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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
Me too. Things got a little crazy. And it's not that.
[ His tone is firm, because you're not a hag, Toko!!! Actually, he really does wish she wouldn't put herself down like that, because...
Well. Because. ]
I just can't—the Jedi Order doesn't allow relationships. [ No, wait, he should probably be extra clear. His ears turn a little red as he amends: ] Romantic relationships.
[ Ahem. Anyway... ]
That's what I was going to tell Madam Vermeer. I don't know if it would've worked, but.
[ He shrugs in an exaggerated sort of way—no, he doesn't really expect it would've worked, but still. ]
no subject
Anyway even Toko can ignore her hag shame because what Cal confesses next is so gob-smackingly horrendous, she has to forget about self-flagellating for a moment. This warrants the full gape of horror, wide eyed and head drawn back.]
What?!
[Back the FUCK UP WHAT?!]
You—y-you're joking! Right? That's not allowed! [Though there seems to be a heavy spiritual aspect to the order, and that tracks with the way some holy folk are forbidden from marriage. Even intercourse.
But then how can they allow that? Have they seen Anakin? There's no way! No way they're all celibate!]
N-not even with each other?!
no subject
Not with anyone.
[ Sorry to crush your Anakin-shaped dreams, Toko. He's a little surprised that she's so shocked—sure, he knows that outside the Order, many people and cultures put a lot of value on romantic relationships (there wouldn't be so many superfluous romantic plotlines in holodramas if not), but still.
It's like she's taking this a little personally. ]
Is that strange?
no subject
This was injustice. A crime! An outright robbery! IT'S NOT FAIR!!!]
How can you live? A l-life without love...that's like a fish with no fins! A b-bird with no wings! Just half an existence! B-barely worth living at all. [Her head shakes, her mouth is dropped open in horror. Just thinking about him fills her with such elation. She can't imagine never knowing the feeling.]
Oh, Cal...no w-wonder you're all so sad...
no subject
Has anybody ever told you that you have a real way with words?
[ A fish with no fins... truly inspired. He's not even going to touch how sad they all seem to be, apparently, because that goes far beyond love... probably? He's not speaking for Anakin here.
He shifts his weight to one leg, his tone dry. ]
It's not quite that bad, you know. It's not a life without love. Or a life where we can't feel love. It's just that attachments are forbidden. Possession.
no subject
Well I should hope so. I'm a writer, you know!
[He'd feel so embarrassed if he actually read a copy of her books. It's the one thing she can be boastful about. Her sole saving grace. Toko has a life long love affair with words. It just doesn't translate face to face.]
But isn't that p-part of love? Wanting to be with each other? That's half the point. [She shakes her head and crosses her arms. Starts them walking out of this smelly cobblestone street.] And if you start so young, how can you know that's th-the life you want? Nobody knows what the hell they're doing at ten years old. Even now, you'll be a c-completely different person in ten years.
no subject
The Order doesn't— [ Karabast, he's getting used to thinking of the Order as still around, thanks to Obi-Wan and Anakin. Quickly corrects himself with: ] —didn't force anybody to stay. You could leave if you wanted to, though not many Jedi did.
[ It was a drastic decision. Leaving behind your friends, your entire support system, everything you've ever known? No, not many Jedi chose to leave the Order. ]
We have to start young. Being Force-sensitive... it isn't always easy. And now, with the Empire, it just puts a target on your back. The Order protected us, taught us how to control what we can do. Protected others from us, if it came to it.
Or tried to, anyway.
[ After all, Count Dooku was a former Jedi turned Sith. So was Malicos. Force-sensitives are born with power greater than everyone else—the Order taught them to control it, to use it for the good of the galaxy instead of the opposite. After all, with great power comes great responsibility. ]
no subject
Toko winces as he recounts how his very existence is now considered a death sentence. She can relate in some respects. She's not on the run from any official figureheads, thankfully, though that could have easily been the case considering what she is. But to walk the earth knowing that you couldn't trust a living soul? That anyone and everyone could be poised with a knife behind your back?
Yeah. She's had her own taste of that life.]
M-Maybe this is your chance to try seeing how the rest of us live. [She glances at his hands. Imagines the power that might emanate there, what a simple gesture and a willful thought could do.] Not that you have to g-give up the Force or anything. It's not like your p-powers will disappear if you become intimate with someone.
...Will they?
no subject
No. Uh, no. That's not how it works.
[ He coughs, a pretty transparent attempt to cover up his awkwardness. He doesn't have the heart to tell her that he probably won't take that chance to see how "the rest of us" live. Attachments are forbidden by the Order for a good reason, to keep Jedi from falling to the dark side—or so he was taught. He has no reason to question that... really.
Anyway, he can tell that something he's said—or how he said it—made her uncomfortable, so he reaches out to touch her shoulder gently. ]
Is something wrong?
no subject
She is glad to hear it. Because, speaking frankly, she does not hold an optimistic outlook on all three of the Jedi maintaining chastity. Something's bound to happen. It's a classic set up.
Though her mood has dampened with some further thoughts. When Cal interrupts her she hitches her shoulder, disrupting the connection before it can stick.]
...It's nothing. [She glances at him from the side of her eye, glasses glinting.] L-let's just focus on getting out of this hellhole.
he WILL NOT LET THIS THREAD DIE i'm sorry
Before, he might have just let it drop. But now... ]
Are you sure?
[ His tone is gentle, sincere. He doesn't want to push too hard, because he's been on the other side of that and he knows how it feels. So if she tells him to kriff off, then he won't be offended. (Well, maybe a little...) ]
Sighs loudly
She snorts, looking back to him with a strange glint to her eyes.]
What? Are you so d-desperate for company you'll listen to all the sick things running through a filthy girl's mind? Some thoughts are meant to be private, you know!
[As if she'd admit to moping about his sob story. Or more embarrassingly, her own.]