Week 1

[linkupmods]

WEEK 1

AWAKENING.

You were taken. That much is obvious when you come to your senses and see the world around you. You feel a little groggy – just how long were you asleep for? – but you should otherwise be alert, enough to realize that the surrounding area is unfamiliar to you. You are in front of what appears to be a modern dormitory (or, well, just a large building, for anyone who's never quite seen anything like it before). The area is decorated with balloons, streamers and other miscellaneous decorations with a giant "WELCOME" banner spanning across the front entrance.

You have a moment to look at the people around you. Strangers. No one here looks familiar to you whatsoever. Furthermore, it feels like there is something stirring in your heart, waiting to be brought to light, waiting to speak your truth...

You might need more time to let that sink in, but that time is interrupted by a voice.

"Oh wow it actually worked- Um, I mean! Hello!"

The speaker is a short, plain-looking young woman with dark hair in a bob cut, her hand raised to catch everyone’s attention.


"Welcome to Sunset City! The goddess Braphine needs your help, so she’s called all of you here to fix this place. Fortunately, it should only take about three months of cooperation, I think? Probably. So...

Welcome to your new home away from home!"

The young woman - Mina - goes on to explain the current situation: everyone here has been summoned by the goddess of community and connection, Braphine, in order to rebuild the connections of the people of Sunset City. Lately, the people have become more and more isolated from each other, getting into fights and arguments over the pettiest of details.

While Mina doesn’t know the details, exactly, what she does know is that the goddess instructed her to prepare these dorms for residents ("that’s you!") and to more or less act as her representative. Mina will also note that everyone’s dorm rooms have already been labeled with their names, and that the goddess has deigned to gift some in particular with the means to defend themselves - which is to say, when characters do eventually make it to their dorm rooms, those who did not arrive with one will find their gifted weapon waiting for them with their name handwritten on a tag attached to the item.

For now, people can use their phones to access an app that will allow them to see any currently open commissions - complete the commissions, and they will not only help the community, but also earn money and rewards! And if your character doesn’t know how to operate a phone, well... Mina will patiently guide them through the process, don’t you worry.

If your character has any other questions, they may talk to her at the party, or otherwise contact her via phone!

WELCOME PARTY.

After speaking with Mina, you may have an idea of what you're supposed to be doing here. Things don't have to be all work, though, because despite the state of the city, you are allowed to have fun and get to know one another.

Mina has graciously set up a welcome party for everyone, which will have refreshments inside and outside the dorm, and games available for people to partake in throughout the day at their own leisure! Indoors, there are a variety of board games for you to mess around with. Outside, there's a pool, basketball and tennis court set up with appropriate equipment. Of course, you aren't limited to just those, as there's a small open field at the dormitory where you can play ball in other ways, too. Interestingly enough, there are also some training dummies available for you to use...maybe to put your weapons to use?

Don't forget about the arts and crafts section inside, either, where nametags are laid out for you to create your own (or others')! You can also use this section to create decorations for the dormitory, your room, or even something to give to a fellow dorm mate.

EXPLORE.

You're free to explore the town, too, at your own leisure, to get used to your new home. The city is bustling with people, but for some reason, many of the residents don't have good vibes. They seem unsettled, unhappy for whatever reason. It's not pleasant, but nobody will go out of their way to bother you, unless you trip into them or initiate pvp yourself.…The random trash scattered around various parts of town might make it hard to avoid the former, though. Be careful not to trip on a banana peel, a stray canister, or even something as large as a throwaway tire on the side of the street. The residents will not react positively if you try to interact with them in any capacity.

That being said, for all that the city seems gloomy at a first glance, there is surprisingly an advertisement for a go-kart racing contest coming up in three weeks, and the go-karts are two seaters! The flyers posted around town read that this is a competition for pairs; the driver's seat (left) has a gas pedal, and the passenger's seat (right) has the brake. Looks like the events are being hosted by one of the popular arcades in town, too. Even so, there are prizes for first, second, and third place; the grand prize consists of a good amount of cash, a trophy, and one (1) free night at one of the hotels in Carnation Court for both people. Why not team up with someone and enter the competition, or just find some people to practice with?

(OOC: Please see our OOC section for sign up details.)

NETWORK.

So, about those phones...there's a non-zero chance that you may post your live thoughts onto the network without meaning to. Likewise, you may also unwillingly comment on someone's post with your thoughts while reading it. Yes, this phone grabs from your psyche, for better or worse! Well, mostly worse, but oh well. There isn't a fix for this "bug" just yet, but you can still use the network intentionally! Just don't be surprised if you get a bunch of notifications for a post you didn't even know you made.

COMMISSIONS

TOP MODELS

A local boutique is looking for people to model their clothing, but they plan on taking group photos instead of single shots. This will be a summer-themed photoshoot with summer outfits (not necessarily swimsuits!), and the photographer (who is cranky, sorry) plans on encouraging all kinds of interactions between their subjects for some unique photos. Participants will be able to keep the outfits they wore for the photoshoot! How nice.

CLEANUP

You've seen the questionable state of the city streets. Should you feel like doing your part by cleaning up some of the trash, you may find something valuable hidden in all the rubble. And who knows? Maybe some of the residents might actually respond kindly to your efforts... (Cleaning up can unearth things like jewelry; collector's items; small, old electronics -- just to give you an idea! Go wild.)

PVP ENABLED

Basketball, volleyball, soccer match anyone? Monopoly? Uno? Or, better yet, a sparring match with your fellow dorm mates…? Whatever you feel up for, Mina would like residents to get some friendly ("friendly") competition going in the spirit of getting to know one another.

LEAVE YOUR MARK

The arts and crafts area has a large paper canvas taped to one of the walls with a "DRAW ON ME!" post-it stuck to it. There's a lot of room to be creative with this, and yes, you will get paid for just decorating the dorms a little bit through this commission!

OOC

READ ME!!!!

• Welcome to your event log! Currently, Personas and Elements are NOT in play but you have your weapons with you regardless. These things will be unlocked when we introduce the Nekyia in Week 2.
  
• Please use the OOC PLOTTING POST for all plotting purposes. Please do not plot in Discord.
  
• If you would like to sign up for the Go-Kart Contest, please fill out the form and submit it here! There will be a follow up to this in a Week 4 mini event. :)
  
• Furthermore, we have a very big series of events we are planning to do in later weeks. We will OOCly give details and open signups early in Week 2, with the introduction of the Nekyia. Keep an eye out for that as well!
  

ic comm | inboxes | ooc comm | full nav

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Comments

cleaning up!

[vogelfrei]

[ McGillis is cleaning up in the vicinity, stone-faced and effective. The exclamation catches his attention. ]

I'm wondering the same.

[ This clean-up effort takes him back to his childhood of scavenging for scraps of anything valuable or edible - if the city he'd grown up in had been anything like this one he'd have had a much easier time. ]

Either the populace of this place is rich without any exception or there is something strange going on. Treasure like this doesn't get left in the streets otherwise.

[drawnorigin]

I'm inclined to say it's something strange.

[He pockets the necklace, though he has no intention of returning it to its owner. Even if it were possible to track them down, with the state the citizens are in its not like it would be appreciated. Better to take it and sell it.]

Even the haughtiest noble would balk at the idea of throwing away a necklace that's not even broken. The more they have, the more they can flaunt their wealth.

[...But then he remembers a particular Lumopolis judge, and there's the faintest downward twitch to his mouth.]

Unless they threw it out because of something some "commoner" did.

[vogelfrei]

[ McGillis barks out a short humorless laugh. Yes, that thoughts about right. Even living among high society for so much of his life, he never fully got used to the petty wastefulness of it. ]

Throw it out on the street where one such commoner could find it and derive value from it? That would be almost magnanimous.

[ Obvious sarcasm. ]

For that reason, I don't believe there are is no great class divide here - or it is very intentionally being kept off the streets entirely.

[drawnorigin]

[The "grew up in extreme poverty but have spent their adult lives around the wealthy" handshake...]

I wouldn't think it possible to have a city without a class divide.

[All of his experiences make that sound like such an impossible thing. It's too idealistic, but this is a world much different from Astra. They're not in the shadow of Lumopolis right now.]

Though it's possible all of the citizens are just as effected, so the poor don't care about improving their lives so it only seems like an equal society on the surface.

[Because things suck for everyone right now!]

[vogelfrei]

[ McGillis nods at that. It's definitely a possibility - and something certainly is strange enough here for a goddess to bother summoning a bunch of people from another world. That amount of energy can't have been wasted for a simple bit of quarreling.

That said... ]

It's possible, but only as long as you make it a literal gated community. Like a city on an island that sources a lot of it necessities from deliveries from the mainland, while focusing on luxury within its own cityscape. There would still be workers, of course, but only of the more prestigious kind. Everyone else would be subject to deportation.

[drawnorigin]

[In response to that, Jeno glances upwards, towards the sky.]

Perhaps they're like the nobility of my home and have found a way to truly stand above others.

[Though floating cities would probably be incredibly noticeable, so it's not an entirely serious suggestion.]

There's many ways they could cut off and subjugate the lesser, but mulling over how familiar this place is underneath the oddity the goddess is concerned about is best saved for when we've completed our task.

[Including trash pick up, unfortunately.]

Even if I do wonder what this place was like before and would like to see it for myself...

[vogelfrei]

[ McGillis follows Jeno's gaze up towards the clouds and briefly finds himself intrigued by it. There are certainly cities in the sky (in space) in his world but they're thought of as poor and impure - true superiority can only be found on the Earth itself. It really goes to show how different the places everyone came from appear to be.

The city he'd been describing was an artificial island in the ocean. ]

Good to hear that you have motivation. Hopefully it will render your time here a little less excruciating.

[ But it is indeed trash pickup time and McGillis is also going to continue with it as they talk. ]

I'm not particularly pleased to have been called to do someone else's bidding, but sitting around doing nothing is not my style either.

[drawnorigin]

[Space travel is something beyond his world—there are airships, certainly, but those are the things of nobles...]

This is just another challenge I'm facing in my pursuit of magic.

[He says it so earnestly, despite the muted expression, but there's also a practical reason for all of this.]

And I have a pigeon to take care of. They didn't even bother to give me a cage, and bird care can be quite expensive at the start... So I'll do whatever this goddess asks of me.

[Not to mention a diaper for the bird to keep it from shitting on all of Soujuurou's belongings... Lotta expenses to consider.]

Unless she starts making unreasonable demands or asking for sacrifices.

[vogelfrei]

[ Time to totally derail this conversation for a second. Bird. ]

Oh, you keep a bird? I'll count it as a small point in Braphine's favor that she did not split up pet and owner.

[ Granted he also deeply supports the lack-of-cage philosophy. Birds are meant to fly free - but a pigeon is a half-feral domesticated animal and needs human help to thrive, so as far as pet birds go it's a decent enough choice. ]

[drawnorigin]

I wouldn't say I keep them, as they're free to do what they want, but... I do have birds, and I've trained many of them since hatching. It's odd that only one of them came with me, but I'm unsure if that was considered.

[There's a small pause, before Jeno realizes he probably should explain a bit more.]

I'm a magician, you see, though the circus has a few other animals as performers, the pigeons have been with me the longest and are under my care.

[As opposed to being under the care of the beast tamer. And he'll gladly tell McGillis all about how the animals are treated the same as the rest of the cast... They get days off, too...]

[vogelfrei]

[ Judging by the way there's a genuine sparkle in McGillis' eyes now, he's delighted to hear this. ]

It really is too bad she only gave you one, then. I'd have liked to see your flock.

[ Not like, the performance, just the little guys. ]

I've been a bird enthusiast since childhood, you see. Though my love for them is limited to watching them - I'd hate to cage something meant to fly free. But pigdeons specifically are so dependent on human civilization that having a dedicated protector is bound to be good for them.

[drawnorigin]

[Even McGillis can be cute... the things you learn in DWRP.]

Perhaps there's the chance of that, if the goddess deigns to listen to us. She could always bring more of the flock in, couldn't she?

[It seems unlikely, but What If?

And he gets McGillis' stance, even if it's a bit poetic. But people see poetry and symbolism in all things, and that's... important. It's just a part of being a living, thinking thing.]

We do our best to care for the pigeons, but we're lucky that our circus is able to travel by sea. That cuts down on many of the risks involved with transporting birds.

[Mainly the monster threats, but, like. That's standard for all worlds, right?]