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.  INVESTIGATIONSThe 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! |
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acatalepsy_logs2019-02-12 12:27 pm
ii
Nonetheless, a skull flying towards him prompts him out of his own head enough that he catches it (if with a slight fumble before he manages). He turns it around towards himself, tilting it up and down as if it might reveal some incredible secret if he moves it around the right way.
It's only then that he properly blinks up towards the rest of the room. He'd seen it when he came in, of course, but he's avoiding that in favour of tilting his head a little as he looks at the clawmarks and old coppery residue smeared across the walls.]
...Horror movie set? [His tone is exactly as absent-minded as his expression. He knows exactly what actually probably went down in here, but as far as he's concerned, there's going to be more than enough people being serious about it. He'd prefer to distract himself from thinking about the finer points too hard.]
no subject
Smacks the skull out of his hands. ]
People died.
[ She sounds pretty blase about that though, like she doesn't even really care. ]
They probably killed each other– better watch your back, no telling what a place like this'll do to the rest of us.
no subject
Isn't that disrespectful to the dead, then...? [His tone is only marginally less absent-minded, as if he's reluctantly having to direct his focus temporarily. He doesn't actually sound bothered by her behaviour, though...or the implication that this could happen to their group, either.] Mmm, well, if there's no telling then it's best not to worry about it until it happens, right? Unless you know something we could do about it...
[Ren's firmly of the camp of "don't worry about things unless they're right in your face or you already know how to prepare for them". This doesn't seem like the kind of thing they could easily guard against, so to his eye they could be more productive focusing their thought on other things.
Actually saying that requires him to be willing to reveal that he's not as dense as he likes to pretend to be, though.]
no subject
[ Being the obnoxious and needlessly jerky individual that she is, as you can imagine she does not actually apologize.
Zero kicks up the skull, bouncing it between her feet and knees the way one might play with a soccer ball.
And then she kicks it straight against the wall. It rattles and ricochets off of it before landing on the floor with a clatter.]
All we can do is look out for ourselves. People have turned on each other for less– and not starving to death is better than most reasons.
[ A shrug. ]
Unless you can think of something even better to murder over.
no subject
Mmm, well, it depends a lot on the kinds of people, doesn't it...? Some people will do that sort of thing for power...or some might do it just because they're afraid of something. I think looking for something "better" to murder over is underestimating the way people will react to small things sometimes...don't you think?
[The actual words coming out of his mouth are standing at a rather strong contrast to the innocent, airheaded sort of tone he's still keeping. In a situation like this, he's not going to keep his facade strongly enough that he's completely useless to bounce ideas off, but he's probably not going as deeply into the subject of human reaction as he could.]
no subject
[ She gives the mess of bones one last glance, like she's trying to decide if she wants to desecrate them anymore.
Zero decides she doesn't so she turns her attention back to him. ]
What's the smallest, pettiest thing you can think of that you'd actually kill someone over? Can be anywhere from betrayal to someone looked at you wrong. Whatever your limits are!
no subject
[Rather absently, as he's talking, he wanders over to one of the giant gouge marks on the wall, and runs his fingers over it as if curious. It really does look like something out of a horror movie.] I don't know that assuming it was just people killing each other is that good an idea, though...
[People would have to try pretty hard to make tears like that in a spaceship wall, but the more concerning thing is the total lack of any evidence of anything else here, because then the real question is where whatever caused those marks is now.]
no subject
[ She watches him trave the wall and offers little more than a shrug in response. ]
This probably wasn't people. If anything it was whatever the fuck is making those noises–
[ Zero stomps her foot once. ]
– down there. But I'm willing to bet at least a couple of these s.o.b's killed each other.. whether to survive or because they just lost it.
[ Because that's always what happens. There were few guarantees in this world but people screwing one another over was definitely one of them. ]
no subject
She has a point about the gouges potentially being from what's on the lower floors, though her follow-up makes him give a lengthy hum, somewhere between doubtful and tracing the edge of amused.]
You don't really think very much of people, do you...? If they were fighting something that could do this, it wouldn't really make much sense to turn on each other to survive, don't you think?
[Ren's familiar with the opposite form of human response to impending danger, which is banding together to try and get rid of it in as spectacular fashion as possible. Though his first thought besides that is that there's probably a reason Zero is so unimpressed with humans.]