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

tanaka kouji | ajin

[subject002]

a. ‣ house eight

[ furniture isn't a terribly high priority for him, since he's slept in worse. far worse. so tanaka's only grabbed two blankets before heading to his assigned resident; he goes to an empty room near the entrance and dumps the blankets on the floor before stalking around, glancing at the other rooms and getting a feel for the place. it's bigger than he expected. which probably means it'll probably be also getting quite a few residents ...

he jerks around the moment he senses anyone else nearby, shooting them a scrutinizing stare, probably coming across as rather unfriendly. but at least he's not actively aggressively. after that stare he'll probably give a small nod in greeting, an unspoken 'hey.' ]

b. ‣ around

[ those exploring the city might encounter a strange ... thing.

normal humans might find themselves bumping into something invisible in the streets. something shaped vaguely like a human, except nothing is there? those with quick reflexes might reach out to grope at this invisible shape to see what it is, only to find it swiftly jerking out of range.

but anyone with a superhuman ability -- or anyone who is even slightly inhuman -- will see the thing for what it is. a strange humanoid that's too scrawny to be a person, completely wrapped in black bandages (?), with no discernable face and long talons. it's moving quickly, stalking down the sand path with a purposeful stride. it's not actively bothering anyone but it sure looks ominous, maybe you want to check out what it is ... ? ]

c. ‣ for rey

[ looking around for danger is fine. cooperating with strangers is ... less so. tanaka doesn't look entirely pleased to hear that they've been put into pairs but he also doesn't complain, turning right to his assigned partner and looking her over.

as people disperse, he digs out his device to write a short message. ]

Which way do you want to head?

[ getting right down to business. ]

d. ‣ sound eaters meeting

[ he's mostly been quiet and still listening to the explanation, but he tilts his head when they start explaining 'resets.' more than any elaboration on the sound eaters, it's the bit about people coming back to life that seems to pique his interest. those nearby might catch the way he gives a rather nasty smile -- more bitter than it is malicious, but unpleasant nonetheless. and a mutter under his breath, ]

So it's like that for everyone here, is it ...

a. house eight

[shrimpcocktail]

[She doesn't wait to grab things for her new lodgings, wanting to explore. She makes her way to house eight, finding an open bedroom that is painfully bare. She can work with bare. At least there's no creepy clowns on the walls or modernist furniture. (She kind of misses both of these things, but she's not going to admit that. Besides who will she admit that to?) She takes a deep breath, making more noise than she realizes anyone else is and covers her mouth. Right. No sound.

She makes her way out into the hall running into what has to be one of her new housemates. The look is...well, not exactly friendly but the nod is. Eleanor gives one of the same nods back, before motioning to her device. Quickly, she types and then shows him]

gotta luv the new digs, amirite?

[subject002]

[ he glances at the device, then gives her a Look that says without words, ugh, why do you type like that. texting slang is still an incredibly weird thing for him. also the whole device thing is pretty inconvenient; he digs into his own pocket for his device and types out, ]

Its better than nothing. [ a pause, frowning, before he adds, ] Moving furniture quietly might be tough.

[ he's fine with the floor, but he's assuming most people would actually want furniture. ]

[shrimpcocktail]

[Eleanor chooses to ignore the look, because how she types is perfectly fine and efficient. In her opinion. Beyond that...well, she shrugs. He's got a point. The brow she raises says she agrees as well. Then, typing again]

shit, i didnt even think of furniture. HEY I CAN TYPE SHIT. INSTEAD OF SHIRT. [Her face blooms into an award winning grin. This is the best news clearly she could of gotten.] [i wonder if i could talk, i could swear too...]

[Realizing she's being a little self-involved (which she's trying to avoid these days) she puts a hand out. An intro, though she seems to have one handed typing down with the other]

im eleanor shellstrop

[subject002]

[ she's ... weird. he's been around a lot of weird people, but this is an entirely unfamiliar brand of weird. also, he can't remember the last time he shook someone's hand. tanaka looks at the offered hand like it's something completely foreign for a moment before taking it. his hand is surprisingly soft, his grip firm as he shakes once, then lets go. ]

Tanaka

[ maybe he should have given a pseudonym? whatever, it's too late, and it's such a common last name that he won't worry about it, he decides. and also, there's a more pressing matter at hand. ]

Why is it so surprising that you can swear? They never said we can't swear.

[steal]

[Rey doesn't particularly want to be doing this with a stranger. She wants to feel free to go off on her own and explore whatever she wants. The idea of being paired off feels like forced interaction, to the point where she's wondering if they're expected to report back to someone on how their partner behaved. Adjusting to being here isn't too hard, but the silence aspect bothers her. The fear she feels constantly radiating off of the people here smothers her along with that silence, putting her on edge.

She doesn't complain about any of this out loud, of course, and just glances at her device before looking back to him. She points off to the right, where fewer people are headed. That way, she mouths the words, without making a single sound. There's absolutely no objection to getting right down to business. She can respect that about him. Instead of looking at him she looks ahead, her hands working at her device to get out another message.]

Do you think we'll actually find anything?

[subject002]

[ alright, no delay from her end, either. he can respect that. tanaka trudges along, positioned diagonally from her, one pace behind and one to the side -- not directly behind her, because even in a place like this, he's vaguely aware that might be intimidating.

he first answers her question with a shrug, almost making an accompanying noise before catching himself. ]

Who knows. Even if we find something we might not be able to fix it.

[ looking at his hand and flexing his fingers as he says that. he knows his way around basic tools, but he's not that good at handiwork in general. ]

[steal]

[Rey definitely isn't fond of just standing around and "talking" when they could be efficient instead. Her work ethic is pretty intense, but he seems to be able to keep up just fine. She's good enough with tools and handiwork that she can teach him as they go.]

Maintenance is my job. I think I'll be able to handle that.

[Her eyes glance away from her device and over toward the buildings they're walking past now. She's got a keen eye for detail and is looking for anything out of place. While they move, her fingers type. It's so hard not to blurt out her thoughts as they come to her.]

We need to keep an eye out for supplies. Useful things that the natives might not want us to have.

[subject002]

[ he dutifully scans the surroundings as they walk, looking for anything that looks 'off.' though how the hell are they supposed to know what's out of the norm, they've only been here for what, one full day? he squinting off at what might be a ragged patch in the sand trail before the last message makes him pause. tanaka's footsteps halt for a moment as he considers it. ]

You think the natives might be working against us?

[ text doesn't convey his tone of voice, but his expression makes it more obvious -- he's thoughtful, rather than incredulous. as in, rey could certainly be right, if that's what she's suspicious of. ]

D

[tropism]

- like what? You're muttering to yourself.

[ gross and creepy. meanwhile, giorno is low-key worried about the idea of 'resets' because it sounds awfully familiar, and in a bad way. ]

[subject002]

[ he looks over sharply at first but, oh, it's just some snotty-looking kid. tanaka squints at giorno for a moment before looking back away; at least that smile's wiped off his face, replaced by his usual stoic look. ]

Coming back from dying.

[tropism]

[ he glances at him curiously. ]

Really? How'd that work in your world?

[subject002]

[ that earns a raised eyebrow. ]

Ajin. [ it's ... just occurring to him that maybe not everyone here knows about ajin. there had been a lot of talk about 'this world,' after all, not 'this place'. maybe 'this world' is completely different. ] You don't know about ajin?

b

[dryeyes]

[The hell is that.]

[There were a wide range of people brought into this place but his perspective isn't nearly so wide as to accept something that looks like that might be another person dragged into this place. In an environment that's so unnatural, it seems like it belongs here, some sort of silent threat.]

[... although it is silent and is using the sand walkways. He might need more information before acting on it like an enemy.]

[So, logically, he starts tailing it. In an ideal circumstance he'd do so from the shadows but that risks a lot of noise. The thing seems focused, at least, so it shouldn't be an issue for him to follow along the sand path and see where it was headed.]

[subject002]

[ tanaka's in direct control of the IBM at the moment, getting sensory feedback from it. so after a short while, he notices the person following it.

the black ghost slows, half-turning to look at aizawa. its toothy maw parts for a moment as if to speak, but it seems to reconsider after a moment, and it instead very gingerly takes a step aside, off the sand path. then it watches to see how aizawa reacts.

this might just be coincidence, after all. maybe aizawa's just headed the same way on this narrow path and will walk right by. ]

[dryeyes]

[Whatever it is, it's apparently polite.]

[Stopping here too long would give away the fact he was following which, regardless of the shade's intent, he didn't want to do. He pauses, scratching under his eyes and eyeing down the figure...]

[And then sort of drops his shoulder a bit and walks past, stopping to peer at the other's face as he does. He wonders if it's even capable of speech, even though they obviously shouldn't. He keeps walking for a bit, lamenting the fact that he didn't have the city's layout memorized. It would be much easier to split up and then attempt to follow again, then...]

[Stopping to hover at a doorway off the main path, he glances behind him to check if the shade had resumed walking.]

[subject002]

[ it's not so much polite as it is wary, visible in the way its head tracks aizawa's movements as he walks by, long talons held loose at its side the whole time.

and it follows a short way behind aizawa, because there's only one path. it seems to wander away at the first fork, looking around at its surroundings ...

then suddenly lunges in aizawa's direction. it doesn't actually attack, only making a half-hearted swipe at the air a foot or two away from aizawa -- just a feint. but it very obviously watches him for a reaction afterward, any reaction. ]

A

[lowkeycrazy]

[The choice of furnishings is rather curious to Akechi. He doesn't seem to much mind the scrutinizing gaze; he'd gotten quite a lot of them back home, being a teenage detective and all. He does nod in response, and decides to type out a message.]

Not even a mattress?

[subject002]

[ tanaka raises an eyebrow at that before glancing back around the room. just the two blankets on the bare floor. it probably does look rather spare to a regular person, he supposes, but he's grown awfully used to sleeping on hard surfaces. ]

Doesn't matter much for me. [ a pause where he seems to think things over, brow furrowed, before he adds, ] Don't mind helping if you want to move furniture though.

[ it's not exactly his first instinct to help with this inane grunt-work, but it's best to be cooperative with the people he's living with, he figures. ]

[lowkeycrazy]

[He can tell this man is offering more out of civility than anything, and Akechi supposes he can appreciate that much.]

All I truly need at the moment is a mattress and bedspread. Though, a bed frame would be nice.

My name is Akechi.

[Normally he would be more friendly and polite, trying to charm his way into other peoples' hearts, but... he isn't particularly feeling up to that, right now. He's not sure such a ruse would do anything more than irritate a man like this, anyway.]

[subject002]

tanaka

[ he seems to want to get that bare-bones introduction out of the way as quickly as possible, quickly following up with a different message. ]

There were a some bed frames left last I saw, looked like some people didn't want to bother.

b

[iisupergirlii]

[Kara thinks she's seeing things the first time the man crosses her path followed by... well, a monster, obviously.

But then she sees it again, and the man, across the street from her in the market. Kara has been trying to wordlessly figure out how to barter for computer parts at one stand, a popular tech stand that is going to empty quickly if she doesn't come up with something to trade, but the looming presence of that thing...

She sets the items she was holding down on a small shelf and crosses the sandy street, looking up at the creature, her head tilted in confusion. If it's an alien, she has no idea what it's from. The closest she can think it resembles is a Dominator, but even then, there's some stark differences - and a Dominator would have probably recognized her by now.

She quickly types in her phone and then holds up for the creature to read -]

Where are you from originally? What planet?

[subject002]

[ the black ghost moves slowly, looking over its surroundings, but it turns sharply to face kara when she approaches. though it keeps its arms lax, talons held loose, it's obviously wary from the way it ducks its head a touch, fanged mouth slightly open.

there's no reaction at first when kara holds up her phone, largely because it has no easy way of communicating. head slightly canted, it seems to think over its options.

finally, it gives a shake of the head. it crouches down afterward to drag a talon through the sand beneath their feet, writing out some clumsy letters: 'not alien.' ]

[iisupergirlii]

[Kara reads the message in the sand between them then frowns up at the creature. The next question is naive; it could lie in answer, but she has to ask:]

Are you here to harm anyone?

[her eyes travel to the man the... thing? person? monster? has been following for emphasis. could it be starting with him?]

b

[rou_gui]

[ Perhaps she should be more fearful, concerned, but instead she observes the black ghost with only calm. It's an unfamiliar creature to her, unlike any of the beasts her family had hoarded beneath the House... It looks more like some kind of golem to her, its insides empty and its sentience honed from some other source. She wonders if its some kind of enchanted thing, or a puppet on strings. Not her kind of magic though, hard to tell.

She approaches, reaching out to touch the thing. What is it. What is it made of... ]