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 one

[ a quick mental check: it's not the weirdest occurrence peter's ever encountered, or even top five. that's not, of course, to say it's not weird, but there's definitely a few things higher up on the list. the definitive nature of hey you're dead is — debatable, given everything.

ordinarily he'd suit up, patrol new york and find someone, something to distract him, but here? he doesn't really know where to start, and he aches — the kind of entire body ache that comes only from over-exertion and whilst peter knows sleep wouldn't go amiss, he's not particularly inclined to try and get any. there's a host of unanswered questions — his first instinct had been to blame kraven, but the longer he's here, the more that immediate jump is being shrouded in doubt: no-one else here had been there, and this isn't exactly kraven's m.o.

("how does the spider react to thinking he's dead?" maybe, problem is, they've both been there, done that and experienced the less-than-pleasant answer to that question. "how does the man react to thinking (knowing) he's failed—".

yeah, shut up, parker. stop thinking.)

he has his webshooters, so that's something and it could always be worse (is what he's telling himself), which is basically a second something. he'll figure out the third something soon, once he's away from the beach, away from the sand that he's certain he's going to be finding between his toes and in his hair and in his pants for days.

(ugh, the suit's going to be so itchy—)

or he'll be in town, making note of the lay of the land and the buildings — the town hall, the church, and finally the general store; if you manage to catch him before he finds a change of clothes, he knows. he knows the suit is—

—well, it's an acquired taste, but he's not going to admit that. instead he's going to skip straight past go, not collect $200, and: ]

—Hey, Glinda. [ beat. ] I'm pretty sure I left my red shoes with my other dress back home, but if you've seen a yellow brick road, I'll take directions.

ii → la... ter?

[ or you might catch peter later — he doesn't drink, but he's ended up at the invincible anyway. it's where most people have ended up, apparently, which means it's a good way to get an idea of friendly (and not so friendly) faces. the good news? peter doesn't recognise anyone. the bad news? peter doesn't recognise anyone.

officially, he has a cup of coffee — or that's what he's been told it is. as far as he can tell, it's a cup of hot. that's it. just hot. when someone approaches, he shoots them a cursory glance and offers a quick quirk of a smile before gesturing loosely at the cup in front of him. ]

If you're thinking of trying the coffee? Don't.

iii → wildcard

[ tbh i'm open for basically anything! if you want me to set something up, just lmk, otherwise go for it. if there's anything you want to run by me, just ping me at

ruffians ]

Edited 2019-07-03 00:19 (UTC)

[ Elden had been going to check the church just to see what lay inside. This town seemed fairly barren as is, so perhaps the church was the same. He might be debating if he should convert it to his own religious needs but that thought goes no further when this strangely dressed man interrupts his thoughts. Elden can't help but jump a little at having been caught off guard, but that changes quickly.The boy stares with the most curious look plastered on his face, brow raised, mouth cocked into a confused frown.

Sure, he's seen some oddly dressed people here, but this...looks really absurd, even for a kid who looks like he stepped right out of a fantasy novel, armour and all. ]

Um...my name's Elden, not Glinda. [ Still, he can't help but give the guy another look, canting his head quizzically. ]

If what your wearing counts as a dress, I'd hate to see the other outfit. [ That might be a snarky remark but hey, the guy did startle him. ]

[ occasionally, peter's jokes are for the bystanders, for the people he's helping; occasionally, they're for — at the expense of — whatever villain-slash-generic bad guy he finds himself up against; almost always, they're a distraction, and sometimes, they're just for him.

which is to say: there's a moment's pause where peter decides if he wants to continue with the joke that elden clearly doesn't get; the momentary silence is punctuated by a dismissive wave of his hand. if elden's from earth, which peter isn't going to assume, he's almost definitely not from 2019 unless he's super committed to a ren faire — which, given the quizzical look being directed peter's way, is a touch unlikely. ] —It's a suit. [ or uniform, if he's being particularly picky. ]

Uh...huh... [ A suit was it? Don't mind him, Peter, the boy is just going to start walking around to give the suit a better inspection. Whatever it was meant for it definitely couldn't be for guard duty or even at some kind of wizard academy.

It's when the idea hits him that makes him smile. Oh, of course there'd be only one reason someone would wear a suit like that. ]

You're a performer! For like a circus or a carnival or something, right?

Coffee?

[Mary peers at his cup.]

If there's coffee...maybe there's cake! In police society, people have dinner parties and then they serve coffee with cake for dessert!

[ there's a brief silence before peter responds, when the fact that mary is a small child really registers and peter's expression flickers briefly. ] Maybe. [ beat. ] I don't know if those guys at the bar— [ peter waves a hand towards the forest spirits, ] —will know what a dinner party is, but have you checked at the store? They might have cake, and then we can have our own dinner party. [ his voice drops to a whisper and he leans forward. ] —We could even make it just dessert.

[Mary's eyes practically sparkle at the conspiratorial admission. She gasps, then fearing it's too loud, looks around to make sure they haven't been found out!]

I haven't looked for cake in the store...but I'd like that very much!

[A tea party without the tea. And without the china. And with just cake!]

[ peter's eyes widen in exaggerated shock and he raises a finger to his lips. ] It's gotta be our secret, uh,— [ a second's pause, and peter realises he doesn't know the girl's name. the comment hangs unfinished for a moment, before— ] I'm Peter, but my friends call me Pete. What should I call you?

I'm Mary!

[She gives a curtsy!]

My friends call me, um...

[...]

They call me Mary!

[ OH GOSH such a cute child... ] Hey, Mary, it's nice to meet you. [ beat. ] So, what else are we going to need at our dinner party? —Hot cocoa?

--with marshmallows?

[There has to be marshmallows!]

And, um, and cookies!

[This is going to be a very, very sweets-filled dessert party.]

Oh really? Well, shoot. I was hoping for something dark as the night here.

[ daylight returns the smile. he looks a little shy, with how he ducks his helm and rubs the back of his neck, but he's trying his best to be friendly and chatty with the crowd for the time being. ]

Do you think it'll be worth the risk to try anything else they have on the menu? I'm kind of curious to see what they have to offer and what they might not have. [ the latter, mostly, so he can keep that in mind if he goes out and looks for stuff for others in the future. ]

[ the first comment earns a snort of a laugh and peter glances back at the coffee — he's not sure if it'd be improved or not with milk, and he's also not sure if he'd even want to trust the milk in what is apparently a realm for the deceased. (who is he kidding, he'll definitely try the milk at some point — he's very rarely picky about food or drink.)

nevertheless, there's a brief flicker of hesitation mingled with surprise before he replies — because honestly, daylight is ... tall, although peter has plenty of experience with The Unexpected, so— ]

You could always see if they have, uh, something with charcoal if you're committed to the 'dark as the night, black as my soul' thing.

[ punctuated by a loose shrug of his of his shoulders as if to say 'honestly, your guess is as good as mine'. ]

[ at the mention of charcoal, daylight actually gives this serious thought. it would be funny to commit to the act all the way. there's not much else to do in the town for the time being and breaking the ice with a few folks by doing something goofy is good.

but, at the same time, meddy isn't here with him. nor is emergency aid. if something happened to him because of a dumb stunt, he- will. he wouldn't get scolded by either since they're not around, but the idea alone is enough to deter him.

(for now... let's see what happens in the following days.) ]

Okay... Much as it makes me sound like I'm a chicken, I'm going to have to sit on the idea of that for a while. My filtration systems are not going to be happy if I bust them so soon. [ he smiles, apologetically so, and now takes very special care as he takes a seat next to the guy if he doesn't mind. not a lot of space here at the invincible tonight, not that it's become the sort of living hub. ] I guess it'll have to be good old water for now.

For what it’s worth, I don’t think I’d recommend charcoal at the best of times, so you’re probably making the right choice. [ and given everything, exotic (relatively speaking) is probably worth avoiding. regardless, there’s a breath of a pause as peter moves his chair across a touch to try and give daylight a touch more room; a pause in which he weighs up how polite it’d be to question ‘filtration systems’.

(maybe not as basically the first words out of his mouth.) ]

—I’m Peter, by the way.

Daylight! [ given the flow of their conversation, this is his name, probably? it's definitely a strange thing to say, given their current setting.

thankfully, he adds something to confirm that, ] You can call me, 'Day' if you want! It's really nice to meet you, Peter.

[ his winglets flare out in excitement and almost knocks someone over as a result. the incident is narrowly avoided when he pulls them back just in time for the person. ] Ah- Sorry about that!

[ he turns to peter now, looking sheepish over that. ] Sorry. I'll try to keep that in mind. I'm not used to everything being so... you know... not my size.

Right, Day. [ beat; a quirk of a smile. ] It's good to meet you. [ peter likes to think he's used to weird; generally thinks that if he were to look up the word in a dictionary, there'd be a little subsection something along the lines of: otherwise defined as, peter parker's life. that is to say, daylight in general is pretty easy for peter to compartmentalise and make sense of, but that doesn't mean he's not startled by the winglets and— ]

—And sure, I can see why everything being, uh, human-sized would be an issue. [ beat. ] Kind of makes you think that maybe Winters was telling the truth about our selection being random... [ a little bit, at any rate, even if peter's not completely buying it; he's experienced enough that's close enough to this to immediately want to cry 'bullshit!'¹.

(¹ or, you know, the all-ages equivalent because that's peter for you.) ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

INTRO LOG: JULY

peter parker | marvel.

1) Church

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ii

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( la...ter? prompt! )

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FIVE YEARS LATER i’m sorry

it's cool! o /

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