INTRO LOG #1

[bequiet]

INTRO LOG #1
Muzzle and Mute
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, a child hugging her leg, and 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.

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.

The Man in the Hat
Content Warnings: Heavy lifting, following the rules, alcoholism
Themes: Moving in, survival, exploration, horror

Once you’ve claimed a room for yourself, it’s time to acclimate to the community. Natives will ask what you need and take you along the sandpaths to different areas in the city to gather supplies - furniture and the like. Heavier items will require assistance and will take longer. Houses are mostly empty so if you and your housemates need something, you’ll have to carry it and put it inside the home. Do not make any noise or the natives will refuse to help you. Getting to know your housemates is key to a smooth transition. They are going through what you are right now; take the time to get to know them. Make house rules.

As the first day gives way to night, the natives can be seen moving at a faster pace outside. They’re hurried, though not frightened. Some even smile at you. When the sun sets behind the ruins of what was once picturesque Reims, your device will signal that it’s time to meet at the center of the community. There, natives will stop each person and give them a small gift - a trinket, a token to show that they are trying their best to make all the new arrivals feel at home. These are all items from the character’s home or from another character's home (they will not be anything that belongs to anyone else). Small, soundless and either something taken during the application process or something brand new. They will have no powers to speak of and are meant to be a momento. If asked, the natives found them the same way they found each of you.

Then the party starts. Sort of. A soundless, stitled kind of celebration. Fun is meant to be had, but it’s not an overly joyous occasion. The natives simply don’t know how to cut loose. There will be extra food in the form of one and two; Phillipa even brought some of her homemade bread. If you stumble across a man wearing a hat, the only man in town who does, and agree to go with him when he offers to show you his house - he’ll gift you with a jar of hooch; it’ll burn on the way down.

Sound Eaters
Content Warnings: Threat, danger
Themes: Survival, exploration, horror, game plot

It’s the second day of your stay, and the natives call for an emergency meeting at the Town Hall. Everyone is paired off (see below) and are asked to walk the perimeter looking for anything out of place and patching any areas that might have been affected by weather. Once finished, the same is done on the inside, and when the community leader is satisfied, the main hall is opened up so that everyone can congregate. Characters, during this time only, are allowed to make sound. This is so that the natives can explain why silence is so necessary...

The Sound Eaters.

In an effort not to frighten everyone, the natives won’t go into the history just yet, but they will warn that when someone makes a sound, it attracts them. They don’t know what they look like because they are so fast. If you’re too loud, then in the blink of an eye, you’ll go through a room reset. This is because either the natives ‘silenced’ you or the Sound Eaters have. They will explain that the room came at the same time the Sound Eaters did and that it doesn’t work for the natives. Sometimes, it doesn’t work on new arrivals. Death, for those born in this world, is permanent. If you attract them, you’ll get someone killed. Hence the need for no noise. During the meeting, the natives will tell each character of their own experiences. Their losses. The families they have left and how they’d do anything to keep them alive. They don’t know if you’ll be reset, but is that a risk you’re willing to take? The meeting will last a few hours and will end on a somber, ominous note - at the end of the month, they are taking everyone to meet them.

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

man in the hat, party time; option one

[pawper]

[She's giving the same kind of look to her own memento, the native that had pressed it into her (one and only) hand already long since vanished: a small carving of a wolf, teeth bared and head raised in mute defiance, its furry hide pierced through with dozens of arrows. A totem of some kind? Not a very cheery one, if so.

Weighed down with her own uncomfortable knowledge, she's about to pocket the thing and put it out of her mind for the time being when she happens to glance up and notice Naruto's expression. Lys hesitates, struck by how her own feelings seem to be mirrored on his stranger's face. Curious despite herself, despite everything, she edges closer (but not enough to be impolite, of course) to give him an innocently questioning look, bright blue eyes moving from his own to the....headgear? Piece of armor? That's her best guess.]

[thinhammer]

[ Naruto notices her feet step into his periphery and glances up at her; the moment he registers the look she's giving him the jumbled up expression on his face hastily drops, like a child whipping his hand away from the cookie jar after being caught dipping in, to be replaced by a similarly questioning look.

He glances down at the little carving in her hand, then back at her face. He can understand why she's come over now, and digs in his overalls to fish out his communication device. ]

i'll tell ya about mine if you tell me about yours

[ He's curious, so he figures she must be. ]

[pawper]

[Lys blinks at that, surprised he would ask. She hadn't thought her memento was all that interesting; it's not even magical, for one thing, and wouldn't an animal as common as a wolf exist just about everywhere?

Still, she nods agreeably after a moment and offers the statue for him to examine more closely before going for her own device.








She only has one arm, okay, don't ask her to hold more than one thing at a time!!]

[thinhammer]

[ To have her item summoned here, Naruto thinks, it must be at least a little special to her, or at the very least poignant in some way. He could be wrong, it could be just some random object she touched once in her home world that's been brought here as a memento of where she's from, but if he doesn't ask then he'll never know... and Naruto wants to know everything pretty much all of the time, so...

He holds the item in a hand, peering closely at it as if scrutinising it for answers. He doesn't notice her lack of two arms until he looks up expectantly at her device. It's not unusual in his world to be missing limbs and still to be a perfectly capable shinobi, so though it surprises him his expression doesn't get anywhere near sympathy. He's all the more curious now, though, wondering if this figure of a wounded wolf has anything to do with her missing arm.

He waits, surprisingly patient, for her to type her explanation first. ]

[pawper]

[His curious look passes over her and through her, not ignored so much as overlooked. She's too busy typing out sentences on her device, one by one in slapdash procession — but even if Lys wasn't quite as absorbed, oblivious, or both, she would have found sympathy to be the stranger reaction by far.]

it's a religious statue from my home!
my world?
but yeah
you're supposed to place it in a shrine and offer prayers to the goddess it represents
just like you'd do for nature spirits when you want a good harvest
or fair weather
you know, stuff like that

[All true! Though....none of it really explains why Lys received such a token. She's yet to give off the impression of being especially devout.]

[thinhammer]

[ There isn't really a concrete faith system in Naruto's world - or at the very least not in his land - so the idea of leaving a figure at a shrine and praying for something seems a little weird, but he supposes he gets it.. If it's what makes people feel better, who is he to judge, really? Though.. he's not entirely sure what goddess this little figure could represent, what with the whole.. arrows through the hide thing... ]

is it special to you??

[ He can't understand why it would have appeared here if not, after all, but he's left feeling a little wanting with her explanation. ]

[pawper]

[That's a complicated question....or rather, it requires a complicated answer. Lys hesitates, knowing she can't afford to be completely honest but not wanting to outright lie. Or bore Naruto to tears with endless textwalls about a topic that he had little incentive to care about all that much, being from a different world with different customs. Best to try and keep her reply reasonably short and, hopefully, easy to understand.

After a moment, she nods. Because technically, the statue is special, if only in the sense of being uniquely significant to her and no one else here.]

i'd recognize this statue anywhere
my guild's house was...is? full of these

[Lys taps the wooden wolf's head lightly, with some affection. For better or worse, it was still a memento from home, and thus a comforting reminder of (mostly) better times.]

it's a bit of a long story, but
we believe that our goddess is a guardian spirit!
someone who would want us to protect innocent people, even if it meant we got hurt
to be strong, and determined, and always loyal to each other
to us, wolves are animals that represent all those values
they'll keep fighting to protect their young even when covered in wounds, you know?
so we decided to represent her like this, and pray to her image for that kind of strength

[thinhammer]

[ Naruto might not be able to understand the process of praying to a deity for strength, but he can definitely get behind the ideals she talks about. Strength and determination sitting side by side with loyalty and honor is everything he stands for as a ninja, everything Konoha is supposed to represent, so as he reads her description he nods his agreement- ]

i get it! it's like a reminder of what you believe in!

[ Like their forehead protectors. ]

so i guess it bein here is a good thing too cos its gonna be able to keep you goin even when things get tough
cos you can still ask for strength when you need it

[ It's nice, he thinks, to have that kind of faith with you constantly. ]

[pawper]

[She hadn't been bracing herself for a mocking response, had been too busy crafting together a workable reply to worry about the possibility, but there's still a twinge of relief when one never arrives. Defending a belief system was always easier when there wasn't an uncomfortable element of obligation involved. Instead, Lys smiles gratefully at Naruto's apparent understanding, the expression bright and genuine.]

yeah!
that's exactly it
i'm going to put it next to my bed, i think

[And by "bed" she means some blankets and a pillow grouped together on the floor, but. Details.]

anyway, i'm glad that made sense to you
some people don't really get it

[thinhammer]

yeah
i dont have anythin like that to pray to or believe in
but i guess i have myself

[ He looks down, then, at the headband in his hands, mulling his thoughts over for a second or two before typing again. ]

my thing is kinda the same cos its a reminder of a promise i made
i figure that if i dont believe myself when i say im gonna do something then i cant really expect anyone else to believe in me yknow? and i want em to

[pawper]

[She's quick to nod, not quite starry-eyed but certainly charmed, despite still not fully understanding the functional purpose of what he's holding. A headband with what looks like a bit of metal woven into the fabric....was it supposed to be armor?]

i think that's really cool!!

[So earnest in her body language, the open play of emotion across her face, as though to make up for the limitations of text and the forced silence they can't afford to break.]

being able to believe in yourself like that, on your own terms....
without gods or anything else
it can be really hard
so
i think you sound like a strong person just for trying!
i'd definitely believe in you

[thinhammer]

[ Naruto's face takes on a whole host of emotions at that; first shock, then a tentative little smile, then a bashful and shy kind of look as he scratches at the back of his head. ]

thanks!!
its important to me yknow
this thing [ He holds up the headband in his hand. ] used to belong to my best friend
only he left it and our village and me behind
so ive gotta believe that one day ill catch up to him and give it back to him
like i promised

[ A pause. ]

sometimes i think a god who i can pray to for courage would be good, though
its gettin harder to keep up to him, yknow

[pawper]

your best friend?
wow, that must've been tough

[SORSUKE

She wants to ask about the specifics, but even with her clumsy grasp of social cues, it seems like a rude thing to bring up during the very first conversation with someone. So instead, she'll misunderstand just enough to ask a much dumber question:]

is he really fast?

[thinhammer]

[ ARREST YOURSELF ]

kinda
i guess so yeah

every time i get close he seems to get further away

[ Naruto really isn't the kind of guy anyone can offend with asking too much, and she's not wrong in assuming he's fast - he is, but the distance between them is far more than just the measurable one. ]

but ill be at his side eventually yknow
aint no doubt about that