logsinthenight | INTRO LOG: AUGUST

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INTRO LOG: AUGUST

characters: everyone.
location: all over beacon!
date/time: the first part of august.
content: a few new faces, the teleporter is up to old tricks, and overall just loving not being trapped in an underwater science station right about now.
warnings: n/a.

welcome to beacon.

The first thing you're aware of as you come to is the glow of a lantern, just within reach. Hazily, you start to recall the events leading up to your arrival. You died, somehow, but how does that equate to you being wherever you are?

The second thing you're aware of is that you're being handed a slice of cherry pie by a six-limbed masked creature with a hairnet. Looking around, you find yourself inside a school cafeteria. The school looks to be in decent condition, despite being dark and clearly abandoned - except by whatever this creature is. Stick around long enough and they will also serve some chicken nuggets and a box of milk. Wander a bit, and you may find a memorial wall for dozens of unfamiliar names and faces. Where is this?

A few answers can be found if you pick up and look through the tablet that's settled right beside the lantern. Some of the information is a little out of date at this point, but the most important details are still there: yes, you're really dead, keep your lantern close, and watch out for the spirits. You might notice mention of a ferry, but that's odd, especially if you're nowhere near the lake...

Leaving where you are and using the provided map on the tablet will help you find your way to town, and along the way you might find some out of place items, like crates of food or toiletries or clothing. Feel free to grab what you find as you make your way there, your new neighbors are sure to appreciate it.

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. It's still a little messed up (maybe someone might want to record a new message?), it has plenty of important information to share. Newcomers can always check out the weekly bulletins and the records that were thankfully saved from the bad storm a few months ago. If that's not enough, there's many long-time residents of Beacon that will be happy to share how things go around here. If not in person, network works too.

hide and seek.

The teleporter repair team has been hard at work, and their hard work has paid off. Items have arrived in Beacon aplenty! Only, the aiming protocol is still a little off and it's still all over. Whoops. While anyone with a specific request will find a spirit guide to help them find their wares, everything and anything else is fair game for a little fun.

The spirits are in a playful mood, and have taken the liberty of locating all these lost sundries and supplies. And of course, after that, they chose to hide them around town. Spirits vary from great at hiding things (lining a hollowed out trunk with swim trunks) to downright terrible (is it really "hiding" that sheet of plywood when you put it behind a streetlight that is smaller than it is?), though they seem to enjoy the experience either way.

Need something in particular and don't know where to start? Don't worry, spirits will be happy to give hints. If you can understand their esoteric forms of communication, that is. Others give away the game in the fact they hide with the items themselves, and find the prank so hilarious that little snuffles and giggles are an easy clue to the stowed stash. If characters play along long enough, the spirits will give up the game and will show the poor things with no seeking skills what they've hidden. Still, why not have a little fun with it? The spirits sure are!

ooc.

Hey there, wonderful players, and welcome to The Next Night! We're so glad to have you with us, both new and old. For a run-down on what's upcoming in August, please see the August gameplan, or check the calendar for a quick overview!

As a reminder, things like newcomer arrivals, item deliveries, and lantern repair all depend on the help of the characters in the game! If your character would be interested in assisting with the equipment at Dr. Solis' Lab in any way, please let us know!

DELIVERIES

The newly ported in items have arrived, but as in July, they're still kind of everywhere. Learning to use this portal technology is hard, and more hands helping out are always appreciated! As mentioned above, the spirits will readily help find people's personal requests, but the general resupplies? Guess you'd better be willing to play the spirits' latest little game. The following can be found, one way or another:

The monthly store restock, which provides enough food, general sundry items, and basic supplies to comfortably last the group a month. You can check what kind of items to expect in a monthly restock here.

For Elektra Natchios: several slightly oversized t-shirts and sweatpants made of comfortable materials, a bottle of black nail polish (chip resistant), a bottle of whiskey with a slight odor of sewer when the bottle is opened (though it tastes fine), and a teddy bear.

For Rosinante Donquixote: 4 boxes each (25 rounds per box) of shotgun and flintlock pistol ammo, except in every box two of the rounds have been replaced with nerf darts that some poor kids probably lost long ago.

For Fitz Kreiner: A limited set of lockpicking tools and a set of locks to practice on, and some paper umbrellas which may require some disassembly before they can be used.

For Matt Murdock: an assortment of 14 lovely rings (not all pictured here) as well as 6 rings to share with his friends!

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

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[as soon as it's verified that the transporter works and new people are in fact arriving, Cao Pi sends a message across the tablets for everyone to find: it's time for a meeting to discuss what happened at Helix Station. Moonrise on the 3rd, this time at the Bonfire Square since the town hall is no more. As long as it's not raining it's fine, all fine.

When he can see enough faces looking back at him in the glow of the firelight, he stands and clears his throat to get their attention. He's still wearing eye-catching armor but the clothes underneath are a sad patchwork of what's clean and fits instead of his lovely silks which are basically ruined now. Oh well.]

Good evening, and to the newcomers, a welcome, such as it is. I will keep this brief, since there is much to go over. My name is Cao Pi, styled Zihuan, and at present I serve as the closest thing to a leader Beacon can claim. If anyone would like to dispute that, please save it for later. You may get in my face as much as you like, then.

Our descent to the station under the lake did not go entirely as planned, but the short answer is yes, we did manage to kill a World Eater, albeit one they consider small and weak. The only survivor was the one known as Weaver. We uncovered a fair amount of information about what the station, under Pluto, was doing, but we may need to go back down to recover more supplies and weapons that we were not able to collect before. I would like to lead such an expedition, but not immediately. In a few weeks, when we have processed everything.

I would like those who fought and those who found things of interest down there to speak, and share for the community's sake. Beyond that, if there is anything else that was discovered above the surface, I encourage those reports as well. If we must make decisions, we can do so after we all know everything. Be patient, there may be a lot to take in.

[ooc: as with past town hall meetings, there may be thread jumping and such; characters who want to make a report should make a header under this one and then go ham! Cao Pi also has a report, he'll get to it.]

((I'll happily enough match your format, whatever you prefer.)

welcome.

Merwen walks into town, lantern in one hand, and a foraged granola bar in the other. Somewhere along the way she found a large floral scarf and tied it into a makeshift bag that hangs from her shoulder, and the weight of something approximately the shape and size of a tablet hangs in it. She is naked, hairless, purple, and her hands and feet are both unusually long and webbed.

Learning that you're dead is a lot to take in, and of course this land of the dead is a sea-less stony world. Of course it is. And it doesn't help that the only being she's so far encountered was the six-armed creature that offered her pie. A person, it was definitely a person, but so far from human she doesn't really know how to quantify it.

Once in town, though, if she can lay eyes on any soul who is more recognisably human (or at least has the right number of limbs, no matter if they're different from herself), she will approach them, confused but friendly enough.

"Share with me. Have you been here long?"

hide and seek.

It's more the giggling of the spirits that she follows, because there's something childlike about them, and that appeals to her. At present, there's little she wants to find, but her curiosity has her following the sounds of amused spirits around town as she explores Beacon.

And she's very likely to stumble upon someone who is actually looking for something concrete. And yes, she's still naked.

"Forgive me. Have these children given you something?"

heatwave

( It's several days into the month when the temperature rises, causing Javert to set out on his patrol without his coat. He's donned in nothing but his shirtsleeves and waistcoat, and it's the most undressed anyone, other than his housemates, have seen him. Even so, though, it is not enough to keep him cool, and when he stalks through all the known areas of Beacon, he does so with an obvious sheen on his forehead, the sweat crawling down his neck and back.

It's far worse when he's at combat training, and sparring against someone at the armory. He has a blunt sword in his hand, holding tight, but even his grip slips at times, and he cannot hide how much the heat is sapping his already low energy. )

Perhaps we should finish early.

( He says, wiping the sweat from his brow. It's not yet nine and there's still a few first aid lessons left for him to teach, but that may have to wait. )

sweet dreams

( And then, near the middle of the month, when Javert feels as if he can fight his insomnia no longer, he falls asleep. There are no nightmares to torment him, no faces of his friends turning black with decay. He falls asleep on one of the chairs in the library, his head on the desk, notebook open before him and pen in hand. It seems as if he was in the middle of writing a report, though it is all written in French, and in his neatest penmanship. He mouth hangs open a little and he snores softly.

Perhaps it wouldn't be a bad thing to wake him, for his back will protest his posture whenever he wakes, and he will be all the more cross for it. )

( Javert isn't in a much better way himself. His clothing is neat and immaculate, his coat buttoned all the way up to the chin, but his appearance itself is haggard. Whatever it is that the World Eater did to him, it doesn't seem to have stopped. He doesn't speak wearily, though, despite his fatigue, his voice loud and filled with authority as he steps forward. )

My name is Javert, and I was one of the group that uncovered the crew's quarters. They all perished, as Lord Zihuan has said, and we found several of their bodies discarded and dismembered within their rooms. One of them was covered in an odd growth, attached to the wall and still breathing, albeit shallowly. When I shot it in the head, it reanimated itself.

( Even now, he doesn't know what to make of that. He continues, )

It seems the spirits were conducting experiments on the crew, the same as what they did to those that they kidnapped in Beacon. We found a notebook in the last room as well as medicines and potions of various uses. One of them, specifically, was used in the battle against the World Eater to reduce the effects of its hallucinations. It was developed for use against the green-eyed spirits, but it is not absolute. Many of us still suffered from the creature's visions.

( That's as close to admission of his own condition as he's ever going to make. If there's anything that the other members of his group wish to add, Javert will turn the floor over to them, but he's sure there will be questions as well. )

(I'm happy to match format, so tag however you prefer.)

A. Welcome to Beacon

[Machines don't have souls. Machines don't go somewhere else when they're dead. Machines don't die.

But here he is, in some bizarre version of an afterlife. It suggests some kind of higher power out there, and it suggests that said higher power doesn't understand the very basics of what constitutes "life." It's all horribly confusing, but it's just one more thing to add to the absolute disaster that has been Danse's last few days.

He fins the garage after some brief wandering. A run-down fueling station, from the looks of it, familiar enough to be vaguely comforting. A sweep of the building found it clear of hostiles, and rife with old junk. He busies himself within, dragging things around, examining objects, constructing a livable space inside the shop. There's even an old mattress in a metal bedframe. All a Wastelander needs for a comfortable home. His lantern sits safely on a shelf, lighting his work.

For a few days, he's content to hide, distracting himself from reality by tinkering and sorting through the junk. Occasionally, he takes out the strange communication device and toys with it, until he understands mostly how it works (holotape technology here is truly stunning.) He watches the communications on the network but does not reach out. It's better for him to keep to himself, away from humans that the programming inside him might cause him to hurt.

On the third day, strangely, Danse notices that there is more junk in the garage. Crates full of food, water, and other miscellaneous supplies have appeared as though by magic. Perhaps some benefactor is looking out for him, or encouraging him to continue his isolation?

He's digging through a crate full of clothing, trying to find some in his size, when he hears the creak of the door opening, and footsteps. His laser rifle whirrs to life as he clicks the safety off, standing upright and keeping it at the ready as he calls out to whoever's come in looking for supplies.]

That's far enough. Who are you?

B. Hide and Seek 1

[After the third day, Danse has found enough calm to leave the garage, heading out to survey the rest of Beacon. He wanders the streets with his laser at his side, marveling at the intact Pre-War architecture. Apart from the utter lack of sunlight, this place is almost luxurious compared to the wasteland.

There's a small list of items he desires to scavenge. His laser is a trusted companion, but fusion cells don't seem to exist here and that means he has a very limited number of shots. Another firearm with plentiful ammunition would be ideal, and he decides to search the armory.

Unfortunately, this "armory" seems to be operating under the medieval definition. Swords? Battleaxes? Not really Paladin style (the irony is, indeed, lost on him.)

He decides, instead, on a baseball bat. Already planning how to hammer some nails through it or reinforce it for better damage, he tests its weight in his hands. Another person is "shopping" nearby.]

Please excuse me for interrupting, but I have a question for you. What can you tell me about the combat situations here?

C. Hide and Seek 2

[The general store seems like a good place to look for a few other necessities to keep at his base in the garage. He gathers a duffel bag, a variety of other food, bandages and disinfectant (synths do bleed, after all.) Then he's ready to leave when he stumbles on the literature aisle.

Books are rare enough in the Wasteland to make them a valuable commodity. The Brotherhood was mostly interested in technical books, so fiction wasn't overly common within the barracks. Having an entire aisle of unburned, intact books all laid out before him is an incredible opportunity.

This is what leads to the bizarre sight of a large, stern man in a flight suit with a baseball bat slung over one shoulder, leaning against a shelf and flipping through the raunchiest-looking bodice-ripper available with wide, shocked eyes.]

D. Wildcard

[OOC: Plot with me or make something up!

Danse will be sticking close to his garage, setting out to scavenge for tools and supplies to make the place more livable. He will be a bit skittish around others to begin with, but feel free to have your character say hello and etiquette will demand he return the friendly sentiments. He'll try really hard, anyway.]

Edited 2020-08-02 21:13 (UTC)

( The man she approaches is quite noticeably human, dressed in a long, dark overcoat, and with his lantern at his side, tied to a loop near his waist. It's not often that people approach him, and especially so when it is a stranger. It's enough to snap him out of his reverie. He raises his eyes, looking the woman over for a moment before immediately glancing the other way again, at the ground. )

A year, madame.

( If he seems disquieted, he doesn't admit as much. He's far too polite to say anything, but he does ask, for the sake of his curiosity, )

Are you recently arrived?

I am. I am still trying to find my feet. It has been shared with me that I am dead, and I assume that is true of others here?

[She's confused, that much is clear, but it would be surprising if someone wasn't confused in this situation. She reaches out with one hand, the webbing between her fingers translucent with the lantern light behind it.]

I am Merwen. I admit I am slightly relieved to find that I am not the only human in this place.

The spirits were experimenting on the crew? After the world eater arrived?

[That's something unexpected. Rosinante leans in a little, frowning.]

I heard that the crew were experimenting on the green-eyed spirits in the room Lord Cao Pi saw while we were investigating the research area. I never saw that room myself, though.

sweet as cherry pie. (the school.)
[ when lorem wakes up, her head is hurting ~~like something had crushed it~~ and her current circumstances do not help: the too dark enviornment. the deep red glow of a lantern right next to her crumpled form. the contrasting bright blue glow of a tablet next to said lantern.

... and something offering her a slice of questionable cherry pie, all but shoving it under her nose. at least it's still edible upon taking a polite bite of it so the... host(?) lets her have some personal space again.

while she eats the pie and strange little meat lumps(?) offered on a tray that she brings with her, lorem takes the chance to explore her new surroundings of this... school she's in. this is certainly not dust tumbles, with how cold and wet it is compared to the dry and arid climate she's grown accustomed too. with her .comm device not working at full capacity and with no idea where she is, what does she do first...?

she's ruminating on this problem when she hears/realises something or someone is right behind her. much too close for her comfort.

taking a quick note to apologise if this isn't a hostile individual (and still isn't hostile after this action of hers), lorem makes quick work of defending herself:

she spins around and, with great effort, tries to swing her tray at the too-close person. she'll clean up the spilled pie and meat lumps later. ]

ready or not. (hide and seek.)
[ once she gets her bearings after that awkward encounter at the school, lorem uses the map on her tablet to make her way towards the village. her best chance of figuring out what to do next is to get into the thick of it, she supposes. sounds like something laura and leeds would do-

her thoughts are interrupted when something jumps out of a bush and rushes by her. it's tall and gangly and covered in what she thinks is sewn up pillow covers. that's all lorem can make of the strange thing before it pauses long enough to toss a box at her.

she barely catches it in time, fumbling with the heavy thing long enough to lose sight of the fleeing... fleeing spirit, was it? there was a mention of it in the message. lorem gathers that much as she looks up again and sees someone making their way towards her. ]

Oh- Hello there! [ deciding to make a better impression this time around, lorem does not throw what she has in her arms at the approach of another person.

instead, she inclines her head to greet them and she lifts the box up- grunting with some effort while doing so. ] Is this yours? A spirit - I believe that's what you call them? - threw it at me. I hope there's nothing fragile in here.

moving in. (the village.)
[ and she finally makes her way to the village. at long last too. it'll be nice to have some guaranteed privacy to herself and ruminate over the implications of her being here.

lorem decides bridalveil falls, #1, will be her residence in the village. it looks okay. there are clear signs of it weathering through damage and wear but it looks like that's the case for all the cabins here.

hmmm.

deciding to be proactive on the matter, lorem boots up her .comm device and, begins to go to every occupied cabin, knocking at the door with practiced grace and readiness when it comes to suddenly soliciting other individuals. if the person opens their door, lorem is quick to launch into her spiel: ]

Hello! I guess we'll be working together now. [ she sticks out her hand for them to take if they want. she beams at them with a well-practised sense of cheer to her as if used to this. ] I'm Lorem Laurel. I'm new here. If you don't mind, could we have a chat? It won't be for long, I promise.

[ she'll also be doing this to those she happens to cross paths with. those who don't even live in the village are not safe from lorem on a mission. no sir. ]

wildcard! (anything goes.)
[ want to do something else altogether? this is the prompt you can use!

feel free to plot with me over at

prognostic if you want. ]

Quick to maintain her composure after being approached, Lorem nods in reply.

"Yes, they have," she answers. "I don't know why but they keep pushing packages to me if we cross paths with one another." She lifts the box in her arms as an example, looking more bemused than amused by these turn of events. And, just to be sure, she asks, "Is this yours, miss?"

[ certainly a bizarre sight, no doubt, but as lorem is quickly figuring out from her encounters here, this is something she'll have to expect from beacon.

so she tries to refocus her attention on what she needs to do here. lorem politely clears her throat when approaching the aisle, quick to put on on a friendly and warm smile on her face when she eventually catches his attention(, hopefully). ]

Sorry but- Could I pass through? I'm trying to make a trade with a spirit who 'hid' something from me and they're interested in a particular book in this aisle.

[Stirred from what is apparently an engrossing first few chapters, Danse looks up and immediately steps aside and out of the way.]

I beg your pardon.

[Then keeping the spot in the book with his thumb, he decides she looks like she might be able to answer a question.]

Are these volumes always available here? And are they free for the taking, or do they need to be purchased from someone?

"Oh no, it is not mine." Merwen shakes her head. "Nor do I need anything from them. I am attempting to share understanding. I have never encountered anything quite like them."

She offers a smile. "I am Merwen the Impatient One. I am... newly arrived."

[The spirits are driving him insane. Literally, probably, but today it's especially tedious having to hunt them down just to get what he ordered. All the while, his stomach growls as they dart to and fro - especially at the slightly more humanoid ones. And then he finds himself fighting nausea. Whatever the world eater did to him, it hasn't faded in two weeks - if anything it has just gotten worse, and that doesn't bode well for the future.

Finally, though, thank the gods, there's someone who looks like she found one of his ammo boxes. He makes his way across the dark, scrubby ground to get a better look.]

Yeah, actually. Think that might be mine. Careful with it, bullets in there.

[Which, if they're the shotgun shells, yeah - those could probably explode if handled too roughly. Before he makes his way over fully to investigate, though, he catches a toe on one of the low-growing plants and crashes to the ground right in front of her, all nine and a half feet.]

Ah. Yes, she's still naked.

And he, meanwhile, is lurking, as well as someone his height can lurk. He's watching the spirits closely as they run around with people's things, hiding them wherever they can. He's finding himself with a lot less patience with the spirits than usual, and it takes some real self-control not to betray his hunger.

"Supposed to have," he replies. "Four boxes, but I've still got two missing."

"They're not children," Soldat explains with a small smile, pausing in their prowl in search of actual supply for the Invincible, themselves. They're... kinda getting used to the naked thing. Kinda. At least it's warm out. Jesus. "Those are some of the spirits who were making noise on the network last night."

[Guess who makes a full patrol of all of discovered Beacon every day? This guy. Guess who has super-senses and heard somebody rifling around in those boxes? Also this guy. Soldat pokes their head in, blinks at the new person, and-- promptly squashes their first instinct, which is to pull a gun of their own. That's no way to greet a new person. It's visible as a little twitch, maybe, before both hands come up peaceably.]

Soldat. Just on patrol. You. Must be new.

[If Danse knows any Russian (or, hell, is a good guesser) he can probably put together that "Soldat" just means "Soldier". He can certainly see that one arm-- he's in his tactical vest, which displays the arm all the way up to the shoulder-- is made entirely of metal.]

[Crossing paths, in this case, as Soldat lives in the former bed-and-breakfast, former group-cabin of the Voltron kids (mun thinks, lord it's been forever). They stop at the address, and incline their head in greeting.]

I'm just on patrol. I can spare a minute. Everything all right?

[Because clearly when asking the guy in tactical gear, weapons, and with the metal arm for a moment of their time probably means she needs something, right?]

[Well, finally. Soldat has been keeping something of an eye on Javert, and whenever they can't find him on one of his patrol routes or in any of his usual haunts, they ask around of the spirits. Most of them know both Javert and Soldat by now, if just by description, and one of them points Soldat to the library with a clear shushing motion, as if making some kind of point. Soldat thanks them, then heads in...

... and promptly realizes what the shushing motion was for. Aww. They slip out again and return promptly with a blanket and a pillow, the former tucked gingerly around his shoulders, and the latter slid even more carefully under his head to protect him from some of that threatening neck stiffness.

Then they slip out to let him nap a little while longer, and return after the midday meal with his usual leftovers and a cup of tea. This time, they aren't at all quiet, walking heavily and greeting the Librarian warmly and clearly in spirit-language-- promising not to get any tea on their books, of course.]

[The laser rifle stays lowered, with perfect discipline. Especially not once he puts together what "patrol" implies.]

I am, yes. Are you a member of local law enforcement? As you might understand, I have a number of questions about the situation.

[Oh good. Let's not threaten each other, here. Soldat drops their hands again, and push the door open the rest of the way so they can step inside, just once, not approaching closer than that.]

There isn't a local law enforcement. Not officially. There's not enough of us to need it. But I can answer your questions.

[Most of them, probably, anyway. There are some things even those who've been here for (almost) a year don't know.]

Then you take on patrols of your own volition? What are you patrolling for?

[His voice is always stern, always accusatory, though he doesn't really mean it to be. Fortunately, he's wordy enough that it will hopefully offset that.]

Is is true, the message on the devices? This is some sort of afterlife, and the denizens all somehow deceased, but still functioning?

Lorem offers a smile in return. "Sounds like we already have something in common, Merwen. I'm Lorem Laurel. I arrived here too.

"And I believe they are the 'spirits' we've been told about in the welcoming message from the tablet, I believe. Have you gotten the chance to go through it? Your tablet?" While she speaks, she peers into the box to see what's in it. Hm... Medical supplies. Best to keep a note of that.

[ she looks behind her when she realises she's being addressed. it takes lorem only a second to register the question. ]

Ah- I was actually going through the network earlier and there was a discussion about this topic. Apparently, there's no use of a currency system in Beacon. The items here are available for anyone to take and for free.

[ which makes sense. if they're all dead and here to confront these 'world eaters', the usual and conventional medium of exchange wouldn't work in such a scenario. ] Are you interested in that book? It must be very interesting.

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INTRO LOG: AUGUST

QUESTIONS

OPEN MEETING dated Aug 3

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javert | ota

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Danse | OTA

welcome

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lorem laurel. | original character.

( prompt: hide and seek. )

( prompt: hide and seek 2. )

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hide and seek

hide and seek

hide and seek - day after the TDM thread :)

A. Welcome

Moving In

sweet dreams

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