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Priority Log - Part 1
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:
- 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.
- 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)
- 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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no subject
It's a miracle his voice comes out as a mumble of surprise (he thinks he's? seeing things?) and not a shout of alarm, because it could've just as easily been the latter. ]
Felix?
[ There's no way? Sothis, Saints, etc., he's been in that fog for too long. Is this the onset of the sickness that've been taking out villagers in droves? Surely he is not long for this world—
—no he is very much getting physically dragged away and dunked into a supply closet. ]
Felix! How? When? What?!
[ The picture of eloquence. He sputters a lot as he tries to take this all in. I'm-so-glad-to-see-you comes bumbling out at some point, and maybe he would squeeze the life out of his friend, but there isn't much space in here and the sudden sound of footsteps just outside the door.
The silent freakout doesn't last long. ] What did you do to your hair?
[ He didn't get a good glimpse of him before, and now he only has the light of his phone to go by. Which he immediately shines into Felix's face. Hello! ]
I can't believe you're here! [ More excitable whispering, no he will NOT shut up... ]
no subject
...but dear god, sylvain, that light. it catches felix entirely off guard, sending him squinting as he hisses:]
Will you stop that?
[thanks, sylvain! now he's blind! or, like, almost. the light is much more manageable once he bats it (re: sylvain's hand) to the side; it isn't enough for felix to see everything, but it illuminates the side of sylvain's stupid face—and the familiar golden embellishments of sylvain's coat. huh.]
Of course I'm here. Why are you? [for the same reason felix is, probably, but something, something, do as felix says, not as felix does. plus, as felix's eyes are drawn back to sylvain's clothing:] And why are you wearing that? Is this your idea of a disguise?
[because it's a pretty shitty disguise, bud—but how would sylvain even have access to his old uniform? and speaking of hair, why is something off about sylvain's?
no subject
As for why Sylvain is in this car, ] I dunno! The train put me here!
[ And he thinks Felix is criticizing his stealth skills overall, which would be a fair point were Felix not also in a totally conspicuous getup. Still, there is merit in a wardrobe swap—"disguise" as his friend puts it... ]
—Oh, right. I should probably change into something else...
[ While his phone's out, he taps the appropriate app. POOF! The clownductors secretly have access to the Nintendo eShop. ]
How does it look?
[ Idiot there is still no real light in here. ]
no subject
—well, look: it's impossible for a man to connect all of the dots here, because holy shit, what kind of magic is this! costumes on demand, which—hey, even if felix can't see shit, that's still pretty impressive? so, naturally:]
How did— [witchcraft!!!] What did you do?
[it's far from the first time they've temporarily set other things else aside to be Idiots, because this is the very essence of friendship. another sign of friendship: the way i godmode sylvain into taking felix's phone, once felix pulls it from his pocket, and walking him through this not-at-all-daunting process. pressing a button is very doable.
and thus, before felix can think better of it, felix does just that.
POOF!]
no subject
no subject
What did you do?
[repeated again, with added! emphasis!!! because never mind the fact that felix pressed the button; this is entirely sylvain's fault.]
no subject
after i report elia to the mods for bannable offense of godmoding, Sylvain hastily whispers back in response to the blatantly false accusation, ] Nothing! The phone did it!
[ Excuse you he is a person of taste? He would NEVER wear a jersey outside of game night. (And what the heck is this new outfit?? Polyester and nylon don't even exist in their world!!)
They quietly bicker in the gloom until, finally, they remember they're both here to dig up dirt on the mayor. Sylvain peeks his head out the door, checking to make sure there isn't anyone around before he slinks out, beckoning Felix to follow.
And he is STILL talking in the middle of their stealth operation: ] When did you even get here anyway? Why didn't you call me or Dimitri?
[ He forgets... He had no idea how to use a phone either, when he first landed on the train... (And it is debatable whether Dimitri really knows, too...) ]
no subject
but teamwork makes the dream work, so here they go! making fools of themselves, as per usual—but while call me is an odd phrase to use, it's the familiar name that sends felix glancing sylvain's way.]
The boar is here?
[wonderful. felix thinks, briefly, of faerghus—and then tucks that away. not productive in the slightest, especially as they near the end of the hallway.]
I've only been in this town for a day, [he says, lowly, as he presses himself against the wall to peek about this corner. at least someone is committed to being sneaky, even as he continues to talk.] I haven't seen anyone. Until I found you standing here like a fool.
[and surely sylvain will tell him how long he's been here. and dimitri. it can't be that much longer, right? there's no way—some come on, sylvain, the coast is clear! time to move!]
no subject
[ Stop picking on Dimitwi... Sylvain knows you don't even mean it. (Haha Sylvain know nothing—) ]
Just a day? And you're getting into trouble already?
[ Said with an expression that can only be described as punchable.
He starts checking the doors in the hallway to see if anything is unlocked, periodically glancing back over their shoulders for any sign of the other housekeepers in the mansion... ]
no subject
The coast is clear! They can move down the hallway as long as they're quiet. Presuming they're going deeper into the mayor's manor: it's a large building, and they'll be trying several doors as they go. Most of them are locked, and forcing them would certainly get the staff's attention.
However, Felix will find one that leads into a sizeable study. There is an open book on the desk here, with a page earmarked about an ancient civilization that once populated the lands of Minecraftia. There doesn't seem to be any sign of them now, though. The book postulates that they must have died out, but also poses a question: how? And why can't they be found? There is a picture of a fossil in the pages as well, that looks something like this.
Sylvain will have no luck getting into the other rooms, but as he goes further down the hallway, he'll catch a strange smell. He won't be able to put a name to it, but it is very distinctly chemical, sharp and unpleasant. Much stronger than any cleaning products that are around, and more like what he might expect inside a clinic. Beneath that, there are undertones of something even less pleasant: something moldy, rotting.
At this point though, the next cleaning shift is starting to show up. The dainty heels of the maid crew clop quietly across the floor, so they'll really need to book it if they don't want to get beaten half to death with brooms? The maids are extremely strong, don't fuck with them. ]