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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[Stone does not look particularly impressed by her teeth. He bares his, right back: they may not jut out of his mouth like hers, but they're sharper than your average human's. He doesn't look particularly aggressive about it; it's more of a reflex response to being growled at.]

There's room for two people up here. I'll even sit over here on the far side, if you're that touchy about it.

[ Kettara flattens her ears. She hadn't expected someone to actually scale the roof, let alone flash teeth right back at her. It's not the human thing to do.

But then again, what does she know about humans?

She jerks her tusks at the man, a clear warning. ]

I do not know you.

[ And therefore she does not trust him. ]

My name's Stone. I'm grouchy and love food and died of old age. Now you know me.

[This time there's no teeth, just a little smile that shows he's actually pretty good at smiling without baring fangs at anybody. He drops himself down on his back on the rooftop, setting his purple-tinted lantern next to him.]

You got a name? That way I can know you, too.

[ That's quite the introduction. Kettara eyes him warily and wonders how much of it is true. He died, certianly, as all things did before coming to this place. And he's not human. She's close enough to smell something different on the air, something entirely new. But he might be the first one she's encountered who isn't entirely human and that's a relief, however a small one.

She shouldn't be rude. Not to an elder.

Kettara hunches her shoulders. ]

Kettara. Why would you want to know something like me?

[Stone rolls his head against the arm pillowing his head to fix her with a little stare.]

Why wouldn't I? Aside from your charming personality, I mean, but I've made friends with people grumpier than you before.

[ It's a perfectly acceptable answer, though cheeky, which makes Kettara realize she's been asking the wrong question. The only problem is she's not certain what the right one would be. She decides honesty is the best bet, for now. ]

You're the only one I've met who isn't human.

[ And she feels lonely and cornered, surrounded on all sides because of it. ]

[Thankfully, at this point, Stone has heard the word "human" and so he isn't asking what she actually means.]

I think there's a couple more of us, judging by the smells-- but you're right, there's a lot of those people around, aren't there? Never even saw one before, and suddenly that's the majority of the population after I died.

There are?

[ She sits up straighter, watching him with more intent. ]

Did you see any of them? Or just smell? Were any like me?

[Stone looks back up at the stars with a frown. They're not his stars.]

There was one guy who's a few paces taller than me. Someone made out of metal, it smelled like-- one guy with horns, but he didn't smell like you. A few people who smell kind of dead, and this weird pair that hardly have a smell at all. I haven't talked to any of them yet, though.

Oh.

[ She deflates slightly. No orcs. No trolls or tauren, either. It won't be the first time Kettara has been alone before, but that was a solitude she chose. Before, there were always others to walk the path with her and even if they were not orcs they were still people she could understand and love.

Here, she's alone and in the company of many. There are worse fates, Kettara knows, but right now she cannot think of any. ]

I'm sorry I was rude to you.

[Stone snorts.]

One of my favorite people in the Three Worlds regularly threatens to bite me. And then I knock him out of the tree. So that was nothing.

Going to ask for a name again, though. Or should I make one up for you?

[That comes with a sidelong smile.]

Oh.

[ She's not entirely sure how to respond to that. ]

Good? I'm Kettara.

[It's okay, Kettara. Stone is a little weird. He's allowed to be, at his age.]

Nice to meet you, Kettara. Probably should have asked before I invaded your roof, anyway. But I like high places and this is more comfortable than a tree.

I wanted the high ground. At least for a little while.

[ She frowns out at the square below. ]

I don't like this place. I don't know these stars, and the dark feels unnatural.

That makes two of us. You know, there aren't any smells like animals out in those woods, either. Just these weird... not-animal things. The tablet called them spirits.

[Guess who doesn't actually have a mythology that talks about spirits, restless dead, or any kind of supernatural being. This guy.]

Makes the whole place seem fake.

It feels like a - a dream. A created space.

[ Something built as a trap to keep them in one place, though Kettara can't fathom the purpose. She can't imagine it's good. ]

It might be, but I remember dying. That was real.

Felt kind of like falling asleep, but knowing I wasn't going to wake up again. That this was it and I could stop going. Finally, ugh.

[He scowls up at the stars.]

And now here I am again. Not dead anymore. Weird, right? How'd you go? Or is that too personal to ask somebody? I'm new to the whole dead thing.

Oh.

[ She supposes that was a kindness. If one cannot die in battle, then perhaps it is better to die quietly, and without suffering. Kettara huffs, glaring at her lantern. ]

I fell in battle. My chest was crushed. There was nothing that could be done.

Ouch. Yeah, that's a hard one to recover from. Sorry about that. You're okay now, though, right? Nothing hurts?

[There is perhaps a thought in the back of Stone's mine that if he sleeps again, maybe he'll do the dying right this time. He hasn't tried it yet.]

[ It's a casual sort of response. At first Kettara bristles, thinking she ought to explain why it was so important, this thing she died trying to do. But she takes a breath and lets it go. Stone isn't from her world and has no context for what was important there. And it ought to be enough that she died well. So many others never have the chance to die with such honor.

And what else can they do in this place, but accept dying regardless of the form it came in? There's nothing for it. No point in dwelling obsessively. They are here and they must survive what comes next. ]

It's like the wound never happened at all.

[ She makes a face. ]

My armor was crushed, when I first arrived. I cannot wear it now.

[ That had been painful, if nothing else. ]

[Casual is pretty much Stone's MO. He either growls about something, or he's acts like it's no big deal. Growling on behalf of a kid from another world who would probably take offense or be confused doesn't seem useful here, so casual it is, in the hopes that at least she won't feel awkward about it.]

That's so shitting weird. I didn't have any wounds to get over. But I'm still all white.

[He holds up a hand and frowns at it.]

My people age different than most groundlings. We keep getting bigger and stronger right up until the end, and we slowly lose our color. When we hit white, that's when we know we're going to die soon.

Dying protecting something would have been easier, I think, if it meant coming here after. What were you doing to get your chest crushed in?

[ Kettara huffs a little, and shakes her head. Shitting weird indeed. But that does beg a question. ]

Do you think you would die again? You are not younger.

[ She's not a healer by trade, but she knows enough. Bodies give out eventually and there is no helping that. How that will work in a place like Beacon remains to be seen. It follows some rules but not others. ]

I followed an elder who promised to teach me, and several others, a technique to help us protect the world and calm the elements.

[ Her voice goes hard. ]

I did not know he was mad. He betrayed us.

[Yeah, Stone had that thought, too. He shrugs as well as one can while laying on his back. Not going to be able to find out until he sleeps again, or something tries to kill him, really.

He frowns at her story, though.]

Well, no wonder you weren't thrilled about me. Can't imagine you're interested in another old person in your space after that. Sounds awful.

It was my fault. I was foolish.

[ She hadn't listened to her master. The result was inevitable. ]

I wanted to listen. That was all. But it was a trap, and I should have been wise enough to see it.

Everybody messes up sometimes. Even me, and I'm something like six hundred turns old at this point.

[He's not in patting reach, or he would give her some sort of comforting touch.]

Just sorry you had to die because of it.

INTRO LOG: OCTOBER

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