logsinthenight | INTRO LOG: SEPTEMBER

INTRO LOG: SEPTEMBER

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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Tipped back on the chair, Quentin falls forward with a loud crash and his head snaps up when the loud crack of that echoes through the library, and he looks like someone who's expecting a librarian to come and scowl at him any minute for forgetting basic library etiquette.

He glances at the book in Aziraphale's hands, head craned almost upside down to read the title.]

Can I-uh, is it okay if I just take that?

[There are a couple of piles of books in front of him already, tablet opened on the notepad by his elbow and his hair is stick up in odd cowlicks in the back, as if he's been pulling on it.]

I'm trying to figure out just what's going on here, and yeah, that book looks like something I might need to read?

Oh, no, I've already gone through it all and I haven't found much of anything useful to explain this place.

[ He blinks and then thinks perhaps he ought to help this poor man get back upright. ]

Do you. Mean to be lying down like that?

Ahem, yeah. Yes? I meant to- nevermind. Maybe I can find something you overlooked? Like, why? Or, just - where we are? Because everyone just keeps saying the name of the town over and over, and that's not really helpful? Also, can I just please have that book?

[He says hopefully, almost grabbing for the book but settling for just clenching his hands against the table.]

Um. Sure.

[ He hands the man the book, unsure of why he needs this particular one. ]

I have already read it cover to cover, but be my guest.

I assume you haven't found anything relevant in any of these? I can take them for you.

Nothing. [Quentin says with feeling, looking frustrated and a little angrily at the pile of books. As if this is somehow their fault for being so unhelpful for this, and he takes the book from Aziraphale carefully.] What were you looking for? That you didn't find?

Sure? You can take them, they're about - god, they're about nothing. Just, fiction or that one [he points at the smaller red one] is about growing carrots? Just carrots, nothing else. How is that even- I'm sorry. This is just very, very. Confusing?

Ah, all sorts of things. The stars, for one. They're nothing like they are on Earth, and I've been to most places on Earth. Which is odd, because everything else seems very... regional. The plants, the animals, the architecture.

Just. The sky's all wrong. Thought maybe it was possible to see any charts that matched.

--And growing carrots is a great idea, we really don't have that much food, I think. Particularly not fresh. Oh, I'd love a nice carrot...

What? Wait-- hold on-- [And he's pulling his tablet closer, opening more notes and starts to write stuff down in bullet-points.] What exactly is wrong and where? Like, does it look we're not on earth anymore?

[Fillory had a strange and new sort of sky, and the maps of it had been. Well, lacking. Until the Royal Map Maker had been put on the case. And still.]

Carrots needs sunlight and it doesn't seem like we'll get that any time soon.

--Yes, I know, but trees need sunlight and we have plenty of those.

Anyway! Yes, the constellations are all wrong. And I've been in enough places on Earth to let you know that the ones we have don't exist. You know, there's Polaris and Sigma Octanis, but thousands of years ago it was Kochab and Pherkad - I checked future trajectories as well, though the publishing dates of the books available suggest that we haven't just fallen asleep for several thousand years.

Even then, for all the constellations to migrate... That is a tall order. It is a different sky, entirely.

And the moon! That's what started my curiosity. There's one moon, yes, but it's not facing the right way.

[Like Fillory. Like the thousands of other pocket worlds and little playgrounds for the Gods and their children. All with different skies and different rules. All to please the fickleness of the Gods and punishment always seemed to be a go-to move.]

But, could't all of that be just because we're dead? I mean, none of this is actually real, is it? It's just [Flappy sort of hand wave] -for show? Somewhere to keep our souls or something?

If you believe so, dear boy, then what are you looking for in these books?

[ He picks one off the stack and flips through it, but doesn't think it's anywhere in the neighborhood of what they need.

But the problem is that he doesn't know what needs to be focused on at the moment. ]

I-- I was just--

[Floored by that simple logic and how he somehow managed to miss the most obvious even as it was staring him right in the face. If this was it, dangers and all, then why fight it? Why not just accept the unavoidable? His face falls as he closes the books he's got open on the table in front of him.]

I didn't think? Of that?

I don't know. Something better?

Well, don't let me discourage you! Reading and gathering information is always a worthwhile task.

I just don't know what you expect out of it.

[ He had definitely not meant to upset the poor boy. ]

Would you perhaps like something to drink? A tea?

[Too little, woo late, weird british guy. Discouragement already on the way and Quentin slumps in his seat.]

You brought tea? To the library?

[reason for edit- weird caps!]

Edited 2019-09-06 04:29 (UTC)

No, but I could make some and bring it. I don't quite trust the water here, dear boy, it doesn't seem properly filtered.

I think filtering it is the least of our worries. [But still, tea never hurt anyone that he knows of and it sounds...nice. SO he nods, still looking at the books on the table as if they've personally betrayed him.] Tea sounds-- great? Actually, it sounds really good. Thank you?

Well, alright. I'll try to locate a thermos and be back with some.

Are you going to... just... be on the floor like that?

Yes? I-- I meant to do that and it's, uh, nice down here?

[Dammit, somehow Quentin thought he'd get away with it, if he just stayed still enough and not drew too much attention to the fact that he was currently sitting on the floor of the library, trying to carry on with a conversation about stars and tea. But. No. Of course not.]

It's an American thing?

It... is?

[ He could've also said it was something that kids do these days and he would've believed him, but alright.

At the very least, he doesn't keep trying to help Quentin up, and disappears for a few minutes to go retrieve him some tea. ]

[Breathing a sigh of relief, Quentin picks himself up off the floor and finds his way back to the table and his stack of apparently useless books. He looks at them, sighing again, because -- why not? Why couldn't this be something easy and straightforward? Like a jigsaw puzzle. Those were easy and to the point, instead this whole place is more like the Sudoku game on the tablets, frustrating and pissing him off by shoving his inability to do anything about it in his face.

So, that's how Aziraphale will find him, if he gets back with tea. Hunched over the table, head on his arms and looking for all the world as a puppy who was just kicked.]

[ Aziraphale will drop the tea off next to him, but isn't sure if he should be disturbing him. He seems to be concentrating pretty hard on the books.

He knows how he gets when he's working.

So he'll just... slide that over and then step back. ]

You came back?

[And there's going to be so much surprise in his voice at that, like he didn't really expect him to and he slides the cup over carefully before taking a sip. It's tea; not something he's that familiar with. But.]

And tea. So-- uhm, you said you've read all of these? he gestures to the piles of books, the ones he's read himself and the ones he hasn't] and you didn't find anything about this place? About the town or the lighthouse? Just-- even just something about who used to live here? Or-- or spirits? Nothing?

Not all the ones you have there, no, but I haven't found much. We're probably in some place that was made to look like North America, I'd say in the northern parts of America, maybe up to mid-Canada.

There is a log book about what people have found so far, but nothing from before.

And no, there's frustratingly little about the spirits. The Librarian is very kind to me and always suggests books, but none on their own culture.

[Wait, what?]

There's a log? In town? About everything everyone here has found out? Since, uhm, since people started coming back from the dead? [Saying it makes every single zombie-movie Julia made him watch, just rush through his mind and really, it's not far off.

Burning his mouth when he takes a too large swallow, because - a log? That could at least be a starting point. A pool of knowledge, or as close as he's hear of until now and he swears at the burn but still keeps blinking owlishly at Aziraphale.]

What about the librarian? I haven't seen anyone here, well- you but. There's a Librarian?

Yes, there's a log, it's in town.

And yes, there's a Librarian, they scuttle about sometimes. They really enjoy treats if you bring them any, they'll bring you some books. They understand a little English but can't speak it.

Oh! So, that's what I saw. I thought maybe it was, um, just someone who didn't want to be seen? But-- but, treats? Like, bribes? [Surprisingly, that would not be the first time Quentin had to bribe a librarian to get to the books he so dearly wanted] Can they read?

3. Library

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