?

[Honestly she wasn't sure herself. But the blade had snapped clean of the handle when she tried to stab the cerberus in the head.]

[lightnen]

That's kinda lame though. Who wants their weapons to break after one use, anyway?

[ Shaking his head at that little detail, his eyes get drawn to the ears as they move and he very nearly comments on it. So they weren't decoration but honestly some kinda real thing; like an animal's. Interesting. ]

You have monsters in your world? That's so cool!!

[ That's about when he grinned widely. ]

You fight them all the time or what?

[kiddefender]

I had been using it constantly for at least a week, and I wasn't cleaning the blood off properly. It's the strongest monster we'd fought.

[She trails off, because honestly, it felt like it wasn't even close to the strongest.]

Yes. It used to just be herds out in the wilds, but more have started coming through the rifts. They're stronger that the wild ones. A lot stronger.

I only learnt to fight a few weeks ago. The first wave was just before that.

[Yeah, not grinning now. Just flattening her ears and frowning at the floor.]

[lightnen]

Well... then that kinda makes sense, but still.

[ A shrug. Though he seemed to listen more intently when she mentioned 'rifts' which would make sense to what she'd added on afterward. ]

Sounds like your world's gotten a bit crazy. If you need help with learnin' how to fight better, you can ask me anytime, alright?