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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Threaded | Flat

UM HEY WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?

Edited 2019-10-01 20:36 (UTC)

1 -- Ferry, Near & Far

[ooc: Feel free to use this as the ferry is still underway, or after it's docked but before it's crashed.]

[Eleven is young still, and obviously so. Her face has started losing the roundness of childhood, but still has that telltale softness of a young teen. She's somber as she wanders the ferry with the occasional stumble of someone not used to the ground moving under her like this, brown eyes wide with a storm of emotion she's clearly processing through internally for the time being. Sometimes, she glances up in utter confusion over the music.

For anyone versed in fashion, her shirt is a hideous yellow and black travesty ripped straight from the 80s, the pants are baggy and inoffensive, and her feet are curiously bare. She wears a blue hair tie around her left wrist, and holds a slightly rusty, worn blue lantern in the same hand.

Her eyes keep drifting over the railing, but she decidedly never steps close to it.

She does at some point get distracted scanning the horizon, as if she expects shapes looming in the darkness overhead. Eleven seems... remarkably, not as distraught as one might think for a 14 year old girl over her own death, though clearly upset over something. It's then that the deck tips a little, and with her eyes on the horizon, Eleven missteps, stumbles a little harder. She falls against the railing - not over, no, but she scrambles back from it in obvious fright anyway, overbalancing the other way and just stumbling against someone else. Before she regains her footing, the blue lantern slips from her grasp and nearly crashes onto the deck, but Eleven holds out her hand, fingers splayed, and the lantern stops in mid-air. The girl breathes out shakily, and only then realizes she's still steading herself on whoever she knocked into, immediately backing away as the lantern rises back into her slightly shaky grasp.

Her eyes dart from the lantern to the railing to whomever she knocked into, and her mouth opens and closes once or twice as she tries to shake off the way she was lost in her own mind until just now. ]

Sorry... [And then, after a moment of hesitation in explanation of her near panicked scramble while not offering an explanation for the nose bleed or how she handled her lantern:] Can't swim.

2a -- Ferry, Tip of the Iceberg

[Eleven is hesitant to get off the ferry. Someone with more self-reflection might realize that the reason is simple: Stepping onto the docks will make this real, once the ground stops swaying beneath her feet and she has to... according to the strange flat screen she was granted... make a life, here?

She doesn't even know how she can think about that when the Mind Flayer... when she doesn't know if after ending her, it puppeteered her body to also end everyone else as it declared... when she doesn't know if...

But Eleven is torn from her spiraling thoughts when the ferry is torn from its resting place. For a moment, there's just confusion all around, as the engines roar to life. She has enough time to look around wildly, muttering a soft, clearly worried 'what' to anyone nearby or no one in particular.

And then, of cours, the ferry crashes into the docks, and she slides across the deck and into a nearby surface, hard.

In the ensuing chaos of the crash, the tipping of the deck, she doesn't immediately abandon ship either - perhaps too scared of the churning water around, or too distracted by the overall chaos. Voices, loud and clamoring over each other - there are supplies on this ship, there are other people on this ship.

Eleven is frightened, yes, and she uses that to spur her into movement, into action without pausing to think too much.

And she's dead, she's no longer able to save her friends as she once swore to do. Maybe, though...]

I can help!

[And she does, wading into the depth of the ship with others. There are a lot of uses for her telekinesis - jammed doors can be blown open, and scattered supplies collected a little more easily. Her nose bleeds when she stretches out skinny, shaking arms, but Eleven never once complains, determined to do what she can.]

2b -- Ferry, At least no one is arguing about doors

Closed to Jim Gordon: Continued/adapted from here

[Eventually, the decision not to abandon ship before it properly sinks becomes an issue, as the sinking vessel tips with a pained groan, and Eleven isn't fast enough to throw out a pulse of her power to keep from being pushed further into the area of the cargo hold that have begun flooding. She lands with a pained cry that's nearly drowned out when water closes above her head.

It's a miracle that she manages not to let the lantern fall into the water. She scrapes a palm bloody as she scrambles for purchase on some of the crates that tipp and fell and crashed, and she cries out high pitched and shaky when she realizes she's trappe, space confined, with only her lantern, and rising water, and she can't swim and...

Someone comes to her aid, and the first thing he offers to save for her is the lantern. And even though she can barely keep her head over water, the panick grips her chest too tight to relinquish this thing easily, the one thing left in her own control that holds her life - only if she does not pass it up and away, even if she doesn't drown, the lantern will be snuffed out in the water. Droplets of water and drops of tears cling to her lashes as she sobs and pushes the lantern to the stranger, nose and lips smeared with blood.

The broken crates and wooden planks groan in protest as the man reaches back inside for Eleven herself, and she doesn't have time to process 'He doesn't lie' before the entire ferry screeches once more, and she chokes on water.

If he hasn't realized it before, he must realize it now: This child cannot swim.]

3 -- Beach/Dock Ruins, Post-Titantic-Reenactment

[ooc: Feel free to interact with her at any point here - she can help you lift something, or even yourself out of the water, you can direct her to something that needs lifting, you can find her doubling over in dizziness because apparently she banged her head pretty hard, or you can find her finally slumping into the sand when she's exhausted.]

[After being saved from the miserable experience of near drowning, a wet and miserable Eleven can be found on the beach and by the ruined docks. She looks pale and tired, but there's a determination in her brown eyes. Her nose is bleeding badly, rivulets running over her lips and dripping down her chin. She doesn't bother wiping it away, but does occasionally dab at a trickle from her forehead - she banged her head pretty hard during the crash. The blue lantern sits nearby, and Eleven is never far from it. For now, she helps - as much as she can, she will use telekinesis help people ashore, help lift things out of the water as needed. She never goes near, though, barely lets the lapping waves touch her bare feet. If other people are nearby, she will approach them and simply, stubbornly declare what she said on the ferry earlier:]

I can help.

[She holds herself a little strangely, probably hurt as the ferry crashed or during her attempts to help salvage things while the ship took water. More and more often, Eleven has to lean forwards, bruised palms on her knees and just breathe.

As this goes on, she can feel herself growing ever more tired and dizzy, and to reach for that power becomes an ever bigger struggle, yet she keeps going for it in single-minded determination - whatever she helps lift though, now hangs in the air much more precariously, and she is very obviously straining herself, panting and at times even crying out with the effort. Her steps grow sluggish, and finally she stumbles, goes down on her knees and just breathes for a moment. Whatever she was trying to hold in the air drops - back into the water, or down in the sand.

At that point, Eleven shakes her head.]

No more.

[And she looks up with an apology in her eyes. She's exhausted. Not near the point of passing out, not near the point of needing to just lie down and sleep immediately, but the heavy lifting, for now, is no longer in the cards.]

4 -- Bonfire Square, Our Hearts Have Gone On Now

[ooc: If anyone wants to integrate our TDM threads, continue them or adapt them here, I'm happy to do so, or just throw something new in here, it's all good.]

[It's some time after Eleven had to abandon her attempts to help with the ferry that she finds herself exploring away from the beach. She still looks rough and exhausted, but has cleaned most of the blood off her face at least. Her steps are a little hesitant, because it's dark and her surroundings are unfamiliar, but also because her feet are bare. Sometimes she just stops to look around, take in the scenery with big eyes - still wary, still exhausted, still shining with the pain of all their shared reality of death, but also gaining a certain level of curiosity.

She thought, at first, that this was like the Upside Down, but...

It's different, very different.

Eventually, she comes to a stop and sits on one of the benches. She grabs the strange device again that she gained along with the lantern, and turns it over in her hands. Holds it upside down, squints at it in utter bafflement.

If left to her devices long enough, she will eventually just huff in frustration, and let go of the thing. It stays in the air, hovering at eye level while Eleven begins downright glaring at the device. She wipes the thin trickle of blood from her nose.]

Useless...

Edited 2019-10-02 00:40 (UTC)

PROMPT ONE: PRE-COLLISION

[Anyone heading to the dock or disembarking from the ferry in the short period of time before its unexpected hijacking will notice Mary! It’s hard to miss her when it appears she’s crafted a very special sign out of several pieces of sketchbook paper attached together and held aloft with sticks. In very bright colors, it reads in her childish scrawl:

WELCOME NEW FRIENDS!!!

She holds it high up over her head, beaming and cheery, clearly proud of herself and her accomplishment. With her lantern safely at the shoreline, she makes sure not to wander too far away.]

Hi! My name is Mary!

[Of course, if she already knows you, she won’t greet you, but why don’t you compliment her sign? She’s looking at you like she really wants you to say something nice about it. She will remember if you don’t.]

PROMPT TWO: POST-COLLISION (CLOSED TO FIRST RESPONDER)

[She’s not really sure what happened, at first. She’s one of the lucky ones, probably. She’d just made it off the ferry in time, having collected her prize, and was trying to understand what it was, exactly, when the dock falls away under her feet. It feels like the whole world shifts at the same time as it falls, and lurching, Mary goes down.

She screams, because that’s only instinctive, but she’s close enough to the beach that she’s able to pull herself out of the water and over to her (thankfully safe) lantern.

But then as her head clears she realizes something else. She’s in pain, and a jagged, broken piece of wood has speared itself through her calf, slicing her stocking, her skin, her muscle. Red, red, it pours out of her and puddles, and this time the scream that the little girl lets out is much more horrified, much more urgent.]

1. The ferry crash (closed to whoever gets here first I guess)

Rosinante is in the middle of handing off a package when he feels the rumble of an engine beneath his feet. He tosses the box to shore and takes firm hold of his lantern, but before he really has time to investigate what's happening, the ship surges forward, and he's thrown off the bow.

Had the dock remained, that might have been fine. He'd hoped he could just tuck and roll and land on dry ground. Instead, wooden planks fragment and collapse around him, and he goes with them into the water. He feels the horrible lethargy hit him like a wave as the interaction of devil fruit and lake renders him practically helpless, and it takes all his strength to hoist his lantern overhead so it doesn't soak as he clings desperately to a fractured piece of the pier.

But his arm is shaking, his hold on the wood is slipping, and his head won't be above water for long as the void left by the sinking ship generates a vortex of churning water that threatens to pull him under. And he sure as hell can't swim. There's a desperate gasp of "Help!" and all he can hope is that it's audible over the rest of the disaster.

2. Oct. 2-3: boat-building catch-all

What's all that noise and light over by the boathouse, you might wonder?

Well, with the ferry out of commission, it's even more obvious now that they need to get seriously thinking about building something more than a dinghy. Rosinante doesn't have the knowledge to pull that kind of construction off, but over the last couple of months he's gotten pretty efficient at sanding and shaping wood from the trees he and any others have cleared at the edge of the forest.

If curiosity isn't enough, you might get roped into temporarily assisting anyway, as Rosinante calls out, "Hey, can you give me a hand for a minute?"

3. Wildcard

Rosinante is typically found around The Invincible peering at photos of stars, with paper and pen at his side trying to make notes on what he's looking at. If not there, he can be found near the shoreline after the crash periodically trying to scavenge anything that might have washed up and return it to its owners or the general store. Or, honestly, run into him anywhere - the library, the museum, just around town are all valid. He's typically alone, puffing away at a cigarette and decorated with outlandish makeup - plus he's like almost ten feet tall so he does stand out a bit.

Edited 2019-10-02 01:38 (UTC)

1. ON DECK

Crowley acts cool.

Not just as he always does, because in general, Crowley always acts cool. But in this exact moment, he oozes cool, focusing on being the chillest, most relaxed person to ever set foot on a ferry. Because right now, any wrong step could make everyone panic.

And by everyone, he might very well mean Aziraphale, and the last thing he needs is for the angel to back out of this plan right now.

“Everyone ready?” he asks as they step on board, with the same cool confidence of a heist leader right before they all step into the bank. He steps over and waves his hand over the controls, setting them alight before stepping back to the deck. He waits until he feels the ferry start to pull away from the dock before he rushes back towards it.

And he says what any mature leader would say during a heist like this.

”Ssssee ya, SUCKERS!”

2. CRASH

Something’s wrong. The ferry is going in the wrong direction. Crowley notices it, but only too late as it starts to collide full-force into the docks. He leaps back, but the hull takes a lot of damage as the whole ferry moves forward with a sickening crack.

Water rushes over the sides of the deck as the ferry starts to tilt to the side. It’s going to capsize!

“Aziraphale!” Crowley shouts, dashing immediately towards the entrance to the lower decks. “Aziraphale!”

He stops only for a second to point to the human soldier person. “Get off this boat!”

This ferry is sinking, and it’s sinking now. He has to get the people who matter off and right now. By people, he means one person in particular.

Edited 2019-10-02 01:39 (UTC)

I. Ferry En-Route and Pre-crash

Generally when Raksura die of old age... they don't wake up again. The colorless old man sits up, looks around at what looks like the inside of a boat, and says simply, "Huh. Not expecting that."

It's dark, and Raksuran vision isn't particularly night-oriented, so the brightly flower-looking lantern on the table is handy. The flat shiny thing is unfamiliar, but when it starts glowing when he taps the shiny part, he spends the next several minutes while the ferry approaches the dock prodding at it, holding it at arms length to try and read the small print on the screen, and almost dropping it every time he accidentally opens an app.

It's exactly as funny as you'd expect someone who's never seen smartphone technology interacting with it could be. It's like your grandpa's first iPad, only worse. "The shit even is this thing?"

II. Disembarking and Exploring - Pre-Crash

Stone is one of the first people off the ferry, lantern and glowy square thing in tow. He doesn't have much of anything else, in fact, just the clothes on his back. He doesn't even have shoes. He pokes his head into the church and then wanders out past the bonfire to the Invincible, looming taller but far less substantial-seeming than most of the populace of the village. Also probably looking a lot older, given he looks like he's around seventy, so the height is likely the opposite of threatening-- he looks like a stiff wind would blow him over. "The shit even is this place? What in the Three Worlds are all you people?"

Because he's never seen (or smelled) a human before, even if he kind of looks passingly like one. Aside from being completely without color, except for his one un-clouded eye, and the pale purple of the lantern's glow, and not wearing shoes, and looking like someone took him and stretched him like taffy.

The Invincible looks enough like inns from his own world, so he walks right in there. "There an innkeeper around here?"

III. Later that Day/Next Day

So the ferry crashed, and he totally missed it. Oops. Well, at least that means he didn't get caught in it, right? Still, a big old boat at the bottom of the harbor isn't a great thing, and Stone is used to hauling around the big things back home. Even if he's a little more frail than he's used to being.

So down at the harbor once most of the salvaging has been done, one can find, instead of a gangly almost-human-looking old man, an equally colorless... dragon? Yeah, that sure does look like a dragon, wading out on his hind legs to try and drag the remains of the ferry ashore. It might take a while, because he's not as strong as he used to be, but he's stubborn. He'll work on it all damn day if he's got to.

i;; ten minutes late for ship sinking, shows up with starbucks.

[ he just came back to get his package.

daylight stares at the mayhem unfolding at the dock, gobsmacked by the sheer amount of shenanigans going down. his processors are struggling to comprehend what's happening, almost refusing to function right now as if he can't believe that this is happening at all.

thankfully- he snaps out of his shock and tries to spring into action, hurrying down to the aforementioned mayhem to see if there's something he can do to help. there are people in the boat along with the supplies and packages that they need for the month- they need to do something- ]

Hey! [ daylight immediately jogs up next to someone, looking down at them with wide and worried optics. ] Do you need a hand in anything? Anything at all?

ii;;; you'vev got mail.

[ at the end of it all, as he's soggy and wet and has stuff jammed into his seams that he doesn't want to even think about, daylight hasn't been able to find his items at all. now he can only hope that someone has. the idea of all those poor flower seeds in the bottom of the lake is a little upsetting...

but! he's gotta focus on this right now- sending a message out to a particular someone: ] Hi there!

Sorry if this is all of the sudden and the stuff but I was wondering if this item is yours? [ a few seconds will pass and daylight will be sending a picture of him in all his dirty, soggy robotic humanoid glory as he holds up a package. it looks... rather waterlogged but seems to have survived the sinking in one piece. ]

[ ooc: daylight will icly recover two personal packages for people. this prompt is limited to one person! since it's been agreed on that daylight will help find bruce (

pearlstrings) stuff from the wreckage. ]

iii;;; five more minutes.

Aurrhgghirghgmjfgh...

[ whatever daylight just said, it must have deep and heavy meaning in whatever language he's speaking. he's certainly saying it over and over again as he grounds his face to the ground he's currently flopped on, simply too tired to move after expending more energy than he probably should have. daylight should be fine after, like, an hour or three of falling into sleeping stasis.

-but it's just very unfortunate that he's opted to nap in front of your house if you happen to be in the village. he's sure sleeping in a lot of weird places throughout the day in the aftermath of the sinking - just outside the wreckage of the dock, the path that leads to beacon, the middle of the bonfire square - but this is definitely the most intrusive place to be. ]

Haaaurrhghrrmrhg...

iv;;; wildcard!!

[ want to do something else? feel free to do it here! also, you’re welcome to hit me up/plot with me via my plurk prognostic if there’s something specific you want. ]

BELOW DECK (before the crash)
Aziraphale tries to keep a level head. He is trying, and he puts on a soothing voice, but inside he is a firecracker bundle of nerves. He could still back out, he thinks, turning heel. Turning back, he realizes for the fiftieth time that he can’t let Crowley go off and do this by himself. Like this, he paces until it’s time to go.

Eventually, and according to plan, he makes his way down to where everyone’s being held, and says: “Hello everyone, my name is Aziraphale, and please don’t be alarmed.”

Maybe he should have practiced this.

“We won’t be docking, bear with me and remain calm, with luck we’ll be getting you back to your homes before sun-up.” He smiles at his own little joke as he starts prying open boxes, precariously large knife in his hand in lieu of a box cutter or crowbar. “Now, where would you be-- ah, yes.” He unearths a large pink box from the items he’d ordered from Rastus, and opens it up to reveal the wedding cake. “Let’s all just have a little something to eat, and please don’t mind a bit of turbulence from above deck.”

AFTER THE CRASH
Well, that had gone down like a lead balloon. He’d cast a wide miracle to make sure that everyone survived, though a split second later he tried casting one to stop the ensuing crash at all. He isn’t sure if the first one made it, but he quickly found out that his second one did not.

His arm broken and several ribs fractured bracing his fall and protecting the light in his lantern, he has wet buttercream all over his clothes and prioritizes finding people to save. If you happen to be in trouble, a hand might come out to guide you, or push away some debris in front of you. You may just be seeing things in the aftermath of the wreck, but a few might even spot a pair of large white wings, propelling an otherwise very normal-looking man-shaped being to and fro in the wreckage.

GETTING SUPPLIES
Everyone accounted for, Aziraphale checks for injuries on the shore and quietly dispenses miracles to heal those in need, though his powers seem to be on the fritz. This distresses him, though he pays it little mind as he just-- assumes-- that all his powers are just positively useless and if he wants to apply himself, then he’s going to need to get in the water.

It’s a shock to the system, murky black, one arm useless, but he dives in and comes out in turns, placing items on the beach next to his lantern. “Oh-- the seeds! We have to go get the seeds, I’m so very sorry, are you able to swim?”

1. Ferry (pre-crash)

[ This was not the afterlife that was promised.

Kettara knows she is dead. That isn’t in question.

She’s also on a boat and can feel the gentle back and forth of waves. That is in question, and shouldn’t be happening. She ought to be awakening among her ancestors, greeted as a warrior in the afterlife by all those who came before her.

Instead she is on a boat, and holding a strange lantern.

Kettara stands there for a long time, staring at the lantern. Her armor digs painfully into her chest, the metal of her chestplate horribly warped, and she coughs, putting a hand over the place where her ribs were sticking out not so long ago. There’s no injury. The skin is unbroken and left with nothing, not even a bruise, to sign what was done to her. If not for her armor she would have thought it was a dream, something conjured up from her mind and banished upon waking. But her armor is broken and she is alone.

This isn’t right. ]

What is this? Where is my teacher?

[ She’ll ask this to the first person she encounters, more than a little wild-eyed. Kettara is seventeen years old, six feet tall, and very green. Her eyes are red and wide, but she does not weep. Part of her wants to. This isn’t right at all. She should be dead and surrounded by her ancestors. Her mother was supposed to greet her at the end, like the elders said. ]

Master Muln! I don’t understand!

2 Crash aftermath

[ The chaos after the crash is a relief only because Kettara knows what is expected of her. It won’t be the first accident she’s assisted with, and incidents in Mulgore’s rivers have become more common lately with the chaos running rampant among the elementals. It isn’t even the first boat accident she’s dealt with.

Unfortunately, the spirits refuse when she calls them to her side. The power returns to her, but the elemental water will not rise or part before her to save the cargo or those trapped below.

Kettara snarls under her breath, but continues regardless. She casts a small spell and then walks out onto the water.

There’s no need to swim when she can stand atop it. ]

Hand that to me! Quickly, my magic will not last!

[ She’s far more useful when she can ferry supplies and people from those diving below. Unfortunately, her power starts fading almost immediately, and she begins sinking back into the water inch by inch.

There’s nothing for it. Kettara continues to cast, and sink, and cast again.

Later, she can be found sitting on the beach, trying to recover her energy and watching the remaining recovery efforts with interest. ]

3. Tavern roof

[ Lacking a better plan, Kettara is sulking on the roof. Though she recognizes the tavern for what it is and the familiarity is comforting to a certain extent, it’s also filled with strangers. Most of those strangers are human. None of them have been hostile yet, but Kettara figures that’s just a matter of time. Thus, she’s retreated to higher ground.

It’s the smart thing, she tells herself. It gives her fair warning of anyone approaching and the higher ground if — when — it comes time to fight.

She’s sitting next with her back to the wall, knees hugged to her chest, and glaring at her lantern. It flickers on regardless. More than once she’s been tempted to smash it and damn the consequences, but that would be rash, and acting rashly is exactly what got her here in the first place.

And of course that’s when she gets company. She bares her teeth and growls, laying a hand on her weapons. ]

I was here first.

[ This is her spot. She has claimed it. ]

4. Wildcard

[ Hit me! ]

ferry. ( a )

[ This isn't exactly what he had pictured when he sat there looking to the sunrise. He hadn't been afraid of death, didn't regret giving up his life for the future's, and accepted what was to come with wielding the power of the Old Kings. Can't say he's fond of those guys but if it hadn't been for King Regis to stick up for him in front of them, he's not so sure things would have played out as they did. Would he still be dead? Hard to say. But at least the future has a chance now. Or at least, that's the hope he clings to on this ferry.

He'd been laying on the deck of the ferry the entire trip. Clothes torn and tattered, arm ashen and looking as though skin were ready to peel off. The side of his right face is cracked, in a sense, as if burned from the inside. Needless to say, he's looked better but hey, at least he gets to take this nice little boat ride to wherever it is he's headed. Just would be nice to see the sun again.

He's lost in thought, not even realizing that they've docked... until the ferry seems to come to life again but somehow this just seems... different. It's enough to get Nyx to sit up, to look around in mild confusion and when it all finally comes to show that this isn't what's supposed to be happening.

When the ferry hits the docks, he stumbles forward and smacks his head onto whatever piece of the ferry he happens to run into. Honestly? Not the worst of his injuries and the ringing in his head aside, he's head worse all around. But he staggers some as he makes his way down the ferry, trying to get a sense of his bearings and sort of wishing he could warp right about now. Despite bumping into things and people, he does his best to help anyone on board that might need it, reaching out to those who nearly slip, and helping up anyone who's already fallen. Don't be surprised if he grabs your arm, fellow passenger. ]

Hey! Think you need to get off this boat!

ferry. ( b )

[ With the ferry sinking, Nyx drops down to help people climb out of the sinking vessel. Reaching for whoever reaches for him, he helps them down one at a time, keeping an eye on his surroundings as he does. Getting himself caught on a broken piece of the ferry, however, isn't exactly what he had in mind when doing this and it's with a splinter of wood catching a tear in his pants, that he finds himself caught... and the ferry still sinking. Threatening to pull him under with it.

Grasping at the side, he spits out any water that he's swallowed while fighting to free his leg from the splinter which has snagged him. Knowing that he's running out of time, knowing that it will pull him under and then he'll only have a minute or so before he can't hold his breath any longer. Since... that's still a thing that happens around here, isn't it? Not like he really wants to find out.

Clinging to the side of the ferry, he sure could use a hand right about now. Literally. ]

beach.

[ With the madness of the collision more or less over, Nyx scours the beach making sure everyone that is around is ok. He's soaked, his own burns from his death still red and angry and his ashen arm looking like it might peel off at any given second, but he doesn't bother to concern himself with that. Rather, his attention is on everyone else.

If someone needs help, he helps them in any way he can and while he might not exactly be a healer, he knows a thing or two about bandaging cuts and scrapes up. Regardless of age, regardless of injury, Nyx is there checking on everyone as he passes them by, so it's no surprise that he comes up to you, should you be there on the beach. ]

Hey. You ok? Are you hurt or anything?

Edited 2019-10-02 02:21 (UTC)

I. On the Ferry Deck During the Hijacking

The Soldier has one of its guns out, just in case. They’re stealing something-- they’re going up against whoever, whatever is on that boat. That requires weapons.

Once it’s made certain Aziraphale is settled safely below-decks and Crowley isn’t going to do anything too stupid (well, more stupid than that yell, ugh), it stalks to the cabin with the controls and starts with the most likely one to be the engine control, based on its experiences (not fully remembered, but still there, beneath the level of consciousness) with similar machines. The goal being to reverse the ferry’s direction. With luck they won’t have to turn the thing around and can just reverse... but the Soldier is ready for any possibility. Including that this won’t work at all, and it will have to find the real controls somewhere else.

Anyone approaching gets a gun leveled in their face, without the Soldier even looking up from what it's doing.

The one possibility it wasn't expecting was sudden ramming speed the instant it got the engine turned back on. Going in the wrong direction. Oh shit.

II. Directly After the Crash

After spending about 1 full minute on the shore after Crowley ordered it off the ferry (probably the only reason it's not injured more than a few scratches), "orders" run out and the Soldier can act on its internal (and slightly external) panic and dives into the water to start pulling out people, packages, anything it can get its metal hand on. The Soldier keeps going back in until someone stops it, or when its arm shorts out after a couple hours of being constantly submerged with water and it has to struggle to shore with only one arm, the other twitching and zapping the rest of him periodically.

III. Afterwards

While its arm dries out and until it has a chance to do some maintenance on it, the Soldier can't swim any further, but it'll carry things to the Invincible or help anyone with basic first aid. This is all the Soldier's fault (as far as it's concerned) and it will be doing everything in its power to help clean up the mess.

› arrival (closed to newcomers)

[ waking to darkness, in itself, is not so strange. it's the gentle rock of the boat, the soft echo of water slapping against the hull, and the quiet flicker of lamplight that catch hermione's attention — and then, her fear, as reality slaps her in the face with all the delicacy of a troll playing quidditch. (that is to say: none.)

how is she here? and where is here? the last thing she remembered was... what was it? think, hermione. she'd been in the ministry, she'd been in grimmauld place, she'd... oh! the death eater had spooked her, and they'd apparated, hadn't they? surely she hadn't apparated to a boat, though? apparition requires knowledge of where you're headed, and she certainly would not have been knowledgable about a boat.

calling out is her first instinct. but no matter how many times she yells harry or ron, no matter how loudly she calls for them, they don't answer. instead, there are other voices, those she might have woken up with her frenzied shouts or those already awake and moving about, in the halls and in the rooms beyond. panic, now, sets in, and hermione begins step two of crisis management... talking to herself. ]

Okay. Okay, relax, breathe. There's a logical explanation for this. There has to be. Where are you? That's first step. Find where you are, find your wand, and get back.

[ her wand, thankfully, is easy to find. tucked in the pocket of her blazer — mafalda hopkirk's! from the ministry! — intricately carved vine wood rests against her hip. answers, though, take a little more time. it takes finding the tablet beside her, opening it up, and devouring the written word inside with a voracious appetite for answers... and then, for stopping every so often to wonder aloud: ]

I'm not dead, that's ridiculous.

[ or, more annoyed than curious: ]

What kind of utter hogwash is this?

[ feel free to interrupt her at any point of her journey, for those aboard the ss whatsitsname. ]

› sink or swim (open to all)

[ she's standing on the top deck when the ferry crashes, and her reaction is... not the best. ]

You have got to be kidding me.

[ first, your electric book tells her she's dead. now, you lot go and crash charon's ferry? talk about a nightmare come to life. (the afterlife, her brain supplants, and hermione groans.)

can she swim? of course she can swim. ever-practical people, the grangers had signed toddler hermione up for swimming lessons in the overly chlorinated pools of the local ymca, ensuring she would never find her gruesome end in a measly five centimeters of water. they had not, however, signed her up for classes on how to escape a sinking ship, so how useful those classes were is really up in the air.

for now, though, hermione focuses on not drowning in the lake. practicality reigns here, and once she sheds her initial bout of panic, her movements are quick, efficient. her blazer, stripped off, forms a neat base for a makeshift bindle; between, she nestles the tablet (always save the book, even strange electronic ones) and her heels before tying it together and tossing it into her bag.

her tiny, formal, beaded purple handbag. yes, the bindle is bigger than the bag, and yes, it fits. and, yes, the sound of things jostling inside when she nearly drops it is more akin to a tilted cargo hold than a ladies' handbag, but what of it?

more importantly, where is everyone rushing to, and why are people jumping back in the water? isn't the whole point of surviving a sinking ship to get to land, not the other way around? she'll have to stop someone, anyone, and ask: ]

I'm sorry, what is happening, exactly?

› the aftermath (open to all)

[ she does not drown. she is already dead, but she does not drown and then die again. her lantern stays lit, she makes it to dry land, and her beaded handbag remains quite firmly in her possession, looking surprisingly dry for having survived such an ordeal. (it's bewitched. these things happen.)

of course, being soaking wet isn't something she wants to be, and so hermione's first step is to dry herself off. a complicated twist of her wrist and a tap of her wand generates a stream of hot air, and with practiced sweeps of her hand, hermione quickly steam-dries her once-soaked clothes. if she ought to be more subtle about using magic or keeping her wand out, well, she'd like to see the ministry send her a howler if she's supposedly dead.

for those stumbling to shore with her, she's happy to extend the favor upon request — or even without it, should someone look particularly miserable. after all, hermione does wish to be useful.

later, as rescuers come back to land, she's ready and waiting with a reassuring face and a bit of dry cloth. admittedly, these are cloth pieces that, upon further inspection, are really just ripped up bits of fabric, magically expanded — they won't soak up much water, but will at least allow a face to be patted dry before they're soaked through. better something than nothing, right? ]

› wildcard

[ choose your own adventure. drop me a line at semicolons or via pm if you have questions/concerns! ]

i. before the crash

[ As soon as the ferry docks, Elena is onboard, offering polite welcoming smiles to the newcomers but also making a beeline for supplies that were brought each month. She'd been promise a new journal, something nice to replace the flimsy notebook she'd found in the general store, and with everything that's been going on... Well, she's eager to have it in her hands. So much of herself was left behind in Mystic Falls that if she can have just this one piece back, she can keep going here and hold it together.

Finding the package that's a bit too big for just a journal, she disembarks, prefering to properly greet any new arrivals when they hit dry land. ]

Hi, I'm Elena.

[ With one hand holding her lantern and the other her package, she can't really shake anyone's hand, but considering what they're all going through, that's probably not a problem. They'll still get a genuinely kind and friendly greeting, the young woman trying her best to put on a good face for these people who very likely aren't as used to dying as she is. ]

ii. the crash itself (open to one person at the dock)

[ Everything about Beacon has been a bit surreal and hard to believe, but the fact that someone would hijack the ferry has to take the cake. Monsters and eternal darkness, she can accept easily enough. People just being plain idiots? That's a harder pill to swallow. But that's absolutely what's happened when Elena notices the engines starting up again, taking a few steps to try (and fail) to see through the darkness to figure out who might be up there. But instead, the boat lurches forward, crunching through wood with a loud crash that screams of damage to the ferry itself.

Instinct sends Elena rushing forward into the darkness, dropping her package but clinging to her lantern as she moves with vampire speed toward the nearest heartbeat on the dock, grabbing hold of them and lifting slightly to run with them out of harm's way. The action irritates the wound on her left arm but she ignores it, setting the other person down on their feet while the ferry is still crunching into the dock, barely a second having passed. ]

Are you okay?

[ She's also trying very steadfastly to ignore the giant splinter of wood sticking out of her left calf. Vampires might be fast, but they aren't invincible superheroes. ]

iii. saving and salvaging

[ The ferry is sinking and with it, all the supplies for the month ahead. Supplies that these people will need. Despite her own injuries, Elena doesn't hesitate to hurry forward, leaping onto the ferry's deck in a fear no human could accomplish and heading straight for the supplies, one hand still tightly gripping her lantern. But should she run into anyone still onboard and in need of help, she'll stop for them, because the boat is sinking fast and they have to hurry

By the time she gets to the cargo hold, there's already water above some of the packages and she has to hold her lantern up to wade through the cold water and grab hold of the nearest package, hefting it with ease but grimacing against the pain in her leg as she continues putting pressure on it. ]

iii. wildcard

[ Want something else? Hit me with your best shot or poke me at taintedcrimson or taintedcrimson#0896 ]

Edited 2019-10-02 13:49 (UTC)

Ferry; arrival, before the crash

Death was confusing, Prompto decided. He didn't think much about what happened after death regularly--he figured there was an afterlife of some sort, but he was barely into his 20's and didn't want to think about kicking the bucket just yet.

Apparently he did, but not on purpose. He remembers a whole lot of daemons, and he was doing his best to fight them off, and then he had to reload his gun...one daemon was faster than it should have been, or else he was just slowing down, but he remembers a Reaper and then a lot of pain. And now he's on a boat, with a phone-kinda device and an interesting lantern beside him.

"Hey uh, anyone I know here?" He's skimmed the phone-thing's info, and is wandering the boat, alternately holding his lantern out for light and holding it close to protect it, like he can't decide.

Abandon ship; just before and during crash

So while he hasn't fully accepted death being a real actual thing, despite the welcoming tablet saying so and the fact that there's an impressive and angry-looking scar stretching across his stomach and possibly around to his back (he can't tell so far), leaving his shirt nearly in two pieces. It doesn't look very survivable, but it doesn't hurt and so. Whatever.

He wants to get off the boat, though. It's dark and scary beyond the firelight of his lantern, but whatever form of the river Styx this might be, if there's a chance to get off of it, he's taking it.

And he's glad he did, because it starts up like it might be leaving again--not that unusual--but instead of leaving the dock and going back to where it came from, it crashes straight into the pier, smashing it to pieces.

"Was...that wasn't supposed to happen, was it?"

Rescue mission; during ferry sinking

"Need a hand?"

Prompto's not the best swimmer, but high school physical education classes mandated that he at least be competent at it, so after making sure his lantern is hung in a relatively safe place, he's going in to help anyone who looks like they need it. The water is murky and dark, he's jabbed his leg on something sharp, and he may or may not be shaking out of nerves and cold, but he's trying his best.

Aftermath/Wildcard

Once there's no more people to help out and the ferry's disappeared under the water with whatever cargo it may have had, Prompto can be found by the bonfire, lantern sitting beside him, attempting to dry himself out and possibly anyone else that might need it more than him. The torn portion of his shirt has come completely off, leaving it longer in the back than the front, and and attempt to redo his hair has failed and left him with what looks like wet bedhead rather than the fauxhawk he was trying to achieve.

▶ 01. GO FOR A SWIM?

( there's nothing specifically aboard the ferry for ambrose but new people arriving typically is a highlight which means he'll tear himself away from whatever exciting activity he's participating in to go stand out there and see who all's died and is now a resident of their permanently dark and dreary town.

he doesn't do anything silly like wave but he's there, waiting patiently. patiently, that is, until he realizes that the ship isn't slowing down like it should be.

in fact, it seems to be almost accelerating and while ambrose isn't any sort of sailor, he knows that shouldn't be happening. so, he backs up a few steps, an involuntary motion that takes him away from the docks just as the ship hits it.

hard. ambrose throws up a shield, blocking most of the flying debris and detritus that's coming from the crash from hitting him but some still strikes and that's going to smart later. )

Are you serious?

( how many ferries had come through thus far and this hadn't ever happened? what in the hell?

there's really no time to place blame (yet) because once ambrose is sure all of his bits are where they're supposed to be, he moves closer to the wreck and starts muttering incantations and spells, trying to keep people afloat who might otherwise sink and grabbing what supplies he can when they get close enough. )

Are you serious?

( he's usually a little more eloquent than this but he's annoyed, wet, and starting to ache. )

▶ 02. AFTERMATH

( it takes awhile for things to settle. ambrose isn't sure if they've lost anyone personally but he knows they've lost supplies and they've lost the ferry which is concerning.

but, ambrose isn't going to think about that just yet. he's going to drink. he's going to sit inside the invincible and drink what alcohol stores they still have. )

A toast ( he says to no one in particular ) to the booze we're not going to be able to drink because of what just happened. May it rest in peace.

( and then he drinks and starts to cope because he's dead and now, they might be screwed. )

▶ 03. WILDCARD

( feel free to throw anything else at me. hit me up at

spoonishly for plotting! )

« « « Ferry crashing It's time to live with what we have and mourn what we lost.

[Quentin is on the docks, having followed Eliot down half out of habit, but also because he wants to great the new-comers. Wants to make sure that no one ends up sleeping in the town square or wandering the woods. So, he plans to walk around, saying hello and welcome to anyone who might look like that was a thing they wouldn't mind him doing.

So, standing on the docks, lantern at his feet, Quentin watches it pull up and a few people get off before the towns people board it along with Eliot, looking for supplies and packages most likely and Quentin tunes it out-- manages it for a whole five minutes before the engine of the ferry roars like a wild beast, the water churning up the sides of it and it doesn't sail off. No, it launches itself at the docks, keel up and plowing through the wood before he even has a chance to yell or scream, people being thrown clear off and on to dry ground and others going over the side to plunge in to the freezing waters. Quentin is halfway through a tut when something hard smashes in to his back and forces him down on his knees, kneeling even as the ferry tips over in almost slowmotion and a song? starts playing. What the fuck?

Still on his knees, Quentin starts the next tut even as the water rushes up around him, the steel-beams and woodwork from the dock falling down around his ears, his hands flying through each one, fingers twisting fast and practiced through a shield, a shimmering net, to push under the ferry to keep it afloat for longer, another for keeping the splintering boards underneath his knees from falling in to the lake and another, to build when he can't mend - an only barely stable bridge from dry land and to the ferry to help people get back to safety.]

Help me! Get them off the ferry! Fucking do something!

« « « Ferry crashing closed to Eliot WaughEverybody wanted to be the hero of their own story

[With all the screaming and the sudden beam to the back, it takes Quentin a while to get back up and look for Eliot. There are people everywhere, screaming for help or scrambling over debris to get at the screaming ones, there are people lying too still and much, much too quiet on the ground and all Quentin can do, now, is look at the boat, waiting for Eliot to show himself.

He waits, casting tut after tut to try and help the nearest ones, wiping his bloody nose with the back of his hand and squinting through the massive headache building at the base of his skull.]

« « « After the crash Nobody wanted to be comic relief. [one person only / first responder]

[It's done.

The ferry is beneath the waves and probably most of what it was carrying in fifty feet under water by now. Quentin is down by the ragged edge of what's left of the docks, beaten up lantern beside him and he tries to casts tuts to heal wounds, to knit bones and to lower the fear - the fear of who did this? Why? Are they going to do something else? Are we safe? And no one knows the answer to that, so he's just going to keep reassuring people that this was a mistake, a one-off, a faulty ferry and keep on healing, the blood flowing freely now because it's coming to fast for him to wipe away and besides, his sleeve is drenched anyway. Blood smeared all over his face and his back is on fire and his hands are numb, magic bleeding out with every breath until suddenly-

Quentin keels over.]

« « « wildcard You'll never know if you put the ring in the right volcano

[Find him anywhere, healing people. Ask for help? For directions? Hit me up and we can work something out.]

Edited 2019-10-02 17:07 (UTC)

1. The Crash

[And here she thought she had learned her lesson; despite all the knowledge that tells her not to go and help, her legs didn't listen and she wound up on the beach regardless. Or, rather, again. She had already picked her stuff up and was making her way up and back to the bonfire when the resounding crash of the ship filled the night. She had stopped dead in the tracks, eyes looking around frantically. At first, she thought it was another attack of the Forest Spirits but-

With a curse, she fleets across the ground and to the closest person, dragging them out of the water. After that, she hops aboard, looking for a way to help and salvage things.

She should have just turned away the moment she dragged that person out of the water. Because the moment she's done tossing the packaged supplies onto the safe grounds, a part of the ferry breaks off with a resounding crack, and she's sent flying overboard and into the nearby debris. She's not sure what was louder- the crack of her body or her yelp. There's a searing pain in her side and despite it, she tries to push herself up. But the wooden plank she grabbed just gives in and she falls back down with a curse. Okay, yeah, she got the point- she can't move.]

Dammit... go to hell... [Xayah mutters under her breath, curling up on her side.]

2. The Aftermarth

If I drink myself into the oblivion, would it numb the pain...?

[Question mostly aimed at herself than anyone else in the vicinity. Her ribs are cracked, but not broken, so she's just lounging at the back of the Invincible, on one of the long booths. Her entire left side is numb and the pain shows only with a twitch of her tall ears or a faint grimace every now and again.

One of the prizes she got is on the table, atop of the journal she ordered, and she's poking it with her finger; the second one, barbed wire, underneath the table. She's not sure what to do with it though. But, it's a useful thing, she'll handle it somehow.]

Stabbing the smartasses that sunk the ship with a feather or two sounds like a brilliant idea, I agree, [she says to her little bird gift.]

3. Wildcard

[OOC: Have some of your ideas? Bring them all here! We can also plot at

WindsongWitch ~ feel free to add me]

wow. this is a disaster.

[ The sound of the ferry crashing into the dock is monstrous, and even if Vanitas hadn't nbeen ear the boathouse to begin with, the sudden surge of fear and panic from the people on the boat and the citizens gathered would have brought him anyway. Like a moth to a flame, he sprints out to the remains of the dock— but unlike so many others, he isn't interested in saving lives.

The fact is, Vanitas doesn't know how to swim. If it was a skill he had before he was rend from Ventus, it's not like he can remember it, and he'd been raised in a desert, far from anything like this.

But he also understands the importance of this ferry. This boat was the one that brought in their supplies, that brought in their food— and while Vanitas couldn't really care less about all the new mouths to feed, he is interested in his own longevity. Luckily, all this negative emotion feeds directly into his power, and he plans on using it.

Standing on the beach, he spreads his arms, pulling them up like he's drawing something out of the earth itself. The darkness bubbles and the Unversed he spawns appear directly in the water, like handfuls of sea serpents. They froth at the surface before turning over and diving out of sight, and Vanitas wades thigh-deep into the murk to take crates of supplies from his monsters and carry them back up to the shore.

Maybe he's accidentally grabbed something that came in on the ferry for you? ]

aftermath

[ Vanitas has a small hoard of supplies in a stack on the beach, and while he has designs to keep most of it— there's one crate in particular that he's particularly defensive about. The crack in the crate shows that this one has sweets in it: honey and canned peaches and the like. ]

Hands off.

[ Whether this is what your character is after or not, it doesn't really matter. Vanitas isn't the sort of person keen on sharing, and the narrowed look on his face as he comes marching up the beach, soaking wet, makes it seem he might be ready to start a fight. ]

Go get your own crates.

wildcard!

[ got another idea? hit me with it! ]

ferry arrival.

[ He's woken up in some strange places, but on a boat? That's a new one. Even more bizarre is the fact that he isn't in any pain. He stands, and his legs don't give out. His lungs don't squeeze. He touches his face and no blood comes away on his fingers. This isn't just luck— and some part of him seizes with anticipation. He's seen the things that Hugo Strange can do, and the cold slice of fear that goes through him thinking that this must be that crazy bastard's work carries him up from his room and onto the deck of the ship.

And it's up there that things become a little more clear.

Jim moves to the starboard side of the boat, wrapping both hands around the guard rail to look out at the slow blinking red of the lighthouse. That alone, even without it's gentle wink over the endless trees and murky silhouette of a small town, would be enough to make it clear: this isn't Gotham. ]

Where the hell are we?

ferry crash (1)

[ It would've been too easy for things to go smoothly. He can almost hear Harvey's voice in the back of his mind. Why the hell wouldn't things go south if one or both of them were around? But if nothing else, the familiarity of a high-stakes situation slots him back into the moment. Whatever questions he has can be answered later, after the civilians are safe.

He positions himself near the gangway, one foot on the ferry and one off, flagging people along. ]

Get off the ferry! Come on, lets go!

[ It's obvious, but Jim knows full well what the shock of this sort of thing can do to a person— that they could need a direction to follow. And all this darkness isn't helping. ]

Go—

[ Suddenly the ferry heaves, a huge groan being the only warning before the gangway gives way— Jim has enough time to inhale sharply, once, before the wood under his foot collapses, dropping him with the wreckage into the dark water, swallowing him up over his head. ]

ferry crash (2)

[ One mishap isn't going to stop him form helping anyone else out of the water. He's drenched, his jacket clinging, and there's blood on the side of his face, but that doesn't stop Gordon rushing back into the water, prepared to help pull other people out from under the wreckage. ]

aftermath.

[ There are still people on the beach, pulling up crates and helping each other along, and Jim gives the dock one last long look. Or at least— where the dock at been minutes ago. Now, there's no sign of it or the ferry beyond the last few bubbles breaking on the surface of the water.

Gordon shakes his head and puts his hand on the back of his neck, rubbing the tension from it as he turns around. Somehow he doesn't think that's how things were supposed to go... but there's no sense dwelling on something they can't do anything about.

Instead, he heads over to the nearest person looking like they might be struggling. He looks a sorry state himself with a bruise forming on the left side of his face, but he's clear-eyed when he asks: ]

You alright?

wildcard!

[ feel free to assume that Gordon will literally help anyone that even looks like they need it, whether that's walking up somewhere or carrying supplies back up to the invincible. any other ideas? hmu! ]

ferry crash.

[ he's not interested in being the first face anyone sees when they get to the dock. It's an interesting tradition, albeit a little confusing. why continue adding people, adding variables, if there's a threat of a reset hanging over everyone's head? and he's still a little bitter about the hidden information. but mostly, he's documenting-- until it becomes very obvious that whoever (whatever?) is driving the ferry has no clue what they're doing.

he closes his notebook, and leaps down from his perch, making his watch to the dock, solidly certain that getting there in time wasn't going to change anything, but he can't help it. trying to bring order to chaos is the type of thing he was trained for. it's the type of thing he'd like to do, on a day-to-day basis.

But then the crash happens. He's left quickly surveilling the scene, watching people leap in. ]

Anyone know how many people were on that boat?

[ a quick ask, as he weighs between trying to save the people-- or save the supplies that will help them survive over the next month. or longer. ]

scrounging around.

[ decision made. looks like they're going to have to brave the nightmare waters to grab supplies-- and Jason's a strong enough swimmer, if necessary. who knows what that would do to the lanterns-- a question he'd rather not ask just yet as he jumps into the hold.

time to start flinging supplies out. starting with food-- because he would never argue half of the special requests were actually important... at least compared to that. ]

Catch.

[ it's your only warning before supplies are thrown at you. better to just throw stuff and sort it out later. ]

wildcard!

(just message me on plurk (

hypothetical) or this journal-- i'm happy to gin something up!)

a walk (and a bath) | before the crash
[Bruce leaves early. This isn't to say that he's in a hurry to reach the docks or that he's overly concerned with making it there on time. He'd requested a package, but it stands to reason that it will be transported to the docks along with every other- the way he's seen them appear before.

He isn't expecting to find any familiar faces here either. Bruce continues to believe that this isn't death, there isn't nearly enough evidence for that. In fact, he's inclined to believe the inverse- after all, he's known a number of people that have been killed- Gotham has no shortage of lethal violence. But none of those people that have preceded him have been here waiting. If this is the afterlife, it's a very selective one.

But because he's been living inside the museum, the walk he needs to make is somewhat longer than the others. And because of his upbringing, good manners dictate that he should arrive early. Coming to the shore early means that he's able to take some time to wash up down at the water. There is no shower at the museum after all and the river that's been discovered is too dangerous to risk it. He pushes his sleeves up, both forearms riddled with ugly bruises, and scrubs the dirt from beneath his nails. Washes it out of the creases in his palms. You'd be forgiven for not noticing him at all, he's a very narrow figure and hasn't shaken the habit of dressing in black- but more than that, he keeps his lantern meticulously covered. Maybe if you're very quick or very observant, you'll spot an accidental wink of light. Or maybe you're out in the water for your own reasons- which would make you the strange one, all things considered.]

a trust exercise | during the crash
[The ferry is sinking. This much would be inevitable for the crash- an anticipated worst case scenario. It speaks volumes to the character of the people in Beacon that so many of them leap into action. There are figures in the water, swimming out to help the newcomers who leap from the ferry itself- plunged deep into the dark lake. Cries for help are met equally with shouts of encouragement, assurance that help is coming, that no one is alone.

It leaves something small and bright burning in his chest- the deep desire to see this for Gotham too. A willingness from her people to reach out for one another. Act by act, deed by deed Detective Bullock had said. It matters.

Bruce doesn't jump into the water for people. He loops rope around his shoulder and runs into the lake, pushing faster and deeper until the bottom goes out from under his feet.] Grab some rope! [He shouts back at anyone not yet swimming. At anyone in the water nearby that isn't keeping someone else afloat.]

We need to reach the supplies.
Tie them together, we can collect them even if they sink.

a father son fishing expedition | closed to jason todd
[Water crashes in around him and Bruce lets his body sink, lets it cover his head and blot out sight and sound until everything is far away and muffled, until everything is dark. The air stays in his lungs easily with only small bubbles escaping and rising to the surface, drifting out of him in slow morse code.

The world record right now is held by a man in Spain, who can hold his breath for twenty four minutes and three seconds if he uses pure oxygen first. And men in the Navy are required to hold their breath for four minutes or longer. Bruce's personal best is now five minutes and thirty-eight seconds, but he's confident that it's not yet his peak.

He stays beneath the water for uncomfortable stretches at a time, hair floating back from his face like a dark cloud as he dives, reaches for one package in the abyss, and then another. Mostly he does it blind, connecting the rope through any edge he can find, tying it around the shape when he can't- then he moves onto the next. The movements become more practiced as he goes along but it isn't ceaseless. His head comes up now and again for a gulp of breath- to allow his lungs to recover. This changes when he finds he can't quite catch it. There's something... wrong. An uncertainty, a sense of urgency he can't place. And that's when he looks to his lantern. Bruce had set it afloat in the water to ensure he wouldn't drift too far from it. But the waves are becoming stronger and the small owl bobs and tips out of reach, rocking hard. It isn't the smallest, simplest way to kill a person, he thinks. A bullet is not nearly as vast as a wave. But.]

a soggy beginning | after the crash
[There are only so many places in Beacon that offer light and warmth. Bruce carries the packages he's fished out and those he hasn't towards the bonfire- where they can be unwrapped and given to their appropriate owners- where they can dry. They'll have only what they've managed to retrieve from the ferry, no thanks to whatever short-sighted, impulsive, selfish plan has put them at risk.

Water drips from his clothes, weighs him down. But it doesn't slow him. He makes the trip a dozen times as other people move around him- helping new arrivals to safety, checking on friends and family. Bruce has no one but these packages, but that's fine. The job needs to be done.]

(closed to Jason)

Riku had some stuff to do, but he didn't think the ferry was going anywhere, so he didn't rush over when the music began on the old speakers. He figured he'd have time to collect what he requested on the next shipment.

A few things he notices right away: the ferry is no longer docked, but chugs along out in the bay, it seems to be making its way back, and there are others on the shore looking... concerned, or as confused as he feels.

He's caught up to stand near Jason by the time it starts to get closer and closer to the dock, and isn't slowing down. It doesn't take an islander familiar with boats to realize an impending collision when he sees one, but he breathes out anyway:

"It's not stopping. HEY!" Riku shouts, cupping his hands around his mouth, "Get off the dock! Get away from there!" Which works about as well as one can imagine, so he grabs at Jason's arm. He's seen him around, but it's not like they ever really... Riku never took the time to chat, that's on him.

"There's life preservers in the boathouse, help me out!"

[ 1 - Ferry Fun! ]

[ When Lunafreya had volunteered to go and get supplies, it was supposed to be a normal thing. She'd been busily gathering things, looking for packages meant for her friends, when she hears it: someone clearly touched in the head above decks yelling 'SEE YA, SUCKERS!' and that's when the boat jolts. She drops what's in her arms and goes staggers, probably bumping into whomever is unfortunate enough to be below decks, too. ]

——goodness, forgive me!

[ 2 - Ferry Not So Fun! ]

[ Well, she'd thought the initial jostling had been bad enough. The ferry's hit something, though; her head feels like it's been split open and between the fact that she can feel blood trailing down her face, something is very wrong with her left ankle. She's busy trying to save her lantern with one hand, using her body to try and help keep anyone else nearby as safe as possible.

But now they are dealt something else: water that is rapidly rising. Luna's not had much luck when it comes to water, and briefly, a mental image of Leviathan flashes through her mind, along with the cold water and debris that fell down around her in her final moments.

She pushes that away, scrambling as best she can to her feet and doing what she can to help the nearest person up, too. ]

Come, we have no time to waste!

[ 3 - Sorry Jack, we let go ]

[ Some how, some way, she's managed to drag herself and a few other people [looking at you, Noctis] back to shore. She's not done, though. Despite her own injuries, she's going to be flitting about, using her healing powers to do what she can whether that is stopping bleeding, mending minor wounds, etc.

As a matter of fact, she's limping over to you, and she's not asking as she places her hands against your cheeks, pressing her forehead to yours, and murmuring: ]

Blessed stars of life and light...

CARGO BAY.

( for those with something to pick up, you might find Matt thumbing through a small library of braille bibles with a bemused look on his face. he REALLY was just thinking the pocket edition of the greatest hits, not an entire set! he hasn't been around a whole collection since his time in the orphanage...

that said, he's so dazed by the collection that he lingers a little too long. long enough that he's definitely down with the supplies when the worst happens. he hears the movement before he feels it, and Matt is at least sensible enough to drop Deuteronomy. ) This thing is moving, we need to get out of here— ( it's sage advice, directed at anyone else misfortunate enough to be scavenging through supplies, but it's too late to be helpful.

because the ferry is already in motion, and a fast motion at that. it all sort of blurs together when the crash happens, and despite his attempts to keep his feet he doesn't, slamming hard against a metal wall even as he tries to brace himself against it. it saves his face, not his shoulder, and he lands like a box of rocks, only to make a pained shout when he lands on a shoulder that didn't really appreciate it. )

Are you... are you okay? ( he asks, in a daze. honestly, Matt is so out of it he has no clue, he just remembers having company before the ferry slammed itself into shore. might as well check. )

BEACH.

( once he's out of the ship, Matt drops his sole remaining chunk of bible in the sand and sits, mostly to take stock of his injuries. his sunglasses are gone, probably flipped off his face in the crash, which does mean he's not as obviously blind as he usually is.

a few scrapes, a bruise, a bit of blood, all told he's felt worse. the biggest problem is his shoulder, and Matt can guess from the pain and prior experience it's dislocated. it's not the most fun injury, though at least it should heal fast enough once it's back in place. there, you see, lies the rub...

someone passes and while Matt would love to not admit he needs help, he sort of does. ) Please, I need someone with medical training. ( because setting his own shoulder would be difficult, tbh. )

RECOVERY.

( you're not supposed to swim after a meal and you're definitely not supposed to swim after a dislocated shoulder, but sound medical advice has never had bearing on what Matt Murdock does and it's not going to start now. so once he's as close to working order as he can get, he wades into the water to see what he can recover. maybe he'll call you over for help lifting something too waterlogged for him to get with one arm, or maybe he notices someone hurt in the recovery and oddly manages to find them the second the injury happens to help get them to shore.

last but not least, you can find him sitting rather despondently with a waterlogged book on the beach. he's clearly upset... prob best just leave him! )

WILDCARD.
want something else? hit me with it! or you can pm me at this journal or

meowed to hash something out!

i. pre-hijack

[Waking up dead is a harrowing experience for Masaomi, and he damn near gives himself whiplash when he shoots up to slap his palm over a bullet wound that is no longer there. It takes him a moment to remember to breathe, just breathe dammit, but he has to admit, it does help that the first thing he sees (after his poor bloodstained hoodie) is a tablet. A few more steady breaths assure him he's not about to kick it again any time soon. He sighs, tension washing from his shoulders, and reaches for the tablet.

The internet saves the day yet again.

It's not until he's read through the entire beginner's guide that he stands, shoves the tablet under his armpit, clips the lantern to his waste, and opens the door to his quaint ferry cabin.]

What the hell does "tetchy" mean?!

ii. post-hijack

[This might be shock. That's what Masaomi is telling himself anyway. It might be shock, or it might be homicidal rage.

The gawking teenager is standing knee deep in the water and staring not at the nearly sunken ferry but at the tablet he'd received just half an hour ago. It's bobbing bitterly with the waves, floating up to and sinking beneath the surface in a cursed dance of random repetition. Masaomi carefully pulls it out, watches the water slide off of it until only a trickle is left. He can already tell there's no salvaging the tech. Apparently only human beings get an afterlife here.

Masaomi wants to cry. Instead, he hugs the deceased tablet to his chest and whispers.]

You will be avenged.

Threaded | Flat

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1 -- Ferry, Near & Far

2a -- Ferry, Tip of the Iceberg

2b -- Ferry, At least no one is arguing about doors

3 -- Beach/Dock Ruins, Post-Titantic-Reenactment

4 -- Bonfire Square, Our Hearts Have Gone On Now