EVENT LOG: ENTER MR. SANDMAN (DREAMERS)

[inthenightmods]

EVENT LOG:
ENTER MR. SANDMAN (DREAMERS)

characters: all characters that signed up as a dreamer for the event.
location: dreamland feat. beacon of the past.
date/time: november 16-29.
content: the dreamers investigate beacon as it once was.
warnings: psychological/existential horror. further cws will arise depending on the location; mods will cw tags appropriately, and you will too!

say your prayers, little one.

Hello, dreamers. Welcome to Beacon.




Below, each group has a toplevel ready and waiting for the investigation to begin. Feel free to tag in however to establish a tag order, and mod responses will begin once each character has tagged in. If you need a refresher on how the event will work, give the OOC info another read!

As for those of you in the sin bin opt out area...

The Beacon of the past isn't all too different from the Beacon of the present, frankly, except for a few notable exceptions. For one, it's far better lit: daylight leaves everything feels a lot brighter and more sensible than eternal night does. Several advertisements for community theater in the Invincible are hung up (Tryouts for the Ice Man Cometh! Cometh try your luck!) and minor lost and found posters are tacked to a community bulletin board nearby. Oh, and a merry little tune is playing on loop from a record player set up outside the Invincible.

It's cheerful, if not a little off-putting. But the signs of life are clear, even if the forest still looks darkly oppressive over yonder.

Additionally, since investigation threads 1) rely on mod responses, and 2) will likely move on the slow side given the nature of the event/size of the groups, if you would like to have your characters "mingle" in their assigned location, please feel free to write your own toplevels! We ask that you post them as separate toplevels not in response to the mod toplevels (so our inboxes don't get super flooded/we don't accidentally miss stuff). Remember that groups may only interact with each other during the event, but you're welcome to assume timey-wimey shenanigans to excuse why your characters are mingling instead of searching for clues—they do have two weeks in this dream, technically, and dreams are not always linear. If your investigation thread has not yet progressed to a point in which you've got enough of a handle on the setting to write a separate mingle starter, ask the mod you're working with! We'll fill you in on some OOC details so you can mingle accordingly while still allowing for characters to discover those details ICly in the investigation thread.

If you're still jonesing for more threading action during the event, we encourage you to check out the TDM!

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Comments

[onlyeverdoubted]

[New as he is to this place, Bodhi is too fresh from the shock of landing here instead of just being dead to have a lot of energy left for this much more minor change. Even the sunlight is just faintly surprising. Stupid and ridiculous things happen to him and he should apparently just accept that.

He looks over at the man--everyone here is still more or less in his mental category of stranger--and blinks a little owlishly. Then points to the bulletin board he's been regarding with interest.]

Think, um, we've sort of already started, by dint of... standing here. Or did you have a, um, specific plan?

[Is that a bit snide or just a completely honest deferential mildness? Very hard to say.]

[broplaints]

[Never before in his entire did Noctis think he would actually be so damn happy to see the light of the sun. It had been actual months, and while he wasn't completely certain this wasn't all just some fever dream brought on by eating bad food, he was going to enjoy it while he could.

Or attempt to, anyway, because hearing the laughter of a child somewhere off in the distance instantly brought him back to reality. To the fact that it reminded him of the journey towards the lake the had found and everything that had come along with it.

Until the other two speak and it draws his attention away and he realizes that he doesn't actually know either of them and this is just great.]

Yeah, we should probably have one of those.

[inthenightmods]

[As they stand and consider their options, the clock tower chimes a cheerful welcome. It's almost feels, somehow if they're being explicitly invited inward.]

[dadandgone]

A plan.

[Maes looks up at the clock tower as it begins chiming, his gaze drifting down and taking in the building in its entirety. They barely know what's going on so how exactly are they supposed to have a plan?]

Well, how about this. I may have just gotten in on the ferry, but I made my way around Beacon enough to know this is the same building where the records are kept. It looks a little less grim in the sunlight, but it's definitely the same building.

[He steps over to the bulletin board, giving a quick scan at anything that might be timely. Of course, then he realizes he has no idea WHAT day, month, or year it even is in this place.]

Unless you're planning on heading over to the 12th annual craft show or wanting to go find this lost dog.

[He heads towards the front doors and pulls it open.]

Here's the plan. We can't make a plan until we have more of an idea about what's going on. Right now the plan is to go inside and check things out.

[onlyeverdoubted]

[Bodhi makes a bit of a face, but he has the sense to keep the next snide remark to himself. He's of the opinion that in a no-information situation, anything you can pick up is worthwhile. He's a scrounger. But he's not going to argue.]

Sure, further inside it is.

[He speaks without acid in his tone, at least, though frankly there's no way out doesn't have more potential.

Honestly, records are probably a better use of his own extremely mundane talents than anything more exciting. That keeps him in check more than any impulse to be polite or dodge conflict.]

[broplaints]

So right now the plan is that you have no plan. Got it.

[Noctis isn't exactly one for making plans. He always left that Ignis. But he does know a few things. Like the fact that they have no idea what they're actually walking into. All of this could just be another grand hallucination that they're all sharing and the moment they enter the building a giant Mindflayer could jump out and turn them all into frogs.

He knows. He's had it happen more times than he's proud of.]

Can either of you fight? You don't know what we're going to find inside. It might just be a trick to get us in there.

[inthenightmods]

[There are a lot of things featured on the bulletin board, though none of them seem to have any kind of indication of when they're from. Someone's offering guitar lessons, and there's an advertisement for a new ice cream stand that'll be opening soon: coupons attached! There's something about some kind of housekeeping workshop, and a festival looking for booth sign-ups. The different advertisements go on like this.]

[dadandgone]

[Perhaps Maes is being too pushy. However, for a year he was deposited in different worlds to solve a problem and usually that problem was right in front of them. Perhaps he shouldn't be pulling from previous experience like that, since clearly that had led to him dying for a second time, but sometimes habits were just hard to break.

Also, he wasn't so stupid as to proceed without at least the support of everyone involved. He looks from one man to the other and then sighs, letting the door swing shut again.]

Okay, then what do you suggest exactly? We don't know what's going to happen lingering out here either. I want to get information, find out what this is, and maybe that will lead to us getting out. Or returning. Or reversing this or whatever, since none of us know what happened.

[Maes tugs at his sleeve and pulls out one of his push knives. There are more, but no need to produce all of them.]

I can fight. Would it make you feel better if we at least check the perimeter for exits then?

[onlyeverdoubted]

[Bodhi pockets a coupon. He is a pocketer, not yet having abandoned the battered and stained and positively scorched uniform he came in because it's kriffing full of pockets.]

I can throw a punch, but my specialty is leading with my elbows hard enough to get out of the bar before anyone gets arrested.

[He is a very bad soldier.]

I'd like to know what happens if we try an exit, anyway.

for the sake of continuing on, we'll skip Noctis this round!

[inthenightmods]

[As Maes lets the doors swing shut again, a glimpse of the construction going on inside becomes visible. There's another childish peal of laughter from inside, muffled as if behind a closed door.]

[dadandgone]

Punches are good. Knowing how to get out of a bad situation even better.

[Never discredit that. Maes frowns thoughtfully and glances back into the building before looking back at the other two.]

Did you hear that? It sounds like a kid.

[He hadn't seen anyone in the brief time he'd had the door open.]

It looked like they were in the middle of construction or improvements of some kind if nothing else...could mean there's other entrances or openings that aren't usually there.

[He tries to recall what the town hall looked like from the inside, if he could remember anything about construction projects or parts that looked newer or remodeled at a different time separate from the rest of the building.]

[onlyeverdoubted]

You're right, it does. Better head that way first.

[Bodhi is contrary and all, but if there's a child playing alone in a construction site, he's concerned enough about that to cede the argument. Sure, hopefully there's quieter adult supervision, but even that would mean someone to ask questions.]

[inthenightmods]

[Fortunately, it looks like the construction itself is isolated to a space where a large statue ordinarily stands in the Town Hall they might recall. It's circled by sheets as if to prepare for an unveiling, but easy enough to peek into and see for themselves. The space around the area seems as if it's been functioning as it should; there's a faint sound of typewriting, a large city map on display over the front desk.]

[dadandgone]

[Maes takes in the area with the statue, the sound of typing, and eventually his eyes fall on the map itself. He considers his options, his focus should be on the kid, but since a child playing around a statue isn't immediately apparent, Maes makes a detour for the map.

After all, perhaps there will be someone near the obvious front desk area to speak with -- the lack of people is starting to remind him a little too much of the abandoned space station Astoria had sent them to that one time.

He wants to take in the map, but his eyes are flicking around the entrance for movement or people or both.]

[onlyeverdoubted]

[A bit more single-minded and distracted in a different direction, Bodhi wanders off on his own trajectory, content to mostly ignore his companion. If he were a kid, behind the big curtains is exactly where he'd go. He grabs a length of fabric and peeks under without paying his surroundings any attention.]

Hello?

[inthenightmods]

[When Bodhi peeks behind the curtain, he sees the gleaming dog-head statue. Unlike in the Town Hall of waking Beacon, this one has a placard beneath it. He can swear something, or someone, move around the other side of the statue and escape beneath the curtain just as he does.

Giggling, footsteps.

But Maes doesn't see anyone no matter how fast he looks. A door slams down the hallway where the statue busts line either side.

The map of Beacon...is a complete map of the entire town.]

i didn't want to assume maes could steal the map...so please let me know if maes can steal the map.

[dadandgone]

[Maes jerks at the sound of the slamming door, the push dagger he had drawn earlier resting on the tips of his fingers. He doesn't release it, though he comes close. He has to decide. Is he going to study this map, this COMPLETE map or is he going to go deeper and follow the sounds that are clearly trying to pull them away anyway.

Of course, there may be a third option. Maes eyes the map, trying to decide if it would be easy to take down and run off with.

If he could reasonably get it down in a few seconds and roll up to study later he will. If not, he's going to take a few minutes to study it anyway.]

Did you see someone?

[onlyeverdoubted]

Mm? Not yet. Hello? Hey, are you supposed to be in here? It... looks dangerous.

[It really doesn't, and as an actual child he'd have laughed, but his childhood was way too rich in bombings and collapsing ruined buildings to be a good point of comparison.

The best way out is always through. Bodhi heads in the direction of the flutter of dodging child, though he does glance at the placard on his way, hoping he can get anything there is to read at a glance.]

[inthenightmods]

[The plaque reads:

Woofington Von Bone
Beloved Mayor, Husband, Father
Funded by the citizens of Beacon in honor of his many accomplishments

Before Bodhi gets far, his foot falls on something--it looks like the child left something behind: a piece of colorful construction paper. There's writing on it, but it's way too messy to read from any amount of distance or at a glance.

Maes, meanwhile, will be able to take the map, though it'll take him a moment if that's what he decides to do: it's hung in a glass frame, but this can be removed. Either way, however he decides to study it, he'll see the following:

The harbor and village are easy to find. A medical center to the west. Downtown to the east. Furnaces, a farm, and a train station closer to the mountains.]

[dadandgone]

[If it's behind glass, he's not going to attempt to take it down as he doesn't want to lose Bodhi from the attempt. He does make note of these areas though because, hey, they could definitely use this information. After all, he has a good memory and if these correspond to places in the 'night' version of this place then maybe...maybe that will help.

Before Bodhi can get too far though he spins on his heel and follows the other man chasing after the voice.]

Hey wait up!

[As he catches up, he notices the colorful note on the ground.]

[onlyeverdoubted]

[A nice thing about being, as some would put it, "from space" is that Bodhi has no threshhold for weird. The placard beneath the statue and the person it represents both seem completely unremarkable to him, though he does try to commit the information to memory in case the name of a former mayor comes up.

He bends to pick up the note as Maes catches up.]

I think hiding from us is the game now. Still haven't spotted them.

[inthenightmods]

[When the two of them examine the paper, they'll find the following letter written in very, very young handwriting:

Dearest Paw,

Thank you for always keeping everybody safe and happy. We have all decided to be just like you and Maw when we grow up. Beacon will be just like it is now, and we will have big gold statues just like yours. Can there be three mayors, or do we have to draw straws? Barkley says he'd win because he's a boy, but Puppette and I say boof to that.

Love and Licks,
Pawlina, Puppette, Barkley

It looks like there's another piece of construction paper on the floor, at the start of the hall that the apparent-author disappeared down.]

[dadandgone]

[The letter definitely lends more credence to it being a child they are following. His eyes drift up from the one in their hand to the new piece of paper near the hallway.

Barkley and Puppette are mentioned in the letter. Maybe the child is shy.]

Pawlina? You dropped this.

[Of course, there's no guarantee it's Pawlina they are following. Maes begins making his way to the next note.]

[onlyeverdoubted]

[Bodhi follows a few steps behind, scanning their environment carefully. The place doesn't look as dangerous as he was afraid of, and he's beginning to be a bit edgy about two strange adults pursuing a child. But not enough to give up the angle if they might either find something out or get the kid located and returned.]

It's a very--

[He has no opinions about statues. What is this one besides big?]

Nice statue. That's your dad?

[Maybe giving the kid an angle for bragging at them will help.]

[inthenightmods]

[There's no vocal response, though once they've reached the second note, they'll see the doorway that she apparently disappeared through not too far off. This one reads:

Dearest Paw,

Maw seems sad all the time now. We all wish there was some way that we could help, but Puppette is too tired to get out of bed, even to sign her name to this letter. Why can't you ever leave the office anymore? Barkley and I were hoping we could come and help, so maybe you won't be so busy anymore. Every day when we return from school, we race home and hope to see you there, waiting.

Awaiting your response,
Pawlina and Barkley]