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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citycenter) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
citylogs2023-08-02 12:00 am
no subject
[... Huh?? Rokurou is just staring at it, but he looks pretty dumbfounded. It must be something pretty incredible! Or maybe even terrifying!? Nansen rushes over to invade his personal space and hang over his shoulder to read it, but when he finally does.......]
[He's even more confused than he was before.]
"Later".... meow? [He blinks at it a few times, then blinks back towards the machine, and then back at Rokurou. Weird.]
...Do you think we offended her........?
[The thought causes him great anxiety, so that he turns and drops to his knees in a deep, apologetic seiza in front of the machine, forehead nearly to the ground.]
[He really does treat this thing like a goddess.] W-we're sorry, great oracle kami, meow!! Do you not like roses!? Nya, or maybe it's chocolate that makes you unhappy...? Did you want something salty instead........?
no subject
Maybe she’s not in the mood now. That’s how women are.
[ A gentle reassurance to the thing that … he thinks it is a woman…? Still debatable, but better to not provoke something with powers he does not understand. Women really are terrifying, no matter what shape or form they are in.
He reaches down to tug Nansen up by the arm. ]
She said to ask again later so we’ll ask again later. Come on, we can bring something salty next time to go with the chocolates.
[ Given that Rokurou fully expects them to still be here when they return. It’s a doll, how is it supposed to eat?
… though, looking at the bouquet gives him a mischievous inkling. Fortune-teller, surely you won’t mind a couple of guys messing around a little. ]
If you’re that worried, I do know one way to make a woman happy quickly … but only the bravest of men can do it.
no subject
O-oh, okay, nya. Then, we'll have to find some other way to hunt for our swords....
[He sighs depressedly and shoots one more little apologetic glance back at the machine, bowing his head to it.]
We'll be back for sure, nya!!
[Where to now? Nansen had already searched all over the city for some sign of his body, tried to sense his connection to it, but had come up empty. Did this guy have another idea...?]
[He's shaken out of his pondering by Rokurou's sudden offer, and blinks up at him, gold and agape.] --Nya?? You do!? Well, what's that, meow!?
no subject
[ He drifts, glancing away at nothing while pretending to ponder if poor little aniki can handle it. Seemingly making up his mind, Rokurou leans in and cups a hand over one of Nansen’s ears so that the fortune-teller can’t overhear.
His whisper is furtive, as if imparting a crucial piece of wisdom that must not be known to women lest their one advantage be taken away. ]
…give her a kiss. [ he glances over at the figure trapped inside the wooden box with planes of glass shielding her “mouth” and amends, ] Right on the box should do it.
[ He stands up straight again and smiles, hands on his hips. ]
It has to be you—she doesn’t know me well enough.
no subject
[...Very loudly. Nansen jumps away from Ro with a flummox, giving him a look like he's suggested something outrageously raunchy.] I-I can't do something like that! What if I offend her!?
--What if she curses me even meowre!? I can't take it if I get cursed again!! Not only will I have the cat's curse, I'll be cursed with ill fortunes for the rest of my life! Right back to "Naisen"!! I won't even be worth a damn maneki-neko then, NYAAAAAAA!!!
[Nansen, dramatically, collapses to his hands and knees right there on the floor; if Ro was hoping to keep his dastardly plan a secret from the fortune-telling box right over there, those hopes are surely dashed now. Does he detect a slight sensation of being judged?? It's as if that eyeless face is staring at them both right now, withering, pitying them. Sad, sad men. Get out of her shop.]
no subject
He scoops the spirit up and tucks him beneath a single arm like a bag. Then, he turns toward the fortune-telling box and gives a polite wave. Whatever it is, Nansen may very well be right about it having the ability to curse them—no reason to be rude and possibly screw himself over. Then he strides quickly to the door before she can smite them into ash for being so stupid all over her shop: ]
Thank you, thank you, we'll be leaving now. Have a nice night! [ he shakes Nansen in his arm as he carries him out, ] You'll never hold a girl's hand if you can't keep cool, man.
no subject
[Why is he being carried!? Oh well... His limbs hang like a docile purse pup, confused and too emotionally devastated to refuse, as Rokurou apologizes for him and whisks them out of the shop.]
[He'll come back and see you again, fortune-teller box....]
Why would I wannya do that, anyway!? [He snaps back, still dangling from under Ro's arm as they get a few steps out of the shop and onto the street.] I wanna be held by a guy! A strong warrior!!
[Everyone is allowed their preferences, Ro.]
no subject
[ Rokurou stops, brain stuttering with new information. Suddenly it all makes sense. This entire time he had been assuming that Nansen was interested in women—and while it does not seem to be off the table from what he's said before, turns out that his current active lust is for .... beefy strong men? The news that he is a bottom isn't exactly news. Anyone could tell that much by looking at him. ]
Ooooooohhhhh. Why didn't you say so earlier? If it's going to be a guy, I agree. Gotta be a strong warrior.
[ Actually, this makes his job a bit easier. He won't give up on finding a woman for Nansen to hold hands with since it really is sad that he's never gotten that much, but if he's hungry for men—ah. Rokurou is a bro. It does not matter what gender aniki wants. A bro is a bro and a bro helps his bro. ]
It can't be me. We're bros, so that won't work. [ he drops Nansen onto the sidewalk, ] Just any strong warrior? No preferences otherwise?
no subject
[...Nya... Well, at least he had it better than that Chougi guy, obsessing over his copy's prominence...]
--Hah?? Whaddaya mean, "can't be you"? Don't you already have one, nya?
[There are many misunderstandings going on here, but there is still room for more.] .........Well, it'd be nice if it was a warrior who'll actually put me to use for more than a test once in a while......
[Wow, kinky.]
no subject
[ It is such a good thing they left the fortune-teller's shop. She would not want to deal with this.
On his end, Rokurou has the complete wrong idea. He crosses his arms and tilts his head, a little impressed. Aniki may be on the slenderer side but he is still a man. So, he wants a big, strong warrior that will "use" him often? How often? The daemon rubs his chin in contemplation. Aniki has been a good guy so far and has been helping him out. A good way to repay him would be to hook him up with a thick hunk that'll rail him as much as he seems to want. It's the least he can do, really. ]
How much are we talking? Every day? I can probably find a warrior like that. Most of us are pretty energetic. I feel like, for you, it should be someone who really knows how to use their hands.
no subject
[Is that a challenge!? Wow, what a picky bottom. Nansen grumbles and picks himself up off the ground, dusting off his nice white pants.]
...Well of course he needs to be able to use his hands! How is he supposed to grip meow, otherwise!?
no subject
And you won't! Don't tell me you want me to? [ is he being hit on right now??? ] Aniki, don't worry. We'll find someone for you, alright? I can't commit to you like how you want.
no subject
[Now, if he could prove he wasn't all talk........... Although, Nansen has to admit it's pretty impressive if he uses an odachi in the battlefield. That wasn't exactly a common feat, especially off horseback??]
[He side-eyes Ro.] It's okay. Most of my masters have had a lot, of all sizes. Even if I was by their side, they usually had me in a pair with someone else.
[What kind of fucking harem.]
no subject
Rokurou pinches the bridge of his nose. His first guess that aniki is a virgin had been totally off base. He has only never held a woman's hand or ever really interacted with one because he's been exclusively dominated by men. When would he ever have the chance? Rather than a lack of experience, aniki has a wealth. Certainly more than Rokurou. Always so dedicated to training and swordsmanship, his experiences pale in comparison. Especially in the realm of men.
Silently, Rokurou strips off his kimono jacket and firmly wraps Nansen inside of it. The collar accessory and belly shirt suddenly have new meaning. Aniki must be protected, even if he is happy to be a slave to his carnal lusts. ]
Let's find someone who will appreciate you. You deserve that, alright?
no subject
[(He sure hopes she doesn't stay mad....)]
[And now, to top it all off, his new swordsman friend is acting weird!! Nansen blinks his gold eyes as Ro suddenly swathes him with his kimono, staring at the gesture in an awkward silence.]
M...mrr....? [Ah... But it's such a heartfelt wish that he can't even deny it. His cheeks pink a little, rosier than his eyes even usually are.] ..........Thanks, I guess, lil' bro. I guess even an aniki needs support from his junior sometimes, nya?
[Shuffle...] Sorry I couldn't help you find your sword. I'll keep lookin'! Meowbe we'll find 'em soon.
no subject
[ He sighs, giving Nansen an affectionate pat atop the head. It has been some kind of day, hasn't it? Given the size of the city he is not shocked that they have not been able to find their swords. As for the fortune-teller... he can only give that another shot another time. Even if it is a creepy doll, there is an energy there he does not want to mess with. Recklessness has its limits. ]
At least I got lucky meeting you, yeah? [ even if he is not prone to lonesomeness, finding a companion and one that's a swordsman to boot is a pretty good thing, ] Are you hungry? How about we go find something good to eat?
no subject
Nyeheh, you're probably right! I'm sure my blade can't be that far away, if I'm here!
Oh, I know the best place! You can find almost anything you like there, anything you could imeowgine! I think it's called.... A "dinner".
Follow after meow!
[Cats, march onward! Cheered up, Nansen leads his new pal off deeper into the city. If there's more swords around, and more people to wield them, then surely things will work out somehow!]