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 west of City Hall, you will find a small building that houses the tourist information kiosk. The kiosk is not currently operational, but you may want to remember its location...
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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A WASH, ANYONE?
The coin laundromat is tucked into the first floor of one of the tall apartment buildings. Soap is complimentary, and while the machines say that they cost a quarter per load, in reality they are fully operational without any money being exchanged at all. If you have any clothes that need a wash, perhaps items that have been dirtied by your explorations (or your travels before arriving in the city), you may want to take this opportunity to wash them for free.
From the soap dispenser, you can retrieve packets of detergent in different strengths. There's plenty of stock of for mild to moderate grime and for heavy-duty stains, but there are also a handful of packets with slightly less obvious purposes. For things remembered, says one. For unhappy accidents, says another. Feel free to use whichever seems most suited to your needs.
When your laundry cycle has ended, the buzzer sounds and the door pops open so the clothing can be retrieved. You grab a laundry basket and reach in to start pulling fabric out of the machine by the handful. But wait a second–the more clothing you retrieve, the less familiar the items seem, and by the time you've retrieved the last bundled sock from the depths of the dryer you're absolutely positive: These clothes don't belong to you.
You're sure that you put your own clothing into the machine, but these are someone else's clothes entirely. Did someone sneak in while you weren't paying attention and swap out your laundry? Or did you accidentally open up the wrong dryer to retrieve the wrong load? Maybe you'd better look around at whoever else is in the laundromat with you and have a go at trying to find the owner of these clothes.
Whether the characters have had their clothing swapped or simply opened the wrong machine to grab someone else's laundry is up to the player's imagination, but one thing's for sure: you have someone else's clothes in your basket. Maybe these are clothes that belong to another character in the laundromat, or maybe they're garments that belong to someone that character knew back home. Players are encouraged to mess around with the premise and use it to get to know other characters!
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COME ONE, COME ALL...
Have you ever noticed that flickering sign hanging in the window of that little building around the corner from the parking lot? The one that says PSYCHIC READINGS in bold neon lettering?
You step inside the shop and immediately smell a powerful combination of aromas: herbs, candles, incense, something spicy and warm underneath. It's a small space, cluttered with objects. A crystal ball covered in velvet sits in the center of a table, and there are tarot card sets and drawers full of dried herbs and flowers. On the shelves are various remedies with labels printed so neatly it's impossible to tell whether they're typed or handwritten. Headaches, or hemophilia, and also irascibility and fits of sighing. There are also jars full of less easily-identifiable contents, but a close examination may show you frog legs, fish eyes, rat tails. For some reason, it feels like sticking your hand in one of these jars might not be the best idea.
Toward the back of the shop is a glass case that holds the bust of a woman. As you approach, your movement triggers a light inside the case to illuminate the woman's face–or where her face would be, if she had one. The normal human features of her face are smoothed out until they barely resemble a face at all, with slightly hollowed divots for eyes and a faintly raised bump for a nose. The closer you get, though, the more strongly you feel that despite the absence of eyes, the woman is indeed watching you.
The lettering at the top of the case states FORTUNE TELLER, and a sign affixed to the front of the glass says, Ask for anything, but be careful what you wish for.
You form a question in your mind, then ask your question out loud. The woman shifts, straightening up, and you hear the faint whirring of clockwork and pneumatics moving inside her. She gathers her hands in front of her, cupping them like she's holding water, and strange light emanates from her palms, casting harsh illumination on the blank space where her face should be. Although she has no mouth with which to speak, you nonetheless hear a vaguely female voice intone, "Your fate has been read."
A paper slip emerges from a slot in the front of the case, your freshly-printed fortune, the ink barely dry.
Although the crystal ball will not actually show the future, characters with any kind of herbal knowledge may clock that the herbs and remedies in the drawers and shelves of the shop are legitimate. Characters can ask anything they want of the fortune teller, or make as many wishes as they like. They'll get as many fortune slips as correspond to the number of questions they ask. Players are encouraged to come up with whatever vaguely-accurate fortunes you think work for your character, but if you're low on ideas, you can always try an online Magic 8 Ball or fortune cookie generator.
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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)
citylogs2023-06-01 12:00 am
no subject
I, um. I didn't think a' that... boy, ya sure got a good head on yer shoulders, thinkin' of everyone like that! [He laughs again, the sound caught somewhere between nervous and embarrassed.]
I guess since everythin' is unlocked anyway, we could prob'ly just hunker down in one a' th' stores if we really had to... or maybe there's some empty apartments 'round here too?
[That's another idea that Mika, frankly, really didn't want to have to do. Staying somewhere all by himself. But he's supposed to be human now. He has to be able to manage on his own, even in a place like this, right?]
no subject
...Hopefully he won’t be around for that. Or at the very least he’ll be hunkered down somewhere relatively safe by nightfall.]
Yeah, I’ve seen some apartment buildings.
[And motels, but those seem much less secure. If there aren’t any workers, would there still be room keys lying around to lock their doors? Jamil isn’t expecting a full-out invasion or anything, but... he doesn’t even know why he’s here. Everyone else seems to be confused, too. Why take any chances when something about this place is so clearly wrong?
He’s so used to planning for other people’s lives and how his entangles with theirs. Not his own. Never singular.]
We could check them out sometime, maybe. After... [He tugs out another clump of vines, making a little pile at the base of the statue.] All this.
[Jamil looks to the sky, still clouded with a light fog.]
Before dark.
no subject
Yeah, we should! For sure! I mean, if there's anythin' dangerous in 'em, it'd be better t' go together so's we can keep an eye out fer each other, right?
[Right, it wouldn't be just him relying on someone, he'd be helping too! If anything, he already owed Jamil for him lending a hand with this chore they were working on.
Fortunately, the further they go, the more easily the vines seem to give way. Mika's feeling pretty proud of his own pile, too, starting to hum as he yanks an especially large vine away from the statue. He's even a little excited to find out just what this statue might look like.]
no subject
[A good point, though: if there’s nothing out for them here in the open, it might be holed up somewhere more secluded instead.
It, Jamil thinks. Because there has to be something orchestrating this, doesn’t there?]
But yes. Of course. I would be glad to have company.
[It’s more that Jamil would be glad to have someone to bounce ideas off of. Like how he might be able to keep an apartment secure after he’s left it. Or maybe he should stay on the move, keeping everything he needs on his person?
...Jamil might be thinking about this too much, but that’s all he’s ever done. Think. Survive.]
Do you... know how to fight?
[Jamil’s always relied on his magic, which he tragically can’t rely on without his magical pen. Gone. Someone must have taken it. Maybe when he was asleep on the train.]
Not that I expect danger. [He doesn’t not anticipate danger, but he doesn’t want Mika to worry. Or maybe he should be worried? They should all probably be worried.] Just in case.
no subject
[Even that's something of an exaggeration, since he hasn't done anything of the sort since he started high school at least. After all, idols can't go getting into fights. And more importantly, Shu wouldn't have liked it.
Still, Mika's anxious to not seem like dead weight, and he would try his best if push came to shove. Maybe he could pick up something for a weapon along the way...? But that would mean really thinking seriously about the possibility, and Mika's... not ready for that just yet.]
Mm... how 'bout you? Ya seem real composed about all this.
no subject
Mostly I’m composed because it’s what I’ve always had to be. I’ve always had to take care of other people, think about what sorts of trouble they might get into before they’ve gone and done it…
[But that’s enough about Jamil. Far too much, really. He sets the latest clump of vines beside him. Brushes off his knees.]
What do you think of the statue now? It’s almost…
[Familiar, and yet not.]
no subject
Well, I’ll try hard not t’ be any trouble, so ya at least don’t gotta worry about me none.
[He says it with an easy enough grin, before standing up and taking a step back to get a better look at the statue, per Jamil’s question. There’s definitely a lot more of it showing now, but… Mika tilts his head, he squints a little.]
... I feel like... maybe I've seen one like this before?
[It was hard to put a finger on just what felt so familiar about it. The clothes, maybe. They looked old and doll-like, almost something Shu might make.]
no subject
[Everyone’s always made trouble for Jamil. It’d be nice if he didn’t have to fall into that same lifestyle again, he thinks — before reminding himself that here, he has the power to refuse. But without his magic, Jamil isn’t even sure how he’ll manage to handle himself.
He nods toward the statue.]
We have a bunch of statues at my school, back where I come from.
[The Great Seven. Legendary beings looked to for lessons in morality.]
It almost reminds me of one of those. Not even an imitation, but sort of… inspired by one, maybe?
[Or maybe Jamil just misses home. It’s a strange, sudden thought. Are the statues somehow drawing on their memories of home?]
How many statues would you like to get cleared up today?
[When Jamil gazes around the garden, trying to count how many statues there even are, he loses track. It feels nigh infinite.]
no subject
[Turning back to look at the whole garden as well, Mika has to think hard about the question. If it were just him, he’d probably keep going until he wore himself out. But it wouldn’t be fair to ask someone else to do that with him. Especially someone he just said he’d try not to trouble.]
Mm… maybe we oughta go grab some supplies before we keep goin’? Even just some gloves would prob’ly be a good idea. [He eyes his own hands, already quite dirty and red from the effort, and lets out a guilty sigh.] Teach’d throw a fit if he saw this…