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

[oorah]

[ he gives her a weary look even if he doesn't feel it. he can't afford curiosity, okay. this place is survival. but... ]

am i gonna have to follow you in there

[ because he's sure as fuck not letting her go alone. ]

[iisupergirlii]

[there has to be a reason that this place is marked off, right? Kara crosses her arms, staring at the building intently. if only she could...

she contemplates throwing something, getting his attention, or just shouting, "Hey! Look over there!" but of course, none of that would work here. She'd put them in grave danger. Especially him. She's been curious if she's immune to the dangers here.

So, instead of distraction, she types a quick message and holds it up to him for him to take how he wants.]

Would you please close your eyes for ten seconds while I do something? I know we just met, and you don't have to trust me. I promise what I want to do won't make a sound.

[oorah]

[ oh my god kara. he just looks at her like she's nuts. mostly because he's pretty sure she is. ]

does this have to do with "boxing"

[iisupergirlii]

[Kara rolls her eyes, staring up at the sky like really, Rao? Really?

She holds up one hand, fist balled, and gives it a shake.]

No boxing gloves, so probably not.

[oorah]

[ he just closes his eyes because it seems quicker than having a conversation about how one of his shit friends is a superpowered blind ninja dude. just do your thing kara then tap him on the shoulder or something. ]

[iisupergirlii]

[thank Rao. Kara hesitates, waves a hand in front of his face, but he doesn't react. okay, great.

She faces the theater then, pulling her glasses off her face and narrowing her eyes just a little. She scans the building, looking through the walls to see what's inside.

There's nothing.

Rubble, crumbled pieces of brick, a staircase that was once elegant but has seen better days. Room through room, no movement. She takes a few steps closer, toes hitting the edge of the safety of the sand, just to get a better look.

But there's nothing there.

She slides her glasses back on, tapping out a message on her device and holding it up in Frank's face before tapping his shoulder.]

It's not important. We should keep looking for the library.

[oorah]

[ he blinks his eyes open at the tap, then squints to read the screen. alrighty then, whatever. he gestures for her to lead the way. ]

[iisupergirlii]

[she's never met someone with so few questions in her life. how does he cope emotionally with being tossed in this new strange place? He already gave her his question to the natives, and now he's shrugging off her mysteriousness like it's no big deal. What the heck?

it's a walk to get to the library, a smaller building than the theatre but thankfully not covered with warnings. there's a blue sign on the side labeling it "library" in French. Kara nods at Frank and then points before speedwalking up the sandpath to the steps where she floats, just half an inch, barely noticeable, off the ground so she won't make noise.]

[oorah]

[ you must not know a lot of military men, kara. honestly... anything that doesn't impede on his objective is meaningless to him anyway. he knows other people care about these things, but the effort in pretending to in a place like this sounds exhausting.

if he notices her hovering, he certainly doesn't have any more commentary than he did before. and now they're in a place that's at least slightly recognizable. it doesn't function exactly the same as a regular library, with all the added precautions for sound, but frank is eager to get what he needs. he wanders off from her towards the classics section. he doesn't seem to need his device to read/decipher these signs. ]

[iisupergirlii]

[near the back, some shelves have fallen over, dominoed into each other. That must have been from the original fallout. she browses the shelves, now that she's alone, hovering a little more obviously. She stretches her arms over her head, careful not to poke out over the top of the shelves, but it feels so nice to use her powers again after having to be so careful.

she's looking for anything, really, in the vaguely-labeled muslin skins wound around the books. a history of the place maybe, something written by these natives here with them, or if not them, their parents. Anything with more details about where they are. she keeps digging, floating from shelf to shelf in the quiet.]

[oorah]

[ none of these are 'classics' that he recognizes, but that doesn't matter. he's plucking book after book off the shelf. anything with a plucky protagonist and a happy ending will do. bonus points for young female protags tbh. he ends up with about five books since he doesn't think he can feasibly carry anymore. he considers ducking out and ditching her, he really does. but maybe he doesn't need this girl mad at him, since he's pretty sure she's got superpowers or something.

it's easy to predict where she'll be because he just thinks of karen. karen would want to know everything about this place the second she got here. frank wishes he knew less already. he doesn't mean to sneak up on her, but well: silence. he doesn't see her at first until he looks up. jesus christ does she even know what a secret is, if she's so keen to keep it from him? frank ducks back into the shelves before she can spy him and texts her instead. ]

when you're ready i'm outside

[iisupergirlii]

[a light flashes three times at Kara's hip, and she glances down, closing her book quietly while she pulls her device out. oh, shoot, he's ready to go already. She quickly lowers herself to the ground, peering out of the opening of the shelves guiltily. she sees him standing in the open doorway, though, his back to her. thank Rao, he must not have seen her.

she pulls two more books that look promising once translated on top of the one she was reading and walks quietly on the floorboards to him, sliding past him and gesturing at his stack.]

Find anything good?

[oorah]

no [ he smiles. this is his attempt at humor. he pads down the stairs and hates that he feels a sense of rightness when his feet hit the sand. how is this already so normal? ]

[iisupergirlii]

[There's a confused look on Kara's face aimed at Frank's retreating back. what the heck? she hurries up to catch up with him, lightfooted until she gets to the sand and falls in stride beside him.]

Excuse me, was that sarcasm?

[oorah]

i don't know. i haven't read them yet. [ he's such a peach don't u love him etc etc ]

[iisupergirlii]

Did you just pick them at random?
What's your favorite kind?

[they've got a while to walk back to the center, and she's going to make small talk if it kills her.]

[oorah]

[ he's about to take it all back. she's worse than karen. at least karen he can just fucking leave. this girl is relentless!!!! ]

the ones with words
the more words the better

[ though he is being a dick, it's not as obtuse as she may think. more words meant more distraction. more time to stave off sleep. and then there was the hope that if it was happy enough -- if everything was okay enough, that he wouldn't have the nightmares anymore. ]

[iisupergirlii]

[Kara reads his message and rolls her eyes. She can't resist the urge and reaches over, shoving his shoulder playfully, metering her strength carefully so as to not... send him flying into a bush or something. If she can figure out how to pet a cat, she can do this.]

Seriously? Well, I hope you enjoy all your words.

[oorah]

[ damnit. he bites into his lips to keep from grinning at the shove, stumbling a bit but staying on the path pretty easily. ]

i will thanks
how'd you make out?

Pretend this is in the right font I'm on my phone

[iisupergirlii]

[Kara holds up one of her books, the one that is thankfully in English, and reveals the cover under the muslin.]

History repeats itself. Maybe there's some accounts of what mistakes were made so we don't make them.

[oorah]

smart

[ a wild compliment appears!! she might be winning him over... by erosion. ]

[iisupergirlii]

[Kara grins, happy and open.]

Why thank you, Frank. I hope it can help us.

[oorah]

[ he shrugs a shoulder. he wants to share her optimism, but well. he doesn't. so. he's just going to stay quiet. not like that's unusual. ]

[iisupergirlii]

[They're passing the theatre again and Kara points to it to get Frank's attention.]

What do you think happened there?

[oorah]

[ his silent breath is too big not to be a sigh. one might gather he does that a lot when allowed to make noise. he shakes his head. ]

don't know, don't care.