Big City Living (Midpoint Mingle)

[midpointmods]

The town of Midpoint: called thus because it is at the exact center of the game arena, a busy little Western town full of strange people, many of whom don’t look remotely human, because this is where all the players gather and live. Midpoint Saloon: called thus because it is the only bar in Midpoint. It’s also the biggest building in town, four stories high, dotted with windows, painted a jaunty yellow and decorated with red and green flowers in all the window boxes.

This is where your veteran teammate points you. Or just stomps off to and hopes you follow.

Downstairs is a bar and tavern, Old West style, right down to the upright piano in one corner and a raucous crowd of locals - largely locals, but with a healthy smattering of unusual or downright alien faces that clearly indicate the presence of other Players - eating, drinking, gambling, and getting into trouble. There’s a broad, bearded man behind the bar, waving cheerfully at you as you enter.

The rest of the night and the next day is yours to do with what you see fit. Explore the town, take a long nap in your new room, try to get to know people... everyone is here for the next twenty-four hours before travel to the mission site, so it’s a good chance to scope out the competition, at the very least.

Comments

[givemyrightarm]

"Depending on how long he's been here, he may be used to that." Her expression turns faintly wry. "The man who came to get us got into a fight with the other prisoner."

[unofficial_ambassador]

"Oh my, " Inara says, laughing despite the fact that she might have tried the same if these game makers hadn't taken her knife. "I suppose that's why we're disarmed at the beginning."

[givemyrightarm]

Irene has the added problem of warriors not being allowed to kill humans, but she's not precisely sure Fuwa is human - and she's no longer a warrior of the Organization. Still, though. "Probably."

[unofficial_ambassador]

"I don't envy anyone that job. Having to explain all of this to us." Inara had nearly immediately overwhelmed the poor man with questions and it sounds like theirs is a meeting that went relatively well.

[givemyrightarm]

"The nature of this place and what we are asked to do is unlikely to help matters."

[unofficial_ambassador]

"Yes, I'm sure they mostly draw their... talent... from pools of people who are combat-ready." If people want to see fights, it helps to make sure they'll last for a bit.

[givemyrightarm]

"I suppose that says a great deal about what they consider 'entertainment.'"

[unofficial_ambassador]

"Does your world have duels?" Inara asks, curious. "People gathering on the green to watch someone die for entertainment. At least this is at a bit of a remove."

[givemyrightarm]

"Not for entertainment. For mercy kills, sometimes."

[unofficial_ambassador]

"I had to go to one once, back before all of this happened. I don't know how people justified that to themselves." There had definitely been a lot of talk; she'd received a couple of reprimanding waves about it in the following weeks.

[givemyrightarm]

"In our case, it's usually either an execution demanded by the Organization, or the other warrior has sent her black card to the one she wants to kill her. I don't know if humans in my world bother with such things, although some Awakened Beings might."

[unofficial_ambassador]

That doesn't really make Irene’s homeworld sound very promising. "I see. It's a different sort of arrangement, I think. It's tied up in honour and appearances."

[givemyrightarm]

That's because it's not. "I suppose we express those differently, if not uniformly." Some warriors are honorable; others are not, and it's painfully easy for warriors at either extreme to fall to the corruption they'll all face eventually. It had been a sign of just how far gone Priscilla had been in that moment that she'd even tried to trick Teresa.

[unofficial_ambassador]

"It's a very ritualized thing. Someone’s honour is insulted and a man needs to kill to get it back." She's fully aware of how ridiculous it sounds. Honestly, if anyone there had been entitled to stab someone it would have been her, not either of the men fighting.

[givemyrightarm]

Why is it seemingly always men? "Charming."

[unofficial_ambassador]

It is always men, and they'd both thought the same thing about her anyway, even if only one of them had been rude enough to say it in public. "Oh yes, dragging him back to the ship for stitches was very romantic."

[givemyrightarm]

One corner of Irene's mouth twitches. "I imagine so."

[unofficial_ambassador]

Inara laughs a bit herself. Falling in love really is stupid. "My point is that all these people who would consider themselves the upper crust of society dressed up and went to that field to watch a man die for trying to protect me. So I suppose this doesn't really surprise me as much as I'd expected."