TRAVEL LOG #3

[synfluxmods]

TRAVEL LOG #3

CONTENT WARNINGS: cult-like symbols and implications, abduction.

▶ 001. TARGU MURES AIRPORT.

In the early morning of the 1st, Outsiders will receive a message in their oculars.

"Oh, seriously? You’re putting this on my plate now when I have so much to do? Tch … Outsiders currently caring for Imugi eggs, bring them to the medical bay. I’ll take over for now. Captain Yamakawa needs everyone to report to the hangar right away. There’s been a distress call from a distant land and we’re noticing some strange readings. We need you to go investigate this.

…Put some catnip on my plate, Alex. It’ll be a long night."

True enough, a SPECIAL ALERT will blare through the implants shortly after, asking those who would be willing to help with a distress call to head to the hangar. The reward will be an additional bonus pay, as this seems to be different from detecting a kaiju. There, they will see a familiar sight: the LILITH SKY CRUISER, a spacecraft capable of carrying 80 passengers. There is little time for seat assignments, so seating will be on a first come, first serve basis (hopefully you don’t get the middle seat!) and the flight will last about 10 hours. Just like any aircraft, Outsiders may stand up and walk around once the seatbelt signs turn off. There is inflight entertainment consisting of AI movies or virtual reality games (see TRAVEL LOG #2). Characters with inhuman features are required to wear their cloaking devices.

The plane will touch down at Targu Mures Airport, Transylvania, Romania, which appears to be abandoned and desolate. There isn’t a living soul to be found.

"Most of the country was destroyed decades ago, so there shouldn’t be anyone still living here. Yet, these readings ….. And we can’t ignore that call for help. We’ll need to investigate further. My Angels, go the rest of the way on foot..."

There isn’t a data portal in Romania, and there’s just no way to transport the number of cars needed for over 60 people via plane. Let’s hope you managed to get proper rest on the way here, because the hike will take about 5-6 hours through the dense forest, with the Captain feeding directions through the ocular based on where the kaiju readings are most pronounced.

All teams will be traveling together along a treacherous terrain which will include both harmful flora & fauna. Outsiders can expect to come across brown bears, wolves, European lynx, golden jackal & wild boars. Although the forest is dense, these animals are scarce to come by, but they can appear, especially when the hike takes place at dusk and into the night.

In this time of the year, hay fever is a common occurrence in these forests. Those sensitive to pollen may be sneezing and feeling fatigue through this hike. There will be steep hills, slippery ground and eerie sounds of the night to serenade the Outsiders. It doesn't help that the further they travel, the thicker a dark fog gathers around them, making the surroundings difficult to make out. Everyone will be provided with flashlights, but those with abilities to see in the dark or cast their own light will be encouraged to lead small groups. Everyone is going in the same general direction, but giving each other some space might be helpful. There will be no time to rest, no matter how tired Outsiders may be.

Just when it feels like they might need to trek through the forest forever—is that smoke coming from a fire up ahead?

▶ 002. BRAȘOV, TRANSYLVANIA.

Wander further through the bushes, and behold, it does appear to be smoke—but not from any natural fire. It’s coming from a chimney! The Outsiders will stumble upon the historic region of Brașov, known for its Gothic architecture and medieval towns. Romania has been classified as a desolate region for a very long time, and as far as LILITH is concerned, this city should be completely destroyed and abandoned. Yet, there is smoke coming from the chimneys, fresh laundry hanging on lines and the faint chatter of children playing. There are very clearly people living here, and this has LILITH completely dumbfounded.

"So it’s true … The resilience of humanity cannot be understated. I’ll need to report this to the Commander right away. My Angels, embark on the town. We need to find the source of this distress call and investigate these kaiju readings. I know we’ve had setbacks recently, but I’ve always had my faith in you."

One thing Outsiders will notice when they step into the town is how it appears to be lost in time. The date is still 2278 as far as anyone knows, but there’s no sign of any modern technology—no computers, telephones, or any sign of electricity or plumbing. Each and every house looks like it could have been plucked right out of the 1700s, and there even appear to be horse-drawn carriages parked along the pavements.

The townspeople themselves also look plucked out of time, with the women donning petticoats and aprons, and the men sporting waistcoats and riding boots. They welcome the Outsiders with warmth, delight, and over-the-top hospitality; more than happy to show the visitors around Brasov on their carriages. With how rarely they meet anyone from outside the village, the children are full of curiosity, following the Outsiders around and poking at their technology while bombarding them with questions, such as where did you come from? Do you know how to play any games? What do you like to eat?

Outsiders will be presented with food, clean clothing, and a room to stay at the village inns (2-3 people per room). They are free to roam and explore the village, where they will find taverns, fresh food markets, shops, inns, and a church dedicated to the village god.

One notable aspect of the town is the fact that they appear to have fresh, non-lab grown food. The vegetables taste fresher and are vibrant in color. The meat tastes much richer than it would back in Neo Tokyo. This is owed to the fact that the people of Brasov actually tend to their own farmlands, a lost practice in these times. Venture a little out of the city and you’ll find it: acres of farmland, growing wheat, corn, oats, potatoes, grapes and sunflowers. They even have livestock!

The people of Brasov are more than happy to answer questions about their town and way of living. Outsiders who go around gathering information from the villagers will learn the following:

• Why is the land so fertile? This is all owed to their benevolent village god, the Lord of the Forest. No one goes hungry because their god takes care of them. Observant Outsiders will see a common symbol plastered around town: a canine skull.
• There was a distress call. Is everyone okay? The townspeople would respond in confusion and assure the Outsiders that nothing is out of the ordinary. They have been living peacefully for centuries and it’s because their god protects them. They don’t seem to know anything about what’s going on outside their town and the word ‘kaiju’ is lost on them.
• Who is the Lord of the Forest? The townspeople will sing his praises, telling the Outsiders about how he has been providing for and protecting their town for many years.
• Where is the Lord of the Forest? He lives in the forest and mountains that surround the village. Sure enough, if the Outsiders look around, they will see they are completely surrounded by foggy forest and mountains as far as the eye can see.
• Can they go into the forest? The villagers will look worried. While the Lord of the Forest keeps them safe, the forest is still filled with dangerous creatures. Also, the thick fog and trees makes it easy to get lost. Only the most skilled hunters venture out to catch prey like deer and bears. Characters who venture into the woods will get turned around and lost but will eventually find their way back to the village, to which others will reply it is the lord's guidance that brought them back to safety.

Outsiders can do as they please. The villagers are very friendly and will try to accommodate them however possible. There seems to be very little crime in the town and the people look happy. LILITH has been quiet for some time now. Maybe this is a great opportunity to have a well-deserved break? How can you not when the people are so kind and the food looks and tastes so delicious? In fact, the longer that Outsiders stay here, the more some of them may begin to feel like they belong here.

▶ 003. BONFIRE FEAST.

On the night of the 7th, the villagers will knock on doors inviting everyone to a bonfire party! It’s just about time to harvest their crops so food is abundant. They can’t think of any better way to use it than to prepare a feast. The bonfire will be held in the council square. Tables and benches have been set up and an impressive spread of fresh food is laid out for everyone to enjoy. Outsiders can enjoy bread, cheese, fresh pork, stew, roasted chicken, seasonal vegetables and free flowing alcohol. There are live musicians on the scene as well, playing merry tunes on their instruments. Some of the villagers have even started dancing around the bonfire and they’re pulling people in to join them! At the center of the table, a canine skull is placed, and the villagers give thanks to their god before partaking in the food.

Nothing seems out of the ordinary … Full and content, everyone will feel tired and want to retire for the night. Characters that do not need to sleep will also feel tired.

Night passes, and daybreak comes. Outsiders might notice that their numbers have dwindled; certain people have gone missing and are nowhere to be found. There won’t be a trace of the captured Outsiders aside from their belongings that they may have left behind.

The villagers do not seem bothered and everything seems normal in the village. Asking the villagers about these disappearances will result in no answers—they claim to have no clue as to the missing Outsiders' whereabouts. It also won’t be possible to contact them, or even LILITH for that matter. It is almost like communications have been cut off completely and their implants receive weak reception.

Observant characters may notice that a heavy fog has descended upon the village overnight and though it gets better during the day, it never lets up.

Captured Outsiders are as followed:

Aventurine
Choso
Dan Heng
Denji
Ereshkigal
Hiyori Iki
Kabru
Kaga
Lucy/Kaede
Maki Zenin
Makima
Malkuth
Loop
Nanami Kento
Rover
Sampo Koski
Taryon Darrington
Wriothesley
Yzak Jule
Zagreus

▶ 004. THE CHOSEN (KIDNAPPEES ONLY).

A separate log for KIDNAPPEES ONLY can be found HERE.

▶ 005. AFTERWORD.

Welcome to our third travel log!

There are no assigned seats this time, so characters may sit wherever they choose. Inhuman-looking characters will need to wear their cloaking devices so as to not alarm the people of the town. A separate log has been prepared for kidnappees only. An additional prompt will go up for non-captured characters before the kaiju fight. The scheduling will depend on actions in the captive log. We will announce it on plurk.

All tags on this log are worth 2 points and will count towards October AC.

EVENT BREAKDOWN/RECAP (CLICK TO EXPAND)

1. TARGU MURES AIRPORT: There has been a distress signal. Characters caring for eggs must leave their eggs with Dr. Spim and report to the hangar to board their flight. The Outsiders will touch down in Targu Mures Airport, and will need to hike the rest of the way through the forest.

2. BRAȘOV, TRANSYLVANIA: Romania was thought to be a desolate country but one village seems to be thriving. The town of Brasov has historic, medieval architecture and the people seem plucked out of the 1700s. They are friendly, welcoming and curious, having never seen technology like what the Outsiders have. Outsiders are provided free lodgings, fresh clothing, food and water. The villagers raise their own livestock and grow their own food, which is unheard of in these times. They don't know anything about a distress call. All around the village, the symbol of a canine skull can be found. This is the Lord of the Forest, the god of this village whom the villagers worship.

3. BONFIRE FEAST: The villagers invite the Outsiders to a bonfire party where fresh food is abundant. After a night of merrymaking, they find that certain Outsiders have disappeared from their numbers and nobody seems to know what happened to them.

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Comments

[immortalpoet]

[She offers. He considers. The fire burns. He has detached himself, hasn't he?]

[Didn't he? Can he fly through clear skies, now? Or is he just ignoring what's always going to be there, that ever-present hum?]

[He sits down next to her.]

This is my common state. You know that. I'm no social butterfly.

[ignoreher]

[ he sits, and she makes sure not to lean yet. time and patience; he'll always be here, he said. there's no need to claw for his attention. inviting, offering, waiting for an answer and accepting what that answer may be -- something she'll get used to, and eventually she can reach out without feeling like she'll drag them both back to the past. ]

I think you're doing better than when we first met, anyway! You've been talking to a couple of people -- and don't try to say you haven't, I've been keeping my eye on you.

[ sparse as those conversations may start, may end. she kicks her feet lightly, glancing up at vergilius with a teasing smile. ]

[immortalpoet]

You know, I can talk to people. I'm even on even terms with the Indigo Elder, would have you know.

[A gruff little noise, as he uses his free hand (not carrying the drink) to rub at the side of his neck.]

[...Ah, she really is as bright as ever.]

Won't ever get on your level of busy little bee, though.

[ignoreher]

I think I'd pinch myself I ever saw you flitting around the way March and I do... but it doesn't surprise me you'd get along with other Colors. You have more in common with them than you do the average folk.

[ at least as far as griping goes. the indigo elder... it's too bad elijah hadn't been interested in Fixers, and hadn't had the chance to learn new ones in the ten years that passed outside that place. but it's clear enough what they share. ]

Without thinking of how strange the distress signal is, what do you make of this place? Do you like how peaceful it is, or does it put you on edge?

[immortalpoet]

Pah. The "average folk". When it comes down to it....we're not THAT different. Maybe.

[Maybe....once upon a time, he was "average folk", too.]

...Mm. I said it before. [And he'll say it again.] Smacks of a cult.

[ignoreher]

[ he's still "average folk" to her at least. but the answer earns him a small shove with her shoulder. ]

I mean if you'd enjoy living somewhere like this, you grump! I would. It's lacking some of the conveniences I'm used to, but... I like the thought of it. The "cult" vibes aside.

[immortalpoet]

Agh.

[Owie. What a hit. (He's feigning it.)]

I don't know. It's...quiet. I don't know if I'm used to that.

[ignoreher]

[ she loves that he does. fondness creeps into her smile and she turns her face away, brushing away a moment's greed from mind. ]

Do you think you could get used to it? I guess the better question is if you'd like to. [ a beat. ] Not if you deserve the chance, just... if you'd like to get used to the quiet. The only problems being how the next harvest might go, or a sick animal.

[ far simpler ones, with simple solution not rooted in violence or pain. ]

[immortalpoet]

[....She turns her face away. The bonfire's light dances on her cheeks. It makes him happy, and makes him sad, and he doesn't know which emotion to veer to.]

...I would like to get used to the quiet. But I don't know if the quiet could get used to me.

[ignoreher]

I think it'd like to. You're easy to get used to, in my opinion.

[ and hopefully others, one day. but malkuth's glad he'd like to get used to the quiet -- that he can fathom it, desire it. ]

... I'll save you a room if I ever get the chance to settle down somewhere like this. Even if you only drop by to visit, I'd be happy to see you around.

[ living peacefully. enjoying a moment of quiet. her fondness remains, but it slightens just a little; what a big if it is, having the chance. ]

[immortalpoet]

Only you think that, Malkuth.

[He knows he's abrasive and and an asshole and not worth shit!! Obviously!!!]

[The offer makes him tilt his head, pensive. A room to settle down in. An invitation for a brief visit to a quiet life.]

...Do you think you'd have an opportunity for that? Would LILITH let you?

[ignoreher]

... Maybe. Once LILITH's mission is fulfilled and the world is safe, or safe enough, I think I'd like to ask. It'd be the least they could offer as reward, in my opinion.

[ a little peace and quiet. retirement someplace, letting them live their new life if they'd like somewhere. ]

I know there's people who can't accept an offer like that. [ march. ] But I don't see why the dead can't finally be afforded some rest.

[ even if she isn't really dead, probably, even when he and his employees are. ]

[immortalpoet]

...You aren't dead, Malkuth. You still have a long life worth living. Even if its one of many.

[Even if she had to go through death, again and again. She's not unlike his Sinners, in that aspect at the least. Vergilius, who has never died, knows he can't fathom it, and doesn't want to.]

[In the end, he has to live. Charon and Garnet need him to.]

Would you work, in that life? Or would it be all play?

[ignoreher]

... I may as well be, you know. To that City.

[ in every name. but she isn't sad about it; it was something she accepted -- that they all accepted -- when joining carmen's team. forsaking their families, their connections, being unable to speak a word about what it was they worked towards... it was known danger, known risk, that just didn't feel real until it was.

she thinks of gebura, of kali, stood amidst the corpses of others. people she recognized, people she didn't.

simple fact and spoken as such. same as about her death; there's no feeling attached to it, even if there should be even a little. ]

I'd work! I'm too much of a busybody to just play around all day -- not to say I wouldn't some, but... you know me, Mister Guide. What's a Malkuth without a goal to walk towards?

[immortalpoet]

As if you ever cared what the City thought. Where's the little wolf in sheep's clothing I know, uh?

[She's not the type of person to simply lay there and take it. That differs from him. He can. He has. He needs to stop doing that. His festering anger needs to be tended into a garden, now.]

That sounds more like you. What goal would you have, in circumstances like that?

[ignoreher]

[ it's a different kind of acceptance, though she jabs his side with her elbow anyway, unable to stop her grin from growing. ]

She's still here! But I can't roll up into the City and expect anyone to remember me, that's all -- the idealistic Elijah is dead, and known only to some Malkuth fell with her Wing. [ heheh.

what goal, though... hmm. she'll lean against him just a little, growing at ease. ] It wouldn't differ from the one I had before. I'd like to design a building so beautiful, so colorful, no one could look away from it. Something that would shape the people in and around it, and better them. So for here, one... that's more peaceful, and inspires calmness among calamity.

[ that sort of thing, maybe. ]

[immortalpoet]

You're yourself. Whatever name you have. You should build it for who you are now.

[Not for Malkuth, not for Elijah. Just her. Little Miss Duck.]

[She leans against him - heavy and light at the same time, and it aches. It aches like a thorn. People think roses are beautiful despite them, and so does he.]

[A little shift of his head against her.]

I like that. I said it before, but...I'd like to see the world you see. It sounds beautiful.

[ignoreher]

[ is he

positive

they cannot give this another shot, a question still pondered in the relative freshness of "no". malkuth resists weighing further on him, resists taking his hand in hers, resists in sliding her arm into his, but the tilt of his head on hers makes it so hard.

she picks at her sleeve instead. ]

... I'll show you it sometime, promise. You'll be the first person who gets that privilege.

[ surely the dataverse can help. maybe. she'll have to invite him sometime, just the two of them as dangerous as that feels, but it'll be fine if he notices her love in the colors that splash against her world. how some are more vibrant than others, how they tint everything.

but. she seems fairly content like this, if he'd like a bit of quiet to watch the fire. malkuth wishes she could pull the cold card, but doesn't. there'd be too much pain. ]