logsinthenight | INTRO LOG: OCTOBER

INTRO LOG: OCTOBER

characters: everyone.
location: the harbor, as well as the rest of town.
date/time: october 1-3.
content: beacon's newest batch of residents arrives on the ferry. scavenger hunt prizes are awarded. the ferry capsizes in a blaze of glory.
warnings: n/a.

welcome to beacon.

It's dim, and the room won't stop swaying, gently rocking you back and forth. A loud sound startles you fully awake, a deep, moaning call: a foghorn. As your eyes adjust, you note faint red light streaking through the room from a tiny, round window.

You've found yourself in a private room, lying on a bed. The last things you remember are the events that led up to your death. Beside you is a folded tablet and a lantern that glows steadily with a healthy flame.

You're on a ship. And that ship is docking.

Making your way to the deck, and eventually the pier, you find only moonlight to greet you, and a dark forest beyond. There are other people here, each with their own unique lantern, and many of them look just as lost as you are. On the ferry you've just disembarked from, the speaker system begins to play a song.

In the distance, across the waters of the lake, you can see the tall silhouette of a lighthouse, its red light slowly turning.

•••

Luckily for all the newcomers, the tablet and the town have some resources available for playing catch up! In fact, as soon as they're prompted to enter a network username, an app containing all sorts of useful welcome information will launch. Newcomers can always check out the weekly bulletins and the records in town hall as well, and everyone's welcome to get in touch with the NPCs through their inboxes.

When the ferry docks, it seems as though you've been spared from any weirdness this month! It's good to have a break now and then, isn't it? And if you participated in the scavenger hunt, you're probably eagerly awaiting your promised prize—

But, ohp, what's that sound? Is that the ferry's engine firing up again? The ship roars to life again as some brave mutineers overthrow its autopilot system. Crowley and the Winter Soldier man the ferry's control room while Aziraphale flits between the cargo hold and the deck, attempting to assuage any accidental kidnapees with reassuring words and cake.

Unfortunately, the joyride is shortlived. Between the ferry's complex control panel and the haphazard attempts to override it, all the group manages to do is send the boat charging full speed ahead—which would be great if it wasn't facing the beach. The ferry jolts forward and careens smack into the dock, tearing down the entire structure and punching a sizeable hole in the ferry's hull.

Well, that could've gone better. But there's no time to dwell on the mistakes of the very recent past! The ferry is sinking, and quickly! Looks like you'll have to scramble if you want to save what's left in the cargo hold before the whole thing goes under... And that's gonna be awfully tricky without a dock.

Oh, and maybe save the new arrivals? Make sure they don't drown? But, then again, if they go down with the ship, they'll just show up again in the church... The same can't be said for the restock for the general store!

As smoke billows from the damaged ferry and the last the harbor disappears into the lake, the Lighthouse Keeper appears on the network with a pretty straightforward question. Also, the ferry's song changes, so. That happens.

ooc.

Hey there, wonderful players, and welcome to In the Night! For this intro log, you are officially without a chaperone. Rastus is back at the bonfire, Will is characteristically elusive, and Robin is, well, you know where she's at. It's up to the veteran residents to fill in the new folks.

And regarding the ferry disaster... Well, you have some options. Here's what you need to know:
This is a player plot organized by MJ, Xy, and Gail! A big thank-you to them for providing us with this intro log event!

Whether or not your character and any packages addressed to them are affected by this plot is up to you! If you would like to assume your character avoids dealing with this chaos and somehow grabs their delivery without issue, go right ahead!

Similarly, if you're looking for an opportunity to make your character's life harder, injury and death are always on the table! Or maybe it's your package that takes the abuse, lost forever to the lake's depths or washing up all waterlogged a week or two down the road. In short: How you engage with this plot is entirely up to you.

What happens to the ferry and the dock? Within a couple of hours, the ferry will sink completely, and anything on board when it goes down is lost forever. Which bodes super well for the ferry, huh? Sure hope the next batch of newcomers has some strong swimmers. Oh, and the dock is gone, too. If you want it back, you'll have to rebuild it.

As for Crowley, Aziraphale, Bucky, and anyone else on the ferry or dock during the collision... Hope you boys like concussions, bruised ribs, and a broken bone or two, because you've got 'em! The exact injuries are up to you, but they're the equivalent of a semi-serious car accident.

One last thing: The fate of the shop restocks, including all of the food for the month, depends on you! Let us know if your character will be participating in the rescue attempt. In exchange for letting us beat up your character, you can save a portion of the month's supplies! We'll let you all know on October 3 what the rations for the rest of the month will look like.

DELIVERIES

The following packages can be found in the cargo hold:

The monthly store restock
For Daylight: A variety of gardening tools piled into a wheelbarrow, as well as packets of seeds for the following plants: Boneset, dogtooth violet, starflower, Carolina springbeauty, pipsissewa, bloodroot, red columbine, narrowleaf blue-eyed grass, harlequin blueflag, and purple pitcherplant; he will also receive a translation for the following: An invitation to join the speaker as company
For Aziraphale: A record player, the complete discographies of a variety of bands (Abba, Rob Zombie, Tool, Hanson, Eiffel 65, and Spice Girls), a two-tiered wedding cake, and packets of seeds for the following plants: Strawberry, cherry tomato, cucumber, blackberry, carrot, potato, raspberry, and pumpkin; he will also receive a familiar copy of a familiar book: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, along with a blue ribbon that reads "BEST IN SHOW"
For Bruce: A handheld metal detector and a rechargeable battery for it, a chisel, a climbing harness (that, according to the packaging, is the #1 Safety Rated!) and a 50 ft. coil of rope
For Cao Pi: A go board
For Rosinante: A sextant, and 3 cartons of cigarettes; he will also receive a translation for the rough equivalent to the following phrase: "Danger! Run and hide!"
For Kuai: A basket of 16 mooncakes, as well as incregredients for more
For Javert: 3 pairs of handcuffs, a greatcoat in Javert's size, and a trunk full of swords in varying styles and conditions; he will also receive an electric chainsaw
For Kol: A record player, the complete discographies of a variety of bands (New Kids on the Block, Weird Al Yankovic, Sound Garden, Ke$ha, INXS, and Spinal Tap), a cooler full of blood bags and ice packs, and an assortment of stamps; he will also receive a translation for the rough equivalent to the following phrase: "I'm lost" or "Need directions"
For Elena: A journal; she will also receive a portable generator (powerful enough for a single power tool or small appliance; can be charged through a typical wall outlet)
For Xayah: A thick journal and a glass vial of black ink; she will also receive a sizeable roll of barbed wire, as well as a stuffed animal
For Ignis: A spice restock (with a few new ones mixed in!), 3 paired of leather gloves, and... 12? pairs? of glasses? They're all in slightly different prescriptions, though. A variety pack!; he will also receive a power drill (runs on a rechargeable battery or can be plugged directly into a wall socket)
For Riku: A wood stove, a set of paints, and 5 canvases; he will also receive a translation for the rough equivalent to the following phrase: "Looking for water" or "Thirsty"
For Matt: A rosary and a Braille Bible... which is more of a collection of volumes, really; he will also receive a translation for the rough equivalent to the following phrase: "Looking for food" or "Hungry"
For Noctis: Two complete sets of the Lord of the Rings series (except, wait a minute... they appear to be the novelizations of the movies); he will also receive an SD card that, when plugged into a tablet, will upload GPS directions to a new location...
For Rosalind: A crate of basic all-purpose lab equipment, a fancy microscope, an emergency eye wash station, a mortar and pestle, a lab coat, a Lite Brite, and... the things she needs to make things float, whatever those are; she will also receive a pair of dousing rods (that will actually point in the direction of water, checkmate atheists)
For Jason: A translation for the rough equivalent to the following phrase: "Sympathy" or "I'm sorry"
For Coraline: A translation for the rough equivalent to the following phrase: "Teach me"
For Eliot: A bottle of hospital grade painkillers (it contains 10 doses and functions similarly to Vicodin)
For Allie: A bottle of strong antibiotics (it contains 10 doses and can fight off most any infection)
For Vanitas: A portable camping stove (runs on a portable battery or can be plugged directly into a wall socket)
For Hope: A soldering iron (runs on a portable battery or can be plugged directly into a wall socket)
For Quentin: A cannister of foaming bandage (can be used 5 times to immediately close a wound/stop semi-severe bleeding)
For Mary: An SD card that, when plugged into a tablet, will upload GPS directions to a new location...

If you submitted an item request last month and we've missed it here, let us know!

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[ Out of the corner of her eye, Elena catches sight of the bundle disappearing into a much smaller bag, but it doesn't quite tear her attention away from the task at hand. Then the sound registers distantly in her mind, the almost echoing of too many objects in a large space that does not match what should be possible in reality. But again, she doesn't let it deviate her focus.

She can't not stop and answer the question from the confused young woman, though, her lantern held high and her entire jeans soaked in the cold water from below. Hopefully the darkness hides the tear along her left calf and the angry cut from the crash. ]

There are supplies down below, we have to get them out before this thing sinks.

[ She sounds surprisingly calm about it, all things considered. It's the adrenaline of the situation, the purpose and determination to do what needs to be done. ]

[ oh. well, that's a much more rational reason to stay aboard than misguided heroics, isn't it? hermione can appreciate wanting to salvage things before they go to waste, and though her intentions hadn't been to stay in the lake, she doesn't much like the idea of turning her back on a solvable problem.

or on this woman, whose denims are soaked through — and, more urgently, slashed open, revealing a nasty cut that looks akin to a greeting from the whomping willow. hermione's brow furrows immediately, concern all too evident in her face. ]

Are you alright? [ well, no, she isn't. that's a quite stupid question. ] Your leg, I mean.

[ in the middle of the lake, the options are fairly limited, but hermione's mind can supply at least a half-dozen temporary balms or possible solutions to make it manageable. no need for digging out dittany quite yet, but she can at least help. ]

[ Elena can read that concern on the other girl's face but chooses to set it aside, hefting her lantern a little higher to offer the tiniest bit more light on her own face (and a little less on her leg). Never mind that there's a noticeable limp as she takes a few steps toward the way down to the cargo hold. ]

I'll be fine, I've been through worse. [ Of course, that worse had happened when she'd been at full healing strength... But that doesn't matter. Giving a shake of her head, she turns more fully away, the next words said over her shoulder. ] Besides, there's no time!

[ Her own health and safety is nothing compared to providing for everyone else here. Nothing is going to convince her otherwise. ]

[ the woman might say she's fine, but hermione's seen a limp like that before. granted, it had been on her least favorite professor in her first year, and she hadn't had nearly the right amount of magical training to know what to do in the case of an injury like that — but, still, the point remains. a limp is not a great sign, and much like a doctor, hermione considers herself morally obligated to help when she possesses the ability to do so. ]

It'll only take a minute.

[ if she sounds mildly exasperated, perhaps she is. the woman reminds her of harry, in a way. purposefully, stubbornly, unnecessarily selfless. ]

Here, just stay put.

[ is pulling her wand out of her pocket going to be perceived as a threatening gesture? who knows. ]

Edited (christ those are not the same words) 2019-10-02 17:57 (UTC)

[ Between all the various injuries Elena's endured over the years, this really isn't anywhere near the worst of them, but even as a human, she usually had Stefan or Damon there to offer her their blood for quick healing. Now, she's barely healing faster than a normal human, and that's to say nothing of her ability to heal others. The best part of being a vampire and she might not even be capable of it anymore.

It's the exasperation and promise of whatever it is being quick that convinces her to stop, despite her usual penchant for going full steam ahead with whatever she'd set her mind on. Arguing will probably take more time than whatever the other girl has planned and she needs to get back downstairs to grab another box before the whole ferry is underwater.

...the wand is unexpected, though. It reminds her a bit too much of the daggers the Originals had used to incapacitate each other and she watches it warily as she turns back to face the persistent young woman. ]

We might not have a minute, so whatever you're doing, do it fast.

[ hermione would never stab her with her wand. for one thing, it would be extremely messy; for another, vine wood isn't sturdy enough to survive the impact necessary to puncture skin. perhaps if she had an oak wand, and the actual inclination to stab, things might be different.

but, as it stands now, all hermione does is point it rather simply at the woman's leg, a crisp episkey offered as reply.

in a perfect world, elena's leg would heal itself, a neat closure of fissured skin and the dissolution of what little blood hadn't already been drained out by the waters in the lake. however, as hermione quickly comes to realize, this is not a perfect world. while the wound does seem to close, it's a staggered, slow process, as if in half-speed or even less.

she frowns, unable to stamp down her disappointment. ]

That's odd. It's a perfectly good spell, it's never done that before.

[ it does look better, to be fair, but hermione's not quite satisfied with better. her wandwork was textbook, her intonation crisp; there was no logical reason the spell ought to have floundered like that. ]

Do you even feel any better?

[ Oh, she's doing magic. Elena knows what wands are from popular culture but the witches she's known have never used them. She's not sure they're even mentioned in any of the many occult books she's perused over the years while researching the various supernatural disasters that like to roll through Mystic Falls. So while it's not surprising, it is more in the realm of fiction for her, but then hadn't that been the case for vampires too not so long ago?

Skin stitches back together and blood stops flowing, but it's nothing like what she's used to, the process painstakingly slow and left unfinished when it stops. Unfortunately, that's not surprising either. ]

A little. [ Maybe. Frowning, she has to try to explain, however briefly because the seconds are ticking by regardless of their efforts. ] Magic works differently here, especially where healing is concerned. I usually would have healed in seconds on my own.

[ healed in seconds? by what capacity? it's of interest, and hermione's interest is a notoriously difficult thing to shove off, but even she can see the anxious energy peaking from the other woman's face as the seconds tick by.

there is something important that must be done, and discussions of magic and its limitations will only delay it. so, rather than keep her, hermione opts to table the discussion for now. ]

When you're done, [ with... whatever it is she is planning on doing, with the boxes underneath... ] I'd like to know more. Is that possible?

[ in whatever capacity that's possible, anyway. over a drink or over a meal isn't a guarantee when supposedly all the supplies are about to be swept to sea. or to lake, in this case. ]

[ It's something Elena appreciates greatly, the practical approach to asking to continue the conversation later rather than insisting it happen now. (Nevermind that she herself likely would have kept going at it in the moment.) They'll have all the time to talk about everything later, but already she can feel the boat slowly shifting beneath their feet as it takes on more water. ]

My name's Elena. I'm staying at the inn, room 207. And thanks.

[ And then she turns away again, the limp not as pronounced as it was before as she heads down below deck. Barely even there, in fact. Even if magic wasn't behaving properly, the witch knew her stuff. ]

[ for elena's sake, it's likely for the best that she got a break from the inevitable train of hermione's questions, even if that break came from physical exertion and quite a bit of practice swimming back and forth in frigid waters.

but, as promised, hermione lets her go off, and only later in the evening after the ferry problem has been dealt with does she eventually find her way to the inn itself. by that time, she's managed to find a place to change, tucking away the awful blazer and skirt combo for a more comfortable jumper and jeans pair from her bag.

it makes her look less like a crazed costume contest attendant and more like a normal, everyday teenage girl. well, except for her handbag, but she's not yet comfortable enough to leave that just laying about, even if doors lock around these parts.

once she finds 207, and notes the warm flicker of lamplight shining underneath the door, hermione raps a knuckle, calling: ] Elena? It's Hermione. We met earlier, on the ferry.

[ she pauses for a moment. there were multiple people on the ferry. it's likely elena met many of them. ]

How is your leg?

[ It has been a very long, Very Rough day for Elena. Between her injury during the crash (that hasn't fully healed) and nearly being crushed in the cargo hold (hello bruising, haven't seen you in a few years), she's feeling pretty terrible as is — but then add in that she's barely slept and hasn't fed... Well, she's really not enjoying this whole afterlife thing and would like to speak to someone about getting a refund.

Sprawled on the couch in the small living space of her apartment within the inn, a knock at the door is completely unexpected and takes her by surprise, jerking her from an almost dozing state. The voice that follows is one she recognizes though, so with a sigh she pulls herself up, slowly making her way over to open the door.

While Hermione is looking more put-together, Elena is most certainly not. The short black leggings she wears show off the cut on her leg, left unbandaged because she'd needed her small supply for her upper left arm. Then there's the mottled bruising along her shoulders, fully visible beneath the black tank top's straps. She looks like she's been in a fight and lost; it's not an entirely inaccurate assessment. But she still offers the other girl a tired smile and steps back to allow her entry. ]

The leg is better than it was before you tried helping. Which I really am grateful for.

[ injuries are not uncommon at hogwarts. hermione has seen broken wrists, bad sprains, ugly cuts — she's been put into a magical coma, seen harry have bones regrown, and watched ron puke up endless slugs after a spell gone wrong. but what isn't common is the lingering effects, and it's these that leave her discomforted and uneasy.

if they are dead, why do they bruise? and why don't her spells work for something simple, but yet complicated charms work just fine? lumos and episkey are first-year stuff, there's no reason they should fail — and yet, they do. it's a puzzle. a puzzle she intends to solve. but first, she ought to speak, and have the conversation she asked for. ]

I am sorry it didn't do more. I've healed broken noses with that spell before, I don't see why a cut would fail. [ her irritation is not with elena, but it is present all the same. she eyes her leg for a moment, and then continues, ] Won't it heal faster under bandaging?

[ the concept of limited supply hasn't crossed her mind. ]

[ That irritation might have grated on some. They might have let their own sorry state allow them to be angry in return, to take out the pain and frustration of the day on the other person without any regard to personal feelings. For Elena, though, that irritation at magic not working as intended just brings on a bittersweet ache in her chest and a deep fondness for another witch who'd had the same sort of reaction on occasion. In fact, she even smiles a little more strongly as she moves to the nearby small round table and carefully sits, her body grateful for the chance to rest again. ]

It might, but I don't want to waste the bandages when they might be needed later. And I'm trying to keep an eye on it to see if your magic helps it heal faster in the long run. [ Gesturing to the fresh bandage on her arm, she explains. ] This is from a few days ago but it opened up again today.

[ The control in her little healing experiment had been ruined by a wooden crate crashing down against her, so she's just going to have to try a different experiment for the moment. ]

You're running an experiment.

[ hermione can recognize that, at the very least. the thirst for knowledge is difficult to slake, and when choices are limited, running experiments on the scientist in question is a hard opportunity to pass up. ]

If it gets worse, though... [ injuries are rarely left to fester, for good reason. hermione would hate to see someone suffer when they do not have to. ] I can try something else.

[ there is always another solution. another possibility to try, more research to do. she can read a book, try to collect herbs, make a potion — something. ]

I can offer you bandages, at the very least.

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INTRO LOG: OCTOBER

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