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

Not... in recent years, no. [He's can't remember last time there was some kind of festival in Insomnia. They were preparing one for the peace treaty signing but... that went up in the smoke. Literally.]

Yes, this isn't quite what I expected afterlife to be.

[He didn't expect sunshine and roses either, but certainly not all of this darkness.]

Me either. [Nomads aren't usually in the right place at the right time for fairs.

And she didn't expect this of the afterlife either.]

What did you expect? There are lots of ideas about what happens after death.

[What did he expect? Now that he thinks about it- he didn't think about it. Afterlife wasn't on the menu back home, dying was a certainty, but not a focus.

He hums,] Certainly not darkness.

There were stories that you join your ancestors in the afterlife and go to blissful sleep, to rest from the weary life you led. [But then again, all that plague and daemons would make people tell stories like that. To make it seem easier.]

That sounds nice. [It really does. Jo does like the idea of gently drifting off and waking up with her father and her mother. It would've been nice to see him.]

But you don't sleep in the dark? Maybe that's what we're supposed to do here.

[Probably not.]

[It's not what he expected to happen to himself. Ignis honestly didn't hold much optimism in regard to what happens to him- alive or no. This, so far, is not good, but not bad either. Could always be better.]

I suppose we will see. Perhaps this place is some kind of limbo we have to go through.

[Probably not. But he'd like to think that this darkness is not his actual afterlife.]

[Jo stays quiet for a moment, considering that option as well. It could be. They don't know enough.]

In that case, there's probably a problem to solve. [Isn't that usually how it works? One has to figure out how to break the seal and escape.]

A problem?

[Ignis has never encountered something like this before. He doesn't quite dabble in the afterlife and death in general, despite having magic. It's not that type of magic.]

Yeah. Or some kind of solution. Like in a movie.

[She shrugs, looking around again.]

Figuring out how to fix whatever's going on here might let us go home.

[That could actually be a thing.]

That is not a stretch... it will require some time, however. This place looks...

[Well, dead. Abandoned. As if no one took care of it for a long while.]

[Jo looks around after he trails off. There's not much to be seen in the dark on the beach, but she doesn't hold much hope.]

It will take a lot of work. [She's not going to give up.]

INTRO LOG: JULY

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