logsinthenight | 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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Rosinante.

[And he'll shake back, but he's still debating how good it is to meet anyone here. Instead, he aims a half-smile downward. Unpainted, today - it's going to take some time to decide how he wants to look, now that he's free of that last role he had to play for far too long.]

I'm glad someone around here knows what's going on or we'd all be pretty lost, I think. Do you know anything about where we can find boats?

Boats?

[There's a new one.]

What good would a boat do you? There's nothing to see out on that lake.

[...]

So far as I know, anyhow.

[He resists the obvious quip - and just how far do you know, then? and frowns.]

Tell me about the lake, then. I was hoping to see if there might be other settlements around the shores. That ferry we were on came from somewhere, like the supplies.

[Yeah, yeah, afterlife, but that doesn't mean he rode a ghost ship and has been eating ghost food, man. That's just silly.]

Came from somewhere, yeah, but nowhere you're likely to find with a boat of your own. That ferry ain't of this world. Not entirely, anyhow.

And the rest of this world's dead. Been dead for a long time. This is the only settlement you'll find. Why you in a hurry to leave already? You just got here.

Didn't say I wouldn't come back. I just want to know what's out there. Boat seems like it'd be faster than walking.

[This is weird, and a little suspicious, honestly. It's like the guy is trying too hard to dissuade him. But he keeps it casual for now, rather than accusing him of such.]

How do you know the world's dead, anyway?

Mm, walking will get you further. There's plenty to see in town yet, and it's not as if you'd be able to see much from out on a boat. But, hey, suit yourself.

[Winters shrugs.]

That's what the Keeper's said, and everyone else before me and her. It's something the locals figured out before they died off. Maybe it don't make much sense, but it's the best—not to mention only—explanation we've got, and it checks out. No one ends up here if they ain't died back home, and there's no natural life left in this world.

[There's a whole shoreline, he'd argue. Much faster and easier to boat along it than try to walk through the trees on uneven ground. But arguing that point with Winters doesn't sound like it would gain him anything at all.]

No natural life except the plants? Or is there something wrong with the trees? And those... creatures who tend the bar, are they dead as well?

[He's not trying to be a smartass. Obviously the guy's been here a lot longer and knows plenty about this place. But his cryptic answers just raise more questions.]

I couldn't tell you the story behind the plants. No trees I know can live without sunlight. Hell, maybe they're forest spirits too.

[It wouldn't be the weirdest thing he's seen.]

Forest spirits, that's what you're talking about. The creatures. Anything in this place that ain't got a lantern like you and me is a forest spirit.

[...]

I don't know what they are, to tell the truth. They were a part of this place long before the rest of us.

[Spirit trees. Right. Sure, why not, as if this place wasn't weird enough already.]

So, they're from here, far as you know. And the lighthouse keeper? Does she have a lantern?

Far as I know, yeah. And I assume she's got a lantern. Never actually met her myself—she's stuck in the lighthouse—but stands to reason she'd have once since everyone else 'round here does. She came in just like the rest of us.

But you've spoken to her, in order to know that. Using the tablets?

[It's a total guess. It could be secondhand information. The fact that Winters hasn't met her, has never been to the lighthouse, is something of a surprise, as is the fact that she too is from somewhere else.]

I don't mean to come across as too stubborn. I know you've been here longer than we have, and the things you know come from experience. You've been through more than one of these resets, I'm guessing, right? Why were you retained?

INTRO LOG: JULY

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