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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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!
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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)
citylogs2023-07-01 11:00 am
no subject
Of course, he is not aware that he the ring that makes him immortal no longer carries the magic that it once did. It is perhaps a kindness that he still has it so he is not anxious about his mortality once again.
"And it is always this unusual?"
no subject
“Yes, quite. Frustratingly so, I would say. I have been here for weeks and still have no idea why I am here, who brought me here or anything at all, really.” He stops then, taking a deep breath to calm himself. There is not point in going off in front of this stranger. He also does not know, Loki is sure.
no subject
"I do not question why a being superior to me has not shown themself. I have not seen other gods until now either." There is a beat. "And I do not have proof of your being one besides your word." Which is hard to be certain of in these uncertain times.
Doc glances around. "It is like we are trapped in some being's world. I cannot quite fathom what is strong enough to create such a place. I do not believe a witch alone could do it and Revenants have no power for trapping. So it must have been some other creature."
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“I suppose that is true. I have not bothered to prove myself to you or anyone. What would you require? If I were to attempt to convince you?” He’s not sure he cares to, but he is a little curious to know what it would take to show someone you’re a god when they believe in a god they’ve never seen before. Seemed odd that he would have to prove himself at all, really.
That was something Loki has been thinking about a lot himself. “It is certainly someone, or possibly more than one someone, with a great deal of power.” Definitely more power than he has, which really didn’t sit well with Loki at all. He knew of plenty of people stronger than he is. Odin for sure had been more powerful, loathe as he was to admit that, even after reconciling with him. And clearly Thanos has his number, but neither of them could create a world like this and drag who knew how many people to it against their wills. No, clearly they were dealing with power on a whole other level, the likes of which even Loki did not know. “I am afraid even if we discover who has done this, there will be not much we can do to retaliate.”
no subject
"I am not sure that I am much concerned with proof at this juncture." But he is also not sure what would prove it. Power can be divinely given and it can be given by more demonic routes. It might not prove much. But doubt is a strong thing and Doc has far more in him than he might give off. "It is just that many a man has claimed god-like status and many a man has died despite it." But that is the way of gunslingers, is it not? "If you are one of many, what is it that you do? What makes you different from the others?"
Whatever cursed the Ghost River Triangle could have caused something like this, but what would the curse be for and what ritual would it take to open the door to freedom? And again, what was outside of said place waiting to get in if they should. Of course, that was assuming this was something similar to home. He is not entirely sold on that at this moment. "It would mean discovering their weakness. Or whether there is some manner of breaking out. And that will, inevitably, take time. No doubt whatever or whoever is in charge is expecting retaliation in some form if they have unjustly brought people here. So they will not make it easy to do or dig up information on."
no subject
“Being a god does not necessarily make you immortal, though some think us to be as we live much longer lives.” Of course, he’s only speaking of the pantheon of Norse gods, he hasn’t had the privilege of going to Omnipotence City, though from what he understands, they tend to live even longer lives seeing as Zeus is apparently still cavorting around. “I believe humans began referring to us as gods because of our abilities and longevity, but I do not know. That began before my birth.”
Loki grins at the man. He always did enjoy when people asked questions like that. “Oh, we all have different skills. I am the God of Mischief, Trickery and Deception, as well as magic and fire. Do not hold it against me though, I do not live by these at all times. I am merely prone to causing chaos.” He knows it isn’t a good look, but Loki is still quite proud of his titles.
“I agree. Whomever has brought us here is quite adept at keeping information from us. I am convinced that magic is involved as I cannot figure another way to keep us all here and bring us all the way it did. I met a number of people my first night here and though we all seemed to arrive at the same time to the same place, we all arrived alone on a different train.” Or at least that was how the rulers of this place wanted it to seem.
no subject
"So then the gods can be killed." It is a surprise to hear it, but then given the men that claimed it, it does not surprise him. Though, none of them were gods in any right. Just men with inflated egos. "I doubt even I was around for that decision." Which should seem like an obvious thing. He is only 166 years as of this moment. But he should not have made it past 36. And no one is any wiser to his age. If asked, he will simply say 36 until he is certain the truth will be acceptable.
"Mmm." So it seems to be the sorts that he is used to. There is a slight uneasiness that settles over him because that reminds him of the Stone Witch. The Demon Clootie's wife that made a deal with him, give him immortality, and then pushed him in that well to live alone for 130 years. All to get back at Doc and Wyatt apart. To keep them separated even if Wyatt forgave him for his actions.
"I cannot say I trust much by way of magic after all this time." He still listens. Illusions are a hefty sort of magic. "That is certainly unsettling."
no subject
Loki nods, though he's unsure as to why he's telling this man anything about his possible weakness. He doesn't sense any danger from him at the moment, but it really isn't like him to be so open. Or at least that is how he prefers to think of himself. In reality, Loki does love to talk. "Yes, it is possible, though it is not easy. Even other gods have difficulty killing gods. Many of us will pull out all the stops to win and we have a lot of those. I know my brother and I were trained in battle and without any of our extra abilities we are quite formidable. But still, it is possible."
A questioning look crosses his face at some of the other man's terminology. It sounds as if he's saying he's quite old, but he looks perhaps middle aged for a human to him. Loki himself looks a bit younger, though that would be far from the truth. It makes him curious, but he merely eyes the man questioningly, not yet ready to ask.
Loki agrees that this whole scenario is unsettling, but he frowns at the mention of distrusting magic. Loki is, after all, a magical being at his core. Even if this place seems to be zapping that from him. He already feels a bit touchy on the subject and merely huffs in response, trying not to show that the comment slightly annoyed him. "Well, I suppose it would be to someone unfamiliar with magic."
no subject
Doc considers that information. He is sure that there must be some short-sightedness among some of the gods, thing they would not expect. Not that he is looking to kill the other man or any other supposed gods. But it would be good to know if he can take this knowledge back with him for Wynonna and Waverly's sake. "I cannot imagine any creature would not put up some fight to keep themselves alive."
He's been far more offensive, but he has experience, which is why he has his feelings. "I am familiar enough."
no subject
It is likely a mistake that he has said so much to a stranger, but Loki finds himself enjoying the conversation too much to care. Besides, he finds it rather unlikely that this man could harm him, even with his own abilities not working normally. He could very well be formidable, but Thanos he is not. “That is true. I believe any living creature would do whatever was needed to survive, I just find that many gods will do more than is necessary against an adversary that they could beat without such tricks.” And yes, Loki is just as guilty of that as anyone else he might be referring to. He is trying to be better about such things though.
Loki raises a disbelieving eyebrow. “Clearly you have not witnessed all the good it can do then.” Now he no longer even tries to hide that he is annoyed. Why bother? He feels no need currently to hide anything from the other man. It is hardly worth the effort.
no subject
He smiles. "Perhaps they will. I cannot say. I have no real experience with such beings. Monsters and Revenants. So far no real demons, but I imagine it is only a matter of time." He has yet to fight against quite so many things as he will come to fight.
"I have not seen it do good without consequences or some form of payment that one might not really want to pay." He paid with Wyatt's friendship and spent a very long time at the bottom of a well feeling the loss of a man who he felt was a brother. The Iron Witch was perhaps as good as he had seen. "Those that do good seem far more likely to be killed anyway." He can sense the annoyance and all he has to say for it is a slight shrug. "Guess that is the way of the world. Those that are not afraid to do ill towards others have a harder time surviving." He is just as guilty of that as anyone else and he has no magic to blame it on.
no subject
Loki looks thoughtful. “I am unsure about the existence of actual demons. It has always seemed to me that everyone is capable of evil, some more than others, but creatures that are pure evil I have not come across.” Even Thanos wasn’t pure evil. He was actually trying to help the universe, even if he did have a strange way of doing that.
“That is a shame.” Loki meant that quite honestly. He knew one could use magic in such a way, had definitely done so himself, but not every time. As someone who had been considered evil by many in his life, even he did not always use magic in such a way. He was tempted to do one small little trick just to prove that point, perhaps show him some fireworks, or conjure up something simple, but with the way he’s reacting, Loki second guesses if that is a good idea. Besides, he doesn’t need to prove anything to him. Magic is a good thing and no one can prove otherwise to him. “I disagree. The good people I have known always succeed.” If that weren’t true he would currently be ruling Earth with the Chitauri.
no subject
"Of course many are capable of both. But I have seen demons and Revenants in my time. The Revenants, well, I suppose I would not be so well adjusted if I spent years in hell either. But most of them were not really good in life either. Only a few were in the wrong place at the wrong time." Ambrose is one of them, but Doc knew Fish would have chosen the same time and again. He loved Levi and that was that.
"I have seen many a good man and woman die. It is those that fight to stay alive and bend the rules that stick around." Unless they are Revenants, but they are doomed either way. "But perhaps things are different for you."
no subject
Loki sighed. How could he argue with that? He’d never met the demons or Revenants of this man’s time, but Loki was well aware of how many misused magic. Even he had used his magic. It wasn’t as if it were all that long since he had dumped his father on Earth and used his face to take over Asgard. But he hadn’t actually killed anyone. At least not recently.
“I admit, I do prefer to bend the rules whenever necessary. Most rules seem so arbitrary and boring anyway, but it always seemed that the so called heroes of my world survived.” Hel, he had thrown Stark out of a window and the crazy little mortal had survived. If that wasn’t a clear example of the good winning, he didn’t know what was. Of course, he wouldn’t give that example. He hardly wanted to tell someone he just met that he’d done something like that. Loki was well aware of how bad it would make him look, even if they knew what an obnoxious little shit Stark had been just before he had done it.
no subject
"Who does not, really?" A beat. "Well, some. Wyatt cannot even claim he did not bend the rules when it was necessary." Some things were dealt with in a way that likely seemed like the law and some of it was for good reason. Some of it, however, was not. "But I suppose I was bending the rules more than he was."
no subject
“I suppose this Wyatt of yours is one of the good people you refer to?” He asks almost gently, wondering if his friend has died and that is why he thinks in such a way. “Some rules were meant to be bent. Some were written by those in power to serve themselves and not the greater good. Some no longer work for the society they govern. And some are just stupid and pointless. Either way, I find there is often a good reason to circumvent them, if one needs.”