[OPENING] exploration log

[spellbindmods]

Who: Explorers and Co.
Where: Around the island and at the newly discovered house
When: Day 10
Open/Closed: Open to All
Note: Feel free to create your own logs for individual island explorations. A prompt is for house exploring, and you can list off multiple A prompts like A1, A2, etc. for more than one prompt within the house. B prompts (B1, B2, etc) are for exploring the island and may be open to all OR select friends who your character is exploring with.

[It's tough to live on an island that doesn't have many resources outside of the limited food sources and running streams. While Brie is aware of some other minor sources of food, like fish and frogs, one person exploring an island on their own means there are a lot of secret spots left to uncover. Despite adventuring for three years, her time on the hub itself has been much shorter, only staying for days or weeks at a time. Now that there are more people on this journey, covering ground is a lot easier.

Recently she's discovered another large estate -- much larger than her current shared mansion, which might also mean it has some supplies inside. On the morning of Day #, she's called together those who are hankering for more supplies in order to bring as much back as possible. Congrats, you get first dibs.

A. Upon approaching the house, the first thing that's noticeable is its size. It's all one story, but very flat and spacious. There are gardens in both the front and the rear, and upon entering (Brie might have enlisted you to help break the door down, oops) the inside is also quite vast. There are tons of rooms, multiple bedrooms and bathrooms, two kitchens and other rooms that aren't even explorable because they need keys to be entered. Unless you can find these keys, that is?

B. Alternatively, or maybe even aside from exploring the house, Brie's also suggested that you do some exploring on your own. Again, she's one woman with limited time to scout the island herself. What can you find? What resources are there to be harvested? Will you share in this bounty, or keep it to yourself?]

Comments

[windeity]

[That's unfortunate considering who she's talking to.]

It would not be the first time. [Just. Casually.] But usually you can only see ghosts in very specific circumstances so if there was one watching us right now I wonder how we would know?

[soulcomet]

[oh god really? well, if there was someone out there who could change her mind about ghosts, it would probably be John.]

Have you seen one before, John-san?

[windeity]

[There's a nod.] Yeah. We have all see a few ghosts before. It was all very complicated business but they were around and we could talk to them sometimes. They were ghosts of people we knew before, too.

[Homestuck...is stupid.]

[soulcomet]

[universes are weird. but, Madoka visibly droops.]

That means you've ... [lost someone he cares about before? or several someones?]

[windeity]

[OH NO THAT WAS THE OPPOSITE EFFECT...]

It's okay. [There's a quick smile in the hopes to assure here again.] Things...happen the way they're supposed to happen, you know? [It's best not to tell her about the people he really cares about that he's lost. His dad. His sister. Dave and Rose. All of them are permanently dead. He just has to fix things though. That will solve everything.] And the ghosts I did see were people we only met once or twice. I think they may be happier that way.

[Or at least the world might be safer with Vriska being a ghost, but that is also debatable.]

[soulcomet]

[forgive her silence for a moment, and also the worried expression she's wearing when she looks at him again.]

[maybe it was naive of her, but it had never occurred to Madoka that a ghost she could meet would be the ghost of someone she knows. even if it was someone she had only met once ... that just seems so horrible.]

I can't ... even imagine what that must be like.

[windeity]

[Madoka :c He's not sure what he can say to make her feel better, but at the same time she has a point. Death is a weird, weird thing.]

...sometimes good things come from people dying. I know that may seem impossible, but it is true. But I also know that isn't true in everyone's worlds. The media makes ghosts look really scary but that's not always true either. Some people are scarier when they're alive, especially when they intend to stay that way. [THANKS, ARADIA.]

[soulcomet]

[Madoka has a perhaps short-sighted, and perhaps, again, a very naive outlook on the world. there's good in everybody. even if the world itself seems terrible, and even if awful, awful things do happen, the good far outshines the bad. it's a view that's been tested in the past, but never fully wavered.]

[of course, that outlook also cost her her life in about 100 other universes.]

You've met someone that scary before? [because it's incomprehensible to her.]

[windeity]

[There are a few instances John can think of. Aradia was just a little creepy, but whatever, she was nice and harmless aside from that. Vriska and Meenah, on the other hand...

...but it's also probably not fair to tell Madoka these things. Not when he's still trying to process everything himself. It was a long day and a longer three years and while he understands things, it was harder to really accept them for what they were.]

I met a few people who ended up making things pretty bad for a couple of other people. They're all ghosts now, I think, it was hard to keep track of all of them when I only saw them for a little bit, but yeah. [But there's a shake of his head.] Don't worry. If there are ghosts here, they won't be that bad. Trust me. I know how to handle ghosts.

[soulcomet]

I trust you. [said almost immediately. there's even a hint of her usual smile sitting somewhere on her face.]

It's just hard for me to imagine, I guess. But ... as long as someone is happy, it doesn't really matter how exactly they exist, right?

[windeity]

[That helps. A lot.]

I think it was hard to really understand at first, too. I had a whole idea about ghosts but it wasn't the same as what it actually was. And I mean...what do you count as a ghost anyway?

[soulcomet]

Mmm ... I always figured they were people who died, and for whatever reason couldn't move on. And some of them get angry about that.

Is that about right?

[windeity]

I guess it's sort of that, or that is how it's supposed to be. But there are some circumstances where it gets complicated. People die, but then bigger things happen to them and they don't become ghosts. But then those people can die again and they do become ghosts. It is all very slippery, ghosty business. I'm still trying to understand how all of it works myself, but Dave and Rose might understand better.

[soulcomet]

People have ... died twice on your world?

[one could practically see the gears turning in her head. the gears are struggling right now, though.]

The rules there seem so different than the rules back home. I wonder if it's like that on every world.

[windeity]

Yeah. It depends on how they died, but it's possible. [A beat.] And sometimes when you die, you become something a lot bigger than you thought you would. [Like a god, probably.] But I think there are probably different rules everywhere. Those rules were only specific to the game and the players in it. It wasn't like that for everyone.

[soulcomet]

[that's a lot to take in, and Madoka doesn't quite understand all of it.]

What do you mean by the game?

[windeity]

[Oh. There's another nervous look before he shrugs.]

It was a game we were all playing back home. It's how we ended up being gods. [And, you know, destroying their universe, dying, ascending to godhood, fighting a dog demon, traveling through space for a few years while communicating with aliens and preparing to rejoin a new universe to fight a fish queen. No big.] It is a very long story.

[soulcomet]

You mean like a video game?

[arcades are very popular in Madoka's city. picture John playing god-DDR somewhere in the depths of space, and that's pretty much the mental image she has right now.]

[windeity]

[While that's not quite what he meant, that's a hilarious image he will never have himself. Still, he nods because yes, exactly.]

Yes. It was a beta video game that we all played on our computers that ended up changing a lot of things for us.

[soulcomet]

[...]

Well ... if magic can pull us into different places, and do all sorts of different things, I guess it's not surprising that a computer game could, too?

[her face might say otherwise. she's trying.]

[windeity]

[Madoka are you okay.]

Maybe if we ever have a lot of time and boredom I can tell you about the game. It doesn't matter much right now. [There's a gesture to the make-up bag.] Is it empty like the wallet?

[soulcomet]

[you'd think Madoka would be used to weird stuff when this like this are a normal Tuesday night for her, but. John manages to surprise her.]

[but, distraction!]

Oh! [she takes the makeup back again, pulling open the zipper.]

[it's nothing special, sadly. just a lot of makeup, and, perhaps more usefully, a packet of bandages, tissues and a small bottle of rubbing alcohol.]

[windeity]

[I cannot believe Madoka is real wtf.]

Hey. [The tone is one of surprise because yeah, he recognizes the usefulness of the actual items and he pushes aside some of the make-up.] It's almost like it was meant for you to find. Those could be useful for when we leave the island. [Whenever that is...]

[soulcomet]

[literally the entire movie is like that it's such a trip!]

You think so? I'm not really good at makeup.

[she's kidding. Madoka no.] You're right, though ... I can get my first aid kit started with this!

[windeity]

[It gets a grin out of him anyway.]

For all we know, makeup could be useful to cover bruises or something. They do that in movies, don't they? [But he nods along.] It's definitely a good start, and you can stock up whenever you find more. It's good to have something solid, I think.