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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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dimitwi
and then felix lost.
...he's doing his best not to think about just how badly he lost as he shoos yet another chicken away from his foot. in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter; all he needs to do is feed these fat little annoyances and then he'll be on his way, making sure to avoid this part of town for the foreseeable future. he has more important things to do than babysit birds. they have no redeemable qualities, so far as he's concerned.
which is, like, probably why one chicken—annoyed by how shitty of a job felix is doing here and/or sensing the atrocious Vibes—leaps off a nearby fencepost, squawking loudly as it flies right toward felix's head. there's no time to swat it away, especially since felix is carrying a full bag of seed; it's free to settle right atop the mess that is felix's hair—and then clamp its beak right onto felix's stupid ponytail, tugging vindictively. suffer.]
What do you think you— [another tug, prompting a hiss of pain.] Get down!
[it will do no such thing. the chicken is quite happy where it is, even as felix frees a hand to blindly swat at it—but oh? what's this? that sure does sound like the squeaky gate opening behind him, and as he's sure it's that annoying birdwoman, he snaps:]
You! This is your fault!
[the chickens are running around the yard like they've had their heads cut off, but come brave the cluck-sterfuck and help, pwease]
no subject
But it doesn't take much time out of his day to go help babysit chickies, and it's almost... novel in what an everyday favor it is, what when he's used to Ashe prostrating himself when it comes to 'wasting his Highness's time' with such things. He's not above common tasks, and if he works quickly, he'll be done with a while to spare elsewhere.
However. He is not expecting, 1. someone else to be there, mid-chicken attack, and 2. for that someone to be Felix. He blurts out, a wayward chicken cradled in his arms, completely ignoring how he's been blamed for this, ]
...Felix!?
[ It is Felix, right? Felix but with a little less youth softening his features. And a new hairstyle. And taller? (Actually... no.) It's a little hard to get a grasp on the situation with how noisy the chickens are. ]
Um, you have... [ He gestures to his head. You have a chicken in your hair, he means, as though Felix is not aware already. It's just really a lot to take in at once. ]
no subject
—well.
felix would like to believe that he's prepared for anything; felix is not, in fact, prepared for this, hence the widening of his eyes, the way he momentarily freezes as he takes in what is an undoubtedly younger version of dimitri. it's the equivalent of being hit by, like, the ye olde version of a truck? memories, emotions—so many things striking felix at once, leaving him at a momentary loss. five lost years, and all that followed...
but the chicken waits for no man; it snaps felix back to his senses with another savage yank, stopping him from calling out the name he's refused to use. weird how drained he suddenly feels? nothing so serious that it shows, and yet this is just further proof that this train is a sick, sick joke.]
Observant— [ow!] —as ever, boar.
[a sharper tone than is strictly necessary, perhaps, but it's felix—and he's still dealing with this unruly bird. pro: it's settled down, in that it seems content to just sit on his head and occasionally tug at his hair. con: youngmitri is here, watching, his own well-behaved bird sitting safe and snug in his arms.]
How long do you intend to stand there?
[this isn't felix asking for a helping hand, o chicken whisperer. :/ don't get it twisted.]
no subject
Ah... right.
[ Dimitri has the benefit of having been here longer, and of not having five years of extra emotional baggage to weigh down on whatever their relationship can be called these days. It doesn't help him figure out what to say, exactly—there is no amount of caution that helps him pick the right words when speaking to Felix, not lately—but it does shake off his surprise so he can go help him.
Or try, at least. He approaches cautiously as the chicken takes a lock of Felix's hair hostage. ]
Try to stay still for your scalp's sake, Felix.
[ He says this with no irony whatsoever, tucking his own chicken friend under his arm so he can try to—gently, by Dimitri metrics—tug his hair free. The chicken just digs its little talons in tighter with a muffled bawk. ]