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

[underachievement]

[ Jesus that's like three stories, one right after the other, and descending order of holy shitness. If you were about to have frickin' babies, why the hell would go on a three day long HIKE TO THE SHITTY THING PREQUEL???! God damn, these people are jackasses. Like mega ultron a superhero level jackasses, seeing as when they die, they die hard. Jess has one sip for each kid stuck in this hellhole now. They must have made it back or else Poe would be giving off a very different vibe. ]

What, like constellations and shit? [ It's the lightest venue of conversation, of the provided options. Jess isn't in any big rush to learn what the Sound Eaters look like since there's no logistical benefit to it. Leave that to the Community Guards to catalogue and care about, they're tasked with warding off the outside threats. Jess's arena is freaks like her and once you get in the fighting pit, there's no getting out. ]

[gotyourselfapilot]

[ Story time hasn't been all that great for Poe the past month. His own hopes and dreams were being crushed at hearing that Luke Skywalker wasn't the man he thought or believed him to be. There was still the whole story of Kylo Ren. Rey's been telling him a lot, she was the one to go through all of that herself. Poe's stories may not even be the best but they certainly didn't have that much of a good ending just yet. The babies were fine with their native mother. Frank made sure that the mother stayed quiet and he made sure the twins didn't scream into the new world. ]

The natives revealed this program on the devices that helps to study or learn them. I would rather stargaze from a starfighter though. [ He gives a small shrug since being on the ground wasn't really doing it for him most nights or days. That twitchy feeling would be slowly creeping up on him. Poe was thankful for the camping trip in the sense of being physically on the move. He wanted to learn if he was going to try to ambush them, try to lure one of them away at least. He was drawn into commitment for the cause. Who knows where that commitment would lead him towards? ]

[underachievement]

[ Jess shakes her head, then scoffs when she remembers it's fine to do during the rainfall. Reuniting with the dismissive noises that so gamely minimized conversation back home is the biggest perk of this weather so far. Inversely, that revelation has to be the most inoffensive for the locals to have bothered postponing. Why? Do they just do things to do things? ]

All right. [ Fine, she'll ask. She can tell he's not deliberately doing that thing where you namedrop something mysterious and interesting and then reel in the attention. He knows by now her attention's not exactly a prize-winning catch. More like an old boot. With a human foot still inside. ] What's a starfighter.

[gotyourselfapilot]

[ The rainfall can hide a lot of noises that they were so used to not making in being afraid of the sound. Poe's been out in the rain long enough to know that they would be safe with whatever sound they do. The locals maybe didn't want to tell them about the rain. The paths were made of sand. Did the rain make the sand go away? Probably, who would be replacing the sand? Most likely the new arrivals. It's best to learn from experience. ]

[ Poe's so used to talk to people back home he keeps forgetting that not everyone is going to know about things there. He also kept help it knowing that he would rather be inside of a cockpit currently. That still wouldn't happen back at home though. ] Basically a ship that flies in both space and the atmosphere here. You can fly up into the sky and stars before breaking the planet surface. Sit right up at the edge. It's better when meteor showers happen.

[underachievement]

[ She scoffs again now that the dam's broken. She can't help but react like it's a line and supplements her suspension of disbelief with a good swig of whiskey. Why not buy it? It makes no difference where she does or not. At the moment, it paints a hell of a prettier picture than any of the sights she's subjected people to in her time here. ]

Sounds like it doesn't suck. How far can it take you? [ Jess sure as shit wouldn't stop at the horizon. ]

[gotyourselfapilot]

[ Poe raises an eyebrow at her. She's the first to not be overly excited about him coming from space. It was different from everything else. This felt more real and natural. He's telling the truth even if some of his story was from when he was a teen. ]

If I was telling you a present story you'll be saying something different. The starfighter can take me pretty much anywhere as long as there's enough fuel. There's a lot of systems where I'm from. The ride could be long depending on the distance. [ He pauses wondering if she really wanted to hear all of this. ]

What are you drinking exactly?

[underachievement]

[ So faster than light, though Jess doesn't know if that's a science term, a sci-fi term, or both. That is pretty cool, if true, even if it amounts to little more than a fun fact. He's not a rocket scientist or a quantum engineer or whoever is in charge of bailing the human race out of the sinking garbage barge it's made of the Earth; he can't craft a 2012 rescue arc to get them out of here, just steer it if one shows up. And honestly, with how this place works, who's to say that won't prove to be a valuable skill.

The grand cosmic scale of it is inaccessible to her beyond any surface musings. She keeps her world small whereas he sounds not unlike a Space Avenger. Yeah it's pretty cool but she doesn't mind moving off it, especially when he swaps to speaking her language. ]

Whiskey. [ In another galaxy, it might go by a different name, but there must be something comparable. She hands him the bottle to take a sip. ] Remind you of anything?

[gotyourselfapilot]

[ He'd probably figure out how to drive anything if it happened to show up too. Poe could fly anything but driving could take a bit before he knew what he was doing. It wouldn't be the same as a speeder. This place could always dig something up. It might not be what they were expecting though.

The conversation didn't have to be about him. Being able to talk about other things is a nice change of pace. ]

Are you celebrating or just drinking for pleasure? [ He takes the bottle from her giving a sip from the bottle. It's definitely different from anything else he's had to drink back at home. Poe hands the bottle back while giving a nod. ] It's not bad. Back at home we would be drinking whatever we could get our hands on. Sometimes there would be really great bottles to share.

[underachievement]

[ Jess takes his question as sarcastic at first, studying his face to verify his sincerity. She has a brief, soundless laugh at herself and takes her whiskey back. ]

I guess I'm celebrating that I'm drinking at all. [ If she has to put a positive spin on it. She finds it hard to believe she gives off any other vibe than that of a bitter, brooding alcoholic high school janitor. Aside from the bar's worth of Wild Fowl, the rest she got in the Reset Room is lending some levity to her crackly disposition. And the house. Shame he can't know where it is, she thinks, having a swig from the bottleneck without taking her eyes off him. ]

[gotyourselfapilot]

[ Nope, he's being serious in his question to her. Poe wanted to see where her head was at. They have been gone for days. He's not sure how many others stayed behind. ]

Is it something you enjoy drinking back where you're from? This place seems to be giving things from there. Probably to get us to be more comfortable and relaxed. [ That's how he's taking this whole getting his jacket. It wasn't bad and it was helping to keep the rest of the rain away from the jumpsuit. It only reminded him of home and what had been happening before getting here. Even if she's giving off a brooding vibe, he's not intimidated by it. ]

[underachievement]

[ That's her bet, as well. Doesn't mean shit to her as long as Kilgrave is here running around unchecked. Actually, if she thinks about it, she wouldn't accept it any more readily if he weren't. It's an extremely creepy arrangement even without the addition of "purpleman". ]

It's something that gets me through the day. I guess that asshole in the hat didn't like me raiding his stash.

[gotyourselfapilot]

[ He didn't think he would see anything that he's familiar with. Poe would continue to think this place is odd. But Jess is right about Kilgrave being around and doing whatever he wanted. There wasn't anything he could really do about it. All he can was provide conversation or be there in silence. Maybe for comfort if that's what they really needed. ]

Is that the only thing that gets you through the day? Whiskey can't be the only reason. Most people don't enjoy thieves or people who borrow ships with the plan to return them.