[HUB ISLAND | NOVEMBER IC INTRO LOG]

[spellbindmods]

Who: The new coven members and old blood
Where: In and around the hub island, especially the mansion
When: Day 122
Open/Closed: Open to All

IMPORTANT This IC intro log is different in that all characters can tag it! If your character is new, please put [new] or some variant of it in the subject of your top level. New characters can also tag around to old coven members in order to branch out and get as much CR as possible!

All characters are told briefly what their powers are by Genette -- no extemporaneous details. For instance, if your character has the ability to detect lies, they'll be told as such -- no warning about limitations, repercussions or the like. They'll also be given a variant of this letter so they aren't totally ignorant of the situation -- though of course adapt this letter to the current setting and surroundings of the game.

This setting may be familiar to you -- maybe you caught a glimpse of it when you first visited. Maybe this is your first time experiencing this weird world and the panic is setting in. If you're totally lost, a tall human woman with a long scroll of paper will eventually pass by to give you a rundown. She'll also give you a letter, which may give you more questions than answers since the information is a wee out of date. (Maybe someone else can fill in some gaps for you). What is at first painfully obvious is that you're ill-equipped. Any magic or powers you had previously are suddenly replaced with an empty hole in your being. That's not all that's gone, but perhaps that's what's most pressing. Another thing you may notice is that there are others just like you, wandering around and just as confused. If you feel so inclined, you may want to ask around and see if anyone else knows what's up. A ▢ A few newbies may not be so lucky as to wind up somewhere pleasant -- it's currently flooding and storming...up a storm...on the island, which makes spawning outside very trying. Depending on where your character shows up, there's essentially no shelter around, other than some ratty beach huts. If your character's first instinct is trying to find a place to go while outside, you may be in luck -- that is, if someone else is outside, willing to help your character find shelter. B ▢ For those characters who aren't interested in the shelter of the mansion, they may be stuck in their beach huts. What does this have to do with newbies? It's hard to tell that these beach huts are occupied until actually entering them, which is what your character has decided to do. Oops...hi there, stranger. Mind if I stay for a while? C ▢ Other characters who happen to have the luck of a true asshole won't be able to find shelter with any such luck. They'll be stuck sheieding themselves from rain under a tree, in the forest or tucking themselves in a mountain cave. It's not the worst place to wind up, but it might not be the safest -- what happens if someone doesn't find them? Telepathy might alert someone to their presence, which can help with the rescue process.

For those that are lucky enough to spawn in the mansion -- or those who eventually find their way there, soaking wet -- there's a lot of fun stuff happening here! It's warm, inviting, smells like food...don't feel awkward. You can join the fun too! Brie has set up a few party ideas, even though it's not technically a party, in order to keep things light during the storm (which, coincidentally, she isn't very fond of). There's a lot to do, but also everyone has the ability to just chill and hang out in the warm shelter of the mansion for now. D ▢ First of all, there's a bizarrely set up snack bar in the main foyer. On a lot of boxes, all lined up together, are stacks of crackers, graham crackers, marshmallows and other dried snack foods (use your imagination, honestly). There are also tiny kerosene lamps so characters can heat up food if they wish. Alongside the typical snack foods are also more exotic varieties of snacks that Brie has collected, like dried and salty alien bug pupae and tiny trees in chip bags. There's some odd stuff there, and some of it may upset stomachs. E ▢ The large foyer of the mansion is literally filled with pillows and blankets. Most of them have been stockpiled and pulled from Qri's big caravan, currently located upstairs, and others have been pulled from every chair and bed in the mansion. Intricate tents and pillow domes have been made that snake in and out from one another -- some are more private than others, with other pillow circles built for communal spaces. It's definitely possible to get lost in this winding pillow fort, but it's also possible to have a nice, private moment lost in one of the winding tunnels. F ▢ In one of those foretold communal pillow circles, someone (who? you? me? who knows.) has set up a game of spin the bottle. Who knows how your character got roped into this -- or if they are actually willing participants, but this is happening. It's going to happen. What are you doing, oh my god HOW IS THIS BIZARRE ROM-COM SCENARIO GOING TO END...?? F1; Your character is doing the spinning, and another character is choosing to be the victim on the other end of that bottle! F2; Your character happens to have just had the bottle land on them. Who did it? What mysterious being do they have to smooch now? How do they react? G ▢ Another game is going on in another communal circle -- Truth or Dare! This game is also set up similarly, in that your character is a hapless victim or willing participant, but they definitely have to give someone the opportunity to confess something or dare them to do something ridiculous. Will they show mercy, or go in for the kill? H ▢ Slumber party activities aren't for everyone, and there's still a mansion to explore. From various bedrooms to a game room, there are a variety of rooms to wind up exploring and get lost in. Not exciting enough for you? Your character has magic! Maybe they cause a ruckus upstairs that makes someone investigate the loud noise or chaos. Maybe they walk in on someone else doing something with their own magic. What sort of scenario can you cook up? I ▢ Wildcard! How will your character interact with this new and unusual world?

Comments

f2p

[deem]

[9S was luckily rescued from this strange ritual by Waver earlier. And he knows what it's about, unfortunately, so when he's retracing his steps in order to exit this odd train of bedding tents he inevitably stumbles upon 2B committing the same error he did. But she seems oblivious to what she's been made a party to.

It's...not the best way to speak to someone again after an incredibly difficult conversation, he knows that, but neither can he leave her hanging. Hopefully she doesn't mind his intrusion when he catches hold of her arm]

Hey, 2B, can I uh. [Why can't he be good at excuses like Waver?] Would you mind helping me out with something?

[In the end he'll just borrow the perfectly good method that got him out of this situation earlier]

[apatheia]

[The circumstances are undeniably... strange, after everything, but she's nevertheless glad to see 9S. She would've known if anything had happened even while she's been keeping herself scarce, but still. It's reassuring to see him looking well.

As always, she's glad to see him. Even when it hurts, too.]

... Sure. [She gets up, facing him and turning away from the bottle. It seems more likely this is an excuse to get her out of the game than him actually needing help for something, but she has no reason not to go along with it.] What is it?

[deem]

[It's good to see that 2B is well. Physically, at least. At the same time he knows that doesn't necessarily speak to her current mental or emotional state, but he has to hope that the time she's had to herself has been for the better and not worse.

He couldn't say that it hasn't been hard for him, being without her, but neither does he want to be selfish in ways that may harm her. If as A2 said she simply needs time, then he has to accept that]

I've got a delivery to make, and I could use a hand finding the person. Never did get a look at her face, you see.

[The reason is easy for 9S to supply, if only because it's actually the case. Granted he has no need of assistance finding someone, and he knows 2B is perfectly aware of that, but he trusts that she'll understand he's trying to pull her away from this game. If it was tough for him, he doubts she'll be any more comfortable]

[apatheia]

[Finding out the mystery of this game will just have to wait till another time.... Oh well.]

That should be simple then.

[It's easier to treat this like a standard mission than acknowledge their actual situation right now. Besides that, it'll give her a chance to make sure that 9S has been okay during all this time. So she simply nods, ready to move.]

Let's start looking. What do you know about her?

[deem]

Just the sound of her voice and her opinions on some things.

[But what he means to deliver is obvious enough. The hand he hadn't caught hold of 2B with carries a pistol, for want of somewhere to put it. As she's coming along he lets go, pulling up his monitors so he can play back the sound of the girl speaking, but he doesn't just yet. He really does have a delivery to do, but once they're well away from the group...]

That uh...activity. You would've been expected to kiss the person who spun the bottle around.

[It's awkward to say, because despite his own circumstances, he still finds the notion of fraternizing with humans at large awkward. And he knows 2B likely sees it the same way, if not more strongly. Were it not for how recent events had transpired, he doubts he could have imagined such a thing.

Even so, going about it with just anyone is...wrong...

And frankly he wants more for 2B, if ever she should feel that for someone]

[apatheia]

... I see.

[It's a discomfiting idea, to say the least. Putting aside the fact that she doesn't see how that could make much of a game, someone having to kiss her simply because the bottle ended up landing her is so... Intimacies like that, ones that she hardly knows about to begin with, are so far removed from her life she can't help but feel lost in how bizarre it is. What's the meaning of it, whether in connection to this game or not? She wouldn't really know either way.]

Thanks for getting me out of there then. [And what it comes down to is that she'd prefer not to have to partake in it, yeah, if only because of how weird she finds it. With the matter settled in her eyes though, she turns her attention towards the pistol in his hand.] Did someone ask you to make a weapon for them?

[deem]

[9S remembers the conversation they had about a certain human having romantic feelings toward him. He can recall distinctly the awkward nature of that discussion, and 2B's efforts to give him sound advice despite her stance — one he found perfectly understandable. It was a situation he had never imagined himself encountering, because it was so notionally absurd.

And so it's a matter of course that he'd want to spare 2B something so uncomfortable, just as Waver had kindly done for him earlier. A true pal, Waver Velvet]

I was lucky somebody bailed me out earlier. [He has to acknowledge, because he had no more clue than she did, until someone told him, and then he practically knocked the tent over trying to retreat before help arrived] I've had a few people ask me to construct weapons...she's one of the more recent ones.

[apatheia]

[She simply nods at the first part, glad that someone's looking out for him but feeling that it's inappropriate to say that herself. Maybe she wouldn't have been much help here, but shouldn't she be looking out for him as well? All she's done these last few weeks is keep her distance instead. And yet she still can't bring herself to be around him again. She's too ashamed to.

So instead she focuses on what else he said, the factual and concrete. It's easier that way.]

That makes sense. Even if our only adversaries here seem to be wild animals, it's important we have ways to defend ourselves. We don't know what else could happen here.

[deem]

Yeah, never know what we'll be pitted against whenever we're deployed again.

[And the overall lack of equipment is pretty concerning. Humans are at higher risk than they are, and without weapons and defensive gear, they're that much more vulnerable. If he had more supplies, he'd certainly be crafting as much as he could, but their means are limited.

He sighs, shaking his head]

Can't say I understand how Qri operates, not informing or arming us.

[Even taking weapons away]

[apatheia]

We really don't know much of anything about Qri, aside from what Genette has said.

[It almost reminds her of the aliens and how little they knew about them, and there's something a little alarming in that thought. Still, she's pretty sure she feels more ambivalently about Qri than most of the others. As far as she can tell, it was thanks to the witch that she was alive and functioning again. She can't help but be grateful for that.]

[deem]

Yeah, and we can't be sure whether that information is true or not.

[Genette could be misinforming them, or she could well be deceived, herself. It's impossible to say, with the state of things as they are. There's incredibly little information to go off of, and none of them are in their element, which makes it that much more difficult]

Kind of a pain.

[apatheia]

I guess we'll just have to wait and see. We don't really have any other choice.

[It's frustrating in a way, but, well. This is hardly the first time they've had to deal with a difficult and seemingly fruitless situation.]

[deem]

Yeah...you're right. At least what we need to protect's here.

[And that grounds their sense of purpose.

For his part, 9S sees it as twofold: he'll look out for 2B and the humans here...even if she'd rather keep to herself for now]

[apatheia]

Yeah. For us at least, I guess there's not much need to go anywhere else in the first place.

[9S is here, and that alone is enough for her. Humans being here is fulfilling in its own way, but if he hadn't woken up in Aimintas with her, she's not really sure if she'd felt motivated to protect humanity alone.]

[deem]

Bit of a change of pace, huh?

[They've had one another to look after, but mankind was always some distant concept rather than a tangible reality.

And he knows why that is, but he's not about to visit that upon 2B. What would the point be, anyway? Mankind exists here]