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

B. im sorry lucretia

[testgasm]

[Somehow, Wheatley is here. Don't think too hard about it. Perhaps he's been sitting at the entrance to the mines after having asked someone to drop him off (probably because he was too scared to go in), though he's starting to get the idea that he's not going to be able to avoid the mines forever.]

Do we?

[He knows they have to. He's just going to put it off for as long as possible, first.]

I mean, ha. Have you tried talking to them? I could do it, if you don't want to. It's just...well, it's a bit creepy down there, innit?

[7edacted]

Oh, and it's much less creepy out here, with the monsters and the fog.

[Actually, it really might be. At least here the moon is filtering through the trees and- oh wait that's just the glow from Weatley's eye on the ground around him. It's nice at least. If they weren't in the middle of a train adventure she could maybe convince herself that she's somewhere in the Felicity wilds.]

And I think it'd be great if you talked to them - do you want to be carried or...?

[Her hands hover nearby, unsure if it's rude to just... grab him.]

[testgasm]

Look, I'm trying to decide on the least worst option, here.

[There are no monsters here right now, meanwhile the entirety of the mines are a creepy unknown. Wheatley has a fairly minimal attention span, which means that he's going to choose what is currently safe versus what he does not know to be safe or not.

That said, he's not entirely keen on being left alone out here, either. He seems to resign himself to the situation, perhaps a little heartened by Lucretia's idea that he should do the talking. Yes! He should. He's good at it.]

But, I suppose if we must, then, yes. Carrying me is fine. Just, uh. Mind the shutters. Don't want you to pinch your fingers.

[7edacted]

[She is grateful for the reminder. My, but he has a lot of little places perfect for pinching fingers in there, and the way he moves and rotates is hard to anticipate. Finally she settles on holding him but a few flat but sturdy feeling pieces of metal, and makes her way towards the entrance to the cave.]

Good, I didn't really want to do this by myself, and I had an idea that I think you'll be perfect for.

How well do you roll?

[testgasm]

Really? I mean, if that's the plan, then I'm sure I could--I could talk to them. Butter them up a little, see if they're, uh. Amenable to some cooperation.

[That does not, however, seem to be the plan, and he eyes her a little suspiciously.]

I try not to do that, honestly. Got the handlebars in the way, and uh. I don't really like where this is going.

[7edacted]

That’s a shame, I was hoping they retracted. What’s the point in making a sphere that doesn’t roll?

[She says, voice dropping to a whisper as they approach the mouth of the mine. It’s fine, she has ideas to get the ball rolling, even if not so literal.]

My thought is that people like this haven’t seen a robot before. So I’m going to put you here, you make a bunch of noise and keep them engaged with some light conversation while I go and see what it is they’re guarding.

[Out of eyesight of anyone inside she creeps into a corner where she can set Wheatley among some boulders

It won’t be long, I’m not some warrior so if there’s a big monster back there, I’m coming right back out.

[testgasm]

Well, I'm not supposed to roll.

[Obviously! He sounds almost insulted by the prospect, though he seems to have enough sense to lower his voice when Lucretia does. The good news is that any offense Wheatley might be feeling is quickly overriden by the prospect of being an integral part of the plan.]

A distraction, eh? I like the way you think. Just--just don't forget to come get me, when you're done.

[7edacted]

[She knows how to use the resources available to her, and Wheatley is good at talking.]

I won't. Just wait here until I'm out of sight, and start making a good conversation with the men inside. I know you can do it.

[She hopes?? Finding a nice little spot where Wheatley can sit that isn't too obvious, but not too obscure not to be overlooked, she makes sure he's nice and set up before nodding, and slinking off into the darkness.

Ah, thumbs up from over here!]