locomo | Downtime Log

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Downtime Log - Intro

Log 01 Downtime Intro
Maybe you were walking to class, or riding into battle, or at your father's funeral, or gazing into the abyss as you brush your teeth and think about your waning youth. Maybe you're from 1000 years ago, or the far-flung future. But it doesn't matter how different you are, because all passengers will wake up sprawled on the same floor of the same car...

The Perfectly Average Everyday Normal Train Car

As characters stir from their slumber, they'll notice their new(?) phones vibrating in their pockets. An unread message is waiting for them...

FROM: clownductor one

Welcome to the Existential Express, car #83045029342000001.

[CHARACTER NAME] is currently engaged in Tutorial Mode.

Objectives:
> Read the Existential Express (E2) brochure.
> Access the user directory and send a message.
> Ask one of the other passengers to be your friend.
> Find the exit door.

By completing car objectives, passengers may proceed through the exit and onto the next car.

Thank you for riding with the Existential Express. Please enjoy your journey into the great unknown.

>>>>SUBJECT: New Passengers
How is that? I attempted to make it sound welcoming.

The message, strangely, cuts off there. The brochure goes over all the basic 'what is a train' questions people may have, but nothing else.

However, characters may find that the exit door is locked until they complete the objectives, so it's icebreaker time! On the bright side, it seems this is a dining car, so there's a few nice plates of treats and a bar that magically serves beverages when people make orders. The exit door will be locked until the objectives are complete! (Please see OOC notes below for more details.)

In any case, when they unlock the door and move on through the exit, there is a walkway to the next car. Please watch your step, and check out the FAQ for more details on trying to leave the train!

Immediately proceeding the intro car is...

The Land of Corginia Car

As characters enter the car, their phones will notify them of a new objective…

> Lend a helping paw.

Because this historical city is occupied with... dogs! Mostly corgis. They are smart, verbal, and very good boys and girls. The dogs are happy to play with anyone, and will also help passengers get to anywhere they want to go. The car itself is basically Rome, with low doorways and ceilings.

And because corgis do have short legs and zero thumbs, they will sometimes need and ask for assistance. For example, you and a partner may need to help the corgis cross a river, give them belly rubs, or reach a ball on a high shelf. They are easily distracted, squirmy little babies and will make life very difficult, but they're just so darn cute!

The Museum Car

(tw: body horror)

As the characters enter the car, their phones will notify them of a new objective…

> Complete yourself.

As passengers enter this car, they'll find themselves feeling notably lighter. This might be because they're suddenly missing a leg, or perhaps an arm, or their eyes, or tongue. Whatever it may be, a part of them has been taken away. There's no pain, or danger to their lives from the missing part, it simply isn't there.

It's been whisked away and hidden somewhere in the musty old museum that they've found themselves in. Luckily, it's currently closed, so there's nothing stopping them from raiding everything in sight! The displays span all manner of topics, from history to biology to space. Passengers might even find displays on familiar historical events or persons from their home worlds as they search—the collection is seemingly endless! Just watch out, because sometimes objects (and body parts) will come to life and lunge through the glass at anyone who walks a little too close.

NOTE: Characters can snipe items from the display cases in the museum! However, they'll discover the items are actually toy replicas made of flimsy plastic. They're completely non-functional and will break if handled too roughly.

The Birth of the Wind Car

As the characters enter the car, their phones will notify them of a new objective…

> Collect all the korogu seeds.

The world that lies ahead of the passengers is vast and lush; a spectacle of nature that spans snow-capped mountains, dense forests, deserts, and lakes. Aside from unusually large and extremely territorial fauna (1, 2, 3), the car appears devoid of any signs of civilization, and passengers might think themselves completely alone…

… Until they hear the tinkling of a bell, and a cheery, "yahaha!" in the distance. Upon closer inspection, the car is in fact populated by small, wooden creatures known as korogus (here). They hide at the tops of trees and mountains, on lone islands in large lakes, and under rocks. Once a passenger stumbles across their hiding place—whether knowingly or otherwise—they'll appear in a puff of magic holding a golden korogu seed. Simply finding them isn't enough for them to hand over the precious item however, and they'll require passengers to offer up one truth in exchange for a seed. And don't bother lying, they'll give you a solid bonk on the head and disappear if you do!

Numbers

Numbers! Everyone starts with one that glows on their bodies — as a fun thread mechanic, we suggest they're somewhere visible, but it's up to you!

Because while this is not IC knowledge yet, numbers are determined by how troubled your character is. This may be based on their past actions and crimes, but also alienating habits, regrets, personality flaws, trauma, etc — a higher number does not necessarily mean they're a bad person, but it may signify a difficult time in their life, or substantial personal issues.

Numbers change as characters work through their issues... which we'll cover next time! However, for this log, please note that numbers will remain static. They may flicker or warp occasionally, but don't worry about them going up or down for the intro! As a bonus, numbers can glow in any color you would like.

OOC Notes

Car Order: While the cars are linear and in the order shown, characters can freely move between these four cars for the next three weeks — players may assume 1:1 IC:OOC time ratio.

Locks: Passengers may follow other characters out of cars after they've been unlocked — so in general, players can assume optional cars on downtime months are unlocked if they don't want to play in them. Likewise, if your character ICly would not participate in a car but you still want to play with those prompts, you can assume they're locked in and must complete objectives. Feel free to pick and choose what you'd like to play from any downtime log!

Update: We will also have a small update in the coming weeks — the setting won't change, but there will be a few more (optional!) aspects to play with later.

Feel free to direct questions to our Discord help channel. Welcome to Locomo, and have fun!

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[ Tessa blinks. Stares. If only she could read lips! ]

I CAN'T HEAR ANYTHING! ARE YOU IN PAIN?? [ She gestures at his missing leg, but she doesn't smell any blood at all and her ears weren't torn from her head, so it's clearly magic. ]

[ If only indeed. ] Yeah well I still got my ears, hon, you can dial it down a notch.

[ Just muttered to himself as he shifts to dig his phone out of his pocket. The thing had buzzed somewhere along the line, hadn't it? He's got a no half formed in response to her question before he just shakes his head. No pain where there shouldn't be, anyway, his neck and shoulder are still smarting from his tumble. ]

[ Anyway, he opens that stupid train app and scowls at it for a long, incredulous second, but eventually he turns the screen her way for her to read the prompt. > Complete yourself. ]

[ While her new companion is consulting the device in his pocket, Tessa keeps testing the effects of having her ears randomly disappear. She pokes and prods, makes little humming or "mawp mawp" sounds to see how much of her own voice she can hear. Not much.

Then the phone is turned towards her and she frowns, reading and re-reading all of the two words displayed there. ]

Oh, great! [ Not shouting, but still louder than necessary. ] If they wanted us to do that, why not just leave us whole to start with?!

[ It's progress. He'll take it. Taking the phone back as she goes off, Vidal flips over to his notes and taps out a quick message. ]

You ever do a training exercise for anything in your life?

[ 'Cause whatever all this is, it reeks like the world's most abstract employee team building retreat. Whenever she's done, he's beckoning her with his good arm. Help him up or something dude... ]

Oh shit, right, sorry — [ Tessa kicks the bulk of her stupid dress out of the way so she can step over to his legless side and hoist him up and sling his arm over her shoulder. ] I got a bit caught up in the whole earless thing, didn't mean to leave ya hanging.

[ She looks down the hall further into the train car, assessing, before turning to look at the man again. Trying not to be a total asshole, she tries to lower the volume a bit so she isn't shouting into his ear. ]

What kind of training? I can fight, if that's what you mean, but I'm no duelist.

[ Once he's up on his foot—a surprisingly easy hoist on her part—and settled with an arm around her shoulder, he makes a dismissive gesture. Having a sense just go poof is probably even more jarring than just missing a limb. You can make it work with one foot. The same can't be said for just straight up no ear holes (or maybe any hardware left in there at all? who can say, magic's fucked up.) ]

Oh this is gonna be— [ Real fun, trying to text. Sorry for the hug, Tessa, he's trying to get speech-to-text going... There we go, thank god. ] I just mean any kind of training repetition of weird arbitrary bull shot out of context that swat this whole thing feels like

[ He is not proofreading or telegramming the punctuation in there. This ain't a work email, this is survival. ]

Or that someone is straight ducking with us which feels just as likely

Bull shot... [ She mouths the words as she reads them, frowning. The furrow between her brow transitions from concentration to confusion and she shakes her head. ] Sorry. But fucking with us, yeah, that seems very likely.

Bull shit come on phone I taught you better than this

[ This isn't helping. Anyway, if she's agreeable, he's gonna gesture forward and try and get a very lopsided move on down the hall into the next room. These body parts aren't gonna find themselves. ]

[ ... Apparently it's going to be more of an I Spy than a scavenger hunt, because there are a lot more severed limbs and other random bits than there really should be tastefully curated with all the... museum exhibits. ]

[ ... ]

All right yeah I'm gonna say fucking with us [ Aloud: a quiet thank you for leaving his choice of words uncensored. ]

[ Helping this guy along would be far less awkward if she just picked him up and carried him, but even if she wouldn't hear it she doesn't want a tirade on her hands. Once through the door into the museum Tessa slows to a stop, taking it all in. Though it's dimly lit in here, her eyes reflect what light is available much like a cat's would, and shine the same eerie way.

There really is a lot of stuff in here, isn't there? ]

Blimey, it's a bit manky in here, innit? Hope my ears don't smell like that when I get 'em back. It's like... [ She sniffs. ] ...musty old junk, wood varnish, and... [ Sniiiiiff. ] ...body odor.

[ It's for the best, given how kindly he takes to being picked up usually, but he probably would have not turned down a piggyback at this point. But this is fine. This gets the job done. As they hit the main hall and pause, Vidal's eyes offer him no such luxury, and he squints forward for all the good it does while they continue to adjust. ]

[ When she starts taking whiffs of the air and naming notes like a fucking sommelier, though, that's when his brow furrows, and he can't help but sniff himself... I mean sure he's a smoker, but there are plenty of smells (like varnish?) that still stand out stark, and... he's got nothing. Smells like museum. A stuffy room that needs a window cracked and not much else. ]

[ In glancing over to his phone to comment as much, he catches the eerie glint off her eyes and does a bit of a double take. And he doesn't quite go rigid, but he does take back the weight he's been leaning on her enough to loosen his arm and straighten up to look at her properly again. Human eyes don't do that. ]

Hey what's your deal hon

[ If that earns him any kind of confused look, he's gonna charades and scrunch up his nose like a sniff, point to his eyes. Ain't normal, kid... He looks more curious than he looks upset, though. Not on guard so much as asking for a section in these terms and conditions to be clarified before he continues too much extended use of the shoulder. ]

[ The charades help. Tessa does give him a confused look, and then nods when she realizes that he's right. Human eyes don't do this. ]

Oh. Elf. [ It's not the whole truth, but it's part of it. ] I can see in the dark and whatever.

[ Perhaps surprisingly, that seems to satisfy him for the most part. Quite a lot of human-shaped things can see in the dark, he knows better than most, but she’s been cooperative enough so far that he’ll table it for the time being and settle back into a lean ready to get moving again. ]

Oh well then that might be pertinent information for what kinda ears I’m keeping an eye out for you know

[ Sorry for the hug, sir, but she needs both hands to do her own form of charades, holing up the index fingers of both hands to indicate a length of roughly six inches. ]

About this long, yeah? Kinda pointy, with earrings on 'em. [ Tessa looks down at the dangling trouser leg and points to it. ] D'ya think there are other legs we'll have to sort through? How'll we tell yours from any others?

[ No worries, it's a utility hug. Needs must. Well at least those should stand out, even if they're small compared to a leg. He nods, then follows her gaze down... and his stomach does a little flip. His shoe's gone. Shit, did they leave it behind? There was a lot going on at the time, lot of other stuff to focus on. He still kind of glances back the way they came, as far as he can turn his head anyway. ]

[ ... It's fine. They'll find his leg and if it's not there, then he can walk back. No one picks up an abandoned shoe. All they do is ponder the life choices that led to that moment. He sighs. ]

Well I mean if the shoe didn't go with it it's got a couple scars like a bullet wound and like [ He pauses, brow furrowed, trying to think of a way to continue. ] Like two rows of circles behind the knee if it took that much I don't know

[ It's weird trying to police sketch artist your own features, especially weird scars. ]

There can't be that many parts though right it's not taking everyone's leg or everyone's ears

Maybe not, but there's enough people here that they might have to do repeats, right?

[ She's looking at where his leg ought to be again, mostly because of the phrase: if it took that much. Does he not know how much of his leg is still here?

Maybe she'll just... reach out and poke the trouser leg. ]

Who knows people got a lot of parts

[ Again, another thing lost in the translation of describing yourself—it's a scar that traverses a joint, how'd that shake out? Just how did it sever? Did it just pop off like a doll's? A straight guillotine cut? Is it a healed stump? It's still under his clothes and he hadn't really done a lot of thorough investigation, on account of being stunned out of his wits and also screamed at by a deafened elf. ]

[ But for some reason or another, she seems to be taking that into her own hands. He can't exactly pull away on one foot, so all he can do is just wriggle a little awkwardly as she pokes at his thigh. Which is still there, thanks. But down below the knee is all gone. ]

[ Muttered to himself, he knows, ] Hi, can I help you—

Looks like we're just looking for the bottom half! That's... that doesn't really have any bearing on the difficulty of finding anything, I guess. But now I know what to look for! Let's get on it.

[ She takes a few steps, trying to coordinate her stride with his so it's a less awkward double-gait. It's not easy, but it works. After passing a few body parts in display cases, Tessa looks at her new pal with a slight, lopsided smile. ]

I'm Tessa, by the way.

Yeah, sounds good, [ he huffs, readjusting his grip around her neck before they set off, one-two-one-two-ing their way down the exhibit hall until they find a bit of a stride. Once he’s less focused on the footwork, it’s easier to scan the cases. Just a couple in and he’s already spying another leg… Well, it’s definitely too pale and petite to belong to him, but this is going to be a long search, isn’t it… ]

[ When she speaks up again, he glances back, gives her a little smile in return. ]

Rubén. We’ll shake hands all proper later when you can hear me ok

[ Back to cases, very diligent. At the very least, there does seem to be a wide spread of different parts. ]

You know not that I’m complaining but I don’t know if it’s weirder that they’re not all bloody or something at least it’d feel kinda Halloween then you know [ … and after a second, ] I feel like that ain’t as funny without tone of voice

Oh, it's definitely weirder that they aren't bloody, like proper Weird with a capital-Wuh —

[ But of course she isn't complaining, either. The last thing she needs is to go into a frenzy at the smell of her only source of sustenance.

Tessa looks at the cases on her side of the walkway, announcing what they are as she passes. Hand. Foot. Nose. Eyeballs. The latter blink at her — like, actually blink, and she starts a little. The motion drives her shoulder a bit further into Ruben's armpit and throws them both temporarily off-balance. ]

Fucking eyeballs just blinked at me! Did you see that? I about shat myself with fright, it was proper spooky!

[ A beat. ]

What's Hollow-Een?

Yeah feels like a dollhouse in here

[ At least she understands. On his side, he’s got... another foot, and some ears—small and round and unadorned, but he’s about to point out that someone is having just as bad a day as her when she lurches toward him, startled. Grip tightening, he hops a little frantically until he can prop himself up against a display long enough to find his bearings. ]

And we all thank you for your restraint, lady, [ he scoffs a laugh, patting her on the shoulder. No, he did not see it. But this place is creepy enough to embolden the imagination, he’s sure. ]

Holiday. And I’m gonna let holiday + bloody severed limbs percolate until you got your ears okay.

[ Because he doesn’t have time for a long answer before a thunk at his elbow jolts him right back her way, clinging tighter to steady himself again as he twists around to see… an unseated stand amid all the tastefully arranged limbs. And beneath it, a hand lying palm up, twitching slightly, like a bird that’s just struck a window. ]

[ Tessa's reaction to Ruben's reaction is, for whatever reason, to pull the man away from whatever he's reacting to with intent to place herself between them, but halfway through the action she sees the twitching hand and stops to point an accusing finger at it. ]

Is that thing fucking moving by itself?! [ She doesn't wait for Ruben's response before hauling him back around to face the way they were going and resuming at a clip. ] I'm not gonna high-five it, I'm just gonna walk away and we're gonna find your leg and my ears and then we're gonna find some kind of intoxicating substance and imbibe a comfortable dosage of whatever it is.

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Downtime Log - Intro

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