INTRO LOG: JULY

[inthenightmods]

INTRO LOG: JULY
IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN

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

QUICKNAV
comms	|	network • logs • memes • ooc
pages	|	rules • faq • taken • mod contact • player contact • calendar • setting • exploration • item requests • full nav

Comments

[steadfastjewel]

Made with honey, I think. Far more filling than normal bread.

[Lothlorien was fuckin weird but at least? the food was fine??? he could do without the weird mind magic and time dilation]

I had some with me, but I wasn't wearing my pack. [you know, when he bit it]

[dualikey]

[Without a frame of reference, Sora's imagination of bread doesn't stretch as far as elf-made delectables. Instead all he's picturing is the old lady who lived next door and used to make Sora come in for a sandwich when he took her garbage to the curb or when he cleared her lawn of downed palm fronds after a good storm. It always tasted like cardboard- full of crunchy nuts and seed things that he had to chew on forever.

Still, the momentum of the conversation carries them forward- until it doesn't. I wasn't wearing my pack he says, while the rest of the sentence hangs in the air.

Sora doesn't deflate, but there's a kind of stillness that lands on him like a blanket- lowering his shoulders.] Yeah. I didn't have a lot with me either. But I guess I hadn't been home for a long time before that anyway, so it's all still where I left it.

-Why'd you have a pack? Were you hiking or something?

[steadfastjewel]

Traveling.

[And yes, that's not very detailed. It's just a lot - the dream, the Ring, the Fellowship...the Ring.]

I set out from my home nearly a year ago, to visit a country far to the north. I was on my way back. [When. You know. He bit it. Death lingers heavy around basically every conversation here, huh?] You were on the road as well?

[dualikey]

Oh- yeah.

[There's something about it- hearing a journey described like that by someone else, it casts a new kind of light over the way he's considered his own. Sora's spent so long trying to find his friends and go back home, to a life he never wanted to leave behind. And he knows that he's been lucky- especially to have met so many new people and to call so many of them friends. But they'd only just arrived on the islands when that message in a bottle appeared and he'd had to go away again.

There isn't any going back now.
He wishes he'd known then. Maybe he would have done things differently.]

I kept thinking that everything would go back to normal once it was all over. But I made so many selfish choices- [His head shakes and the thought loosens its hold.]

[steadfastjewel]

[mmmmm, BIG MOOD THERE]

We've all made mistakes. [He's sure Sora's weren't all that bad.]