quietplacelogs | INTRO LOG #2

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

i dunno, i guess i thought people didn't get allergies when they were grown-up. that's dumb, though, huh?

senior. he wants to go to NYU and be a photographer. he's really good.

Yeah. But who knows what it'll be like out here. Guess I'll find out if I'm still here in spring.

[ wow gj jonathan, you get those scholarships ]

Ain't that something? Even I've heard of NYU. What kinda photos does he take? He ever get you to help with one?

do you think spring's really different here? maybe it's sunnier. or nicer.

all kinds. people and trees and things. sometimes of mom or my friends. i wish i had some here.

Probably. Where I'm from, all the cherry blossoms start blooming once it's spring. It's like an explosion for a couple weeks. Everyone comes out to have picnics and enjoy 'em.

Why don't ya start takin' some new pictures? If Jonathan ever shows up here, you can show him all the shots ya took.

really? we just have a lot of corn fields and those don't bloom.

that'd be cool. yeah. can you show me how?

Sure.

[ Majima took a few steps over to Will, holding out his phone. As Eddie had, he made his gestures slightly exaggerated as he navigated the interface and brought up the camera app. Then he snapped a picture of the foyer and flashed it at Will. ]

Think there's a way to fiddle with the flash, too. Oh, and you can switch the camera so it takes a picture of ya. Dunno what that's for, though. Maybe girls that wanna check their makeup.

[ someone explain selfies to him ]

[Will watches intently, face scrunched in concentration. It's not...too complex. Sort of like a weird video game. He slowly takes his own device and, very carefully, takes a photo of the floor. True art.]

weiiiiiird.

Right? There ain't a real shutter button, and that throws me off.

But you don't have to pay for film. Fact, as far as I can tell, you can take as many pictures as ya want. So that's somethin'.

huh. cool. probably like something they have in the future.

[Will pauses, then not-stealthily-at-all takes a picture of Majima. Gotta have pictures of all the friends~]

The heck? What, you gonna collect photos of everyone now?

[ Majima sounded distinctly amused by Will's manner; his reprisal came in the form of snapping a picture of Will in turn. He created a monster... ]

I think ya can draw pictures on this thing, too. Not that I'm much of an artist.

[Will's picture is going to be one of a delighted O.O face, because you just said the magic words, Majima.]

you can draw on it??? how????

Lemme see...

[ Majima went back through the menu like Eddie had taught him, eventually landing back on the picture app. He opened it and drew a little face to show Will.

There. Drawings! ]

[Will's whole world just opened up, he's so!!! Happy!!! He grins up at Majima.]

this is the BEST!!

[ Majima grinned right back. ]

Hell, I didn't know ya liked drawing that much, or I woulda brought it up sooner. You sketch a lot back home?

[Will nods emphatically, scooting off the table he's been sitting on for the entire conversation and ducking under it, then coming back up with two handfuls of scraps of paper. They've all been doodled on, trees and birds and people's faces and cool rocks, all with burned-off pieces of wood and one precious stub of a pencil he found in a corner somewhere.]

these ones aren't very good. i miss crayons and markers and stuff.

[ Yikes. That was pretty rough, as far as art supplies went. ]

That's a damn shame. Alright, then next time I go exploring, I'll see if I can find anything better. Nothing like the real thing.

[ He cocked his head at one of the drawings with people on it. ]

This anyone I'd know?

[Will looks surprised, then a little embarrassed, quickly shrugging a shoulder.] only if it's not too much trouble.

maybe? this is mike, and this is max, and these are my other friends, dustin and lucas, and this is my mom. [The drawings aren't anything prodigy-level, just the work of a thirteen-year-old kid who's done more drawing than anything else. They're a little squiggly and very imperfect, but the faces are definitely recognizable.]

[ He waved a hand. ]

Nah, everyone else is already loading me up with requests, anyhow. Like that Tetora kid.

Can't say I've talked to any of 'em face-to-face. But I like your style. It's got character.

[ Majima was not particularly good at drawing himself, but he could recognize the difference in the quality of the rendering between Will's drawings and those of a typical thirteen-year-old.

The way he focused in on what looked like actual facial details, for instance, rather than simply replicating a memorized set of identical eyes and noses. ]

i don't know that one. i don't...really know a lot of people.

[But he still looks pleased at the compliment, sitting up a little straighter and carefully shuffling the drawings into a neat stack.]

INTRO LOG #2

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