TRAVEL LOG #1

[synfluxmods]

TRAVEL LOG #1

CONTENT WARNINGS: potential mentions of drugs, suspected mind-control, alcohol, and gambling, gore.

▶ 001. A RUDE AWAKENING.

On the morning of the 15th, the Outsiders will hear an alarm sound in the early hours. No matter what you’re doing, the alarm will not stop sounding, and it’s because they’re playing directly into your oculars. If one is sleeping, they may even be roused by the spark of colors on their oculars dictating an emergency. After a few minutes of this, the following message will appear:

PLEASE REPORT TO THE DATAPORTAL AT THE TOKYO BRANCH AND BE PREPARED FOR DEPARTURE.

"Captain Yamakawa speaking. You’ve done a great job in testing the data portals. Now that we are able to travel, we were sent a call for help in another city due to lack of personnel and resources abroad. You will be looking for evidence of a new kaiju around the rendezvous point. It may be a difficult journey, so prepare yourself. SYNTHIA will still be online to help you make it to the city. Report to the POD CHAMBER where we have installed an international dataportal and prepare for transportation."

Following the success of the dataportal testing, the engineering department was able to fine tune its abilities and widen the reach of the portals. The portals can connect even abroad now!

Despite their best efforts, however, they cannot guarantee that the same symptoms won’t appear, and ask all Outsiders who are utilizing them to practice caution. Additionally, through all their testing, they found that people who hold hands or make contact with others as they pass through will be hit with less issues.

▶ 002. WELCOME TO LAS VEGAS.

When one passes through the data portal, they will see the refuge city of Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Similar to Neo Tokyo, it is also rich in life and known as the city that never sleeps. Incidentally, it is also famously noted as a place of endless vice. The city is built up around a strip of land of roughly 4.2 miles. A vast majority of the city was built up over the wreckage of the old, and some fixtures were simply made new with whatever was left preexisting. The Mojave Desert has expanded towards surrounding cities, though it will take a vehicle to get there in a timely manner.

The city has no shortage of hotels and with each hotel, a casino. While Outsiders here are on a mission, there’s no stating they couldn’t participate in the fun of Vegas while LILITH crew begin their investigation. While some hotels will be clearly abandoned or less traversed, there is no end to all card tables and slot machines, all asking for your KRYPTOS.

The hotel the Outsiders are slotted to stay over the course of the next few days is one where they built directly over the hotels of the old. While it offers a decent place to sleep, it’s not without a refurbished pirate themed bed, or the columns of what appears to have been from Caesars Palace. Is that a giant clown face staring at you in the room? Don’t worry about it. The hotel offers that this is the best place to depart into the desert from. For this mission, Outsiders may bunk up with whoever they would like, and each hotel provides two queen sized beds.

Excited to venture out into the city? Even under the threat of kaiju, the city doesn’t sleep. Outsiders may venture through the Las Vegas Strip and treat themselves to a fun night of drinking, gambling, shopping, partying and circle-style performances. The Grand Canal Shoppes, a Venetian-inspired high end mall, boasts a man-made canal with gondola rides for a fee, along with many retail outlets and restaurants. There are also numerous spas and carnival-style rides to enjoy. Las Vegas was once known as the ‘Marriage Capital of the World’, and in a world besieged by kaiju, the people don’t seem to think they have anything to lose. Outsiders may spot a few bride and grooms-to-be partying in the street.

(LILITH does not have a stance on whether or not Outsiders are permitted to get hitched as long as it does not affect their performance. )

▶ 003. TROUBLE BREWING.

It’s normal for fights to break out with so much alcohol being passed around, but something … isn’t quite right with some of the locals here. Outsiders who keep an eye open might notice people acting erratically, and not just from being intoxicated. There are people ready to pick a fight from just being looked at, people falling into despondent sadness and lethargy, people wandering mindlessly and people becoming distressed from seeing things that aren’t there. Ask the locals and they will tell you these cases seem to be popping up more often the past week.

The most concerning of all are the stories of people disappearing completely. One little girl will tell you she cried as she saw her mother mindlessly walk into the desert, as if called by a voice no one else can hear. There are many other accounts of this happening. In fact, all the people acting erratically seem to disappear within a few days …

Outsiders may interact with civilians who are acting erratic and aggressive, but asking questions they may receive answers that do not make sense, are perverse and inappropriate or may trigger aggression. Any Outsider to gets into a fight and is severely injured may report to a local hospital here and will find they are pretty packed with other civilians acting strange, hurting each other and themselves. Certainly, this was the main cause for concern that got LILITH's attention anyway.

▶ 004. FOUR FOR THE ROAD.

Within a day or two, the Outsiders will once again be called to action by a blaring notice in their implant.

YOUR VEHICLES ARE PREPARED. ASSEMBLE OUTSIDE THE CITY IMMEDIATELY.

When they gather at the location provided to them, they will find a fleet of armored campervans waiting for them. Each campervan comes equipped with beds, a kitchenette, and bathroom facilities, and will fit about 4 people. Within the campervans, they will find desert-appropriate attire designed to protect them from the scorching sun. These campervans also come with some basic artillery such as a mounted machine gun. There are also supplies in the form of water bottles and MRE ration packs.

Those who have driven large vehicles in the past are encouraged to take the driver’s seat. If the group does not have any driving experience, they will be given a crash course on driving recorded by the man himself, Seok Dang. (He probably shouldn’t be doing this with the stunts he’s pulled, but the Commander does not have any time to be teaching anyone driving, and Seok Dang volunteered so eagerly…)

"Listen. If you’ve ever handled a ▄▄ before, the joystick is exactly like that. You gotta tug it, but not too hard. Gently, yeah, like that, that’s the path to ecstasy … "

If it eases anyone’s worries, the campervans are armored and highly shock resistant, so they should withstand a crash or two.

(Those who finish his course and successfully drive 100km while supervised will receive an international driving license.)

▶ 005. THE HUNT IS ON.

With everyone settled into their campervan, the large scale road trip begins. LILITH has a general idea of where the biggest energy signal is located for the rift and they will feed the coordinates to the Outsiders. The journey will take about a few days into (and around as LILITH is searching for both people & the source of the rift energy) the Mojave Desert, and Outsiders will be permitted occasional rest stops to give drivers a break and to investigate the terrain. The terrain itself is a harsh desert, with cacti and small local fauna abundant. (Those not wanting to eat ration packs can take this time to hunt the local fauna such as birds, lizards and desert foxes.) While there is nothing else around, observant Outsiders may notice signs of human life - footprints in the sand, a shoe or torn piece of clothing being left behind, and even the odd human carcass being torn apart by vultures.

The logical conclusion would be that those missing humans have been here, and the only thing left to do is find them … but Outsiders and civilians aren't all that lurk here, and time will tell what lies beneath the desert surface ...

▶ 005. AFTERWORD.

Welcome to our very first travel log! Each campervan will accommodate anywhere between 3-5 people, with 4 being the ideal and 5 being a squeeze. Players are encouraged to connect with each other to fill up a van but the mods will not be enforcing it. If you need help finding roommates, there is a FIND A ROOMMATE header below that you can make use of.

If you'd like to test your gambling luck, we also have an IC SLOTS HEADER for you to comment to for you to see how well your character does at the slot machines. This is entirely for fun, and of course you are always welcome to have your characters winning or losing at the slot machines as much as you want in your prompts so long as they aren't winning jackpots.

Following this log, all characters who have purchased style upgrades will receive an update to their chip enabling them access to desert attire and popular styles within Las Vegas.

All tags on this log are worth 2 points.

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Comments

[elfsufficient]

[ Fern hasn't yet had the pleasure (?) of spending much time with Mister Taryon. She's certainly seen him around their team's halls, but this is the first time they've really gotten a chance to speak with one another, and...

...Goddess of Creation, can he speak. Her request for him not to scare the birds away comes out perhaps a little more sharply than she intended for someone she's only just met, but his response does seem to pique her interest. She blinks at him curiously and then responds, quietly (she's not used to speaking with the implants yet!): ]

If you cast it on me now, I could close the distance quickly and be able to cast the spell before they can react and fly away.

[likemybooks]

[Taryon isn't daunted by Fern's silence as they walk. Either she's shy, or she's a bit annoyed, and most people who dislike him at first come around eventually. It will just take some field experience for him to show off what he can do. At the very least, he knows when it's time to focus on something other than his credentials.]

Perfect. It doesn't last for long, so be quick. [His hand glows as he summons arcane magic, and he transfers some of that power over Fern's back. It seeps over her entire body, granting her the enhanced speed and reaction times.]

[elfsufficient]

[ It's likely that she's a bit of both, truth to tell, though he certainly rises in her estimations when it comes time to get the job done, and he follows through on his portion of the plan without issue. The magic that he bestows upon her is unlike anything she's ever experienced in her own time, in her own world. This magic is foreign, and based on what feels like entirely different principles than her own.

But it works. That's what matters most. Fern spares only a moment of startling before she nods at Taryon and, gripping her own staff tight, her feet lift off the ground before she zips through the air towards the flock of birds. One after another with speed not normally seen on such a quiet, unassuming girl, golden rings of light appear around each and every bird until they are shortly captured. A few seconds is all it takes before Fern stands there with a flock of immobilized birds at her feet. ]

...Mister Taryon, it seems your spell was quite effective.

[likemybooks]

[Taryon follows the advice he was given long ago and stays back while the heavy hitter leads the charge. Or, in this case, practically flies close enough to their targets to cast a distant spell that ensnared them. Bird after bird fall to the sandy ground with a puff, with Fern standing before them victorious.

Yeah, she's clearly an experienced and capable hunter. Tary cannot help but respect that.] Oh, that? That's but one example of what I can do. oHe jogs up to the pile of birds and gingerly steps between them before thinking to ask:] Do you need help picking them up?

[The look on this face says that he doesn't seem too keen on picking up wriggling wild animals in killing them right here, but he should have thought of that in the first place.]

[elfsufficient]

[ Fern spares a moment to give Taryon a bit of an appraising glance... sorry, she's kind of a judgey teen, but he definitely doesn't seem too keen on picking them up... Still, she has to ask: ]

Do you have a way of carrying them, Mister Taryon? Other than using your hands, I mean. If not, I can take care of it.

[likemybooks]

I- [The adult has no quick comeback for the judgey teen, but he should have thought of bringing something bigger than a personal backpack, and even that's reserved for a battle roomba. He glances around the ground.]

We can tie them to a large stick. That's how hunters carry their kill. [At least, according to paintings of pastoral hunters gathering fowl for a feast.]

[elfsufficient]

That's true, but... Hm, never mind.

[ She'd hoped he might have a spell as useful as that hasting magic he'd just cast on her, but it's all right. Fern waves her staff, and the captured birds begin to levitate off the ground. ]

Shall we head back to camp?

[ Fern doesn't really wait for an answer before she starts walking in that direction. She's nothing if not efficient. ]

That spell that made me faster was very useful, Mister Taryon. Thank you very much for casting it on me.

[likemybooks]

[A wizard, Taryon is not. Cobbling together stuff from whatever's available is more of his speed, but what they have now is sand, dirt, and some sparse plantlife. Someone with Fern's skill is needed in hard times line this, not some guy who probably can't carry every captured bird in his arms.

He tells himself that it would be difficult to hold them anyway, even if he wasn't squeamish about them.] A levitation spell. A classic. [He nods knowingly as if he's an expert on wizards and their ways.]

No need to thank me. Haste spells should be among the arsenal of any decent adventuring party. I'm only doing what must be done. [He stumbles after here and gives her salute, though she's already turned away towards the camp by that point.]

[elfsufficient]

[ Honestly, she’s quite confused about what his skillset may be… That haste spell truly was quite useful, but maybe he can only cast similar spells…? Well. She’ll just ask - especially as they’re on the same team, it would be beneficial to know what they can rely on each other for. ]

Hmm. Where I’m from, a spell to move so quickly… would be extremely rare. I’ve read that only a certain tribe knows of and can use it.

[ A beat, then she adds: ]

What other spells can you cast, Mister Taryon?

[likemybooks]

[He stops himself before he can say "any spell you need", because that level of overcommitment will get everyone killed.] Spells that help people do things. Move faster, jump higher, protect them, heal them, those sorts of things. And if I can sit down and work, I can add some magic to their items.

[A decent, if brief, overview, but Taryon has another thing on his mind.]

I'm sorry, but you mentioned that Haste isn't a popular spell where you're from? Don't they share these things with other magic users?

[elfsufficient]

[ Oh... He's a bit of a support specialist, then; Fern is glad she asked, though that last bit does pique her interest the most. Adding magic to items...

To his question, she shakes her head. ]

I suppose not. Maybe they wanted to keep it a secret of their tribe's. I'm not entirely sure. If many people knew how to use quickening magic, then knowing it would lose its advantage, wouldn't it?

[ One opponent with a spell like Jilwer is difficult enough to contend with... if she ever had to fight multiple casters who could move that fast, even she might not be able to keep up. ]

[likemybooks]

I guess. Where I'm from. Just about anyone can learn spells if they study hard enough. [Or do enough favors for their patron, but Taryon doesn't really think about Warlocks.] Someone I fave could caste Haste, so all the better that I can do that, too.

[And if they have this one guy who specializes on stat boosts...yeah, Vox Machina could really become unstoppable!]

It's not like everyone knows every single spell. I'd be impressed, but I would be really worried if someone did.