logsinthenight | INTRO LOG: JULY

INTRO LOG: JULY

characters: everyone.
location: the harbor, as well as the rest of town.
date/time: july 1-3.
content: beacon's newest batch of residents arrives on the ferry. winters, will, and rastus introduce themselves and explain the situation.
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.

•••
Winters and Will are waiting for you on the beach. Winters flags you down from where he's standing atop a large rock, surveying the gathering crowd. Will stands next to him, though he's monkeying with his tablet and looks rather bored. He barely looks up as Winters speaks:

"First thing's first: I'm sorry you're here. There's no easy way to break this news, so let's just get it over with, hm? You're dead. Or, ah, you've died. Call this the afterlife if you want, or don't if that ain't your thing, but point is, you're here 'cause you died. Those are the facts.

This world's dead, too. You've noticed by now it's pretty dark, yeah? That's 'cause there's no life here, not anymore. And that lantern you've got? That's your life, so to speak. The flame goes out, you die, and vice versa. Keep it close. Should be easy enough to remember on account of how the sun don't rise. You'll need something to see by.

This place is called Beacon, and that's Lake Red Jacket. Town's 'bout a mile down the road, and we've got a bonfire there, but that's the only other light you'll see in this place. Save for the moon and all, though the sky won't do you much good out in the woods. I'll let Rastus explain the bonfire to y'all.

Ah, right. I'm Ben Winters—Winters'll do—and this here's Will Ingr— What? For christ's sake, Dr. Will Ingram. Likes to think he's the brains of the operation, as you can see. If you've got questions about these tablets, he's your guy. Rastus tends to the fire, and you'll find him in town. He's married to his job in a way. And you may never've seen a person like him back wherever you came from, but don't make a big fuss over it. He's a nice fellow. Mind your manners.

The three of us are leftovers from past resets. We came here on that ferry just like you, but it's just us left now. 'Sides the Lighthouse Keeper, but it'll be a bit before you get to meet her. She's got control over the town, see, and if she ain't satisfied with a group's performance, they get the axe. Town gets reset. If she pulls a reset on you folks, a couple of you might end up like me and Will here, giving this speech to the next crop."

The red beam of the lighthouse pulses over the group, over the trees. Winters glances up to watch it swing out over the bay.

"But don't hold it against her. Ain't her fault we're in this mess, and we've all got a job to do, including you.

For now, concentrate on accepting your lot, yeah? We're here to answer your questions, but we ain't gonna tell you all there is to know just yet. Some things are best learned on your own, and some of it we just don't want to saddle you with yet. There's a limit to how long we can stay here safely, that's true, but thing is, we do got time. Time enough to play this smart. Do better than the folks before us did. Settle in, make peace, explore a bit if you're up for it. Use these first couple weeks to come to grips. You ain't gonna be any good to the town if you don't sort yourself out before worrying about what comes next.

So listen up: You're dead. You died. Whatever your old life was, it's done now. None of us can go back, so all we've got is forward. Welcome to Beacon. Could be worse, yeah?"

ooc.

Hey there, wonderful players, and welcome to In the Night! For this intro log, all three NPCs will be available for chatting with, whether your character wants to make casual conversation or ask questions about all this. The headers on each NPC toplevel are there for easy reference as to what each of them are responsible for, but you're welcome to go to any NPC for whatever reason. You're welcome to assume your character has overheard any NPC conversation to learn more about the game. After the NPC threads have died down, we'll compile the info learned ICly and add it to the game history page. If your character would contribute something specific to the game history records, let us know!

DELIVERIES

The following packages can be found in the cargo hold:

The monthly store restock

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i. day 01 — beach

["could be worse, yeah?"

yeah, she guesses, it could be worse. a lot worse. thanks to her, mar-vell's mission still has a hope of being realized; the cruiser, with all the skrulls on board, had managed to clear before she'd felt the energy from the accusers' blasts tear her apart, and for now, they have time. if she'd had to go down, she'd gone down on her own terms, too, fighting to the bitter end.

but, no, she can't say that anything about this situation is... great.

the lantern she's holding doesn't give off much in the way of light, so the first thing she tries is her fist, concentrating just enough energy into it to make it glow — but nothing happens. she tries it again, and then again, with the same result. on the fourth attempt, a blast hits the sand in front of her a small distance away as she feels her frustration steadily mounting.

"control it," she hears yon-rogg's voice chide from the back of her mind. for that, she blasts the sand again.

(here's hoping that anyone in the vicinity is watching their feet.)

she knows what kind of people had tried to put limits on her power once. to say that none of this sits well with her would be the understatement of the century.]

ii. day 01 — bar

[dead, utterly frustrated, or anything else, carol is starving, and, eventually, she finds her way to the bar inside the invincible.

the clutter inside kind of reminds her of pancho's, in a way. in pieces of memories, she can pick out nights, years back, when everyone from base had piled in to a space that hadn't really been large enough to accommodate them all. nights when there'd been actual fist fights over claim to the pool table, happening more and more as people became drunker. nights when she and maria had totally killed it at karaoke, knowing they'd shared a victory no matter what any of the boys had to say about it.

she'll never see maria again, will she? just when she'd gotten something back, when something had finally clicked into place and made sense, she'd lost it again.

for her own sanity, she tries not to dwell on the thought, though. when she hears someone approach, she turns on her stool, and with a slight scrunch to her face, says,]

If you're thinking about the beer, I wouldn't get your hopes up. [she sets her mug down on the counter.] It's not terrible, but it leaves a lot to be desired.

[she's had some pretty... choice post-mission drinks in the past. she'd know.]

iii. wildcard

[feel free to hit me up via pm or at

lensflares if you want something else! i set all my prompts on day 1, but we can definitely hash stuff out for what's going on over the next few days as well c:]

[When the blast hits the sane, Mary shrieks in surprise. Fortunately, it's not close enough to have done more than scare her, but still, she sinks down into a crouch and covers her head.]

Don't hurt me!

[first, there's a shriek — a distinctly child-like shriek. then, there's the horrible feeling that drops to the pit of her stomach as she comes to the realization that she had probably caused it.

and this is all before the even more horrible "don't hurt me!"

not two seconds later, she rushes in the direction of where she's sure it's coming from, and in the light of her lantern, she's able to make out a little girl covering her head. in the gentlest voice she can manage:]

Hey, hey, it's okay. [she crouches down to the child's level, and gives her best reassuring smile.] I'm not gonna hurt you. It was just an accident.

An accident?

[Clearly, she was already starting to get herself all worked up, but at the explanation, given with such gentle consideration, she sniffs and wipes her eyes on her charred sleeve. Surely, for an accident, she can be more brave than this.]

Okay...I...I have accidents too, sometimes, when I'm hurting.

[it sounds so — simple, coming from a child. simple, but also well beyond her years at the same time.

clearly, this girl knows something about hurting, just like the children she's seen whose worlds have been laid waste by war, just like all those skrull families she'd been trying to help. something in carol's chest twists at the thought, and her throat goes dry; she has to swallow again before speaking.]

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Sometimes things happen when you're hurting, and you can't really help them.

[somewhere in there, her reassuring smile had faltered, but she tries for it again.]

I'm Carol. What's your name?

[Even though Mary's face is still red, she's clearly much calmer now, and even as Carol's expression saddens, Mary starts to smile a bit easier.]

I'm Mary...how do you do?

Is that so?

[Ignis takes a seat, despite the warning about bad drinks. He's actually had a coffee here earlier, before settling in, and it was, well, bad. To put it simply.]

Thankfully, I am not a beer type of person. [The urge to say that he doesn't drink on duty came up but the lantern dangling behind the bartender reminded him that he's very much dead.]

A glass of bourbon, please. [The only way it could be bad is if it's weak, and that's fine by Ignis.]

[she tucks her leg back under her and scoots her stool over just a hair when he sits down, making more room at the counter. (it's her tendency to sprawl when no one else is taking up the space.) there's a hm between pressed lips as she considers, then:]

Brave man. I'd put good money on the bourbon being even worse.

[she says, like she actually knows something about bourbon.

(spoilers: she doesn't.)]

[She wasn't taking up space at all. Seeing they are currently the only ones at the bar and others huddled towards the exit or in the dark corners of the bar. His eyebrows raise and he nods to the bartender when he places the glass in front of him. It looks normal but, as predicted, there's no distinct smell of alcohol coming from it.

He takes a good sip of it and hums, tone light:]

If you ever wanted to know how liquid wood tastes like, I recommend it.

[He doesn't know much really, only how it should taste like (read it in a book once). This is not how it should taste, but he doesn't look bothered by it.]

[it's kind of nice, she thinks, to actually have someone to talk to like this right now, just with light, simple conversation. she's lost track of how long she's been in here, with only the bartender and her own thoughts to keep her company.

the laugh that escapes her at his assessment actually feels halfway normal.]

Gross.

[she scrunches her whole face for emphasis.]

You know, I bet they'd find some way to even make water taste bad.

[It's good to hear a little bit of laugh in this rather depressing situation. The bartender is not giving them friendly looks though since they've been trashing his drinks. Ignis just clears his throat and turns in his seat towards her.]

High possibility. Coffee is also awful.

[Or maybe his coffee standards are just too high. He should probably take the advice of his friends and tone down the caffeine.]

[ dick's own lantern is protectively tucked away inside his clothes. walking around in the dark never bothered him. would be easier if his night vision goggles weren't mysteriously kaput, but that's his luck lately. first kory's ship, then rachel's father. shit's hitting the fan lately. ]

Hey!

[ drawn to the light carol emits from her fist. he emerges out of the darkness, gazing at the sand.

he studies carol. ]

Not supposed to do that, huh?

[the beach doesn't cover much in the way of area, and there'd been a crowd ushered off the ferry, but over the past several minutes, in her own head, frustration, and everything else, carol has almost forgotten all about the others. she startles, slightly, when a voice calls out to her, and her right hand flattens.

she recovers, though, by the time the stranger approaches.]

It was supposed to glow. [when she speaks, her tone has lingering hints of frustration.] And now — [she curls her fingers into a fist again and holds it up. this time when she concentrates her energy, she takes care to not let it escalate to the level of a photon blast.] Nothing.

[ he's a little sneak. almost like your friendly neighborhood ninja. dick isn't out here to scare anyone, but old habits die pretty hard. more so in the afterlife.

she looks like she's got martial training. military.

he glances at her hand again. unafraid. not startled, either. ]

Are any of your other abilities similarly affected? [ he assumes, but asking will clear it up. ]

Edited (that was not an appropriate icon.) 2019-07-04 01:32 (UTC)

[ She visibly startles when Carol acknowledges her, stepping back slightly before her body finally registered that nothing was going to hurt her. ]

Oh uh. I'm not old enough to drink.

[ She laughs nervously, rocking back and forth slightly on her feet. ]

[carol looks up from her mug with brows furrowed, a little confused by the comment. then, she remembers —

— right. drinking age is a thing on earth, when it isn't on so many other planets.

after a beat, she shrugs.]

Just as well. You're really not missing anything.

That’s what my mom says.

[ She immediately regrets those words as they come out of her mouth. Great, now she sounds like a little kid. ]

You have powers.

[He seems unphased by the blast at the sand. People with special abilities is nothing new where he comes from. Every other person seems to be able to do something special including an annoying hollywood actor.

He just glances from the area hit and back to her. His expression hidden by a full-face mask though he sounded eerily calm despite the raspy voice.]

They are not working as intended?

[She seemed a little frustrated and his were wonky at best so he's mostly just assuming.]

[well, thank you, captain obvious.

that's the first thought that pops into her head, and it doesn't really help with the whole frustration thing. she lets out a breath and turns toward him, hand flattening back out as she does.]

I totally meant to do that. Obviously. [there's a hint of sarcasm in her voice. just a hint.] The sand had it coming.

[While the sarcasm wasn't lost on him, he made no real comment about it.

Instead he walks to where the sand had met it's untimely doom and looked down at the blasted area.]

Powers do not work as they should here. What were you attempting to do?

[He turns back to look at her, staring with pure white eyes.]

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INTRO LOG: JULY

carol danvers | ota!

beach

oh no........

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ii

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[ beach ]

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day 01 - bar

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beach

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