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.
JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS
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.
JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS
SO A TURKEY WALKS INTO A BOWLING ALLEY...
There's a bowling alley open in the newly-accessible district, and you're invited to come test your mettle!
Walking into the lobby, you're struck by a peculiar combination of scents—shoe polish, floor wax, pretzels and nachos, and something pungent and a little oily. On the wall behind the desk is a shelf full of pair after pair of shoes, in every size you could possibly imagine, and there's a low rack filled with brightly-colored, heavy bowling balls that are ready for the taking. You can also hear the low hum of machinery and the rattle of pins being reset every time someone knocks them down, the bowling alley a well-oiled machine despite the fact that no one seems to be manning it.
You can bowl alone, start a match play (1-v-1), or bowl as a team, but you'll quickly find that bowling is much more fun (and somehow easier) when you're playing with others. Maybe it's because being around other people raises your spirits, but you feel more confident when you step up to bowl, and you find that when you're playing as part of a team, the bowling ball travels faster and in a straighter line, and you seem to be making strikes and spares with much greater frequency. Teamwork really does make the dream work!
If you occasionally see what you think might be the shadow of someone passing behind the machinery at the far end of the lane, don't worry about it—that's probably just your imagination.
If you stop by the bowling alley at night, you will find the place totally transformed. There's a disco ball hanging from the ceiling and brightly-colored lights flashing and dancing around the floor and walls. Any white parts of your clothing glow a delightful blueish color, and you find that you're illuminated in all kinds of interesting shades by the blacklight bulbs glowing in the ceiling. This is cosmic bowling, truly not for the faint of heart!
When you've finished bowling, you may want to stop by the snack area for a pretzel or hot dog, a soda, or—if you're there for cosmic bowling—maybe even a more adult beverage from the food counter on the far end of the building.
There isn't anything especially spooky about the bowling alley—except, of course, being forced to wear shoes that have been worn by a hundred strangers before. Characters are welcome to find their shoe size, grab a bowling ball, and go to town! Characters who come during the day will encounter a normal bowling alley, but they can always come back at night to get the full cosmic bowling experience. There will always be shoes in their sizes, the pins will reset themselves, and the balls will always be returned. Just be careful, those ball chutes can crush your fingers if you're not careful!
JUMP TO TOP ↑ | ↓ JUMP TO COMMENTS
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.
JUMP TO TOP ↑
|
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
citycenter) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
citylogs2023-07-01 11:00 am
no subject
Despite her affection for a particular American, Vanessa doesn't know as much about America's geography as she would like. She is normally quite eager to learn more, but some of that is overshadowed by her tension over being trapped here with him at all.
And yet, what else are they to do? Scream to the heavens? ]
Unsavory, is it? The government? Such intrigue, however I doubt any government had a hand in this.
no subject
No. I cannot imagine it has the power. [As much experience with demons and monsters as it might have.] But yes. I would call it unsavory. Even more so than it was in my day. I find the law men some of the least trustworthy. [There's a beat.] And I used to be one.
no subject
'In my day'. Vanessa ought to wonder if he means it loosely by a few years, but there is something about him. She can usually sense when something, or someone is...different.
But the sense is too faint to discern anything more. ]
Would that mean that you are untrustworthy?
[ Though she teases, it may be easy to miss given Vanessa's occasionally dry humor. She stands with minimal effort, despite the pain of her toes. They're just toes, she can keep her weight off of them. ]
In which case I would need to watch you closely, for my own assurance.
no subject
[For the most part anyway. He helped Wynonna and Waverly even after making quite an ass of himself.] Some are easier to forgive than others.
[He carefully sets the headstone down.] Hopefully it will not trouble you too much. [There is a hint of amusement to his expression here.] All the same, I would not protest if you wished to watch me closely.
no subject
Such understanding makes it easier to smile (only a bit) for him, though it has yet to fully reach her eyes. ]
Is that so? I wonder what manner of things do you protest? If one were to set aside the trifling matter of being kept here against one's will, that is.
no subject
It has been hard to protest much of anything of late. But harm to the Earps, I think I might protest. Though, they are both capable enough of getting themselves into danger and in harm's way, so I suppose I cannot say too much.
no subject
His first thought is to be upset over the harm of others. It warms her smile a touch to think of others expressing their affection for loved ones. He had mentioned the name before. ]
A family of sorts?
no subject
Of sorts. I once considered Wyatt my brother. But he felt differently in the end. [Just a little deal with the devil (or his wife) for immortality and that was it.]
They are his...relatives. [He is not sure how much to reveal in this moment. Being approximately 166 years old does not mean he understands everything, but keeping your cards close is perhaps wise. Until he knows more about the people here.]
I am making it a point to keep them from being killed while trying to avoid certain death myself.
no subject
It's a shame that 'Wyatt Earp' and 'Doc Holliday' don't ring immediate bells for Vanessa, but she has been rather preoccupied for the last decade. ]
What is it that threatens them so?
no subject
The Ghost River Triangle has quite a few dangers. Even more so recently. It is not something one would usually discuss with a lady. [There's a beat before he adds.] But if you wish it, then I will tell you some of it.
no subject
Mm, you do tease at my curiosity a great deal, but perhaps another time. I can get carried away by the promise of danger, but our current situation ought to be considered before that of others. Such threats cannot even be addressed until we learn of a way back to them, no? I would ask if you have had any success in finding other people here.
[ A quick addendum: ]
Workers, I mean.
no subject
Then I will keep those particular details to myself until we have learned some more of our predicament.
[There's a small pause before he looks around.] I have not seen hide nor hair of anyone that appears to be working here, no. There are places, but no one seems to be in them. Which is about as unsettling as everything else in this place.
no subject
What of animals? [ A consideration. ] Insects? I have seen nor heard another living thing beyond those of us misplaced from our homes.
no subject
I have not seen anything as of this point. It is very quiet here.
no subject
Usually. ]
Mm, yes. For all I have witnessed of the strange and unsettling, never have I found myself in such a predicament. I cannot know what to think of it. Have you any understanding or considerations regarding how any of this could be?
[ She does have quite a great idea what to think of it, really, but it always serves her to learn what others are planning or suspecting. ]
no subject
I am certain there are creatures or beings that can cause such things, but it is not quite normal.
[There was definitely something similar when they went to find Willa. Though, to be fair, they didn't realize that's who they were going to find.]
I am not certain I trust the lack of animals. It is usually something of some concern.
no subject
To me, that is more perceptible than the lack of denizens. I felt it in the air, or I suppose noticed what I could not feel. The vibrations are different. One can live well and good far away from other people, but I cannot think of anywhere in the world that would be without any life at all.
[ Even the icy plains has its fauna. ]
no subject
Are you very in tune with nature? [He is not personally very aware of such things. It is a silence that settles over him, but feeling? There's nothing he can feel that is different.]
no subject
Not as such. It is something I feel regardless where I have been in this city.
[ Though it hasn't happened consistently, leaving her to wonder if her powers are unreliable or if some parts of the are more abnormal than others. ]
Or I ought to say, something I am unable to feel.
[ Something is certainly missing; something beyond just the animals and people. Vanessa just can't put her finger on it. ]
You spoke as if you are familiar with unnatural occurrences. What do you know of witches?
no subject
I know only two and only one of them is still living. [A beat.] And that was the result of the other witch I know. I was pushed down a well by the one that is still living. [Though, she is currently up to her neck in salt. He figures it is best not to mention that.]
no subject
Is he a spirit? Did the fall kill him?
She isn't able to sense anything specific at all, but her powers have been unreliable as of yet. Vexing. ]
I do hope you were able to discover a way to teach her regret.
[ Crossing her arms, Vanessa considers carefully how best to proceed with why she had asked in the first place. ]
I believe to have been cursed to this prison by witches; as like you and the others are. [ Why any of them may be involved, she has yet to learn. That is part of the mystery. ] Our only hope to be free of this place is to find them and their master.
no subject
Immortality does funny things to the mind after all. And being in a small well for so long also does not help.]
I would say that I did. Had some help with it. Always good to have someone who can get around the loop holes.
[The loop holes being that if Doc hurts Constance, he himself gets harmed just the same. Which is why Wynonna did the burying.]
They would certainly have to be powerful witches. I wonder if they do not have otherworldly creatures working with them if that is the case. [There is a beat where Doc considers his own question, having but only knowledge of one witch at the same time.] Are they more powerful working together than separately?
no subject
[ Joan was a special case, of course.
Perhaps he ought to stay away from wells. Just to be safe. ]
I have not witnessed how they conduct their craft in person. I only know of the torment they have wrought on me and mine for years now. I should think they would remain stronger together, as would we. It would do us well not to lose track of where our allies are.
no subject
[He does not know much about hedge witches specifically, but he knows a thing or two about witches. At least Constance Clootie and her brood.]
Then I suppose we will have to find some lodging and check in regularly. Though, I also suppose it is wise to be certain we are careful in our choice of allies as well. [There's a small sigh.]
Constance Clootie and her ilk are not powerful enough that I am aware of for this, though, should it be some unnatural sort of illusion, it is possible. I cannot speak to her exact abilities. But with her in salt up to her neck and the Blacksmith gone, I do not know who is left.
no subject
The Blacksmith?
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)