logsinthenight | INTRO LOG: DECEMBER

INTRO LOG: DECEMBER

characters: everyone.
location: the harbor, as well as the rest of town.
date/time: december 1-3.
content: beacon's newest batch of residents arrives on the ferry. robin posts a bulletin.
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 glowing 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.

•••
The ferry has barely docked when everyone's tablets will ping: A new weekly bulletin has been posted!

...Aaaaaanyway, luckily for all the 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! You've happened to come at a chaotic time, as we've just wrapped up a rather large event. Half the town was stuck in a dreamland version of past Beacon, where they explored for clues about the town's history. The other half stayed awake and defended the town from a brutal onslaught of green-eyed, hallucination-inducing forest spirits. The town's pretty haggard after all that, so hey, there's a conversation starter! It'll be good to have some fresh faces around to help with the recovery process.

You can check out the various Enter Mr. Sandman event posts in the OOC and log comms if you're curious, and plenty of the details will likely come up ICly, as well! The aftermath is just beginning, and we're so glad to have you along for the ride. :)

DELIVERIES

The following packages can be found in the cargo hold:

The monthly store restock
For Eliot: A carton of cigarettes
For Prompto: 17 pairs of reading glasses
For Eleven: A pair of walkie-talkies, and enough batteries to last for 3 months of casual use
For Aziraphale: 12 drums, 11 lead pipes, 10 pairs of shoes, 9 wilting corsages, 8 bottles of milk, 7 taxidermy swans, 6 goose eggs, 5 stale onion rings, 4 bins full of duck armies, 3 dead chickens, 2 turtles, and a whole tree, though it's long dead... and strung with lights and garlands and holiday ornaments!
For Kol: A book
For Crowley: Peppermint extract, cream of tartar, a candy thermometer, a tin of cocoa, graham crackers, a generic bottle of red wine, a t-shirt with a crown logo on it, a book of love poems, and the goods
For Eleven: An assortment of wrapping paper, gift tags, ribbons, bows, and gift bags.
A lot of medical supplies. The supplies are plentiful enough that everyone may handwave finding common first aid supplies that will help to triage injuries sustained during the Enter Mr. Sandman event. The supplies won't immediately cure wounds, but they will help to prevent infection and ensure proper healing. There's even an assortment of painkillers, ranging from over the counter pills to IV morphine (though, hm, it seems each character will only be able to find one dose of the hospital-grade stuff, no matter how hard they search)

If you submitted an item request last month and we've missed it here, let us know!

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Ah, the tall guy. She remembers him from that day when a ton of cargo came in. A bit on the clumsy side but his heart is in its place. She gives him a nod of acknowledgment- she wasn't gone for that long if she was to trust the date on the device. But it's an experience she wants to avoid.]

Yeah... I'm back.

[For better or for worse. Maybe she should've just stayed dead, completely gone, instead of coming back here. After watching the candles sway a bit in the draft, she speaks.]

You're walking around freely.

[A statement. Does that mean the spirits went back in the forest?]

Free enough. Going to be limping for a while yet. One of those spirits was determined to tear my leg to shreds.

[It's honestly pure luck it didn't totally sever any tendons, or maybe it had but Crowley's quick healing was able to patch them up. Maybe this limp isn't as temporary as he assumes it will be; only time will tell. He sits on top of a pew and runs a hand through his hair.]

They let up in the early hours of yesterday morning sometime. The others have woken up since then.

[Her eyes fall from his face down to his leg and they narrow. Finally, she somehow wills herself to shift and then kick the benches forward, freeing up space so he's more comfortable.

It would seem she missed out on saying farewells. Pity. She would've loved if she could've killed just a few more of them. There's a pensive silence for a while, her nails tapping over the lantern and she clicks her tongue.]

So... all our efforts to befriend spirits were pointless, it seems. What a waste of time...

[That was her fault if she's going to be honest. For trusting them and thinking that they would get respect and peace if they offer same respect. No mercy, huh?]

I dunno. Some people say the ones they've befriended weren't seen that whole time, that it was other spirits. But. I'm not sure.

[Honestly? Sounds like wishful thinking to him, but he's never trusted the little creatures. Even the one he saw back at the harvest feast that wanted him to dance could just as easily have turned on him or the rest later. He doesn't expect them to have some kind of humanoid sense of morality.]

I wouldn't discount the attempts at friendship entirely. But it isn't enough to keep us safe.

Hmm...

[She's not sure what to think anymore, whom to believe. It's becoming hard to tell what's dream or reality even. She's been through a lot, but never through something like this. There's a phantom pain in her shoulder and she rubs the spot idly.]

Why would spirits from deep within the forest come here? Are they, too, attracted to lantern light?

[She's trying to find an answer, explanation, something that would explain this insanity because she can't handle it in her head.]

There was something on the bulletin...

[He'd looked it over and tried to understand it, but his head was swimming for so much of the previous day that he hadn't really made sense of it. The days before that, well. Who had time to read the network? But now he pulls out his tablet to look it over again.]

I think the feast and the dreams were supposed to be their way of telling us something. Not sure why they attacked the rest of us.

[But Xayah just got back. Hasn't heard about the dreams yet.]

Some of the people, when they were asleep, they saw a different version of Beacon. Said it felt real. There was sunlight.

[She didn't look at the bulletin yet. Her device is in her pocket, stained and dirty, but working. After that last contact to Crowley she didn't use it.

There's something odd that she notices as Rosinante speaks. It makes no sense. Why attack them if spirits want them to learn things? Is this 'eye for an eye' situation?]

It's similar like before, isn't it? They let us connect Robin to the network, but they attacked us the moment we were done. It didn't last long, but a lot of people died then as well.

[Sunlight. Her lips twitch.]

That's a thing I didn't think I'd miss so much.

[He nods, agreeing with both statements. He too misses the sunlight of course, and can't help but feel jealous for those who were able to sleep peacefully the entire time and see a vision of what this place may have been like before. But ultimately, it's just a vision - a hallucination. It might not reflect reality, and seeing a few minutes of sunlight only to come back to all this darkness would be crushing. Besides, someone needed to stay awake and defend those who couldn't stand up to the onslaught.]

I was thinking that also. It's something like before. I'm still not sure what the point of trying to kill those of us awake was. The spirit on the network - maybe I'm misinterpreting, but it seemed offended that some of us didn't eat what they brought.

[The uneasy feeling in her just keeps growing. Not only they don't know how to solve the problem of world eaters, but now they are stuck in this place, without being able to go anywhere. Not with those things lurking constantly, waiting for an opportune moment to attack. She's tried, hell everyone tried, to show respect towards the spirits. And for what? Xayah sighs, shuddering a bit.]

They hacked the network, huh? I didn't check. I'll catch up on it later. As for the food, no one knew it would be offensive not to eat. Some of us just aren't hungry...

[Did they hack it? They wrote words on it like any of the rest of them do. Is that what hacking is? Who the hell knows. He's heard the word but still isn't clear on the meaning. He thought it implied something like some kind of network breaking-and-entering, but isn't sure how that would be accomplished either. So, sure. Maybe. Who knows.]

Their way of thinking isn't one I understand. What might have been obvious to them wasn't obvious to us. I don't enjoy parties. To them I suppose that means I was disrespectful to a gift they had tried to give to all of us. But I'm still not sure the ones who provided the food were the same as the ones who attacked.

[He's spent so much time keeping up with the people here, trying to understand them, that he hasn't had time to focus on understanding the spirits themselves. Maybe his priorities were wrong, but one person can't do everything and also try to work out how it relates to their long-term survival against the World Eaters.]

Anyway, we can't undo not eating. But some of us need to study the spirits. Unravel their language and culture and help us all communicate better. I know some are working on it but I'm not sure what progress they've made.

[She didn't know what those words meant either, but then Crowley decided to pitch in and explain how the technology worked. She still didn't understand much, but she remembered the proper word and that the overall meaning is "they haunt the device".

She leans back, eyes closing-]

Those studies will be on trial and error. One mistake and more people will die. One wrongly translated word and they could unleash hell on us again.

[She doesn't want to meddle with that; she doesn't want to be here anymore. But she knows she can't leave and it's stifling.]

Yeah. All true.

[But probably all necessary at this point. What else are they going to do? They can't fight a war on two fronts and that's what they've got right now. There aren't enough of them, they don't have enough supplies, and they have too little knowledge.]

Given how much trouble we're having with the creatures here, who we've had so much time to try and learn about, I can't see how going up against the World Eaters can go well. We don't even really know what they are, aside from a few vague rumors and one blurry photo.

[Xayah scowls, massaging her shoulder underneath her wing,]

Well, they aren't giving us much choice, are they? They ask and beg for our help, but then they go on length to kill us off. I don't know how sentient these things are, but some part of them should understand that it's counterproductive.

[Then again, a lot of people keep coming in and it's just all the same to the forest spirits. They don't have to worry about anything- they'll always have a fresh group of people come in every month. She feels sick.]

I'm not sure they're all working together. In fact, it's reasonable to assume they're not. They might be different types of creatures entirely and we're just not familiar enough to tell them apart.

[Since some do conspicuously vanish. Maybe they can tell ahead of time when these things are about to happen, and then leave. Maybe some try to warn them and they just don't know how to pay attention. They're probably equally frustrated.]

For spirits that are not working together, they sure have some impeccable timing to strike all at the same time...

[Some maybe vanish. But that's just a handful of spirits compared to the hordes that came crashing down at them for two weeks, every hour of the day and night. She doesn't trust them anymore. She's tired of trying and failing and trying and failing. She misses Rakan...]

The little child... is she alright?

[He nods at the mild sarcasm. It's good to be skeptical and much of him agrees with her anger and frustration. How could he not? People died. People fell into comas for weeks. But fear and hatred are blinding and he'd rather be productive. Try to understand what he can. Doesn't blame her at all, though.]

Yeah. You probably saw, I kept her with me. Didn't let anything touch her.

[It's a shame he couldn't have done more. There were far too many instances of people who were indoors, who thought they were safe, only to have spirits reach through gaps in the floorboards or ooze their way through walls or whatever else they did. They were safer together and the walls surely held some out, but the injuries suffered by people who weren't even out on patrol were distressing and surprisingly grotesque.]

Did you get out very far? I heard some people made it all the way to the Armory.

[She will need a bit too cool down before she can see clear picture here. Usually, it was Rakan that grounded her, despite being an airhead whose attention span is that of a fish. But he's not here. She has no one here to look after and make sure to stay calm and collected. Hmmm...]

Yeah, I did.

[She also stayed indoors. But the auditory hallucinations still reached her. She needs to find a way to fight them, and soon, otherwise it will be bad, for all of them.]

No. I was mostly keeping guard on the top floor of Invincible. The torches we set up outside gave me a good view so my aim was good. It wasn't enough though...

Ah, so that was you up there. Thought it might have been. I saw some of the spirits taken down by your arrows, then. Or - feathers, not arrows, I suppose. Impressive stuff.

[They're actually more like throwing knives than arrows, too, aren't they? The Marines all wielded standard issue pistols and rifles if they didn't have a distinct preference for something else. Remote islanders still used bows, but throwing knives? Pretty uncommon. Probably hard to learn.]

How'd you end up learning to wield them, back home?

Yes. I am more versed in ranged combat that hand to hand.

[But she packs a mean punch when needed. Bar fights were Rakan and her's favorite past time.

No one actually asked her that before, so she's pleasantly surprised.]

It was gifted to me. The wild magic of our forest gifted my abilities to me on my birth. [She opens her palm and easily summons a feather on it.] It was on me whether I wanted to sharpen my skills as I grow.

I thought it would be rude not to. So my father trained me on how to use magic I got. He trained my aim and my mind to let the magic overflow me instead of trying to control it. You limit yourself that way, you set boundaries and your progress stalls. I remember all of his lessons vividly, [she turns her hand and, if Rosinante offered his own palm, the light purple feather would fall on it, otherwise it disappears in thin air,] as if he told taught them to me yesterday.

Edited 2019-12-05 12:04 (UTC)

[Ah, magic. At this point he no longer feels compelled to try and understand it - it's clear that if it's real, it works differently from world to world. And if it's not real in some places, if what they call 'magic' is actually a form of technology, that's fine too. What he can do, and the things he's seen in his world, are not magic but they would probably seem like it to an outsider. Anyway, the variations are all interesting.]

So it's tradition. Part of your heritage. [And clearly, deeply important to her, emotionally. He catches the little feather and smiles, bringing it closer to have a look.]

I bet your father would be proud of your talents now.

Kind of, yeah, [she nods with a tiny smile. Xayah doesn't get to talk about her heritage and magic so often. It's very rare that anyone's interested in it. It's something she died trying to protect, and it will always be important to her.]

I hope so.

[She nods at the feather,] It used to glow purple- the feathers that I summon. But this place sapped out all the light from it. [A pity... she loves purple color.]

This place sure has its way of doing that, huh.

[And they've all come to accept it because they have no other choice, but it's strange, isn't it? Still doesn't make any sense to him. He turns the feather over in his hand, then lets it drift away and fade as he stands.]

Well. I'll let you go. Thanks again, though, for what you did for everyone out there.

Yeah.

[The feather disappears in soft, purple dust and floats back to her. She's used to working under the cover of night, but even she is longing now for warm rays of the Sun. Xayah offers him a smile with a short nod.]

If you need me for anything, my device is with me. I'll try to help you.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

INTRO LOG: DECEMBER

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject