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:

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Hey!

That's the guy! The one who let her ask a second question before they were allowed to join the community. Why the crap would he have done that?

Not that she's not appreciative, but... it's weird.

Kara stands, hesitating a moment before straightening her shoulders, leveling her posture, and putting a serious face on behind the glasses then marching over to him. She taps him on the shoulder first, her mouth open to say something before she remembers at the last second, looking down at her device to quickly type instead -]

I remember you. Thank you, first of all. Second of all, who areyou? Why did you ddo that?

[she's too focused to notice typos oops.]

[ the man with the hopelessly bruised face looks up at her, the twitch of a smile unable to be fought any longer. she really is just like karen, and maybe that's why out of anyone here he had chosen her. and why he's not getting up and walking away when she strides right to him. he watches her expectantly, knowing she's bright just because he's surrounded by bright people. his own dullness shines next to them.

frank watches as realization recycles through her mind, and she types for him instead of speaking. he still doesn't unearth his own device, if he even has it on him. he shrugs a shoulder, more of his smile making its way through though it looks almost gruesome against the wall of purple and red that is his face. you're welcome is about as close a translation for his body language as anything. no other explanation seems forthcoming. ]

[his face tilted in the light, Kara gets her first real good look at him and... holy crap. Wherever he was from last, he took a beating. He's also not exactly chatty, hilarious given where they are. She holds her device out again, shaking it a bit and looking at him intently.

If only Kryptonians were telepathic.

After a beat, she types-]

What the heck happened to you?

[ frank regards her again, and realizes that he was right. she is exactly like karen. which means if he walks away she'll just follow and if he doesn't relent she'll haunt him until he does. it should be irritating, but he just gestures to the seat across from him. well, the rock across from him. whatever. he'll play ball if she calms the fuck down.

he gets out his device discreetly, as if just showing the thing might be a display of weakness. to him, it is. he types slower and more carefully than kara. ] you remind me of someone

[that... that doesn't answer anything. Kara scrolls back up to her previous questions on the screen, spacing them out and numbering them for convenience. Then, she adds one more.]

1. Who are you?
2. Why did you do that?
3. What the heck happened to you?
4. Who?

[ he just barely resists the urge to groan. he points to #2. he was answering that question!! so cross it off already. he waffles for a minute, visibly, over whether to just skip over #1 entirely. he starts typing but it's slow and he glances up at her every now and then to let her know he is s tr u gg lin ]

1. frank
3. got hit
4. a friend

[ is this more or less helpful than him shrugging at you? he's willing to bet less. ]

[she feels bad making him type. it's clearly not something he enjoys at the very least, but what else is she supposed to do? They can't talk, and she only knows a little ASL. Who knows if this guy even knows that!

This guy is apparently Frank, though. His other answers aren't really answers, and Kara tamps down her sigh so that it's just a deep inhale and exhale from her chest but otherwise quiet.

she nods at his answers, though, slipping her device idly from one hand to the other. Where does she go from here? It's not like her experience in journalism is vast and at some point, it involves her getting impatient and punching a bad guy. She can't do that here and doesn't want to punch Frank for anything. He already looks bad enough. After a moment, she types -]

Well, it's nice to meet you, Frank. :)

[ he types faster this time because he knows what he wants to say. it's depressing as most things are with frank. ]

no it's not

it's nice to meet you though. have a name?

[Kara's lips flatten into a straight line and she narrows her eyes when she looks at Frank, thoroughly put out by his response. She pauses, trying to rub hard enough to smooth out her furrowed brow. she's over it after a moment. Geez louise, this guy doesn't take a break! even J'onn smiles sometimes.]

My name is Kara Danvers.

[then, stubbornly, she adds with emphasis-]

It's NICE to meet YOU. Thank you again by the way. Where did they house you?

[ ughhhhhhhhhhh ] you really are just like karen

[ it's super annoying. but whatever. he may as well just tell her what she wants to know, since he knows it will get him nowhere to lie. there doesn't seem much point in it in a place like this anyway. ] six. garage. you?

Edited 2018-01-18 03:29 (UTC)

[ha ha ha there can be lots of perfectly respectable reasons to lie here. hahhahahaha oh brother.]

Ouch. Any good reason why you picked that room? Seems... the opposite of cozy.

[not that he seems warm and fuzzy, but still.]

Do you need help getting a bed or anything?

[ listen he's friends with ninjas IT DOESN'T EVEN MATTER KARA. and look at this she's somehow tricked him into having an actual conversation in this soundless haven. he will never forget this. and he holds grudges really really well. ]

away from everyone else

no

[you haven't seen Kara On A Mission Yet, Frank. You know nothing about stubbornness.

she frowns at his latest answer, narrowing her eyes when she looks up from his device at him.]

Do you HAVE a bed?

[ he just looks at her, a bland sort of look. almost polite. he folds his hands on the table. guess if he has a bed. he dares you. ]

[oh, okay, sure. Kara stands up abruptly, pocketing her device in her yellow jumpsuit, and heads off away from the party in the dark to the cobbled together marketplace.

Is she going to get Frank a bed and personally deliver it if she has to?

..

yes.]

[ oh shit. what did he just do? if this were ANYONE else he would just watch her go. but this is karen 2.0 WHO KNOWS WHAT SHE'S CAPABLE OF?! his eyes fly open wide and he waves his hands frantically, not even noticing he looks like a total crazy person, yelling after a woman he only just met like someone in a silent movie or the darth vader sequence on mute.

she's not stopping.

fuck his life.

this is now him jogging in the sand to catch up to her. he hates you. ]

[Kara's hearing is good enough that, in the silence of the place, she can pick up the scattering of the sand under Frank's feet behind her, getting closer. She ignores it, though, speedwalking to the merchant's storage where some beds had apparently hastily been put together for their arrival.

She doesn't stop until she's picked one out, like all the others, wooden and plain, held in place by dried clay and felt generously attached to all the legs.

With Frank still tailing her, she actually uses two hands to start to pick it up, lifting one end of the bed and gritting her teeth like it's heavy. This is obnoxious. She could throw this bed into the sun with two fingers.

But, she's not here to show off. She's here to help.]

[ his face creases when she appears to be getting a bed for him. on her own. frank easily takes the thing out of her hands and shakes his head. this is him giving in. you win, okay? his expression is open this time, she's not hurting herself on his account. he gestures for her to get out of his way so he can carry the stupid thing back to his room. ]

[as far as Kara knows, Frank is a human with human strength. Humans can't carry an entire, fully-assembled bed by themselves. She puts one hand on his arm, looking from him to the bed with eyebrows raised, then to the ground. put the bed down, Frank.

On her device, she types out-]

Let me help.
It won't kill you. We can work together!

[ look he's just really stubborn. superpowers not required. but again, he's relenting, gesturing for her to take the helm. or the back of the bed as it were. he can walk backwards probably quicker than she can, and she already knows where he lives. ]

[well, thank Rao, that's going easier than she thought it would. She picks up her end of the bed, and if Frank notices that the bed is basically akin to carrying air, well... some things can't be helped. She's trying to blend okay, giving it the full act: strained shoulders, gritted teeth, the works.

However, she did not go to college for acting.]

[ frank notices it feels light, but... maybe she works out?? he is also pretty strong but he put her in the power position so he was expecting to compensate for it a little given her slight frame. he's shrugging it off, for the moment anyway. it's definitely quicker than he thought it would be, to get back to his house with the two of them. hell, maybe she's right anyway. he knows he should be better about accepting help, he just can't get it out of his head that anyone in radius of him is in danger. his track record is hard to dispute in that regard.

he makes a motion for her to hang back so he can open the door to the garage silently, holding the bedframe with one arm while he twists the knob and pushes it in. he gives her a little nod to signify they're moving again. the garage is empty so far except for a mattress and a bookshelf. he needs to set up the bed so he can see both exits while he doesn't sleep. ]

[Kara helps him ease the bed in and set it down silently, then she takes to looking around.

At... at all the nothingness. A bookshelf is interesting. He doesn't seem the reading type, really. Which might be insulting, but well... he doesn't seem the reading type! Geez.]

Planning to do a lot of reading?

[ he motions for her to help him place the mattress. he could do it himself but it will be quieter this way. see!! accepting help!!! sort of. he narrows his eyes at her, then looks to the bookshelf. he needs to actually find books first... his eyes roll even as he pulls his device back out. ]

yes

[she does so, sliding the mattress over with one hand idly. she has more important topics to think about now, like research!!]

What do you want to read? Do you think there's a library here? We could go together and check it out! Maybe there's some history of this place.

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