week 0 - arrival

[vicedirector]

seven vices arrival ♫ saturday & sunday 36 players remaining You remember happening upon something awful and nauseating. What it was, precisely, is lost to you, but you have the instinctive feeling that by escaping from it, you've avoided something terrible. When you open your eyes, you find yourself laying in bed in a dark, dusty room, facing a digital alarm clock. Its face, reading 12:01, is one of the only sources of light in the room. The other comes from the window, shadows flickering about. Opening the blinds will reveal that it is nighttime, and what looks to be a massive bonfire has been lit in the street at the front of the building. A wooden talisman hangs around your neck, with one of seven symbols carved on the back. Attempting to take off the talisman will result in a wave of intense dread, and the all-too-familiar nausea. A brass key engraved with a unique room number lays on the bedside table beside the clock, as well. But you won't get any answers just sitting in your room all night. >Investigate? This is an open mingle for arrival in the town. Waking up just after midnight on Saturday, characters will have the weekend to explore and socialize before the plot begins. The profiles and IC rulebooks (both the personal ones and the public one at the chapel) have not been revealed/given out yet. The kitchen will still 'prepare' breakfast on these days, and the bonfire will burn continuously into the daytime. Per items: smaller items that a character could easily carry with them will be in their rooms. Animals and larger objects will either be waiting outside or in the hotel lobby. cast setting

Comments

[dhaosu]

Mm, so they were not doing it for their own gain.

...

[ Noticing that pause there. Despite how bitter and angry he can get, Dhaos figured that could be pushed to the aside for a bit. At that rate, in this case, he does attempt to think of something uplifting to say. ]

Regardless, I have no doubts that we shall leave this place soon and reunite with those from our respective lands. Surely, you believe the same...

[ Actually, he doesn't, but he doesn't want Urashima to cry again, or be too sad. H's just met him and he's another spirit so... ]

saturday

[clearasmud]

[ Youko and luck go together like chocolate and garlic.

Which is to say, she sure is getting crashed into at the other side of town! It's too much for her poor shawl, and that thing gets knocked off during the fall. She's not immediately concerned about her fox ears being revealed the way she would normally though, no - as far as she knows, tall, dark and klutzy is a newcomer to wherever the hell they are. Somebody with potential clues. ]

H-hey! You... where were you just now?!

[ Go ahead, Gil. Ruin her day further. ]

[princessantly]

You're right. [ Equally foolish, optimistic Alisha. ]

I have duties I absolutely cannot abandon.

[princessantly]

I understand... I'll lend you a hand.

[ The last thing she wants are people getting injured. ]

[princessantly]

[ The... men? Does she mean all of the men? No, that can't be right-- the men of the chapel? Are there men of the chapel?

Either way, this place seems to lack the blessing of a Seraph... could they not exist here at all? ]

I... I see. I'll certainly be cautious.

[princessantly]

I-- I'm sorry? [ Alisha looks more than a little taken aback from the woman suddenly rounding on her, hands held up defensively. ] I just woke up here myself, and none of this is familiar--

II

[princessantly]

[ What... is that lump? And is it moving? Oh, no... could someone have collapsed or been injured?

Alisha's quick to skid/slide/stumble over there, only refraining from falling to her knees because bare legs-- ]

Are you all right?!

II

[dhaosu]

[ Dhaos is curious, at the very least, and needs to make sure it isn't something that shouldn't be there. He's been exploring and something is finally there. So he makes his approach. ]

...Is someone in there?

[ In that lump of clothes, that is. ]

2

[princessantly]

[ It's far too cold, and Alisha's ready to head inside for the time being-- but when she catches sight of the boy calling out for someone and looking so distressed... ]

Excuse me. May I ask who you're searching for?

The saga of 'I thought I responded to this' but find out I didn't, continues...

[dhaosu]

[ He hesitates for a moment there. ]

... If only there were more of those like you. Many look to anything they can do to advance wars so that it would be to their advantage.

a!

[princessantly]

[ It's a little hard to notice certain hooded figures who are not much shorter than she is when she's got her hands taken captive by something that certainly resembles a Hellion, but doesn't appear to be giving off any sort of malevolence whatsoever??

So Alisha is more than a little baffled, and slightly alarmed. ]

I-I apologize for the misunderstanding, but I would never kidnap anyone!

[princessantly]

Then at this moment, there's no purpose for it.

... You're right, leaving it be would be best.

We have all been there, comrade...

[princessantly]

I imagine there are... but speaking up against your superiors is a very difficult thing.

All the same, I don't intend to give up. [ And she's gained some allies, after all. ]

[dhaosu]

Hn. It could be, but seeing as you managed, it can be done.

[ He crosses his arms. ]

That said, indeed... not giving can aide you in your quest, and it will likely be key for us in order to escape this land. Our enemy appears to be formidable, but surely not invincible.

[createdamonster]

[ The first thing that jolts Kurisu is just how utterly cold it is; it's the middle of summer, after all, almost right in the dead of August. So when she looks out the window of her hotel room and sees that it's snowing, that's her first clue that something's not right here. ...Her second clue is that it isn't her hotel room at all, a far cry from the uppity place in Ochanomizu where she's been staying for the past few weeks...and her third is that she doesn't have her phone on her, or any way she can contact anyone to tell her where she is or ask for help. She tears her unfamiliar room apart, but the only thing she can find is one of Okabe's weird Future Gadgets...but why is this here?

Her first thought is that it's some kind of SERN plot, and considering the past few days, that's not exactly a stretch to consider. So much has happened over the past few weeks that it's a shock she hasn't been abducted long ago...but according to Suzuha, she was supposed to at some point, anyway. If that's the case, maybe Okabe used the Time Leap Machine already and he's working to save her while she's stuck here...but why hasn't he used it already? Wasn't he going to go to the Beta Timeline? Did he hesitate...? That idiot...

Without realizing it, she clutches at the weird talisman on her neck. She's never seen a symbol like that before in her life, and it doesn't seem to be associated with SERN...could it be something else?

Well, hypothesizing isn't going to get her anywhere, after all. She's a scientist. She's going to need some results, and she can only get those through hypotheses and experimentation. Try not to freak out. Try not to think about the Time Machine. Try not to think about Okabe, or jellymen, or what SERN is going to do to her, or the IBN 5100, or what's going to happen when Okabe does go to the Beta Timeline...

For now, she has a pad and paper. She has...whatever the hell this useless machine of Okabe's is. She has the labcoat on her back. That should be enough to try and do some experiments and explore the place.

So when one finds Kurisu, it's probably outside, pacing around and heading towards that void and taking notes on it...she seems particularly perplexed by the way heading too far into the void loops back around to the town, and she's freezing, but her scientist's curiosity seems to be getting the better of her. ]

C-c-could it be some kind of temporal loop..?

[ That is to say, she's wondering if heading into that void is almost like using a time machine...is she leaping back in time every time she steps into it and ends up back here, or is it seriously somehow a loop? She doesn't have a watch or her phone, so she can't really see if she's jumping back in time, but judging by her visible footprints in the snow... ]

Fascinating...

[fluorospar]

[Pessimistic, yes, but also true. It's what Selena would've done if she was in the business of kidnapping dozens of people.]

... Did nobody live here before? Did they clear out an entire town for the sake of their kidnappings?

[She doesn't like that thought at all Selena worry about yourself]

[fluorospar]

I certainly cannot blame you.

[There's a bit of humor in that statement, if only because... well, who wouldn't in a situation like this?]

But might I suggest returning to your room to look for some warmer clothing before resuming your investigation?

[fluorospar]

[There we go. At least he doesn't look like he's about to burst into tears any longer.]

Of course. It would be a shame to leave your companion out in the snow, after all.

[Also, she just has this urge to help sad puppy-like kids. It's an instinct that can't be stopped.]

Kamekichi, is it? He sounds like a good friend to you.

[Think about the good, not the bad, Urashima!!]

[fluorospar]

[What, do you make a hobby out of being kidnapped, Hinata.....]

If that is the case, I find myself concerned for you.

[That's just said rather dryly.]

But yes, it would appear so. My name is Selena. It is pleasure, Hinata, despite our unfortunate circumstances. Now, if we are going to investigate this room, we may as well do so methodically, correct? Two sets of eyes is certainly better than one.

B

[createdamonster]

E-excuse me?!

[ A...talking skeleton? Is she going insane? By all accounts, that should be scientifically impossible, so it's either a costume, or she's hallucinating from being out for so long in the freezing cold, or...

She realizes she shouldn't be so quick to write something strange off, not after hearing about jellymen, but...

The only thing weirder than a skeleton is a perverted skeleton. ]

I-I refuse to take part in your childish skeletal debauchery! Skeletons don't even have butts!

[fluorospar]

[Yeah, but as far as Selena's concerned, that's all the more reason to make sure that she holds onto it.]

... Please, hold onto it. For my sake of mind, if nothing else. I will be fine personally.

[fluorospar]

[Interesting people, Gilbert.]

Understandably so.

[There, there, worrywart Gilbert, she won't judge. Much.]

At the very least, there is no denying that your stress-relieving skills are quite worthwhile. This is delicious.

[fluorospar]

[Where's....Aselia...]

... Doubtful, then, as I myself have never heard of any place called Aselia.

[And she'd considered herself relatively well-versed in things like geography.]

Then...there is something very strange afoot.

[fluorospar]

[you're no spring flower yourself, Vegeta!!]

Well, if that is the case, I look forward to seeing as much. [beat him up, she won't stop you.] If not... well, I do hope you will at least stop punching holes in walls.

[She doesn't have a lot more than that to say, though, so she's going to just... turn to go... Vegeta why you gotta be so Vegeta.]

[fluorospar]

My ears appreciate that.

[If nothing else.]

Now. My name is Selena. I appear to have been kidnapped here. Judging by your reaction, your situation is similar to mine.