new player welcome post

[yhlee]

[Hello, new players! This post is for new and old players to get acquainted with each other in-character (IC) and out-of-character (OOC). I will be updating the character roster shortly for easy reference. Characters from the first arc who are still wrapping things up in Move 24, feel free to continue; I'll get to y'all shortly.

In the meantime, feel free to introduce yourself in OOC threads, including any information you want other players to have about you (including pronouns if relevant, or what time zones you're usually on, that kind of thing.]

[IC]
Ashari has just recruited a number of newcomers to the team in the hopes of shoring up its weaknesses and is, in classic Andan fashion, throwing a party on the Cantata (the moth ship formerly known as the Wasp and/or Bumblebee) so that folks can meet-and-greet. There are canapés, and Ashari promised Sulen that there are no recreational substances other than the alcohol if anyone wants it; Ashari is currently in the galley mixing drinks for anyone who asks. The public spaces of the interior have been decorated with somewhat lopsided and overly colorful artificial flowers (the matter printer was feeling cranky) as well as plush moths. There are in addition six friendly levitating baby moths, all wriggly tentacles and eyes, who will gravitate toward anyone who sings to them, and who like to be petted.

For the purposes of this post, "public areas" include the galley, the common room, and the storage hold, which has been temporarily pressed into service as a place where people can hang out. People are also welcome to hold private conversations elsewhere. For the moment, however, the cockpit, engine room, commander's office, and communications room/gunnery are off-limits.

[See this wiki entry on the Cantata-Wasp for more details on its layout.]

Comments

Re: Scoping the Room

[mafyyil]

Well, at least she's attracted some attention - she has the feeling several people at the bar have been staring at her just now. So Mafyyil decides to go and introduce herself. It's only polite.

She walks over to the bar, quickly but carefully, making sure that none of the tentacled... thingies... have an opportunity to get tangled in her hair or flowers.

"Helloooo!" She smiles brightly at the assembled people and curtsies. (She's feeling very polite today.) "My name's Zagfehan Mafyyil, very honored to meet you!"

flowergirl at the bar

[zuhrovet]

Sasha would very much like to know what favor, owed to whom, led Ashari to accept this person (Fyedlet?)'s presence, but that isn't the sort of information Ashari gives away for free. "I'm Sasha," she says. "I do information security. Ashari's in charge, and they're making drinks. What was it you wanted to know?"

Re: flowergirl at the bar

[mafyyil]

Mafyyil beams happily at Sasha and Ashari. "So lovely to meet you both! I'm sure we're going to be the bestest friends!" Mafyyil isn't sure what exactly information security means but doesn't want to come across as ignorant. It doesn't matter right now anyway as long as she's found someone important. "Oh, I've just been talking to my friend over there", she points rudely over her shoulder at Seyli, "and we wondered if there's any way to get some weapons practice here. I've, um, acquired a new gun recently" - she's not lying there, just not elaborating - "and I'd very much like to at least try it out before I, um, get in a situation that will make me regret not knowing how it works."

Re: flowergirl at the bar

[zuhrovet]

[What type of gun does Mafyyil have? Sasha will have scanned it as Mafyyil entered the ship.]

Prophet's matching slippers, Fyedlet is worse than Mishka; Sasha hadn't know that was possible. "We used to have a weapons range, but we reconfigured it for mothling habitat. The mothlings emit some radiation when they--eat isn't the right word, maybe 'absorb energy' is more precise? You could ask Remi or Alaric. The range had very good scrubbers to mitigate the risk of lead poisoning, so it was the easiest room to repurpose. We might be able to rearrange things again, now that we've got a bit more time, but that certainly isn't happening tonight."

Re: flowergirl at the bar

[kese_seyli]

Seyli raises an eyebrow at "friend" but makes no comment to contradict her.

"If there isn't a range to practice, what room will be available for general training and exercise?" Seyli speaks up, pitching it to carry without being loud. They carry themselves like a solider, stand squared off, impassive. They assume if this Sasha does information security, she already knows who they are, and the question wouldn't be an unusual one.

[If reasonable, Seyli will have a small selection of weapons, guns, at least one knife. Nothing obscene or out of the ordinary for a merc to own]

Re: flowergirl at the bar

[mafyyil]

[Mafyyil carries some kind of heavy handgun - I've not been thinking about a specific type; it'll be some scifi thing anyway - in an old-fashioned women's concealed carry shoulder holster, which she's wearing over her dress, with the mainband doubling as underbreast belt of said dress. The whole thing is "concealed" by shrubbery. Drawing should be fun (and slow, and a very scary experience for whoever happens to stand next to her). No decent firing range should let her in!]

At least Mafyyil now has an answer to a question she hadn't been asking yet - the levitating creatures seem to be called mothlings. Of course, this raises more questions: Mafyyil has heard of moths, but she remembers them with less tentacles... And a lot smaller. Then again, she's not a biologist, she'll just trust the experts.

"Oh, no worries, it's not urgent", she says. "I wouldn't want to interrupt the, um, party anyway!"

Re: flowergirl at the bar

[yhlee]

[Seyli's welcome to their small collection of weapons, which Sasha will have scanned as part of intake.]

"There's the gym and weight room," Ashari says, "but you're right, that's not going to suffice for firearms drill."

let's have a sensible conversation about maps

[zuhrovet]

"We could conceivably reconfigure, though," Sasha says, following up on Ashari's comment.

It seems that Fyedlet is occupied by chatting with the Rahal, and Seyli's asking very reasonable questions, so it makes perfect sense for Sasha to take her drink and go sit by them. She pulls up a map [scroll down] of the ship, using a convenient coffee table as the display surface. "There's some insulated cargo space next to the mothling habitat, where the range used to be, that we've been using for unarmed combat practice, and then some less finished cargo areas near the accesses to Engineering and Environmental. I'm not sure how much cargo we'll need to carry for our next mission, or when we'll set out. If we don't need the space for cargo, it would be easy to move walls around--we don't have full-on variable layout, but the ship can do a lot automatically. The hard part is reconfiguring the ductwork. We don't want to let lead dust build up, especially if it's going to be next to the mothlings' bedroom."

Re: let's have a sensible conversation about maps

[redshiftnova]

Aymad sips his unsettlingly orange Andan concoction and leans an elbow on the bar, tilting his head to keep one ear pointed at the pair - one of them is or was a Kel or he'll eat his boots - discussing ship layouts.

Which points his line of sight straight at one of the mothlings, and he loses a few seconds at the sheer weirdness of the things.

The drink is tasty, though.

Re: let's have a sensible conversation about maps

[yhlee]

The mothling flutters straight forward Aymad, tentacles waving. It's making a friendly? humming noise as it tries to alight on his arm.

[It will go away if shooed.]

Re: let's have a sensible conversation about maps

[redshiftnova]

He freezes, then carefully sets his glass down on the bar. Then he slowly extends his arm out towards the mothling and hums at it. He is definitely no longer paying attention to conversations around him at this point.

[For anyone who knows music things: He hums a minor pentatonic scale in E.]

Re: let's have a sensible conversation about maps

[kese_seyli]

Seyli nods in greeting as Sasha comes toward them, and she even gets a smile as she starts answering serious questions for him.

"Well, consider me muscle to haul things around if they need to be moved to reconfigure. I know I'm proficient and can miss a few days at the range, I am uncertain about anyone else here." They are trying to withhold snap judgement about the Hafn woman.

They glance over at one of the mothlings and than back to Sasha. "So those are future ships?"

Re: let's have a sensible conversation about maps

[zuhrovet]

"Those are children," Sasha says, stern. She's inclined to like Seyli; she hopes they'll have the sense not to push.

"As far as firearms proficiency goes, we're primarily going to be relying on you and Aymad there. I'm sure Ashari's deadly with any weapon you'd like to name, but they prefer knives; Reshad might be similar. I was fairly serious about marksmanship as a teenager, but I lost access to a range when I moved to the heptarchate, and I've only just started skilling up again. Mishka's academy scores were pretty good, but he has literally been known to forget that guns use ammunition. Fyedlet of the Flowers seems to run on a similar principle."

Re: let's have a sensible conversation about maps

[bariolage]

Ione's player may have been unconscious for five days but Ione has been quietly listening to this conversation with her head canted to one side, carefully not drawing attention to her apparently bizarre earrings.

"Do we have any ... non-moving headquarters options? A moon we could land on to use for practicing sorts of things? My, um, I was trained on an empty desert world for most combat."

She may also just want to see the mothlings' bedroom because she's still overwhelmed by how adorable they are, but is trying to keep that in check and look dignified while sipping this drink.

practice spaces

[zuhrovet]

Sasha shrugs. "Maybe? I'm not sure how much time for training we will have before our next assignment--all I know is that Ashari has been talking to people. Last time we had to sort things out in transit."

Sasha doesn't want to explain what Ashari sorting her out entailed, which means she needs to ask questions, instead. "Your training--was that mostly individual skills? Or did you work as part of a unit?"

Re: Scoping the Room

[venndaai]

Sulen represses a wince when they see Mafyyil's signifier. Still, they're terribly intrigued by the flowers. When there's a break in conversation, and Mafyyil happens to be looking their way, they bow politely, and move their face into a slight smile. They think they're getting better at that.

"It's good to meet you," they say. "My name is Sulen. Your mods are beautiful. Would it be rude to ask what kind of flower that is?"

[Sulen is bad at not looking intense and tightly wound, if that influences Mafyyil's reaction.]

Re: Scoping the Room

[lleullawgyffes]

Virmad, following Sulen a little awkwardly, takes the opportunity to introduce himself as well, a little warily. “And I’m Virmad; welcome to the...hm...team, I suppose.” He can’t restrain a hint of disapproval as he looks over the flowers. “Those are certainly” — he searches for the correct word and fails utterly to find it — “extensive.”

Extensive, and unusual for a Shuos agent — he’s not an expert, but they look like they were designed to be a permanent addition. Not the most discreet.

Re: Scoping the Room

[mafyyil]

Mafyyil wonders if this person is smiling or if they have some kind of stomach pain. (This is actually strengthening her resolve not to touch any of these drinks.) Still, at least she's been addressed in a friendly manner. "Likewise, Sulen, it's so lovely to meet you! My name is Mafyyil, and I'm honored!" She's not sure what they mean with "mods" but it's clear they were referring to her flowers. "I've been enhanced in order to better serve civilization! Those are peonies, by the way."

She awkwardly plucks an aphid from one of the leaves and crushes it between her fingernails. Then she turns to smile at Virmad. "Also very honored to meet you!" Mafyyil wonders why this newcomer seems to dislike her peonies. "Actually I had more, but they...", she mumbles the last part, "kind of fell off..."

Re: Scoping the Room

[venndaai]

"They have a function?" Sulen asks in surprise. They lean a little closer to peer at the nearest blossom. There's something odd about these flowers. They seem far more real than anything an Andan would wear, down to streaks of dirt and patches of discoloration. But maybe that's fashionable to foreigners. It's certainly impressive, how organic they look.

Re: Scoping the Room

[lleullawgyffes]

A foreigner, Virmad realizes, and relaxes. “And what civilization — if I may be so bold as to ask — would that be?”

Re: Scoping the Room

[mafyyil]

Mafyyil doesn't quite understand the question: surely there's only one civilization, although it doesn't surprise her this Barbarian hasn't heard of it. So she only gives Virmad a blank look.

Re: Scoping the Room

[lleullawgyffes]

Virmad raises an eyebrow expectantly, then clarifies, “I mean, where are you from?”

Re: Scoping the Room

[mafyyil]

"Of course!", Mafyyil blurts out without thinking. Is this Barbarian trying to imply her enhancements were useless? How offensive!

While trying to decide whether to snap at Sulen or to enlighten them, however, she realizes she cannot name the exact purpose of the flowers either. She's only been told the surgery would make her a more complete being (She is! She's plant-woman now instead of only woman!) and help her fulfill her purpose fighting the hexarchate... She hadn't asked any technical questions.

However, while she knows perfectly well she should be disappointed she's not plant-animal-woman, she's simultaneously quite relieved she doesn't have to carry the weight of a kangaroo all the time. She also has no idea just why the surgeon-priests thought this would help her fulfilling her task - whatever that may be - and why their work was so obviously shoddy. She is ashamed of that thought.

Since it seems she's embarassingly just as ignorant as Sulen, she can't really blame them for asking. "You see, they make me a more complete person."

Re: Scoping the Room

[bariolage]

"They're very pretty," interjects Ione the constant habitual eavesdropper. She's both in the room and on the team, so that means she can talk here, yes? "I'm sure they have more substantial reasons for existing than being pretty, but they do look good. I met someone else who wore living flowering vines on her all the time but they weren't actually part of her, so, you're much more impressive."

Re: Scoping the Room

[mafyyil]

An odd comment, but this new person seems to mean well. "I'm very sorry to hear about your friend", Mafyyil answers. "I'm sure one day she'll have the honor of being enhanced, too!"

Although she's beginning to wonder - are the hexarchate people (definitely people; she mentally uses the word as often as possible to remind her of that) even able to do that?