❪ mini-event ❫ OLYMPIA QUESTS: 1

[natha]

It isn’t easy starting life in a new place. It quickly becomes apparent that you are in dire need of two very important things: money and a good name. In addition to full-time jobs, certain people in Olympia will reward handsomely for helping them with tasks. Submit any AC eligible thread of participating in this log's prompts for One (1) Olympia REP point HERE. Threads involving your flora/fauna submission may also be submitted, even if your submission is not made official game canon. FOR THE RECORD     It’s time to put on your hiking shoes. Characters will be approached by both Evras and Lysa at separate times. Both individuals are interested in recording species of plants and animals-- El Nysa is bursting with all sorts of life, after all! It is impossible to chronicle all of it without help. You will be provided with a journal to chronicle your findings. Each submission pays 100 silver. OOC: We need YOUR help in worldbuilding the area in and around Olympia and The Outlook! Create a creature or plant and submit it HERE by August 31st at 11:59 PM EST. ONE entry per character only. NOTE: If you have accepted a job at The Sanctuary or Simwe Institute, you MUST submit your entry to your boss to maintain your position. You may assume a character got the job if they established contact, even if an official offer hasn't been extended yet. Although an entry will net you TWO (2) Olympia REP points no matter what, we will be choosing a maximum of 20 entries to include in the official bestiary for future encounters. THE BIRDS AND THE BEES     Along with the request to record traits of a certain specimen, Evras and Lysa independently ask for more quick favors. Certain species, due to their unique natures, aren’t as prone to procreating as one would hope. They need your help. The directions for these requests, provided by Evras or Lysa, are simple. You will be provided a small amount of heavy aphrodisiacs (and a mask) to spray in a particular region. Because the natural aphrodisiacs of the island run a bit thin there, the wildlife has been less... willing to comply. Each species you help will net you 50 silver. Three species in particular are in need of a little help. Note: There will be a mask provided. Forgetting it may mean you start to feel some of the effects yourself. You may also be immune. Please put appropriate warnings in threads if applicable. Xlarix, also commonly referred to as the love bug. Found in MURKWELL HOLLOW. They have an ability to release literal positive energy, making those exposed to it more willing to be friendly and jovial with another. Even the most heated rivals can easily become the closest companions. You may even be tempted to temporarily abandon the request and do something fun with your new best friend. Unfortunately, while many have desired to use its effects in diplomacy, its effects only last a few minutes at best. Despite their powers to assist others in bridging emotional gaps, they are vicious insects. During mating, they engage in battle, normally losing the lives of both parties before their spawn is even properly produced. This is why they need a little help. Try to break up the fights as much as you can. For the Xlarix, being in each other's presence for long enough will eventually get them to calm down and continue the process. You may get unlucky in the process and end up with an extremely painful sting that requires healing, however. The pain increases with time, and if you allow it to go untreated for more than a day, it will be excruciating, enough that it may be debilitating, for 12 hours before eventually healing on its own. Sepht, found in EDRATHE RUINS: Both shy and antisocial, it’s no wonder these little marsupials don’t have much luck in the mating department. They prefer to live in isolation, and are much more concerned with hoarding everything they can get their hands on. This includes stealing anything you may have brought with you. As a warning, they are incredibly strong. They can also fly, so good luck catching them after they’ve made off with your stuff. Let’s hope you can get back that magical sword or enchanted necklace of yours. Once you have sprayed the chemical in their habitat, do not stick around the area. Despite being more suggestible to mate now, they are shy to the core, and will not come out of hiding until they are sure the coast is clear. Cinjaw, found JUST OUTSIDE OLYMPIA. Domestic animals kept by local farmers in the outskirts of Olympia. These guys are just really, really lazy. Too lazy to care about things like passing on their genes. Honestly, if it weren’t for the efforts of humans and the fact that their meat is too delicious for the Olympians to allow these creatures to go extinct, they would have been wiped out years ago. Stay too long near the herd, and you will begin to feel extremely lethargic yourself. Nothing sounds better than using the person next to you as a pillow for your nap, or dropping everything you’re doing to go sleep in that hay. Hopefully someone finds you and is kind enough to wake you up. After spraying the aphrodisiac, you won’t want to stick around. They are loud: loud enough to damage hearing without proper ear protection (Now you know why those farmers walk around with ear plugs). HELP A NEIGHBOR     Being new is tough in any given neighborhood. This is especially the case when you’re a newly arrived refugee. Though you’ve been welcomed here, you haven’t established a lot of trust in the community. Your neighbors don’t know a single thing about you, and that name tag fiasco doesn’t count. Fortunately for all of you, the rule of this game is simple. There is no monetary payment, but isn't it priceless to feel good about being a good samaritan? Make yourself helpful. Did you neighbor mention wanting to take their pet chicken out on a walk? Offer to do it for them and they may pay you back in a meal or a small gift. Did one of them mention needing help with rearranging their collection of thousands of cat figurines? Well, who better than to ask but you! You over there, why not help your fellow refugee by doing this task together? It never hurt to do some teamwork. Or maybe your roommate is the one taking that chicken out on a walk, and you’re just ready to judge. Complete judgment. But hey, that’s fair. BLOOD BANK     CW: Needles, Blood One of the things that quickly becomes apparent about life in Olympia is that all citizens are welcome, including those who may possess unique dietary requirements. The Blood Bank is an institution that has stood proudly for many years, and in addition to providing meals for some of its citizens, the supply is invaluable for care in The Sanctuary, research in Simwe Institute, and for use in certain types of magic. They're offering you a special today, for your blood in particular! You just look so... healthy and able-bodied. Donate a few pints, and you'll earn an easy 200 silver. Unfortunately, the center is so busy today that they've had to call on volunteers, and depending on who you've met so far, your particular volunteer may look familiar. It's... another refugee. Wait, are they even qualified?! How did they even get roped into this?! Qualified or not, the job pays well for both the refugees donating, and the ones drawing the blood (much more for whoever's donating, though. Fair is fair.). A blood drawing set inclusive of clean needles, antiseptic swabs and a blood storage kit, will be provided. Sticking a needle into a vein isn't as easy as those people in the Sanctuary make it seem, though. You may not always get it the first time, so try, try again! And if you still can't hit the bulls-eye? A rogue-looking Olympian "volunteer" approaches and hands you a knife. Apparently, cutting right into the vein and collecting the blood in a saucer also works; the staff would only need to sterilize the blood with a spell afterward. And about the gaping wound you'd cause? They always have healing potions on hand for when things go wrong (but just like the potions from before, they have been known to cause some nausea). You'll do anything to help your fellow Olympian, right? OOC     There are a total of 3 OLYMPIA REP POINTS possible to earn in this log. 2 from OOCly submitting a flora/fauna above in For the Record, and 1 for submitting any AC-length thread for any of these prompts. You may do one or the other, or both. Submit a flora/fauna HERE and submit an AC-eligible thread HERE by AUGUST 31st 11:59 PM EST. The results of The Birds and the Bees will be submitted to whoever you submit a flora/fauna entry to. If you do not submit a flora/fauna entry, submission to either one may be handwaved. In the event of CAPTCHA, we will be providing an overflow. In the event of a second CAPTCHA, players are advised to move threads to an overflow post on their character journals. These threads remain eligible for AC, AC Rewards, and REP. 1 SILVER = 1 US DOLLAR. QUICK NAV premise ● faq ● world ● map ● reputation ● npcs taken ● reserves ● application calendar ● hiatus/drops ● modbox [ FULL NAVIGATION ] elnysa nysalogs nysaisles nysaooc elnyan

Comments

[valcurie]

I'd think not. Scientists are usually an awkward lot. ( As it is, she doesn't know about that experimentation, though she should have figured. Whatever is wrong with her own world--and there's a lot that is--modern standards of decency have gotten rid of such careless, casual cruelty as torturing other sentient beings for the sake of science.

Well. For most people, anyway. There are some of her so called "colleagues" who continue to conduct such work, and on kidnapped humans too. Such people are anathema to her.

For now, though, she tilts her head in consideration. Talking raccoon doing medical work? Hadn't someone said he fixed--ah! Her face lights up, and she stops chewing on her pen. Nasty habit, that. )

But you're an engineer, aren't you? You fixed someone's cybernetics. That's quite a feat, here.

[beatupgrass]

Awkward. Yeah, that's the word I'd use. [Maybe awkward around other people and each other- god he's overheard so many attempts at flirtation over the top of his head when he was semiconscious and having god only knows what performed on him. It's a great way to feel insignificant in the grand scheme of things when the Shi'ar nurse keeps dodging the Rajak surgeon's advances while in the middle of something.

And Rhys was going to get punched in the shins for blabbing about that- normally, he'd feel a sense of pride that the man was bragging on his work, but that's the kind of thing that could get a guy screwed over around here.

He looks away, huffy and irritable, despite the praise.] So what? I only got a knack for it 'cause I have to do my own maintenance.

[He takes it for granted that people here can't immediately pick up that he's augmented. People back where he's from could just look at him and figure it out- there's no race of bipedal talking animals, after all. And, anyway, he's never tried to hide what he is, so why start now? The second Evras (or any douchebag who might want to hurt him) sees him in the flesh, he's going to know. It's just a matter of hoping no one else tells him first.] And I'm not putting any of my engineering skills to work for a dick like that.

[valcurie]

Ah, that's even more impressive, honestly. Most humans with enhancements have to rely on others to patch them up. ( Looking at him, she gives him a slightly tired smile, as there is something else on her mind. It's hard to express, exactly, so she's thinking about her wording, when she also realises she has to contend with--something, from him. He seems evasive, somehow, not really comfortable talking about himself. That's a feeling she can relate to.

Sitting down now, she settles her hands in her lap. )

I have helped several of my friends with their cybernetics in the past but I am not--really qualified to do more than that. I was worried what might happen if they woke up here. Now, not so much, if you are around. ( She is, of course, assuming that he would help them. There's that smile again, genuine, but dulled by her keen awareness of her shortcomings. If she had to, she could not save their lives. )

[beatupgrass]

[His tail swishes behind him as he scrutinizes her, trying to figure out where she's coming from with all of this. He can only maintain this amount of aloof disinterest for so long before it becomes more overcompensation than anything. And damned if some part of him doesn't enjoy the idea of being needed, even if, of course, he'll try to spin it into something that demands payment.

This better not be a trap.] That's nice and all, lady, but I hope you don't think I do this kind of thing 'cause I'm a nice, warm-hearted guy. I gotta eat to, and, honestly, I ain't as nice as all that either.

[valcurie]

No, of course not, because you are a professional, no? Good work should get good wages. ( Whatever else she is, she's not naive about the way the world actually works. )

But, I have a proposal for you--if I have meet anyone who needs your particular talents, may I send them your way by referral? ( It is important, after all, for a doctor to have the right network and contacts!! ) The payment you can work out with them, as long as I know they are in good hands. ( However small--but she's got enough respect to treat him with common decency. That involves not making size jokes. )

[beatupgrass]

[That's a good answer and he loses a little bit of the tension in his shoulders, nodding. Okay, so he can work with this. It's networking (which is woefully lacking in right now), and she seems to genuinely care about people as opposed to, you know, the opposite. It's not like people can't lie through their teeth, but he can dismiss the red flags for now.]

Okay, lady. I think I can work with that. But- [he holds up a clawed finger] - I figure your intentions might be good, and that's great and all, but there are people I don't trust. Evras is the big one. Don't bring up my name to him. In fact? You never saw me. Don't tell 'em anything about me. If you see him and he asks anything, just be like, "What, sir, there's a fuzzy dude with a tail wandering around here? I dunno. Never saw 'em before in my life."

[valcurie]

( Now, she has no problem with doing questionable things if she deems them the right thing to do, but that the thing: she has to make the decisions herself. So, with one eyebrow cocked, she gestures towards him, the calm tone she uses indicating that she's willing to hear him out. )

Now, this is sounding good. But, I have to ask, can you tell me what he's done? ( She pauses, then shakes her head. ) If you have reason to distrust him, I would like to know. There is a possibility I may need his facilities in the future.

[beatupgrass]

He hasn't done anything. [Well, no. That's not entirely true- the man said his specialty is animal experimentation, so there's probably rows and rows of cages of animals locked away against their will being screwed around with all for the sake of science.] But the bastard flat-out admitted he was into animal experimentation. And maybe you're not gettin' the picture here, but I did not request that my cybernetics be put in. [He lets that hang there, eyes narrowed.] He might be a total sweetheart to the rest of the people here, but I know his type.

[valcurie]

( well, that certainly explains a lot. first things first, she bows her head in contrition. ) I thought it stemmed from a personal interest, not a matter of preservation. I apologise. But I do respect and admire your resourcefulness, for what it's worth.

( after that? she becomes a lot harder. Lysa may be misguided, but what this man does, is smacking a lot more like something insidious. suddenly, something Lysa said also makes a lot more sense, too. ) It's a matter of what he'll do. I understand. You have my word that I will not tell him and that, whatever it is I can do, I will do my best to protect you from him.

[beatupgrass]

[It's really hard to be mean to people being this nice- even Rocket, who can be mean to just about anyone if he puts his mind to it, often feels a little bit of guilt being short with people who don't really deserve it. Sometimes- like now- he even bites his tongue and tries to temper the urge to be a dick.]

Look, you seem like a nice lady- way too nice, if I'm bein' honest, but I don't think it's a ruse. And I get that you probably always look out for the little guy, but this little guy has been dodgin' shitbags like him for years now. I can protect myself. I just don't need anyone intentionally or misguidedly screwin' me over.

[valcurie]

( Sorry if she's giving him a hard time. She's just innately good. Like, the 'the longer I stand around you the more I am inclined to be a better person' kind of good. That is a deadly power.

But, after hearing him out, she shakes her head. )

Of course. And maybe it will be easier for you to escape his notice if you're by yourself. But my offer still stands--if he is ever presenting a danger to you, I would be glad to help you.

We could all use a helping hand sometimes, don't you think?

[beatupgrass]

[The deadliest power, especially for someone so on the cusp of will I/won't I be a good person as Rocket is. And he thought Yondu was bad for presenting himself as a mirror.

It's this same cusp that he's sitting on that makes his tail wag back and forth in an agitated motion, like a cat's would, all while he stands there, arms crossed, expression a bit... resigned.]

I'm hopin' it won't come to that. [Or that he'll just be embarrassed that he expected something that might be a bridge too far for someone like Evras- for all his pride, that would be the better option.] But I mean I guess if you're offerin'...

[He shrugs. It's the closest one can probably get to an agreement out of him when he doesn't know a person from a hole in the wall, and can't fathom their kindness.]

[valcurie]

( Although she isn't all that familiar with raccoon body language, she thinks she does recognise some signs of restlessness.

Not that she can blame him. If he were a human, and another human posed the same kind of danger to him? The consequences would be swift, she imagines. )

Of course. ( She nods, and almost offers her hand to shake on it, reconsiders, and crosses it over her chest. ) Keep your eye out, as you are used to doing, and if you need any help, just call me. I'll be there. And if I need your help, I will let you know. And make sure you get compensated, too.

[beatupgrass]

[Man, maybe he was too quick to judge her BY STALKING HER NETWORK POST. Look. It's a thing. Even though she pulls back and doesn't offer her hand, he rolls his eyes and offers his own for her to shake, instead. It's not just polite- it's a solid foundation for a business relationship.]

Sounds like a decent enough arrangement. You got a deal, lady.

[valcurie]

( To be fair, she wouldn't hold it against him if she knew, because she's come across some real characters in her field. Plenty of people fail to live up to the standard she has for herself--and she's often had to clean up after them. It's awful. Not only does she have more work to do, sometimes she has to work harder just to be able to get people to let her help in the first place.

But! Now she take his adorable little paw and shakes it. It's a good sign, that they may be able to build a foundation with trust as a part of it. )

Likewise, Rocket. And you may call me Angela, or doctor, if you'd like. Lady sounds almost as old as ma'am.

[beatupgrass]

Whatever you say, Doc.

[Okay, so maybe being cooperative won't stop him being a little bit of a contrary brat, but there are worse things to be.]

[valcurie]

( He better be careful, because she tends to like contrary, cranky strays. She's been amassing a small collection lately of them, it seems.

Not that she's been meaning to.

But she lets go of his hand, stands up, and stretches with a happy sigh. )

Good, because that was my personal opinion. Not my professional.

All right, well. Do you need any help surveying for Lysa?

[beatupgrass]

Uhhhh....

[He shuffles awkwardly from one foot to the other, trying to avoid the topic of how much of a failure at this he's been so far.] I dunno. I've kinda got this whole exotic plant thing down, I think.

[He points at one not far from his foot.] I've been studying that one pretty thoroughly, actually. It's got interesting properties.

[It's a weed, Rocket.]

[valcurie]

Is that right? ( She gets back down on her haunches, cocking her head in genuine curiosity at the weed he's picked out.

Hey, some weeds do have medicinal value!! Inspecting it some care, she gently breaks off one of the leafs and brings it close to her face to examine it. This includes sniffing it, and she looks like she might lick it. )

For some kind of tea, perhaps? I'm assuming you're not an alchemist or a potions brewer, so forgive me if I'm being presumptuous.

[beatupgrass]

[If it were possible to hear a silence, this one is loud enough to deafen.]

Yyyeah... I'm not either of those things. I know a tree, personally. Um

[uuuugh. He throws his hands up.] All right, so I don't know what I'm doing. I'm kinda making this up as I go along.

[valcurie]

( Knowing a tree personally? That comment catches her interest, but she doesn't know what to do with it, in light of what he's just admitted.

So she just laughs instead. ) Well, admitting you have a problem is the first step to solving it, right? I am not so good at this myself, but I can help you with some observations, if you like.

I know a few helpful herbs from back home, so maybe we can find something similar here. I've already seen aloe somewhere.

[beatupgrass]

[Ugh. Admitting you need the help is bad enough without people being all nice about it. He could handle people lording it over him.] All right, fine. I just wanna get this over with and get paid as quickly as possible.