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!

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[ he's been wandering since arriving. not non-stop, mind, between needing to find a place to sleep and then trying to figure out how the hell to make pizza here, but there's a lot around here that beckons, especially when you spot a light of someone else's lantern in the dark.

he doesn't really know if the guy wants privacy, but when he speaks out into the dark, maybe to eliot but also maybe to no one at all, it's hard not to offer his own two cents, for however rusted and worn they are. ]

Barely been dead, but I don't miss mine at all. Actually, I'm pretty sure I was already dead to them anyway.

[ between being a pan and a magician and not at all what his father wanted in any of his sons, it wouldn't be out of the question, at least. ]

Ah, I sense a tragic backstory.

( there's the slightest hint of a smile on his face as he turns and takes in the new arrival. he's tall and nice to look at, something ambrose can tell even in the dark. )

You're new, then?

( the barely been dead thing and all. )

Welcome to...I still don't know what this place is.

[ he huffs, something between amusement and resignation. ]

Aren't they all?

[ the man looks toward him and the way he carries himself so simply, as eliot prefers himself, draws the magician in. someone who's easy to talk to (and easy on the eyes, at least from this angle) is always a welcome companion.

eliot steps closer, taking a careful seat beside him and tugs out his own flask for a nip. ]

But, yes, I am. [ he pauses to sip. ] You're the first to welcome me, you know. I guess you've been here a while, if you're missing your family.

A few weeks.

( does that qualify as awhile? in comparison to some people, he supposes that it does. he is a veteran to this undead dead place, isn't he? what a thing to be. )

I miss my aunties and my cousin. Most of my other family is no longer around. But, I do miss them. They were good to me.

[ he watches as the man speaks, humming at the end. he wishes he could have had aunts or even a cousin who'd cared. no one really did until margo. ]

What were they like? Remembering helps sometimes.

Troublesome but I mean that in the best possible way. It meant I was hardly ever bored.

( that was a bit of a lie. he got bored a lot because he could never leave the manor. house arrest sounded all right at first but after nearly a century? it was not what he wanted his life to be. )

They took me in when no one else would. I owe them my life.

( well, his aunts. sabrina, he owed a glare and probably a severe talking to for dragging them all into so many messes. )

[ oddly relatable, for even as much as his real family hadn't been such. his friends have given him a lot of meaning that he'd never realized in himself before. not that a lot of those panned out, but maybe it's all the same. isn't family just what you make of it?

he chuckles. ]

I know about troublesome. One endlessly troublesome friend followed me here, actually. Or. I guess maybe I followed him, technically. I'm not sure.

I have to get away from it sometimes. Like now, I guess. But. For as annoying as it can be, there's a familiarity to it that I like.

Oh definitely. Troublesome is nice and not boring keeps you awake but dealing with it all the time is exhausting and everyone needs a break. I don't know if this beach is the right particular place but it's as good as any.

( it was quiet, free of a lot of people milling around which made it easy to unwind. )

You have a friend here? Really? Does that make it easier to be here?

[ he's right. it's maybe not the best, but it's as good as any. normally he'd probably have popped some pills by now too, but seeing as there's not even a way to resupply his cigarette habit here, he's trying his best to actually get along with what there actually is. just alcohol.

he takes another drink before sitting down beside his new companion, legs splayed out in front and an arm pressed back to prop himself upright. ]

Depends on what you mean by easier, I guess. He shouldn't have died at all. If anyone deserved it, it was me. But I lived and...somehow ended up here anyway. And he. He blames himself for that, so. That hasn't really been fun to deal with every other conversation.

He's my best friend though. [ a slight shrug. ] One of them anyway. Just being around him is. Nice. Until it's not.

You lived but you're here?

( now, that...is interesting and the first he's heard of it. everyone else he's spoken with has died at least once and here was a man who hadn't died but he was here despite that.

ambrose frowns, running his fingers through the sand in between himself and eliot. )

Now, that is some bad luck and you've earned that drink. ( he nods down at the one in eliot's hand. ) But why would you deserve death?

[ his eyes follow ambrose's hand as it draws lines in the sand. the question follows, and eliot can't quite look up to reply. ]

I. [ he swallows. ] Tried to. Kill a god. A rejected one. Um. It didn't work, and. He escaped onto my home world. Earth. Took over my body. Aaand proceeded to kill a bunch of people who had no idea what was happening or why whenever they displeased him.

[ the last words are said with a shameful rush, and eliot takes another drink right after. ]

So, yeah. I unleashed a horrible evil into the world. And my best friend died while saving the universe from it. Not really how it should have gone, I think.

And now you're guilt ridden.

( there's no judgment in his tone. he's fairly sure that, in the same situation, he would be in a similar state. for awhile, he'd felt something like guilt over luke's disappearance and death, thinking it had been him that had sent the other boy away.

it hadn't been, though. it had been witch hunters, the same that killed ambrose himself. )

But you tried to do something good. I know a little something about people trying to do something good and having it go wrong. It sucks. It's terrible but it doesn't make your intentions any less good natured.

Mm. Maybe not.

[ he shies a glance back upward toward ambrose's face again. really, how does he manage to make all these handsome friends? ]

But I ended someone's life prematurely by it. Someone who. Kept all the rest of us together. Someone we all desperately need. [ though with that, he sighs, gaze flitting away again. ] Not that he would ever see that for the truth because his whole life he was told otherwise.

Hell. Even I did it. And I'm supposed to be his best friend.

[ another drink, this time of several gulps. it seems his flask never empties. ]

( he's flattered and you're hot too, eliot. maybe they'd get around to saying that to each other when this serious conversation was over. )

Have you asked him what he thinks? You and he, have you talked about it at all? Because it sounds like he made his choice. No one forced him. He did it to save you.

( ambrose shrugs. )

Bet if you asked, he'd say he'd do it again.

Ah. [ he can't help but laugh a bit because the truth is simply that. ] I know he did. And I know he would.

But it doesn't change that he meant far more to many more people than I ever did, and that he doesn't really understand or feel that.

I guess that's why I'm here reclining on a beach drinking and pouring out my soul to a disarmingly handsome man instead of continuing to try and convince him of his worth.

[ wait, sorry, did you want the proposition after the serious convo? whoops. ]

Oh, that was smooth.

( ambrose snickers, unable to help himself. he definitely hadn't expected eliot to segue right into something like that and it shows. he glances over at eliot, amusement evident on his face. )

Disarmingly handsome, you say? Well, that was one of my specialities during my academy days. I was always disarming all the boys with my charm, personality and good looks.

[ eliot grins to himself in satisfaction at the response. he always loves throwing out a good, unexpected flirt. ]

Same here. I always had something of a flock vying for my attention. It was always especially decadent whenever one of them readily offered to massage my shoulders and feed me fruits.

[ the grin slips into a mischievous smirk. ]

It's a shame they get jealous of each other. Otherwise regular orgies with so many cute boys would have been rather ideal.

[ is that too forward? eliot doesn't really seem to care or have any shame in mentioning it. ]

( ambrose snickers, wondering if what he was saying was true or if this was all for show. either way, ambrose likes it. )

Unfortunately, I haven't heard of any orgies happening. Come to think of it, I don't even know if sex is a thing here.

( being dead and all. )

Hadn't really thought of it.

[ there's a thought. but eliot doesn't question it for one second. ]

Your heart is beating, isn't it? So that means your blood is pumping just fine. I don't see why it'd be impossible. [ he takes another drink, eyes wandering across ambrose's form in the darkness. ]

Maybe it's worth testing.

What, sex?

( he laughs. he can't help himself but it's an easy, surprised laugh. )

I bet you haven't used that line before. Let's have sex to see if it still works in the afterlife.

Definitely not. [ he laughs too. ] But I'm realizing now that while I've had Sex on the Beach before, I've never had sex on the beach before.

Of course, if you have reservations, you're free to decline. It's just sex, after all.

[ as if he wouldn't be disappointed, but it is still just sex at the end of the day. night. cycle. whatever. ]

Wait wait, have we even exchanged names? If we're going to exchange other things, shouldn't we do that first?

( he snickers because he can't believe they've gotten here and haven't done that yet. )

Ambrose.

[ he'd almost be embarrassed to admit he's made it through the end and then some several times without ever knowing his partner's name. but, really, the way ambrose reacts and remarks is just too charming to really ignore. he definitely seems like someone eliot could come to rely on. ]

Eliot.

[ he rolls on his hip to face ambrose more squarely and smiles fondly. ]

A pleasure, Ambrose.

And you as well.

( he dips his head and snickers. )

Now that we're a little more acclimated with each other, did you say you've never had sex on a beach?

[ he gives a short laugh, gaze flicking away momentarily before finding ambrose again. ]

Just a passing realization. Like most, my affairs have been predominantly indoors. Which isn't to say I don't care for it. I do quite like that even dead I can find something new to experience.

Have you?

01.

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i'm sorry eliot is such a thot