![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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!
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
locomo e2 traincationFAQ & Game Info / Calendar / Taken
Applications / Reserves / Hiatus & Drops
FULL NAVIGATION
no subject
Claude gives Cal a brief look that suggests he thinks his friend is rather naive. Then again, Cal seems like the type who's very good at hitting things, but not particularly good at being sneaky and calculating. ]
In my experience, whenever there's something unusual afoot, even if they're not directly involved, the nobility usually has the most information about it.
[ He glances back at the wall. ]
At best, the mayor knows the truth behind whatever's going on here, and is hiding it to prevent panic. At worst, he's the mastermind behind it all.
no subject
Alright. Let's take a look around. Can you check it out, Beedee?
[ With an affirmative beep, BD-1 hops off of Cal's shoulder and activates his thruster, which launches him like a rocket up to the top of the wall. The droid peers into the area beyond, antennae raised, then gives a quiet whistle that serves as an all clear. ]
Come on.
[ Cal straightens and makes a foothold with his hands, fingers laced together. It's... quite a high wall, but don't worry, Claude. He's got you. Trust him. ]
no subject
In any case, Cal seems on board, and Claude isn't shy about resting his heel on his fingers for a lift, ] Thanks.
[ He settles onto the top of the wall with Cal's help, straddling it so that he's certain that he won't tip over when he reaches back down, extending a hand so that he can help Cal up. ]
Let's hurry.
no subject
He lands easily on the other side, since he's superpowered and young enough to still have good knees. BD-1 comes scuttling back to him, beeping excitedly—apparently he'd gone a little ahead and found a side door. Cal pats him on the head, then extends his arm so the droid can scurry up it and settle onto his shoulders again. ]
Good job, buddy. [ To Claude: ] Come on, he found a door over here.
[ With that, he starts creeping across the yard. Not... very inconspicuously, since he's a six foot tall ginger, but still. ]
no subject
Claude is considerably less obvious, though he's still... obvious. It's the middle of the day and they're two dudes just walking across the lawn. But thankfully no one turns the sprinklers on them, and they make it to the door that BD-1 found.
Peeking his head in, Claude sees a door leading to a library to their right, and a long hallway ahead, staircases leading both up and down the path. He scurries inside and into the library before a passing maid can spot them. It's empty, and hopefully they can hide behind a bookshelf if someone walks in.
He glances over at Cal. ]
I don't suppose your super powers involve psychically learning a map of this place?
no subject
But anyway, he follows Claude into the library, looking around the room with curiosity—both for this little mission and because they're actual physical books made of paper instead of datapads. BD-1 jumps off his back again to explore the space, scanning objects seemingly at random. ]
Well...
[ He suddenly looks a little abashed, his eyes following BD-1 as the droid scampers around the room. ]
Not exactly. But I might be able to figure out if something's going on here if we can find something that shows it. I can see the past in objects.
no subject
Falling open, the book will drop several loose pages with sketches of creatures that look similar to this, while the book itself discusses theories surrounding an ancient civilization that once populated Minecraftia. A civilization that seems to have been entirely wiped out prior to the current settlers arriving.
If Cal opts to examine the book and demonstrate his neat party trick, he'll find himself taken somewhere dark and musty, the smell of something rotten heavy in the air as wind whistles around him in what almost sounds like a scream. The figure carrying the book seems to be obviously struggling, gasping for breath, though that only seems to be making things worse.
In the distance, though it's difficult to see, there seems to be something glittering against the walls.
They shouldn't linger for too long though, because soon enough a maid will invariably sweep into the room, muttering about having to constantly clean up the books. While several of the rooms in the hallways leading further into the mansion are locked, there are a few that are open, such as ones leading to drawing rooms, the kitchen and supply closets. They just need to keep an eye out! ]