INTRO LOG #3

[bequiet]

INTRO LOG #3
Put a Sock in It
Content Warnings: Disorientation, memory loss, confusion
Themes: Arrival, survival, exploration, horror

You wake, standing. A thick, muddy red dust coats your skin and clothes - it sticks to your tongue and blocks your vision. Inhale and it chokes you, exhale and your breath puffs out in front of your face in a transparent maroon cloud. It tastes of copper, tangy and harsh. Movement is difficult, every limb tingles and aches. Look to your left, your right. Evenly spaced in each direction stands another person indistinguishable in every way from the next. You're disoriented and lethargic, unable to grasp onto a single thought. A pinprick of light blooms ahead and grows steadily larger; a door has opened.

Hands grip your wrists, push at the small of your back and guide you out of the darkness into a room with four walls and a thin, sagging ceiling. The plaster is peeling, the air is musty, and the floor is slick. White plastic piping juts up from the center and curves into multiple spouts, clean water flowing in uneven streams. Those hands pull your clothes off and clear the dust from your body, redress you in handsewn jumpsuits. By the time they’re through, you will have begun to come back to yourself.

A finger is pressed to your lips. Kind eyes meet your own and a single word is whispered - hush.

Led out of the room in a line, you’re taken down a short hallway and into another, much larger room. There’s a woman waiting for you there, Constance, with a child hugging her leg - a cloth bag in her hands. She reaches in and pulls out a device, passes one to each of you. Once finished, she begins to move both hands in graceful gestures, a language. One of the people who helped you lifts their device and the screen lights up, tracks the woman’s hands. Letters appear on the screen and you understand the device’s purpose. She tells you what she knows and it’s not much.

This world is haunted. Noise attracts them, so it is not allowed. Communication is through body language, soundless writing, and the device. She tells you that your feet must be light and your mouth never used. There is a community outside these doors, where you can survive together, but only if you agree to one thing: complete and total silence. You'll have time to talk it over. You may ask one question and receive one answer. There are others like you in the room, those who'd come earlier. They're there to help.

Acceptance allows you to journey outside. The ground is marked in pathways of sand, lining the paths to each building and everywhere in-between. You notice that the locals hold their devices always, aloft and glance to it often. It will not vibrate or make a sound to signal a message. Notices appear. Rules. Guidelines. Feet on the sand and never anywhere else. To open a door you brush your fingers along the hinges - oiled and you may enter. If not, take the brush from the can sitting nearby and coat the metal with the dark liquid.

Now, you're to settle into your new home – with or without the help of those who have come before you.

In Freakish Flight
Content Warnings: Threat to safety, death, weird creatures
Themes: Plot, survival

This is the tale that was told to me by the man with the crystal eye,
As I smoked my pipe in the camp-fire light, and the Glories swept the sky;
As the Northlights gleamed and curved and streamed, and the bottle of "hooch" was dry.

The new arrivals are here, like clockwork it seems. A strange occurrence that the natives haven't missed. They don't have answers but following support and encouragement from some of the older arrivals, they have been looking into it. If they notice anything odd, they post it to the bulletin board and they're working as hard as ever to help. Settling in is easier this time around, smoother, as everyone is more prepared than before. The first few days go well, one of the natives finds a patch of wild berries and makes fresh jam - serves it with breakfast until it runs out. There's a nice breeze that night, not too hot and not too cold. The stars twinkle and the moon is full, a pleasant atmosphere rolls through the community as everyone falls asleep.

Everyone wakes to the soft sounds of birds chirping. There's a light fog, windows misted over, and abruptly, it goes quiet. The only way to see outside is to open the door and those curious brave enough will find, covered in red dust, a handful of individually unique creatures scattered around the fountain at the center of the community. There's about fourteen of them - each one focused on the door of the main residences and two have scurried off towards the others, quiet now but watching. After the first door opens, they move, stopping only when they're right in front of each of the houses and then the sounds start again. Louder.

OOC: Removing the threat, these creatures, is possible in a few ways. They have a weakness for water, which slows them down and shuts them up. They can be killed, the same as any normal animal might. Or they can be captured, something tied around their bills to silence them. Unfortunately, only a few will survive being caught alive ( we randomized out of the twelve houses - 5, 1, 2, 12, and Private Housing (Sora) and the Permanent Apartments ) and can be kept for study. The players in each house can decide what they want to do with them or use the comment below if they want to hand it over. As a side note, the dead ones can be kept too.

Alone or Together
Content Warnings: Poisoning
Themes: Plot

Up until now everything around here has been, well, pleasant. Recently certain things have become unpleasant. Now, it seems to me that the first thing we have to do is to separate out the things that are pleasant from the things that are unpleasant.

The natives have been up front about those that came through the Reset Room before. Some left, some didn't survive, and a few now call themselves natives. The above message lights up everyone's devices ( username - lamar ) but all ways to respond are disabled. A follow up message comes from Constance, explaining that they don't know how the message has been sent due to the fact that Lamar has been dead for over a decade. That night at dinner, the set up in town hall, the natives are abuzz talking about the mysterious message. Food is passed out. Drinks are had.

Before the first person leaves the hall, a plume of red dust sprays out from an old vent near the floor boards and fills the room. Quickly, all color is leached from the world. Every person is now color blind, seeing everything in varying shades of black, white, and grey as they cough and choke, trying to clear the dust from their faces and mouths. Was this Lamar? Was this the person who rigged up the noise machine in Verdel Square? What did the message mean?

OOC: The effects will fade after twenty four hours. All arrivals, new and old, plus all natives will be effected. For each character, one person will still be in color. Players can decide who this is. A friend, lover, enemy, one of the natives.

OOC
From your mods:

Please be mindful of content - if something triggery comes up or if it goes up a rating to say, something sexy, mark your threads in the subject line. We're very flexible and allow any material; we just want our players to be respectful of each other. If you have questions, pp the mod account, use the faq or comment to the appropriate post below. Have fun!

NAVIGATION

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Comments

Sora | Kingdom Hearts | oldbie (open)

[skyofreverie]

i. arrival

[It's the twelfth - the same day last month that new arrivals (read: himself) had shown up in the arrival room. So far it seems like no one has shown up injured but that doesn't mean they'll always be so lucky so he's here in a healer capacity for the most part. He looks out of place with his bright yellow shirt under his dark blue coat and brown pants. Not to mention that he also has shoes in comparison to all the new arrivals only having the jumpsuit.

Sora lingers by the exit, smiling faintly and waving as people leave the arrival room. He lifts his 'berry with a text.]

My name is Sora, if there's anything I can help you with then just let me know.

[Though Sora does leave several times when familiar people show up so he may miss someone.]

ii. in freakish flight (for the people in his house)

[Another dawn, another day of silence. That's how it seems anyway since most of Sora's living space is soundproofed, he doesn't hear the birds chirping. Not until he goes to open the front door and there's a bird right there staring at him and coming closer.

The moment it starts to chirp again, Sora steps outside and closes the door behind him - not wanting anyone else to end up in the path of a Sound Eater just because of a stupid bird. His next move is to use Sleepga on the thing and it instantly cuts the sound off, slumping as it slumbers.

Sora sighs silently, then texts everyone else in the house.]

We've got a problem.

iii. alone or together

[He hadn't like the text that had appeared on his 'berry, or the fact that he couldn't even respond to it. It was a sign of something bad was about to happen. And sure enough, when gathered at the town hall a bunch of people are covered in red dust. Sora is one of those people. After holding back the cough, he blinks to look around at everyone else.

Only to find that the whole world is like being back in Timeless River.]

Didn't think this would happen again for a while.

[Mostly mumbled to himself.]

iv. wildcard

[For anything else!]

ii

[historyrabbit]

[Lavi's heard the birds and for once he felt displaced, having known for a fact that he fell asleep on the bottom bunk in his new room with Mittens curled up on his back. For a brief moment he thought he was back in the Cities... The most jarring fact about his new home had been the lack of sounds.

Even the space station "breathed" in its own sense.

He wasn't as curious as Sora to check what was making the noise. Given the nature of what he was told about this place, it...couldn't really be all that good of a thing.

Just this place trying to get them in danger.

Then the text from Sora comes in.]

What kind of problem?

[skyofreverie]

[He could pick this bird up and move it but Sora is paranoid and doesn't think that will work. That it will keep coming back and try to get them killed.

They can't have that happening. Sora can't watch his friends die anymore and he can't just... kill this bird either. It's the first one he's seen in an entire month - even if it looks mutated or something.]

There's a bird on our porch and I don't think it's gonna go away. It kept chirping so I put it to sleep.

[historyrabbit]

[Lavi won't mind moving it for him, should he ask, but only into a trash can with a lid in the garage. It can be muffled with cloth and what not but then it wouldn't be air friendly...]

Was that what those weird noises were? A bird?

[skyofreverie]

[Sora knows the smart move would be to kill it but there are so few animals that he isn't sure it's completely wise. Then again, these don't look like any birds he knows - though that isn't too surprising.]

I THINK so. Not really sure. They're like... mutated birds. See?

[He snaps a picture of the one on their porch (it's the one on the right side of the picture) and sends it to Lavi.]

i

[stealyoursoul]

[Leo's still a bit disoriented, but that's what happens when one dies at the hands of their siblings. He's not entirely convinced that this is all real and not some dying dream his mind has come up with. Maybe he's still there on the floor of the warehouse slowly being burned from the inside out.

But he's a Sunai and has some priorities. When he sees the message on Sora's phone, he types out his own message.]

I need to find a musical instrument. Doesn't matter what. Is there somewhere in town that has them?

[skyofreverie]

[That is an interesting request, actually. Not one he's heard a lot of over the years of traveling to different worlds and Sora takes a moment to think about it.]

I doubt the natives would have an instrument just laying around when they're so afraid of the Sound Eaters but there might be some in the parts of the town that only recently got paths.

[He pulls up the map on his 'berry and shows it to Leo.]

The black paths are the one we've put down since our arrival, the purple ones were already here. If there's an instrument already here, then you'll find it in unexplored areas - though places without sand paths are more prone to making sound. Or you could always find a way to make one.

[stealyoursoul]

This could be a problem. But I can go at least a few days without one.

[He might seem a little odd with his priorities, but he wasn't just about to start going around saying, "Hi, I'm a monster who needs to eat the souls of those who have sinned" right off the bat. Maybe on day two.

He looks the map over, noting those spots that have yet to be explored. He'll look there first. Surely, they must have something he can use, even if it's as small as a harmonica.]

Ones I make don't work as well for the purpose I need it for.

[They were too prone to failures right in the middle of the song and then Leo would be left hungry again. No one wants a hangry Sunai monster on their hands.]

[skyofreverie]

If it's absolutely necessary to your health, I'm sure the natives will do whatever they can to help. Or someone else here might be able to make one.

[After all, the natives built him a stasis pod once he mentioned it to them. A casual shrug of his shoulders.]

If a wooden flute would work, even I could make that.

[You know, like a recorder.]

iii

[lilithsoul]

[There really wasn't that much of a change to Rei's appearance now that she was without color. Her hair and skin had already been pale, and her jumpsuit was anything but brightly colored. The real change was the lack of red there in her eyes when she turned towards Sora.

It was one of those gatherings, so she was allowed to speak, right? She thought about typing the answer, but it felt simpler to whisper and so she leaned in close to do so.]

This has happened to you before?

[skyofreverie]

[A familiar voice at his side and he looks over to see Rei. Devoid of all color just like everything and everyone else. Oh well. Since there's coughing, he also continues to speak quietly.]

There was a world where everything was in black and white. Even me when I went to visit it.

[lilithsoul]

[She looked at him carefully, studying him for a long moment before nodding briskly. Her gaze turned towards everyone else before going back to him. She didn't look nervous at all, despite the circumstances.]

There are worse things. It may fade, like the dust.

[skyofreverie]

[A soft sigh and he ruffles the back of his head.]

I hope so. We should wash it off just to be sure it doesn't have long-term effects. I mean, even the natives clean us off immediately when we first get here.

i + iv

[overashadow]

[ He comes out of that room with nothing more than a gray jumpsuit and some weird device he's tucked into the pocket. It's not the first time he's arrived in a strange place, though most of them he's somewhat familiar with; glancing at the natives and the absolute stress they put on being quiet, he has no idea where he is. Or why. His gut tells him that something isn't quite right about all of this, and Riku ducks away from the small group of people who wander outside, sticking closer to the edges as he observes the situation. He doesn't recognize the layout of this town. He doesn't know anyone, doesn't see anything that denotes he should remember it.

Even the sand beneath his bare feet, when he steps out onto one of the many paths leading away from the building, means nothing.

Maybe it's not a good idea to settle on that paranoid feeling beginning to work its way through him, but he hadn't spent the last year ignoring it either. So, he kind of bides his time and keeps an eye out, hoping to spot anyone from home. It's by pure luck that he catches a glimpse of that familiar hair rounding the corner of a path, and he's never been one to hesitate when he wants to go after something. Staying on the sand is easier, even when he's moving quickly, and it's unmistakable, the closer he gets, that this is Sora. He's only a step behind him, and it's nothing to reach out and grab his wrist, wanting to hold onto him like a lifeline. This is a weird place to be, but they shouldn't stay here any longer than they had to.

He hopes convincing him is going to be easy, though he brings a finger to his lips just in case. Whatever was out there, they couldn't risk being loud. ]

[skyofreverie]

[After everything - after the Facility, after facing many Xehanorts, especially after the Cities - physical contact is something he pulls away from. More so if Sora doesn't see it coming first and his natural reaction is to tug, spinning around and readying a silent magic attack just in case. It's newbie day and Sora has seen many of his enemies appear over the last four years so of course it could easily be one of them this time.

Except it's not Xehanort or one of his many host bodies - or anyone from the Organization. And his attempt to get free instantly stops as Sora freezes in place. It's Riku in brilliant color when the rest of Sora's world is in black and white. Even if the jumpsuit his friend wears is gray, even if his hair is close to being silver-blue it's Riku's eyes that are magnificent in color. That vibrant turquoise gaze that have always seen straight through him.

Sora almost says his name - almost forgets his month-long silence (or near enough) and the dangers speaking outloud present in this world up until Riku signals to keep quiet. Good thing his friend reminds him because they might have been in serious trouble otherwise.

Instantly his mouth snaps shut and his free hand goes for the 'berry in his pocket. It's possibly clear to Riku how good Sora has gotten at using it after the fiasco that was dealing with the computer in Radiant Garden. The username attached is sol.]

Riku! Did you just get here?

[overashadow]

[ He feels the resistance immediately, and it's something else to note that is off about all of this, though he doesn't have time to study it the way he might have wanted to. Riku lets go of him carefully, watching as Sora takes out that same device he'd left abandoned in one of his pockets and types out a message. Maybe he should have examined it more, but after a few seconds, he realizes it's not terribly complicated. (One of the native people had even been going over a concise "how-to" for it that he'd only partially listened to.) His own username – umbra – isn't something he thinks too much about as he writes back: ]

No, I've been here the whole time.

[ He makes a point to exaggerate his expression, almost rolling his eyes, and before he can help it, he tacks on dummy very affectionately. Of course he'd just gotten here, but the way Sora is talking is... what? Riku glances back at him, gaze sweeping over his clothes, his face, his hair. Mostly the same, but Sora isn't wearing what he is. The fact that he can't pinpoint exactly what's different is driving him crazy. So, he tries to focus on the current topic at hand. ]

Where is here, Sora?

[skyofreverie]

[It's something they'll eventually talk about - he's sure of that. That is only confirmed with the way Riku watches him after letting go. Though it seems like his friend is only watching how he manages the 'berry but nothing seems to escape Riku's gaze when it comes to Sora. If he can figure out the devices in a few months then Riku will have it mastered sooner, beating his record.

Sora takes notice of the username but isn't sure what it means. (Though making a mental note to find out.) A pouty frown up at this friend.]

Not unless you've been trying to avoid me again.

[Since he's been here, Sora's explored every nook and cranny he could go and posted on the network in a way that would surely catch anyone's attention that was from their worlds. The name calling earns Riku a playfully stuck-out tongue. So mature. When he catches Riku looking over his Earth-like outfit, he merely shrugs. A kid can't wear the same thing forever.]

It's a world called Earth and this city is Reims, located in the country of France. Think of it like someone went and united a bunch of our worlds into a larger one.


I've been here a month already.

i

[tacosgay]

ok so where is my stuff

[Taako is already over not having his Umbra Staff with him. He's come across at least 18 instances in which he wanted to cast something just since waking up in the fucking reset room, and that pattern is likely to continue, because why the hell would he ever do anything with his hands when he has magic, and also there's bad shit out there, apparently?]

[skyofreverie]

The natives take everything upon arrival, to soundproof it. I received some of it after a month had gone by. It happened to other people too.

[Even the ability to summon weapons was somehow blocked, though Sora still had access to his magic.]

[tacosgay]

how do they plan on soundproofing an umbrella

[what the fuck]

[skyofreverie]

No idea. Guess the only way to find out is when you get it back.

[He honestly doesn't know. Make sure it's oiled so it doesn't squeak when opened or closed.]

iii

[iisupergirlii]

[Kara's caught off track for a moment on her way to chasing the only color in the room, not having recognized the back of the person's head as Faith yet. She hears Sora speak and she halts, comically, in place, looking at him.]

For awhile? This has happened to you before?

[she takes the moment to brush the dust off her arms frantically. After what they'd seen on their video... she doesn't want this stuff anywhere near her or anyone else, using some powerful bursts of breath to blow herself clean. She'll happily do the same for him if he'd like. Better that than becoming a portal. Or a Sound Eater.]

[skyofreverie]

[A casual shrug.]

One of the worlds was all black and white - like an old movie. When I went there, even I lost all my colors. I didn't really think too much of it, it wasn't the first time I had changed to fit into a new world. Once I had the tail of a dolphin instead of legs and was a small lion cub in another one.

[Sora will shake his head to dislodge some of the dust there. The rest he'll take care of with a spell or something once outside. No sense forming a small tornado inside of a crowded room.]

[iisupergirlii]

Oh wow, is that... a power of yours, the changing? Because that's pretty cool!

[skyofreverie]

Not mine. A couple of them I just showed up in a new world looking different. You can't really fit in with a bunch of lions if you look human or hang out with mermaids if you can't breathe underwater. It's more the magic of the world changing me.

[His universe is weird, Kara. But fun!]

Once three faeries enchanted my clothes so I could borrow the power of my friends and my clothes kept changing color.