logsinthenight | INTRO LOG: FEBRUARY

Entry tags:

INTRO LOG: FEBRUARY

characters: everyone.
location: the harbor, as well as the rest of town.
date/time: february 1-3.
content: beacon's newest batch of residents arrives on the ferry. rastus gathers the town for a debriefing meeting.
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.

•••

On February 3, after the newcomers have had a chance to settle in, everyone's tablets will ping with a message from @rastus!

Come tob onfier squae.Pl eaas , we wikll disucss our orogress sincereeluy rastuaas I am th ebonfire keeeeeeepr.

...Followed by another message a few minutes later, this time from @keeper

Omg will everyone head down to Bonfire Square for Rastus' town meeting please? He wants to recap what you've all learned so far!!!

And can someone please teach him that he can record an audio message and then send it to everyone instead of looping the whole dang town in on a group text?? 😂😂😂😂

Assuming you do indeed head down to Bonfire Square after all that, what you'll find is this: a series of benches and tables have been set up surrounding the bonfire, and there's enough seating for all of Beacon's residents. As people take their seats near the fire, the barkeeper forest spirits from the Invincible toddle through the crowd with trays of hot chocolate and warm cider, along with a sampler tray of acorns and pinecones, if that's your thing.

Once everyone's here and settled, sipping on hot drinks and maybe busting a tooth on an acorn, Rastus hobbles forward to address the crowd:

"Crrk. Hello. I am Rastus. I tend to the bonfire. I have tended to the bonfire, mrawk, for years and years. You are doing, rmmm, well. Good."

He nods to emphasize the point. Yes, you are doing good.

"Talk. To each other. Share what you have learned. Yes. Crarrk. It is important."

He nods again, and then... shuffles back over to his post near the bonfire, waiting for anyone who might come by with an interest in torches. Seems it's up to you all to get each other up to speed?

Luckily for all the newcomers who may find themselves confused by their sudden arrival here, their tablets 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! We're thrilled to welcome so many new faces into the community, and you've come at a great time! Alongside this intro log, we have our very first cat herd, which is essentially a recap of the plot thus far, as well as a rundown on a ton of great info to help get you started in the game.

But don't feel like you have to read it all right this second! ICly, Rastus will call everyone together for the town meeting on February 3 to give new characters (and players) a chance to get their bearings before smacking them in the face with all the plot. This log will cover both the ferry arrival and the cat herd meeting, so feel free to bounce around in time in your toplevels.

Remember, too, that all of the plot info available in the cat herd can now be considered common knowledge! Newbies and oldbies alike, feel free to assume that your character learns as much of that plot info as you like at this meeting, regardless of whether or not you thread it out.

And of course, go ahead and introduce yourselves on the OOC intro, as well!

DELIVERIES

The following packages can be found in the cargo hold:

The monthly store restock
For Sora: A gameboy(?), 3 CPR/AED kits, a dozen CPR/first aid training manuals, two packages of capiz shells, a set of candy molds, a caldero, and 3 gameboy games: 3-D World Runner, Decapathon VII, and Sheep It Up!
For Crowley: A variety of clockwork equipment, a large clock face, and the goods
For Jason G: 2 bulletin boards with materials for mounting, 3 packs of pushpins
For Lucius: A manual sewing machine
For Castiel: A dozen flasks of holy oil and a pillowcase-sized satchel of various natural spell components
For Duster: A double bass, complete with a case
For Prompto: A polaroid camera with enough film for 50 photos and a folding sword, which is cruder than the example he gave but roughly the same size
For Aziraphale: A large crate of snowshoes, jackets, and coats in various sizes, a bottle of wine, and a bouquet of red, white, and pink roses tied together with an elegant bow
For Javert: A large crate of various fencing gear and 3 fencing handbooks

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

QUICKNAV
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pages	\|	rules • faq • taken • mod contact • player contact • calendar • setting • exploration • item requests • full nav

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[Jason tended to be more of an observer at these meetings, at least when Cao Pi hosted them, but it wasn't unheard of for him to speak up when he felt it was something he could contribute to. He felt like he'd been out of the loop lately on the information and investigation front of the goings on of the town.

Then again, he'd spent the past week or so as a minotaur and then in a funk of rage and anger. He wasn't actively avoiding those he'd yelled at, but the town meeting didn't seem the place to talk to them just yet. He would...soon.

In the meantime, he'd listen and think about what some of this stuff meant for them going forward. He was curious about some of the newer arrivals and at times, especially when the information was stuff he had already heard, he'd look around and see if anyone was familiar. So far nothing, though the guy refusing the food caught his attention.

After a few minutes Jason got up and moved over to him. He was older by at least a decade, if not more, but Jason had never shied away from adults.]

Taking precautions?

[ Sam had been paying close enough attention to the strange looking creature explaining Beacon protocol, all feathers and brightly coloured ... clothing? Armour? Who the hell even knows ... when he notices the young man approaching.

Arms still crossed, he offers him raised eyebrows and a slight smile — after all, there's no need to be rude or anything. ]

You mean the food? I'm — not hungry.

[ Which isn't exactly saying 'I don't trust the food' but it is totally saying 'I don't trust the food'. ]

Yeah.

[Jason glances over at the platter the man had just passed on and then back.]

It's...not all bad. But I get it. I refused to eat for awhile when I first got here too. Kind of a big part of the rules of the Underworld thing.

[He'd gotten a little bit more lax about it, though he still tended not to eat much when it came to things offered directly from the spirits. He'd started eating stuff if it was prepared by someone, like Ignis or Aziraphale, but on some level he knew it was probably still the same ingredients and, thus, the same rules applied.]

Say again?

[ Yeah, the part about the Underworld. He's not sure if that part relates to this place, or Hell, or something a little less Christian and more Greek.

(He knows the stories.) ]

Which part? [Jason's brow furrows.] They did cover that this was probably some kind of after life or underworld, right? I thought for awhile I'd get stuck here if I ate any of the food from the spirits...

I wasn't sure I believed them. [ Sam says honestly, and with something of a shrug. He gestures to the giant bird and the trays of hot drinks and nuts being passed around. It's all so ... Summer Camp-y, it's hard to imagine this being it. ] I've been to the after-life. Or some version of it, anyway.

[ Hell. He means Hell. ]

It wasn't anything like this.

[Jason considers the scene, before giving the man a curious look.]

You've been to one before too? I mean, I haven't been to one personally, but I had friends who've made trips down there. None of their descriptions match this.

[Jason looks down at his chest. He'd long ago put away the shirt with the holes in it from arrows and spears, but it was a camp shirt so he'd kept it close enough. Still, any time he talks about his own death he can't help but look down at where the injuries should be. Not there now of course, but it's hard to forget that kind of thing. He looks back up, tugging at his shirt.]

But I also know that what happened to me just before coming here...that's not something I survived.

[A prophecy ending in death doesn't leave a lot of room for re-imagining. At the time he had accepted it, knowing that Piper could still be with her dad and that he'd most likely get the nicer end of Hades. Still, that wasn't how it had played out.]

I have no way of proving this, but part of me thinks it's like when your mail gets sent to the wrong place. Except in this case instead of mail it's souls. I believe this is an after life...just not one we were supposed to be sent to.

[Jason can only imagine the headache this would cause for Pluto, should he ever make it back to the correct delivery address.]

Yeah. What happened to me, I couldn't survive it either.

[ And it's not a memory he's going to soon forget, for that matter. He can still smell his own blood, metallic and wet-hot. The sound of teeth tearing at his skin, claws scratching at him, dozens of vampires pulling at him, growling.

It's not the worst way he's died, and this place ... wherever he is, it's much preferred to some other places he's been caged in for years. (Literal Hell, for example.) Sam pushes the thought aside, pushes them all aside, and tries to think about this place a little more logically. ]

That's not a bad theory, though. [ Actually, he kind of appreciates the metaphor. ] You got any theories about leaving?

[He doesn't press. He know he doesn't like discussing his own death and that was a few months ago now. This guy is newly arrived.]

Thanks. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how I'd prove that...

[Since the gods sure haven't answered his calls and he's pretty sure that Hades wouldn't be the type to ignore something like this if he knew it was going on.]

Or how to get out for that matter. There were some who tried hijacking the ferry once but they just ended up crashing it and now the ferry's door to the bridge is welded shut.

[He also recalls the time he and Rosinante set off on boats and shudders at the memory of Rosi being ripped apart.]

Really any time we've tried setting out over the water again we've met with problems.

Like someone or something's trying to keep us in this place?

[ Listen, it's hard for Sam not to jump a couple of steps forward and leap into the worst-case-scenario conclusion. Most of the time the worst case happens to be the answer; it kind of sucks. ]

[He considers the different theories he had heard and looks back towards the bonfire.]

Something...sounds pretty accurate. No proof, but it would explain why we keep getting stopped from leaving by creatures.

Sounds like maybe we need to dig a little deeper. There's gotta be some kind of answer. Or a half-answer that'll lead to the real one.

[ Sam's gaze follows Jason's back towards the bonfire too. He watches the flames dancing in their place, noting that it's really the only actual light around here, even if it burns dimmer than he's used to.

He turns back to Jason. ]

But maybe that's for another day. [ He offers the young man a small smile. Something about him reminds him of Jack, and it's a bittersweet memory he can't quite shake. ] What do you know about this place?

Probably. I help where I can, but solving mysteries wasn't exactly something I did a lot of back home.

[Fighting monsters, yes. He could do that. He left the puzzles of this place to people like Rosinante or Cao Pi. He had suggestions to make of course, but mostly he tried to help by contributing to the community as a leader and also as muscle. There wasn't much a demigod couldn't handle and he'd fared pretty well against most of the spirits.]

You mean aside from it being full of dead people? [He thinks for a moment.] There are the people who arrive on the Ferry once a month and then Beacon is occupied by lots of spirits. They have the masks, we have these lanterns. The spirits are...mostly harmless. At least the ones around town. If you wind up in the woods or in places that aren't traveled to as often, that's where you can get into some trouble. We may have all died, but it's possible to die again here.

[Jason reaches for his own lantern, unclipping it from his belt, and holding it up. It's sturdy -- like it was made to survive a hurricane -- and painted purple with gold embellishments. Those embellishments are mainly lightning bolts and eagles, though somehow it is tasteful and not gaudy in its decoration.]

This is important. You don't want to leave this lying around. If you wander too far from it, the light will go out and you'll die. Same thing happens if it gets smashed. But your body can get injured too and then you also die.

[Fortunately, Jason is durable and he's only experienced injuries and not death. Though he has certainly witness his fair share of it.]

The lanterns are the only thing that will cast light aside from the Bonfire, moon and stars. Rastus is the one to talk to if you want to take a torch from the Bonfire...if you try to make fire yourself or if you try to magically create fire, it's a no go on the light.

[He leaves off there. Waiting to see if Sam will ask any questions about any of that.]

Oh! And I'm Jason Grace. I just realized I probably should have mentioned that. It's not related to information about this place, but it's good to know who you're talking to, right?

Right. [ Sam huffs a soft laugh, offering a hand to the young man with a nod. ] Good to meet you, Jason. I'm Sam. Sam Winchester.

[ He gives their lanterns a nod, glad for the protip. His lantern is a lot different from Jason's, mostly by way of how it lacks any kind of colour or embellishment. It's arranged in a kind of grid-like pattern that strangely resembles ... well, plaid. Otherwise it's simple and unaffecting. But if it's the thing keeping him alive (in a sense of the word), he won't be leaving it behind so easily. Not a fan of testing that theory out, nope. ]

So this darkness around us ... this isn't just a particularly dark night? This is it?

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INTRO LOG: FEBRUARY

town meeting

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sorry for the late late tag