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

[clussy]

(He's from the fifties, dude. Almost everyone was popping out kids at twenty-four. If not sooner.)

Yeah marriage seems like. A lot.

(God, Eddie had endless problems with the idea of marriage after seeing his future. And...other things. But yeah, running crime rings usually didn't allow a whole lot of time for the little ones.)

I'm definitely not. So I can't blame you.

[justbeingknife]

[ look doN'T PRESSURE HIM, fifties kid ]

Yeah. Still, I guess if the right girl came along, it'd be a different story.

[ But that was a story for a different time. In any case, he tilted his heard at Eddie, curious: ]

So why the question? You sweet on someone?

[clussy]

(Wow could there be a more relevant gif for Eddie's existence. What a hero. Majima was going to get on better with Eddie than Eddie even realized.

Eddie has nothing to say to that first part. He. Cannot relate.

The second part gets him blushing a little. And probably not for the expected reason.)

No. That whole

Part of my life is complicated. I just ignore it mostly.

[justbeingknife]

[ Well alright, something was clearly going on there, but it wasn't Majima's place to pry. So instead, he shrugged it off. ]

Yeah, probably better out here anyway. Shit's complicated.

[ He looked back at the swimming pool now that there was a little break in the conversation. Many of the buildings in the town seemed pretty old -- not that Majima knew what they were supposed to look like originally, but he got the feeling that the Sound Eaters had been around for a while, meaning that new construction would be rather complicated. How long, exactly, had it been...? Maybe it was worth investigating further, seeing exactly how far the currently available paths would lead. ]

So what brought ya out here, anyway? Not that I'm complainin'.

[clussy]

(It's easy enough for Eddie to follow along with. Truthfully, he had been originally wondering about Majima having kids mostly cause he seemed pretty good with them.

Although from Eddie's experience so far, the people who were best with kids always wound up not having kids at all. He's not so sure if there's a correlation there or not.

Eddie turns his own attention to the pool as well. It felt weird being back on mostly-earth, but an earth he was no longer familiar with. Yet he couldn't help but feel some relief too. His eyes wander to the device and he gives a small shrug.)

I guess I was trying to calm down so I took a walk.

(Remembering now- he rubs at his cheeks hard to clear away any remaining traces of tear marks.)

Bill was calming me down but I didn't want him worrying too much. What about you?

[justbeingknife]

I dunno. Felt like I needed to get outta there, clear my head.

[ And it wasn't easy to do that with so many strangers around. And those strange townspeople, with their silence and their smiles. Eesh. ]

Tell you the truth, this place gives me the creeps. People always talk about leavin' town to get some peace and quiet, but ya can't even hear the crows.

Wonder if the whole world's like this.

[clussy]

(It was pretty unsettling in there, Eddie would be in full agreement of that.)

It's weird having everything be so silent, yeah. I don't think I've even seen a bird since showing up.

(He certainly wasn't Stan when it came to birds, but because of their friendship, he had come to notice birds in an area more than the average person might. And there didn't really seem to be any around.

But Majima is pointing out a more interesting thing. Eddie, being twelve, had the unfortunate talent of sometimes seeing the world very narrowly. The curse of a child only seeing their own life and what directly impacted it. He forgot to consider the rest of the world.)

If it is, I wonder how it got like that. It doesn't look like there was a third world war or anything.

[justbeingknife]

Yeah. Reims seems like a decent sized town, though. You'd think if there were people around in neighboring burgs, someone'd wander over here at some point to see what was up.

I did ask one of the people who showed up last month about it. The natives told her that there were people from here who left town before, but no one heard from them after.

[ Did the Sound Eaters get them? Did they escape? There were tons of questions here, but few answers. ]