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OOC Instructions
- The exploradora section will be available for 3.5 hours.
- At 4:30 pm PST / 7:30 pm EST there will be a brief regroup for last-minute preparations, followed immediately by combat.
- Powers are off. No items.
IC Instructions
To-do list for the group collectively:
- Plug in the flood lights
- Gather weapons
- Gather meteor shards
- (bonus) Leave a lantern somewhere to reinforce that area
Combat Instructions
- The exploradora section will be available for 3.5 hours.
- At 4:30 pm PST / 7:30 pm EST there will be a brief regroup for last-minute preparations, followed immediately by combat.
- Powers are off. No items.
IC Instructions
To-do list for the group collectively:
- Plug in the flood lights
- Gather weapons
- Gather meteor shards
- (bonus) Leave a lantern somewhere to reinforce that area
Combat Instructions
[ You open your eyes. ]
[ You’re standing on an enormous stone slab. Pale, shimmering light pools in the etchings of ancient wards, marking out the boundaries of this safe place. This Haven. ]
[ You can only tell where the edges of the Haven are because it's where the runes terminate. Beyond that is a void. The darkness feels heavy and alive, like the open maw of a monster waiting to eat you whole the second you step off this stone circle. ]
[ But here within the bounds of the Haven, you are safe. ]
[ You are alone, and the Haven itself is completely bare but for a single lantern. It sits on the ground in front of you, like it’s been guarding you this whole time. Its small flame is bright and warm, casting a circle of light over the stone around you. ]
[ This looks like the center of town. The hustle and bustle of people has been replaced by the chug of machinery and the hum of an outrageous amount of lights. ]
[ There is a map on the wall, and an enormous, bright yellow power cable laying on the ground, running from North to South. ]
[ On one side of the plaza is a large piece of machinery. ]
[ There are three exits:
North, up a flight of stairs.
South, down a different flight of stairs.
East, into the alley where you came in. ]
Edited 2021-01-23 21:45 (UTC)
[ This huge, ugly contraption is rattling and rumbling like an idling diesel engine. ]
[ There are some instructions written on a note stuck to the machine. ]
Weapon Remodeler
1. Insert one weapon and one meteor shard, then select the type of magic you want to imbue your weapon with.
2. Different types of meteor shard yield different types of magic.
3. Weapons can only contain one type of magic at a time, but they can be overwritten with new magic later.
4.
Red = fira, blizzara, thundaga
Yellow = 1 imeeji power
Blue = barrier, cheer
Green = cura, stop
[ The makeshift fortifications around the city are made of boarded-up buildings and huge walls of wood and metal wedged in between them. The whole thing is strung up with wires and lights as far as the eye can see. ]
[ There’s a massive yellow power cable on the ground. It splits into five parts and winds its way into five different buildings. Following the cable, you find five doors, each marked with a sign. ]
LUCTUS
[ This building does not look structurally sound. The walls around this door are cracked and crumbling, and there are piles of concrete rubble all around. ]
DOLUS
[ There are delicate spider webs clinging to the doorknob and façade.]
CULPA
[ There's old, dried blood soaked into the ground around this door, painting the cobblestones a sickly brown. ]
VERECUNDIAM
[ There's a tag hanging from the door like you might see at a hotel that says "Privacy, please!" ]
ARBORIBUS
[ You almost miss the door of this building because it’s been plastered over with a gunmetal gray wallpaper. There are small twigs pushing out between the cracks of the wall, and the cobblestones all around the entrance are shot through with roots. ]
[ You step through this door into a ruined city.]
[ It looks like it might have been like Tokyo-F(?) once, with asphalt streets and skyscrapers. But now it's gray and dead, buildings collapsed into piles of concrete and metal and charred to ashes. ]
[ You can see the power cable on the ground next to you, bright yellow against the dull gray concrete. It weaves its way through piles of rubble and around a corner, leading the way like a string through a labyrinth. ]
[ The walls are draped with decorative, flowing fabrics, and the floor is a soft nest of pillows and blankets. The ceiling is strung with ornate lamps that fill the room with a soft, comfortable light that seems to make everything more beautiful. The scent of incense fills your head and soothes you, putting you at ease. ]
[ In the center of the room, bathed in the soft glow of lamplight, a beautiful woman is sitting among the pillows. Aside from the ivory-pale skin and long, white hair, it’s difficult to say for sure what she looks like. Her exact features are dreamlike, indistinct in that ever-shifting way that’s somehow easy for your brain to accept without thinking about it too hard. ]
[ One thing’s for sure: she’s drop-dead gorgeous. ]
[ When she sees you, her face lights right up with joy and recognition. ]
You came!
[ You walk into a cramped, claustrophobic room. The walls are haphazardly papered in an overwhelming number of photos and notes, some of which are smudged with glossy, rusty brown smears.]
[ The yellow power cable winds around underfoot, over a floor that’s spattered with blood both new and old. At the far end of the room, it plugs into the base of a narrow pedestal with a single large, red button on top. The pedestal is labeled with a small, metal plaque that reads “SIMULATION”.]
[ There’s a yellow sticky note stuck to the button that says “DO NOT PRESS”.]
[ Despite the note, you can tell by the number of old, bloody handprints all over the button that it’s been pressed many, many times before. ]
[ You walk into a small theater. To either side of the isle, the seats are filled with shadowy silhouettes. shifting and whispering in their chairs. ]
[ At the far end of the room is a tiny stage big enough for one. There’s a single wooden mannequin on the stage, dressed in Cobalt's clothes - a tanktop and a pair of long pants. A spotlight points at it expectantly, but the mannequin is not facing the audience. Instead, it’s facing sideways, as if looking at something hidden behind the curtain. ]
Edited 2021-01-23 20:45 (UTC)
[ You walk into an operating room, all stainless steel and linoleum. ]
[ In the center of the room is Cobalt, lying on his back on the floor. You can tell from a distance that he's very dead, which probably has something to do with the enormous tree growing out of his chest, splitting open his ribcage. The tree's canopy spreads out across the ceiling, blocking out the fluorescent lights with its silvery, red-edged leaves. ]
[ The room is very quiet, and very still. It's just you, a tree, and a corpse. ]
[ You reach a fork in the path. ]
[ The power plant is to the North, accessible via a bridge.]
[ To the East there's a path leading to some run-down residential buildings. ]
[ The path through the residential buildings is long and winding, but your feet seem to know the way. It feels like coming home after a long journey. ]
[ You find a door, and you know this is the right one. You push it open to find a small, extremely run down studio apartment. ]
[ Near the entryway is a living area that consists of a rickety wooden table and exactly two chairs. Along one wall is a tattered couch that looks like it's been hand-stitched back together from the brink of death. Along the opposite wall is the smallest, dingiest suggestion of a kitchen you've ever seen. ]
[ But despite everything, it looks welcoming, like it’s happy to see you. ]
[ The apartment looks lived in and full of things. It’s warm, and bright, and not just because it’s overflowing with a frankly unreasonable amount of lamps. There's an envelope and a photo on the table, beside two sets of daggers. There's an ornate spear and an absurdly large shuriken leaning against the wall. ]
[ Shelves overflowing with books and trinkets create a makeshift partition between the living area and the sleeping area. The single bed is on a metal frame that looks like it's going to fall apart at any moment. ]
[ On the farthest wall, on the other side of the bed, is a wide set of French doors that are glass from floor to ceiling, leading to a sliver of balcony. Shining in through this window is an unearthly, shifting blue light. It floods the room in its soft glow, painting rippling patterns across the ceiling that makes it look like water. ]
[ As you cross the bridge, the rigid, concrete hulk of the power plant dissolves away like mist. ]
[ In its place is a suburban house. ]
[ It's a couple stories tall, with a tile roof and a tiny lawn in front. The planters are overflowing with riots of white, winter-blooming bellflowers. ]
[ Overhead, the sick, dark sky of a moment ago is now a vivid blue. If you look carefully, you can see a shimmering purple light sweep across it in waves, glinting off the edges of the glass-clear hexagonal panels that make up a vast dome miles overhead. ]
[ The house is built in a Western style, with wood floors and high ceilings. And it is absolutely overflowing with light and warmth. Every part of the house you can see is decorated top to bottom with all manners of lanterns, string lights, candles, dried roses, and fresh bellflowers. ]
[ The house is packed full of people from Imeeji, clearly in the throes of some kind of celebration. Some of them are people who are still around, but others are those who have been transferred or graduated. Everyone looks a little brighter and softer than real life, as if they’re made of light, or maybe dreams. You can hear their voices, but it’s hard to pick out what they’re saying. Everyone seems really happy, though, chattering and mingling and laughing and eating. ]
[ There’s Paloma, being the life of the party and getting everyone drunk. There’s Sabre on the floor playing with a cat the color of clouds. There’s Intensity arguing with a bespectacled man. There’s Thorn carrying a platter of roast kujata to the table, while Cobalt’s in the kitchen helping a dark-haired woman make a whole lot of tea. Chances are very high you see your doppelganger around here somewhere. ]
[ The room is decorated with lanterns absolutely everywhere, some of which look very special. There’s a fire in the fireplace, and the dining room table is covered in a spectacular extravaganza of all manners of delicious-looking food. One entire wall is covered with a photo collage so big it spreads down the hall into another room.]
[ From here, you can head into the Den or go Upstairs. ]
[ This might have been a normal living room at some point but now half of it is consumed by a massive blanket fort. This seems to be where all the peps are hanging out, and boy howdy is it a lot of peps. There’s about twenty of them in here, from the current ones to the ones from the beginning. Sunrise and Sunset and Sunshine, Yugi and Dawn and Sunlit Prism Geodude, Lyra and Pink and Wednesday and Ren, Glacies and Gladio and Moxie. Everyone’s having snacks and flopping in the pillow fort and harassing each other, seemingly having a good and chill time.
[ Outside the fort, the room is scattered with miscellaneous items and decorations. There’s a table with a huge pile of cupcakes with a note that says “For Pink”, and a pot of fragrant black tea. There are some stained glass decorations hanging in the window, and Duel Monsters cards scattered around. The ceiling is decorated with sky-themed symbols such as suns, moons, clouds, auroras, shooting stars, and songbirds. ]
[ In one corner there’s a big bamboo branch in a pot like a bouquet. Little tags hang from its branches like tanabata. There are some blank bits of paper and a pen in case people feel like adding more. ]
[ One wall has been completely overtaken by a photo wall so large it spreads all the way into the Dining Room. ]
Edited 2021-01-23 21:10 (UTC)
[Can I take the lantern it's shaped like a friend]
Hello...?
[Wednesday is Not Good With Monsters.]
Hello...?
[Wednesday is Not Good With Monsters.]
[well... she's going to pick up the lantern...? and then hold it up to get a better look at it.
and then at the area around her.]
and then at the area around her.]
[ The instant your hand touches the lantern, the small flame blooms into a something huge and bright like an unfolding star, light flooding the Haven as well as your mind.
In that moment, the world disappears into that flash of light and it feels like the time you hugged someone and realized, for the first time you could remember, that you found comfort in it too, and you could start to see why people liked this, and you wanted to do it again, and more, and more genuinely, and before you knew it your arm was wrapped around the small shoulders huddling up against your side as together you feasted on a pile of conbini snacks and watched a black and white romance movie, and it felt so natural and so comfortable and so warm that you wonder if this is what having a little sister is like;
it feels like someone there to hold your pieces together when you really just need to break, and you soak their clothes with your tears but they don't even mind, they just pet your hair and hold you without judgement until you're calm, and it's easier to be calm because it's them that's holding you, it's them that's helping carry you through this, and you feel safe in their small arms;
it feels like flowers and charms in your antlers, and long pink locks in your clumsy fingers as you fumble your way through learning to braid, like nails painted like cherry blossoms that make you feel awesome even when you're pumping irons at the gym, because you remember who put them there and something in your chest blooms big and warm and full of pride whenever you rediscover your own hands;
it feels like love.
Your eyes adjust to the light and the Haven resolves back into place, right where you left it. The newly brightened lantern illuminates an even greater radius than before.]
In that moment, the world disappears into that flash of light and it feels like the time you hugged someone and realized, for the first time you could remember, that you found comfort in it too, and you could start to see why people liked this, and you wanted to do it again, and more, and more genuinely, and before you knew it your arm was wrapped around the small shoulders huddling up against your side as together you feasted on a pile of conbini snacks and watched a black and white romance movie, and it felt so natural and so comfortable and so warm that you wonder if this is what having a little sister is like;
it feels like someone there to hold your pieces together when you really just need to break, and you soak their clothes with your tears but they don't even mind, they just pet your hair and hold you without judgement until you're calm, and it's easier to be calm because it's them that's holding you, it's them that's helping carry you through this, and you feel safe in their small arms;
it feels like flowers and charms in your antlers, and long pink locks in your clumsy fingers as you fumble your way through learning to braid, like nails painted like cherry blossoms that make you feel awesome even when you're pumping irons at the gym, because you remember who put them there and something in your chest blooms big and warm and full of pride whenever you rediscover your own hands;
it feels like love.
Your eyes adjust to the light and the Haven resolves back into place, right where you left it. The newly brightened lantern illuminates an even greater radius than before.]
[ The instant your hand touches the lantern, the small flame blooms into a something huge and bright like an unfolding star, light flooding the Haven as well as your mind.
In that moment, the world disappears into that flash of light and it feels like the satisfaction of a full stomach when you have once known hunger, and having enough to make sure the plates of your loved ones are full as well;
it feels like a soft, warm bed when you've once known exhaustion, and knowing your loved ones are safely asleep and having good dreams;
it feels like sun on your face on a crisp, spring day, like the color of new leaves and a budding feeling of potential, like the humanitarian solidarity behind the words "my heart is with you";
it feels a little bit like love.
Your eyes adjust to the light and the Haven resolves back into place, right where you left it. The newly brightened lantern illuminates an even greater radius than before.]
In that moment, the world disappears into that flash of light and it feels like the satisfaction of a full stomach when you have once known hunger, and having enough to make sure the plates of your loved ones are full as well;
it feels like a soft, warm bed when you've once known exhaustion, and knowing your loved ones are safely asleep and having good dreams;
it feels like sun on your face on a crisp, spring day, like the color of new leaves and a budding feeling of potential, like the humanitarian solidarity behind the words "my heart is with you";
it feels a little bit like love.
Your eyes adjust to the light and the Haven resolves back into place, right where you left it. The newly brightened lantern illuminates an even greater radius than before.]
[ The instant your hand touches the lantern, the small flame blooms into a something huge and bright like an unfolding star, light flooding the Haven as well as your mind.
In that moment, the world disappears into that flash of light and it feels like the clap of landing back-first on a gym mat as your favorite pupil uses your own move against you, how surprised and delighted and above all proud you are of how strong he's become and how fast he's learned, how fun it is to get such a run for your money at this thing you started on a whim but turned into a ritual;
it feels like having someone beside you during the worst week you can remember, when people you loved died and died and died and how much it meant to you to have that steady presence to keep you going, to keep the ground under your feet and helped you put your friends back together, someone who helped you shoulder the weight so it was only heavy and not crushing, and how much you really needed that;
it feels like a team of idiots taking selfies while running from a bear and this should have been frightening but every time you remember it, you hold your face in your hands and laugh helplessly, and you hung all the selfies on the wall so you never forget;
it feels like fingers in your fur and the prickle of healing wounds, like the starched fabric of fancy dance clothes and a too-fast peck on the lips, like the presence of someone passionate as a bonfire but reliable as the earth;
it feels like love.
Your eyes adjust to the light and the Haven resolves back into place, right where you left it. The newly brightened lantern illuminates an even greater radius than before.]
In that moment, the world disappears into that flash of light and it feels like the clap of landing back-first on a gym mat as your favorite pupil uses your own move against you, how surprised and delighted and above all proud you are of how strong he's become and how fast he's learned, how fun it is to get such a run for your money at this thing you started on a whim but turned into a ritual;
it feels like having someone beside you during the worst week you can remember, when people you loved died and died and died and how much it meant to you to have that steady presence to keep you going, to keep the ground under your feet and helped you put your friends back together, someone who helped you shoulder the weight so it was only heavy and not crushing, and how much you really needed that;
it feels like a team of idiots taking selfies while running from a bear and this should have been frightening but every time you remember it, you hold your face in your hands and laugh helplessly, and you hung all the selfies on the wall so you never forget;
it feels like fingers in your fur and the prickle of healing wounds, like the starched fabric of fancy dance clothes and a too-fast peck on the lips, like the presence of someone passionate as a bonfire but reliable as the earth;
it feels like love.
Your eyes adjust to the light and the Haven resolves back into place, right where you left it. The newly brightened lantern illuminates an even greater radius than before.]
[Oh. Being alone always spells trouble. Ren immediately looks around, looking first at the runes on the ground. Beyond that lies darkness.]
I need to find others...
[Hm. If she leaves, what might be out there? She had to take the risk, so grabs a lantern and sets out towards the darkness and away from the Haven.]
I need to find others...
[Hm. If she leaves, what might be out there? She had to take the risk, so grabs a lantern and sets out towards the darkness and away from the Haven.]
Edited 2021-01-23 21:16 (UTC)
[oh.
that's. that's a lot.
but now this is her newest treasure, gotta take it somewhere safe.
but she'll start by moving forward?]
that's. that's a lot.
but now this is her newest treasure, gotta take it somewhere safe.
but she'll start by moving forward?]
[ In this larger, brighter, expanded circle of light, you can see more of the immediate surroundings beyond the edge of the Haven. You see the skeletons of bushes. What once was lush grass is now crisp, dry tufts, crinkled over bare dirt. The naked trunks of what used to be conifers extend overhead and vanish into darkness. ]
[ One side of the platform-shaped Haven slopes gently down to the ground. From there, a dirt path winds off into the trees. ]
[ One side of the platform-shaped Haven slopes gently down to the ground. From there, a dirt path winds off into the trees. ]
[then.. it's time to take the path forward.]
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