A TRAIN COMES INTO THE STATION.
You wake up on a train.
Your phone is buzzing. It's in your pocket, in your hand, on the seat next to you. It's a normal phone, and you're on a normal train car. One of the lights flickers, a little further down. The world is very quiet. It feels like you're right where you're meant to be. On the phone's surface is a white screen and the words—
WELCOME TO THE CITY. BEGIN ORIENTATION?
▶ NO
Please take a moment to complete your orientation.
Once you're finished, the subway doors slide open to let you out onto the train platform. To your right, the platform continues on and eventually ends; to the left is a set of stairs that will lead you up into the station itself. The platform is quiet, clean, empty—there's no one else around, and the only sounds you can hear are your own footsteps, your own breaths, and the occasional faraway sound of a creaking pipe or rush of air. The train you disembarked will stay there as long as you do, its doors still open, until you finally decide to venture up into this new locale.
As you make your way up the stairs to your left, you find yourself in the belly of City Hall station. The station is large, a sprawling underground mini-metropolis of corridors and storefronts. Here, you may find others like you, freshly-arrived city residents from other realms (or even your own). There is also a subway map, which will give you an idea of the layout of the neighborhood, and ticketing machines, which can currently only be used to buy tickets to a handful of stations located on lines 1, 2, and 9.
If you're hungry or in need of any kind of supplies, there are plenty of storefronts inside the subway station as well—snack stands, convenience stores, restaurants, clothing stores, a pharmacy, and a variety of empty shops that may or may not have ever been in use. Everything is unlocked, and you can take whatever you need.
Characters may stay on the train platform indefinitely, and may re-board and re-disembark from the subway as many times as they like, but the train will not depart nor will the doors close. Once they go up the stairs into the train station, they may hear the train doors closing and the train departing. Another train will not arrive, no matter how long the character waits. Only once they come up the stairs into the station itself may characters encounter their fellow newly-arrived residents and take advantage of what the city has to offer.
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WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
The station is located in the city center. It has three major exits that lead to areas of interest in the district, but there are several other smaller exits that lead in other directions around the neighborhood. You are welcome to use any of them, but may find the north, southwest, and east exits to be the most welcoming.
TO THE NORTH
The northern entrance to the station leads up into the sunlight and puts you out in a brickwork plaza. There's a modest building in front of you, three or four stories of stone with a welcoming facade. There's a sign above the entryway—it says City Hall. You may be tempted to explore, if you're interested in learning more about the city and how it functions, but prepare to find yourself disappointed—the folders in the records rooms are full of empty, blank sheets of paper, and the logbooks and balance sheets are similarly devoid of information.
Immediately to the southwest of City Hall, you will find a small building that houses the tourist information kiosk. It looks welcoming, with an inviting glass facade and a sign above the entryway announcing it as the "TOURIST CENTER." It's a humble building with a receptionist's desk on the back wall opposite the entrance, empty magazine shelves lining the side walls, and a few spinning brochure racks full of blank pamphlets. Anyone is welcome to peruse the tourist literature, though they won't offer much information, being primarily filled with pictures of the surrounding area—City Hall, the park, a statue garden, and the surprisingly heavily-featured cemetery. There are a few sentences sprinkled throughout about basic offerings of the city, such as apartment complexes and office buildings, as well as a few maps with the same limited scope as the larger version on the wall behind the receptionist's desk.
The main feature of the tourist center is the interactive kiosk installed dead in the center, right in the middle of a few rows of uncomfortable chairs that fill the small room. It's noticeably in the way of any would-be foot traffic through the tourist center, and something about the technology seems a little more modern than the computer behind the desk or the landline phone on the wall. The kiosk is a tall silver rectangle, about average adult height, and the upper half is a screen welcoming visitors to touch it to activate the kiosk. If you were to touch it, the screen would come to life with simple dialogue inviting visitors to ask it their questions.
However, residents should note that the kiosk is only programmed to assist with exploration within the available areas of the city. It may not be able to answer every question, and tampering with the kiosk may result in unreliable or inaccurate answers!
TO THE SOUTHWEST
The western exit of the station takes you up into a city park, lush and green with a very light fog still hanging about the trees. There are lampposts on the walkways and benches where you could rest, and plenty of flora, although you can neither see nor hear any signs of animal life. You walk the paths that meander idly through the verdant grass and you feel a sense of peace, some of your unease about this place easing into a pleasant calm. The air smells fresh, like it's recently rained, and you'll find the grass ever so slightly damp should you decide to take a seat.
As you make your way deeper into the park, the trees grow denser and the smell of soil and plant life grows stronger. This is the older part of the park, very nearly a forest, with ivy climbing the trunks of the trees and plants and shrubs growing riotously around their bases. As you turn a corner, you find yourself first in the statue garden, although the statues are harder to see now, choked as they are with ivy. There are many statues, some partially obscured, some fully—very few of them still stand free of the vines and clinging roots. (It doesn't feel quite as peaceful here.) If a statue's face looks a little bit familiar, you may not want to look at it too long.
Continue down the path and you will find yourself in a graveyard, one that seems centuries old. Most of the headstones are worn away by time and covered in moss, rendering them impossible to read. The few that are free of moss are blank, or bear only suggestions of names too faint to be understood. (Was that the name of—no, it couldn't have been. Could it?) Many of the headstones stand at an angle or are toppled over completely, having been subjected to either strong winds or the roots of the trees that grow up from some of the graves, spreading branches toward the sky.
TO THE EAST
The final exit of the station, to the east, puts you out on a quiet surface street. Are you hungry? Or are you paralyzed by choice? There are plenty of restaurants, offering options of almost any food you can imagine. You could try a convenience store—it's well stocked, and the items there seem free for the taking. How about a restaurant? There's no one to take your order, but when you look in the kitchen, there's something on the stove, and it's just what you've been craving. Imagine that.
A few blocks down, you come in through the lobby of a tall building and find yourself in a corporate office. The fluorescent lights are steady and unforgiving, and the cubicles and offices are empty. There are a few pieces of paper on desks, a few folders left in organizers, but everything is perfectly blank. Despite how empty and quiet the office is, it nonetheless gives you the feeling that just a few minutes ago, this place was bustling with workers going about their daily business.
You enter another building and find yourself in the lobby of an apartment complex—finally, a place to rest. The first door you try opens easily into a completely empty living room, freshly vacuumed but without a single piece of furniture. It's a nice apartment, quiet, but with a little too much echo for your taste, maybe. Still, and perhaps oddly, you have no trouble envisioning what life here would be like.
The second door you open leads to an apartment that feels lived-in. Why does it feel lived-in? It's fully furnished with items that seem to go together perfectly, true, but the feeling is more than that—the room feels like someone was just here, maybe standing right in the kitchen only moments before you swung the door open. The air is a perfectly comfortable temperature, and it somehow smells like home despite that you've never once set foot here before. The refrigerator is stocked, and the cabinets are full of spices and flatware and kitchen utensils.
As you look around the living room, you find that there are pictures in frames on the walls and some of the flat surfaces—a seascape, a field, a shot of a city park bench. In each of the photos there's something just slightly wrong with the angle, as though the photographer were aiming for a subject that can no longer be seen.
Characters are welcome to explore the district around the City Hall subway station to their heart's content. The City Hall building itself contains several floors of offices and file rooms, but none of them contain any particularly interesting information. Nonetheless, characters may wish to team up with other newcomers and try to find some hints about the nature of the city. They can also spend a while in the park, the statue garden, or the graveyard. In the blocks surrounding the station there are plenty of options for food and housing, as well as office buildings, storefronts, and alleyways to look around. There are no workers in any of the buildings, and there does not seem to be an honor system for payment, nor any consequences for taking food from the stores or setting up camp in an apartment or office building.
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I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM.
Have you ever visited the ice cream parlor located in District 2? It's a pretty quirky little joint!
When you walk in, what you'll likely notice first is the colors. Everything is bright, almost oversaturated—the pink of the leather seats, the teal of the walls, the red of the menu sign hanging over the counter. By all rights it seems like these colors shouldn't go together, but somehow they do, or maybe that's just because being in an ice cream parlor puts you in a good mood. It smells like waffle cones, and overhead, there's music pumping through the speakers at just the right volume, providing some nice background noise to your decision-making process.
Wait, music?
There's a jukebox at the far end of the shop, which seems to be where the music is being chosen. As you head over, the song comes to an end and the jukebox machinery shuffles through its options before landing on a new one. The song sounds sort of familiar, doesn't it? And the longer you listen, the more the lyrics really seem to speak to you. It costs money to pick your own song, so if you happen to have some coins on you—or if you're really, really determined—you can choose the next round of tunes.
When you're done at the jukebox, you can go check out the serving area of the shop. Behind the counter you can see milkshake mixers and waffle cone makers; there are ice cream cakes in the freezers that line the wall; and when you approach the main counter you can see the tubs of ice cream in almost any flavor you can imagine.
Pick a flavor, whichever one's your favorite! Do you want it in a cone or in a bowl? There are regular cones and waffle cones, and all kinds of toppings—sprinkles, syrups, gummy candy, mini marshmallows. Decorate your ice cream however you want, the sky's the limit when it comes to choices! You can even come back for seconds if you want, or thirds. Who's going to say anything about it, after all?
But the more of your ice cream you eat, the more you start to feel… strange. Maybe you're starting to get angry, or sad, or giddy—maybe you feel romantic, or feel like you want to tell a secret to a stranger, and you're not really sure why. You also can't quite seem to stop eating your ice cream, and the more you eat, the less worried you feel about whatever's happening to your emotions. After all, why be concerned about that when you have something so delicious in front of you?
| Flavor |
Effect |
| Strawberry |
You find yourself compelled to seek out strangers and tell them a hidden truth about yourself |
| Rocky Road |
You find yourself compelled to seek out strangers and convince them of some egregious lie |
| Vanilla |
You are overwhelmed by a sense of total calm, and can only speak in aphorisms and platitudes |
| Rainbow Sherbert |
You are overwhelmed by amorous feelings towards whoever is near you and try to cuddle or kiss them |
| Chocolate |
You feel suddenly morose about something in your past and cannot stop crying until someone consoles you |
| Bubblegum |
You become uncontrollably giggly and giddy, and can only speak in rhyme |
| Caramel Ribbon |
You become angry and perhaps even violent, trying to attack anyone who comes near |
| Mint Chocolate Chip |
You suddenly have a common but exaggerated phobia (for example, a fear of heights where the step down off the curb is too much) |
When characters first enter the ice cream parlor, they may notice that there's music playing overhead! That's from the jukebox, and the lyrics of the song may sound like they're particularly apt for a character's circumstances. Players are welcome to choose their own jukebox songs for their characters—it doesn't need to have appeared in canon, but characters from modern times are welcome to recognize the music being played. (Players can also feel free not to pick a real song at all, and instead just describe the overall sound of the song and content of the lyrics!)
This is an ice cream parlor, so of course there's also ice cream to be had. Characters can serve themselves whatever flavor combination they want, but shortly thereafter will find themselves suffering certain emotional effects depending on what flavors they chose. These emotional effects, shown above, will last for roughly an hour before slowly dissipating, and their intensity depends on how much ice cream the character ate and whether they were able to recognize what was happening and stop eating. Not every flavor has an emotional effect, so players can also choose to have their character eat a normal scoop and go about their day.
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WILDCARD.
The city is by no means small, and there are plenty of things for you to see. There's no rush in exploring, so feel free to take your time looking around and peering into various nooks and crannies and alleyways—and don't worry, you're not very likely to find anything peering back.
If none of the above prompts appeal, feel free to check out the Locations and Maps pages and write your own freestyle prompt using one or many of the available locations.
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citylogs2023-08-02 12:00 am
Chongyun || Genshin Impact
[Having never set foot on a mechanical vehicle like the train before, it takes Chongyun a while to gather his bearings and figure out where exactly he is. The strange device he found himself with held no answers, and while it was frustrating, he decides to take it with him. Exiting the train and heading out onto the platform, Chongyun can’t help get an uneasy feeling. As an exorcist he is used to travelling to haunted locales and abandoned buildings, but this place seems… more bizarre and unsettling than even he is used to.]
[The lack of people doesn’t exactly help that uneasy feeling go away, even as he exits the station and heads down the road. Sure he’s used to working alone, or going to remote locations, but a full and bustling city like this SHOULD have people. But alas, there is no one here; just empty streets lined with empty buildings and shops, hinting at life and bustling activity and yet showing none of it. Chongyun takes a moment to stop before calling out into the empty city.]
Hello? Is there anyone here?
[He pauses, frowning, before bringing a hand to his chin.]
No people… Is this the cause of some evil spirit? I might have to investigate further…
I Scream, You Scream
[Chongyun’s special constitution requires him to take his meals cold, and he has special popsicles to help control his Yang energy. But while his popsicles are a necessity, he never thought there would be a full store dedicated to such things, so the ice cream parlour is surprising in more ways than just its appearance. Though quite overstimulating in colour, Chongyun decides to enter and see what kind of place this is.]
[While the music is certainly familiar in an odd sort of way, and the colours are quite mismatched and bright, the place itself seems quite nice. And though it still feels wrong to just help himself to the food present, he does decide to try some of the ice cream that’s offered. The first bite of ice cream he has is cool and refreshing, and just what he needs to help calm his energies.]
[And he’s delighted to discover that there’s more than one flavour! Much more than the plain and somewhat-tasteless popsicles he eats for his Yang energy. On a whim, he decides to try the chocolate, which is rich and creamy and bolder than the vanilla had been. But as he eats, he finds his mood going from calm to melancholic, and with each bite he can’t help his mind from wandering to more morose thoughts. He doesn’t even realize he has tears in his eyes until someone comes by and points them out, which will cause him to look up from his silent sobs.]
O-Oh… I-I’m sorry. I don’t… know what’s wrong…
[He has to stifle another sob, rubbing his eyes. What’s wrong with him??]
Psychic Shop
[A shop dedicated to the occult is going to catch the attention of a young exorcist, if only to draw him in as a potential place to restock his supply of exorcism tools. He enters the shop and has to blink as his eyes adjust to the dim light, but it certainly seems like a good place to find supplies that exorcists use. He’s already seeing a few items he could use for talismans or protective charms.]
[But as he explores the shop, a frown forms on Chongyun’s face. Some of the herbs and crystals he recognizes, but a lot of the objects seem… superfluous, or unnecessary. And that frown deepens the more he looks, taking in the gaudy spellbooks and even some of the silly adornments. Eventually, he comes to a stop in the middle of the shop and crosses his arms.]
This shop is just… ridiculous. Half of the protective talismans in here don’t even look like they’re real! Someone could really get hurt if an evil spirit comes along and they’re using a fake protective amulet. Are they trying to take advantage of the people’s desperation by offering false remedies just to make a quick Mora??
[He blinks as the words leave his mouth, before he shakes his head and takes a deep breath.]
Woah, calm down, Chongyun. Deep breaths…
Wildcard
[Got something you’d like to try out? Feel free to write up a starter, or PM me to plot something!]
ice cream
he moves to comfort him. ]
You don't have to apologize. Here - [ he grabs some napkins from a table for him to dry his eyes with. ] - have a seat. What's going on?
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I-I don't know. I was just... thinking about some things, and...
[He shakes his head, drying his eyes again as fresh tears threaten to fall. He just doesn't understand; one minute he's enjoying ice cream, the next he's thinking about things that, honestly, he thought he'd gotten over ages ago. That doesn't seem to be the case, as here he is now, battling tears in front of a stranger.]
S-Sorry, I don't normally get... get so upset...
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It's difficult enough to be in a strange place without knowing why, right? I'm sure this isn't helping either.
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You're right... and what's more, my exorcism powers don't seem to be working right. It just... makes me think back to when I was younger. And when I thought of that, I...
[Oh, here's some more tears. He shakes his head.]
It's all just... really frustrating.
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Welcome
So far, there was no one. Despite her feeling a little anxious, she didn't want to show it. After all, it wasn't in her nature to show fear just yet. She did have a reputation to maintain even when she wasn't in Liyue anymore!
But imagine her surprise when she spotted a familiar person lurking around!]
...Chongyun, is that you? And here, I thought I would be by myself here.
Re: Welcome
[Chongyun turns in surprise at the familiar voice. His face lights up in surprise, but a look of relief washes over his face.]
Hu Tao?? You're here too?? I'm glad to see a familiar face. I thought I was alone here as well...
[He really is grateful to see someone else here, especially someone he knows... but that means she's also caught up in all this too.]
You haven't seen anyone else, have you?
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[She said before crossing her arms. As she gave a sigh, this was going to be a problem. With no idea where they were and no one else they could count on, they'll just have to figure it out on their own. But until then....?]
But that's okay, we'll make sure that we find out as much information as we can about here! You know that I can count on you, right?
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[That's a disappointing reality, for sure. But at least he knows of one familiar face, so not all hope is lost. He nods solemnly to Hu Tao.]
Of course. And I know that I can rely upon you as well. Together we're sure to discover something about this strange place, right?
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i scream you scream
It's definitely worrisome. Especially since the other looks relatively young - though, then again, when you're Daniel's age, most people start looking relatively young to you..
So he can't help but gently point out the tears, and the answer he gets back from Chongyun is only more concerning, making the man's eyebrows knit together in a frown. ]
.. hey, it's alright. [ Even if he's worried and confused, he can't help but shift into a reassuring mode first. ] Maybe you should sit down for a moment..?
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[Either way, now he's crying, rubbing his eyes with the back of his wrist. When he looks up at the older man who's approached him, his eyes are still red and teary. But he nods in agreement.]
Ah... Okay. [Sit down... right. He should do that. He kind of walks automatically to the closest seat, aimlessly putting the bowl of ice cream aside as he flops into the seat.]
I usually have a better grip on myself than this... but I just can't keep my thoughts straight right now...
[All he can think of is how his exorcism powers just aren't working right now... and how frustrating that is. It brings another wave of tears, but he tries to squeeze his eyes shut and keep them from falling.]
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You don't have to feel embarrassed about it. [ Or so Daniel assumes the other is feeling, if Chongyun is making sure to tell him that he's not usually like this. The last thing he'd want the other to worry about right now is the fact that he's crying at all.
Especially when Daniel certainly won't judge other people for crying in the first place. ]
Is there anything you're thinking about? You know, sometimes it helps if you talk about what's on your mind. Get it off your chest.
[ Not that he knows it will help quite literally here - especially since the man has no idea at all this is ice cream-induced.. He just figures it's good generaly advice when it comes to crying.
And it's not like he minds being a listening ear, even for a stranger. ]
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I was... thinking about when I was a child. And how... difficult things were.
[It's a bit broad, but it's a start. He takes another steadying breath, but it looks like there's a break in the tears right now, so he keeps going.]
I come from a line of exorcists, and my family is very well-known in Liyue. It's been my dream to follow in their footsteps and become one as well. But... I have a condition that makes it very hard to do. I can manage it fine now, but when I was younger... it was hard to control.
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Welcome to the Neighbourhood
There's more people in the city now but it still feels big and empty. Especially when you turn the corner and see one other person in the street.]
Uh, hi! I'm here!
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[Chongyun's eyes widen as his call is answered, and he turns in time to see the other boy calling out to him. Relief floods his body, and he makes his way over fairly quickly.]
Hello! Um, excuse me, but are you from this city? Do you know where it is we are?
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Oh, uh, no. I'm not. But you just got off the subway, right?
No one really seems to know where we are.
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I did, yes. Is that what it's called? A subway?
[He's never heard of such a thing. Subways aren't exactly a thing in Liyue.]
So you were brought here as well?
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Psychic Shop
[Okay okay, he won't tease him too much. As he opens one of the small drawers on the wall and begans scooping its contents into a small pouch, he points out,] To give this shop what little credit it's due, it is the only place in this city you can get halfway decent tea.
[You can tell whoever built this place was copying American towns because the tea in the grocery store sucked! Couldn't they have at least included a slice of Chinatown or something? That was a real thing, right? Not just something Americans made up for their movies?]
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[Chongyun jumps in surprise when he hears the other voice, and he feels a blush forming on his face. Oh man, did he just... make a fool of himself in front of this man?? He clears his throat, scratching at the back of his head.]
Ah, forgive me... I-I let my emotions get the better of me for a moment there.
[He takes one deep breath, then another... and he successfully calms himself. During that time, the older man has already gone to the small drawers. He blinks in surprise, watching the man scoop himself dome dried tea.]
Tea..? [He tilts his head, before looking at the rest of the 'stock'.] But... Isn't it wrong for this store to offer such false hopes for others? There's no parchment and ink, no fresh sandbearer wood for carving talismans... even if these crystals are similar to the gemstones I know with the power to banish evil spirits, I sense very little latent spiritual energy within them. Even if these shops are abandoned, the very presence of this shop seems like an affront to the exorcists who would perform such duties. I just can't abide by offering people such a false hope.
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[Once the pouch is full he ties it shut and turns to give the newcomer and encouraging smile.]
You seem to have a strong sense of justice, young man, not to mention quite a bit of spiritual knowledge. I'm guessing you haven't been in the city long?
[He likes to think he'd have taken notice of someone so talented earlier, if they were here to be taken notice of!]
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Well... yes. Exorcists have to know all about evil spirits, or else they won't know how to exorcise them properly... and, you're right. I haven't been here very long.
[He looks at the man curiously.]
Have you been here a long time, then?
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psychic shop
Taking a moment's breath he soon crosses the parking lot towards the shop. From past experience, Xingqiu is aware of the strong aromas of heavy incense that linger inside, more importantly, he knew how warm and stuffy it was. Once he had even entertained the idea of Chongyun stepping into the shop, and what effects it could have on him.
His exorcist friend is a serious young man but a little naive, likely he would be just about the only person to arrive within the city to take the shop as an attempt at a legitimate business.
Soon the shop's bell rings signalling his entrance and already he can hear Chongyun's attempt to calm himself. ] Perhaps some fresh air might help? [ He says this still holding the door open. ]
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Xingqiu! You're here too!!
[Perhaps it's his former outburst, or perhaps it's the heavy incense, or perhaps it's just the relief of seeing his dear friend, but he's a bit more excitable than usual. He has to catch himself and take another breath, rubbing the back of his head.]
Ah... you must have heard me, didn't you? [How embarrassing... He's usually more composed than this.]
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His lips part, a pause as it seems he is about to answer Chongyun's question but he stops. The truth is he didn't hear that little tirade in its entirety. He looks away from Chongyun with his gaze now settled on the back of the shop. ]
Have you seen The Fortune Teller?
[ So Chongyun's question isn't answered and instead Xingqiu makes an inquiry of his own. Without waiting for an answer he motions for Chongyun to follow him towards the back. ] I've been here for some time now, Chongyun. I would say it's been about two months.
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[Did Xingqiu just ignore his question?? Well, Chongyun IS intrigued by the mention of a fortune teller being here, and despite his wanting to pester Xingqiu, the exorcist follows his friend's lead and begins making his way deeper into the shop. But he does falter mid-step at Xingqiu's comment.]
T-Two months?! [Chongyun openly gapes at Xingqiu, before shaking his head.] T-That doesn't make sense. We went for lunch just the other day back in Liyue... how could you be gone for two months?? This isn't another one of your tricks, is it Xingqiu?
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