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
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Still, what's most important right now is that she's okay, she's comfortable, and that she's safe. ]
Don't think about. L-let's just...get away from here.
[ She might not want to get on her feet again so soon, but something about this doorway just...makes his skin crawl. They need to get away from it.
Softly: ]
I've got you.
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somehow she thinks that there is no way that they will solve the mystery of this ship without addressing whatever is behind that door, but it isn't something that one or two people should look into alone - it feels far too dangerous. they will have to investigate it, and soon, but not right now, not with only the two of them.
shaken and trembling, alisaie nods and rises to her feet with her hands holding to his arms. ]
A-aye..
[ her gaze flicks back down the hallway again toward the door, but then immediately away again. ]
We shall have to.. look into it soon.
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Yeah. Soon. When we have more of an idea what the hell it is.
[ Prompto is usually one to YOLO into just about anything, but not this. He still feels cold inside, just from being near that thing. ]
...Did you see something?
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No..
[ she says, and it's true, and she could leave it at that but this is prompto, and keeping the truth from him won't help anything. ]
But I heard.. my grandfather's voice.
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Once she's sitting, kneels in front of her, peering up into her face with abject concern, one hand lifting to brush over her cheek. ]
...again? [ He swallows. If he had stayed near the door any longer to further feel its pull, he can hazard a guess who he would have heard. ] Th-this...all this just won't leave him alone, will it?
[ The rift, and now this. It's unfair. ]
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It is not him, it is me.
[ she says, lifting her hand to the one at his face to hold it for a moment before coaxing it down to her lap, and slipping her fingers into his. ]
He is often on my mind.
[ and things like this - like this door, and the rift, they probe people, they search your mind and heart for weaknesses, for the soft parts of a person, things that can easily be manipulated. if her grandfather is what these things take from her, then that says quite a bit about just how far she still has to go in accepting his passing.
at last she shakes her head, and offers him a weary smile. ]
But you needn't worry about it. I am fine.
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His hand tightens in hers before he slips up to sit on the bunk next to her, chin dipped down and thoughtful. ]
I know. You're always so strong... [ He bumps his shoulder against her own affectionately. ] But you know, even if you weren't okay...that'd be okay. Okay?
[ Clumsily though he might have worded it, he means that. She's ever encouraged him to be honest about his feelings, and so of course he will do the same for her. ]
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Come now, it would be disastrous.
[ she says playfully, though a part of her.. believes it. alisaie has never been good at showing weakness, neither physically nor emotionally, and even with prompto it is not so simple as letting her guard down, and she is often playing at strength she doesn't feel even with him. granted, he is one of the scant few that she can show even a little weakness to, more even than she can show to her brother, but still it is not easy. it will never be easy. ]
But yes, I know.
[ the words float on a soft sigh. ]
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'S long as you know.
[ His thumb moves over her knuckles, gentle and assuring, before he speaks again. ]
D'you...think that door is really a way out of here?
[ ...But if they're in space, why would they want to exit the ship anyway? ]
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I don't know.
[ she says honestly, her gaze flickering back toward the hallway that had led to that terrible door. even this far from it, the feeling still lingers like a sticky film she can't rub away. ]
Whether or not it is a way out, it is no doubt an important key to unlocking the mysteries of this place, and what has become of its peoples.
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[ Isn't that just the way things are? They always have to journey into the greatest peril for the most important reasons. There's never a key item just sitting out on a platter, nice as that might be.
As he squeezes her hand in his, his brows draw together in concern. He's been thinking a lot about that, too, and how different this world is from the others they have been to. Even if the citizens of El Minha, Struxta, and Akvos hadn't always been happy to see them, they had always been there. But this ship...is so eerily quiet. Who were they here to save? ]
I keep wonderin' about that...why Astoria would send us here, of all places. I mean, is there even anyone left here for us to save?
[ Or are they...too late? ]
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I hope so. There must be, mustn't there?
[ there is clearly more to this than meets the eye, and while sure, they should probably save the ship itself, more important is the life it once carried - and might still carry, somewhere deep in the bowels of the ship. they've hardly put a dent in exploring its expanse. who knows, mayhaps the ship's denizens are beyond that very corridor, jealously guarded by whoever or whatever holds domain over that terrible door? ]
While this ship may be important, I cannot imagine why she would expend the resources to bring us here for something so trivial. Unless there is something vital here that we are meant to find..
[ .. behind that door, probably. ]
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They've got a long road ahead of them, in any case. It's important that they find moments like these and cling to them. ]
There's gotta be something...maybe the crew is still out there somewhere. We just...can't get to them yet.
[ Yeah, they're probably behind that door. ]
We've still got a lot of rooms to look in before we head through that door, anyway.
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[ even probable. this ship is positively vast, they've barely explored even a small part of it - if something has threatened the people here, it would make sense for them to have retreated.
but speculation is only that - speculation. for now, they can only guess. ]
But.. yes, we've quite a lot of ground to cover.
[ still, she has a feeling that they'll have no choice but to confront it again, sooner rather than later. ]
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You hungry? There's some fresh, delicious food paste with your name on it in the kitchen.
[ How appetizing... ]
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[ WHY are we back to the FOOD GOOP. she had enough of that several months in struxta, and followed that up with the raw seafood diet in akvos - why can't they travel somewhere that has normal food?? she's super salty about this, a hangry alisaie is nobody's friend, not even her own. ]
But I suppose so..
[ maybe konoha left some goodies behind in the kitchen.. ]
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Jumping up to his feet, he tugs on her hand that's still joined with his own. ]
Alright, up 'n' at 'em! Let's get you gooped up!
[ Is he making it better. ]
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it's a good thing he's tugging at her hands, because she needs the impetus to climb to her feet, and even then she groans low in her throat, her mouth turned down in a deep scowl. ]
Mayhaps I shall simply watch you enjoy some nutritious slurry.
[ him saying gooped up has more or less destroyed what remained of her appetite tbh. ]
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Would it change your mind if I found one that tastes kinda like cookie batter?
[ He knows how her mind works. ]
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Well, I could not argue that I suppose..
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Fondly, he knocks his elbow against her own. ]
Damn straight! See, it's not so bad. Just think, you could be eating cookie batter the rest of our time here!
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she knocks her elbow right back to his, and winds both of her arms around his as they walk, her head leaned to his bicep. she's not usually so overly affectionate, especially in public, but that door still has her feeling shaken, and his presence is warm and comforting. ]
Well, we shall see. There may not be enough to cover the time.
[ if they're here for two months.. she will be needing a lot of cookie dough. ]
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We can always ask Konoha for a pizza or something if we're runnin' low on cookie dough. [ A beat as he pats his stomach with his free hand. ] Just hope this doesn't mean I'm gonna gain wait...
[ It's a good thing he runs around so much... ]
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also, a pizza sounds like heaven right now, and alisaie groans low, her mouth watering at the very idea of it. after even a few days of food goop a pizza sounds positively intoxicating, even in the face of cookie dough. ]
Maybe you will.
[ it would make everyone's lives better if he gained wait tbh ]
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...W-wait, you don't think I really will, do you? I mean, how many calories could even be in those things?
[ Do they have calories in ye olde Eorzea? ]
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