logsinthenight | 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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"He was my handler," the Soldier explains. "I have to follow orders when they come from a handler." Technically it follows orders from a lot of people, out of habit or a desire for something to fucking do, but it's extra tough to resist from someone with handler designation.

"You knew him from before? From Earth?" That would explain a few things. Or is the past tense because Soldat has decided Crowley is no longer his handler after the ferry incident? Hm.

If the former, Rosinante is almost jealous. He may have declined to take those last orders from Sengoku; decided to mislead and manipulate him and the other Marines' actions to the boy's benefit. He doesn't wish Sengoku were here, for that would mean he too had died, but there are few other people he would ever wish to see again than his own handler and foster father.

"No." Thank fuck for that. Not even its most normal-seeming handler is the kind of evil those shitheads were. "He requested to stop being my handler, and I had enough precedent for designation change that I could accept it. I still have Misty and Javert for instructions when I need them, so it was allowable."

"So you chose voluntarily to follow his orders? I'm not sure I understand your system here," he says with a frown. He'd meant to know more about Crowley, but understanding Soldat is important too, obviously - and he sure is an odd one, so he'll follow this wherever it goes.

It's okay, Rosinante, the Soldier doesn't always understand it, either. When it's as much defense mechanism as actual training, these days, and some small bits of that training are slowly starting to unravel... things aren't always the clearest. "The Asset requires handlers for instructions. Crowley was the first when we arrived here." It shifts from foot to foot, words getting choppier. "Right place, right time-- gave instructions, gave a mission. It was. Programming. Handlers give instructions, and I was freaking the fuck out. So I needed them."

It twitches its head sideways with a frown, then finishes, "Crowley has been very bad at instructions since then, and there are other handlers. So it was. Acceptable for him to choose to stop. I could accept it."

Fascinating. That's the closest he's come to sounding like an actual independent person, even if it's fleeting. Rosinante nods slowly, then sighs. The guy's cracked. A nutcase. Needs therapy more than he needs berating for almost killing him and several others and that's the truth of it.

"I see. Thank you for the explanation. As far as I know, we don't have any system for punishment here, though it's been discussed before. I'm not sure it would be appropriate, anyway. Do you have thoughts on what you would like to do to make up for this?"

Because he can surely suggest some, but it strikes him that encouraging that little bit of humanity, and that capacity for Soldat to act on his own decisions rather than being told what to do, is probably the best thing for him in the long run.

Yep, the guy's pretty busted. But it's inching its way towards being an actual person, slowly but surely. And Rosinante, you are in fact helping!

Luckily, it does have some ideas for this, some of which came from others and some from itself. "Helping people who were hurt. I know some basic field medicine. Rationing. Working in Misty's gardens once they're ready, once she will speak to me again." Yeah, it knocked on her door on the way here and she didn't answer... that one hurt. "Robin said to help rebuild the dock, so there's that. Working with people to help them defend themselves, with Inspector Javert. But I was going to do that anyway."

See, it's going to keep itself busy.

"Good," he agrees with a nod. All things he would have suggested anyway, and then some. It helps to reaffirm the idea that most people here are reasonable enough to want to get along and help, even when they do make mistakes. This is a hell of a mistake, to be sure, but Soldat knows how to correct it, so hopefully he'll do exactly as he's saying he will.

"I haven't met Misty yet but I saw some talk of gardening on the network. I don't know much about that, but it's a good start to fixing all this if you can find plants that will grow in torchlight." Which is something he's never heard of, but his gardening experience is mostly limited to chasing a goat out of the old man's cabbages. Who's he to say what's possible?

"Misty's pretty great. You'll like her." That actually comes out sounding like a real person with opinions said it, amazing. "I don't know about her garden, either, I've never tried to grow anything before." Like it would ever have had the chance. "But the forest grows without sunlight, so it might be possible. Especially if the people with magic try to help."

The Soldier's given its report, Rosinante seems more satisfied now, and it's been a long day. So it asks, "Do you have more questions? I have another person to check in with, and I need to do maintenance on this." It holds up the metal arm, elbow joint bending with a slight creaking noise, rather than a healthier mechanical whir. It works, but it's definitely in need of a tune-up. "And you should rest. You're injured."

"Thank you. I'll consider it," he replies, as the corner of his mouth quirks into an almost-smile. It's too hard to stay angry at someone for long when they seem to mean well. Soldat just needs to get his head straightened out. And, evidently, his arm so he gives a nod.

"Go on, then. I appreciate the information." And maybe he'll come help with the gardening some time.

"Of course. Let me know if you need anything else. Soldier on the network." As much as the Soldier hates using that thing, that's better than giving out its home base. Even if it's probably not hard to figure out, given the small size of the village. It's just habit.

It takes a step back, then, inclines its head in farewell, and turns to head for the stairs up. Scarlett's in one of those rooms, it's pretty sure, and it probably has some more explaining to do there.

INTRO LOG: OCTOBER

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