recolle | JANUARY EVENT LOG

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JANUARY EVENT LOG

EVENT

Auld Lang Syne
The city of Recollé...it's a new year and new changes are around the corner. Are you ready?

I.

The nights are long and cold during the winter months. Residents of the city will notice that the sun sets on January 2nd at its usual time of around 5:30pm as the street lights flicker on. Neon signs illuminate the busiest areas of the city and the evening continues on as usual.

The next morning, however, is a little different. The city is quiet and still, the street lamps dying down around 7am and the sounds of morning traffic filtering in from off the streets. But the sun isn't out. The sun appears to be gone and there's no natural light source visible in the city. Those brave enough to venture outside with a flashlight or other light source will only have to glance at the sky to see a large opaque dome enveloping the entire city, faintly reflective in appearance but blocking the outside world. It still feels warm enough outside. It isn't hard to breathe, and the flora and fauna seem to be responding just as naturally as always. But the city of Recollé is pitch black except for the light citizens shine themselves.

The dome stretches incredibly high over the city, but anyone who can get close enough to it via ground or air will find that they can briefly see themselves in the surface. Upon touching the dome it appears to be smooth and almost rubbery in texture despite a shell-like shield appearance. Soundproof and unable to provide clues to what's happening outside of the city the dome is also harmless for those who wish to touch it and examine it, causing it to bounce a few times under light impact. However, do be careful not to trigger its defense mode! Should anyone attempt to damage the dome itself, it will light up with a bright, sickening blue color for three seconds before delivering a shock to its attacker and rendering them unconscious for an hour. Perhaps you'll get lucky and you'll only deal with the too-hot-to-touch surface that self-activates when the dome is threatened, or the spikes that appear at the source of impact. The dome seems to have a temperament of its own. It may be best to treat it the way you want to be treated.

II.

While NPCs comment on the eclipse-like weather, they seem to be going about their usual business and expect the rest of the city to follow along. Classes for the Recollé school district begin on January 8th and employees across the city's businesses are expected to be at work on time and work through these conditions.

On the other hand, there are some workers who seem to have completed their job and have abandoned their worksite for the time being. Some citizens may remember that the old subway system has been under construction for nearly a year now. Others may remember exploring the tunnels that run below and some may even remember certain facilities underground. With the darkness shrouding the city it's easier than ever for anyone to slip into the tunnels...especially given the soft yellow light that seems to illuminate the entrance leading from the city to the rails underneath.

For those up for a little adventure, or just curious to follow the light (or hell, maybe you ended up down here on accident), the light will guide you for roughly twenty-five feet before it dies down again. You're allowed to turn back, of course. There's nothing stopping you. But as explorers venture further into the tunnels they'll hear the echos of a bustling transportation hub and the sound of subway cars moving along tracks a few tunnels over.

Though the tunnels may be dark and empty, this doesn't mean they're without danger. Similar to another tunnel previously discovered, vines and roots will come to life out of the walls to stop travelers. The red glowing eyes follow, but this time they're accompanied by the forms of large rat-like creatures that rush forward to delay travelers further. Bats echo in the caves even if they can't be seen and while the tracks closest to the city appear battered and broken, they remain whole and stable the further you walk into the dark.

Some citizens may have old blueprints or maps to guide them, but they'll find that after a certain point even these won't help as the rail lines lead off the originally discovered paths. It'll take a good sense of navigation or sheer dumb luck to find your way...but where are you going? Is it worth the journey?

III.
Lucky for you, there are plenty of stops along the way. Or, at least, there are plenty of things to explore down below for anyone brave enough to excursion and get past the defeatable plants and rats. At varying points the main path of the tunnel splits off into other rails and destinations making it difficult to map out exactly where these things are going and where they'll spit you out. On occasion, however, you will find yourself facing an abandoned subway car. The lights of the car and the surrounding area are a washed out yellow glow, eerie in appearance and yet enticing all the same.

For explorers who would begin comparing notes, they will come to find there five cars in total, though some seem to be moving on their own. One car appears to be an abandoned passenger car scattered with the remains of life lost. The luggage of vacationers can be opened and ransacked for clues but the newspapers, clothing and items appear to be personal in nature, dating back at least fifty years ago and mirroring the world news and trends from that time period.

A second car is a sleeper car featuring rows of beds and musty sheets, also scattered with the belongings of people who no longer exist.

A third car appears to be a little more useful. With a full kitchen in the back this dining car has everything you need to dine in luxury...sort of. Some covered platters of spoiled food sit out on tables, but some digging around will reveal food and drinks from the modern era including from new establishments such as Big Bang Burger and Freshens brands. These are safe to eat if you're desperate, but they may come with side effects including dizziness, temporary loss of taste, temporary loss of sight, and sudden transparency. The effects will only last for an hour and will even be in effect if the food is removed from the car itself.

If entertainment is more your speed, you may wish to try and find the fourth car filled with old instruments, records, audio equipment, and a strange silver screen at the front of the interior. Stay on the car long enough and the doors will suddenly slam shut, a song playing on the speakers overhead in a crackled, muffled tune. The car begins to move along the tracks and you (and whoever you're with) are along for the ride. When the song ends, the screen may be of interest to you. It flickers to life even without being plugged into anything and a scene begins to play out. ...what is this? It looks like something you've seen before. One of your already regained memories is on display for the entire car to see, and despite being with few other people you may hear the reactions of unseen company. There are the sounds of laughter echoing through the car if the memory is particularly funny, or the sounds of sniffles and sobs if it's a real tearjerker. How are you going to explain that one to your companion?

Oh well. Maybe you won't have to. Maybe you took another route and came face to face with the last car down below. Unlike the other four cars, this one is completely empty. It's a skeleton of a car, lights blinking and broken and the interior ripped to shreds. You can get closer to examine it if you wish! There's nothing to be found inside. But this particular car doesn't like to be touched; the moment anyone lays a hand on it, the engine whirrs to life and the lights focus, headlights narrowing like eyes as the train begins to move right toward you, two metal appendage-like features springing out from the sides acting as its arms. The arms will make an attempt to grab anyone close by, but even if you dodge the train will prepare itself for combat.

You can try to fight the car if you think you can! It can be taken out with enough damage so long as you can get enough hits in before the train charges again. But you may be better off trying to outrun it and disappearing into another tunnel even as it gives chase and follows for a while.

IV.
It's been a long arduous journey for most of you who have ventured this far. You've fought some things, faced some others, and maybe even made some friends along the way. Fear not. The reward may be worth it if you consider a source of light a reward. No matter which tunnel you find yourself stumbling out of or which car you're on they all meet in the center at a grand central hub. The lights are bright down here and though there are no signs of other people there's plenty to look at.

Moving past the trains and the tunnels reveals the beginnings of an underground shopping mall with pop-up shops, vending machines and other fancy kiosks. Some shops appear to be older than others with clothes, toys and goods dating from the 50s all the way through the 80s and 90s. Modern shops appear to be on the rise, too, and you may even find items from Tanaka's Shopping Channel or the Moogle Shop down here with a little looking.

Most importantly, however, there's a shop at the very end of the mall with a blue hue surrounding it and the Retrospec symbol stamped on the sign above the door. The inside gives the appearance of a travel agency or a real estate office stocked with blueprints upon blueprints of the current buildings in Recollé. There are miniature travel guides as well, though some are more faded than others. "Welcome to Rapture", "Welcome to Tokyo", "Welcome to Gaia", "Welcome to New York", "Welcome to Egypt", the list goes on and on. Some of the guides are blank, but those who have regained several of their memories will find that their home guides will have information that corresponds with their memories and nothing more, landmarks they may find familiar and other facts they know to be true. There will be no new information found in these guides that travelers do not already have.

Lastly, there's a large book on the table: "Welcome to Recollé." Flipping through this book details the history of the city and the story of how the four founders traveled far to settle on Earth to create this city decades ago. The city was originally to be a safe haven, a central hub much like this subway station, until the Retrospec project could reform everything. However, the city became a home to the founders, the founding families, and others that were rescued throughout the galaxy who'd lost their planets. The book goes on to explain how Retrospec created their original headquarters in a bunker in the woods hidden from prying eyes so they could do their job with utmost secrecy. Retrospec was never to be looked into by ordinary people and the original company had less than 10 employees working for it.

This subway station, it says, used to be the way that travelers from other worlds would arrive to the city of Recollé and a way that they could leave to explore other parts of the planet at their leisure until the system was shut down sometime in the 1970s due to the collapsing of several tunnels.

There are several pages at the end of the book, too, but the text is illegible. Instead, in bold letters written in sharpie are the words "LET'S REWRITE HISTORY" and dated 2007.

The guides can be taken out of the office, but the book is bolted down to the table. Photos can be taken of the information though.

At the end of the day, 6pm sharp, a loud electronic recording will echo through the mall: the last train is now boarding. Please make your way to the station to return to the city of Recollé. Returning to the station at 6pm (and only at 6pm), you'll find a brand new subway car fitted with modern accommodations and fixtures. The train will depart at 6:30pm and return all travelers to the start by 7pm. When the last passenger is off of the train, it will begin to move backwards and take off to return to its start point.

Weird.

BONUS.
Meanwhile out in the city it's just as dark as ever. The dome blocks out light for days on end with little sign of letting up and leaving citizens to figure out their own methods to shed some light on the situation. Several shops begin to provide discount pricing on flashlights and candles. For those brave enough to enter the woods there are plenty of dead branches to carry back and start fires around the city and in fireplaces.

No matter which way you accomplish it, however, all new sources of light produce a prism effect. The colorful lights won't appear with street lamps or storefronts but the more creative the light source the brighter the colors will be. On the other hand as soon as those lights turn out again the rainbow disappears. With enough teamwork, citizens may just be able to generate enough light to brighten the inside of the dome with colors but it will take a little extra thinking and a few extra hands.

Welcome to

recolle's January's event!

The prompts are simply loose guidelines for you guys to play with and make up your own fun adventures for the entire month of January! You may also create your own logs or inbox threads based on these prompts. Any questions you have regarding this event may be directed to the mod comment here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I-I didn't have anything else that'd be useful.

[And he thought he could handle it. And he's a bit of a doormat, let's face it]

The earthquake thing was sort of useful. [ But also vetoed because that was deadlier than he would have liked. ]

What else can you do? We'll think of something that'll work.

U-Um...I can cast spells of water, ice, air, and lightning. Oh, and I can do some other stuff like make glowing spheres of light, moonbeams, and uh...send a pulse through the fabric of space-time?

[ All of those sound infinitely useful, what is this "I didn't have anything else that'd be useful" bs ]

First of all, I don't think we should mess with space-time. Second, ice— [ He gestures to the walls on either side of them. ] If you could freeze the vines and rats to the sides, we can pass through unhindered. The ice will melt in time, after we're gone, and nothing has to die.

[Come on Minato why don't you want to play with gravitational waves IT'D BE FUN!!]

Oh good thinking...except, currently all I can really do with the ice is make blades of ice. Is that a problem?

[ From what he can tell, Elliot's powers are unnecessarily destructive and he has no reason to believe that those gravitational waves won't rip apart the entire universe. Case in point: ice blades that are definitely a problem and Minato has to close his eyes and think hard about how to make this work.

How about this: ]

Are you able to layer the blades of ice where there's nothing around, drench the rats with water when they come, and then summon a gust of wind to freeze them to the walls?

[Yeah that's a fair assessment. And to think his powers are common in his world - no wonder Erebonia is such a mess]

I...dunno. That sounds really complicated and I've never tried anything like that before..

[ It's three steps and Minato can feel his frustration surging at why can't he be the one with magical powers and the lack of inhibition to just try. Because they're underground, because it'd be dangerous if something went wrong, there are a lot of excuses he can come up with and ignore if it were just himself. ]

We could do a test run to see if you can link your spells quickly enough. Or you can come up with a better plan.

[Minato you're talking about fully realized Avatar level of element control here, okay, its not easy. Also this would be so much easier if you let him murder the rats with his powers like his JRPG Sky Goddess intended okay.

He seems to hesitate, because he really doesn't think this is a good idea. His magic wasn't meant to be cast quickly. It took time, energy and a good amount of control to cast off each one perfectly. Maybe that wouldn't be a problem for an experienced mage, but Elliot wasn't really that. He's only been doing magic since October, and he's only had the ice spell for a week. But it wasn't like he had any other ideas.]

I-

Yeah, I-I'll try a test run.

[He takes a step back and focuses his power. It takes a moment to conjure enough energy, but then there's a flash of blue light and several blades of ice appear in the air- right before they fly straight into the wall, impaling it. That's one spell.

But it's pretty clear that Elliot's starting to struggle as he goes straight into the second spell. His expression is a little pained as a headache starts, and when the water starts to appear? It's a lot less steady than the ice blades- unable to form into a ball of water and instead just as a sloppy mass of water. It flies to the floor a safe distance away, making a splash a foot away from Elliot's intended target spot.

It's the third spell when it goes really wrong. Elliot starts to pale and shake. The headache becomes even stronger, and it shows on his face. He keeps forcing himself to pull through, and a blue light does flash as a whirling mass of condense air forms in front of him. The winds of the mass whip around at high, erratic speeds as they glow green with magic to make them visible.

Except Elliot has no real sense of control anymore, it's too hard to focus with the massive headache. The spell once it grows stronger than he can control? It breaks free and goes shooting straight at only target in the area: Minato. It won't kill him, but it's gonna hurt.]

[ Why can Elliot not just wave his staff around and make magic happen?? He made it look so easy way back when Minato was just sitting in his kitchen listening to him sing. He was going to joke about playing the part of the rat in their test run, but that happens anyways—-

What little breath Minato is able to keep in his lungs gets knocked out of him with a swift punch in the gut, strong enough to lift his feet from the ground and send him flying what feels like meters. He vaguely feels something hit his back— the floor? no, it's the ceiling, because a moment later, his stomach plummets as he drops and hits the floor proper. The shock of it all delays the pain, and he opens his eyes to see the dust in the corridor past by with the rest of the wind, shards of ice broken down into crystals that pepper his face with cold.

And then the pain washes over him and he wishes he had blacked out instead of being left here, curling in on himself and clenching his teeth through the pain until it passes, like how he's always dealt. ]

[His headache's splitting enough that it takes a moment for Elliot to even realize what happen. He's too busy gripping his head and leaning on his staff for support. He really regrets not bringing any aspirin with him ugh.

But then he notices that Minato is not nearby. He looks around and sees Minato lying on the ground. Oh no- the spell, he had his eyes shut when it shut off from all the wind did it-

He'll rush over to him]

M-Minato?! I'm so sorry- are you- [Obviously not from the way he's curling in on himself.] Oh no...I screwed up, I'm sorry.

[He tries to draw up energy for a healing spell but- the headache's so bad he can't even feel the energy properly. Instead he just winches and holds his head again] Sh-Shoot...

[ Maybe don't talk when he's trying to die... But maybe this is better; he tries to focus on Elliot's words instead of the dull pain of his chest that makes it hard to draw breath, and the sharper, more throbbing pain of his back and knees where they hit the ceiling and ground respectively.

It hurts, but his mind remains stubbornly detached from it all, mind floating somewhere between "I gave the order, so there's nothing to be sorry for" and "I wonder if there's any painkillers in that first aid kit?"

He doesn't move and doesn't open his eyes, but since he assumes Elliot can move and see- ]

...Am I bleeding? Any exposed bone?

[ If he's got head trauma or broken bones that he just can't feel, he's not going to risk moving. He looks fine? He's fine. Any bleeding may be internal but outwardly, he's fine. ]

[No you don't get to die Minato. You haven't reversed all your social links yet.]

N-No, I don't see anything.

[That doesn't mean he's without injury, and Elliot knows that. He rubs his forehead again]

S-Sorry, I tried healing you, but my head hurts too much to focus. B-But I'll try again in a few minutes!

It's too bad we fed the crackers to the rats...

Edited 2018-01-18 05:53 (UTC)

[ That's good enough for him. While he doesn't jump to his feet right away, he lets his legs extend a little and body unwind, giving his ankles a little shake- his elbows, his wrists. It's muscle pain and likely bruises, but nothing sharp and obviously broken, so after a few more seconds, he drags himself up onto his knees, then his feet, careful to keep close to the wall in case he needs it for support. ]

Magic gives you a headache? And you can't... heal the headache?

[ That's probably a loophole Elliot's already thought about before, though. ]

...Never mind. I'll be fine without healing. Where's my... bow...

[ Over there. On the ground. Hey Elliot, you know how the bow was holding a flaming piece of cloth? Rather than putting it out, the wind only served to fan the flames and guess what's on fire.

E v e r y t h i n g. ]

Edited (words or something, this one makes more sense) 2018-01-19 04:48 (UTC)

O-Overusing magic does, apparently. I-It's really not meant to be cast non-stop like that, or I'm not experienced enough to handle it...

[I NEED TO BE A HIGHER LEVEL TO DO DOUBLE CASTING. Or have Machias around. Except wait, does he smell smoke? He turns his head to see- and then scrambles back with a yell]

Ah-! Oh no!

[ It'd be really great if Minato knew how to summon his Persona and ice away the fire. It's be even better if he were in the condition to run away without feeling like his legs will splinter with every step. ]

...Yeah, okay. We're retreating.

[Get good protag]

[He makes a little whimper] Good thinking.

Can you move?

No choice but to move.

[ He's used to ignoring pain, so he can drag himself along fine, just not as quickly as he would like. ]

The fire will consume all the oxygen down here. It might snuff out before we suffocate.

[ Or the other way around will happen. Elliot has very good reason not to like fire. ]

Or it'll be the other way around...

[Yeah. He knows all the good reasons why not to like fire.

He doesn't leave Minato behind. Instead he'll offer his hand to help tug him along. He's not strong enough to carry Minato by any means, but he can at least help keep him moving]

[ Minato gives the offered hand a look, and only takes it after a moment's consideration. He doesn't hold onto it as he runs/jogs/walks, but instead, he finds the pressure point on Elliot's hand, in between the thumb and pointer finger, that's supposed to help headaches when he massages it.

SORRY THIS IS WEIRD but he really needs Elliot's magic back, this is the only feasible way he can see them making it out alive. ]

[YEAH. THIS IS WEIRD. And Elliot does not know what Minato is trying to do because he never studied things like pressure points, so it seems all the more random]

Wh-What are you doing?

[Minato do you not know how to hold hands??]

[ He has held exactly three people's hands in his life, and one of those hands is family and doesn't count. ]

Running.

[ Sort of. He's trying. ]

I mean with my hand!

Shiatsu. Promoting the flow of ki through the meridians.

[ He's 100% sure Elliot knows what these words mean, so he doesn't bother to explain. Does it matter? No, just keep running away from the fire. Remember what's important here. ]

Uh....? What?

[Look he's moving from the fire, but you're still not helping clear up his confusion!

On the bright side, his headache is starting to go away, not that he notices yet]

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