INTRO LOG: NOVEMBER

[inthenightmods]

INTRO LOG: NOVEMBER
OLD FAT BOAT

characters: everyone.
location: the harbor, and around town.
date/time: november 1-3.
content: the ferry's back! yay! and it's piled high with goodies! yay!
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.

•••

To everyone's surprise, the ferry does indeed arrive on schedule. Right on time, it comes chugging along toward the beach, though its usually noisy engines are silent. And it seems to be sitting quite low in the water... Hmm.

Unfortunately for those unlucky enough to find themselves onboard, there isn't yet a replacement dock for the one that was destroyed last month. The ferry stops right where it would normally anchor, but then... that's it.

Logistically, there's good news and bad news: The good news is that the ferry is only about 25-30 feet from shore, which is well within the safety of the harbor and is a manageable distance for swimming with an open flame. The bad news? It's... 25-30 feet from shore, which is going to make unloading supplies, er, tricky.

The usual monthly stock has also come in, but, oh, what's this? There's an awful lot in the cargo hold. An awful, awful lot. As a matter of fact, the boat is absolutely filled with food and goods. The storage areas are packed tight, but the bounty spills out onto the decks, and even into the cabins. It's entirely possible that some of the newbies woke up surrounded by potatoes, or with a carton of eggs balanced on them. Maybe even in a pile of Beacon's signature standard clothing. In short, the ferry has become a proverbial horn of plenty.

Where all this stuff came from is one mystery, but another is how to get it all to shore. Better unload it before the weight sinks the ferry again! Just kidding. (Or are we?)

At a glance, the only thing out of place on the ferry is that the door to the bridge is welded shut. Seems a small price to pay for this resurrection though, doesn't it? Besides that one door and all these goodies piled high on the ship, it's almost as if the ferry crash never even happened. Maybe things will be okay after all?

Or maybe the new arrivals will have something to say about that. 🤔

And speaking of newcomers, the tablet and the town have some resources available for getting acquainted with their new situation! In fact, as soon as they're prompted to enter a network username, an app containing all sorts of useful welcome information will launch. Newcomers can always check out the weekly bulletins and the records in town hall as well, and everyone's welcome to get in touch with the NPCs through their inboxes.

ooc.

Hey there, wonderful players, and welcome to In the Night! For this intro log, you are officially without a chaperone. Rastus is back at the bonfire, Will is characteristically elusive, and Robin is, well, you know where she's at. It's up to the veteran residents to fill in the new folks.

As hinted above, it's also up to veteran residents (and newbies alike) to figure out the missing dock situation. Some efforts have already been started to rebuild the structure, but until that's done, the logistics are in your hands! Swim for it, fly for it, teleport to the beach, or maybe use one of the rafts or boats built earlier to shuttle people to and fro. Whatever you do, just make sure you get all the cargo (and people!) off the ferry before it departs.

As an additional note: We will NOT be tracking how you do all of that! There's no need to report salvage efforts to us, as by now, we trust y'all players to make things happen. So long as we see these challenges getting addressed ICly, we'll assume the town came together and figured it out somehow. Nice work, everyone!

DELIVERIES

The following packages can be found in the cargo hold:

• The monthly store restock
  
• A smorgasbord of other items; though limited in scope to the items typically found in the restock/stores, there's an abundance of everything.
  
• And that's it. With the fate of the ferry uncertain, Rastus was unable to order deliveries last month. :(
  
• ...Except for a single box of blueberry Poptarts for Peter Parker.

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

Comments

Stone | OTA

[scarsolderthanyou]

Stone spots the ferry early on. The light across the water catches his attention, and though everything around it is dark, he does have excellent distance vision. That's about the only kind of vision he can manage, and usually it's useless in a place this dark, but the ferry is kind of obvious.

So he shifts up into his winged form-- seventy-foot wingspan, ghostly colorless scales, a mane of spines and flexible frills around his head and down his back; to most, the first descriptor to come up will probably be "dragon"-- and glides across the water towards the boat. He circles once, then shifts mid-drop to land in his mostly-human-looking form on the deck. Good thing he's had a lot of practice shifting mid-landing and, thus, not capsizing boats of various kinds.

"Anybody need a lift to shore?" he asks cheerfully, a tall and gangly old man with no color at all to his skin and hair, bright blue eyes even if one is pretty clearly blind, no shoes, and who a moment ago had been a dragon, or something like.

Once all the people get off, one way or another, Stone sets about flying supplies back and forth from the ferry to shore. It's easy flying, the boxes and barrels and bags not really that heavy to something the size of a small house, but he still has to wind up stopping on the shore and deck of the ferry to catch his breath every trip or so. "I hate being old," he growls, mostly to himself, but readily audible to anybody nearby.

[antiwhat]

Moments ago, Ellever had been shivering and contemplating the shore. But the second a dark shape had begun to fly over the water, all of her physical discomfort -- of which there's plenty -- had vanished. Her breath catches in her throat. Not out of fear, but of intense and immediate fascination. Though she hasn't seen anything quite like Stone before, even on her wildest outings, and the back of her brain does attempt to give her pause.

A decent attempt. Not a great one.

Her eyes are riveted as the shape suddenly materializes into a man, standing on deck, asking his question as though he had just popped out of his car. Then a breeze cuts across Ellever's meager blouse and shorts and she's rudely reminded that she's more than a pair of eyes. Shivering, she blinks, and her social brain gets left behind as she takes a few steps closer. Why introduce yourself when you have a thousand questions instead?

"Can you do that all the time?" she wonders. There's not a single ounce of fear in her gaze, still.

[scarsolderthanyou]

"Whenever I want to, sure," Stone answers. "I'm Stone. I'm a Raksura." He opens his mouth, tongue flicking out like a snake's might, to taste the air. It's a little longer than a typical human sort of tongue. He's tasting the air, testing to see if this one is human, or something else. Occasionally it's hard to tell, but scene usually helps give an idea. So many damn people here are human, so that's what he honestly expects.

"You cold?" he asks, noting the shivering. "We should get you new people to shore. There's more clothes and shit there, and a bonfire."

[antiwhat]

Raksura. It's not a word that's connected to anything else in Ellever's brain, and that's fascinating to her. Learning new things is something that gets her up every day, far more effective than any alarm clock. So she logs that information away carefully, because -- as the more civilized part of her brain tells her -- he'd also introduced himself.

And there are protocols.

"I'm Elle," she says. Her full name is something she's mildly embarrassed by because she has no idea where it comes from and she's never encountered the name in any baby book or comprehensive research. Not having known her mother in a meaningful way, who gave it to her, adds to the confusion.

Ellever looks and feels perfectly human. But she also looks twenty years younger than she actually is, on account of her nonhuman heritage aging very slowly. Something Else clings to her scent, which humans can't detect: something caustic, heavy, vast.

"It's nice to meet you, Stone," she remembers to add. It's heartfelt and completely genuine, despite the shivering she's doing. Then she glances, briefly, across the water. "I, um. God, I'd do just about anything for a jacket. If only somebody woulda' warned me that I'd be dying, I'd have put on shoes."

This last part comes out a bit more feeble. She's trying to see some sort of silver lining, here. She might be dead, and things might be in a very bad way back home as a result, but at least she can meet new people. Right?

[scarsolderthanyou]

"Shoes are more trouble than their worth," says the old man not wearing any, but with a grin that says he's not really serious. The grin somehow doesn't show off too many teeth, but the ones that are there are a little too sharp to be entirely human. "I don't anything handy, just what I'm wearing--" And the glowing lantern sitting on the deck beside him, where the dragon-form's tail had dropped it. "--but there are supplies on this boat, there's probably something we can find. Or I can fly you back to shore and show you the shop, there's clothes there too."

[antiwhat]

Blinking, Ellever glances over at the rest of the people on the deck, most of them being ferried off or climbing on board to move crates around. She chews her bottom lip thoughtfully before looking back to Stone. Even though a large part of her tells her to be pragmatic, that these supplies are being treated carefully and are thus important, she feels terrible taking up anything that someone else might need more.

It's a guilt that always chews at her, it's simply much more aggressive now that she remembers Circe hovering over her, shushing her, with a gun to her head.

You don't deserve a jacket.

"Um, if you wouldn't mind flying me, that would be great of you," she says, with a shaky smile. That's a thankfully distracting thought. Flying. On a Raksura? Perhaps there's a silver lining after all. The Moth was never sturdy enough for her to fly on, and she'd be covered in dust afterward anyway.

Then, another thought. Ellever pats her the pockets of her shorts. Nothing. No keys, no wallet.

"Does the shop take money? I, uh. Don't seem to have anything."

[scarsolderthanyou]

"It's not really much of a shop. Mostly it's just a place where you pick things up if you need them, as far as I can tell. I did get a decent coat there." Not that he's wearing it right now. It's not that cold, right? (It is definitely that cold.)

"All right, climb up on those boxes there, would you? I can't shift on the boat or I'll sink it," he says, waving at a stack piled up on the deck by the locked-up bridge. "I'll get in the air, then come back and pick you up. I've done it hundreds of times, with my own people and with groundlings like you, so don't be nervous, all right?"

[antiwhat]

Her body language picks up immediately, posture straightening, cold temporarily forgotten; she nods.

"Oh! Okay. Makes sense."

Though as she puts her hands on the boxes to climb up, the cold does permeate her senses a little further. The higher she goes, the chillier it seems to get. But she's going to fly, now, and that's a thought so exciting it banishes all nervousness from her system. She'd be far more nervous to get into a stranger's car than to ride on something like Stone.

Perhaps to some that line of logic would be worrying, but Ellever has never lived a 'normal' life.

As she stands on the boxes, ignoring a weird look or two from fellow new people, Ellever's relieved to hear that she won't need to cobble up something for a jacket. Maybe there will be a pair of shoes that she can fit into, as well. Even if they're too big, she'll only need to wear them outside or maybe at night.

"Ready when you are!"

[scarsolderthanyou]

Stone makes sure she's steady, then... jumps off the boat into the water. He can't jump high enough to get air here without hitting the ferry with his wings, so he shifts underwater, and swims swiftly towards the surface a little ways out, getting enough momentum to surge out of the water and into flight. It's harder, these days, with his wings being a lot more heavy-feeling than they used to be, with his lungs not at full capacity, but dammit, he's practice this maneuver enough that he's still going to do it.

Then he circles overhead twice to let the water sluce off him and for Elle to get ready, and swoops down to snatch her up off her box tower in one hand. Claws carefully sheathed, so nobody gets scratched.

[onlyeverdoubted]

There are advantages to coming from a universe with hundreds of sapient species. Not that Stone isn't striking, or that shapeshifting isn't pretty crazy, but they have shape-changers at home. He's never seen one (that he knows of), but they exist. Frankly, this is far from the strangest thing that's happening right now.

Always desperate to be both busy and useful, Bodhi has thrown himself into handling supplies. He may not understand a lot that's going on, but he understands deliveries. Helping with the loading up, he assumes his best pose of enthusiastic industriousness. "Is there, um, a way that... makes the carrying easier, or..." He has no idea how something that size is flying at all, but just carrying boxes without some kind of rig strikes him as uncomfortable.

[scarsolderthanyou]

Stone is still in groundling form, so as best to fascilitate communication before taking off with the good. Also, because it's easier to land on the ferry and catch his breath that way. Stupid aging. "For you or the boxes?" he asks, sounding friendly enough. "For the boxes and things, roping them together securely might be a good idea. I can't carry as much as I used to--" Ugh. "--but I can still carry more than you can. For you? Holding into my shoulder flange and chest scales helps, then I don't have to focus so much on not dropping you."

That's not seriously. Mostly not serious.

[onlyeverdoubted]

Bodhi does not look particularly cowed at the idea of such a flight, though in practice it'd no doubt be terrifying. He may not be your typical cocky flyboy, but he still has a pilot's quiet confidence that he could handle any task that involved aerial transport. "Well, it was the boxes I meant, so, um, I'll get on those ropes, then."

[scarsolderthanyou]

Some people have reacted to the idea of a flight with excitement. This guy reacts as if it seems normal. That's interesting. "What's your name, kid?" Stone asks, staying seated. He'll absolutely let the young one do all the work for now, while he recovers from the damn flight over.

[onlyeverdoubted]

"Rook." He's not entirely sure why that's what he's settled on, but he's starting there. He's not an ensign anymore, not that it was ever a rank to conjure respect and open doors. No honorific seems to belong to him anymore. So surname it shall be. NiJedha's gona and he was the last Rook well before that was the case. If there's anything worth carrying with him it's his family name. "You?" He busies himself about the ropes somewhat clumsily, mostly used to magnetic locks and hovercarts but possessed of enough mechanical cleverness to deal with the low-tech version.

[scarsolderthanyou]

Finally someone with a decent name. Short, to the point, sounds like it could be an actual thing, even if Stone isn't sure what that thing could be. "Stone," he answers, leaning over to watch him work. "Line-grandfather of Indigo Cloud Court, not that it matters much now that I'm dead."

[onlyeverdoubted]

Most of those words are meaningless, but he imagines it must be nice to have them even if people might have to nod along. His attention lands more emphatically on that last thought. Yes, he read the message, but what a conversation to have. "Sounds like you're, uh, used to the idea?"

[scarsolderthanyou]

That's the point: say a bunch of things that people don't understand, and it usually gets them to ask about it. Then Stone gets to talk about home, which means he can ask about their home, and then a whole conversation has transpired in which both of them learn something interesting.

Rook is not playing along as well as some others have. Still, there's a question there, at least. "I had over a year to get used to the idea. Raksura lose our coloring when we get old, and when I finally hit white, that meant I knew it was almost time. So far I'm the only person here I've found who died of old age."

[mollymocked]

"Really? 'Cause you're putting me to shame." Molly is sitting on the shore, taking his own breather, having watched him going back and forth with wonder in his eyes. Considering he was one of the first people on the scene to try and get supplies out, he feels he's justified in a longer break.

"I'm into the wings. Those're nice."

[scarsolderthanyou]

"They're useful," Stone agrees, sounding at least satisfied with the compliment. Even if he's still out of breath and actually feeling a little shaky. "I'd be more useful if I weren't so damn old, though." He sits down right next to Molly, because company is usually better than no company, unless he's feeling particularly grumpy. And this is one of the few other non-humans. With Kettara vanished, it's probably a good idea to get to know some more. "Haven't caught your name yet, have I?"

[mollymocked]

"Nope, and that's bloody rude of me. I try to make myself presentable to the fantastically non-human." He thrusts a hand out. "Mollymauk Tealeaf, at your service. Are you a dragonborn, then? Can't say I've ever seen one with wings, but there's many, many things I haven't seen."

[scarsolderthanyou]

"Don't know what a dragonborn is, but I've had people calling me a dragon around here," Stone shrugs, and rather than taking Molly's actual hand, wraps his fingers around Molly's wrist for a friendly clasp. It's the Raksuran version of the gesture. "I'm Stone, line-grandfather of the Indigo Cloud court. I'm a Raksura. And yes, I know you don't know what any of that means."

He grins, and releases Molly's wrist.

[mollymocked]

Oh that's nice. Better than Cali's dragon arm, in fact. She's gonna have some competition even if this is far from a dragon, he supposes. Once he has his arm back, he presses it against his cheek, smirking. "Nope. Not even a little bit. I wouldn't feel too bad, though- like I said, there's more that I don't know than what I do. It keeps things simpler. All the people I know who actually know things are complete messes."

[scarsolderthanyou]

Oh, is that a cultural thing for purple horned groundlings? Stone puts his fingers to his cheek, back, with a pointedly questioning look. "Nobody here knows, it's all right. I'm used to it. Haven't met anyone from my world here at all-- at least I don't think you are." It's slightly more possible with this guy than with any of the others. "Ever heard of the Three Worlds? Or the Fell?"

[mollymocked]

Molly shakes his head. "Ever heard of Wildemount? Or Exandria?" He already assumes no, so he presses on, regardless. "People come from all sorts of planes- even the ones that look like they ought to come from mine aren't." Kettara comes to mind. He misses her already and he barely got to know her. It was nice having an orc-blooded person around again. "It's a little irritating, if I'm honest."

[scarsolderthanyou]

"No." Too bad. Stone wouldn't mind having somebody from his own world around, even if he doesn't know them (yet). Also, he misses Kettara, too, dammit. "I'm used to being surrounded by people who aren't my species, so it doesn't really bother me. And at least no one here seems to think I'm going to eat them, which is a nice change from other groundling races."