trainmasters: (Default)
Aurora Express Mods ([personal profile] trainmasters) wrote in [community profile] auroraexpress2019-02-15 09:27 pm

Unlock! (1)

Who: Everyone
When: Day 12, evening into night
Where: the Aurora

[As evening approaches, you hear the jingle associated with an official message from your Chain. It's the same balloons and confetti animation as the last time newbies arrived, and the same message as well:]
WELCOME NEW HEROES

[As anticipated, some newbies are waking up in their rooms, in the usual nondescript undies or team pyjamas.

Just after this, however, something much more startling happens...

Outisde, the bell tone gets all the louder, a beautiful resonating sound that fills the air. Then, suddenly, a flood of strange square-shaped sparkles appear, floating around like magical fireflies, bringing with them a pleasant warmth. They increase in size and volume until the air itself whites out with a bright but pleasant light. While you can't see, you can hear the bell, and the distant rumbling of stone.

Abruptly, the sound stops, and the bright light fades to reveal a sky painted in sunset hues. Where there was once a dark and hostile jungle with cracks in the ground, there's now a colourful rainforest environment and a floor thick with bright moss. The sounds of birds and insects and regular wildlife rise over the previous silence, and the aggressive plantlife is replaced by large flowers and succulent fruits. In one direction, a dirt path winds through the trees, and in the opposite, the brush gives way to a stone formation with a flat top and an opening flanked in carvings of water and plants.

If one were to enter the new cave entrance, they'd find the previous moon crystals replaced by rainbow ones that reflect sparkling light onto the floor, and feel soothingly warm to the touch. Further into the caves, there's a carved stone path that leads to the beach you initially arrived on. There stands the Prism: a large floating cube in the center of gyproscope-like concentric rings. Where it had been glowing black, it's now a royal purple, and the light and energy from it are significantly less malicious than before -- though still far from pure. The beach itself is now covered in fine white sand, and the sea no longer tries to pull you in -- provided you don't go out too far.

Because not all is well on this Star just yet. While the nearby water contains a reef of colourful fish, 100 meters or so out to sea the water turns black again. While under water in the safe area, you can occasionally see the shadows of great and terrible monsters deep in the dark.

Likewise, should you choose to follow the first path, after ~1km you'll find the forest fades back into the previous dense, dark jungle. At the edge of the darkness, there's something new -- the remains of what looks like a modern town. It's all overgrown, cottages twisted into ruins and streets covered in vines and prowled by tiger monsters and a new threat: towering reptilian creatures that climb the crumbling shells of apartment buildings and the empty City Hall, like geckos increased to dinosaur size. They're fast, and if they catch you they'll swallow you whole. On the one side, that makes it easier for someone to save you -- they could cut you out. On the other, those unable to be rescued will find their skin and muscles becoming slowly more transparent and stiff, the colour and feeling leaving them until their minds are trapped in a useless shell. Those found in that condition later must be saved via the healing pods -- but they'll remember their stay in their glass bodies, with their blood running and heart pumping like a living anatomical model of their organs.

On the Aurora, however, you're welcome to enjoy the first sight of the sun in 12 days. As the brilliant sunset moves into a night reigned over by a gentle moon, the Heartbeat Festival remains in full swing. So celebrate your victory with a glass of shimmery alcohol and a kiss, because you've done it -- your love has purified a part of this Star!]

[[OOC NOTES: CONGRATULATIONS on your first Prism purification, guys! There is a toplevel for ICly suggesting train upgrades here, so check it out! Next week we'll post a poll, and the week after the upgrade will be implemented.

The updates to the Setting page to reflect this post will be made soon, so keep an eye out!]]
desirestruth: (Even when it comes to love)

[personal profile] desirestruth 2019-02-19 06:44 am (UTC)(link)
I...when I arrived here, I found that, despite remembering everything, I don't seem to have access to much of myself, or any of my magic. My senses seem to have dulled, as well.

But there is someone else here, that I knew before, and he...doesn't remember anything at all...
bowtiedbones: (9)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2019-02-19 06:50 am (UTC)(link)
Ahh. Unfortunately, there's a lot of us here in that situation, but I want to tell you first that it's not permanent— You both will start to recover your magic and his memories.
desirestruth: (Aa--I've lived all around the world)

[personal profile] desirestruth 2019-02-19 07:03 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, thank goodness.


[She looks actually, openly relieved about that, which given her expressions are otherwise muted, is saying something.]
bowtiedbones: (60)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2019-02-19 07:07 am (UTC)(link)
Most of my teammates didn't have their memories after they got here, and none of my magic was working, but it's all starting to come back. The loss is just a side effect of the process that got us here.
desirestruth: (Of all the mythical stories)

[personal profile] desirestruth 2019-02-19 07:09 am (UTC)(link)
I can deal without magic, but to not even have enough memories to know who you are...it sounded awful. If they can be regained, then...
bowtiedbones: (22)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2019-02-19 07:11 am (UTC)(link)
What team is he on?
bowtiedbones: (27)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2019-02-19 07:18 am (UTC)(link)
That's Licorice. It's little harder to work with than what Thyme has, I think, but he'll get points for showing strong emotions. There's a list of other things in the Lounge that will work too. Every 500 Sparks he'll get a memory. And for you, every 1000 Sparks will be a power back.
desirestruth: (I wonder which one is better)

[personal profile] desirestruth 2019-02-19 08:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Strong emotions...well, he probably won't have a problem with that.

[DUDE'S KINDA. INTENSE.]

Sparks...so that's what the shop on this...device uses?
bowtiedbones: (22)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2019-02-19 08:55 pm (UTC)(link)
That's right. And the device is called a phone or a Chain.
desirestruth: (Ran away on it's own)

[personal profile] desirestruth 2019-02-19 09:30 pm (UTC)(link)
...Doesn't look a thing like a chain?

[She's very confused.]
bowtiedbones: (53)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2019-02-19 10:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, product names are weird like that.
desirestruth: (Ran away on it's own)

[personal profile] desirestruth 2019-02-19 11:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Product...names...?

[branding: not really a Thing in Naeva's world.]
bowtiedbones: (3)

[personal profile] bowtiedbones 2019-02-19 11:18 pm (UTC)(link)
It's just like a nickname for the thing.