THE THINGS I GAVE YOU.
» THE BANK — INTRODUCTORY NOTES
District 2 is open, bringing with it access to new and interesting locations—including the city's main bank branch. The bank is a large building with a stone exterior, wrought iron grating on the windows, and large, heavy metal doors that take surprisingly little effort to open, their hinges silent and well-oiled.
Early in the day on July 19, characters in the vicinity of the bank will hear first a low, metallic creaking sound from inside the building, like metal straining against metal. This is followed by the sharper noise of locks disengaging, and then the large, heavy doors on the front of the building swing open slightly, enough to let a person through.
Directly inside the doors is the bank lobby, and beyond that is the main banking floor, with elegant marble flooring and dimly lit chandeliers. It would appear that this was once the main commercial bank of the city, although it is now completely empty, with no tellers behind the counters and no cash in any of the drawers.
You may rifle through the tills and filing cabinets to your heart's content, but similar to the files in City Hall, there is no useful information to be found—all the papers are blank, or are empty forms without any personally identifying information. There are no monetary devices to be found either; this is, after all, not a city that operates on a cash system, so there are no coins or paper bills in any of the tills or, indeed, anywhere within the bank.
What you might be able to find, though, is a rack of delicate, burnished brass keys on a wall toward the back of the main banking hall. Each of these keys is attached to a stamped metal keychain bearing a name on one side and a number on the other. Some of these may be names you recognize, and some of them may not, but they are all names belonging to current residents of the city, and each key corresponds to a safety deposit box within the vault at the back of the building. Can you remember what you stored in that box for safekeeping? Maybe you had better go find out.
At the back of the main banking hall is a vault secured with a large circular metal door. The door is currently unlocked and propped open; it can be closed, but cannot be locked (intentionally, anyway) from either the inside or the outside. The vault contains row upon row of safety deposit boxes, each locked. Participating characters who are in possession of a key can open their own safety deposit box, but it is not currently possible to force open any safety deposit box that does not belong to them. After August 1, players will be able to use their safety deposit boxes to store their own belongings, and break-ins will become possible with prior player permission and appropriate consequences.
Below sections detail the safety deposit boxes for both choose-your-own-adventure players and randomized players! Please see the randomized matches for this event HERE.
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IT'S TRUE, PEOPLE TAKE THINGS BUT RARELY.
» SAFETY DEPOSIT BOXES — A SELF-GUIDED TOUR
For some of you, getting into your safety deposit box is quite straightforward.
You take your key from the rack behind the teller's counter and make your way back through the building and into the vault. It's cool inside, the temperature well-regulated and the air dry. On the walls are rows upon rows of safety deposit boxes, and it may take you a moment to find the one that corresponds to the number stamped on your key. Does that number mean anything to you? It may, or it may not.
When you find your box, it takes very little effort to open it. A slide of your key, a quick turn, and the safety deposit box's door springs open to reveal the metal container within. You remove the metal box from the wall and bring it over to the table in the center of the room, clearly placed there for this express purpose. Maybe there are others around, or maybe you're alone. Do you remember yet, what it was you put in here? Well, there's no time like the present to check.
You open the safety deposit box to find—something that shouldn't be there. It's yours, that much you're sure of, but you didn't bring it with you to the city. You reach into the box to pick it up, and the surge of memory is immediate, sending your mind back to your strongest memory associated with the item in your hand.
Then the vault door swings shut, trapping you inside with whoever else has the misfortune of sharing the vault with you right now. No matter what force you try, the door won't open again. There doesn't appear to even be a mechanism that unlocks the door from the inside, and from within several feet of metal and stone, no one on the outside will be able to hear you shout. It seems hopeless—how long can anyone last, trapped in a place like this?
Should you turn back to the open safety deposit box, you might notice a slip of paper resting on the bottom. The paper looks aged, like it's been in the box for quite some time, and in printed text it reads: "Nothing is yours. It is to use. It is to share. If you will not share it, you cannot use it."
Maybe it means you should let another hold the item you've retrieved from the box… or maybe it means you should share the weight of memory. Try to interpret the meaning in whatever way you can. But should you decide to unburden yourself, and share with someone else the weight of the item you're holding in your hands, you may find that there's a means of escape after all.
Once you free yourself from the vault, for the next several days you find yourself feeling rather honest, like you may not be able to stop yourself from confessing the truth about the item you now carry…
Characters who wish to participate in the event, but who do not wish to randomize the contents of their safety deposit boxes, can open their safety deposit boxes to find an emotionally significant item belonging to the character—player's choice as to what the item is. The only guidelines are that it should be small enough to fit reasonably in a pocket and may not have any magical or weapon properties. Similarly, players are able to choose the memories associated with the items in the safety deposit boxes. The vault door will remain closed until the characters in the vault explain to each other the significance of their items and the memory associated with them, at which point it the vault mechanisms will disengage and the door will swing open as if it had never closed to begin with. However, for the four days following the event, characters who carry their safety deposit box item on their person will feel oddly compelled to tell other characters about its significance and meaning.
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A CRASH-SITE IS SACRED, WE'RE FAITHFUL.
» SAFETY DEPOSIT BOXES — A JOINT VENTURE
For others of you, the contents of the safety deposit box may be considerably more disconcerting.
You also take your safety deposit box key from the rack behind the bank teller's counter and make your way back through the building and into the vault. It's cool inside, the temperature well-regulated and the air dry. On the walls are rows upon rows of safety deposit boxes, and it may take you a moment to find the one that corresponds to the number stamped on your key. Does that number mean anything to you? It may, or it may not.
When you find your box, it takes very little effort to open it. A slide of your key, a quick turn, and the safety deposit box's door springs open to reveal the metal container within. You remove the metal box from the wall and bring it over to the table in the center of the room, clearly placed there for this express purpose. Maybe there are others around, or maybe you're alone. Do you remember yet, what it was you put in here? Well, there's no time like the present to check.
You open the safety deposit box to find—wait, what is that? It certainly doesn't belong to you. Tucked inside the safety deposit box alongside the item is a slip of paper with another name on it, as well as a cryptic message: "Nothing is yours. It is to use. It is to share. If you will not share it, you cannot use it." The item isn't yours, but it does appear to belong to another resident of the city. Maybe your safety deposit boxes somehow got mixed up? It seems like it would be a good idea to find this person and return their property to them.
Whether you encounter the owner of the item in the vault or elsewhere in the city, when it comes time to hand the item over, two things happen. One—the doors are locked tight, refusing to allow either you or the item's owner out until you both understand what the item is and what it means to the other. To unburden your heart is the only way to free yourself.
And two—as the owner of the item explains its significance, you find yourself oddly captivated, resonating strongly with whatever emotion the item's owner most closely associates with it. You may not be able to see the memory that the other person describes, but you can certainly feel the emotions they felt—after all, the easiest way to unburden oneself is to share the load with another. Isn't that right?
Once you free yourself from your enthralled state, and once you have your own belongings returned to you, for the next several days you find yourself feeling rather honest, like you may not be able to stop yourself from confessing the truth about the item you now carry…
Characters who opted to randomize the contents of their safety deposit box during the plotting post, or who plotted a joint experience with another character, will open their safety deposit boxes to find a small, non-magical but emotionally significant item belonging to another player character in the city. They will need to find the owner of that item and return it to them—this can either be inside the bank vault or in another location within the city. Regardless of where the meeting takes place, the character holding the item will find themselves unable to leave until the character who owns the item explains its significance; as they do, the holder of the item will find themselves swept up in the emotional highs and lows of the memories associated with that item, allowing them to share all of the feelings, regrets, joys, griefs, and rages that the owner experiences in the telling. Additionally, for the four days following the event, characters who carry their safety deposit box item on their person will feel oddly compelled to tell other characters about its significance and meaning.
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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.
This month's event headers come from "The Things" and "The Gatherer," two poems by Brendan Constantine. The text of the paper slip comes from Ursula K. LeGuin's The Dispossessed.
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citylogs2023-07-19 08:45 pm
no subject
[ What he means is how everything is timed. With the district opening up. The sounds that had drawn them all in. Conspicuously finding a key... All of it just smells of whatever powers or persons are at play setting it all up. And Zelda is right. She's only saying what Bakugou has been thinking:
That they are being careful. Calculating.
He can't think that showing them all these things are actually a good thing. Bakugou can't see reason to reflect on items just out of the "goodness" of someone's "heart."
After a moment, he huffs. Her saying that there's much that people have left behind, or there's the potential anyway. Katsuki's eyes shift towards the box that supposedly has something in there for him. Part of him is half terrified of what it could be - there's a lot of things that he regrets. Another part of him is curious what these people would think to throw at him. ]
Fine, fine. I'll look. Meanwhile tell me if that tablet thing of yours is actually working or picking up any signal.
no subject
Zelda nods her head, responding to the fact that he'll see what might have been left for him. The fact that he has agreed to it does make her think that there must be something important at home for him. But, why would he hesitate? Was he nervous that it would bring back a negative memory? Or, that it would make him long for home?
She holds the Sheikah Slate with two gloved hands, an indescribable look on her face. )
I do not believe that this functions in the way that you may be familiar with. This device is one that records maps and assists in helping one harness different abilities. But... it does not seem to be working. I would require the assistance of one of the researchers at home to find out why it is malfunctioning.
no subject
He looks up as he pulls the deposit box out. Recording maps and assistance in using abilities? Okay maybe she's not wrong, but doesn't that mean it needs to be able to read the physique of the owner? That'd be some pretty advanced stuff... ]
Probably for the same reason a lot of things aren't working like they are supposed to. Including abilities.
[ Now he opens the box properly. What's inside has him frowning. On the outside, it looks like scraps of paper that have been ripped up and tossed. To Katsuki, it's something different. A letter, yes, but one he never read. One that he had shredded in front of everyone to show his determination. ]
no subject
She looks over to what he pulls from the deposit box. Paper? A letter? Or, perhaps... something from a book that holds an important memory for him. It's difficult to know, but she can't help but feel that it isn't something he wants to speak about. )
It is almost as though the only purpose of giving us these items is to remind of what we wish to fight to return to.
( There's a pause then, uncertain how to approach her next question before asking: )
Will you be leaving your item here?
no subject
[ In other words, why would they need motivation? That implies that there is some kind of purpose or meaning behind why they are here. That there is something that needs to be done or endured in order to go home. Now it could be a trick, to give them all some kind of false sense of hope of returning. It could be an honest thing too.
But Katsuki is still of the mindset it is a means to gloat. To show them all that whatever force is at work here knows them. Knows them well and is taunting them with that. ]
Better not leave it. Dunno what the nerd actually said in it, but ain't like I want anyone else to have it either.
no subject
What he says next is more than enough to make her pause. Nerd? Despite the word sounding like an insult, he almost sounds protective of the letter....
She offers a small smile, albeit a bit uncertain. )
Perhaps now -- you will have the chance to read it in time.
no subject
[ Well that and the sheer determination he had at the time to just go out and drag Izuku back. Come to think of it, Katsuki's never actually confronted Izuku about the contents of this letter.
Maybe he should! ]
Anyway. Why do you think they sent you that thing.
[ A tablet that isn't a tablet. ]
no subject
I do not disagree that things that are important are best spoken face to face. Even so... there are times when one can be more courageous through writing.
( It was part of why she had kept a private journal. There was something comforting about confiding her thoughts to paper when she couldn't express them out loud.
The looks to the device once more, frown heavily in thought. )
Perhaps for the same reason why they had sent you the letter. If it has arrived here damaged, than... our captives may wish to remind us of home.