MAY MINGLE

[stellafortunamods]

May Mingle: Entombed City
Welcome to Teyvat - a vast magical world of adventure.
Everyone's hard work resulted in the gate to upper Dragonspine opening. These ruins have not been traversed in years, if not centuries - everything within has been lost to time and living memory. An entire city has been buried in the snow.

People once lived there. The broken buildings host damaged furniture and weathered streets. There are various cloth-covered mounds in a house here and there, accompanied by a sprig of blue flowers. Someone has laid these people to rest after they passed away.

Traces of technology can be found in the city - golden boxes that contain crystals capable of recording and playing back holograms. One of the boxes introduces this place as Vindagnyr; a land once full of greenery and life. Just what happened to these people? What caused the eternal winter?

The highest point in the city is occupied by a temple built into a Domain. Within the Domain is a pale white tree, split in half by a strange object that has fallen through the Domain's ceiling. This temple was once a site for worship for Vindagnyr's people, and even in death they continue to pray for salvation. The priests have been frozen in ice, and the sheer cold emanating from the Skyfrost Nail makes it obvious that it is the cause of winter.

The city's inhabitants worshipped Celestia. Why then were they left to die?

State of the World

On October 1st, the entombed city of Vindagnyr becomes open for exploration. Travelers can choose to look for clues or try to scavenge the city for ancient materials or tools. Recording boxes all around the city tell stories of Vindagnyr's greener past, and of the days when winter suddenly arrived. This is the cruelty of Celestia that Forneus wished you to see.

For all questions regarding May's mingle and events, please head over to our OOC post.

Comments

[icariot]

I. Landing

[Hawks leaned over the edge of his makeshift perch on the broken stone wall, silently judging the distance down to the ground where he had climbed from. It was only a couple meters, but it'll have to do. His wings felt heavy and tingly on his back but they respond well enough to flexing--no obvious obstructions, damaged feathers, or gunk. No (visible) reason for them to be acting like they lost bloodflow (that they didn't even need). He hadn't expected his quirk to be perfect but still... the loss of so much sensation was causing him to feel paranoid.

One flap, two.

Baby (bird) steps mean if he can't take off from the ground, he should try starting with a boost--

Pain... Hawks spits some snow out before levering himself onto his elbows. He managed to glide a bit, but that was very much glorified falling compared to what he's used to accomplishing. His wings rustle along the trampled snow and dirt trail he landed on but refuse to make themselves useful otherwise. He grumbles as he moves to stand once more.]

Ugh, this will take a while.

II. Ascension

[Hawks was very grateful he managed to borrow that bedsheet from the camp and perhaps less enamored with the idea to go up the mountain at all. The sheet helped keep his (very very red) wings hidden from the odd creatures on the mountainside and at least a little bit of heat trapped close to him. He can't fly, he can't send feathers out independently, he can't detect enemies in his blind spots. He can glide a bit, which is the only reason going up where the citizens pointed was a better idea than going across flatter ground towards the city just yet. The little jeweled marble in his pocket felt as heavy and foreign as his wings do at the moment, but perhaps he'll find something of interest up here. Certainly, it was what the people at the camp felt was most pressing for 'adventurers' to concern themselves with.

If this doesn't produce some kind of useful information, he might just have to regroup and go the other way anyway.]

III. Wildcard

[go wild!]

I. Landing

[whiteshroud]

[Now this isn't a sight you see every day. Jun's attention was caught by the guy with giant red wings jumping off a stone wall and doing a glorified faceplant into the snow because ... well, it was a guy with giant red wings jumping off and doing a glorified faceplant into the snow. Look sometimes there's not a deeper reason, ok.

He's standing a bit away on the sidelines, wearing his uniform with the hood up to keep himself warm. He'll opt to speak up when he hears this guy talk like he's going to do this again. His voice sounds modulated by some means, making it hard to identify who this person is.]

Abilities are usually suppressed when someone arrives.

[icariot]

[One wing twitches when the voice pipes up, but Hawks doesn't give away much other indication of being surprised as he finishes standing to greet his new acquaintance. A flap gets rid of any lingering snow, a sheepish laugh hopefully plays this... incident as more of a joke than anything else. The red splotch on his jawline from the cold landing might make that harder though.]

Heh, not my most graceful moment I'll admit. [A shrug, wings echoing a moment after his arms.] I knew it wouldn't be the same, I was just hoping to figure out the extent before I was in a bad situation.

[whiteshroud]

Mm, I see.

[So that's how it is. He can tell this guy is trying to play it off as no big deal. Which hey, he doesn't see any broken limbs and he's moving, so maybe it isn't a big deal. He'll let it fly, in other words]

It'll probably come back eventually. Just takes some time.

[icariot]

[Sometimes you just need to yeet yourself for science.

That remark catches his attention, especially when paired with the mysterious outfit. A uniform, maybe? It blends well with the snow, even if that wasn't the original intent.]

You have some experience with abilities leaving and coming back, then?

[whiteshroud]

Something like that, yes.

[He doesn't elaborate on what those abilities are though. He doesn't see the need to.]

It took a few weeks. Probably something to do with needing to acclimate to a different world.

[icariot]

That sounds like a reasonable enough assumption, if a bit vague. Could ya give a guy a break and elaborate a little?

[He could take the slow route and just keep trying out some of his abilities until eventually something worked, but it would be faster if he could get literally any kind of hint. He'd rather be useful sooner than later.]

[whiteshroud]

[But that means talking....bleh. Fine]

You know how when you put a fish in a new aquarium, you have to do it slowly until it acclimates or it'll go into shock?

My guess is it's the same general principle, but for special abilities. The spiritual energy of this world is different from your world. So when you came here, your abilities that were adapted to the spiritual climate of your world went into shock from being in a different environment.

With luck, they should eventually adapt to the new environment and work again. Don't know how long it'll be for you, it varies from person to person. For me, some of my abilities returned after a few weeks, while others still don't work.

Wildcard

[beatnest]

[ At some point when Hawks is at camp, sticking out like a bright red sore thumb with those wings— ]

Whoa, are you a bird? [ What is being subtle? Byakuya at least looks like just another inquisitive teen as his "claws" aren't visible at the moment. ]

[icariot]

[Hawks turns and flashes a grin, one wing holding itself out slightly to follow the turning motion through.]

Quite right! Hawks, at your service.

[Probably the most familiar thing to happen yet: random child encounter]

[beatnest]

Ahaha, I got it right.

[ He sounds so satisfied about this even if it should be obvious. A second or two passes while he really looks Hawks over with a wry smile. ]

What do you think of spiders? And did you know there's a type of spider that eats birds?

[icariot]

[Child encounters are common, but there's something fishy about this one... Something in that tone is setting his (still numb and weighted down) wings on edge.]

I can't say I've ever run into a bird eating one, but house spiders are common enough. I doubt hawks are usually what they go after.

[beatnest]

But isn't the extraordinary exciting? Everyone gets bored of eating the same thing over and over again.

[ He's not quite circling but he is shifting his weight from one foot to the other. ]

[icariot]

I don’t know, I’m fond of plain old chicken myself. You can do quite a bit with it. Yakitori, oyakudon, the list goes on.

[Hawks does his own feet shuffle, putting himself in a seemingly relaxed position. His wings press towards his back, a shield and an anchor all in one.]

[beatnest]

Ahh, so we're opposites! I'm an adventurous eater, at least lately. I'm also a spider! [ A shimmer of light and they're behind him, floating more like blades than claws or even legs. Four in total so maybe it's more correct to call him half spider.

He grins. ]

I won't eat you, but I'm kind of curious if I could. Do you mind? [ This is the strangest way to ask for a duel, rip. ]

I

[nefilim]

Sucks, huh.

[Is the helpful comment from the young woman watching nearby, her own wings folded around her to help keep her warm. In most cases she would've laughed at seeing someone go into the snow like that - but she's sympathetic enough to his plight that, for once, she doesn't.]

It'll come back eventually, but you'll be stuck walking for a while.

[icariot]

[Hawks' wings twitch in surprise before he hauls himself up--it was a practiced enough movement, but his wings were noticeably stiff once standing. His eyes flash down to her wings before giving a sheepish laugh.]

That's good to know, if a bit awkward to find out this way. [a gesture towards her] Did you have the same problem...?

[nefilim]

At least you had snow to cushion your fall, so it's not all bad.

[Did she crash land a lot back when she first arrived? Absolutely.

And her grin now takes a turn for the sheepish, giving a shrug of her shoulder in response.]

And yep. I eventually got the ability to fly back, so best thing to do now is wait it out... Though I'm not really sure why we can't fly at first.

[icariot]

It’s nice to know it’s not permanent, even if I’d rather not have the problem at all. [He’s much too used to being his own super highway to have fun being grounded like this.]

The name’s Hawks. You are...?

i. landing!

[infreefall]

[ even with her hand outstretched and ready to activate her quirk, ochako isn’t quite quick enough to catch him before he hits the ground. oof. hopefully that won’t bruise too bad, but a pro hero must be used to that, right?

but hey, since she’s here, might as well offer him a hand to get back on his feet. ]

You can get your quirk back eventually - I did. [ it’s hawks, though. his quirk is… wings. hmm. ] Wouldn’t have thought that would happen to a physical quirk, though. ...I wonder if someone should ask Forneus about how that works.

[ where’s deku when you need him?! ]

[icariot]

[He has, in fact, jumped from larger heights in his escapades. Somewhere, some offbrand version of YouTube probably has compilations of him doing such things.

Ah, she's one of Tsukuyomi's classmates, isn't she? That makes the decision to grab her hand easy, on top of the benefit of collecting more information.]

You're Tsukuyomi's classmate at UA, right? It's nice to see a friendly face here. [A broad smile, and some brushing of snow off.] That's even better news, too. I can't say I'm enjoying the feeling in my wings currently. [Forneous...?] I may have a mutant-type quirk, but it's not infallible. You think this Forneous might have an explanation for what happened?

[infreefall]

[ he recognizes her?! pro hero hawks recognizes her?! hold just one second while she screams internally





okay we gucci moving on ]

Yeah! Uraraka Ochako, or Uravity. Welcome to Teyvat! [ she laughs a little. ] I know that's true and all, but I guess I was thinking it would be like how Ai- ah, Eraserhead's quirk works, but I guess not.

If anyone would know, though, it's Forneus for sure. He's the one who brought us here, you know?

[icariot]

Nice to meet you, Uravity. I look forward to working with you. [Never too early to get some networking in, and he really needs it.] I haven’t worked with Eraserhead before, but I’ve heard of him. This could be some kind of variant on his quirk? Hard to say without others to compare to— my quirk isn’t only my wings.

[Maybe he’ll elaborate, maybe not. There’s only a handful of people who know the full extent of Hawks’ quirk and he isn’t quite ready to drop that advantage, useless as it is right now.]

i

[cranelike]

(One flap, two flap, and... crash.

Tsurumaru claps his hands, delighted, and lets out a laugh, light and airy because sometimes Tsurumaru also just wants jump from a high place and just crash into the ground for fun.)

Ah, that was quite the jump!

(And then he cants his head to one side, watching Hawk with clear interest and amusement,)

Maybe you should try somewhere higher.

(Like a real fledgling getting kicked out of its nest.)

Gakskfn god I’m so sorry. Life sucks

[icariot]

[Time to shift his wing out of the way, so he can see past it to where Tsurumaru is standing. Ugh, he feels like he’s blindfolded. Going along with Tsuru’s mood, Hawks chuckled and smiled ruefully back at him. ]

You’re right; if I started higher, I might get more flapping time. That might help wake ‘em up.