epidemiology | OPEN ★ ARRIVAL LOG

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OPEN ★ ARRIVAL LOG

ARRIVALS ( OCT 2 )
The dragons are taken from you, sent off to a safe haven. You're back in Oska for less than a day when you hear the announcement and head to the rendezvous point. You blink, step through the portal, there's a loud crack, and...

You're thrown into darkness. You taste copper and, for a moment, your ears won't stop ringing. All common side-effects of portal travel. The entire crew arrives just beyond the city gates, so you might also be feeling a little bit claustrophobic.

It takes a second for the eyes to adjust, but one can make out buildings and the cobblestone beneath their feet. To the right is the Trade District, where all the vendors are gathered to sell their wares. Up ahead is the City Square, where the rest of the citizens out and about seem to be gathered. To the left of the square is the Commoners' District, and to the right of it is the Nobles' District, the two main residential areas. Further travel west will come to the outskirts, a makeshift residential area, this one densely populated with goblins. Many of the people are holding candles or lanterns. You might want to try getting your hands on one of those.

If you have not already done so, your enchanted jewelry will manifest words in front of your very eyes — or sounds in your ear, if you're illiterate — asking you to identify yourself. A quick look around shows that you seem to be the only one able to see it. All you have to do is think or say how you wish to be identified. After that, you're immediately given a message.

Those who participated in the dragon mission at Anwick will first receive this:

We appreciate your help at Anwick. The wyrmlings will live to grow up and bring about the world's natural end. Thank you.

-- ALASTAIR

Afterwards, the crew will be given an abridged version of this, then told to familiarize themselves with the city and natives, report all information gathered back to ALASTAIR, and wait for further instruction.

At the end of the night, wherever they may be, everyone will receive a letter with the royal seal thanking them for their efforts to end the goblins' defiance and inviting them to the Festival of Illumination on the 4th.

FESTIVAL OF ILLUMINATION ( OCT 4 )
Candles are sitting on windowsills throughout the entire city, but the main event is in the city square. In the fountain float lit lotuses, and people all around are holding lanterns, waiting to light them.

There's a minstrel playing songs, and several of the vendors have pulled their carts up to the square in the hopes of making a sale. Many sweets are for sale, including baked apples, gingerbread, cherry tarts, pudding, and more. There's also some drinks for sale.

Some children are playing games in the corner, and others are dancing to the music or writing wishes on slips of paper to be sent into the sky with their lanterns. Everyone seems merry for once, but you'd better be careful. This is an ideal place for a pickpocket.

About an hour and a half into the festival, the lanterns are sent into the sky. They're sent flying, the sky becoming filled with bright lights, until...

A strong gust of wind sends all the lights out. At least, you think it was a gust of wind. What else could have done that? On closer inspection, however, you'll see that even the candles sitting on windowsills inside have gone out. For a minute or so, there's only darkness and chaos.

Suddenly, the flames begin to burn again, revealing a message in the cobblestone in the center of the square. It almost looks as if it's been burned into the ground: IT IS COMING, followed by a symbol of a creature with a lion's head, goat's body, and serpent's tail.

[MOD NOTE: This is a catch-all log for the first few days. For the sake of organization, all arrival threads should be posted under the subheader ARRIVALS and all festival threads should be posted under FESTIVAL. Threads that don't fall under either of those categories can be top-levels. Also, please remember to add your character's tag to the post! Thank you, and have fun!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, well.

[Someone seemed to get it. Ban was eager to accept his punishments--even if they were ones he may not have deserved. The sin of letting Elaine die in exchange for immortality was enough that he would relentlessly torture himself with.

Prison or servitude at his own behest--he didn't mind either.

Drinking to run away, going to prison to harm himself and allowing the world to push him around seemed like fair venues to Ban. Though, given Harry's response, he imagined the young man would object.]

Me, I haven't got the right to object. I'm just some lousy criminal turned hero because the right person said the right thing to the right king~. I'll take fun where I can get it.

[Harry decides that it's not only Aberforth that he's reminded of. He's a weird mesh between both Aberforth and Mundungus, and it isn't a good thing. He tries his best to veil his irritation at such an answer, but he knows that he hasn't done a very good job of it. His jaw sets, and he looks away from Ban.]

As far as anyone knows here, you aren't a criminal. You're just someone brought here to try to stop the conflict. Do you really think that's something you should find fun in? [He finishes what he's saying by leveling his gaze at Ban, looking at him seriously.]

Because it sounds like you have a chance to make a choice for yourself now, rather than resigning yourself to something that no one even knows a thing about. [Though he's saying this, he doesn't expect to be listened to in the least.

But it was worth a shot.]

[There were plenty of objective things Ban could have said to Harry. He was being a reasonable, nonjudgemental young man and by that stretch--Harry was an oddity Ban had rarely ever encountered in his life.

This was what a good person acted like, he supposed.

Though, Ban didn't know Harry and likewise. The only response he could cook up at the moment was one he had told himself countless times.]

It'll always be the same. [With a smile that betrayed itself, Ban cemented his stance.]

No matter where I go. No matter what I do... Let me explain somethin' to you, brat. A real sin can't get erased no matter what you do.

Sounds like an excuse to me. Go ahead and give up on yourself. It's not my business, is it? [But it has become his business in a way. Having known Severus Snape, he knows that sins can both carry forward and be worked past, and it sounds like this guy isn't willing to do either. Even if he's done good (and Harry thinks it's possible that he has, but only on accident), he doesn't want to embrace that, using his previous actions as an excuse to not do anything differently.

He considers adding more, to make it seem like he doesn't care all the same, but he knows that will cut into what he's said previously. No, he decides to stand by the original statement, and he looks at him defiantly.]

[It was an interesting look--the one that lingered in Harry's eyes. Oh, he was a good kid, alright. Someone who looked at someone else and thought they could improve without faltering... They were undoubtedly someone of a high quality.

Despite that, Ban couldn't do a thing but disagree.]

Kid, you'll learn eventually--there're people who're born as nothin' and never become anythin' good. Most folks turn out rotten even when they've got qualities most folks only dream of havin'.

[Propping his chin with his palm, Ban grinned lazily.]

Spend your time helpin' good folks, instead.

[The issue with a statement like that is that Harry knew the entire life of Tom Riddle Jr. He knew of a man who was so embroiled in bad things that his choices led him down a very negative path. Dumbledore had been careful to show Harry that although choices truly mattered, Tom Riddle had allowed himself to be nothing good. But the thing about Tom Riddle, versus even any of his Death Eaters, is that he was one of a kind. Harry doubts he would ever meet anyone else like that.

So, as a result, he doubts that Ban is anything like that.

He snorts and gives a shake of his head.]

Answer me this, then. Are you capable of love? [It's an odd sticking point, but he doesn't seem like the type who hurts because he knows nothing good. He just sees himself as a bad apple, an irredeemable type, but he doesn't even come close to reminding Harry of Voldemort of all people.

He thinks that is likely for a reason.]

'Course I am. [Everything he felt at that time was because of love. He lost the one woman who was important to him after losing his little sister. He had nothing. Ban was aware of how strong an emotion love was and he was just as certain that he would go from one end of the world to another, carving a bloody path for her sake.

He was just as certain that he would happily die for her.

The thought was terrifying and Ban knew as much. What I would do for Elaine could turn me into a war criminal overnight.]

Love brings out the best and worst of us, after all~.

I agree, honestly. [But he believes that it brings out more good than bad, even if he's seen what Sirius' rage can do when he's mad about a situation or what has happened to a loved one. He's seen what the Weasleys will do for one another because of love. He believes that it can lead to darker actions, but he believes that, above all, love is good. That's something that he stands by.]

And because I do, I won't ever believe the worst of you. The worst person I ever met wasn't capable of love. All he knew was fear. Fear of dying. Fear of not having power. He couldn't find it in him to feel anything good, and power was the only thing that helped him feel fulfilled. [If that could even be what it was. He bows his head forward momentarily.]

You're nothing like him. Which is a very good thing. He wasn't terribly fond of me. [Because Harry can be a proper pain in the ass. He made a good adversary for someone like Voldemort.]

[A lot of good love did, he thought to himself. Ban couldn't live without it, but sharing it with someone wasn't easy or even possible for him, anymore. The dead happened to be beyond his scope, Elaine included. Of all things, Ban loathed the part of him that understood what Harry was saying.

Though Harry had him curious, Ban knew better than to ask stupid questions to disturb the young man. Some questions didn't need answering right away.]

You say he ain't capable of love? Sounds like the guy love himself a lot~.

He stripped away his humanity to avoid dying. He became something ... else entirely, thriving only on the idea of power and ruling. If you saw him, you'd understand what I meant. But I guess you could say that he was particularly noseless. [Harry moves a hand over his face to indicate that Voldemort's face was flat, to show how much he had allowed himself to become snake-like—gaunt and something else entirely. He recalls the memories from Dumbledore, and the image of Tom Riddle slowly losing his humanity. He recalls his handsome face slipping away and becoming something else entirely.]

He may have been obsessed with himself, but if he truly loved himself, he wouldn't have let that happen.

[Is stripping away your humanity all that bad a thing to do?

Ban remembered what humanity had done to him. It starved him, beat him near to death, punched his gut when he was happy and stomped on him when he was at his worst. There was no reason for him to think humanity was all that worthwhile.

The three human beings he actually loved were rare cases. Knowing nothing of Meliodas' and Zhivago's real lineage, he thought of his captain and adoptive father as oddities that didn't obey human standards. Among everyone else, there was his little sister--someone who died before she even had her chance.

In his heart, Ban saw humanity as a farce. The only man he loved before Meliodas had suggested to never trust humans and that man disappeared, likely scared off by Ban's youthful impulsiveness and stupidity. His own humanity failed him.

What Harry described didn't seem monstrous at all.]

...Heh. Brat. To meeeee, cept the nose--that guy sounds like the perfect picture a' humanity~.

Then you and I have a very different picture of "humanity." [It goes without saying, Harry knows, but irritation surges into his voice. There's nothing about Tom Riddle that could be perceived as "good" or "perfect." It's quite the opposite, especially considering everything that Voldemort had done.]

But I don't really want to discuss this any further. Maybe you don't understand. [No, he definitely thinks he doesn't understand. And it's not Harry's place to change his mind.

It doesn't really matter here, anyway, and he isn't going to start thinking Ban is anything like Voldemort. (But he is more predisposed to change his mind on that than he was before.)]

Lemme tell ya' somethin', brat...

[For all that Harry seemed to hate this guy, Ban was sure he had his reasons. Fear, desperation, anger, greed--they were assets of humanity. Elaine asked him why people were greedy and he knew exactly why. 'Sins' weren't necessarily errors of humanity alone, but they were certainly perpetrated the best by humans.

Though, it didn't mean that Ban approved of this mentality. Above all else, he realized humans were the worst the world had to offer.]

The best piece of advice I ever got in my life.

[He leaned forward, grinning from cheek to cheek.] Don't trust human beings.

[The look on Harry's face is very telling. He takes a step back, and it's obvious that Ban has accomplished something here: he's creeped Harry out. It's his insistence on human beings being bad that's a problem, especially here, especially with what lies ahead for them. If Ban mistrusts human beings, then there's a good chance that he might understand why the goblins want to go to war with them.

He might even encourage it.]

You'll understand if I don't take that advice to heart, being a human being myself, [he shoots back, straightening up his posture at the same time to try to appear composed.

He doesn't appear composed, but it's all just to try, at any rate.]

[In the same vein, Ban understood more than Harry knew. Faithfulness and the willingness to weather the crimes of others made people tolerant of one another. Harry must have been someone who could shoulder the burden of another person's problems.

He had, after all, tried to give Ban encouragement to feel better and they weren't even friends--or, that involved as acquaintances.]

Consider it. [Experience was the worst teacher. It was smart, but it was ruthless.]

Don't let your kindness burn you.

If you think this is only coming from a place of kindness, then you're sorely mistaken. I just don't assume the worst of everyone so I can act the same. [That's where this had started, hadn't it? It's odd that they came so far from talk about wine and drinking, but it happened. Harry's rounding it back to that for a reason, though, because he feels like Ban is making an excuse for his behavior. If he doesn't have to do better because others don't do better, then he can continue the same way.

It makes sense in Harry's mind, anyway.]

'People can be good'. I've heard that from people, before.

[From the beginning, Ban had thought it was possible, but his world had argued with him at every turn. From a young age, he decided the world could be as cruel as it had to be. He believed Zhivago when he said humans were bad news. Even as a human, he was struck with the same curse.]

For me, it's just whether or not I hate someone less than others. I won't make excuses for myself--I'll just do as I please. I'm not worth trustin', either.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

OPEN ★ ARRIVAL LOG

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