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pluviosa2024-02-14 09:13 pm
pluviosamods) wrote in pluviosa2024-02-14 09:13 pm
Entry tags:
GAME OPENING LOG
GAME OPENING
There's still dripping everywhere, and the gurgle of standing water shifting and draining to somewhere further down...
... But the sound of the rain outside has stopped. And you haven't heard the thunder in a while.
Take a moment. Look out the windows, the glass doors leading out to the balconies - the world beyond is lighting up. Mountains stand out against the distant eastern horizon, breaking up the first of the sunlight into scattered beams. The ship chases that light, running eastward towards the glow of dawn. Its motion is easier to bear now that the storm is over - the wind no longer tries to blow it off course.
You've survived the night - survived the storm. You get the feeling it won't be the last.
The storm abates over the course of the night - by midnight, it's dropped back enough that water and wind are no longer forcing their way through the bubble barriers, and by about an hour before sunrise - just when the sky is starting to get light - the rain has stopped completely. The clouds persist a bit longer, giving characters a spectacular sunrise to look at. When the first rays of the sun are visible over the mountains, any characters still affected by hallucinations feel their minds clear.
Fifteen minutes after dawn - about when it's getting to be a pain to look directly in the direction the ship is travelling because of the sun directly in the eyeballs - characters who are sensitive to electricity may sense the power kick back on. It's just in the wires and cables spread throughout the ship, however - the lights don't turn on, although the elevators do.
Five minutes after that, there's a crackle that is audible to all characters, from speakers spread throughout the hallways and rooms of the ship. Not every speaker is functional - some of them just continue to emit static instead of the message that follows - but enough of them are that every character will be able to hear a single piercing beep, followed by an artificial voice in an androgynous tenor:
"ALL PASSENGERS, PLEASE REPORT TO THE AFT LOUNGE ON DECK R-ZERO FOR A HEADCOUNT."
There's silence for a moment, and then another, quieter alert beep, and the same voice adds, almost as an afterthought,
"Please follow the emergency lighting in the hallways for guidance."
After that announcement, strips of lighting on the ceiling of the hallways - the lights are also on the floor, but even after the rain has washed so much dirt away, you're unlikely to see them anywhere except close enough to the stairs that you don't need them - light up. They begin to move in a pattern of diodes that leads characters to the staircases and elevators near the back of the ship, in the somewhat drier part of it that has more decks above the one where characters woke up.
The stairs are now navigable - even if there's still a decent amount of water flowing down them, not entirely contained by the channels cut into the outside of the turns of the staircase - and the elevators are now powered. Well, sort of. Although the elevators have power, the buttons inside do not - all of them are dark. Instead, the elevators automatically move characters upwards after they enter, depositing them on deck R0 for the indicated headcount.
Other than the increasingly large number of confused "passengers," however, there doesn't seem to be anything here. Some furniture in varying states of decay, sure, and puddles and debris from the storm's flooding, but no indication of humans or any other form of sapient life. The space is wide and open, and decently well-lit even with the overhead lights off, since the majority of the walls to either side appear to be made of glass.
Once everyone has assembled - or at least everyone who is willing to come, as nothing forces characters do follow instructions from a strange voice - there is another crackle of speaker feedback. At least there's no blaring alert tone to start this message.
"THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION."
The voice is the same as before - and anyone from a semi-modern world would be able to tell, from the pattern of speech, that this is a synthesized voice, not a real person, or at least not a real person willing to reveal themselves to be such. It speaks entirely in the language characters discovered knowing when they woke up here. The volume of the voice decreases somewhat after the initial announcement gets everyone's attention, but it is still audible to everyone.
"Please excuse the inadequate accommodations. Your arrival was unexpected. This ship has not entertained new passengers in 317 years, 6 months, and 19 days."
"We will do our best to prepare appropriate accommodations as quickly as possible. However, the immediate priority is to supply passengers with meals and other appropriate provisions. Please accept this with our sincerest apologies."
At the close of those words, the elevator doors to either side of the lounge area open, and self-propelled carts - the kind you might see in industrial kitchens - roll out. Their lower shelves are stacked with bowls, cups, and those plastic utensil holders filled with spoons, while the upper halves are full of food and drink. Specifically, the majority are full of cafeteria pans of oatmeal, the kind with the metal lids that keep the heat in. In addition to the oatmeal, there's a wide variety of raw fruits and vegetables, and some additional options for throwing in your oatmeal such as cinnamon, honey, both brown and white sugar, shaved almonds, and other things that can be made from plants and stored for a long time. There are also two carts at either end full of hot drinks - one of tea, one of coffee - and one each of cold drinks such as fruit juice. There do not appear to be any meat or dairy offerings, although there's both almond and soy milk for your coffee if you can tolerate the substitutes. (It tastes somewhat metallic, like it was dehydrated for a long time, but the coffee and tea themselves taste quite fresh.)
Once the carts have wheeled themselves out, the voice continues from the speakers.
"In order to better serve our passengers, we would like to ask you a few questions. First: What is your locale of origin? Second: Why have you come?"
For OOC questions about this event, please use the OOC Questions header in the comments below. To respond to the Ship's questions, or ask it some of your own, please use the Talk to the Ship header. Otherwise, this post is a mingle, and players are encouraged to post their own top-level comments for their characters and reply to each other.
Following this post, simple food will be available in this area during "active" hours, starting from around dawn to two hours after sunset (the ship's days, at least at present, are about evenly divided). At night, the food carts roll away into one of the restaurants around the edges of this area. Instead, wheeled dumpsters with grabbing attachments collect up the old furniture and cram it into themselves, and starting the second night, 'new' furniture takes its place, mostly dining tables and chairs of various sizes.
Characters now have theoretically full access to the ship; however, the elevators are only mostly functional as debris is cleared from them. The rear elevators go all the way up the residential levels, but only as far down as deck 3. The front elevators only move between decks R0, 0, and 1.
More information on the schedule of shipwide upgrades will be available on the event plotting post in a few days. Until then - at least it's dry weather and smooth sailing for a while?
... But the sound of the rain outside has stopped. And you haven't heard the thunder in a while.
Take a moment. Look out the windows, the glass doors leading out to the balconies - the world beyond is lighting up. Mountains stand out against the distant eastern horizon, breaking up the first of the sunlight into scattered beams. The ship chases that light, running eastward towards the glow of dawn. Its motion is easier to bear now that the storm is over - the wind no longer tries to blow it off course.
You've survived the night - survived the storm. You get the feeling it won't be the last.
The storm abates over the course of the night - by midnight, it's dropped back enough that water and wind are no longer forcing their way through the bubble barriers, and by about an hour before sunrise - just when the sky is starting to get light - the rain has stopped completely. The clouds persist a bit longer, giving characters a spectacular sunrise to look at. When the first rays of the sun are visible over the mountains, any characters still affected by hallucinations feel their minds clear.
Fifteen minutes after dawn - about when it's getting to be a pain to look directly in the direction the ship is travelling because of the sun directly in the eyeballs - characters who are sensitive to electricity may sense the power kick back on. It's just in the wires and cables spread throughout the ship, however - the lights don't turn on, although the elevators do.
Five minutes after that, there's a crackle that is audible to all characters, from speakers spread throughout the hallways and rooms of the ship. Not every speaker is functional - some of them just continue to emit static instead of the message that follows - but enough of them are that every character will be able to hear a single piercing beep, followed by an artificial voice in an androgynous tenor:
"ALL PASSENGERS, PLEASE REPORT TO THE AFT LOUNGE ON DECK R-ZERO FOR A HEADCOUNT."
There's silence for a moment, and then another, quieter alert beep, and the same voice adds, almost as an afterthought,
"Please follow the emergency lighting in the hallways for guidance."
After that announcement, strips of lighting on the ceiling of the hallways - the lights are also on the floor, but even after the rain has washed so much dirt away, you're unlikely to see them anywhere except close enough to the stairs that you don't need them - light up. They begin to move in a pattern of diodes that leads characters to the staircases and elevators near the back of the ship, in the somewhat drier part of it that has more decks above the one where characters woke up.
The stairs are now navigable - even if there's still a decent amount of water flowing down them, not entirely contained by the channels cut into the outside of the turns of the staircase - and the elevators are now powered. Well, sort of. Although the elevators have power, the buttons inside do not - all of them are dark. Instead, the elevators automatically move characters upwards after they enter, depositing them on deck R0 for the indicated headcount.
Other than the increasingly large number of confused "passengers," however, there doesn't seem to be anything here. Some furniture in varying states of decay, sure, and puddles and debris from the storm's flooding, but no indication of humans or any other form of sapient life. The space is wide and open, and decently well-lit even with the overhead lights off, since the majority of the walls to either side appear to be made of glass.
AT THE CAFETERIA
Once everyone has assembled - or at least everyone who is willing to come, as nothing forces characters do follow instructions from a strange voice - there is another crackle of speaker feedback. At least there's no blaring alert tone to start this message.
"THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION."
The voice is the same as before - and anyone from a semi-modern world would be able to tell, from the pattern of speech, that this is a synthesized voice, not a real person, or at least not a real person willing to reveal themselves to be such. It speaks entirely in the language characters discovered knowing when they woke up here. The volume of the voice decreases somewhat after the initial announcement gets everyone's attention, but it is still audible to everyone.
"Please excuse the inadequate accommodations. Your arrival was unexpected. This ship has not entertained new passengers in 317 years, 6 months, and 19 days."
"We will do our best to prepare appropriate accommodations as quickly as possible. However, the immediate priority is to supply passengers with meals and other appropriate provisions. Please accept this with our sincerest apologies."
At the close of those words, the elevator doors to either side of the lounge area open, and self-propelled carts - the kind you might see in industrial kitchens - roll out. Their lower shelves are stacked with bowls, cups, and those plastic utensil holders filled with spoons, while the upper halves are full of food and drink. Specifically, the majority are full of cafeteria pans of oatmeal, the kind with the metal lids that keep the heat in. In addition to the oatmeal, there's a wide variety of raw fruits and vegetables, and some additional options for throwing in your oatmeal such as cinnamon, honey, both brown and white sugar, shaved almonds, and other things that can be made from plants and stored for a long time. There are also two carts at either end full of hot drinks - one of tea, one of coffee - and one each of cold drinks such as fruit juice. There do not appear to be any meat or dairy offerings, although there's both almond and soy milk for your coffee if you can tolerate the substitutes. (It tastes somewhat metallic, like it was dehydrated for a long time, but the coffee and tea themselves taste quite fresh.)
Once the carts have wheeled themselves out, the voice continues from the speakers.
"In order to better serve our passengers, we would like to ask you a few questions. First: What is your locale of origin? Second: Why have you come?"
OOC INFO
For OOC questions about this event, please use the OOC Questions header in the comments below. To respond to the Ship's questions, or ask it some of your own, please use the Talk to the Ship header. Otherwise, this post is a mingle, and players are encouraged to post their own top-level comments for their characters and reply to each other.
Following this post, simple food will be available in this area during "active" hours, starting from around dawn to two hours after sunset (the ship's days, at least at present, are about evenly divided). At night, the food carts roll away into one of the restaurants around the edges of this area. Instead, wheeled dumpsters with grabbing attachments collect up the old furniture and cram it into themselves, and starting the second night, 'new' furniture takes its place, mostly dining tables and chairs of various sizes.
Characters now have theoretically full access to the ship; however, the elevators are only mostly functional as debris is cleared from them. The rear elevators go all the way up the residential levels, but only as far down as deck 3. The front elevators only move between decks R0, 0, and 1.
More information on the schedule of shipwide upgrades will be available on the event plotting post in a few days. Until then - at least it's dry weather and smooth sailing for a while?
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As for trumpets... "The... military instrument? They're popular for... recreational music?" How peculiar. "I don't know what a piano is. It sounds like something... quiet?" Sorry, Mario, this was not successfully not confusing.
tfw you google pianos and discover they are like THE most insane instrument to try and describe
And there she goes, concerned about military and wartime again. It baffles Mario, until he remembers that it's not like the Mushroom Kingdom even needs an army, considering it has him.
"Well, sure. If you don't need them for the military anymore, you're gonna have to find something else to do with them!" Is what he assumes that timeline looked like, anyway. He's not exactly a musical history nerd. "They add a certain punch, you know?"
She's never heard of a piano..... "Er. Piano is-a..." Upon trying to describe a piano, Mario has no idea where to start, especially since he is personally most familiar with electric pianos. "You know uh, xylophone? The carved wood or stones that you hit with-a hammers to make notes? Piano is a bit like that, except you can play with just your fingers." There might be something about hammers hitting strings in there, but Mario isn't sure enough about how that works to explain it. He's already bad enough at explaining things as it is.
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Lucia Corina is definitely picturing something closer to a kalimba, but close enough. "I see. There are a great diversity of instruments, in your world?" It's not that there aren't many kinds of instruments in hers, but... she gets the definite sense that Mario's has more. "The music must be interesting indeed."
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Phew. Mission accomplished. "Oh, yeah! We got all sorts of stuff! People love to create! And People loooove music."
A thought occurs to him then. He pulls his phone out of his pocket. "Oh! You know what, do you want to hear some? I could-a play a song for you!"
Oh, yeah. "Uh... this is a magic device that lets you capture sound and then... listen to it again? Whenever you want." Good enough.
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He's been standing the whole time, so now he hops up into the chair next to her. He's already tapped into his music app, and tilts the screen towards her a little. She might not be able to read it, though, since it displays in Mushroom-Kingdom English, and not the Ship's lingua franca.
"Let's-a see... Well... Can't go wrong with ABBA...!"
He mutters to himself as he taps through, and then finally selects Waterloo to listen to. It's one of his favorites.
(OOC: just the music is playing, music player style, I just think the music video is so much fun.)
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The letters are latinate, but she doesn't know the words they make up. The music starts, bouncy and upbeat, with an astonishing variety of instruments all at once, and words in an almost-familiar language--parts of words here and there sound almost like something, but nothing comes together into a whole. It's an engaging piece, however, and she's smiling by the end of it, absently plucking a harmony line on her zither.
"That's the sort of thing your people listen to? It is very unlike what I know! Rarely does one have so many instruments working together. And many of them sounds I do not know--I could recognize a drum, of course... was one of those a piano? And a... quiet trumpet?"
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He makes sure to hit pause on the music when the song is over, of course, then leaves his phone on the table. He'll play another if she wants, but for now;
"Yes, yes! Piano and'a trumpet were why I picked this song to share! It's one of my favorites." He might as well get a little nerdier: "The piano was at'a the beginning! And the trumpets were what added that punch later!"
He's really enthusastic as he gets going, gesturing with his hands and pantomiming the punch and everything; grinning ear to ear.
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"I wish I could see a piano, I would love to experiment... the sound was interesting. And well-combined with the other instruments and the vocals."
Mario's enthusiasm is infectious, and it's nice to be able to actually connect with him about something. She plucks out part of the melody of the song again, [I was defeated you won the war!] watching him gesture. "Are there many popular musicians? Do they travel and play to thousands like in Casper's world?"
imagining abba but theyre all goombas or something (fondly)
He bounces along as Lucia Corina plucks, because, like, Waterloo is SUCH a catchy song, he can't blame her - can't blame him! He's humming along easy. It's so nice to bond with people! It's so nice that music can do this!
Oh, yeah - "Yes, yes, lots! I've-a been to see several myself!"
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"It must be really quite something, to have so many people together all in one place, for one purpose--and for that purpose to be music... Beautiful." She smiles at him, clearly a little enchanted by the idea. "I've played to no more than a few dozen."
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So, unless Ship has some futuristic piano for him hidden away somewhere, that isn't made of wood and strings and whose battery hasn't become a pillow after hundreds of years and whose electronics are still functioning after having been submerged in water. A man can dream, but like...
"It is, it is!!! There's something really magical about being in the same place as so many people and - and everyone's singing along to the same song..." He sighs wistfully, starry-eyed.
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"That sounds incredible, so many singing together... I'd love to experience such a thing." She's a little misty-eyed herself at the notion.
I could ask ship now I guess but
"Even just a group of friends singing together can be magical," Mario says. "Maybe - well, I guess there won't be any songs all of us on the ship know. Hmmmm..."
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Certified Luigi Moment
Oops, funny personal life annecdote activated! Mario's grinning fondly at the memory as he recounts:
"...which is why I'm not allowed to listen to Don Giovanni when Luigi's trying to work, haha! He will always-a tell me 'Bro, I love you, but you are not an opera singer, so cut that noise out!' - and then I will sing louder and more off-key just to bug him anyway." Mario laughs. He has to give his little brother grief sometimes "And that is why Don Giovanni is a home alone kind of activity."
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"Luigi is your brother? Terribly rude of him, not to appreciate your singing." Her tone is light, teasing, with an amused smile.
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"Haha, it's alright! He's not wrong! My voice is alright but it's-a not meant for opera." He's grinning. He likes to think about his brother. "I love Luigi very much, anyway, so I would-a forgive him even if he was wrong."
"What about you? Do You have any brothers?"
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FORGOT I HAD THIS TO REPLY TO ok if you don't want to continue it tho o7
In his tone you can tell - he has a Before, too, of some kind.
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She looks down at his phone. "Do you have other music on your device?"
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Music, however? He can do that for sure. "Oh, yeah, yeah!! Let me-a see..."
Well, he's already in ABBA's discography. "Here, this is another by the same band - a classic, really!" And he turns on Dancing Queen
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Er. What is this one about? Mario pauses and listens for a second but, no, yeah. "It's-a just a song about dancing. For parties and things."
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