ARRIVAL LOG 22

[larkers]

WHO: Everyone
WHERE: New Amsterdam
WHEN: May 7 - 11
WHAT: The twenty-second arrival
NOTES OR WARNINGS: Coercion and loss of autonomy, references to rebellion and world upheaval. Further notes at the end of log.

> ARRIVAL LOG #022

Awareness comes to you in blurred snatches, cloudy fragments of sound and light, color, sensation. Hazy and difficult to grasp on to, but slowly aligning into focus. A series of regular, rhythmic beeps. A medicinal, astringent smell. The sensation of movement, a low hum and accompanying vibration under you. Your eyes are heavy, hard to keep open, but in the glimpses between slow, dark blinks you see two people in front of you: one dressed in a thick set of armor, while the other wears medical garb. Out the windshield in front, there are many tall buildings—all reaching up beyond a normal city skyline, all entirely too close to the vehicle itself. But more than that, many of those buildings are covered in green.

You realize there are others next to you: all dressed the same way as you, you'll come to realize: in overalls of varying colors, all with heavy-duty gloves on. To your left there's an armored interior door, two more people visible, and the movement of streets passing through a windshield. You try to open your mouth to speak, but it's as if your tongue is coated in tar, and you manage nothing more than an empty parting of lips.

The vehicle eventually lowers to the ground and turns off with a low whirr. The guard opposite you stands and comes to unbuckle you from the bench, helping you to your feet. Your limbs feel wooden and heavy, slow to move. One guard opens the back of the vehicle, and the air outside feels full of moisture. Soon enough, you realize it's lightly raining. The guard says nothing, head bowed as he lines you up with the rest. The nurse helps the others out, checking over each passenger one by one.

The main guard turns to address your entire group, and something about her bearing makes it clear she's done this before. "I'll be quick. Listen up." Your body will come to attention, immediately homing in on the words that follow, as if compelled to hang on every word. "You see those tents set up over there? You're going to head over there and help out with the work they're doing. Don't hurt anyone, don't look for any assistance from any police officers, and don't run off. Wait until people come and find you, and when they do, ask them to show you the glow."

The guard will hop back into the van, which will rise off of the ground and head back the way it came, turning the corner of a building that you now realize is covered in winding plants and vines. Once it's gone, you'll find your legs moving almost without your permission, guiding you to follow the steps the guard laid out.

Once you get to the tents, you'll see that there is a congregation of people, all dressed in clothes that they're ready to work in. Many of them are covered in grass stains, their faces bearing that sheen that comes with manual labor. The ones that are under the shade of the tents seem to be taking a break, but many others are in the area, hard to work. They assume that you're here to help pitch in with cutting back the sheer number of plants that have overgrown and consumed the city, and they hand you a pair of shears and a bucket so that you can get to work. Time to get pruning!

◉ Though entirely capable of independent action and thought, new characters will find themselves completely, unquestioningly compliant to any verbal statement which could be taken as a command or request – and that includes the message passed on from the mysterious patron.

> HEDGE-CLIPPING

The message from El comes the same as usual: insistent, not waiting for any active attempt to open it. Scrolling within your vision as if being written while you're reading it.

Here we go again. We've got another batch of newbies, who've been dropped off at one of the landscaping work stations for getting all these plants under control. Follow the coordinates and you should find them in that general area. They're wearing overalls, if that narrows it down. I don't think many people wear overalls in 2512.

The coordinates will lead the current Displaced to the heart of New Amsterdam, near to one of the many green spaces in the city. Unsurprisingly, this is an area where the overabundance of plants growing at a massive rate has caused the most issue. Businesses, especially smaller ones like restaurants and boutiques, have been impacted by the plants. It's not just the outsides of buildings that are overgrown, either; inside, plumbing is completely clogged up as the foliage spills out of sinks, toilets, and anywhere else it can find a way in.

Green Thumbs, which is a local landscaping company that's seen an influx of business in the last six months thanks to the strange overgrowth of plant life in the city, has stepped up to help with this problem and has recruited the newly arrived Displaced to their cause, if unwittingly. Anyone who comes by one of their stations (including the veteran Displaced coming to collect the newbies) is likely to get roped into helping, as this is quite the undertaking and they need all the hands they can get. Don't worry—as long as you have a registered ID, you can get paid today.

The work itself isn't too complicated. Cut away plants, yank them out of drains, and put all everything that's harvested into buckets to return to the tents to drop off for later use in composting. While most of what's growing are flowers and weeds, there are areas where vegetables have sprouted too. Those will obviously want to be saved, and there will be crates set out to collect all of it. At the tents they'll also be offering some snacks and plenty of water to keep people energized and hydrated during the work. Everything from parks to bakeries to gift shops are going to need help here, and while the amount of work feels like it's neverending, it is important. Life can't return to normal until this is done.

While there will be time for both new arrivals and the rest of the Displaced to pitch in, eventually the newcomers will be escorted back to the safehouse for processing.

> AROUND THE CITY

MEDIA COVERAGE AND ONLINE CHATTER
New Amsterdam has come to life again following Judas' simulation, but the energy of the city has changed. After so many tragedies and disasters, it’s as though everyone is half-expecting the next one to strike while still reeling from the last. Some are dealing with this by throwing themselves into charity work or laying low, but others have been radicalized into thoughts of taking down the United Nations altogether. Morningstar is garnering more and more support, and though it’s technically illegal, their symbol is being grafitti’d and pasted all over town. The overworked police can’t manage to keep up, so some of them stay, a clear sign of the shifting opinions of the people.

The focus of every nearly source of news, from serious mainstream media to pop culture commentary, is still the simulation that recently overtook New Amsterdam. New characters won’t be able to access this information until their IDs are set up, but once they can, it’s a deluge of news reports, opinion pieces, and conspiracy theory websites.

There are solemn specials memorializing those who died in the simulation, or pieces discussing the long term effects on survivors and the city as a whole, focusing on New Amsterdam’s charity efforts. Talking heads, from pundits to scientists to various authority figures, are brought on panels to discuss and sometimes heatedly debate what happened and why it all seemed to go so wrong. Of particular focus and concern is New Amsterdam Governor Lydia Gill-Jade's choice to step down, electoral candidate Jovavich’s death, and the upcoming emergency election. Now that so many UNA soldiers have been decommissioned and weapons contracts dropped, economic concerns are rearing their head, too.

It might be a breath of fresh air for some citizens when they realize that this time, the mainstream media’s reaction to the United Nations' involvement is decidedly negative. There isn’t so much undue praise, and both interviewers and interviewees are starting to ask hard questions about how, exactly, the United Nations screwed this up so badly. More than a few are blaming the current situation on the United Nations completely.

And, of course, the AI Judas is still missing. The fear over this is palpable, and no news channel or website is going to let anyone forget it, or go long without mentioning it. It’s clear the United Nations is in the middle of a damage control campaign, sending their most media-ready members to explain why they didn’t do more and why their hands were tied. It’s all very polished and precise.

On social media, the shift towards criticizing the United Nations is much more open and less measured. It isn’t hard to find discussions tearing apart the UN’s excuses and even mocking them. With UNA soldiers returning home, there are more than a few stories of friends or family members noticing a huge shift in the former soldiers’ personalities, and their clear struggle to reintegrate into a civilian lifestyle. People are getting angry, and admitting you still support the United Nations is a great way to start a very long argument.

As for Morningstar, now that they’re in the odd position of being considered by most to be a political party opposing the UNA, they’re getting more media attention than ever before. The shift is clear—Morningstar’s opinions and ideas have value now, and they aren’t shy about challenging the United Nations' official position on what happened in New Amsterdam.

Another source of constant gossip is the Displaced. Now that they’ve been partially outed, everyone is trying to figure out just what their deal is. Some people clearly view them as heroes, while others aren’t so sure. Are they rogue UNA experiments? Dimension hoppers? Superheroes? Aliens? No one knows the truth, and so theories abound, some of them utterly ridiculous. There are more measured articles and reports too, but the tabloids are the ones running the scoops that are more out there (and, honestly, more fun).

MEDIA COMMUNITY RESPONSE
While talk is all well and good following such a widespread event as the simulation, taking action is far more important. While efforts to handle the overgrowth of plant life continues, there are other needs that need to be met too. Everyone came out of the simulation feeling malnourished, so all throughout the city food drives are being set up to make sure that the less fortunate and destitute get the sustenance they need to get back on their feet.

On top of that, there will also be an emphasis on redistributing all of the food which grew in excess while everyone was in the sim, to make sure that it's spread around to everyone who needs it.

Displaced will be encouraged to participate and help out with this (whether it's through cooking, plating/serving food, etc.) by the people they know through their community -- whether it's coworkers, members of Morningstar (including Gaby), or any other non-Displaced acquaintances that they have.

As public opinion toward the UNA is souring, there is a belief that people need to learn how to be self-sufficient, which is something that Morningstar in particular decides to capitalize on. If they can't rely on the UNA or on the corporations which are known to be corrupt and incetuous, and if the upcoming emergency election is likely to just give everyone more of the same, then they'll just have to figure things out on their own.

Therefore, Morningstar heads up a number of community events, classes, and drives to move toward this goal. This is a less direct form of rebellion than targeting the UNA or any of the big corporations directly, and while Morningstar has plans for that in the works too, they have always been a group that knows how to engage with the common people and make them feel seen and heard. Want to know how to grow and cook your own food? Have you heard what composting is, but don't really know what it's about? There's classes for all that, and more, including how to give haircuts and mend your own clothing. Those who are practiced in these things will also be offering these services to anyone who needs them.

Whether the Displaced are curious to learn, want to offer a class of their own (or at least help teach one), or want to take advantage of any of the services being offered, they'll be welcome. Morningstar agents will find them at the safehouse or Red Wings and encourage them to participate.

> SAFEHOUSE

Located under an abandoned hover-bike garage, access to the safehouse is a hatch in the floor beside a rusted set of metal shelves that used to hold tools and supplies. The immediate area is similarly abandoned: full of rundown and dilapidated warehouses and forgotten businesses, where numerous people squat in hopes of having some stability because they can't afford a place themselves. Gaby will be around, ready to greet as many of the new arrivals as she can and get them settled in. Brusque and no-nonsense, she'll be open to questions, but will advise the newcomers to ask the people who brought them in for the beginning bits of information. Newbies can also contact El through zeir inbox, if needed.

The safehouse is a large space with multiple rooms for storage, with the largest of the rooms filled with rows of basic cots set up to sleep a large number of people. Basic, but outfitted with everything necessary for daily life. A few doors lead to back rooms for storage, medical care and a large communal bathroom, and past the long rows of cots there is a communal kitchen, fully stocked, and an eating area. For anyone in need of them, Gaby will offer up partitions that will come out of storage. Tucked away in a corner is a VR system, though newcomers won't be able to access this until their ID has been set up. Even with the newly erected partitions in the sleeping areas, privacy is at a minimum.

◉ New characters will be asked to pick their beds, and provided with a change of (second-hand, mismatched and somewhat threadbare) clothes and basic toiletries.

◉ There is a mini-bar set up in the kitchen. The quality of the alcohol inside is akin to what someone might get from the well at a bar, but it's well-stocked.

◉ While the kitchen has basic foods and necessities, anyone looking for a jolt of caffeine from coffee or tea will find themselves sorely lacking. The only tea present is herbal in nature, and caffeine appears to be almost nonexistent in most of the beverages lying around.

◉ Gaby will make it clear to all new arrivals that if they have any requests or queries, they should contact her or El. Either she or El will explain that they've been given a modest stipend of credits to help them get by until they can find a job. This will be enough to cover their living expenses for about a month while they hang out in the safehouse, if they're careful with budgeting.

◉ The drugs making new characters compliant will remain in their systems for a few hours after their arrival at the safehouse before finally beginning to fade. They will be gone entirely after a night's rest. In the meantime, they may want to be careful of what others say to them.

◉ New characters will be given rudimentary access to the network on arrival in the safehouse, but will not have their ID set up yet. They will be able to make posts and replies, but their messages will be anonymous and they do not have inboxes yet.

◉ New characters do not have access to the internet until their ID is setup. They only have limited access because they're present in the safehouse, but they can't surf the rest of the internet, check out Cooltalk, or watch the equivalent of Netflix until their ID is made.

◉ New characters cannot leave the safehouse at this time. The hatch is locked tight for them, making it impossible for them to get out for the next four days while they're locked inside. There won't be any immediately obvious ways to cut their way out through turning off the power.

◉ New characters will not be allowed to leave the safehouse until MAY 11 (JUNE 21). These 4 days are for them to adjust, learn about the world they've arrived in from their fellows, and for El to speak with them and work on setting up their IDs.

> FINAL OOC NOTES

You're now free to post to the network and logs comms. To reiterate, your characters will have no IDs or inboxes, nor be allowed out of the safehouse until MAY 11 (JUNE 21). At that point it's expected they'll have gotten a good idea of their new situation from their fellow characters, and will have discussed their background and job potentials with El in order for their false IDs to be set up.

If you have any questions or ideas about how you'd like to get your character involved in the world, please head over to the plot engagement post and drop us a comment! For questions specific to this log, there is a thread below.

Please check out our June calendar rundown for a look at things happening this month, as well as some additional notes from the mods.

AC remains halved this month due to the state of the world right now. New players will only need to provide at least five comments across two-four (2-4) threads, while older players will only need to provide ten comments across two-four (2-4) threads. Please let us know if you have any questions about this!

> NAVIGATION

Comments

[championofsnark]

It is. So as much as I'd like to spring you, mate, I'm afraid it's a bit more stable in here. Besides, you'll be let loose with your brand new identification soon enough.

[Hawke hasn't seen anything scarily concerning out in the city, but people are still coping with what happened, and there has been a huge shift in the perception of the government and the UNA. It all speaks to potential drama in the horizon, as she's seen before when the people start to get pissed off at being lied to or manipulated. For now it's all about adjusting.

She gives him a quick look, thinking back on her own entrance, and about her friends, and she gestures.]

Want a drink? We have plenty of booze and it always feels necessary. Or there's tea. I don't mind answering questions, I'll admit I'm more used to skipping past trauma than the average.

[Hawke really does seem calm and collected, approaching the situation with wry humor and weary acceptance.]

[lifetothefullest]

[Lance still thinks this situation could be handled differently, and in a way that makes people less compelled to leave immediately, but that's not Hawke's fault and discussing it won't change anything. At least he's pretty convinced they'll actually be allowed to leave in a few days.]

Sure, a drink sounds good.

[Nevermind that he just had one.]

But are you sure you want to make such an open offer of answering questions? I can be totally annoying with questions.

[It's a joke, but also completely the truth. It's also a testing of where boundaries might be, if any, not that he intends to really push them.]

[championofsnark]

[Hawke laughs, moving past him and nodding her head in the direction of the kitchen as she goes.]

My best friend is a dramatic writer, I'm very used to getting an obnoxious amount of questions thrown at me about the fifty feet walk it took me from my home to the pub.

[In their world, obviously, not here. Although Red Wings was rather close. Hawke knows where the liquor cabinet is, intimately, so she goes and plucks some vodka and gets two glasses. She doesn't pour him too much, considering she knows that he's likely been drugged recently the same way they all were. Hawke settles down comfortably in a chair, twirling her own much larger glass in skilled fingers and arching an eyebrow at him.]

Come on then, I don't know everything but I know some things.

[lifetothefullest]

[He can't help but smile a little bit at that response, mostly because he... Kind of did the same thing to his friends while writing his own book.

Lance follows her back to the bar, noting that she pours less for him, and that's quite thoughtful, actually. Interesting to note, for sure; most people he was used to in Hadriel were not particularly conscientious, so this is a nice change of pace. He accepts the glass with a small nods of thanks, finding a chair, and at her last comment it only takes a moment to ask--]

What would you say is the most important thing to know about being here?

[championofsnark]

[Hawke cares for people far more than she likes to let on or admit to, and she tends to consider everyone who comes in and out of the safehouse as 'her people.' Best way to survive in an unknown environment, looking for allies. She considers his question thoughtfully, sipping her drink as she cycles through the list of things she would care to know, and then adding on what she's heard others ask.]

The empathy bond's a big one. Skin to skin touch with someone, and you share your feelings with one another. It can be a shock, especially if you're not the touchy-feely type. [She is very much not that, thanks.] You have magic ... a supernatural ability of some kind that you don't know yet, everyone has one. If you use the bond or your power, your chest will start glowing, so be careful in public, we're still technically secret here.

[A fact that they've all been discussing slightly more seriously about changing, but he's new, he doesn't need to be roped into that just yet.]

There's always some shite going on here. [Hawke sighs, setting the glass down.] Before the simulation it was going ruins and monsters, leading to some portals opening. There's been giant monster attacks and the like, in the past. Whether you want to get involved with it or not, you probably will be. [She shrugs one shoulder.] I recommend if you don't know how to fight, you learn.

[lifetothefullest]

I've heard about the empathy bond.

[And experienced it actually, with Drake; it's weird but kind of cool at the same time. He's not the touchy-feely type either, but he can definitely see the advantages of an ability like that when used in controlled situations even if he's going to be careful to avoid is accidentally.

The powers thing he's also heard a little bit about, but not in much detail and he hasn't even tried to figure out what his own is. He's a little concerned about just playing with unknown magic in a place where there's other people around.]

How do you use the power you have? Is there any way to find out what it is without using it?

[The rest of what she says sounds almost annoyingly familiar; sounds like no matter what weird world you end up in it's impossible to escape random monster attacks.]

Do we know why those sorts of things happen? Is there someone actively behind everything, or different causes, or is it unknown?

[He won't respond to the last comment, not because there's anything wrong with it, but because he's choosing not to think about that issue at the moment.]

apologies for the wait!

[championofsnark]

No, you will glow when you use your power. On the one hand, it's helpful since it'll tell you what it is, on the other, we can't be terribly subtle about it. [Hawke shrugs.] I haven't figured mine out yet, but to be fair I haven't been trying. I'm used to taking care of myself without them, and I don't spook easily. Others said it was easier to trigger their power if they were upset or in danger. [So someone accustomed to danger and keeping calm like her might have a harder time. Or so she was assuming.]

There's also the dream walking, shite, has anyone mentioned that to you? That didn't come up quickly enough my first days, and it's been a pain in the arse. [In some ways! She's had perfectly lovely experiences in dreams, but it's never her choice so it's irritating.] You can accidentally walk into other people's dreams or they can walk into yours. I swear I've done it half a dozen times at this point.

[Hawke hmms and then shakes her head.]

Nope, not that I'm aware of. And there have been people here for a long while who have come no closer to getting those answers, although I bet the more minds on it the better. [Hawke simply isn't the type of mind for it. If they want to point her at things to punch or to carry or do something helpful, she's happy to help, but it's outside of her realm of understanding.] We're very reactive around here.

no worries!

[lifetothefullest]

[He's quiet, listening as he sips at his drink, using that as a way to stall while he thinks this over. He knew about the glowing part, but that it might be a bit more difficult to activate and identify the power that he'd expected isn't great news; he's not interested--even though he knows it'll happen anyway--in getting into danger, and he's usually in control of even strong emotions, so it's both good and bad that accidental activation of his power is unlikely.

Dreamwalking hadn't been mentioned before, and so that's a surprise. Dreamwalking is, theoretically, cool, but in practice it's usually not; in Hadriel it hadn't been too terrible because the people who had ended up in his dream were people he trusted or at least liked, and the dream itself was calm, but it could've easily gone another way. He's not at all pleased with this idea. He chews on his lip for a minute, considering all of that, and from her answer he's guessing he knows the answer but decides to ask--]

Is there any way to control or prevent dreamwalking?

[He isn't shocked by the last answer, that no one really knows what's going on, because it had taken a long time to figure out that sort of thing in Hadriel.]

[championofsnark]

[Hawke isn't too happy about the glowing either. She's a study in contradictions as she wears bold colors like red and gets into fights, and she's rather hard to miss considering her appearance, but she also really doesn't like unnecessary attention. Glowing? Is unnecessary attention. She does vaue the ability to disappear into a crowd, and she can't do that if she's dramatically blue like an untested mage.]

There's these fellows here who claim they can train you in it. I haven't gotten a chance to take them up on it, but hold on let me look it up.

[Hawke focuses on her implant for a moment to look for what she remembers on the network. She finds the post and sends it to him, see she's getting really sodding good at this all things considered!]

I think they're all still around and available if you wanted to reach out. There was a mass-dreaming incident a few months before I got here apparently, and it got everyone freaked out.

[She can understand why! Hawke keeps dream walking and it annoys her, but being lost in one would not be fun. Better than a simulation ... probably.]

Sometimes it's just a dream, but most of the time from what I've witnessed it's more a mixture of memory and dream. Moments from people's lives that they're still stuck on.

[So of course the type of thing you don't want someone to walk into! And yet. Hawke checks her knuckles, they're less red now, so that's good.]

It's also interesting because sometimes you don't know why you're there, confused in the dream too, and sometimes you know exactly what's happening and try to snap the other person out of it. [Anything really went in these things. Hawke's stopped trying to pinpoint or guess at what will happen next.]

[lifetothefullest]

[Controlling the implant is still a little weird but he's figuring it out, and so he takes a brief moment to glance at the post he's sent; he'll have to look into it more in depth later, but from the quick glance it seems to be primarily psychological strategies and unfortunately that's the sort of thing Lance is already good at. It does give him a few ideas, though.]

Thank you, I'll keep that in mind.

[The rest of the information she gives sounds pretty similar to the dreamwalking event he experience in Hadriel, except for what seems to be an important point, which is that dreams seem... Normal. Not influenced externally. As for her last comment--]

It sounds like lucid dreaming might be an important skill here.

[As opposed to generally just being fun, back home. Not that there aren't other reasons for learning to lucid dream in his world--it's very useful in some therapeutic ways--but most people who develop the skill are doing so for enjoyment.]

[championofsnark]

No problem, these are things I wish I knew going in. So it wasn't until the third dream when I said wait a sodding minute.

[To be fair! If she looked at the intro guide more thoroughly when she first arrived, she might not have been so surprised, but Hawke isn't the best at reading instructions. Or listening to warnings. Or listening, period. She stumbles through this world with her sense of humor and survival instincts. That's been enough in the past! But not so much here.]

Lucid dreaming, dunno what that is, but probably any kind of dreaming expertise would be helpful here. They're not dangerous or anything, from what I can tell, so it's psychological.

[And psychological can be far worse than physical. She's been stabbed so many times by now, but her mind getting twisted is more of a concern.]

There's a few general things to know, like sometimes people disappear out of no where, sometimes they come back with new memories and knowing this place, sometimes they come back brand new, sometimes they never do. Sometimes they're from another world similar to this world. Like they've been through a situation similar, instead of simply being in their land.

[She's thinking of Cecily when she's thinking that. Her friend said she'd been in this Hadriel place for years before coming here, and knew a male version of her too, so she's aware of that as a possibility. Hawke gets exhausted just thinking about doing this multiple times.]

People that are dead can show up here too. There are multiple timelines or alternate versions of yours. It's all very insane.

[lifetothefullest]

Lucid dreaming is basically when you're aware you're in a dream. Some people are naturally very good at it and it happens without any intent, but it can also be learned. People who lucid dream can also sometimes control their dreams, or wake themselves up.

[So definitely something that might be useful here, with what she's describing. Since it sounds like normal dreaming, just with the issue of ending up in other people's dreams, then it should hopefully be subject to normal dream rules.

And okay, that next part is interesting; most of what she says sounds similar to the situation at Hadriel and so isn't really any surprise, but the part about people coming here from other worlds catches his attention. Obviously he knows that's possible--he's in that situation himself and has found out a few friends are here from Hadriel as well--but he wasn't sure if anyone else knew that kind of thing was possible.]

Some people are here from other worlds that aren't there own?

[He asks it in a hopes she'll elaborate a bit more, if she knows anything else about this.]

[championofsnark]

Oh. Yeah! If you know how to do that, you might be in better shape for what happens.

[Hawke either knows instantly when she's in a dream or it comes to her after a few minutes here. She can't really say that she used to be aware in dreams before, so maybe if she did have experience in it, she would be able to control her wandering. She has a feeling other people would appreciate that, although no one's really given her a hard time over it.

She bobs her head, tapping fingernails on a nearby surface.]

Yeah a friend of mine from my world, Cecily, she said she was taken to some land called Hadriel for awhile, and then she ended up here. It did give her a bit of an advantage, having done all of this before.

[Hawke has no idea at all that Lance also might know what Hadriel is or be from there. If Cecily's seen people here who she knew from the other world, she hasn't told Hawke about it.]

[lifetothefullest]

[Well that's definitely interesting, because he of course he knows Hadriel, and he knows Cecily; he's not sure if they've ever actually spoken, but he definitely remembers seeing her on the network at the very least. But that means there are at least four of them here from Hadriel, which seems like a lot, comparatively.

He's quiet a moment, trying to decide how much to say, weighing options and potential risks. But if Hawke knows Cecily and knows her situation, it's probably not a big risk to trust her with this, and so he hesitates just a little more before commenting--]

I'm not sure if it's the same for her, but arriving here has definitely be much smoother than arriving in Hadriel for me.

[championofsnark]

[Both of Hawke's eyebrows shoot up at that.] Another Hadriel person. Interesting. But yes, it sounds as if you had a rougher go there, at least in the start.

[Hawke floundered very much in the start of this, being not only out of world but severely out of time. She is better now, being great at adapting to situations just to stay alive, but still. She's a reactive person. She looks forward to a point in her life here where she's used to everything and less at a loss!]

This must be frustrating. You'd probably prefer going home than being kidnapped to yet another world full of trouble.

[Hawke is pragmatic enough to accept this may be her home for now, but she would choose to go back if she could. She'd pout for at least a month if she was swept out of here and put in another strange place.]

How different was it?