INTRO LOG: SEPTEMBER

[inthenightmods]

INTRO LOG: SEPTEMBER
COME INTO MY HEAD

characters: everyone.
location: the harbor, as well as the rest of town.
date/time: september 1-3.
content: beacon's newest batch of residents arrives on the ferry. everyone gets a special gift, courtesy of the lighthouse keeper.
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 that glows steadily 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.

•••

Unlike the past two months, there's not a whole lot happening down at the dock today. It's quiet, disconcertingly so, after the foghorn blows once and then twice to signal the ferry's arrival. Winters is dead, and as such there's no one around to dole out the "need to know" info for the new arrivals.

Luckily, the tablet and the town do have some resources available for playing catch up! The Keeper's recent network post is available for everyone to read, and newcomers can always check out the weekly bulletins and the records in town hall. Everyone's also welcome to get in touch with the NPCs through their inboxes, too.

But, oh! In the ferry's cargo hold is a rather large crate addressed to the Postmaster General, and inside? A bunch of ocarinas! The Postmaster General, set up at their little stall, will be passing out ocarinas (free of charge!) to everyone that happens by. Anyone who doesn't come by the stall will receive one in their mailbox.

Shortly after the ferry arrives, a new message from the Lighthouse Keeper appears on the network:

Did everyone get their ocarinas? If you didn't, check your mailbox at the post office. There's plenty to go around. The extras will be in the general store.

You can use these to communicate with the forest spirits. Their language is based on musical notes, so you have to play little songs for them. Here's a couple of basic translations that should help you guys out:

The rest of the message contains playing instructions and example audio files for the following messages:

- A friendly greeting!
- An assurance that equates to "I come in peace".
- A short melody that translates roughly to polite terms like please, thank you, and you're welcome.
- A shrill note that asks for help.

Characters can use the ocarinas to communicate these phrases to the forest spirits (and are welcome to try learning or communicating other phrases), but keep in mind that there's not much plot info to be learned from the forest spirits, at least not for right now. These ocarinas won't exactly help you translate anything the forest spirits might say back, after all.

The Lighthouse Keeper won't be responding to that network post, but she can be contacted through her inbox!

ooc.

Hey there, wonderful players, and welcome to In the Night! For this intro log, you are officially without a chaperone. Rastus is back at the bonfire, Will is characteristically elusive, and Robin is, well, you know where she's at. It's up to the veteran residents to fill in the new folks.

We're also happy to introduce the YARD SARD... The Postmaster General will be appearing in any intro logs where a player formerly in the game has ordered something through Rastus but is no longer around to claim it! These items will still come in, but since they have no owner, they'll be available for other characters to claim. It's usually a first come, first serve situation, though the Postmaster General may turn folks away for any number of weird reasons. (OOCly, it's us attempting to spread the wealth among the playerbase.)

DELIVERIES

The following packages can be found in the cargo hold:

• The monthly store restock
  
• Two silver prosthetic pieces (they aren't a perfect fit, but they work well enough) for Polnareff
  
• A few bottles of holy water, a pouch of powdered silver, and a magic wand (the wand doesn't have the permanence spell Elden was looking for, unfortunately; instead, it will temporarily change the color of its target to either pink or blue!) for Elden
  
• Webfluid components (about a three month's supply) for Peter
  
• A spice rack for Davina, and one for Ignis as well, plus a little geology kit with both of their names scribbled on the package and crossed out various times. Looks like these orders got a little mixed up! Everything each of them requested (plus a little extra) can be found among these packages, but they'll have to sort out what goes where
  
• 2 cartons of cigarettes, a flintlock pistol, and 100 rounds of ammo for it (though none for the shotgun, hm!) for Rosinante
  
• A small assortment of dreamcatchers, all with a lot of feathers for Xayah
  
• A flash drive (on which is a very simple app for Morse code translation! this can be passed around or uploaded to the network for many users to download) for Matt
  
• A bounce house (small and with quite a few holes that need patching, but it'll get the job done; it's deflated, but it does have a built-in fan!) for Lunafreya

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

YARD SARD

The Postmaster General is here! They've set up a little stall on the dock, and have a couple of items for... sard?

• A carton of cigarettes
  
• 4 2 boxes of .45 bullets
  
• A sewing kit

If you would like to purchase an item from the Postmaster General, you can haggle with them below!

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

Comments

davina claire | the originals

[consecrates]

CARGO HOLD
[ davina's kneeling on the cargo hold's floor, her expression looking very dismayed and annoyed but that's understandable. the box that has her name on it (and some scratched out names that she can't make out) has spices. yes, she asked for specific herbs but davina doesn't remember asking for turmeric or nutmeg or cu—oh, that rosemary smells nice, but that's beside the point. maybe she can use it for cooking? who even knows?

(she'll probably grab a handful of rosemary ... sorry, ignis)

she sets it aside to rummage through the packages, slowly finding the things she requested for: a large bundle of vervain and wolfsbane, bundles of sage, white camphor and sandalwood. there's a few things missing and she's looking very more and more agitated with each passing minute she's unable to find it. ]

Where is it ... Where is it ... Where is it ... [ her white oak branch is missing ... dammit.

she'll be asking around if anyone's found a branch of sorts from the cargo hold or the deliveries. ]

POST OFFICE
[ davina's seated just outside the post office, inspecting her ocarina. cute, but it's weird putting the cat's tail in her mouth to play music. she pulls up the page from her tablet and starts going through the little notes. having knowledge of music sort of helps?? not really that different from playing the piano—except the holes are annoying enough.

... she can at least play twinkle, twinkle star? ]

WILDCARD
[ feel free to find her anywhere else playing the ocarina roughly (but at least there's proper??? music??? sort of ... she's mastered twinkle, twinkle little star tho), looking frantically everywhere for her missing request item. just a heads up that i'd prefer if the branch is returned to her since it's kinda important 🙃 ]

[sauntered_downward]

What are you looking for?

[Have a Crowley. He's fairly harmless, but he's excellent at looking menacing in the dark. He has his lantern up above his face, showing off that he's still got his sunglasses on in the dark.]

[consecrates]

[ she's used menacing people in the dark—vampires like to do that as one of their intimidation tactics—but she looks surprised anyway at his voice. it takes her a full minute to compose herself before she goes back to searching the packages. ]

A branch. I think things got messed up along the way. [ even the herbs she requested turned out to be spices?? ] I hope no one took it yet.

[sauntered_downward]

You're on a supernatural ship traveling in the dark somewhere into the afterlife and you're worried about a branch?

[See this? This is Crowley judging you.]

[consecrates]

[ she doesn't need this judgment right now, thanks crowley. davina sighs, debating if she should be just as sarcastic, but she's kinda preoccupied. ]

The novelty kinda disappears after a month of being in the afterlife with the rats and the rain and the crazy spirits. [ plus it's not really her first time dying ... ] Wanna help me find said branch?

POST OFFICE

[mind_blown]

[ he's relieved that not everyone seems as hopelessly incompetent with the ocarinas-- even if he has next to no urge to make use of his. not yet. he'd want a reliable place and a reliable set of spirits to help him learn to communicate.

And that? that's rare.

besides, he has no interest in letting his creative side show. he's got a rep to keep up. and jason todd, player of ocarinas, doesn't fit that. ]

Nice.

[consecrates]

[ davina looks up at him with an awkward smile, feeling embarrassed that she's caught playing with it. to be honest, she thinks there might be other ways to communicate with the spirits but whatever, this little thing will do for now. ]

Uh, thanks? [ she glances down at her tablet, making sure that her finger placement on the ocarina is correct. ] Maybe the song would put the spirits to sleep next time they go crazy.

[mind_blown]

Entirely possible. Better shot of doing it that way than with charades, or even asking nicely.

Trust me, I tried.

[ and then he followed it up by shooting or stabbing them, but details ]

[consecrates]

[ she tried too. not the most effective way when they're going crazy and wrecking havoc on all of them—or maybe it's because they don't understand them and this ocarina will pave a way to at least learn how to communicate with them? davina still has her doubts, tbh. ]

Let's just hope they're willing to sit still enough to listen to music. [ she glances at a few little ones, seemingly drawn in by the music, offering a friendly smile and a little trill from her ocarina. ] And they can hear it over the noise Robin could make from the lighthouse.

[ when the spirits duck back in, she shrugs. ] Need help with your ocarina?

cargo hold;

[tribridfreakshow]

[Hope notices a very familiar back of someone's head as she's investigating the new shipment that pulled into town. One of these days, she's going to have to ask for her own supplies.

She doesn't like owing anyone, though.]

Something missing?

[consecrates]

[ davina looks up from her searching through the mess of packages, able to recognise her only from the last expedition they took. then again, it had been a tensed moment for all so she won't be surprised if she didn't catch her name.

giving her a grimace that's stemming from frustration of not finding it, she goes back to her searching. ] Something I requested from Rastus. [ she pushes aside some of the supplies for the town. ] He didn't say anything about not finding it, so.

[tribridfreakshow]

[She's fairly certain at this point that Davina has no idea who she is, and she hasn't exactly figured out how she feels about that.

Not that she's made the effort to clear things up, but the whole situation is a little weird if she really doesn't recognize her.]

Was it important?

[consecrates]

Yes, it is. [ davina sighs, feeling annoyed at not being able to find it, seeing how important it is to her. maybe someone picked it up and threw it away, thinking it's just rubbish? she sits up on her ankles, staring at the mess. ] Unfortunately, if Rastus really got it and someone else took it, I have to get it back.

cargo hold (later); thief of branch

[unpredict]

[ after waking up from the news he's dead again — it sucks, it really sucks, but at least he's got good company — kol's been following davina around like a little puppy. taking in the sights (that he can see) and the sounds (that he can hear), he lets her go to the cargo hold by herself so he can go pick up an oversized long-sleeve shirt (that's really a cardigan) to pull over his head. at least he's getting there in being dressed. he'd like to think her request was out of being flustered by the mere sight of him and not... out of any disinterest she may have.

it takes him at least thirty minutes to pick the right colour (a nice, soft blue) and a pair of shoes before he returns to where the ferry has docked. he hadn't expected to see davina still there, rummaging around like she's lost an earring.

kol's turning his fox ocarina in his hands like it's a nervous tic when he approaches her. ]

What are you looking for, love?

[ it can't be the white oak branch he'd found in the cargo hold when he arrived and then proceeded to dump in the woods. ]

[consecrates]

[ kol is lucky that davina's busy panicking and losing her head, unable to notice his restlessness. now that he's here, she's determined even more to find the white oak, frantic at the thought of the item landing in the hands of someone who would use it against him. perhaps it's a mistake that she requested for it—then again, if someone like him could be brought here, then why not his brothers? why not other vampires whom she could easily eliminate with the stake?

she sighs, pausing for a short moment to take a breath and lifting her lantern to check her handiwork before she moves to another section of the cargo hold on her knees. so much easier to look for a branch when she's on the floor, actually crawling. ]

Something I requested from Rastus. [ the other items are here, bundles of sage and wolfsbane and even vervain piled in one corner. ] I have everything else but that ... [ is it possible that he couldn't get it? he would've at least told her if he couldn't, right? ] Which is weird.

[unpredict]

[ he easily picks up her lantern to hold it over her. although he's intending to shed more light for her to find what she's looking for, he finds himself still in the dark despite having a lantern in is hand and another hanging from the crook of his elbow. he'll find his way eventually, he's certain she'll assist him with that. ]

What was it? [ he peers down at the cargo floor and sees nothing. leaning in and crouching down into her space, kol looks at her. ] Perhaps I can help you find it. Two eyes are better than one, aren't they?

[consecrates]

[ davina looks at him when he crouches down to her level, finding that that's a mistake. ugh, she doesn't want to lie to him but what is she supposed to say? that she requested a white oak stake that could kill him and somehow lost it? davina doesn't know what kind of a reaction kol will have to that. she doesn't even know if kol, paranoid as he is, will think that she's out to get him.

she looks back down to the floor, inwardly debating on what to do. a moment later, she gets up, patting the dirt and dust from her knees and clothes. ] No, it's fine. It's not important. [ yes it is, yes it is, and she's lying to kol. ] Maybe Rastus wasn't able to get it after all.

[ crossing her fingers and all. but if not ... ugh, davina doesn't even want to think about it. ]

Here to collect~

[reigniter]

[Mix ups happen. It just so happened that he didn't notice that his square box doesn't contain the spices he ordered from Rastus. So, after contacting Davina and exchanging some info, he heads back, gems and stones box under his hand, back to the docks to return it to the rightful owner.]

Excuse me, [Ignis interrupts once he enters the cargo hold and finds a woman looking around frantically for items. He can smell that rosemary so his spices are definitively here.]

I'm Ignis. I think I have something of yours. [The package he has indeed has both of their names written multiple times and then scratched away.]

[consecrates]

[ she might have noticed the names—might have recognised it, even, from the contacts list and all—but the cargo hold is dimly lit. and honestly, given that her stuff are all over the place, she didn't have the patience to sort it all out first. lucky for her, the guy who's supposed to own the box realised that for her.

davina's tying her hair back, eager to go through the items all over again (maybe she just missed it, maybe she thought it wasn't it), when ignis arrives. almost immediately, she sits up on her heels, taking a full minute before she realises why he's there. ] Oh, right, you're Ignis— [ she glances around and finds his spice box. totally fine, totally in one piece except for the rosemary and the bay leaves ... ] Everything should be all accounted for.

[ she offers the box to him, along with a smile. ]

[reigniter]

[Well, so long there's enough rosemary to make shortbread cookies and enough bay leaves for few stews, it will be fine. Ignis has learned how to mix and match ingredients when in a lack of them. He accepts the offered box with a smile of his own and nod.]

Thank you. I was afraid that they will get spilled all over the place. That's why I ordered them in a spice box.

[He hands her over the package he brought- all the stones are in there.]

I only opened the box once to make sure everything's in there. All stones are accountable for.

[Not sure why she needs stones in a place like this but- everyone's different. Maybe that's her way of fighting back.]

[consecrates]

Thanks ... [ davina takes and opens the box, taking and pocketing only three out of the several stones. the only ones she requested for, while the rest are just not that important. there's only one left from her list of requests, the most crucial one and yet it's also the one that's missing.

she looks up at ignis again, the smell of spices still strong in the enclosed cargo hold. ] Are you guys planning another party of sorts like the last time?

[ you know, before things went to hell. the food was great and so was the company, though. ]

[song_of_ice]

Never seen one of those before.

[Any sort of music is welcome instead of the suffocating darkness and never ending thoughts that seemed to consume them. He had watched the new arrival briefly, more interested in what she was playing than anything else. It sounded like a flute, but looked nothing like one.

She's better at it than he would have been, not that it says very much.]

Where did you find it?

[consecrates]

[ davina pauses from her playing, looking up at jon. she supposes that not everyone reads the network announcements, which makes sense if they don't want to be involved in the recent messes with robin. ] The post office.

[ gesturing behind her where some of the spirits are coming in and out, ] I think everyone gets one if you check your mailbox. The general store should have them too.

[song_of_ice]

I haven't been out that way for weeks. [Or at all really. It felt like he'd been in a daze for some time, randomly exploring or moving through the woods. This was the first he emerged, only to be met with new arrivals.] I need more supplies as it is.

You're one of the new arrivals?

[consecrates]

[ for weeks, he says. what a curious thing to say, especially when it doesn't feel that way to her despite the month that she's been staying in beacon. ] No, I arrived last month. [ she offers him a small smile. she supposes that there are others here that she hasn't met or seen yet. ] You?