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

---

Comments

option two

[hoaxer]

[Ah. She didn't expect someone to actually approach her in such a forward manner. Right away, Lu Li turns her "face" away, as if that would help hide her features, even as she raises her device to show her response.]

YOU STARTLED ME...

[thinhammer]

[ Woah, he didn't really look at who he was grabbing until after he grabbed, and now he's forgotten all about the game he was intending to play and is instead standing in awe of the giant in front of him. Not only does she tower almost a full foot above him, but she's also made out of metal??? Naruto's experience with technology is very limited - even the devices in their hands kind of confuse him - so the fact that he's talking to a robot?? who's responding to him?? is kind of blowing his mind right now. Give him a few seconds to snap out of it. ]

uuuh, sorry!! i didnt mean to i just
man you look cool
is that yoú or is that like a suit or somethin

[ Does that sound insulting? He doesn't mean for it to be, he just has basically no filter whatsoever. ]

[hoaxer]

[Given her experiences today, it seems like all the kids are very, very into robots when most of the children from her world would accept them like a part of the scenery. Why express awe over something with the same function of a trash can, after all? Lu Li turns her head slightly so she can read his response. When she finishes, her eye shrinks a bit.]

IT WOULD BE RUDE TO WEAR A SUIT THAT LOOKS LIKE THIS TO A PARTY. DON'T YOU THINK?

[--he looks so excited, though.]

I'M SORRY. DID YOU INTRODUCE YOURSELF?

[thinhammer]

i dunno, i mean
they say youre supposed to wear your best stuff to parties and were all wearing these ugly jumpsuit things

[ No offense, whichever local made this outfit for him. ]

so if it was a suit youd be the best dressed person here
but if its not a suit thats even better cos that means you look cool all the time no matter what!!!!

[ He's kind of jealous. He has to try quite hard to look cool, and even then he's usually the only one who thinks he looks cool. ]

oh!
no i didnt
im naruto!

[ He beams at her, and sticks out his hand for her to shake. ]

[hoaxer]

[--heh. The jumpsuits are hideous. If Cassie were made to wear one of these, she'd be complaining. She always had to look her best for any outing. Some of Lu Li's irritation ebbs at the thought. This body isn't anything to be proud of. But... since this boy seems so excitable...

Maybe she can play along.

Lu Li reaches out and, with the greatest care, envelopes his hand in hers. Her fingers are cold and metallic, the pads barely touching his skin. She doesn't want to accidentally crush him. Gingerly, she gives a squeeze and then drops her hand.]

HELLO, NARUTO. I'M LU LI. IF I COULD GIVE THIS "SUIT" TO YOU, I WOULD.

I THINK YOU WOULD HAVE A LOT MORE FUN WITH IT THAN I WOULD.

[thinhammer]

[ Naruto watches as she reaches out, eyes like saucers and trained on her larger metal hand as it tentatively gives his the barest of squeezes. When she retracts it his eyes are still massive, staring at his hand with an elated expression like he'd just been touched by a celebrity. Needless to say, he's very impressed.

But her message.. seems a little down, and he frowns. ]

ya dont like looking like that?

[hoaxer]

[It's remarkable that a boy could look so star-struck. Lu Li wonders if he's worried about the situation at all - or if he's fairly good at hiding it.

--oh. That question is unexpected.]

MAYBE I AM A LITTLE TIRED OF IT.

[Very tired.]

IT ISN'T VERY GOOD FOR PARTIES, AFTER ALL.

[thinhammer]

hey i already told ya its a cool party outfit

[ Outfit, though. Tired of it. That makes Naruto think, and he looks up and down Lu Li's robotic body. Then he pauses, unsure that he should ask what he's about to ask, but knowing he's going to do it anyway. At least his expression pulls a bit, like he knows this might be a hard one for her to answer. ]

did ya used to look different?

[hoaxer]

[If she could laugh, she would. Despite everything, Naruto is managing to tickle her sense of humor. A cool party outfit, indeed. Lu Li's eye closes half-way, her robotic equivalent of a smile. She sees no harm in teasing him a bit.]

VERY. I HAD A DIFFERENT OUTFIT, BACK THEN. I LIKED THAT ONE MUCH BETTER, THOUGH I HAD TO THROW IT OUT.

[thinhammer]

ahhh i get what you mean

[ He does not, but he thinks he does. He's kind of relieved it seems like she hasn't gone through some horrible experience where she got forced into a robot body against her will... haha..... ]

i used to wear a different outfit but then i got bigger so i had to throw it out and get somethin else to wear
and then they made me wear this ugly jumpsuit yknow....
i miss my old outfit

[hoaxer]

[Yeah... imagine that happening, ha ha...]

MAYBE SOMEONE HERE COULD FIND YOU SOMETHING SIMILAR. WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO WEAR?

[thinhammer]

orange

[ He answers quickly, then backtracks to add a little more information. ]

i wear this like
tracksuit thing
orange pants
and the top is half orange half black

[ It's... weirdly difficult to describe something you usually just... wear? Who knew. ]

i picked it out with my sensei so theres a lot of memories to it yknow
plus it looks way cooler than these bag things

[hoaxer]

[--ah. Lu Li can't help how her eye shutters for a moment in amusement. Fortunately, she doesn't think Naruto knows her well enough to read her body language.]

IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ENJOY STANDING OUT, NARUTO. ONLY ORANGE??

[thinhammer]

yeah i wore it to stand out
when i was a kid i picked orange cos i knew noone else wore it so i thought itd make people remember me

when i got older i guess it just stuck

[ His expression isn't exactly happy, but he doesn't look sad either? It's somewhere in the middle. Somber, perhaps. This memory appears to be a not so good one. ]

[hoaxer]

[Growing up for any child is difficult - especially if they're one that's easily overlooked.]

I SEE... I WANTED TO TEASE YOU, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU'VE A GOOD REASON FOR PICKING IT. I'M SURE THEY HAVE AN ORANGE JUMPSUIT SOMEWHERE. IT SHOULDN'T BE TOO HARD TO FIND.

[--aren't orange jumpsuits typically prison suits? Well. Details!!]

[thinhammer]

[ He looks a bit frustrated at that, a bit embarrassed. ]

this was the only one that fit me
there were some brighter ones but they were big

[ He's clearly sore about being as small as he is, even if being 5'5 isn't that bad for a sixteen year old boy. ]

not as cool as my usual outfit anyway

[ Is he pouting? Maybe. ]

[hoaxer]

[What a cute kid. Lu Li thinks Cassie would've liked him.]

THEY GAVE US A FEW "GIFTS" AT THIS PARTY. MAYBE YOUR ORIGINAL COOL LOOK WILL SHOW UP.