INTRO LOG #2

[bequiet]

INTRO LOG #2
Put a Sock in It
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 – with or without the help of those who have come before you.

The Place Inside
Content Warnings: Disorientation, hallucinations, body horror
Themes: Plot, exploration

Have you been to hell. And more importantly, have you been back. We all know this pain but are too scared to recall. This horror controls us, pulls at our strings to ensure how our life plays out. So, let me rephrase my question: have you been to Ile Lacrox. And more importantly, can you come back.

In the community, if you hear something you're not supposed to hear, you learn to look the other way. If you see something you're not supposed to see, you pretend it never happened. If you feel disappointed, you learn to never ask for more. So, through good times and bad, famine and feast, the natives held fast to their rules until one common day a sly wind blew in from the south...

That same red dust twists through the streets, curling up in faint, little plumes of familiarity. The farther south you go, the thicker it becomes. Those willing to explore far enough will find it coming from an island in the middle of the river. Once there, doting every available surface is the evidence of Sound Eater births, and the closer you are to the island, the harder it is to avoid being coated in red. Even if it's not rubbed into the skin, it doesn't take long for the effects to take over. Every sound is amplified. Your breaths are deafening, the slightest step echoes. But no Sound Eater attacks. Your vision blurs, and it's as if your mouth is sealing itself shut. Those you traveled with seem to be similarly affected, and you know you have to be quiet. Anyone who brought supplies with them might discover that a drink of water subdues the symptoms.

OOC: Only characters who entirely submerge themselves in water will be free of the dust effects. Just remember that noise will attract Sound Eaters.


Liplocked
Content Warnings: Violent tendencies, mind alteration
Themes: Love, romance, obsession, sex

The natives are of French origin, and with that comes a love of romance. Residents will find treats and valentines at their doors. That same night, there will be a small, red-glowing fire built near the fountain. There will be jars pressed into the dirt and filled with a sweet, red liquid. Some natives can be seen drinking it and being very affectionate with one another. Anyone who drinks this is inspired to show endearment or lust to others, and it will wear off after sleeping.

There's also the noticeable addition of a new arrival. They came through the Reset Room just like everybody else. They understand the rules and follow them to a tee. They are the perfect example of what the natives want in their residents. They are charming and captivating. They say nothing, and they don't have to. When your eyes meet, you feel seduced. There's a nervous flutter in your stomach. You can feel your heartbeat in your throat. Pounding, constricting. They smile and then turn away.

As they're walking, you notice you're not the only one looking at them, and in their expression, you see your own mirrored. What started as sweet infatuation and longing dissolves into a jealousy unlike any you've ever known. All you understand now is that to win their affections you have to come out on top—so you're the only one they see. Your actions are not your own, but they're still yours.

OOC: There are two ways to break the "spell". Your character fights it out with someone else who is feeling the same way OR they're approached and physically touched by someone who isn't affected by the newcomer. A third of the community will be completely unaffected (everyone else is affected unless the player is uncomfortable with playing out the scenarios). The newcomer can be of any gender the player wishes. For those partaking in drinking, the players can choose what effects it has; it can inspire feelings of lust or boost paternal/maternal instincts or devotion towards friends.

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

dorothy gale | emerald city

[tornadoed]

i. put a sock in it

[ there are rules. guidelines. dorothy has never been great at following the rules, but something tells her that she really, really has to try. she's only just managed to get home and being here feels like a blow, something unimaginable. as impossible as oz.

how lucky can one girl be, anyway? at least no one has tortured her so far.

she ventures out, walking along the sandy paths, searching for a place to stay and eventually settling on the deck of house two. when encountering a stranger — anyone, really, because everyone here seems to be a stranger — she gives a little wave. if they stop, if they seem willing to chat, she'll type - ] hi

[ so eloquent. she's trying not to be too freaked out by all this, but it's hard. ]

ii. the place inside

[ dorothy's breath feels ragged and heavy and far too loud. she's holding the device tightly in one hand, clinging to it because it's something familiar. the only familiar thing in this place, really. for a moment, there are tears in her eyes — but they dry quickly, dust coating her eyes and making it difficult to see.

she has to stay quiet. she has to protect her lungs. she lifts one arm, setting her sleeve before her mouth and nose. it doesn't help much, but at least a little. everything is so loud. dorothy closes her eyes tightly, typing blindly: ]

any tips

[ someone please help ]

iii. wildcard

[ want something else? go for it or hit me up at abiosis ]

put a sock in it

[norms]

[ Right now, he's not actually looking for anyone to talk to because he's busy trying to figure out what he should be doing. Or where he needs to go. Something that isn't just sitting around feeling confused. But he pauses on the path to glance at her and the way she types; is conversing really just going to be about talking through text now? ]

hi :)
are you looking for someone or just lost like me?

[ It's not an entire lie since he doesn't know where he's going, but maybe talking about something normal will help the last of the jitters leave him too. ]

[tornadoed]

[ dorothy wouldn't know how else to talk to anyone but through text if she has to stay quiet. she doesn't know sign language, but she knows how to text. it comes naturally enough, even if she already misses the sound of someone else's voice. any sound at all, really. the silence feels oppressive. ]

the latter
okay no i'm not really lost i just don't know what i'm supposed to do
just got here
you, too?

[norms]

i don't think anyone knows what we're supposed to do
they're not really telling us anything even if you ask

[ There's a wordless nod at her next question though, glancing around at the few people who are still wandering around. He is new, but what does that even mean? ]

maybe we can find out together
i'm egil who are you?

[tornadoed]

yeah maybe not
i guess make the best of it but that's really vague and weird

[ she has no idea how to get back home. at least in oz she had some indication. follow the road, find the wizard. that plan hadn't gone the way it should've, but she'd had a plan. here? she has no idea. ]

i'm dorothy
nice to meet you
even if it's under these circumstances

have you eaten yet?

2

[oorah]

[ he had followed her out here after packing a small bag of supplies. the newcomers are suspicious of the ones who have been here longer and frank can't say he blames them. it isn't like it was for him and the first wave; and now he feels obligated to show people like her the ropes. which is how she ends up this far from town with a guy who looks like an extra from a rocky movie.

it's only when he sees the dust that he knows they made a mistake. he freezes up, but it's too late.

it's just as unbearable for him as it is for her. so much so that he doesn't even see her screen. his mouth feels scratchy and dry and every time he breathes he wants to claw his own lungs out. he pulls out the canteen he brought and takes a swig of water while he thinks. oddly... it seems to help. frank takes another sip and frowns at it, then passes it over to her. it doesn't fix it, but it does help. his mind is almost clear enough to think again. ]

[tornadoed]

[ he seems intent on showing her the ropes and frankly? dorothy is glad for it. it's more than she had in oz, but at least in oz she could just talk to people. she could shout for help when she needed it. of course, there hadn't been any guarantee that someone would come to her aid. at least frank looks solid. strong.

(his build reminds her of lucas. roan. she pushes that association far, far away. roan hadn't succeeded in killing her. she refuses to be afraid of frank, even though she's pretty sure that if he tried to kill her, there wouldn't be much she could do.)

he passes over the canteen to her. dorothy doesn't realise that's what it is at first and almost yelps at the sudden sensation of something hard and alien touching her hand. she swallows the noise at the last moment, nothing more than a hitch of breath that still sounds impossibly loud in her ears, and takes the canteen. it only takes a moment, after that initial shock, to identify what it is, to bring it to her lips.

water helps. she has to force herself not to empty the whole thing.

once she's done drinking, she tips a little bit of water into her hand, swiping it over her eyes. trying to remove some of the dust. that helps, too, and so after another moment's hesitation, she tries to do the same for frank. ]

[oorah]

[ he gasps at first at the cool wet touch of her fingers, but then he's leaning closer, realizing it's helping. he eyes the stream and wonders if that isn't the answer. frank takes the canteen back, tipping back his head so he can dump the water over his face and neck. that feels good. frank gestures for her to follow him, placing an idle hand on her arm and keeping one eye on the sound eaters as they creep away. ]

[tornadoed]

[ his gasp sounds too loud, but then so does her breathing, too, the rustle of her hair when she moves, tipping her head back to watch him, forcing her eyes to stay open.

a hand on her arm, and dorothy follows. water helped; he's moving toward water. of course she follows. ]

wildcard, baby

[scarecrowed]

[ Lucas had asked the woman one question after his introduction to where he was: is Dorothy Gale here? Yes, she replied. It didn't matter that he couldn't ask her any more questions, she was here and Lucas would find her. Her, Sylvie and maybe even Toto too, but something told him he'd be a hinderance (maybe even a death risk) in this place with the way he barked for attention.

Feeling odd in the clothing forced upon him, Lucas strides with a look of determination on his face as searches the city for familiar faces. Determination that could very well be mistaken for intensity and maybe such a similar look will bring back haunting memories for the very woman he was looking for...

Except his face brightens into something much more approachable when he spots her from a distance, making his way to her with a look of happy relief. Sylvie wasn't with her, but if she was here, they'd find her too - together. ]

yells loudly

[tornadoed]

[ dorothy keeps seeing lucas everywhere she goes. frank castle's height and bulk remind her of lucas. the scarecrow at the farm reminds her of lucas. of how she'd found him. of how she'd left him, too.

not lucas. roan.

so for a moment, when she spots someone who looks like him, dorothy accepts the pang in her chest, letting her gaze slide over him and away — except he's approaching, making her way to her and the closer he comes, the more apparent it is that this isn't some stranger who shares some features with the man she fell in love with, the man who ripped her heart out and then tried to kill her.

the man she left for dead, strapped to a cross.

this is actually him.

he comes closer, and dorothy takes a step back and then another, her body's panic an instinctive reaction to remembering the feeling of his hands around her throat. (she remembers other things, too, but panic overrides pleasure.)

she swallows the sound, but her lips form one word: stop. ]

[scarecrowed]

[ Lucas has seen her scared of him before, but he's never actually seen her take a step away from him. The fact that she is reacting to him in such a way after their moment in the woods - it startles him, his mouth forming a frown but she's done enough to make him halt from coming any closer.

He has to stop himself speaking aloud - he just wants to ask her what's wrong and it's damn well frustrating that he has to use the device to do it. Typing takes too much time and Lucas is slow, but eventually he'll stretch out his device towards her, and on the screen his message reads: ]

i thought we were past you fearing me. i meant what i said in the woods. [ The man I am today is who I want to be, and he was really trying to be a good man. ]

[tornadoed]

[ their moment in the woods was a long time ago. their night at the farmhouse, too. what wasn't a long time ago was him kissing glinda, telling her that glinda had come first, asking her to stop him even as he was trying to kill her.

his hands around her throat. that wasn't a long time ago. ]

you try to kill me and now you're wondering why i'm afraid of you?

[ there's no tone to texts, but the reproach in her gaze, in her expression, that should translate despite the lack of sound. it's stubborn and it's necessary because if she doesn't get angry, she'll get even more scared. she hates that her hands tremble around the device, so she grips it more tightly. ]

put a sock in it

[steal]

[The new arrivals are easy to pick out. They're much like she was when first arriving: confused and questioning everything. So when she spots someone that waves, she cautiously makes her way on over. They might have a question or something she can help them with. When she sees the simple message though, she arches an eyebrow and gives a little nod of her head in return. Her own device is still tucked away, but the look on her face clearly is asking if everything's alright.]

[tornadoed]

[ dorothy doesn't really have a question — or she doesn't really have just one specific question. she has a million. the most important is, perhaps "how do i get back home?" but she doesn't think rey will have an answer to that. ]

been here long? [ dorothy types in response to that questioning look. ]

[steal]

[Rey's hand slowly moves to pull out her device, careful not to make any sudden movements. She remembers being brand new here and thinking everyone with their hand in their pocket was going to pull out a weapon. ]

A little more than a month. I didn't think there would be more arrivals.

[tornadoed]

any idea why people get here? or how?

[ dorothy's last stunt arriving in a place that wasn't kansas had been oz and people there had worn swords at their sides, so she doesn't tense when rey reaches into her pocket. ]

put a sock in it;

[warfares]

[ Newcomers are easy enough to pick out. If not by the rainbow of jumpsuits then by their wary confusion; Dorothy, he finds, is certain confused, and most certainly wary, but lacks enough of the wide-eyed quality many exhibit to make her interesting.

His brows lift slightly at her greeting, ]

Hi, [ ...more typing, ] Did you need something?

[ He glances back at the house, wonders if she's hoping to find someone willing to show her the way to the warehouse where the furniture is stored. ]

[tornadoed]

[ dorothy is many things: confused, terrified, angry, lost. she isn't wide-eyed, though, because even with all of those things, even with as much as she hates this, this isn't her first rodeo. ]

aside from a crash course in surviving this place or a way back home?
yeah i guess
there's a whole list but i'm not sure you really want to hear it [ she tries for a smile. look at her joking. totally coping well. definitely. ]

[warfares]

You'll probably have better luck with the former than the latter.

[ He doesn't return her smile. It's nothing personal, he's just not really the type. ]

What did you do before you came here?

[tornadoed]

yeah i figured

[ a smile would have gone some way to comforting her, but it's fine. nothing about this place is particularly comforting. she's faced worse. ]

worked as a nurse in a small hospital in kansas
you?

Put a sock in it - Hello housemate!

[backstory]

[Kija's wandered. Since his arrival he's been disorientated to say the least but he's connected with his companions from home and eventually found a place to settle. A room indoors is more than he's had in some time, and so he can't complain too much by the lack of amenities.

. . . And upon finding out that they were able to acquire some for a nearby building he had set out to do just that.

When he arrives back, a mattress held lightly within a large, clawed hand, he notices the young woman... probably around his age, upon the front porch. He approaches, moving up onto the porch and carefully setting the mattress down. If she lives here too-- whether already or has just moved in, he feels the need to introduce himself.

Which... requires him to use that strange magic box again. He pulls it out to realize she's already sent a message. He's a little awkward-- it would be easier if he used his left, human hand to text, but he's determined to master it with his claw.]

UN: hakuryuu

hello
i have just arrioved
i movved in jere just a bit ago
i am known as hakuryuu
are you also mnew?
pr do you already live here?

[He doesn't know how to backspace or correct the mistakes yet and so he simply sends it as is.]

hi hello

[tornadoed]

[ the mattress is the first thing dorothy notices, the clawed hand the second. her eyebrows go up a little, but it's no odder than some of the things she's seen in oz. she isn't going to ask, unless he looks like he's in pain. in which case she absolutely will ask if she can help. ]

hi
i'm dorothy
and yeah i'm new as well
just settling in

[ she gives a little wave when she looks up, just to make the whole thing more personal. she hates that she can't just say hello. ]

I'm sorry for the slow! RL is kicking my butt atm

[backstory]

it is a pleasure
though perhaps not undr these circumstances

[He gets it. Being unable to speak is troubling.]

are you alright?
have you settled in okay?

no worries tbh i was actually on holidays

[tornadoed]

yeah the circumstances kinda suck

[ understatement of the year, maybe... then again, the lack of torture is nice. ]

so far so good
you?