Priority Log - Part 1

[locomodo]

Log 02 Priority (Part I)
The Mine Car

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

> ▮▮▮▮▮▯▮▮
> ▮▮*
> OVERRIDE: TUTORIAL MODE DEACTIVATED.
> OBJECTIVE:

>

NAME: The Mine Car
TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENT: Gothic era
DANGER LEVEL: High
GENERAL STINKINESS: High
COMMON DENIZENS: Humans, ornithrops, bearkin
CUISINE: Peasant gruel, bird seed

There is no sender. Or objective?

But that's fine, probably! The car itself is completely functional, and features a fully developed society.

Passengers will arrive in this car and be immediately greeted by a fog that chills them to their core. The car around them is vast, and yet deathly silent. They'll find themselves starting off in a forest of petrified wood, the ground hard and unyielding underneath their feet, with flora and fauna in various stages of decay around them. While the fog around them is thick, the lights of a nearby village can still be seen from a distance, and as they travel, the dirt road will give way to cobblestone.

Eventually they'll be greeted with a signpost, welcoming them to the town of MINECRAFTIA.




While Minecraftia's denizens are harrowed and distressed, they're quick to warn the passengers traveling through of the ailment, a mysterious illness that is plaguing their town. It's been leaving even healthy youths bedridden, and while the town mayor has passionately declared that he will find a solution, it appears that there's no cure in sight.

Locations

Minecraftia is a foreboding little town, even in the daylight, with murky skies above and fog blanketing the roads. Still, the denizens persist through their daily routines, and won't stop the passengers from exploring.

Clinic: The town's only clinic with the town's only doctor. It's a small, rickety building that operates all hours of the day. Between the rapid spread of sickness and the steady depletion of supplies, it's a grim place to be nowadays. Anyone healthy who visits might be roped in to help, and those who look ill will be quarantined with an uncomfortable bedroll and thin blanket.

Cemetery: Located on the outskirts of town, the cemetery is home to dead bodies, even deader earth, and a deadpan gravekeeper. The exit door is here in a flower-covered plot, but cannot be opened.

Chicken House: A barnyard building home to the town's chickens. Lately they've been more worked up than usual, and taken to flying the coop and finding refuge by digging their claws into the scalps of bystanders. Agitating one chicken may cause a whole flock to descend on you!

The Dark Woods: The village is surrounded by what was once lush woods, but the trees now stand dark and eerie, an unusually thick fog rolling between them. While there are some of the usual, woodland creatures chirruping in the dense silence, they're hard to find. Monsters, meanwhile, are much more common.

The Mines: In the heart of the woods are entrances to the town's expansive system of mines. Stepping inside shows that the dirt and stone is laced with beautiful gems and minerals, but passengers will be shooed away by miners if they try to explore any deeper. It seems there's several dangerous mine shafts underfoot, as well as past attacks by what seems to be mole monsters.

Mayor's Mansion: The largest building in Minecraftia, situated on a hill. While Mayor Chadsef's staff welcomes guests, they will be cautioned not to explore past the lobby, which just smells a little like cleaning chemicals thanks to a diligent maid crew.

Denizens

Players may use denizens as convenient in threads, as well as these NPCs, except for the Mayor. He's a very busy man!

Madam Vermeer: The Madam is a human extremely afraid that she'll die before seeing her son marry. Which means that she is hunting the streets for eligible men and women, and whisking them in droves away into her mansion to be made over, trained in the art of serving, etc. before presenting them to her son.

Cassy Cassatt: Cassy is an ornithrop and the owner of the chicken house. She's shorthanded nowadays, but business-savvy enough to prey on considerate bystanders. She'll rope anyone she sees into helping out, whether it's collecting eggs, feeding or breeding.

Turner: Turner is a bearkin, and one of the nurses at the clinic. He's taken to drinking his weight in mead whenever he's off the clock, and it's not uncommon for his body to be seen unconscious on the road. He'll try to flee or swat blindly if anyone tries to help him, but he really does need help getting home.

Chadsef: The mayor of Minecraftia, who is notably wealthier than the rest of the citizens. He's young and inexperienced, but carries a Birds of Economics degree, and is determined to bring jobs to the town. He'll just need to make sure people are alive to do them first!

Other

The longer that passengers remain in the car, the more they'll learn, and soon they'll realize the following:

1. They are not immune to the illness. They can't determine what it is that triggers it. At first it's a sense of fatigue, then hunger and irritability. Then, the numbness will begin, starting in their extremities and spreading up their limbs, until that numbness turns into pain. Eventually that pain will lead to madness, a state of delirium where they begin to behave erratically, endangering themselves and those around them.
   
   
2. There is something in the woods. Though the passengers saw nothing when they arrived in the woods, at night they can hear growling. Venturing outside will reveal grotesque creatures emerging from the fog, rampaging into the town and tearing flesh and stone with their massive claws. These creatures appear rabid, familiar but warped, and they swarm the town with no regard for their own safety or benefit. Examples: (1) (2) (3) (4)
   
   
3. Corpses are disappearing. Despite deaths, the cemetery isn't seeing any more business. Rumour has it that a certain wealthy denizen has been paying to have the corpses taken away. But to where, and why, remains unknown…

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.

As passengers enter this car, they'll notice that their numbers may begin to change in response to certain actions and decisions. The general rule is that numbers change as characters work through their issues. If they make a decision that serves to better themselves, their number will decrease. But if they make a decision that is ill-intentioned, their number will increase. Players can change their number as they see fit going forward.

OOC Notes

Exploration: Players may submit on-going threads here to get a short mod tag with further discoveries in any given location. Characters can potentially earn items or clues as to the car's objective this way. Please limit your explorations to one per player; we will let you all know if we have the capacity to do more!

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Comments

ii

[vadarta]

[ Congratulations, Kurapika, you've brought the perfect rich boy snob along. Vanadi looks perfectly at home here, complete with his very expensive-looking deep blue gold-trimmed outfit. He's seated in one of the plush provided chairs, one leg crossed over the other, drink in hand. ]

The point of wealth isn't to hide it. [ That's airy, dismissive. He leans to pluck up one of those fancy snacks and eyes it. ] Take off the ... what is that, beef? Yes — take off the beef and you very well can eat this. Here, tell me how it is.

[constrainer]

[ Opposite of his companion, Kurapika doesn't look at home here in this lavish parlor - he keeps his posture rigid, even while sitting in such a plush and delicate chair. One could say it's close to business like, as if he were coming here to speak to the Mayor only about Important Political Matters™, not enjoy free snacks and drinks at all.

Odd as he does find this display of wealth, he also knows that at functions like this, you stick out like a sore thumb if you refuse to partake in what you're offered. So, begrudgingly, he obliges, taking his own hors d'oeuvre and biting through it plainly. ]

It tastes... [ He pauses to swallow. ] How you would expect. Like it was made for and by the wealthy.

[ Fancy food has delicate flavors - it isn't filling, and it isn't satisfying, either. It often has a strange, experimental texture that most common people would find off putting. He eyes the person before him closely, the intricate clothing, the confidence exuding from him while in this situation, and thinks to himself privately that they're both familiar with this kind of "welcome" into an estate, but for different reasons. Leaning over, he puts the scraps of what he's just taken a bite out of back onto some random small plate the servants had left them, clearly not intending to finish it. ]

I don't have the palate to say anything further. Though I'm almost certain that you do.

[vadarta]

[ What a terrible description, come on guy. Accurate, but terrible. Vanadi sighs and rolls his eyes, and makes no move to sample his. ]

I do. But as it's made of an animal, no one will get a chance to hear it — I've no stomach for flesh.

[ It's a crude way to say it and one of the many things that would earn him frowns in the company he's used to — but this guy looks human, and Vanadi doubts he'll blink an eye. ]

Do you like it, at least?

[constrainer]

I can't say that I do.

[ The other's reveal isn't exactly what he expected - he'd assumed maybe it was some personal preference that prevented him from wanting to consume the delicacy. He holds out a hand in gesture to the table filled with all sorts of expensive fares, unbothered by the other's eye rolling. ]

It's... too different, from what I would eat normally. I don't come from this kind of world, though I've spent some time in it. It still feels— tastes foreign, to me.

[ He leaves it at that, getting momentarily distracted by the servants that seem to serve guests, then immediately disappear into the further recesses of the house. ]

If you can't eat this, couldn't you request something else? We're guests here, after all.

[vadarta]

Mm, probably.

[ The blunt answer has a grin from Vanadi. He leans in with a conspiratory whisper. ]

But you're supposed to like it — or appear to. It would be very well-bred of you to enjoy it, regardless of your actual feelings on the matter. That's really the very first step in these little games, you know.

[constrainer]

Sure. I understand. Trying to get on the mayor's good side?

[ He asks, more conversational than accusatory. ]

Or is it more maintaining your own "well-bred" image?

[ Both have their own merits; he just doesn't find himself especially inclined to playing pretend with enjoying food more than is strictly necessary, nor trying to make an image of himself as a good party guest (or part of the nobility, for that matter.) ]