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

Comments

Xayah | League of Legends | ota

[featherknives]

Catch a Dream

[Thanks to Rastus, Xayah has received a nice assortment of dreamcatchers. She keeps three- one for herself, two to give as a gift. The rest, however, Xayah will put all around the Beacon.

1. There will be one at the docks, near the boathouse, gently swaying in the wind.
2. Another will hang on the door of the Invincible.
3. Third she will leave to Rastus, as a thank you.
4. Next one she will put on the bridge that connects the Bonfire and Invincible with the Village.

Feel free to run into her at any of these places, hanging them and then spending some time around. She will be rather mellow and thoughtful, staring at the pieces and the feathers that gently sway in the wind. Nothing like her usual sharp, snappy self.]

dream trinket time

[trivialpursuit]

[It's outside the Invincible that Kakyoin runs into her, or rather, standing a couple meters back from her on the path leading up to the door. He would like... to go back inside and sulk in his temporary room... but he's too polite to slink past while she's hanging the dreamcatcher, so he's just standing there.

It's fine and normal. He's handling this.

Eventually, when she's done,] A dreamcatcher?

[Obviously, he knows what this is, but why.]

[featherknives]

[Xayah has heard that someone was waiting for her to finish up- she had heard the footsteps approach and then stop. Which is why she tried to complete her task fast enough and not linger around too much.

She didn't expect to chat with the stranger.

Once she's done and trinket in place, she turns around to face him, her feathery ears tilting up in curiosity. She still has some scratches over her nose and throat from a recent battle with spirits, golden eyes wary.]

For the tenants, [she says, pointing up, at the upper floors of the Invincible.]

[trivialpursuit]

Oh.

[Okay, but!! He almost wonders if dead people still dream, but considering how long he couldn't sleep just last night, maybe that makes sense.

Still. A dreamcatcher, huh. He is... skeptical.]

Does it work?

[featherknives]

[They indeed still dream. You have to sleep otherwise your spirit weakens. The light in the lantern dims. You are an easy target.

She steps away from the door, closer to him, then turns around to look at it.]

A properly made one, yes. [She glances at him briefly, then keeps eyes at the door.] Keeping nightmares at bay.

[trivialpursuit]

[Look--he's hard to convince when it comes to this kind of thing. Even standing around in this after-death, pseudo-purgatory or whatever this place really is, he's not so sure...]

Like a 'shield'. [...] How do you make one properly? I've only seen them in gift shops.

[featherknives]

[She thinks this is a limbo of sorts, the place you get trapped when you can't move on. But that's a debate for another day.]

Those in gift shops- not real. Fake feathers and branches will do nothing.

Dreamcatcher that is woven by hand, branch by branch, and from real feathers, can keep bad dreams at bay.

[trivialpursuit]

[She says real feathers and his gaze flicks up to, you know, her actual feathers. He can't help it.]

Right... If it's up to the materials, that makes sense.

Sorry— I don't have a lot of experience with this kind of thing, so it's a little hard to believe.

[featherknives]

[Her ears flick again (what, they are getting attention!) and she shifts, her feather coat (or is it a wing, she'll never tell you), falling properly to cover her left side and the lantern she wears on her belt.]

Some say that it is prefered that older people, especially grandmas, weave these. As people that went through a lot in their lives, experienced.

That's fine. [Her head tilts a bit with a small frown.] Better not to believe anything than believe something that is wrong.

[trivialpursuit]

[If he was old, maybe he'd be less skeptical. Alas.]

I— It's not that I don't believe in anything. It's possible not to be so extreme.

[For example, he believes in the power of friendship! It counts.]

[featherknives]

[...

She pauses and then turns fully towards him, her head tilted curiously. Well this is a first.]

Are you trying to say that you don't believe in magic?

[trivialpursuit]

[Uh! Hmm!]

That depends on what you mean by 'magic,' I guess. Stage magician magic is obviously fake, and I can't say I've seen anything that can't be explained...

[featherknives]

[...she wishes she still had the light so she can make her feathers glow purple. But, this will do.]

How about-

[She lifts her hand in front of him and slowly, bit by bit, feather daggers appear between her fingers. Literally out of nowhere. She has no sleeves, her other hand is by her side and this one is out in the open.]

-this?

[trivialpursuit]

[Neato, however, he doesn't think summoning a big fighting avatar is magic, so this is a tough sell.]

Some kind of 'energy,' if I had to guess. Am I close?

Bridge

[paletteswap]

[Kuai is heading towards the Village to do some more exploring when he catches sight of Xayah hanging something... feathery, on the bridge. He doesn't know what it is, but the sentiment is clear.]

Something for protection?

[featherknives]

[She is not sure if it will help at all but she's not the one to not at least try to do it. She steps away once she's done and looks over her shoulder briefly at Kuai, and back at the ornament.]

Dreamcatcher. [She has a small bag on her, with more of them in it, for later.]

It is said that the spider web, [she points at the middle of the circle] captures bad dreams and keeps them away.

For a place that barely sleeps, there are a lot of nightmares...

[paletteswap]

Indeed there are.

[He tilts his head at the dreamcatcher, appreciating the explanation.]

What happens to the bad dreams once they're caught?

[featherknives]

[She can't hide a smirk.]

What happens with the prey when spider catches it?

[She lifts her finger and points at the beads, woven into the thin strings at the center of the ring.]

[paletteswap]

Ah.

[The thought of something eating dreams is a little unsettling, but he's seen stranger things.]

Does it work? We could certainly use such a thing.

[featherknives]

[Well, she's not sure how it works in detail, but they are indeed being 'handled'.]

When made properly, for proper materials, they work.

[paletteswap]

Then I hope these are up to the task. We seem to have nothing but nightmares in this place.

[He sighs and looks around.]

It's hard to see what little hope is left when things continue to degrade.

[featherknives]

I truly hope so too.

[The wind picks up a bit, since they are close to the river, and the dreamcatcher sways, looking a bit ominously in this poorly lit night.]

Which is why we don't put all the hopes in one basket. [She turns head to look at him.] ...you've been doing good? [Half question, half statement. Ever since the fiasco with the foghorn and spirits, they were left to pick up the pieces. It's too dark to see but she still has some scratches and wounds from that fight, especially around her neck.]

[paletteswap]

[He watches it, to have something benign to focus on.]

As best I can. We've lost so many, and it feels that we're barely making progress towards... anything.

[He's not sure what they're supposed to be doing other than surviving and trying to find a way out of here. But it seems there might be some greater purpose; if only he could figure out what.]

I'm unfortunately accustomed to the worst happening consistently. I had hoped the afterlife might be different.

[featherknives]

[Unfortunately, Xayah has no answers for him. She's usually the one with the plan, with a way to move forward or around things, but now?

Things are out of her hands. And she can't do much about it; it might just end up making the situation worse. Especially with that Keeper...]

So have I. [Both used to bad things and thinking afterlife was different.] I didn't expect my afterlife to grant me peace, [not after all the blood she spilled,] but this is a quite unusual way of punishing.

[paletteswap]

It is most definitely a punishment, but I fail to see how this is benefiting anyone else. The Netherrealm that I know is where sorcerers use pain and torment to fuel their power. This does not seem like there is anyone who is becoming empowered from our suffering.

Even the lighthouse keeper does not seem to be gaining anything from the situation.

It all feels... arbitrary.