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

---

Comments

[warfares]

They are definitely concealing things from us, [ it's said in such a way that suggests he never expected them to do anything but. ]

The question is why. [ Fear certainly had a pRt in it but he was willing to bet that it was more than the fear of death that drove them to become so insular and secretive. Something had caused this haunting, something terrible, and they very likely had something to do with it. ]

Did you see where they took the body? [ then, clarifying: ] Of the native that died.

[rockypath]

[Apparently this guy is even more mistrusting than Faith. But he looks like the type. Faith shakes her head at the question.]

No... I didn't. Did you? You think the native became what we saw? I tried to get closer to see the thing, but I couldn't get a good enough look beyond all the sound eaters. [And she'd only been able to get so close without risking being heard. She had gotten pretty close though. Closer than most had dared.]

[warfares]

[ Suspicion comes easily when you enjoy the kind of awareness of people's thoughts and emotions that the Force gives. ]

No, but I do think it's interesting that they didn't allow any of us to assist with disposing of the body. [ Customs only excused so much, after all. ]

But I was asking about the one they brought back to the city.

[rockypath]

I didn't see what they did with it after it happened. [Faith had been busy. Brooding. And wallowing. Distracted by her own bullshit, basically. Also, the last thing she'd wanted to do was spend too long looking at a dead body let alone help in disposing of it.] And I didn't ask.

[warfares]

[ Quiet settles over them again and rather than push the subject further, he leans into it.

He doesn't know Faith, doesn't know her story--and even if he did it's debatable how much of an interest he could muster. He didn't share Rey's bleeding heart, his capacity for empathy worn down to a nub over the years.

Even so, there was nothing to say they couldn't pass the next few minutes (possibly hours) in one another's company. It was a large roof, after all. ]

[rockypath]

[Fine by her, Faith could use being around someone who doesn't want to dive face first into her problems or give her sad eyes just for looking at them.]

[She looks at Kylo trying to suss him out a little bit. He's not chatty. Kind of grumpy. She shrugs and moves to a spot on the roof a bit more out of the rain. Sitting, she cracks her neck and stretches out a bit, making herself at home there. Shit, she'd kill for a cigarette about now. If only some had come with her mystery clothes. She's minding her own business for a while more or less ignoring him and losing herself in her own thoughts. Thinking about how much she'd love to be able to take a crack at Kilgrave without him being about to stop her. To just break his legs and leave him bleeding. But she can't do that, so instead she's here. On a roof. With some stargazing space goth. It's about twenty minutes later when she speaks up again, wanting to distract herself from her dark thoughts. They weren't leading her anywhere productive anyway.]

So you're from another planet, right? So why do you look human? shouldn't you be green? Have five legs and shit?

[warfares]

I am human, [ comes the answer, no hint of offense. ] Mankind is among the most proliferate species in the galaxy. Several dozen planets have been colonized, Earth among them.

Perhaps the better question to ask is why the notion of someone with green skin and five legs would be so alarming.

[rockypath]

Mm... I wouldn't say alarming. [That implied some kind of fear or shock, didn't it?] Just not usual. There aren't any aliens on Earth that I'm aware of. And we don't exactly have space ships flying around everywhere. We've been to the moon. That's about it. We do have demons and vampires by the boatloads. But they aren't from another planet and most people on Earth don't know they're there to begin with. [She held out the palm of her hand, watching idly as water drips and spreads along her palm.] I suppose some of them could be aliens... but I dunno. Most just come from hell dimensions or have been there since the beginning. [She did vaguely remember something about Buffy fighting off some demon that was actually from space, but it was foggy.]

[warfares]

Then, as a go to scenario for the most absurd thing you could think of, it needs a little work. [ Mind you, if she is willing to entertain the existence of aliens he can hear her out on the demons and on the vampires.

Even so, plenty to unpack there, starting from the most immediately relevant: ]

Do you think that's what happened? That we were pulled into another dimension.

[rockypath]

[Faith shrugs at his disbelief. She's got nothing to prove to him. If he doesn't believe her, what did she care? What reason did she have to lie anyway? For shits?] Most likely. The other option is through time? I mean, I've never been too France, but I'm pretty sure it didn't look like this. And you could definitely make sound.

And if you just look at the place, it's been like this for a while. It's not just something that happened overnight.

[warfares]

[ There were people here from what one might arguably consider his distant past; the first, his grandmother, had been pregnant when he met her, a disturbing thought on several levels, while the second, his grandfather, was at least several years his junior and immediately suspicious of him. He had kept his distance for now but it was only a matter of time before Anakin sought him out expecting answers. ]

It takes quite the feat to accomplish what was done here. [ He'll spare her the metaphysical bs for now but suffice it to say that it would have been big, messy and possibly even deliberate.

Was it really paranoia if everyone was out to get you? ]

The planet remains plagued to this day, centuries later. By creatures not unlike the Sound Eaters.

[rockypath]

This planet? You mean Earth, centuries from where were at right now? So not only are you from another planet, you're from the future too? [Faith's interest is piqued, frowning a bit. Is this what the future held? Did it all just go to shit no matter how hard they worked to save it?]

[warfares]

Different planet, roughly the same vicinity on the galactic map. [ at a guess; he still hadn't figured out their precise location. ]

I'm from one of the Core worlds originally. [ he lifts his shoulder in a half-shrug. ] Unless you have the date I really couldn't say. [ probably, though. ]

[rockypath]

Well, fuck me. [She mutters, running both hands through her wet brown hair.] Nice to know that nothing matters. Save the world one day, it's just gonna get screwed over the next.

[warfares]

Noble causes often meet futile ends, [ comes the response, tone mild despite the cynicism. One need only look to his family history to see how far good intentions got you in the end. ]

I would not take it personally.

[rockypath]

I'll have to remember to come to you next time I need a pep talk. What's your name, anyway? I mean I'll have to remember it.

It's so hard to find the kind of inspiring shit you're laying down on me right now. [There's a ghost of a smirk underneath the thick fog of futility hovering all around her.]

[warfares]

Kylo Ren, [ it's a name that suits him, at least:a somber name for a somber man, ] and you are?

[rockypath]

[She's tempted to accuse him of making up that name. It sounds fake. But what does she know, all people from space probably had weird sounding names.] Faith Lehane.

[warfares]

[ In all fairness to him, Ben Solo wasn't a name that tended to inspire much fear or aweㅡlikewise, before Rey had marked him, his face had almost been too open.

He cants his head at her when she gives him her name, ] I believe you know a friend of mine: 5'6", brunette. Can do impressive things with her mind.

[rockypath]

Rings a bell. [So he's friends with Rey? And Poe, presumably? She hadn't liked being held by Rey with her mind. Or when she'd tried to get in her head to force her out of Kilgrave's compulsion. Of course, the alternative would have been much worse.] Was she talking about me? [Faith sounds less than pleased about that. There's a thing called privacy, Rey. Geez.]

[warfares]

Only in the most general sense, [ she'd given him a name and made a vague (and largely unhelpful) mention of some ill-conceived rescue attempt, ] she wanted to make me aware of the threat Kilgrave presented and to ask me to kill her should it become necessary.

[rockypath]

What are friends for? [She offers, with a forced smile. Faith definitely doesn't want to murder anyone. But considering the lack of permanency here and that it would free someone from Kilgrave. It's not bad as plans went.]

They didn't kill me. Just... waited it out. Took twenty four hours. [And the time she'd been conscious it had been unbearable.]

[warfares]

[ He cants his head at her, taking in the information she offers. There is something hunched in, almost defeated, about Faith now; anger and self-loathing churning together.

This is an unburdening, he realizes. ] You must have an incredibly strong will. [ then, to clarify: ] What she didㅡwhat she tried to doㅡwould have worked, otherwise.

[rockypath]

When Rey tried to get in my head? Probably helped that I was pissed off but sure. Slayers are good at a lot of things. [She leaves the credit at the door or her calling, as though her force of will isn't even her own.]

So are you like her?

[warfares]

It doesn't work like that, [ his tone is casually matter-of-fact. The word Slayer means as much to him as Jedi and the Force are likely to mean to her, but he knows the limitations of the Mind trick well enough, after having used it for so many years. ]

Somewhat. We follow different paths.