quietplacelogs | INTRO LOG #1

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INTRO LOG #1

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:

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NAVIGATION

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ He's used to dealing with all sorts of different kinds of people. For a short period of time he was recruiting for the Resistance before getting into missions that General Leia Organa needed done by someone she trusted. A team that he could get together to do something other than sit idle. Poe looks at Jan wondering if her body language would reflect in the response he would get. He's not afraid or intimidated. There's no flinching being made as her device comes his way so he could see what it says. ]

I didn't see any within the house. There could be a shop around here if you wanted to go venture with someone. It might be helpful for other things to carry in with. As well as place on the floor to make it quieter in areas or floor boards that could creak.

[great, someone who doesn't know shit about floors. at least that's not unusual...]

you need shims and friction screws for creaks, not towels. maybe some wood glue. god knows what shape the joists and boards are in.

[and how is she supposed to fix them without making any noise? Jan bites her lip, more irritated at the whole situation than ever. she could get a hand drill and make the holes for the screws with something to muffle the noise, maybe... that's going to be an enormous pain in the ass, and slow to boot. how's she going to get the floorboards up to look without a hammer, anyway?

she takes a moment to examine the conviction that this is somehow why her dad and all his high school friends took her power tools away when she was twelve and told her she had to learn how to do everything the hard way. fucking hell, she hates it when they're right.]

sheets. we could use sheets probably. carpet, blankets, anything soft. theyll muffle footsteps at least. you offering to come along?

[that had BETTER be why he's telling her who she should have supervising wherever she decides to go. it's not that he's not being practical, or that she doesn't know he's just being safety-conscious, but right now she's already ready to be exasperated about everything, much less some guy deciding he's the boss of the house.]

Edited 2018-01-17 05:03 (UTC)

Fixing floors, fixing anything will be nosy. Placing softer things on top of it may help with the fact that we can't make a lot of sound. Not many places are soundproof from the question I asked. We don't even know what happens when we do. I'm not taking that chance just yet to get an encounter from what every native seems so afraid of.

[ Poe knew everything about a house. His father built one on a planet away from most civilian life. All of the fixes where done together. He basically grew up on a farm working on generators and farming a lot of melons. Not only that but he learned to take his time with things. ]

It's mostly to be just cautious. Yes, I'll come along. Unless you don't want help. I'm Poe Dameron.

[ Nope, he doesn't want to be the boss of the house. Everyone can take care of themselves once they get enough soundproof. They can figure out how to fix things quietly later on. But he isn't about to order people around. He doesn't really follow orders all the time himself. If someone else wanted the role as boss, they can go for it. He'll appreciate freedom. ]

[Jan relents a little. there's no reason for her to take her irritation out on this guy she just met, after all, and he's not done anything to put the chip on her shoulder. this whole place and circumstance are just... a problem, a problem she's going to need to continue figuring out. being an asshole isn't going to get her there faster.

and he certainly isn't saying anything she hasn't thought about how scared the natives are...

maybe she can find egg carton foam to set up some rudimentary soundproofing. maybe she can find some duct tape. they're all going to need duct tape in the coming days, she can just feel it.]

ya no kidding. helps good. easier to carry things that way. u know where the store is??

jan douglas. jans fine

Edited 2018-01-17 06:02 (UTC)

[ Jan could take her irritation out on him but he'll try to defuse it. Poe doesn't seem all that upset or bothered. He looks rather calm while still hating everything about this problem and situation. There's a lot turmoil within that he's letting it stay there. They were all in this together. If she needed to be an asshole, he would let her. It might help her find the balance she needed. He would only try to give her... well hope.

He thought about the natives, the hauntings, he had many questions but would have to find them out by others at this point or own his own. Poe's used to finding trouble and trouble finding him. But he wasn't going to get other's into it. Not unless they agreed with plans that he could be cooking up or making. ]

It's nice meeting you, Jan. I'm sorry if I come off as being blunt but I'm only wanting to do the right thing. I don't much like our situation either but everyone is in it together. I think I passed some stores while getting here. I'm not sure what they really have supplies could be limited but we can make things work once we look around. If we venture out to the woods we can even use big leaf plants if something like that is around.

Do you need any furniture for your room at all?

[great, he noticed her attitude. Jan sighs soundlessly; she's already potentially offended someone, even if he doesn't seem to be taking it personally. it's about time she got her big girl pants on and just dealt with this.

her chin comes up, and she bites her lip, challenging her own irritation and fear and telling them to sit the fuck down. she refuses to be seen as someone who won't pull her weight, no matter how justified pretty much any reaction to this absurd kidnapping scenario would be. the natives -- and her housemates -- won't have any reason to see her as anything but a tough and competent person to have around, right up until she consciously decides to raise hell. that's what being an adult is about, right?]

you too. &its fine. i got a bed. nicer than what ive got at home lol.
no point getting a workbench till i figure out how the fuck 2 hammer quietly
whatabout curtains? from abandoned houses

[ Poe isn't that easy to offend. He knows how to poke buttons, make people nervous over his own actions. Jan really has nothing to worry about. If she had something to say to him she could do so. He can handle a lot of things. His own frustration that he found ways to deal with. Maybe he did punch a few pillows or a mattress before putting it down for a bed.

She seems like she can handle herself well. Poe just wanted to be honest with her and genuinely sorry at coming across as bossy. He could try to lead people, but that didn't need to happen right now. Not in the stages of trying to get to know everyone and what they could do. ]

I'm glad that the mattresses here are really nice and sturdy. What kind of bed did you have back at home?
You can still get a workbench. If we can find a towel or a smaller cloth, you can place it over the nail and hammer it. I'm not sure if it'll dull the sound but it just might. We'll figure this out.
If there's curtains those could work to wrap around and help with soundproofing.

[what kind of bed did she have back home? what a weird question. well, whatever-- it's in her interest to not get her hackles up at the other victims of this mess. Jan resolves to just... take this situation as it comes. it's the same as working in the shop, she tells herself: you're responsible for every fucked up thing that comes at you down the line, or you'll just let the other guys down.

her hands in the pockets of her jumpsuit clench, fingers folding the soft, silent material between themselves for some kind of stable point to hold onto. looting a house, she feels more than competent to do, so that's the next step.]

just some shit i found off the curb haha.
we're all gonna get better at soundproofing ti sounds like.
& ok. lets go curtain hunting. its nice enough around here we'll probly find some.

[ The bed question was needed because of what she had said about having a better one here. Poe may have been on a cruiser ship but the bed was probably a standard size, small. He could have been sharing a room with many people in a similar barrack military state. If she asked more questions she would know where he's coming from with his strange line of questions.

He can tell that she's growing more determined which is needed for a situation quite like this. There's a slow growing smile as they continue. ]

Scavenging life isn't always the best, but you do what you got to do live.
I'm used to hearing machinery beeping all the time, loud noise from engines, a lot of sound in general. A lot of voices from people.
This will be different from what I'm used to looting.

[ He was asked to steal a ship once. ]

[she's much more in the mindset to get things done than she is to ask questions right now. but as she double checks to make sure that the furniture Poe has already started getting inside is off of the doorstep in preparation for further movement, Jan can't help but wonder at that last comment. once they've started out, making for the closest abandoned house that Jan noticed might still have extra curtains present, she can't help but pull her device out again to show him as they walk.]

youve done a lot of looting b4 then?

[ Getting things done is a good mindset to be in. Poe doesn't mind finishing tasks that had already been started. As they walk in silence he looks around at the abandoned house. He did wonder if it was truly not being used. When her device comes into view he smirks a bit. ]

If you're ordered to steal a ship for a good cause you do so. Not a lot of looting, but I know how to steal and borrow bigger things.

[a... ship? Jan can't make the immediate jump to "a spaceship" there; she's used to technology from 2018, not a long time ago in a galaxy far away. she keeps her footsteps on the soft sand careful and soundless as she approaches the abandoned house. jeez... she'd expect a place like this to have boarded up windows, but that would presuppose the ability to hammer, wouldn't it? the elements will have gotten in more than they would have otherwise this way.

maybe if he boosts her up through a broken window, they won't have to wrestle the door open so loudly...]

u make it sound like u were a pirate

[ Once they get to the house as quietly as they can. He looks at it, at the door and walks up to it first. Poe knows that it'll probably be locked but he's going to give it a try. However, there wasn't an oil bucket around and he's sure the hinges would need a good brushing. A frown forms and he takes a step back looking for a window. If Jan finds the window first and tells him her plan, he'd be willing to boost her. ]

I'm a pilot actually. I come from a galaxy with space travel. The General provides all the orders and sometimes I'll listen to them and sometimes I might not depending on the situation at hand.

space travel?? uhh
im not saying youre lying buddy but from where im standing that sounds totally bonkers

[Jan shrugs, a helpless gesture, to show him that she's actually not saying he's lying. she's not! she's just not quite sure what the fuck to do with that. a space pilot-- maybe someone in the military? there's galaxies with space militaries out there? would they be Air Force, or--

her head hurts. it's too much to process this right now. she shakes it and moves a few steps further over, kicking a bit of sand with her to muffle her footsteps.

there-- a broken window, the frame still sturdy enough that she's 99% sure she could tie something to it and let him climb up. if there was anything left inside to tie, of course.]

one sec. give me boost??

That's not the first time I've been called crazy for the stories I have told. But I am speaking truth.

[ Poe once told a scavenger on Jakku that he got caught by the First Order and an stormtrooper helped him to escape. Plus all of the other stuff and was called a mad man for it. He could have been delusional at that point with no food or water for a couple of days too. Not to mention he looked highly beaten up, with nothing to his name. All he could tell was a crazy story in hope to receive help.

There's a moment when he's not looking and then goes up to Jan to read her response. He gives a nod while stepping in front of her. Poe bends his knees while crouching a bit so she can get on easily onto his back. The pilot is about five foot six, so hopefully she can reach the window with the boost. ]

[I didn't call you crazy, Jan wants to type back... but that can wait till after she and Poe have finished their errand. their heights aren't too far apart, and with the boost Jan is more than in range to grab the windowsill and pulls herself the rest of the way up. it's lucky I spent all that time on chin-ups, she thinks ruefully as she grits her teeth and hauls herself there in basically a dead lift -- but then it's done, and she's standing inside the abandoned household.

it really... does look like it's been abandoned a long time, though other scavengers have been here before her. Jan can't help but bite her lip, looking at all the signs of weathering, the faded patches on the floor and walls. how long have things been like this here?

she locates a dry-rotted curtain and starts stuffing things that look useful into it -- any personal effects she can find, like electronics or keys or wallets. she can sort them out later. a moment later, she bundles it together with any other cloth she can find (towels, more curtains, blankets) and starts lowering them through the window to her co-conspirator.]

[ She can wait, but he doesn't really seem bothered by their conversation. Poe would help boost her up there and then pace nervously after a while. What if she makes noise and one of those appear? He hoped that she wasn't having too much difficulty in finding what they came out to. This is a first for him being on this side of things. Usually he's doing all of the work so that others didn't get hurt.

After a while he looks up seeing something coming from the window. Poe wants to let out a sigh of relief but instead his face relaxes in a wide grin stepping under the window waiting until the cloth is low enough for him to wrap his arms around the bundle. He tugs a bit letting her know he's got it so she can let go on her side. He'll put the bundle in front of him while looking up at her to see if she's going to need help or to be caught from the jump down. She could easily land on him and he wouldn't care. The problem was doing it silently. ]

[Jan finishes handing off the assorted miscellany to Poe and bends down for a moment next to the open window, soundlessly picking up one last piece of paper that must have slipped out of the cloth. she might as well read it before she tries to get down--

it's a water bill. the date on it is April 24, 2018, but the paper is as yellowed and faded as if it's been there for decades. Jan bites her lip, feeling her skin go cold and her stomach leaden. April 2018 should be less than a year ago. something is wrong here.

she lets the paper fall from her fingers and eases herself over the sill again, hanging by her arms from the ledge. it's doable, but she'll definitely be feeling the soreness in her shoulders the next day. if she means to do much more of this kind of exploring, she'll need to start practicing again.

in the meantime, she'll let go when Poe indicates that he's got her and it's safe.]

[ Poe makes sure to take everything. He almost wanted to go through them but instead he tries to make a shack from the curtains. It'll make it easier to carry everything and he could do that labour while Jan didn't have to do anything more.

She already did everything on her own in there and he looks really impressed maybe even proud by it. He looks up noticing she isn't out the window right away. That was certainly strange he really wanted to shout up if she was okay up there but held back on it.

The pilot watches as she finally comes over the sill and goes under closer and under her. Poe nods for her to let go ready to catch her one she let's go. ]

[they can probably take the things she found back to the house and lay them out to examine in someplace with a bit more more soundproofing easily enough, Jan figures. something about moving about the community feels much creepier and more potentially dangerous now that she's dug through the relics of the-- the dead. as melodramatic as that sounds, the people who owned that house are probably dead, either from whatever creatures haunt these streets or from simple time. jesus, that's creepy.

she sees the nod out of the corner of her eye and lets go, ruthlessly quashing the impulse to yell. talk about a trust fall with a near-stranger.]

[ They can definitely sort once they are back to their house. Soundproofing needed to be done. He would help her with that step as well if she asked. The community did feel creepy just standing out there alone to witness it. No bird, no insects, it felt strange. The feeling will always be there. Whatever creature was around it stayed hidden very well. Poe would always be curious about them and wanted to find a way to deal with them.

He locks his legs in place as he goes to catch her within his arms. She's much lighter than a droid he fireman carried before. So there's not much of a break as he catches her. The only difference is that she's only a bit taller than him. But he can adjust to that. Once he was sure that he was balance and she was safe he would put her down on her feet. ]

[Jan gives Poe a slightly shaky smile that smooths out into a real one as she finds her feet again. she didn't like that drop, but he caught her just fine-- she really appreciates that.

in the meantime, even the slight noises they're making are drawing a warning tingle up the back of her spine. after seeing the relics of whoever lived inside that abandoned house, she doesn't want to take any chances that might make them share that fate.]

thank u!
i found a bunch of really weird stuff in there-- put some of it in the blankets
& ive got more questions i think
lets get back somewhere safer, this is creepy!

Edited 2018-01-21 05:16 (UTC)

[ He tried to make as little noise as he could but catching someone from that distance still would have done something. Even if it's clothing smacking hard against each other. Poe did look around wanting to be cautious if something was alerted or if there were natives around.

The sack bundle would be the next thing he'll grab but before he does that he'll reply back to her texts. ]

You're welcome!
We'll take a look at everything once we're back at the house.
More questions?
I couldn't agree more to this being creepy. I'm glad that you didn't run into trouble while you were up there. You did good.

[ Poe picks up the sack bundle and puts it over one of his shoulders to carry it. He'll wait for her to lead the way so that he can stay in the back in case something does happen. ]

[rather than continue a conversation they both want to wait to get inside for, Jan merely gives him another smile and a thumbs up; she moves forward as if to offer to help with carrying the bundle as he picks it off the ground, but she's fine with him grabbing it on his own if he seems to be managing it all right. if there are any towels or small furniture pieces left on the ground or obvious along the way back, she'll help out by grabbing them herself, and when they reach the door of House Seven, she'll move quickly and lightly ahead to oil the hinges for him to get in. no point in skimping on maintenance for where they'll be living.

once they're inside and the thick door is locked between them and anyone who might hear them, she feels a little safer. she moves carefully into the dim foyer, holding up the lit screen of her device as much to give them some extra illumination as to show him what it says.]

i got cloth n what we needed, but the person who lived there had stuff-- id cards and papers &things. i grabbed those too
i wanted to ask u. u said youre from space or something?? whats the date there?

Edited 2018-01-21 09:02 (UTC)

[ Poe wouldn't have much difficulty with the sack, but he'd go slow so that it wouldn't make much noise. She did good work with gathering as much stuff as she could. They may be able to find answers to certain things. But the cloth, towels, any kind of curtains and other things would be useful. As they near he smiles at the fact she's already at the door oiling the hinges. Thinking ahead was a good trait. Despite that they seemed to have a few misunderstandings along the way they could work well together.

Inside he would place the sack in the foyer area so that they could roll everything out and examine it. He looks at her device with the questions. Poe has no issue answering her questions. ]

Let's see all the loot you got. Maybe with the added things you collected we can figure something out.
From a space, with many systems, a big galaxy. It's 34 ABY.

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