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
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... Right. No immediate danger! That's excellent. And it's outside 'our' reality... [ yes, they do the finger quotes ] But... not outside Hers, surely?
[ That last question is asked much more hesitantly, and accompanied by a little point upwards. Crowley probably isn't the right person to ask, but - and Muriel tries not to think too hard about this next bit - he's been kinder to them over the last few days than
most of their coworkersmost people, and seems likely to give a direct answer. This question comes with a definite Risk of Grumpiness, though. ]no subject
The problem is thus; Crowley doesn't know. Not for certain. He has suspicions, certainly but he has a lot of those rattling around in his head at any given time; being a bit paranoid is an important survival trait in a demon. But he can't say one way or another. He's long been cut off from Her Love. She made it very clear during that whole kerfuffle that him and others like him weren't wanted.
He's over it. It's fine.]
Dunno. [He tries for some way that could break the news more gently.] Aziraphale thinks that might be the case, but we could just be very, very far away. Out of range, so to speak.
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[ Muriel doesn't know what that is, but it can't be anything good, and the look on their face clearly shows their unease. It feels a bit like waking up to find yourself on a ship, and then realizing that the ship may not have a captain. Not immediately dangerous, but... ]
... Oh dear.
[ Understatement of the century! ]
It's nice that Mr. Aziraphale is here too, at least.
[ ((I'm heading out for vacation and will be MIA for a few days, but I'm loving this thread!)) ]
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It also dawns on Crowley that it's not something he'd really considered. He'd gone without for so long, such a sudden change for the angels must be...]
Hey now, chin up.
[He gives them an encouraging bump on the shoulder.]
Lots here are trying to find a way back home. I'm sure we'll figure something out and you'll be back in no time.
[((eeeeeee i'm loving your muriel! have a good vacation and have lots of fun ♥))]
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That said, they smile at that little nudge. Any friendly gesture makes Muriel light up like a Christmas tree. ]
Thank you! It's... strange, isn't it? This place is so empty, it's as if everyone just got up and left!
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(Rhetorical question; he knows all too well what Heaven's issues are, but no one listened to him when he had the metaphorical harp and halo, and certainly no one is going to start listening to him now that he has the metaphorical pitchfork and (slightly less metaphorical) horns).]
Not sure if there was anyone here to begin with. One of the working hypotheses is that we're the first.
[His mouth pulls into a tight grimace.]
Probably best not to speculate on what happened to the others if that's... erm. Not the case.
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Crowley can probably see the intense calculus floating around Muriel's head as they consider his statement, and their expression clouds over]
That... that doesn't make sense. There must've been people here before, there's paperwork and old graveyards and everything.
... Maybe they just went to a new city, or found someplace nicer.
[ THE SUN CAME OUT AGAIN! ]
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Empty graves and blank paperwork though, yeah? So just some wooden boxes and paper.
[Props on a stage, he thinks. And we're the actors. Eat your heart out, Burbage.]
Could be a red herring to throw us off.
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I don't see what fish have to do with anything.
[ They also didn't get the idiom, bear with them! ]
... Wait, does that mean you dug up a grave?!
[ SCANDALIZED!! ]
no subject
[He remembers the early years of idioms and metaphors; unfortunately Crowley initially took to them like a duck to astrophysics, but he eventually got the hang of things. Sarcasm had been a revelation, but Muriel definitely isn't there yet. Baby steps.]
And no, no gravedigging for me. Not that I'm not for it, I just --
[He gestures, vaguely. Probably not good for even retired demons to admit they're a bit squeamish.]
-- Not my scene. There's humans here who don't have any hangups about that sort of thing though.
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That said, Muriel can't hold back a brief grimace. Humans are fascinating and weird in a million different little ways, but sometimes, they're just plain gross. That cannot be sanitary! ]
Bleugh. That's a bit... mucky, isn't it?
no subject
Mmhm [Crowley agrees with a knowing nod, but doesn't seem particularly inclined to judge. After all, these things are always more complicated than they seem.]
It can be very mucky business. But sometimes it has to be done.
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(This may have been how Aziraphale started justifying things, but we're definitely not going to think about that right now!) ]
I. I suppose so...
The fake paperwork and empty boxes seem like an awful lot of trouble for someone to go to, though. And, and there's... [ they gesture at the ivy twining around the statues behind them. ] ...those twisty plants take a long time to grow, don't they? They couldn't have just popped up overnight.
[ A pause. ]
... The more I think about this, the worse it gets, actually.
no subject
[He smiles. It's not a particularly nice smile, but the rueful little grimace isn't directed at Muriel. No, they haven't done anything wrong; it's not their fault this place is all kinds of uncanny.]
A little miracle and a bit of... encouragement could have this place a veritable jungle of plants. Plants are easy.
[He would say that though.]
No pollinators though. No bees, no butterflies, no moths, nothing. Like plants growing inside an office building. Everything is just empty and sterile. Like Heaven's idea of what Earth should be.
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Muriel instantly thinks of their office back in Heaven, and thinking about that leads to thinking about how little they want to return to it, and thinking about that will lead to a whole guilty existential crisis if they aren't careful, so Muriel shuts down that train of thought as quickly as they can. This whole mental rollercoaster is probably evident on their face.
The thing is, Crowley isn't wrong about Heaven's aesthetic sensibilities, but Muriel isn't ready to agree with him yet. That will take some time. ]
But that's...! [ They have to give a small token protest! ] It doesn't feel like Heaven. I'd be able to tell!
[ That wasn't exactly what he was getting at, but it's a way to steer the conversation away! ]
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[He gestures in the vague direction of a cafe down the empty, quiet street. It's nothing like London with the constant flow of cars and foot traffic going to and fro. It's bright, and still, the only sound the low hum of neon lights in windows.]
I've got a few theories, but I'd like to hear your first impressions.
no subject
... Oh! Really? [ Somebody actually asking for their opinion! This is new and unexpected! ]
Well, you've already read my notes over my shoulder. [ no judgement here, just facts! ] It feels like... like a good imitation of Earth. Like whoever made it really enjoyed subways and ice cream parlors - there's an ice cream parlor, did you see? - but forgot to put any people in afterwards. Like... like one of those glass boxes that humans put fish in.
[ Maybe they're the fish? It's a worrying thought, and not one that they particularly want to finish. ]
no subject
He doesn't go off on one of his cynical rants; Muriel is under enough stress as is. He does, however, nod in affirmation.]
Sounds about right. Mind the ice cream though, if you're thinking of indulging in more than looking at it. It, uh, has some strange side effects. The stuff from the grocery stores is safe enough to eat though.
no subject
[ They say it like the very idea is silly! ]
I've heard about the side effects, it makes your brain freeze up. I just liked seeing how many different kinds there were. There was one of those big music boxes in there, too!
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The colours are nice aren't they? Shame this place is so devoid of culture, else Aziraphale and I would take you to a proper museum. I reckon you'd love paintings. Some sculptures are also quite vibrant.
no subject
They are quite nice! D'you think they'd have any horses at a museum? I've always wanted to see one of those.
no subject
[Crowley is not the world's biggest fan of horses; uncomfortable, ill-tempered skittish sofas on legs. Crowley was very pleased when automobiles had sent them the way of the butter churn and gas lighting.
But he's not keen on ruining Muriel's fun. He's sure horses are just delightful when they're on the other side of an electrified fence,]
Should have visited a hundred years or so back; used to be you couldn't move for horses all about.
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I didn't have an assignment here a hundred years ago!
... Well, not here obviously. [ They gesture vaguely at their surroundings. ] I'm not sure this counts as part of the assignment.
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But it wasn't about the filing, it wasn't even about their duty. It was about control.
It was always about control.]
It could always be an assignment you give to yourself.
[Spoken the way he did to Eve about a particularly red and juicy looking apple albeit not with the intent to start trouble. At least none of the bad kind.]
Same with Earth, right? A little note to yourself to pop in, give a horse a pat on its nose, maybe feed it a carrot or sugar cubes. It's not like your work is going to run off if you're not looking at it while you take a couple days to yourself.
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All at once, Muriel is reminded of who she's talking to. Crowley is very friendly and kind, even when he's grouchy, but he's still a demon, and temptation is literally part of his job description. Granted, they've never actually met a demon before him, and until now, Muriel had been under the impression that demons didn't tempt people with the idea of petting velvety horse snouts, but
it's workingthey're definitely a bit stiffer and more cautious when they reply. ]I'd. I'd still have to report back. I make regular reports, and they'd be very cross if...
[ Wait a minute. ]
... I can't report back!
[ ENFORCED LIMINAL HORROR VACATION, CUE THE KILL BILL SIRENS ]
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