Day 3: Evening

[wizardseason]

Evening: 5:00pm - Midnight

[ IRL Timeframe: June 16th to June 26th July 3rd, 2019 ]

No matter when the heroes defeated their monsters, or when the sixth monster was defeated and there were none left, everyone will be treated to an unfortunately familiar feeling. The world of the past will fade, slowly at first but gradually increasing in pace until they pass out to blackness.

Everyone will wake up on a beach, and not a beach in the town their residence is in. Looks like everyone will need to take the train back home or go for a really, really long walk.

More unsettling than that is that every hero will either have a decent suntan or a mild sunburn. Social media is abuzz with comments about the island "going still" and the knights "dead on the beaches". There are reports that all twelve knights and the princess were all defeated at the same time and left on the beaches as an advertisement that the world was over this year.

Naturally, the heroes will realize that they are not, in fact, dead. Better do some damage control, there. Anyone who tried to make any recordings in the past will find that the files are corrupted and unavailable. Looks like whatever happened is going to... stay in the past.

The heroes who are due for an evening visit in the Princess' Dream Citadel or in The Wizard's House will arrive there the moment they sleep.

---

The Weather

• Warmer than yesterday.
• 77°F / 25°C
• Everyone's in a bit of a panic!

---

Prompts:

• 05:00pm Beach Wake-up Call: Every hero will wake up laying on the wet sand of the beach. There's waves gently lapping at them, waking them up slowly from their abrupt return from the past. Everyone will feel a little groggy and their clothes will be uncomfortably crusted in sand. Here's to hoping that saltwater and sand will wash out? Make sure to remove the little crabs that have started crawling over you!


• 5:00pm, Craydon: The residents of Craydon are all safely at home up the mountain by now. The only people still lingering around the Craydon beaches are fishermen working to prepare for their sunset runs. The offshore cages aren't going to empty themselves, after all! Fortunately this means they have, and can offer, blankets and hot drinks while they're heading out. It's not much, but they're here to help. At least the heroes are hopefully not alone?


• 5:00pm, Bamborough: The residents of Bamborough are really just the locals, concerned for the future of the world and of the heroes. Instead of waking up alone, they'll find little boxes of dry towels and bottled water beside them. Looks like the residents were pretty sure they were going to wake up at some point because they've left little kits to help them wake up with. It's not much, but it's better than nothing. The boardwalks of Bamborough are empty, with not a single soul out and about. The local shops, though, are pretty much business as usual. They'll immediately bustle in excitement when the heroes show themselves. Also: Free showers near the beach boardwalks! Better get all that crusty sand cleaned off.


• 5:00pm, Far Haven: The city of Far Haven is simultaneously the most cold and impersonal and the most immediately helpful. Each hero in Far Haven will wake up with a little walkie talkie beside them. If they pick it up and reach out, they'll be immediately told to come to the Far Haven hospital for immediate medical assistance. Once there, they'll be offered a free shower, water, hydration, a medical checkup, and a free coupon for the Craydon hot springs. There are even little kits set out for the knights in other towns. But... there's no one to bring them to the other towns, whoops. Guess they're carry-out only?


• 5:35pm onward, Train station(s): The train has a pretty reliable schedule for the evening, ending in Far Haven at 11:25pm. One way or another, the train is going to be how your hero makes their way back home to sleep for the night. Will the ride be uneventful, or will it be spent with others?
  
  • Bamborough: 6:45pm, 8:30pm, 10:15pm.
  • Craydon: 7:20pm, 9:05pm, 10:50pm.
  • Far Haven: 6:10pm, 7:55pm, 9:40pm, 11:25pm.


• 6:00pm, Bamborough: In the outdoor seating area of Slyder's Wizard Sliders, a Wizard-themed burger restaurant in the most touristy area of Bamborough near the waterfront, the Wizard herself is seated at one of the tables under a big umbrella. Despite the big umbrella, she's still wearing her massive hat: Double shade from the setting sun. Sitting on the table is a small wizard-themed drink with little lightning bolts sticking out of the blue liquid.


• 8:00pm, Far Haven: Social media is quick to add the #wizardsighting hashtag to posts made by officers at the police station in Far Haven. The Wizard is seated up on the rooftop ledge of the police station, legs dangling over the third floor edge, surrounded by fireflies sparkling in the night. All a hero has to do is tell an officer they'd like to go up to talk to the Wizard and they'll be escorted to the elevator to the roof. Up you go, heroes!
  

---

Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

Comments

05:00pm Beach Wake-up Call:

[wizardseason]

Every hero will wake up laying on the wet sand of the beach. There's waves gently lapping at them, waking them up slowly from their abrupt return from the past. Everyone will feel a little groggy and their clothes will be uncomfortably crusted in sand. Here's to hoping that saltwater and sand will wash out? Make sure to remove the little crabs that have started crawling over you!

5:00pm, Craydon:

[wizardseason]

The residents of Craydon are all safely at home up the mountain by now. The only people still lingering around the Craydon beaches are fishermen working to prepare for their sunset runs. The offshore cages aren't going to empty themselves, after all! Fortunately this means they have, and can offer, blankets and hot drinks while they're heading out. It's not much, but they're here to help. At least the heroes are hopefully not alone?

[daddykong]

A. The Beach

It really wasn't the best day for Garrot to get stuck wearing jeggings and a sleeveless hoodie, like, whatsoever. The hood wasn't even up, so the doctor was unfortunate enough to awaken with so much sand in his hair. So naturally, he groans all loud and annoyed-like as a hand reflexively blocks the sun from shining into his eyes.

"Wait!" Poor Garrot pulls his phone from his pocket before sitting upright and covering the screen with his own body for privacy. Maybe there's something useful in those videos, maybe scholars in the present could figure something out! But with every glitched out, corrupted, file he sees on his phone, he scowls more and more until- "FUCK!" And suddenly, he's slamming his phone into the sand next to him, defeated by time-space media formatting. The phone has a case, it'll be fine. Garrot, on the other hand, sort of gently retches as he realizes how absolutely sweaty and gross he is. See, he ran around in a hotel, fought a heat-generating monster up-close, and baked in the sun... in a hoodie and jeggings.

And so Garrot just sighs. What a day.

B. Craydon Proper

He might be a bit of a headstrong, socially disastrous buffoon, but Garrot knows that it wouldn't do anyone (or his reputation) any good if he wandered around Craydon while sporting the acrid odors of violence and exertion. Instead, the big guy sprinted full-speed and cannonballed off the nearest pier. It's not a shower by any means, but salt is less annoying than a ton of dry sand and it might help with his clothes, so...

After a minute or two of briney frolicking, Garrot starts back to the shore. It's easy to notice that his not-clothes (phones, keys, wallet, etc) were neatly in a pile atop a few towels, alongside... some kind of beverage. The doctor's arms cross in front of his chest, clearly a bit frustrated as he shouts out to the skies as if The Manager could be called down, "Wait, there's no food?!"

As if on cue, his stomach begins to growl. It might be louder than that shout.

A - the beach

[fauntofwisdom]

It takes Joanna a minute to stir, even after waking. She doesn't remember getting caught up too badly in the monsters' fire... but everything stings like she's been burned, and even slowly raising her hands to her eyes hurts a bit.

Then someone's shouting, and she jolts awake to look wildly around. But it's just Garrot shouting as he's hunching over a phone and scrolling frantically. The moments he takes to scroll, she takes to push herself up to sitting, and give her heart a chance to rest as she examines their surroundings.

They are, once again, in another location - another beach. She can't feel that same pulling sensation, but maybe there's another monster to find and face. After all, there were a lot more years to cover, between the beginning of all this and the present...

Finally he shouts, tossing the phone aside, and she looks his way again. "Has something... happened?" She ventures, after the ploomph of sand from the phone settles. "Aside from the obvious, that is to say."

[daddykong]

Garrot doesn't register that someone's even near him until Joanna chooses to break the social silence. But when it clicks, he has a visible startle response, a light twitch as his eyes go wide. Shit, he's not alone and Joanna is the nice old lady Knight! So he reddens a bit beneath the tan, and tries to regain his footing.

"It- I- Uh..." Garrot takes a deep breath, trying not to just start shouting angrily. "We're back in, uh, our year." But he can't repress all his emotions, going so far as to roll his eyes in the most exaggerated fashion possible. "I tried recording some videos and they... didn't make it. At all."

And so Garrot sighs again, dejected. He could've made some nerds really happy with those videos.

[fauntofwisdom]

"Oh," Joanna says, and her eyes flickering to the skyline as she pats her jacket pockets in search of her phone. While her hand reaches around, she takes the moment to check the silhouettes against what she saw the last time they were on this beach... it looks the same, no surprising absences of modern architecture.

The contents of her phone, meanwhile... seem like Garrot's describing. Notifications of missed calls, voicemails, and the image gallery is full of corrupted files.

"...It's the same here, I'm sorry to say." Would that she had better news. She pockets the phone for the moment and winces against the sunburn again, then slowly removes her jacket. Sure enough, the burns on arms and shoulders match the jacket's length, as if she's been wearing it in the sun for hours. "How long have we been sleeping...?"

[zafika]

A. The Town

Zafika has arrived to Craydon, finally, and they've just left the train station, trying to navigate their way over to the hot springs, the moment they got that free coupon they decided to take advantage of it. Still, it's bit difficult to navigate their way to a place they haven't visited before, so they're going to be wandering for a good bit, and any Knights interested in talking to them are welcome to do so.

Just, uh, don't expect them to stop while talking. They've had a long day and they really want to relax as soon as possible, and possibly ease their exhaustion in advance.

B. The Hot Springs, indoors

Zafika finally arrives at the hot springs, but they're going to be fidgety about, actually going to the counter. Maybe they shouldn't actually go there at all, they're unsure how public these hot springs are and if there are any, private options for just the Knights at least. That'd be easier than going to the hot springs with the general public. They haven't exactly had time to go and grab the glasses they got from Garrot, this place is in the opposite direction of their lodgings, so the less risks of accidents with civilians, the better.

So, for now, they're weighing the pros and cons of if they should just say fuck it and do it or if they should just, go home and sleep instead.

C. The Hot Springs, the actual hot spring, private with Gyre

Well, they've finally made it to the actual hot spring, and as they sink into the warm water, they wish they'd have come here sooner. They practically deflate with a content sigh after sitting down, and they can almost feel all the tension leaving their body as they submerge up to their neck into the water. It feels so, so very nice, and it's perfect for relaxing after a shitty, and incredibly exhausting day, both mentally and physically.

They're going to be in the water for good few hours, resting their head on the stone ledge with their eyes closed. They have their blindfold within an arm's reach, just in case if any of the other Knights show up, or that granny they're staying far away from decides the get chatty, but hopefully they won't have to worry about having to wear that until they leave.

[sustainer]

He spent most of the train ride over here trying to decide whether he was going to use this hot spring coupon or not. By the time he gets into town and ends up in front of the building, he's aching and tired enough to deal with other people.

It is an entirely pleasant surprise when he enters into the spring and sees Zafika right there with their head tipped back. He wonders, briefly, if he should leave them alone after everything that happened today. But honestly he's a little worried about them.

He slips up beside them, crouching down and dipping his feet into the warm water. He gives them a moment to feel his presence there before he reaches down and touches their shoulder with the tip of his one claw.

"Hope I'm not interrupting."

[zafika]

The fact that Gyre can get right next to Zafika without being noticed, probably doesn't help with his worrying. In fact, they only notice that there's someone next to them when he dips his feet into the water, and they tense, but just for a moment. Because when they open their eyes and see that it's Gyre next to them, they relax again, and give a wry chuckle.

"Nothing to interrupt, don't worry... I mean, unless you're planning to drag me out of this spring, then we're going to have a problem." They're joking, obviously, and motioning for Gyre to come sit down next to them. "I assume you had a rough day too, with all this time travel bullshit."

[roaryrory]

Waking up and discovering she was widely thought dead was, in fact, not good news. Rory's magical senses caught onto it earlier than her mundane ones did - she could just feel something was terribly, terribly wrong. Between that and just being chased by a many-armed grotesque child, her energy for the rest of the evening is pretty much gone.

She makes her way to her housing as soon as she can, already searching for her personal phone in her pouch on the way there. While her elderly mother isn't social media savvy, Rory was sure someone in the village would let her know the news, no matter how much everyone disliked her. She had to set things straight before she could suffer too much grief.

"Ma? Ma! I'm okay, I'm alive, something weird happened over here and I think people overreacted, I don't know, but point is I live."

She spends the rest of the night talking on the phone with her mother. She and her can both rest easy when they're caught up on each others' lives, hectic as they are. Tomorrow will be better.

5:00pm, Bamborough:

[wizardseason]

The residents of Bamborough are really just the locals, concerned for the future of the world and of the heroes. Instead of waking up alone, they'll find little boxes of dry towels and bottled water beside them. Looks like the residents were pretty sure they were going to wake up at some point because they've left little kits to help them wake up with. It's not much, but it's better than nothing. The boardwalks of Bamborough are empty, with not a single soul out and about. The local shops, though, are pretty much business as usual. They'll immediately bustle in excitement when the heroes show themselves. Also: Free showers near the beach boardwalks! Better get all that crusty sand cleaned off.

[eutychia]

Luka stirs, rolling to one side and immediately wincing at the uncomfortable sensation of sand in his face. He groans, rising to a sitting position, spitting sand and saltwater.

"Ughhh." he groans again, with exaggerated emphasis. Waking up in unfamiliar places was seriously getting old. Whoever dropped him here didn't even have the courtesy of landing him out of the ocean's reach?

Luka pulls himself up, finding the care package in the process. He elects to ignore the courtesy, reaching into his soggy breast pocket and retrieving his phone.

"Great," he says aloud, assuming he'd woken again alongside the Knights. "Who else is here, this time?"

[disguiseself]

[Olivia wakes up when he hears Luka's groan and immediately sits up and looks around. Bamborough again, then. She takes out her phone to look at the date, letting out a sigh of relief when she sees they're back in the present.]

It's me, Luka. [She answers when he calls out, a hint of a smile in her voice. She's exhausted from the day's event and feels disgusting having slept on sand for who knows how long, but she's glad to be back and that the Princess is safe too. She casually removes two little crabs from her poncho before standing up, picking up her care package as she does.] So... how was your day?

[eutychia]

Luka sighs, relieved that Olivia was there but disappointed to be seen in this state.

"I feel about as good as I look," he says, wiping sand from his face. "At least the monsters are dead. How about you?"

5:00pm, Far Haven:

[wizardseason]

The city of Far Haven is simultaneously the most cold and impersonal and the most immediately helpful. Each hero in Far Haven will wake up with a little walkie talkie beside them. If they pick it up and reach out, they'll be immediately told to come to the Far Haven hospital for immediate medical assistance. Once there, they'll be offered a free shower, water, hydration, a medical checkup, and a free coupon for the Craydon hot springs. There are even little kits set out for the knights in other towns. But... there's no one to bring them to the other towns, whoops. Guess they're carry-out only?

[sustainer]

Of all the people in the world who could sit on a beach in the sun for twelve hours, Gyre comes out of it better then most. He doesn't sweat, and he doesn't really need to regulate his temperature. Perks of a magical construct for a body. It means when he wakes up, he sits straight up, immediately alert as he looks around and tries to figure out where the hell he is now.

It doesn't take long to see the moon shattered across the sky and realize it's the present day. It doesn't take long after that to find the radio on the ground. It takes much, much longer for him to consider his options with it. He actually sets the radio down and stands up, making his way towards the buildings he can see in the distance without contacting anyone.

About halfway up the beach, he stops, sighs, and turns back around, snagging the radio with a sour expression on his face.


Later, after the shower, and the water, and explaining to two separate doctors and a half dozen nurses that he doesn't really need the check up, he's walking out of the hospital again. He moves past the waiting kits and pauses there, looking them over for a moment. He takes the first one, sitting down in the waiting room to poke through the contents of it. There's not a lot for him, mostly soap and water in a bottle, but all the little grain snacks will probably be good for the rest of them.

It takes him several minutes of deep thought as he debates how to tell the other knights and the princess to come here for free stuff. It's only after he looks across the room and sees the receptionist pull their own phone out, that he uh remembers that texting exists. And so he sends a text into whatever the most recent group chat is:

Three are

"Fuck," he murmurs as his finger brushes over SEND and the incomplete message shows up on the screen. He's immediately flustered, his shoulders going tense, his grip on the phone tightening. He thinks very hard about just putting it away, but he shakes his head a little, typing quickly, messily.

Boxes wtih food ndsope in far havne general

Which is a pretty okay text for someone who can't write in Common and has never texted before.

[daddykong]

Garrot sees this pair of messages slide into his notifications, and he has to double-take. They all had each other's numbers and were in group chats, so... he has to take advantage of this. The whole thing.

TELL THEM TO SAVE ME ONE! 【ノ*✧ω✧】ノ*:･ﾟ✧

How much effort did Garrot put into that one message? Too much. So then he sends a direct text message to Gyre, trusting him to know what to do.

I'll owe you one if you can steal me two. I'm big and hungry.

He is woefully oblivious to Gyre's lack of phone skills. Oops.

[sustainer]

Well he's going to learn because Gyre spends a good twenty minutes trying to figure out why his phone just made such a weird sound. Twice. He actually goes up and asks the receptionist about it eventually, and she gives him a deeply concerned stare before telling him he probably got a text.

Then there's the struggle to remember how to open the screen again. And a further struggle to even figure out how to pull other messages up. By the time he's found the second message, he's halfway to the train station, and he stops in the middle of the sidewalk in frustration.

There's onely 1 for eahc person you can hvae my food

He stares at this message for a moment, before realizing something important: Who is this

[disguiseself]

[Olivia smiles to herself when she sees the texts, replying with a DM rather than in the group chat.]

hey, you're texting! super proud!

save me one of the boxes please! :)

[sustainer]

Its wierd my fingers kepe misign

[He takes a moment after that to go up to the counter and take another box, telling the receptionist it's going to Olivia]

I have noe for yuo where aer you

[zafika]

Zafika has about had it when the world around them starts fading for the third time that day, and if this is going to be more time travel bullshit, they better end up in their own time, preferably in their bed. They need some sleep after this.

But instead, they wake up on a beach, feeling actually arm. Huh. Would you look at that. They're probably the only one who only got warm, as scales can't really get tan. They sit up groggily, brushing off sand from their person wherever they think of removing some from and groan, feeling exhausted still. And hungry. Oh gods they're so hungry, when's the last time they ate? The previous day, absolutely, after that they never even once thought about food.

As they flop back onto their back on the sand, their tail brushes against the walkie talkie, and they realise much to their discomfort that the inhabitants of the island are back, and some have dropped by. Great. Still, they pick up the walkie talkie, and make quick way to the hospital for that shower and a check up.

Right after that though, they're out of the hospital, and they're looking for a place to eat at. If they bump into any of the other Knights in Far Haven, they won't stop for a chat, but they're welcome to walk with them, maybe recommend somewhere to eat at.

[tropicalstorm]

When Haizea comes to, at first she really doesn’t mind the feel of the waves lapping at her... until she realizes she’s still fully dressed. With a barrage of curses, she quickly pulls off her boots and sighs. The salt water does NOT agree with the leather, she’s gonna need to get some new shoes.

Pointedly ignoring the walkie talkie for now, she then strips off everything else but her one piece and actually wades into the water, dunking her head under for good measure. She much prefers the feeling of ocean water on her skin to the sand that had been encrusting her just before. Finally, she emerges from the ocean and fires up the walkie talkie. At the hospital she refuses a shower, preferring to do that in the privacy of her room, but accepts a water bottle and has a doctor take a peek at her wounds, which are miraculously all healed up by now thanks to Terrence. She also takes the hot spring coupon, but she’s unsure about whether or not she’ll use it.

[feel free to thread with her while she’s still on the beach or when she’s leaving the hospital]

[silentwords]

Seth had been unlucky enough to wake up with a serious sunburn. Thankfully having woken up on the Far Haven beach he'd been able to get some advice on what to do next via the walkie talkie...though the moment after a thorough shower, some cream for the sunburn, water and a quick check up that confirmed that besides the sunburn he was pretty much unharmed, he was out of the hospital like a lightning bolt. He wasn't really comfortable there.

But in his haste to leave the hospital, he ends up accidentally bumping into Haizea.

[tropicalstorm]

Haizea's lucky in that she tans instead of burning, but being fully clothed on the beach means she's got one hell of a patchy one. When Seth bumps into her, she absently puts a hand on his shoulder to keep steady before she realizes who it is.

"Whoa, you okay there?" she says, looking over his harsh sunburn and signing O-K-A-Y with one hand.

[fop_lop]

Well fuck.

Despite just lying there, somehow sand has managed to get inside of Terrence's suit as well as on top of him. Between the disorientation, soreness, and general exhaustion he has to wriggle out of his jacket like some kind of fluffy turtle before he's even able to sit up! At least he's able to reach someone quickly and take advantage of that shower. The cost wouldn't have been a problem, but the coupon for the hot springs is looking fairly tempting as well...

First, however, there's something more important to address - most of the world thinks they're completely boned!

After a hot shower and far more primping that probably necessary (doubly so since he's just going to the hot springs after this anyway), Terrence hijacks every trace of Torrence's social media presence. He intends to make it as obvious as possible to as many people as possible that the Knights and Princess are, in fact, alive. Most of the posts are just the text "KNIGHTS/PRINCESS ALIVE" with a link to a video. The video itself is just a 10-second clip of Terrence stating the current date/time, adding, "we're all fine," and giving a thumbs-up. It's vague and surprisingly low-key for the rabbit, but it gets the point across. Despite feeling like a salted, hungover slug, Terrence's pleasant facade is convincing as always. He's even managed to hide the sunburn between camera angles, lighting, and a touch of makeup.

Now to catch a train...