acatamods: (Default)
acatamods. ([personal profile] acatamods) wrote in [community profile] acatalepsy_logs2019-02-12 12:27 pm

welcome to the horologium.






welcome to the horologium.
Some of you know it is coming. The World Jump, the chaotic thrust into a new universe. But some of you are new, and though you know what the mission is, it is a bit . . . troubling, sitting around and waiting for something to happen. But eventually, you get a message on your watch. It shows Astoria . . . dark hair framing her features, her voice light and musical. She sounds like herself, for the first time in some time . . . that spark of determination back in her eyes.

A MESSAGE FROM YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD WITCH.
"It is time, my beloved Travelers, to go to our new destination . . . and I want you to know that I have the utmost faith in you. Akvos' loss has hurt us all, and I know that many of you doubt our mission. But please believe me when I say that you have done the best job anyone could ask of you. Akvos' destruction was not your fault . . . and to our newest members of our Circle, welcome to our journey. I can only hope that your journey here will work out to the benefit of us all."

That being said, you are journeying to the Horologium . . . it is a ship that has sent out a distress beacon. I am not sure when, or where, but I can feel great darkness, emanating from that place. I believe you all can combat what is done there, without interacting with the Void . . . so please, be safe, and I will see you all when you return."

And, just like that, there is a pull in your stomach . . . your vision blacks out and you feel the sudden sense of vertigo, a sensation of falling, and then . . . nothingness. You open your eyes, and you are suddenly waking up in the midst of . . . fog?


THE AWAKENING.
When you wake, you are greeted by metal — there’s an expanse of silver all around you. The cot you’re laying on is somewhat rigid, like a flattened wedge of cotton more than anything, encased in a capsule-like structure. Should you inspect your surroundings, you’ll find that there are three more cots in your room..or more notably, another person in the room in of itself. Depending on where you’ve been roused from your slumber, however, you’ll find that your circumstances differ.

➜ If you’ve woken up in the northeast wing of the ship, there seems to be a pool of saturated pink goo at your feet. It sticks to the bottom of your heel and collects at the very center of the room, oozing from the cracks and crevices within the metal lining of the walls. And even more notably, the goo has a particularly saccharine scent, as though it’s meant to be...consumed. Looks like you had the misfortune of waking up in the wing adjacent to the kitchen.

➜ In the northwest wing, the ship is functioning at an all time low. When you wake, the room is illuminated for a brief moment...before flickering out, only to leave you in pitch darkness. Power returns to the room intermittently and only for a few seconds at most, but it appears as though you and your newfound roommates will have to navigate the darkness if you want to leave.

➜ In the southwest wing, the fire alarm in your room has been activated for some inexplicable reason. It’s an obnoxiously loud siren that slices right through the whirring of the machinery around you — and it goes as far as to trigger the sprinklers hanging from the ceiling. Water sprays from above you, hopefully ensuring that you’ve woken up if nothing else has. It doesn’t seem to be draining either, so it may be for the best that you escape with some haste.

➜ In the southeast wing, your circumstances are for the most part rather unremarkable. An untouched room, mostly intact...until you try to open the door. It won’t budge — unless you have some form of super strength, your muscle power is rendered useless on its own. You might just have to commission someone else to help you...

Beyond your room, the word “Horologium.” stretches across the wall.

Welcome to your new home.




WHISPERS IN THE DARK.
In a way, it feels as though you’re suspended in time.

The ship is always humming, always whirring as it makes a haphazard attempt to function. The noise comes to a halt every so often, leaving you with nothing but silence and the idle creaking of the floor beneath you.

There are remarkably large, bright white doors that divide each and every wing. A circular window is positioned at the center of all 4 of these doors: but nothing can be seen through it. It’s likeness is that of a black hole’s, like someone had gone as far as to paint over it.

On every door, the same word is emblazoned in black lettering: EXIT.

Except the word itself appears to be scratched out to some degree — as though it were scrubbed out in a fit of desperation but remained no less.

When you see the door, you might be overcome with excitement. Or perhaps not. Regardless of what your reaction is like, the lights around you will dim and flicker at an alarming frequency. For a moment, it’s almost as though the gravity around you has slowed, and the hallways are becoming narrower by the second.. Voices and faces from the past emerge in your mind. You see someone you shouldn’t; they’re calling for you. They’re here with you right now, beckoning you to come closer...

If you reach the door and attempt to open it, it won’t budge. And the further you walk away from it, the more the effects will subside.

But there’s no telling if you’ll sleep well tonight.


INVESTIGATIONS
The ship is fitted to house approximately 500 people — it’s a bit of a ghost town, however, lived in but abandoned no less.

The chairs are in the mess hall aren’t aligned perfectly. The tables are a bit crooked. The lounge is lofty, but not pristine. The rooms may be barren, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that they were somehow someone else’s before they became yours. There’s an array of locked doors, varying in sizes and shapes, all of which withhold something potentially useful to you. You may be inclined to visit the lounge, the mess hall, rifle through the bedrooms . . . the ship is yours to explore.

However, how you interact with the ship is….entirely up to you. There is something to be found everywhere. Regardless of what you do, where you investigate and how, you might be tempted to look behind your shoulder.

After all, every decision you make matters...right?

(Every Player’s investigation prompt has the potential to differ greatly as your investigation will require mod input. We encourage you to ask as many questions as you would like, we are here to help and provide you with the information necessary.)

Additionally, please feel free to write up and work with your own prompts! These areas of the world are presented as jumping off points for your characters, not limitations. The idea of this world- as with all the others- is to explore -- you may use as much leeway as you want in order to come up with what your character will do.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask them back on the various threads back in the OOC post from before!
adelphoi: (🍰 ᴍᴀᴘʟᴇ)

no worries!

[personal profile] adelphoi 2019-03-05 09:27 am (UTC)(link)
[ it's certainly a friendly way of looking at it, though alisaie would not say she disagrees. she neither likes nor trusts astoria, and being tugged to and fro at her every whim with little explanation chafes alisaie deeply.

but she wants to help people. the worlds they visit - those people are in real trouble, in real pain, and she could no sooner ignore their plight than she could her own, her opinions about astoria have no bearing on her willingness to help others. ]


Neither can I. "To ignore the plight of those one might conceivably save is not wisdom—it is indolence."
adelphoi: (🍰 sʜᴏʀᴛʙʀᴇᴀᴅ)

[personal profile] adelphoi 2019-03-05 09:32 am (UTC)(link)
Yes.. exactly like that. It was personal.

[ there's no need for either of them to divulge who they heard of course, so she neither presses nor divulges, but one thing is abundantly clear.. ]

No doubt whatever answers we seek lie behind it. Or some of them, at least.
adelphoi: (🍰 ʀᴏsᴇᴛᴛᴇ)

[personal profile] adelphoi 2019-03-05 10:01 am (UTC)(link)
[ alisaie's reaction is immediate, her concern is true - she knows what she felt when she neared that door, how it seemed to dig into her mind, into her heart, to find what it wanted, and how terribly invasive it was, how vulnerable she felt.

immediately she's stepping forward to snag him by the elbow, ready and willing to yank him back to safety if need be, for she also remembered how the door attracted her just as much as it repelled her. ]


Careful.

[ she says, gently, though her grip is firm. ]
adelphoi: (🍰 ᴇsᴘʀᴇssᴏ)

[personal profile] adelphoi 2019-03-05 10:06 am (UTC)(link)
[ oh....... well whatever!!

bumping her purposefully to sabotage her game would most assuredly end in his death, so it's a good thing that he does not. he can make wise decisions sometimes. amazing.

anyway, she bites her lip and doubles down, because taunting her is only gonna make her more competitive!!!!! hissing through her teeth, she smacks the buttons hard, obliterating an entire string of ships in one fell swoop. ]


Try harder, Argentum.

[ SUCK IT, PROMPTO ]
adelphoi: (🍰 ᴘᴇᴀɴᴜᴛ ʙᴜᴛᴛᴇʀ)

[personal profile] adelphoi 2019-03-05 10:08 am (UTC)(link)
[ look she's just trying to say she will love and accept him no matter what, even if he gets chubs again and acquires a dad bod. so long as he keeps his arms toned, at least..

also, i mean maybe they have calories in eorzea, but it's more fun to assume they don't. ]


What is a calories?
fuck1ngusernam3: (D: ?)

[personal profile] fuck1ngusernam3 2019-03-05 01:43 pm (UTC)(link)
[Hank goes stiff, eyes wide, then looks down, pursing his lips and sucking on his teeth just for some little gesture to distract himself from how much of an overreaction that was. It's just, after about a million years mostly avoiding every little touch on the off chance his stupid power will take the chance to pass along how shitty he feels, even a casual, short little touch on his arm, it's...

It's stupid. Fuck it. He follows Barabas in the room, sitting on the floor and watching his hands rub up and down over his knees. Even if it had turned on Barabas probably would of only felt the stuff going on in his head - not the headache. The jittery, miserable... whatever. And it wasn't even for a second. It's fine.]


Uh, so. Family drama. Go for it.
fuck1ngusernam3: (come on dude)

[personal profile] fuck1ngusernam3 2019-03-05 02:59 pm (UTC)(link)
[Hank flinches away, his whole face scrunched up, gritting his teeth.]

Jesus, fuck, can you just, keep it the fuck down?

[He didn't mean for his voice to crack a little there but it does, and he can't bring himself to give a shit.]

There'd better be... I don't know, gold and jewels and some high-dollar vibrators in there, to make it worth shouting like that.

[He doesn't move to look. Again, can't bring himself to give a shit. Maybe in a minute.]
fuck1ngusernam3: (wt actual f)

[personal profile] fuck1ngusernam3 2019-03-05 05:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Eugh.

[Hank makes a face. If the guy did let himself sound full-on grouchy old man about that, Hank would get it. Grouchy old man is a language Hank's been fluent in for years, and if there ever was a call to use it it'd be for something like this.]

Should I- I should apologize, shouldn't I. That sounds like something you wouldn't wanna be reminded of. Especially for- um, I don't know how it is where you're from but in my, uh- in my whatever, androids don't really do that well with the whole emotion thing.
mollymocked: (⚔ a vision of the one i see)

[personal profile] mollymocked 2019-03-05 07:16 pm (UTC)(link)
You are really asking the wrong person, friend.

[And then he gets an idea. He swats at Ren's shoulder a bit to stop him.] I have an idea. I have an idea. [He cups his hands around his mouth and shouts:] If anyone around can point us to the bloody lounge, we'd be very grateful!

[Oooh. There's an echo. Neat. He looks gleefully excited about that.] ...I've never done that in a place that has an echo before.
mollymocked: (⚔ got your head hung low)

[personal profile] mollymocked 2019-03-05 08:16 pm (UTC)(link)
It has to be something I can actually use. I can't wield a fucking warhammer properly, so I can't get a warhammer, and yes, I did try. Trust me, the stick was not my first choice. This was just as close as I could get to something even a little bit effective.

[Ironically, he can't even pull a glaive out of his chest, which is awful and kind of hilarious in a deeply awful sense.] I don't suppose the witch gave you anything deeply inconvenient? I'd like to feel better about this.

[He'd also take useful at this point, but schadenfreude is fun.]
courtmagic: (portrait.)

[personal profile] courtmagic 2019-03-06 01:43 am (UTC)(link)
And if I said that I did?

[he grins a little, thinking back on moments that were nothing but memory now.]
courtmagic: (uh.)

[personal profile] courtmagic 2019-03-06 01:47 am (UTC)(link)
No, go...get a rope and something heavy to tie to it. I think I know how I can get down, if we can get those two things. And take the staff with you as well.

[it's probably taller than Waver, his staff, but he's thinking and making a plan.]
dadandgone: (Are You Kidding Me?)

SORRY THIS IS SO LATE

[personal profile] dadandgone 2019-03-06 01:52 am (UTC)(link)
[Maes pauses. He's learned to not be dismissive of others in his time here. There are people on board who are certainly more experienced in certain environments. He does glance back towards the hallway, but for the moment the girl has his full attention.]

Okay...I won't. But what did you see? What happened?

[He keeps his voice calm, but he's very much a man who wants answers.]
courtmagic: (steady.)

[personal profile] courtmagic 2019-03-06 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
I do, but I haven't tried my hand at it in a while.

[he's been too busy with his fake internet personas.]

Poetry is....you gotta be in the right mindset for it.
courtmagic: (pause.)

[personal profile] courtmagic 2019-03-06 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
Exactly.

[what's present in front of them was the bigger worry.]

At least we're not swimming through the air anymore, right?
teratias: (02. Excited)

[personal profile] teratias 2019-03-06 01:59 am (UTC)(link)
Tie it to the heavy thing, tie the rope to yourself, and climb up it?

[Waver doesn't stick around to see if he's guessed right. He's running off, staff propped over his shoulder. It's an indicator of Waver's state that he isn't even freaking out about holding!! Merlin's!! staff!!! Being trusted with it!!

It takes a little bit of time for Waver to return, but he has rope over his other shoulder, and on a little cart he has a heavy looking hunk of metal. The cart gets parked, and the rope is already tied to the metal. There is a very inelegant movement (and noise) as the metal is dumped up the cart.]


Got it!
courtmagic: (118.)

[personal profile] courtmagic 2019-03-06 02:03 am (UTC)(link)
Not this specific one, but I've been attached to the Circle for a few months now. All kinds of oddities can occur, I think - that's the nature of such wide spanning magic. And it's what we've been signed up to handle.

[saving worlds. it's not so terrible a job, morals wise.]
courtmagic: (process.)

[personal profile] courtmagic 2019-03-06 02:05 am (UTC)(link)
Do you think that, or do you know that?

[there's a careful distinction.]
dadandgone: (Now You've Gone Too Far)

[personal profile] dadandgone 2019-03-06 02:05 am (UTC)(link)
[That's what Maes had been worried about.]

Well, I'd hypothesize we're dealing with at least something humanoid, if nothing else, considering the shape of the beds and the fact that we can breathe here. Although, I suppose that could technically be one of the malfunctions. Still, everything I've seen so far still seems to indicate something more similar to us than something different.

[Of course, he's only pulling from what he's heard from others and the two worlds he's visited so far. Maes raises an eyebrow, honing on a particular part of Shiro's thoughts on the exit doors.]

A trap for what? I mean, do you think it was put in place for us or just a trap for anyone on board the ship...like that might explain what happened to the crew.
dadandgone: (Default)

[personal profile] dadandgone 2019-03-06 02:45 am (UTC)(link)
[Maes nods. So he had Shiro to blame for the scare as well.]

I'll catch up with him later. Shiro and his friends know a lot more about tech than I do. I have a feeling I'm not going to be of much use in the research department here.

[He'd gotten some experience on the robot world, but it had been awhile and that had mostly been guess work and a lot of help from the others.]

Right...actually I've seen you wear that outfit quite a bit. If I'm around I could always try to summon them for you. I've been working on teleporting items to myself. But, yeah, let's avoid that if possible.
foundafamily: (pic#7645517)

[personal profile] foundafamily 2019-03-06 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
[Firo pauses, his internal musings probably matching up closely enough with Quentin's because his conclusion is a sober nod.]

Probably. It means shit's already hit the fan here.

[They've come in at the end or the middle of something, it feels like--which he can only assume means that the next wave of trouble will be worse. A cheery thought.

He touches his forehead in a pained grimace that's only partially feigned. Between their impending doom and weird magic-science mumbo jumbo, the latter is a more palatable topic. But only barely.]


Sheesh, I'm sorry I asked. Is everything that confusing where you're from?
foundafamily: (pic#6109478)

[personal profile] foundafamily 2019-03-06 03:00 am (UTC)(link)
[Firo meets Keith's eyes and gives a firm nod of acknowledgment.]

So if we could break down that door, do you think that'd make it better or worse?

[No door, no problem, right? Unless the real problem is what's on the other side of the door and breaking it down would just unleash it.]
foundafamily: (Thinking for once?)

[personal profile] foundafamily 2019-03-06 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
[Firo blinks a few times at Hank's reaction--is he somehow hungover? But then where'd he get the booze and why hasn't he shared it?

Whatever. He shakes his head to dismiss Hank's objections.]


What? Come on, it's more useful than all that.

[He doesn't even know what that last item is, Hank, but it sounds as useless as the others. Knife drawn, he slips through the opening into the storage room to get a better look at their loot. This means that there's some distance to modulate his raised voice, fortunately for Hank.]

There's food, and it looks like bandages and stuff too. Knowing how this stuff goes, we'll probably need it.
lonered: (s42)

[personal profile] lonered 2019-03-06 03:08 am (UTC)(link)
Right. If it doesn't, one of my teammates is kind of a genius at anything technological. ...two of them are, actually.

[Keith runs with some frighteningly smart people. He looks back up in time for that smile though. An outlet?

Yeah, okay. That makes sense. Power is... well. He can't tell what state power is in exactly, but it's probably a good start anyway, if this guy needs to recharge.]


Yeah, of course. Let's find an outlet. Maybe in the mess hall.
lonered: (s727)

[personal profile] lonered 2019-03-06 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
...I'm not sure. Is something about the door trying to scare us off?

[That could be it, right?

But far less reassuringly,]
Or is the door holding back something that's starting to leak through anyway.