trainmasters: (Default)
[personal profile] trainmasters
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!]]
[personal profile] hot_mess_express
Who: Heroes
When: Day 9, Midday
Where: The Dragon's Tower


Come hither, Heroes. Prove thy worth.

The earth rumbles beneath your feet with a mighty roar. This time a crumbling stone tower looms above you, unscalable and unbreachable. At the top of the tower is a single window with a single light, beckoning. The only entrance at the base is an arched wooden door which creaks in protest when you open it.


Upon entering the tower you will find yourself in a large room with high walls constructed of dark, uneven brick stone. The ceiling is so high that you cannot see anything but darkness as torches lining the walls serve as the only source of light. The room itself is achingly cold. It’s reminiscent of a dungeon… or a treasure room.

But the only treasure to be found lies in the middle of the room; a small pile of seven bracelets, each one inlaid with a beautiful jewel corresponding to each team’s color. It may be fairly obvious, but just in case anyone is slow on the uptake:

“What is it that you treasure in this world? What are you willing to give up? Until you can decide that much, you will not be allowed to leave this room. It matters not to me if you rot in here.

However, I will tell you this much; should you decide who among you is most precious, only they may bear the weight of your altruism.”


Mingle | Pre-Game Rules | Hostages | Rooms | Endgame
trainmasters: (Default)
[personal profile] trainmasters
Who: Everyone!
When: Day 8, evening
Where: around

[It's a beautiful evening in the jungle tonight. It's warmer than usual, and some new plants have appeared, black vines that climb up the trees near the Aurora, opening hundreds of tiny white flowers that glow in the darkness. They let of a sweet smell that's soothing like a chamomile tea, and are filled with a dew that, if consumed, leaves characters feeling relaxed and just a little more likely to act on positive impulses.

However, the vines of this plant aren't so harmless. When broken they drip a milky white substance which irritates the skin, leaving red welts that burn and last anywhere from an hour to a full day, depending on how long the substance is in contact. Eating this won't kill you but it'll give you really intense heartburn and nausea for a few hours.

Additionally, if you're walking around in the nearby jungle, you might trip over one of the small cracks that have appeared in the forest floor. Mostly they're not visible underneath the grass and underbrush, but the bigger ones have caused a slight unevenness in the ground that can catch careless toes. There doesn't seem to be any particular pattern or origin to the cracks, nor do they have any other affect on their surroundings. They're just there, suddenly, in a roughly 100-foot radius from the train.

But there's plenty of reason to ignore these natural phenomenon, because there are some new teammates waking up in your carriages! In response to this new wave of arrivals, existing players will hear a cute jingling ringtone come from their Chain. Upon checking, the screen displays... a silly animation of balloons and confetti and the words "WELCOME NEW HEROES", which goes away on its own after a few seconds or when characters tap it. The same display is shown on the big screen in the lounge, in which trays full of colourful drinks have mysteriously appeared. The drinks taste like Kool-Aid and change some part of you the corresponding colour -- pink hair, blue skin, purple eyes, or maybe just a literal green thumb!]

[[OOC NOTE: Newbies can review the arrival scenario on the navigation page if necessary. The drinks in the lounge come in any colour you want, and cause colour shift in whatever and however large an area you want. It could just be a strand of hair or it could be your entire body, whatever you feel like playing with.]]
agoodnoe: (Yes this is fine.)
[personal profile] agoodnoe
Who: Hazel (+ Visitors??)
When: Day 6, Morning
Where: Hazel Carriage

[ I hope everyone likes waking up to the smell of burnt toast because that's what's happening this morning. Wandering down to the team kitchen area will reveal a small stack of varying degrees of burnt toast and this young man... in the process of burning more via frying it on a pan. ]

[ At least he's chipper. ]

Good morning! I made breakfast and now have a name I would like to introduce myself by.

[ It only took him less than a week, this is progress. ]
[personal profile] hot_mess_express
Who: game participants!
When: Day 5, night
Where: ~outside~

[A silence abruptly descends upon the jungle. For a moment, all is calm, and then a heavy gust of wind blows in, making the Aurora sway. In your mind is a call some of you have heard before:

Come hither, Heroes. Prove thy worth.

This time, however, there’s no worn-out house. Instead there’s a large tent -- dirty and imposing, with a jet black flag above it, it looks like a command tent right out of a medieval battlefield. The canvas is spattered in mud and blood, and white feathers are scattered all around it, carpeting the ground for several feet.

By your own will or by unexplained compulsion, you are drawn to the tent, to meet your second Trial. As you enter, a man’s voice, clear and resonant, rings out.]

“O unfortunate pawns of the Light, answer me this: What is Justice?

RULESROOMSWINNERSENDGAME
trainmasters: (Default)
[personal profile] trainmasters
Who: Everyone!
When: Day 2, noon
Where: :)

[You've been here just over a day, and dawn hasn't come. The night remains, reigned over by the malevolent flickering of the Prism. The Prince's recording hasn't stopped at all -- perhaps it's driving you mad or perhaps it's become just part of the background noise, along with the waves, which have been getting gradually louder all morning. If you're outside, you may occasionally catch what seem to be soft lights in the distance, under the surface of the too-still sea. The only movement is the creeping edges of the water, still trying to snag you and pull you in.

But then, abruptly, those edges recede, as if in warning of a giant surge. Out in the jungle, everything goes silent, wildlife still and hunkered low against the ground. But instead of water, a creature bursts forth onto the shore with a sound not unlike some kind of distorted foghorn. It's shaped vaguely like a dolphin -- if that dolphin were barge-sized and crimson red, with bands of twinkling lights running down its side like something from the dark deep. It has no eyes. And yet it seems to see you perfectly well, snapping at anyone who gets close.

It can't reach the train. Not quite. But when it slides back into the water it only comes back again, diving and twisting to send water crashing up along the beach. The train rocks slightly with each wave, threatening to from the sand and wash into the water, where you'll all be taken in.

It's then that the recording stops. With a whir, the emergency lights in the clinic and lounge car are replaced by normal lighting, and the doors slide shut. It seems these two cars at least are functional. Even the big screen in the second-floor lounge room has come on. It begins to display text, matching the pleasant robotic voice that comes over the intercom -- the voice has no distinguishing features, ageless and sexless, but it has a kind of polite artificial cheer.]

Good Morning, Passengers.

We apologize for the delay in services. As of now, Prism capacity has reached: 30%. Power has been restored to communal facilities. Please be patient as we work to restore full operating capacity.

[A pause--]

Systems have detected imminent danger. We shall move to a safer landing point in: 6 hours. Please gather inside the train and prepare for travel. As Chain services are unavailable, please direct questions to the terminal located on the second floor Lounge.

Remember: Stay Positive! The fate of the universe depends on your healthy bonds.


[It's a mystery what the voice means by "terminal"... but if you yell at the screen you'll get an answer. It just might not be a satisfying one... And yet, the brief, robotic responses are occasionally interrupted by one that's lively and human-seeming. How odd.

Whether you have time to figure that out, however, depends on how you intend to handle your current situation. You could wait and pray the train will move before you're devoured by the sea monster... Or you could attempt to increase your chances of survival. How? That's where your teammates and fellow passengers come in. Hopefully between the lot of you, you can formulate a plan before you're all swallowed up.]

[[OOC NOTE: If you'd like a response from The Construct, please respond to the relevant toplevel. The mods will move this plot ahead again on Wednesday. At that time all services will be restored, so you won't have anything super exciting to keep track of while those in the US have a holiday. Any new posts til ten should be dated within the Day 2 noon-afternoon timeframe. In the meantime, team up ICly and OOCly and find a way to survive! Please note you have absolute permission to do what you want with this enemy. You don't need the mods' input to fight it, kill it, or get killed by it. Feel free to play it how you like in your threads!

Again, this is an Event post and you can take 300 points for participating! If you have questions hope over to last week's placements post here. If you haven't yet, you can post OOC intros there as well, but we'll aim to do some kind of friending meme over the weekend.]]
howlsitgoin: (094)
[personal profile] howlsitgoin
Who: Hazel
When: Day 1, morning
Where: Hazel carriage

[Well this doesn't look great. But hey, if we all succumb to nature our carriage is already in style!

So how are we handling all this?]
trainmasters: (Default)
[personal profile] trainmasters
Who: Everyone!
When: Day 1, starting in the morning
Where: ???

[It's morning on the Aurora and 36 newcomers, including you, are waking up queasy in their beds to the dim orange glow of emergency lights and the blare of an alarm. Lying beside you is what appears to be a smartphone -- but it won't turn on, and there's nothing to tell anyone from a lower-tech society what it even is. In fact there's no explanation for anything. All you can hear is the shrill alarm, and all you can see outside your windows is blackness. There's no sun, moon, or stars, just a complete, all-encompassing darkness and, if you look from the right angle, a view of the rest of the train hurtling through it.

The room you're in is oddly decorated, with a theme reflected by the clothes in your closet, all in a colour scheme that matches the colour of your smartphone. You may find a few other items in the closet as well -- things you need in order to access your abilities.

After a few seconds, the train jerks and shakes with impact. The alarm fades out, and in its place a recording begins to play, broken and full of static.]

"Heroes of Distant Stars, Welcome ......... The Aurora. My name is ... Prince of Stars. The worlds you knew have unfortunately ......... by Malice, and for that I can only offer my deepest condolences. You ...... why you alone were saved. ......... to that is simple: our numbers are too few. We can no longer repel the Malice. Without you, ......... You must use ......... to bring back the Light. Rely on your teammates for support, and ......... victory.

Please, save us all. You are our only hope."


[The recording repeats endlessly after that, with only a brief pause between -- a young man's voice, sad and desperate, over and over in the silence.

When you try to leave your room the door, while evidently automatic, needs to be manually dragged open. After that you'll find yourself in a two-floor dormitory in the same theme as your room. There are seven total doors in the hall, and stairs down to the elaborately decorated main floors. There's food in the fridge, but no actual power on to keep it cold, so if you want to eat you should do so now before it spoils. The doors are all similarly out of order -- they must be pulled or pushed open and shut in their sliding frames, and they don't have any locks to speak of.

At least you're not alone -- each train car has five or six total occupants, all who've been given the same set of colour-coded clothes and useless phone as you. Some of you are confused but intact. Some of you remember nothing before waking. Some of you remember, but have lost all the power you know yourself to carry. And yet there are no answers. Only the train, the darkness, and the increasing sound of lapping waves.

Look outside now, and you'll see the train has landed on an island in the midst of sea so calm it's like one big, black, mirror. The island itself has a beach of fine black sand, on which the train rests. Nearby is a huge pedestal above which floats an odd cube in the center of two concentric metal rings, all spinning like a gyroscope. It glows with black light and a malevolence so intense that even those without magical senses can detect it.

Further inland, however, it's all tangled growth and unintelligible whispers. Entering the jungle will prove terribly dangerous -- it's full of black snakes whose venom will leave you dizzy and nauseous, or if the snake is big enough could even stop your heart. There are furry pig-like beasts that are edible, but they're accompanied by carnivorous monsters reminiscent of tigers with horns, six eyes, and saber teeth. Some plants are harmless, or bear edible fruit, but others let off spores that cause frightening hallucinations, and others will reach out with tendrils to try to pull you into their many-toothed maws.

But it's not the jungle you have to worry about first. It's the water sneaking up the beach as if it's alive -- if you let it pool ankle-deep around you, it'll drag you with terrifying speed into the sea, pulling you under with intent to let you drown, your corpse to feed the unknown horrors deep below.

So what will you do, Heroes of Distant Stars?]

[[OOC NOTE: The only items in your character's closet are clothes and any mod-approved item-based power exceptions. For the duration of this event, all unnecessary systems have been disengaged. This means there's no power to anything but the lights and health pods, and your Chain will not come on. This will last an IC day or two, depending on game speed. For now make friends, and figure out as much as you can on your own until the Aurora's Prism comes back on!

You can make separate posts if you want a team meet-and-greet, etc, for your team only. This post is for engaging with the outside or hanging out in public spaces!

Also, this is an official Event post, so you can all add 300 sparks to your sheet if you tag in!]]

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