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
“That is a good theory. Which means there should be another station around that only takes people out. Or at least that might make some sense. I have seen no indication that this place makes any logical sense yet.” Really, the fact remained that no one had any idea what was going on here. That didn’t really sit well with Loki, but he wasn’t about to broadcast that, at least not yet.
Loki glanced up at the man, a small smile on his face that he tried to hide. It was nice to find someone with some intelligence and he already liked the way this one’s mind worked. “I do wonder if there is anyone else who has arrived that knows anything about trains, or even the tunnels. Perhaps we could simply walk out.” By the tone of his voice, it’s fairly obvious that Loki doubts it would be so easy, but he saw no reason to think it was completely unlikely.
“It seems we have more questions than answers, which is hardly surprising. I know there are others around. Perhaps we all have something this place needs, or something in common that drew us to this place. I am not willing to put any possibility aside at this time.”
no subject
Except that it was also completely unmanned, which shouldn't be possible even if they were dealing with monsters or deities. Everything required some oversight. He knew that truth better than most.
"They do seem determined to keep us guessing, whoever brought us here," he agreed. "Unless it is functioning on an old command, but that would almost certainly have left someone else behind from other trains."
And since they had no guards, guides, or previous victims to use as examples, it seemed much more deliberate in his mind. Someone must have picked them out intentionally to bring to the city.
"Should we introduce ourselves? Maybe the answer is close to home?" If Loki was right and they had some common ground that brought them there, then it could also be the key to leaving. "I don't mind trying to walk along the tracks. Although, that does remind me of a particular story... I don't think we should try it alone."
no subject
"There are a few possibilities, for sure. Perhaps everything is automated here and those that brought us here are working remotely. It would take quite a feat of magic to remove people from their worlds and bring them here, but it is not impossible. I would assume something went wrong. It seems unlikely anyone created this place only to have a handful of people pulled here. I would not even be surprised if this were all some sort of accident. I have certainly seen stranger."
Loki nodded, seeing the value in that. Honestly, he may have introduced himself earlier had he thought of it. Despite encountering more people in recent years who did not know him, he was still used to being quite famous. Royalty didn't often get the luxury of anonymity. "I am Loki Odinson of Asgard and I believe you are correct in that. That kind of exploration is definitely best not done alone. Especially with no information on what is happening in the slightest."
no subject
"Asgard...? That sounds familiar. Is it a famous place?"
Familiar, but it also sounded foreign, and Seimei wasn't exactly up to date on all of the stories and rumors in other countries. With so many local problems to deal with, he rarely did end up talking to other magic users. Or maybe it was just a normal city he had never heard of.
"My name is Abe no Seimei. Seimei is fine. If it's as you say and someone made a mistake, I wonder if the mistake was picking us, or if they actually meant to fill the train. It must take a lot to power a place like this, right? Do you think we conveniently had something they wanted, or that the city is meant for other people and we just stumbled into its path?"
He sounded more seriously thoughtful as he said that, musing other the potential for using people as tools in spells, but then he seemed to catch himself and smiled innocently.
"I'm pretty clumsy, so I guess I could have fallen into something like that."
no subject
Not with Seimei though. It seemed they had hit it off almost immediately. This was not something Loki was used to in the slightest, but he still appreciated it. Normally he did not connect well with people at all. His only real friend ever had been his brother and that had been a tumultuous relationship to say the least.
“To some. Though to many more it has fallen into the stuff of legend. Asgard is… was the home to the leader of the Nine Realms which ruled over all, include Earth. Some people of Earth refer to us as the Norse gods as the core of our believers lived in what I believe is often referred to as Scandinavia, more specifically Norway. Until more recently, we had not stepped foot on that world in some centuries, so I suppose it is not so surprising that most do not believe we are real.” As much as Loki always intended to not say much, he did tend to enjoy talking. As he spoke, there was some sadness in his tone, knowing his home had been destroyed, and so soon after finally accepting it as his home once again.
“It is a pleasure to meet you Seimei. And yes, that could very well be the mistake. There are scores of not so good outcomes I could think of as possibilities. Perhaps they tried to bring more, but only the strongest made it. Perhaps they only have so much power and so need to repopulate slowly. Perhaps we were all in the wrong place at the wrong time and we were brought here purely by random. I simply do not have enough information yet to deduce what is happening.”
Loki watched the expression change on the other man’s face and found it curious, but did not draw attention to it. They had only just met and Loki could hardly blame him for putting up a mask.
“I am not clumsy, however with what was happening when I found myself on the train, I was definitely distracted which I could see amounting to the same thing. Likely exploring the areas that might lead us out is probably best done in larger groups, but I cannot say I am a good leader in these sorts of situations. Especially when I know nothing of those that need leading. I think maybe smaller groups going to check these places out might be the best starting point. We just have to find more people.”
no subject
He had expected that outcome, but when he said it, there was still a small note of regret that Seimei didn't completely remove from his voice. Parting might be inevitable and it might even be for the best outcome, but that didn't mean it was easy or perfect. Forgetting could be a special kind of punishment. He kept his expression mild despite that and pushed through it. They couldn't waste tears over past losses and regrets, and it was honestly good to speak to a god again. Seimei still had his conversations here and there, but most kami in the modern times chose to keep their distance--from humans, and especially from him. So he did look a little quietly pleased at the acknowledgment from the Norse god. The smallest favors were still favors and Seimei counted them all.
"You have a point. There could be a number of reasons why we were the ones that ended up here or why this city was built at all. I don't necessarily want to die, but I admit that if there are guards or defenses keeping us in, I'd like to know about them. As well as get the chance to meet the masters that pulled this off."
At that last part, he couldn't keep some of the excitement out of his voice.
"If they managed to call on a god, then they must be interesting. I doubt just any technique would be enough to catch you distracted. For now, if Loki-sama has no objections to it, I propose we work together. If we talk to others willing to explore with us, we can explore more places and trade notes on our findings. Leading everyone might be too much to start with, but I like your idea of teamwork. It's safer with the buddy system, right? We might even find other gods."
no subject
It seemed Seimei understood much of what Loki was saying and he appreciated it. Though he didn’t have much experience with humans on a one to one basis (really, he’d encountered the Avengers, but as for every day humans, he’d really only tried to subjugate them, not speak with them), he knew that there were many humans here and he would have to get to know some of them. Really, in that moment Loki was just relieved that he wasn’t the only non-human in the place.
Seimei’s excitement was a bit catching and Loki found himself grinning. “Oh yes, I would very much like to meet our captors. Even if it doesn’t necessarily get us out of here, I would very much like to know how they pulled this off. It is no easy feat, and I am quite adept at conjuration.” As much as Loki wanted to find out what was going on so he could attempt to leave, he was also aware that he might very well be dead in his own world. With that thought niggling in the back of his mind, he still wanted to know, wanted to find the people capable of all of this.
“I very much like this plan. We should definitely work together on this. Between the two of us I am sure we could find a few people willing to investigate with us. And perhaps by talking with many, we can find some sort of common ground amongst those of us brought here. There must be a clue in all of this somewhere.”