INTRO LOG: FEBRUARY

[inthenightmods]

INTRO LOG: FEBRUARY
GRAVEYARD WHISTLING

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

Comments

peter maximoff, xmcu.

[punctually]

welcome;

[ he doesn't remember the last time he was on a ship, which he only realizes when he hears the loud foghorn that jerks him awake. it takes him a second to register the sway of the ship, slow and gentle enough that he doesn't even really feel it at first as he tries to take in his surroundings. there's no mistake that he died — he has the blood on his uniform to show for it: dried and caked in patches along his side and his back. it's beyond salvaging at this point, but hey, at least he still has his AF1s. small victories.

the hallway outside his room is empty and then it's not, peter suddenly materializing seemingly out of thin air before he disappears again, only to reappear on the deck a second later. maybe you were contemplating your own status of being alive again when this guy shows up, his lantern hooked to his belt next to his walkman. he's gone before you can say something though, already on the ground the second the ship docks, head tilted to listen to the song playing over the speakers. ]

Cool song choice. [ not something he's really heard of, he's still stuck in the 90s, but you know. ] Beats a welcome party, I guess.

[ afterwards, peter will be doing one of two things: a) he'll be helping unload supplies from the ferry to bring to the general store. feel free to recruit him for help or just let him do it himself, to be honest; he's slower now (something he's trying not to think about just yet) but he can still get it done much faster. or b) he'll be doing a couple laps around beacon, mostly investigating the invincible and the bonfire, poking his head into rooms and just checking the general space out. don't mind him just suddenly appearing in your room or at the bar, heralded by a minor breeze wherever he pops up. ]

town meeting;

[ rastus isn't even the strangest person he's seen, neither are the forest spirits really, but they are kind of cute. he has his complimentary mug of hot cocoa that he hasn't taken a sip from yet, but should he spot you without one when he slides (a little too quickly) into the seat next to you, he'll offer it.

there's the sobering feeling of dread that he hasn't gotten over yet, and he doesn't think he will until he finds out why he's really here and how he can get back home. if he can at all. peter listens as he pokes around on his tablet — literally, these things don't exist back in the 90s. ]

Here I thought space missions were cool, [ he mutters, reaching out with one hand to catch the tray of acorns a nearby forest spirit dropped before it hits the ground. ] Nothing beats going on missions in the afterlife.

wildcard;

[ have an idea for something else? feel free to throw it at me or hmu by PM/wooloos if you want to hash things out! ]

Welcome

[mindofathief]

[Another man walks past Peter when he starts helping move supplies from the ship, reappearing several minutes later with a large case that can only hold on thing based on its bass-shaped outline. Thankfully, it has a set of wheels on the bottom that allow him to roll it across the floor and planks, as his distinctive limp would indicate that carrying it would be difficult.

Then he reaches the rough patch that is the shore. He sighs and hoists it with one hand to slowly take it to to the recreation center.]

[punctually]

[ there's a bit of a breeze that rushes past the man, and maybe another one before peter suddenly appears next to him on the shore. he pushes his goggles up and moves to the other end of the case, lifting it just as the man does. ]

Need some help?

[mindofathief]

[Duster covers his face with a heavy sleeve as the breeze starts up, only to find another man beside him. How did he not hear him coming? He ought to return to his Thief Arts training soon.]

Sure thing. I'm getting this to the rec center for now.

welcome

[shadowsran]

[Getting in quick to cherry pick the best fruit before all of it's hauled off isn't too demanding a task, typically. Entire crates disappearing isn't enough to dissuade the effort, but Misty finds it distinctly frustrating. Too accustomed to the oddities most residents have on display to mistake this as a new quick of the ferry, she waits. At the first sign of another presence - lantern light present long enough to see, a halting footfall, anything indicating a pause - she turns on her heel, preparing to say something cross.

The dried blood catches her eye before she can get a word out. For the best, considering the 180 from exasperation and annoyance to earnest concern.]

You alright, there-?

[punctually]

[ peter's noticed her since they started unloading the supplies, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out what she's doing. it takes one to know one, after all, and peter figures in a situation like this, it's understandable. supplies are limited, and if he's hearing things right, they won't be the only new batch of people for a while.

he's already got his hands up when she rounds on him, in the universal gesture of i come in peace, don't mind me. what he doesn't expect is the concern, though, and he actually looks down at his uniform for a moment. ]

Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm good. [ as good as he can be, at least. ] I mean, between you and me, I was never really a big fan of the uniform anyway, but I wasn't part of the design team.

[ casually dodging the real answer, but he quickly changes the subject. ]

What about you?

[shadowsran]

[Though clearly skeptical, it's assurance enough she can shoulder her backpack. Not serious enough to fully abandon the task at hand. Spares him a lot of fussing, but not all. She's deflective enough to recognize a dodge.]

You look fine enough in it, more worried about-- [vague miming at her side] --y'know, likelihood of you dropping anytime soon. It can still happen, still worth avoiding. I'm...fine. Small chance I'm hallucinating you zipping around like that, but I don't think I am. Right?

meeting;

[antiwhat]

[ Ellever's in the back of the meeting but, unlike the last time a town meeting was called, she's made an attempt at coming. Large groups of people still leave a weird feeling in her gut. The last time she saw such a group, she was being restrained and a black bag was being put over her head. Though at least that time, everyone was wearing nondescript security garb. Beacon is nowhere near uniform. Everyone is incredibly different.

Case in point, the guy nearby who... moves very quickly. Is he new? She can't recall seeing him before. She blinks as he brings the tray back up, a corner of her lips curling upward. ]

I don't know. I think space would be a lot cooler than being attacked by spirits. But I've never been to space, so I wouldn't know.

[punctually]

[ once he's sure the forest spirit has a better grip on the tray, he settles back in his seat again, glancing at her. ]

I mean, I've only been there once, but... it's a whole lot of, you know. [ he gestures vaguely, ] Space. [ ha, get it? ] Just not a lot of room to move around in.

[antiwhat]

[ She chuckles quietly, not wanting to disturb others in the meeting with a sound any bigger than that. But, well. He has a point. There's a lot of space in Beacon. Most of it's filled with monsters, but a fair amount can be traversed with relative safety. ]

And it's colder up there. Although... it's plenty cold down here. [ Thank goodness all of the housing has heat. Otherwise, this would be miserable. ] But the green spirits often have claws that they like to use, so. Trade-off.

town meeting

[pearlstrings]

[New faces abound. Bruce is not one to make a presence in town; he has and still does prefer to keep to himself- to cling to the margins and listen. Meetings like this are perhaps the only exception to this self-imposed rule. There is a notebook he keeps in his back pocket, for anything that might take his attention and invite further scrutiny at a later date, but for the most part he ghosts forgettably through the square.

When he finally chooses a seat its somewhat further from the bonfire's light than the others. He keeps to himself, watches the coming and goings. Is aware of who chooses to seek whom out. Someone settles on his left and Bruce doesn't glance in his direction- this isn't dismissive so much as it's indicative of his lessons in manners. Privacy might not always be available, but most people in Gotham prefer even the illusion of it. But the stranger, new arrival, he suspects, doesn't keep to himself. He reaches out to stabilize a wobbling tray. He talks to no one.]

That's a strange way to think of it.

A mission.

[punctually]

[ no one knows who he is. the x-men weren't exactly trying to keep their identities a secret, which was both as much of a good thing as it was bad; everything that happened after saving the endeavor was a testament to that. but it also means that there's less of a burden to keep to himself — does any of that matter when he's already dead?

then again, he's always done what he felt was right, whether or not it would cost him in the end. ]

I mean it's kind of the same, isn't it? The world gets threatened — literally, like, World Eaters? Weird— and so the, uh, light house keeper brings all these people in, right, from different parts of the world... from different worlds entirely, maybe, [ he makes a quick gesture. ] I dunno how inter-dimensional teleportation works. Hank probably would, though. I guess she missed and grabbed me instead.

[ wait, he's getting away from himself. ]

Anyway, so you pull all these people together and you have them come to this meeting to share what everyone knows, kind of like a debriefing. A less organized one, but, you know. But the objective is, in the end, we all work together to drive back the World Eaters and save this town. World. Something like that.

[pearlstrings]

[This is... new. Gotham has, by and large, two types of people: those that talk and those that don't. Secrets are a currency, they can promise an early death or a string of social or financial successes- a fluctuation as random the stock exchange. And those that talk are rarely people with something to say. Politicians of dubious merits, public figures focused on selling something, on selling an idea, on selling the self. Bruce's personal circle includes mostly the former but he finds he's unsure, in this moment, if the stranger beside him belongs to the latter.

He articulates where he's coming from, unraveling personal experience and anecdote and Bruce listens in uninterrupted silence, keeping track of small details like inter-dimensional teleportation and debriefing. Fragments of a larger, yet unknown whole.]

I suppose that depends on how many people share your perspective.

meeting.

[uplifters]

[ Kal takes the hot cocoa for one sip, then passes it back with a soft 'thank you'. He's already feeling positively charged by the bonfire, like he's feeling everything ten times more strongly than he already does; Peter probably needs the warm-up more than he does. ]

If the rumours are true and these "World Eaters" really do come from space, there's a chance we'd have both kinds of missions in one.

[ How about that, right? ]

[punctually]

[ peter probably does, but that also doesn't stop him from taking a sip and then placing the mug back down in between them, as if he's expecting them to share. which, he kind of is. superpowers or not, nothing really beats having hot chocolate on a cold day. or night, rather.

you don't get that same kind of comfort from any sort of super ability.

peter blows out a sigh, cheeks puffing briefly. ]

Two birds, one stone, huh? Hey, do you think this still counts if I scratch it off my bucket list? Since, you know, we're already... [ he makes a face, ] dead.

[uplifters]

[ Kal, for all his recency in death, seems to be taking it in stride. ] Given I’m certain there’s a way for us to “die” even in the afterlife, I’d say you ought to make Bucket List 2.0.

[ The offered hot cocoa is noted, and so Kal reaches over to take his own sip before putting it back. Conceivably he could just stand and get his own mug, and maybe he will once they finish this one for a free refill, but it would be rude to just stand and leave Peter all on his own when he’d just arrived. ]

Which item would you have ticked off, anyway?

welcome;

[gwenzelle]

[ the thing about speedsters is that they have a super particular way of setting off gwen's spider-sense. she's usually not quick enough to actually react to the feeling in a productive, but it's this very specific kind of zap-shock of energy that makes venom go !!!!! and send a zing up her spine. it's just, y'know, it's just a thing. she's felt it before, and right now on this boat she's feeling it again. and again. and again. and again?

and that's the only reason why she gets her ass off of her cot, finally, even though she's been awake for a little while now. she's just caught in some serious denial, but, it's fine. we're going to pick that apart at another time. for now she's walking to her door like a cranky old man, poking her head out into the hallway ]

Hey, Speedy Gonzales! Can you maybe chill out?

[ there's that zapshock again, and it makes her nearly jump out of her skin, yelping. at least she ..sort of spotted him, this time. okay, not really. but noticing a blurry woosh as her hair gets swept to the side from his speed, thanks to the way her spider-sense slows things down just a tiny bit counts. it so counts! ]

C'mon!

sorry for the wait!

[punctually]

[ they're all caught in some stage of denial one way or another, but peter does at least chill out on his speedy thing, pausing just outside her door. ]

Sorry, my bad. [ he sounds a little distracted, if only because he wasn't really expecting to be spotted mid-speedy. ] You can see me?

all good!!

[gwenzelle]

[ there's a quiet 'whoh!' when he stops, and he's right there, and wow okay, that's- definitely a suit. a supersuit. costume, uniform, whatever he wants to call it. or he's... a scuba instructor? look, she doesn't know. she's also got some brutal blood stains on her clothes, so obviously it's not the blood on his that's got her looking a little confused. but it's clear that she's distracted by it for a second, before she actually looks up to meet his eyes. ]

Sort of? Well, no I couldn't see you running, but I felt it. Sort of. [ she shakes her head, ignores the fact that it makes her feel a little dizzy. ] I have powers, too. A few, but one of them is sort of like this weird feeling I get when something potentially dangerous is headed my way. Some people call it a spider-sense. Mine reacts weird around people like you. [ a beat, when she realizes that sounded kinda ridiculous, so she grins ] People who can move as fast as you do, I mean.

town meeting.

[fawcetted]

Tell me about it. [ Okay, so — this guy definitely wasn't next to him a literal second ago and now he's here. Steve won't be fazed by it, at least he'll try not to be, but it's enough to distract him from his partially gnawed on pinecone, which he'll just ... put down next to the empty mug that used to be hot cocoa.

He glances in the other guy's direction, noting the lack of familiarity with the tablet. Man, can he ever relate to that. They're about a decade off from each other, probably, but at least they can share in their cluelessness. Steve's tablet mostly serves as a glorified paperweight at this point; sometimes he'll stick it under the legs of one of the small tables back home to keep it from rocking. ]

At least it's something to do.

[ And gives them a better understanding of how the hell they might get out of here. ]

[punctually]

[ god, hank would probably reach through space time and punch him in the face if peter ever tried to use his tablet as a paperweight, or put it under a table. he can't help but think if he was here he'd be able to figure this out, he'd probably be paying more attention to this meeting, too.

it's not like peter isn't; he's listening, it's just. sitting still was never his thing, in life and in death. ]

I mean, yeah. Beats sitting in the dark and thinking about all the stuff you messed up on and why you're here, I guess. [ he slides his mug of hot chocolate over to steve, just because he thinks it's at least nice to have in a time like this. ] Why do I get the feeling this is the first meeting you guys've had?

town meeting

[equinoctials]

[ It's hard to figure out exactly what to share, given how Riku prefers to write down his thoughts in the log books and let others come to their own conclusions, with rare exceptions, like when he advocated for a peaceful solution with the green-eyed spirits to try to unify against the coming challenges.

Still, Riku is here, without a whole lot more to contribute that he hasn't already put in the aforementioned books - he's brought one to this meeting and left it out for others to peruse at their leisure.

As they're outside, he's dressed in jeans and boots, with the layers underneath his black leather bomber jacket further bolstered by a bright blue scarf and a black knitted cap with gloves. His hands are empty and he has a few acorns stuffed in his pockets (it just seemed unkind to refuse the offer, alright), so it surprises him when a stranger slips into the seat beside him, offering a cup of hot chocolate. ]

Oh. Hey... thanks.

[ While Peter makes busy with orienting himself with the tablet's functions, Riku looks him over; it's not that he's never run into anyone else with silver hair. It's just most of those guys had the golden eyes of a vessel of Xehanort. He decides to make conversation, for a change. ]

You've been to space?

[punctually]

[ the books are a welcome alternative to the tablet, at least. it's much easier to flip through it than the tablet for now, and peter lingers on the pages that detail the different areas and people of note before getting into his seat. between that and the app, he has a better idea of what's happening, even if it's not by much. ]

Yeah, just once. [ he frowns a little and shrugs. ] Don't really wanna go there again, though.

What about you?

Town Meeting;

[justcawse]

[Akechi has gotten better about eating or drinking things offered to him by spirits, but he also realized that not all of the spirits were bad. He still didn't trust them after the feast they put on for the newcomers. He didn't need somebody offering him hot chocolate, spirit or not. What is personal space...?]

You seem to be taking this all in stride.

Welcome;

[bunny_suit]

[Well if the blood isn't a giveaway, than she's not sure what else would be. But he seems to be taking death well enough. Except she's not ready to suddenly have someone appear next to here like that in a flash.]

Woah! [And now she's over it so...] I don't know... It could be worse, but not my type of music.

[Never mind that she's.... found Kpop somehow. She noticed the walkman right away.]

Those are still in style? Haven't seen a walkman in years.