MOD LOG #1

[bequiet]

MOD LOG #1
Packing Up
Content Warnings: General tension
Themes: Survival, exploration, heavy-lifting

At the end of the month, the natives send out a mass message informing everyone of the upcoming trip to 'meet' the Sound Eaters. Preparing for the trip is simple, though labor intensive, and begins with making certain that everyone packs food, water, clothes, gear, and a twenty-pound package of sand. When it's time for the journey to begin, those tasked with watching the sandpaths, will lead the party on the journey towards the Eiffel Tower. It's a slow trip, a careful one. Natives will take breaks every few hours and when the sun sets, help everyone to set up their bed rolls around a few lanterns. The natives will unveil the star mapping feature, with constellations named and general history attached, on the devices. They will encourage those to tell stories, get out food and water, and 'talk' amongst the group before everyone settles into sleep. Out, under the night sky, the silence is more noticeable - there are no crickets or frogs. This process will repeat for two days until the group reaches the end of their destination at midday.

Sound Eaters
Content Warnings: Disorientation, confusion, character and native death, Sound Eater birth and death, body horror
Themes: Survival, exploration, horror, death

On the third day, characters will finally reach the Eiffel Tower, where the Sound Eaters in this area of France have set up their 'home'. Stopping far enough out to allow for communication, the natives will gesture to the ruins of the structure that appears to be altered. Structures are built up and around the metal frame, closing off different sections with a dark material that glints an oily-green in the light. After explaining that the Sound Eaters are influenced by the weather, rain being an issue for them, they'll take everyone closer. Silence is key here. The natives are visibly wary, tense, and uncomfortable but they believe that showing the arrivals what they're so afraid of will inspire them to be more cautious.

Now, as close to the Sound Eaters as they dare to go (less than a half mile), the natives will have everyone crouch down behind various cars and debris. The devices will say only one word, watch. As the sun begins to set and clouds darken overhead, the tower will open up, the Sound Eaters spilling out. They are split up, as the natives refer to it, into classes - the young, the shifting and the matured. The young are extremely sensitive to sound, volatile and aggressive, humanesque in form with features in various state of change. The shifting are grotesque, splitting and reforming, changing from young to matured in a shift that is punctuated by pained screams and the breaking of bones, splitting of flesh. The matured are in control. They command and guide their kind into a circle, where they all bend down, kneeling as something different than the rest comes out of the tower to stand at the center. The wind catches, dusting up red ash from it and blowing the ash towards the group - there's no way to move and it tastes familiar, coats your skin in red. They all grow quiet and a wrapped form, in the shape of a body, is placed at the Sound Eaters' feet. It crumbles, breaks apart and sprays out over the wrapped figured to completely cover it.

The shards of the Sound Eater bubble up and fuse together, creating a shell. Rain begins to fall. Light, but enough to cause the Sound Eaters to begin to move, pushing against one another but not leaving the circle. There's a shrill sound, an offbeat whistle, air escaping a tight space, a desperate inhale, and then the shell at the center splits apart. A Sound Eater died to create a new life. Smaller than the other young, the 'child' climbs up and out, but it's not the same as the others. It's form is generally human. Dark hair, androgynous features. No eyes. No mouth. Standing, it angles its head towards the matured and they move, as if on command, and surround it as it walks into the tower.

( If anyone makes noise at this point, in any way, the coming bad weather and what just occurred, will result in the Sound Eaters only attacking that person - rather than the whole group. They'll drag that person into the tower and out of sight. The character will be reset. )

The natives are upset. Spooked. They've never seen anything like that and they're quick to tell everyone this, followed by a hasty message to leave. As they're moving, the rain begins to beat down and the ground grows slippery. Making it back to the supplies is troublesome and just as the group gets close, one of the natives slips and tumbles down broken concrete, twisting and smacking against the hard surface until they come to a stop at the bottom. Anyone that goes to help will find that the native has hurt themselves and there's nothing that can be done, despite best efforts. The natives will take the time to wrap their friend up, relaying that the Sound Eaters don't attack now that the rain is heavy, and will begin the slow trek back to the community. They'll camp each night, the same as the trip up, but with an uncomfortable tension that no amount of story telling can break.

It's Raining Me- Rain. It's Just Water.
Content Warnings: None
Themes: Survival, fun, noise-making

After everyone is back in Reims, the natives will split off to bury their dead - they will not allow anyone to accompany them. Everyone is encouraged to head back to the community to get a break from the bad weather and to unload their supplies. The following day, the natives can be heard outside. Splashing and making noise, fixing houses, and what might have been a somber event will quickly turn into something a little more upbeat as rain beats down on the city. Children will play and occasionally laugh, stunted in their ability to enjoy themselves but willing to learn from the arrivals. Bigger items will be moved and natives will encourage everyone to do the 'noisier' things that they need to do. When the rain ends, work will resume as usual and soundproofing will be a lot more difficult - the water washed away sandpaths and damaged some areas. Cleaning up will take time but the natives aren't as unhappy with the situation as they just had a moment's respite from the normal tension of their everyday lives.

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! The OOC Plotting Post.

NAVIGATION

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Comments

Ignis Scientia | Final Fantasy XV | OTA

[ebonyengine]

A. Little Grains of Sand

[Going on a trip to see the mysterious and frightful Sound Eaters seems like, at best, a risky idea. These were, after all, the fabled monsters that force them to live this quiet existence. At its worst, it sounds like marching to their deaths.

But as they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained. If the normally cautious natives think that there's something for them to gain by going to see the creatures, then it was worth the risk to leave the relative safety of the settlement.

One of the natives pulls him aside and lets him know that he's being assigned a task. Ignis doesn't remember volunteering, but he definitely wants to go on this excursion, so he doesn't raise any fuss about it. He's put on...sand duty. He's part of a team that's in charge of guiding the sand paths and keeping them tidy and orderly, for there's only so much sand to go around.

Maybe he's directing you on how to lay out your sand or you spot him tidying up the sides of the sand path like some sort of neat freak. Or maybe he's silently bothering you about your sand for some reason. (Where is it, lay it down over here, that's not even sand you're holding. Never mind, give it to him and he'll do it.) It's pretty clear that he's taking his role as the Sand Arbiter seriously.]

B. Starry Night

[During camp, Ignis is intensely focused on the device in his hand, having been shown the star mapping feature. He's searching it for constellations he recognizes, but he finds none. However, he does find himself rather entranced by the brief snippets of history he learns. Every time he reaches the end of a blurb, he frowns, his curiosity not sated.

He's got an itch to learn more.]

C. NOPE NOT THE STARSCOURGE

[Ignis had always imagined the Sound Eaters to be something like daemons. Fantastical, unnatural, and monstrous violent entities. One look at a Sound Eater, however, tells him differently. They're not daemons. They're something far worse.

Part of him wants to get closer. Perhaps it was morbid curiosity driving this desire. But he knows better than that. The logical part of him tells him that going out there is simply suicide. There's nothing to gain from closing the distance. Instead, he keeps his eyes glued on the Sound Eaters, unable to take his eyes off them even though he finds them terrifying and repulsive.

When the message that it's time to leave comes in, it breaks him free of whatever kept him rooted in place, staring at the monsters. Ignis taps whoever's next to him and shows them the message. Time to go.]

D. A Little Bit of Freedom

[Rain has never been so liberating. Ignis has decided he will never grumble at a rainy day again. No, rain is a blessing from Ramuh, the Stormsender, and he has seen the light. He will never be ungrateful for it ever again.

If you're in House 5, the kitchen has been a flurry of activity as Ignis takes full advantage to make whatever he can out of the ingredients they have. Delicious scents waft through the house as he cooks and...he's cooking a lot. Is this a stress response? Probably.

If you're not in House 5, fear not, for there's something for you too. Ignis can also be found outside eating some of the food he's created, from goodpumpkin pie (goodpumpkin provided courtesy of the local goodpumpkin peddler) to soup. Get a little too close, and he's beckoning you over. Dare to answer his summons and he's pushing a plate/bowl/cup/whatever of some kind of consumable at you.]

Would you mind tasting this and giving me your opinion?

[Truth be told, while he is soliciting opinions on his cooking, he also kind of just really wants someone to talk to, but he's absolutely awful at casual conversation.]

E. Wildcard

[Come up with your own scenario or hit me up at shiningkestral to plan something out.]

D

[gimmesometassel]

[Is someone beckoning for him? Carpet glides over to answer Ignis' silent summons, dripping a constant stream of water like a little roving stormcloud the whole way. He peers at the pie with some confusion, looking from Ignis, to it, and back again, and pointing to himself questioningly. He wants him to taste it? He's never been offered food before.....

For obvious reasons, really, chief among them that he has no mouth. Carpet spreads his tassels in silent apology, before he starts signing--he's not quite fluent yet, but he's getting there! And it seems just irresponsible to expose his device to all this rain. He doesn't own many things, and he doesn't want to take bad care of what he does!]

I don't think I can.

[ebonyengine]

[Oh. OH. Ignis wasn't really paying attention when he beckoned Carpet over, he was too busy staring down at the food in his hands and had only just barely detected movement in the corner of his eye. He's still getting the hang of sign language, but he's learned enough to understand what's being signed at him.]

Oh! Apologies.

[He's watching Carpet with an expression of thinking. Hmm...primarily blue, golden tassels...]

Are you perhaps the one that poll on the network was for?

[He was expecting something more like a bizarre human or perhaps supernatural creature. Not an autonomous inanimate object.]

[gimmesometassel]

[Carpet nods energetically at that; he's not offended by the assumption or anything. It's kind of nice, actually! Ignis can study him as much as he'd like.]

That's right!

[ebonyengine]

[Well, it's finally nice to meet the Carpet, seeing as the network poll made him well known to just about everyone, including the ones who had no idea what he looked like.]

What name did you end up deciding on anyway?

SAND ARBITER

[born2b]

Perhaps to another person, Ignis' instruction would bother them. But not 2B. When Ignis indicates to her that she's laying out her sand incorrectly, she pauses and carefully watches his direction before following his instructions. It's laid out neatly, save for a small spill outside of the guided line where she first began pouring out the sand.

Placing the bag down on the ground, she signs, Is this correct?

Using the local sign language was easy for her after it had been downloaded into her language settings.

[ebonyengine]

Ignis watches 2B work with a critical eye, carefully instructing her with a series of gestures. By the time they're finished, there's a new, lovely sand path for people to use.

It takes a second for him to correctly interpret her sign language; he doesn't have the luxury of simply downloading information into his brain, but he's a fast learner and can figure out just enough to know what she's trying to say. At the question he nods and smiles at her.

[born2b]

Good.

Where else does sand need to be laid?

There's still some left over sand in her bag. He is clearly the one in charge of ensuring sand is laid out for silence to reign outside of the usual sand paths.

[ebonyengine]

It takes a moment for him to correctly read her question. Unlike androids, he can't directly upload sign language into his brain. To the question, he nods and gestures to a section of the sand path. They need to make a branch off here.

D

[kiljoy]

[The food does look good... but Kilgrave has learned to be suspicious of food offered to him by others. He comes over nonetheless, tempted by it.]

What is it?

[Smells good, whatever it is. God, it's too long since he had a proper cooked meal.]

[ebonyengine]

[It's only natural to want to know what you're eating before you eat it, so Ignis isn't the least bit offended. He's happy to explain and probably show off a little bit.]

It's a grilled fish fillet.

[He managed to get his hands on some fish from some of the fishing inclined of the settlement and he sure as hell was going to take advantage of it.]

[kiljoy]

Fresh from the river, eh? I'll try it if you do first.

[Look, you can't be too paranoid. He doesn't know this man, but if anything that's more reason to be suspicious.]

[ebonyengine]

[Yeah, sure if you insist.

Using a fork, Ignis breaks off a small portion of the fish before eating it.

Given the limitations of the ingredients and the cooking implements here, he's pretty satisfied with the results.]

The texture is just right, if you ask me.

[But no one asked.]

D

[steal]

[If food's involved, Rey's there. She doesn't live in house 5, but is walking past it toward her own new home. When he waves her over she curiously obliges. At first sight of food, her eyes seem to widen a little. When was the last time she actually stopped to eat? It's easy to lose track of time when it all blends together into silence.

Still, it could be some kind of trap.

She isn't sure what kind, since he looks nice enough. Maybe he's genuinely just offering her food. It would be rude not to take it, in that case. Awkwardly, she reaches out to take what's offered and sample it. A little bite turns into essentially devouring the whole thing in about two bites. Yeah, her manners suck. It's an issue.]

It's delicious! [She's really enthusiastic when it comes to food okay. A pause follows, and then:]

What is it?

[ebonyengine]

[Her less than stellar display of manners doesn't bother him. Ignis has spent a significant amount of time in the company of three men who have yet to move past their teenage phases despite no longer being teenagers.]

I'm glad you enjoy it. It's an orange cake.

[Or, well, an orange cake made of preserved canned oranges, at any rate.]

If you're finished, I can take the plate from you.

[He's already got his hand out.]

[steal]

[Her hand clutches hold of the plate a little tighter, almost as if she's afraid he might take it away from her. But he's just holding his hand out, so once she's done using her finger to press against all the remaining crumbs she reluctantly hands it back.]

Did you make it yourself? It's amazing.

[And she'd really like more.]

d!

[zom]

[ mitsuha was on her way to fetch some water when she sees the man just up ahead of her at house 5 waving her down. mitsuha looks at him curiously, but decides to approach him, and then he's handing her...

a bowl of soup? mitsuha blinks down at it, but it smells amazing and she can't resist--she sips on it, makes a delighted noise, and lowers the bowl to look at him. ]

Aah, it's delicious!

[ she grins at him, handing him back the bowl. she doesn't want to be rude and drink all of it, after all! ]

Did you make this?

[ebonyengine]

[While Ignis enjoys cooking, what he enjoys even more is seeing people enjoy his food. It's good to see others happy. As well as feeds his ego.]

I did.

[He gratefully accepts the bowl back.]

It's been too long since I've had the chance to cook something properly.

[zom]

It's really yummy, especially considering you haven't cooked in a while!

[ her smile's the brightest it's been all day, and she peers curiously at the other things he has laid out. ]

Eeh--you've made so much food... Um, do you need help getting rid of some of it?

D

[twoaffirmations]

[Of course 9S was going to answer his summons; Ignis was a human, and he was infinitely curious.

What he wasn't expecting was to have a plate shoved into his hands. Food wasn't necessary for an android to survive, and it wasn't a resource to be spent frivolously here. Even if he really wants to try some. It smells sooo good!

9S looks absolutely torn.]

Er... Are you positive, Sir? Food would probably be better spent on someone who needs it.

[ebonyengine]

Quite.

[Don't give him that nonsense, young man. Ignis isn't having any of it. There's only one person who's allowed to do that kind of thing around here, and that's him.]

I have plenty to go around.

[That is, to say, he went a little overboard.]

[twoaffirmations]

Well, if you're sure.

[He doesn't sound torn up at all.

9S is honored to try out more human food. Ignoring the utensil on his plate side, he picks up the piece of chiffon cake with his hand and bites right into it.

He also talks with his mouth full.] Hmm...

It's really good, Sir!

C but with a bit of a wildcard twist /fingerguns (let me know if you want anything changed!)

[beguiledcard]

[ It's the tap that breaks him of his thoughts...

For a moment, he's just staring at the older man, jawline tense, body far more rigid than he'd normally allow on a remotely conscious level. It's after taking just long enough to force himself to relax, his expression to ease into something more neutral, he nods.

He's... seen worse, so there's nothing akin to horror in his eyes, but it's clear that the appearance of the creatures managed to take him by surprise. They're far... more, in many ways, than he'd expected.

Akira will be quiet, avoiding communication in favor of seeming far more helpful than what the older man might have seen earlier in the trip...

That is, until the native dies, resulting in Akira effectively losing all of his composure for just a moment. His efforts are on the brinks of desperate as he tries to heal them, to bring them back to life.

Well after that, after everyone has paused, he can be found sitting alone. He's found a nice spot that's shielded from the downpour. Hands in the pockets of his Joker jacket, his device is nowhere to be seen -- it's tucked away. Clearly to ensure he "conveniently" misses anything that could interrupt some clearly important, clearly helpful thoughts that are racing through his mind right now. ]

[ebonyengine]

[It's tense for a while. Nobody wants to think about what just happened with the native or discuss it, not even over their devices. The usual silence they maintain is somber now that they've been given a grim reminder of death. Ignis is no stranger to death. He's seen it far too many times, not to mention the fact that he's been trained to kill.

He watches as Akira, the boy he remembers tapping the shoulder of, trying to resurrect the dead native, but Ignis already knows it isn't going to happen. No one has yet to overcome death, no matter what they try. Medicine, magic, none of it can stop the grim reaper. It's a fact he's well aware of and the skulls that adorn his clothes are a potent reminder.

He happens to find the boy again by chance, also seeking shelter from the rain. Once safe from the water, he runs a hand through his hair, slicking it back as he sits down next to Akira.

The natives said they can make noise during the rain, but honestly, Ignis is a bit hesitant to try it at first, so he's content to just sit quietly for a few minutes before giving Akira a light nudge with his elbow.]

[beguiledcard]

[ It's been less than a month, and he's already growing accustomed to avoiding speaking as much as he possibly can.

But, then, he's also feeling a little weary after casting so many revival and healing spells in his efforts to bring that person back. He will likely need to sleep to recover completely. The mental fatigue is weighing on him to the point where something as simple as texting feels like too much work.

At the very least, though, he can manage the hand gestures for: ] By the way, I'm: A-k-i-r-a... K-u-r-u-s-u.

[ The thing he's had the most practice with off of the natives. So, even if spelling out his name is a little tedious, it feels a bit... grounding, somehow. ]