Sticky: Navigation

Applications | Test Drive | Game Info | FAQ | Original Pitch

Game Chronology
Day 1 [M,A,E]	Day 2 [M,A,E]	Day 3 [M,A,E]
Day 4 [M,A,E]	Day 5 [M,A,E]	Day 6 [M,A,E]
Day 7 [M,A,E]	Day 8 [M,A,E]	Day 9 [M,T]
Day 10	Day 11	Day 12
- =	The Sidepost	= -

Resources:
■ Living World Document
■ Activity Check.

Twilight: 12:00noon - ??:00 Unknown

[ IRL Timeframe: July 20th - Onward, 2021 ]

In the past, the heroes had found themselves face-to-face with the Protector and the Wizard on year 0. They'd found the shattered pieces of Sxicq. They'd found the story before anyone had polished it into what it was today. It was free of all the lies, save for the ones coming from an alien's mouth.

The heroes influenced the past in subtle ways: Confronting the Protector with questions. Shaking the Wizard's solid foundations and instilling curiosity about the truth. Most importantly, Sxicq had seen all of their faces.

After chasing the crystals around the town and mountain, the heroes were pulled back into the room beneath the mountain. There, to their huge surprise, they were hidden behind some incredibly convenient piles of rocks to watch the events unfold that would define the next forty years. Floating over twelve of the platforms in the cavern were twelve of the crystals with kids inside of them that had been floating around the mountain. In the center of the circle stand two figures: Sxicq and the Wizard. The two appear apprehensive, but it's the third figure at the edge of the circle that's ruining it:

"Contain it! What are you doing!" The Protector shouts, stomping a foot. The air feels heavy, like it's made of electric cotton, and the hairs on everyone's arms stand upright.

"Get-- out! Of the way!!" He continues, stomping forward into the circle. As he does, a familiar blade slides out into his hand. Its shape is a tear in reality, a hole in the very makeup of the world itself.

The only thing that keeps the heroes from leaping forward to change history is the twelve small, glowing forms that are holding their hands. Smaller than children. Animals. Twelve of them, pleading in whispers: Stay. Watch.

True to their word, there is something to watch. The Protector rushes in, swinging his blade in a high arc before plunging it downward into the center of the circular floor of the platform. From it: A blue beam of energy, like lightning, fires forth through his chest. It pierces out from him, through Sxicq, through the Wizard, through the twelve crystals, and finally through the twelve animals where they're sitting around the heroes.

One bright white explosion later: The animals are gone. The crystals are gone. Sxicq is gone. The Wizard is gone. Only the Protector remains, standing over the circular rings in the floor. Slowly, he retracts his blade from the center. The edges of reality start to go to static.

"It is done." He declares with an air of finality. The static creeps in on the edges of everything, fading the vision as Sxicq descends into slumber.

The Protector's wrist beeps in defiance. He looks down at it, his face scrunching up in disgust. "It has to be done! Acknowledge: Mission complete!" He nearly yells at his wrist, only to be met with a response that stuns him.

"User not recognized, access privileges locked down." Says the same voice that came from within the ship. The static finishes pouring over everything, fading the vision of the cavern into nothing but noise.

And then everyone wakes up.

Everything feels wrong: The clocks all say it's sometime after noon, but the sky is an ever-churning, ever-shifting muddled mess of blues, purples, and darkness. The sun is missing. Weather outlets everywhere didn't have any explanation for the phenomenon. News stations were being careful to avoid referring to it as a sign of the end. The Protector had told them things were dire, after all, but they couldn't cause a mass panic.

And, most importantly, a small handful of news headlines on the planet were talking about time travel being real. They're talking about the blip to forty years ago. They're talking about the very same things that the heroes had just experienced, like they had experienced those exact same things. What effect would this have on the carefully-crafted story that the Protector had pieced together over forty years? Just how many people had shared this experience too?

Unknown to Luka, Gyre, and Olivia: Terrence had been to the past and had an experience much like the one they'd shared as a trio. He ended up with two regular people from the world who didn't recognize him as one of the heroes from this year.

What would happen now?

Ninth Afternoon Event: Afternoon Twilight

The Weather
The birds aren't chirping.
68°F
A little breezy.

Prompts:

12:00noon The Return, The Garden: When Gyre, Luka, and Olivia return, they're placed on the ground around the portal arrival in the garden. Nearby, Terrence has also been deposited: But he's in a tree about three feet up.

At least the gang's all here?

1:00pm Onward, Around the Garden: Once the heroes start making their way around the garden and inside the monster house, they'll realize that, for the first time, all of the monsters are here either inside or somewhere nearby. If the heroes wanted to find anyone, now was the chance for them to do so!

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.

Day 9: Morning

Morning: 6:00am - 12:00noon

[ IRL Timeframe: June 14th - Onward, 2020 ]

When your characters check their phones, clocks, calendars, or any other timekeeping implement they'll find that the year is 00 AW, forty years before the present day. The year before the Wizard's first game was held, the year before it came down to only two knights and the Princess facing off against the Wizard. It was before all of it.

Everywhere your characters go, there are no people. Their devices will not connect to the internet outside of the island, their companions will not appear, the Wizard and Monsters will not answer, but they can text each other without difficulty.

Outside, the heroes will not be greeted with the sight of the sky from Day 3. The sky lacks the massive vortex over the center of the mountain. Honestly, it all looks fairly serene. The only thing that seems amiss is the rumbling of the ground, the constant feeling of an ongoing earthquake. There are no fractures in the ground yet, though, no splintering of the planet.

Because nothing has happened yet.

Ninth Morning Event: The Past, Pt.II

The Weather
Stillness.
48°F
No wind.

Prompts:

6:00am The Arrival, All Cities: Gyre, Olivia, and Luka arrive flat on the ground. They wake on their backs, facing up to the stars, just outside of something that has never been on the island ever before.

They're at the top of the mountain, right beside where the mysterious doors were in the current day. But right now there's a wide-open metallic stairwell. It looks unnatural, like someone copy-pasted it into place. From beneath, there's a blue glow and steam rising up from below.

Guess it's time to wake up, make a plan, and walk downstairs?

?:00am, Unknown Location: This post will consist of one single long thread that progresses through the plot for this post. As discoveries are made, additional information will be uncovered.

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.

Activity Check: June 2020

[ IRL Timeframe: June 1st - June 30th, 2020 ]

Day 8: Evening

Evening: 5:00pm - Midnight

[ IRL Timeframe: April 1st - April 15th, 2020 ]

The light rain has changed into a downpour, coating the island, its forests, and its people in a constant barrage of water. After the events of the afternoon, it's like it's all being washed away.

Except it isn't, because the events of the day all happened. They're all real. And social media is abuzz about the loss of Harsen Island's mountain. Now, it's all just flat. There are forests, but Craydon is no longer a mountain-side town. Instead, they have a cog train that rolls horizontally across the flat ground from the main train station and over into their very flat town in the woods. Bamborough's hillside hotels with dozens of floors higher up for an ocean view are now down with the rest of the buildings, and only the highest floors can see out over the touristy area to the water. Far Haven, in contrast, has barely changed. You can't flatten something that's already flat. The only textures left on the island are the silver humps of two ships, one near Far Haven and the other near Bamborough. There's also a hump at the center, the cave entrance, leading down into the cave where the bodies were. For anyone who goes to look, there's a new body there now.

- [1] -

The participants in the fight against "Eight" put up a valiant fight, eventually defeating it in a show of heroic justice somewhere along the tracks. In all the rain, its yellowed body is disappearing away into the ground as it washes away.

- [2] -

#childlost

Sxicq is... somewhere. The internet lost them again. Wherever they're at, it's not out on the surface of the island.

- [3] -

The monsters, meanwhile, have returned back to their home in the garden. At least, the ones who seem to live there.

Five and Six are in their rooms on the main floor with the doors open. Five is laying on her bed, tacking away on her flip phone. Six is in his room, sitting on the edge of the bed, also on his phone. If there's anyone in Four's room, it's unknown due to the closed door. Also on the main floor is the Wizard. She's casually sitting in one of the more plain of the thirteen chairs, reading an unnamed book. There's a steaming mug of cocoa on the coffee table in front of her.

On the second floor, Ten's room is the only one open. The doors for Seven, Nine, and Twelve are all shut. If anyone heads in to look for Ten, they'll find him writing in a small notebook with the title "Chef Notes" on the front.

On the top floor, Eight's door is shut but has a small "Text me" sign dangling off of the handle.

- [4] -

If anyone goes looking for the newly surfaced space ships, all they'll find is the smooth metallic surfaces of them rounding out of the terrain. If there's a way in, it's not obvious to others

The Weather
Heavy rain.
59°F / 15°C
A constant wind.

Prompts:

5:00pm Onward: Monster House, The Garden: For any heroes who are up for meeting any of the monsters, this is their opportunity. Some closed doors will have no one behind them, but the open doors are a guaranteed someone to talk to. Will they talk to the monsters, each other, or the Wizard downstairs in the sitting area?

5:00pm Train Station, All cities: All trains have been suspended, citing the "unknown conditions of the island's tracks" after the events of the day. No one is allowed to ride the rails, no one is allowed to go anywhere. Is your hero trapped at a train station waiting for an uber? Does another hero come to their rescue? What's the deal?

?:00pm General Post, Anywhere: Does your character go to investigate things around the island? Do they meet with other heroes somewhere over coffee? How are they handling being cut off from the world? Their family? Their loved ones? How do they feel seemingly being made the enemy of all people of the world?

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.

OOC Mortality Warning: Any hero who actively seeks out the Protector IC will be at a high risk of death in some manner. He is on the move, tread carefully!

Activity Check: April 2020

[ IRL Timeframe: April 1st - April 30th, 2020 ]

Day 8: Monster Arrival

Afternoon: 12:00noon - 5:00pm

[ IRL Timeframe: February 26th - March 11th, 2020 ]

Just like the seventh day, if the heroes were hoping that this was going to ease up at all and give them a break:

It was all getting so much worse.

The light rain from the morning hasn't let up, still coming in brief waves over the island. It's not so much that you wish you had an umbrella, but also a little more than anyone's comfortable staying outside in for too long. The sun is still trying to peek through every now and then, occasionally at the same time as the drizzling rain.

- [1] -

At noon on the dot, the emergency broadcasting system goes off on every device on Harsen Island. Actually, it goes off across the entire planet. Before anyone can begin to wonder who it's from, the broadcast flickers on to show the Protector's face. He looks... rough. There's sand caked on to his robes, he still looks completely drenched from being in the ocean, and there are numerous cuts over his body from the fights he's been in. Careful eyes will note that his scabs don't look quite right, are those rainbow colors?

"People of the world, I am the Protector." He begins, reaching a hand up to his hair to pull some stray aquatic greenery off of himself.

"It is with no satisfaction that I am reaching out to you in this manner. But I must sow hope before the last flickers of survival are snuffed out." He does his best to finish getting himself at least somewhat decent for the camera before continuing. Who's recording this...?

"The Wizard has set not two, but four knights against the world. The monkey, dragon, boar, and dog knights all stand together. Worse still, they have enticed the ox knight and the Princess to believe their lies." He shakes his head, sighing like someone who's been betrayed.

"They have killed the others, the rabbit, sheep, and snake knights were all cut down for trying to save this world." He lets out a deep exhale, either holding back tears or very believably pretending to.

"The last hope of the world lies in your hands. In four days: Midnight, on the last day: Blow up Harsen Island. Reduce it to ash and the world will spin on. They must not win. They will not. ... I will do what I can to turn the tide back, but do not mourn me if I am lost. The world is more important."

The feed cuts abruptly as a yellow fist comes into frame, aimed directly at the Protector's head. He barely sidesteps it, but then the video is gone. Anyone who has kept up with where the monsters planned to be will be able to assume it's Ten. Some may even know that for sure. Who has the better odds?

- [2] -

"Eight" arrives out of the Far Haven train depot almost immediately after the Protector's noon broadcast. How can anyone be sure?

It's streamed to the internet.

Social media somehow immediately picks up on the "#EightFightLive" stream with numerous accounts sharing it dozens of times (are... those fake accounts...?) in minutes. The stream begins, attached to the side of whoever this is' head, is this being filmed on a GoPro or something? No one has to wonder for long, because the movement slows to a stop as the video feed aims at a big mirror on a nearby wall.

The reflection shows two massive sets of train wheels with a platform and what looks like a big yellow snowman perched on it. The snowman's midsection, however, has eight giant arms sticking out of it. Each set of arms is holding, from bottom to top: Swords, Hammers, Axes, and the top set of arms are actually a huge set of yellow wings. The head of the snowman doesn't have a face, but it does have eight eyes painted on. The center of each eye looks like it's flickering and on fire? And hastily wrapped around where a "neck" would be between the top snowman orb and the body is, in fact, a GoPro.

Nice.

The whole body shudders slightly and the distorted voice of an automated subway announcer gurgls out the words: "Next stop: Far Haven. Stand clear of the closing doors. One coin per trip. Next stop: Far Haven."

Anyone watching the stream will realize that if "Eight" is on the rails and heading to Far Haven... then the next stop would be Bamborough. And then Craydon after that. Was he just going to ride the rails around the island until he was defeated? The stream shudders as "Eight" starts rolling along on the rails, in the direction of the train station.

Loyal viewers of the stream will also get treated to a cameo on the way: While rolling through Far Haven, the GoPro centers on the big yellow mass that is Ten fighting against a glowing-white-weapon armed Protector. Suddenly the stream shows nothing but bright orange flames in their direction, and the two scatter apart. Whatever results from the flamethrower isn't seen, because "Eight" is too busy rolling on the rails towards the next destination! Far Haven, toot toot!

- [3] -

#childfound

Sxicq is too damn easy to find on the island, especially when they're spotted standing side-by-side with a monster in one of Luka's fan T-shirts at the top of the mountain (hi Eight!). The two of them are knelt by the door that had exploded several days earlier, hands pressed into the ground. Whoever has a drone taking the pictures of them, it's good enough to show that there are blue cracks radiating out from whatever they're doing. That can't be bad!

- [4] -

It's bad.

At 2:00pm, the island is wracked with earthquakes. Well, not actual quakes, more like the whole island just starts vibrating. It's the kind of low vibration that makes everything rattle just a little bit and fills the air with a white noise that never really goes away, but nothing cracks and breaks. It's like someone turned the island into putty and started wiggling it into a new shape.

And social media confirms that as observers of the island check in with hashtags like: #mountainsinking #shrinkingmountain #deflatedharsen

Because the mountain is flattening out, shrinking down and disappearing. Everything on the island is weirdly adjusting, like the buildings are just sort of floating on top of this solid-ground-now-melting-but-still-solid situation. It makes absolutely no sense. Science can't explain it. Mountains don't melt. You can't just shrink a mountain into the earth. You can't flatten an island.

But that's what's happening. Slowly, but surely. It'll be done by Evening, and then the Island will have a new shape.

- [5] -

At this point, Eight has left a text with all the heroes again that if they want to go to the garden, he can help make that happen. All it takes is a text. Five and Six are staying there, with Seven, in the monster house. If anyone goes there, they'll get to find the most interesting tidbit of information: It's not rumbling there.

- [=] -

Social media is pretty much evenly split on today's news: #endoftheworld? #whatjusthappened.

Monster Arrival: Far Haven: "Eight".

The Weather
Light rain.
68°F / 20°C
A gentle breeze.

Prompts:

12:00pm Emergency Broadcast, Everywhere: Immediately following the Protector's emergency broadcast, all of the phones and tech on the island and in the world become accessible again. The discussion is immediate and unrelenting and, to make matters worse, the social media accounts of all the heroes... have been disabled. They've only got phone calls and texts to rely on. Do they text each other? Or someone back home? Who could have disabled their social media accounts? That's... really fucking bad, holy shit.

12:15pm Train Station, Far Haven: "Eight" finally rolls into the Far Haven train station at about 12:15pm, ready to fight. Any hero, at any train station, will find that they all have a new feature: Instead of the "upcoming arrivals" screens above the tracks advertising regular trains, they're advertising "Eight"'s arrival times? Anyone in Bamborough will see "12:45pm" and anyone in Craydon will see "1:15pm". Even more strange is that there's a hastily-added black pole with a coin slot on it. Someone has hand-written "Eight request" in yellow ink beside the coin slot. Someone's gotta fight "Eight" first at Far Haven... or make a request at another station! The fight is on!

12:30pm Mountain Door, Mountain: Does your character go to interrupt Sxicq and Eight on top of the mountain? That's a pretty rude thing to go do. They're busy, why would your character do that? Don't they have more important things to do, like, you know, killing "Eight"? Either way, if your character ends up atop the mountain, thread it here!

2:00pm Earthquakes, Harsen Island: Everything is shaking! This is probably the worst possible thing that could happen! What's up with this shaking?! Does your hero get up to anything during all this? Do they try to find out what's happening? Do they... geez, how do you even react to an hours-long earthquake everywhere?!

?:00pm The Garden: Did your hero ask to go to the Garden? What do they do there? Any garden threads go here!

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.

OOC Mortality Warning: Any hero who actively seeks out the Protector IC will be at a high risk of death in some manner. He is on the move, tread carefully!

Activity Check: February 2020

[ IRL Timeframe: February 1st - February 29th, 2020 ]

Day 8: Morning

Morning: 6:00am - 12:00noon

[ IRL Timeframe: February 10th, 2020 - February ~~19th~~ 26th, 2020 ]

After the events of Day 7 and the chaos that it brought, the heroes have learned a number of things that most of them still aren't sure they're ready to know. What will they do with their knowledge? How will they share it with each other? How will--

At about 6AM, everyone receives a text from Garrot. Anyone who saw him the evening before may be surprised to see him forming complete sentences and, uh, threatening everyone? Is he okay? Anyone brave enough to want to text him back?

What a great start to the day, an early text. But that's... surprisingly the only shake-up? It's eerily calm.

The Protector had been knocked out to sea by the Wizard, spawning a number of serious worried conversations on social media. Is he okay? Was he dead? Is it time to panic? There were plenty of memes, too. Like the wizard in the foreground with sunglasses, a golf club, and a wide smile with the protector in the background and the words "time to go golfing" memed accross the image. At least some people were still in a joking mood.

The Wizard, too, had a collection of social media posts about her current circumstances. The overall opinion was that she was way scarier than before, was she a terminator? Wizardinator?

To make matters worse, Sxicq was missing. The hashtag #childlookout was trending with almost hourly updates of the island. Sxicq didn't make themselves difficult to find, which meant that spotting them even from distant photos or drone snaps was pretty straightforward. But there was no sign of their characteristic glow or disruptions anywhere. No bigfoot-esque sightings in the back of other photos. No panic that they were eating entire restaurants' stocks of food.

Nothing.

Talk about a calm before the storm, especially since Eight had alluded to several of the heroes that there was still going to be a fight today.

It turns out to be another opportunity for the heroes to collect themselves, gather information, and get themselves on stable ground. It's warmer today, and there are passing waves of light rain all over the island. Little drizzle showers that stick around just long enough to make you seek shelter, but not so long that you wonder when it'll let up. The sun dares to peek through every now and then, occasionally at the same time as the drizzling rain.

Eighth Morning Event: None.

The Weather
Light rain.
68°F / 20°C
A gentle breeze.

Prompts:

6:00am The Text, All Cities: "Mandatory medical exams today at 8AM at Far Haven General. The front desk will see you're escorted. You will be frisked, multiple times. Hospital staff says no weapons, no chaos. We can't piss them off.

That means nobody gets their animal companions, since some of you are idiots. They'll be left at the front door before going off on a guided tour. If you or yours don't cooperate, it will be assumed that you want to harm the Princess and you will die.

See you then!"

At about 6AM, everyone receives that text from Garrot. Anyone who saw him the evening before may be surprised to see him forming complete sentences and, uh, threatening everyone? Is he okay? Anyone brave enough to want to text him back?

8:08am Eight, All Cities: Anyone who decides they're going to text Eight to make a plan will find that he doesn't answer any of his texts until 8:08am. He replies to everyone all at once, at exactly 8:08 and 8 seconds. Whether your hero sent one text at 6am, or eight texts between 6 and 8am, all the answers come at exactly the same time. If anyone asks to go to the garden, they'll be deposited on the landing pad in the garden... at 8:08am. Predictable.

9:00am The Wizard, The Garden: The Wizard can be found in the vegetable section of the garden for any heroes who go looking for her. She's tending to the plants, picking weeds, watering the beds, and preparing new sprouts to grow in the empty spaces.

?:00am Anywhere, All Cities: Surely your character has to be getting up to something this morning, somewhere. This is a general catchall post for any threads among heroes that occurs. Whatever your character is getting up to, however they're preparing, or however they're coping. This is the place for it. Eight said there was going to be a fight this afternoon, after all, so there's something on the horizon at least!

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.

Activity Check: February 2020

[ IRL Timeframe: February 1st - February 29th, 2020 ]

Day 7: Evening

Aftern-Evening: 3pm - Midnight

[ IRL Timeframe: January 22 - January 29, 2020. ]

After all of Seven's fights, ending in Luka taking Ten's hand as the other heroes arrive. The knights will be treated to the sight of something entirely unexplainable: Seven is wounded, laying on the asphalt with a bright white crossbow bolt sticking out of their body. They're still pouring black goop off of their body, but they appear to be wrapped in some kind of cloth tarp. Five is kneeling over them, dressed in a skin-covering assassin outfit that only reveals her five eyes peering out. In her hand is a phone, and that's really all that can be seen before she and Seven disappear into a portal in the ground.

Luka, meanwhile, is standing with Ten's hand in his and his crossbow laid on the ground and not in his hand. No matter what the arriving heroes cry out in order to get his attention, it's too late to stop him. Abruptly, the portal opens and both the Princess and Ten disappear into the ground.

Naturally, the hashtag #princessnapped is forged.

That doesn't prove to be the only hashtag to get some heavy use this evening. The #wizardfound and #robotwizard hashtags find a sudden, new reason to actively discuss what's going on.

The remaining heroes: Garrot, Gyre, Haizea, Matilda, Olivia, (and... where's Terrence?) will find that the events from earlier in the day have caught up to them. There's a crack like thunder as both the Wizard and the Protector flicker into existence and both land in the superhero pose in the center of the intersection that Luka just disappeared from.

The Protector, if possible, is looking even worse than before. He's sporting a black eye and numerous cuts on his forehead, cheeks, and arms. It looks like he's been lit on fire at least once, but even so he's holding his rapier out in anticipation of the next strike.

The Wizard, meanwhile, is finally openly visible to everyone after her absence. She looks rough. It's as if the areas where she'd been harmed have been replaced or repaired with robotics. The left side of her face is no longer bandaged, instead revealing that she now has a robotic eye with a glowing yellow ring. The cables that were visible in the video before are very clearly plugged in just behind her ear, trailing down over her shoulder and down her back beneath the robes.

And of course she's still wearing pajamas. But they look like they've seen better days, charred and ripped and shredded at every edge. In her hand, though, is a massive axe. One side of its head is a giant half-circle axe head while the other side is a heavy weight like a hammer. The entire weapon is jet black, but it has a glossy shine.

What's the worst that could happen?

The Weather
Cloudy, breezy.
48°F / 9°C
Brrr.

Prompts:

3:00pm The Garden, Unknown Location: When Luka falls through the portal with Ten, he'll become immediately aware that the monster has slipped himself closer and snuck his feet beneath Luka's to stabilize him. Despite the falling, he seems surprisingly stable in the air.

And then there's the soft crunch of grass beneath his feet and he shifts slightly, waiting for Luka to step back on his own. Wherever they are, the air is filled with the scents of wildflowers and scents that are both beautiful and entrancing in their complexity. It's clear that there are dozens, if not hundreds of flowers and plants in the immediate vicinity. There's the gentle warmth of sunlight on Luka's skin, clearly advertising that they're outside (or in a very clever indoor garden). But most calming is the gentle sounds of moving water. If Luka focuses, he'll be able to pick out that there's a small waterfall, several waterways, and multiple water features with water tumbling down over rocks. And, of course, a pool or a pond with fish gently swimming about beneath the surface.

But he'll be interrupted twice before he can lose himself. The first is Ten.

"We're here." He says, but if Luka's not shaken enough he'll realize that he doesn't hear Seven and his Seven sense isn't going wild. But the second distraction happens as Luka's phone bloops from an unknown sender with a text:

"Welcome to the Garden, Princess." The text reads... with no explanation of who or how they sent him the text. That's totally normal!

3:00pm Street Intersection, Bamborough: With the arrival of the Wizard and the Protector, it's very clear that shit is about to go down. But that absolutely isn't what the Wizard has in mind for this situation. She's the one running this game, and she isn't about to get five heroes wrapped up in her duel with the Protector. Before anyone can take an opportunity to make any attacks, and especially not the Protector, she snaps the fingers of her free hand five times.

And reality fractures. The way that the cracks in midair begin to fold and reflect the area and people around them, it's like the world is folding up into a trick mirror house. It's... actually exactly that. Reality twists and folds, forming reflections and containers out of the air itself until every single hero is enclosed in one. The hero in the middle of their own box, reflected on two opposite walls. But on the opposite two walls, the Wizard is visible beyond in one of them and the Protector is visible beyond in the other room. Uh. This conversation might get awkward. Worse is that they can't get distracted by their Seven senses, because no one can feel them anymore.

3:15pm To Everyone: In the middle of the earlier events, every hero in Bamborough receives a text from an unknown sender. The only one who's spared this text is Luka, because he got a text earlier. The text reads: "I can give you one teleport to anywhere today. Tell me when and to where. Don't be unreasonable!"

8:00pm Onward, Everywhere: The day is done, the events are finished. How does your character get home? Do they go home alone? Do they seek the company of their fellow heroes? Do they stay alone, or do they get a room together? Either way, it's a rough night for everyone.

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.

Activity Check: January 2020

[ IRL Timeframe: January 1st - January 31st, 2020 ]

Day 7: Monster Arrival

Afternoon: 12:00noon - 5:00pm

[ IRL Timeframe: January 8th, 2020 - January 22nd, 2020 ]

If the heroes were desperate for a break...

They weren't going to get one.

The seventh day is shaken up under an hour after Luka, Olivia, and Garrot finish their meeting with the Protector. Every single hero is pinged with an urgent notification on social media. Not only are all of them pinged with "#heroes" but they're also directly tagged, detonating their inboxes with panic and confusion.

To make matters worse, several tags are trending: #seth, #murder, #monster?, #protectorfight, #whatjusthappened, and two more.

The post that triggered it all was uploaded by none other than the rat knight, Seth, and... it's a lot. The video opens with Seth glancing down at the camera, giving a little thumbs up before he swipes at the screen to pull up a different app while it records. There's blurry motion as he enters a room, but then the camera focuses in on two figures in the room. The first is the Protector, a pipe in his hand that's slowly smoking and a sword in the other that's extended out and pierced just slightly into the other figure.

The other figure is something bestial, a mass with multiple different legs jutting out of it. Some legs appear reptilian, with big claws, others look like mammal feet with texturing on the outside, one is even avian with claws breaking the tiles beneath it. The skin of the creature is yellow, obscured beneath a slow cascade of some kind of black or metallic fluid dripping off of the monster's(?) body. The central mass doesn't seem to match up with what a body should be, but there's very clearly a neck and a head jutting out towards the Protector. Though the Protector's blade appears to have pierced the neck in the back, it certainly couldn't be deep with how thick it was. And the monster's(?) head is a nightmare filled with two, perhaps three, rows of sharp teeth that are gaped just slightly as they breathe out a horrible black steam on the ground.

"Rat knight." The Protector states, the slightest note of surprise in his voice, before all hell breaks loose.

The video blurs, presumably as Seth tries to run, and there's a clattering as he slides on something and hits the floor. His phone, still recording, can't keep up with all the movement in the room. Social media is kind enough to provide still-frames of the three clearest moments:

The Monster rearing its head back, an arc of yellow in the air as it turns towards Seth. The Protector's blade at the other end of the yellow, ripped free of the monster's neck by the movement.
Seth's face, panicked as he attempts to get to his feet but very clearly losing control of his phone. The Protector and monster are squared off to fight each other in the background. The monster has multiple limbs outstretched, apparently leaping towards the Protector from somewhere near Seth.
A very controversial image, with numerous individuals stating it should be deleted. Seth's body laying prone, the camera recording from the side as blood is spreading from an unseen wound. In the background, the Protector has stuck his blade back into the monster's neck and is pressing them down with force.

But the video doesn't end there, and those aren't the only stills provided.

The final scene that unfolds begins with Seth's body disappearing.

Right in frame of the camera, someone's foot settles down onto the floor. There is no soul that would see the crocs on that foot and not know that it belonged to the Wizard. But the Wizard's dead. There's a crackling flash from above the camera as something magic goes off and the Protector, who had barely started to raise his hand to react and defend himself, gets blown through the far wall. Sunlight streams in from the hole and, without hesitation, the monster thrashes on the ground and leaps out after him.

The final still taken in the last moments of motion in the video spurs on the last two trending hashtags. The croc-wearing arrival reaches down to take the phone, lifting it up to her face and swiping to post the video. It's mostly just her hand, but at the end the camera catches sight of her. Social media has a lot to say about the last still: The final image is of the Wizard's face, very much alive, but very, very rough. The entire left side of her face is bandaged diagonally, up across her forehead and down over her left cheek. Jutting out of the bandages on the left side of her face are thick, black cables that appear to disappear under the bandages. What are they? Where are they going? There's no mistake that she's still injured, numerous cuts scabbed over with strange alien colorations on her skin, but considering that she was supposed to be dead: She looks very much not dead.

So the last two hashtags that are taking social media by storm? #wizardfound and #robotwizard

Monster Arrival: Train Tracks: Seven.

The Weather
Overcast.
66°F / 19°C
There's a slow breeze.

Prompts:

12:30pm Everywhere, All Cities: "Did you see the video?!": The heroes are probably as unsettled as social media is. What did that video mean? Did Seth really just die? Did the Protector just die? Was that Seven? Was that the Wizard?! What does any of this mean? Wether by text or in person, surely the heroes need to take a moment to discuss this with each other!

12:45pm After the Funeral, Craydon: Why would anything be chill today? As the funeral comes to a close, Five, Six, and Ten have stayed nearby. But their departure is forced as Sxicq arrives, their blue eyes locked on the three of them as they advance. Ten nudges at Five, who pulls out her phone. She quickly, and loudly, announces "Okaywe'redoneherebye!" to anyone still there, and the three of them vanish through a portal. Sxicq walks all the way to where they vanished and stands on the spot, staring down at the ground. Uh. Congratulations, funeral-goers? Sxicq is here now and examining... dirt. Those monsters sure did leave in a hurry.

1:00pm Train Tracks, Bamborough: It's the monster. The initial reports are of a "rampaging beast" ripping through the woods on its way down to the city. The first picture taken reveals that it's the horrid leg-mass with teeth that Seven apparently is. Buildings in the path are evacuated of any possible citizens, but the route changes all of a sudden and Seven makes their way right to the train tracks. They're running along them, in the direction of Craydon, and there is absolutely a train coming. Every part of this is bad, and to make matters even worse: Every hero can feel a strange pulling, a strange tug telling them exactly where Seven is in this moment. Before, it was just the Princess. Now, it was everyone? What changed?

Unbeknownst to the heroes, Seven is going to break away from the tracks when they reach Craydon. They're going to seek out every knight. They're going to fight everyone.

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.

Activity Check: January 2020

[ IRL Timeframe: January 1st - January 31st, 2020 ]

Day 7: Morning

Morning: 6:00am - 12:00noon

[ IRL Timeframe: December 18th, 2019 - January ~~1st~~ 8th, 2020 ]

After the events of Day 6, every single one of the heroes will know that five of their fellow heroes are no longer with them. Six of the monsters have been dealt with(?). The world is halfway to being saved(?). The unknown child, Sxicq, walks the island now. The Protector and the Wizard are--

The Wizard is missing. Courtesy of the #WheresTheWizard hashtag, it's clear that even social media can't get tabs on her. They've located Sxicq, Ten, Five, Six, and even the Protector. But the Wizard's location is a mystery. Maybe the Wizard-aligned knights were able to meet with her overnight? But no one knows who they are (well, clever heroes may have identified one), so it's anyone's guess.

It's a remarkably quiet morning, though, serving as an opportunity for the heroes to collect themselves.

Seventh Morning Event: Craydon: The Funeral.

The Weather
Solemn.
64°F / 18°C
The air is still.

Prompts:

6:00am The Funeral, Craydon: Five and Ten are the easiest to find this morning. They're in Craydon's small cemetary, holding a quiet conversation over an urn surrounded by flowers. Six is nearby, seated beneath a willow tree, hat and sunglasses obscuring his eyes. Locals are, for the most part, keeping their distance. But every so often, someone approaches to add a flower to the pile around the urn. Monster or not, no one is cruel enough to disrupt anyone in mourning.

8:30am Hospital, Far Haven: Sxicq is easy to find, not that they could be anything but easy to spot, in the hospital lobby. Social media is abuzz as doctors, nurses, and patients all start complaining that the hospital has seen enough this year. They don't need the lobby detonated again. But Sxicq is just sitting, cross-legged, in the center of the hospital lobby. Their eyes are closed and they're glowing softly. To anyone who stays for more than a few moments, they'll see the damage from previous days starting to glow as it mends itself. It's not fast, but it's progress.

9:00am International Cabin of Crepes, Bamborough: The Protector is slightly harder to find, but he's made it known that he's meeting with Luka, Olivia, and the knight they've chosen to invite. He has a private room in the breakfast establishment, a table in a room where the doors can be closed. Others can find him and talk to him here, but he's here on business. Anyone who spots him, though, won't be able to miss that he looks rough. He has a black eye, a busted lip, numerous cuts and burns over the visible parts of his skin, and it looks like some of his hair was ripped out. But it looks like he's done his best to clean up a little, it just looks like he's recovering from some kind of an accident. How did that happen?

10:00am Everywhere, All Cities: The welcome van from the first night is back, and this time it's received a fresh coat of paint on the sides: It's now the funnel cake van. Throughout the morning, the drivers are speeding around all three towns and pulling up beside any and every hero they can. If they see two heroes together? Free funnel cakes for both! Does your hero get caught funnel-handed with another hero this morning? Hope you both have a sweet tooth!

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.

Activity Check: December 2019

[ IRL Timeframe: December 1st - December 31st, 2019 ]

Day 6: Evening Monster

Evening: Evening - Midnight

[ IRL Timeframe: December 4th - December 18th, 2019 ]

Three significant things happen when the heroes have finished their venture into the mountain.

First: Just outside the mountain cave entrance are four doors just... freely standing there. The heroes will be able to walk around them, walk past them, and generally inspect them. But they just look like normal doors. Three are marked "Bamborough", "Craydon", and "Far Haven" and sure enough if the heroes open them they'll find the marked city just past the door.

What?

The fourth door is marked "Guest List" and has the names of all the heroes scrawled down below it. Six had said everyone was invited, after all.

Second: The Wizard and Protector's fight has ended, but social media is losing their collective mind over the crater the two had left behind. A significant part of the beach is now gone, filled in with water in the empty space the battle left behind. How did it end? Who won? Is it all over?

Third: Six's show has started. Luka's princess senses will point him straight to the door with the guest list on it, and he'll know he's meant to enter. Courtesy of some time nonsense, even if the heroes take their time entering from the mountain-side of the door... they'll all arrive at the same time in the monster space. They won't all arrive back on the mountain at the same time, though, instead they'll go back at the end in the order they went through in. First in, first out, after a shared same-time-Six-showdown fight.

But is it a fight?

Monster Arrival: ???: Where is this?

The Weather
Cloudy.
52°F / 11°C
Still chilly!

Prompts:

5:00pm Mountain, General Post: Any character interactions atop the mountain or in any of the towns before the heroes go to face Six can be added here. Five and Ten both say they won't be joining the heroes to watch the show, they weren't invited.

5:30pm Onward: Monster Theatre: When the heroes arrive in Six's space, they'll be surprised to see that it's set up very much like a movie theatre. There are exactly enough plush, reclining chairs for all the heroes to have one each. At the front of the room is a big red curtain that's down, with a sign over it stating "Take your seats, the show will be starting soon!"

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.

Activity Check: December 2019

[ IRL Timeframe: December 1st - December 31st, 2019 ]

Day 6: "Monster Arrival"

Afternoon: 12:00noon - Evening

[ IRL Timeframe: November 13th - ~~November 20th~~ December 4th, 2019 ]

Following the events of the morning, with the Wizard and Protector locked in a heated duel, Gyre has paved forward with his plan to gather all the heroes to show them something. Be proud of him, he texted EVERYONE!

The fight between the two powerful entities continues, they won’t be joining anyone just yet. Sxicq, meanwhile, is… somewhere. No one really kept tabs on them, even social media has lost sight of them.

Monster Arrival: Far Haven: No one! Six is preparing to “arrive” in the evening.

The Weather
Clear with a few clouds.
52°F / 11°C
Bring your heater, the chill continues!

Prompts:

12:30pm Mounain, General Post:

I.
Gyre arrives early to the main hiking trail at the base of the mountain. There’s a big sign advertising where it starts, and he sits against one of the legs of the sign. His legs are neatly folded, his arms crossed over his chest. As people begin to arrive, he greets each of them, standing after a second or third has arrived.

Once they’re all gathered, he raises a hand to get everyone’s attention. “Is this everyone?” he asks, clearly counting heads. A flicker of angst crosses his face as he realizes how much smaller they look without Rory and Web and Gail. As he counts, he realizes Zafika and Joanna are missing as well. He wasn’t able to talk to either of them, so he supposes he’s not surprised, but there is a little bubbling concern in his chest. He’ll have to address it later.

He waves at the lot of them once he’s done counting, gesturing for them to follow, “We’re going to the top. I’m going to move quickly so we can get back down before dark. If you need help, ask me. Rely on each other,” is all he says before he turns and heads up the trail.

The ground is worn enough to make the climb relatively easy, but it’s still climbing a mountain. How is everyone taking it? It’s a long trip. There’s time to catch up now that they’re all together again.

II.
This is the top of the mountain. When the heroes arrive, they’ll find Five and Ten seated at a small foldable table playing cards. Five is wearing jeans and a black hoodie with a computer error screen printed on it. She looks at the group of heroes arriving, giving a small wave once she’s seen some familiar faces-- but she immediately moves to hide behind Ten when she sees Luka.

Ten, meanwhile, is wearing a shirt with a picture of himself wearing a shirt with a picture of himself wearing a shirt-- you get the idea. How did he pull that off? The shirt is printed with a picture of him here, on the top of the mountain, outside this cliff door. Did he plan for this? He gives a wave at the group, greeting them with a Microsoft Sam voiced phone message:

“All around me are familiar faces. Ha ha, hello.”

Did he just reference a song? He definitely did. That was definitely “Mad World” by Jary Gules.

12:30pm Onward: Mountain, The Mountain Cave Entrance:

When the heroes decide to descend into the cavern, what they’ll find is a strangely winding corridor that’s barely lit at all. The ceiling is rarely higher than six feet, sometimes shrinking down to four feet and even three feet near the bottom, and most of its length is only wide enough for two people to fit through. The floor is slick with water, the slope of it acting as the perfect place for water to drain into from above. This means the descent is cramped, dark, and slightly slippery.

Good luck, heroes.

The corridor suddenly opens up at the bottom into a wide-open cavern, the walls spreading out too far in every direction and disappearing into the darkness of the cavern. The walkway into the space narrows as it crosses over a massive pit that surrounds a central circular platform. There aren’t any other walkways leading to the middle.

The circular platform in the center has twenty-seven metal rings that make up the floor, smaller ones in the middle surrounded by one massive ring around the outside. It'd take a lot of counting to see the 27 rings but, believe me, they're there. What the heroes will be able to spot, though, is that a few of the rings on the floor are rotating very, very slowly. It would be easy to miss, but once noticed it’s clear that there are exactly ten rings moving and seventeen that are not.

Surrounding the center platform are twenty-seven raised platforms in a big circle around the center. Floating above four in a row are bright yellow blobs with one, two, and three eyes respectively. The fourth and fifth have the slain bodies of Four and Five. Four is wearing the game show garb they’d worn on the day of their games. Five is wearing a set of heavy black robes, not the assassin garb she’d worn on her day. The other side has five occupied platforms each with knights floating in them. Web, with Aqrisqi floating above them. Rory, with Sefaq floating above her. Gail, with Giqra floating above him. Joanna, with Fius floating above her. Zafika, with Muraj floating above them.

Wait. When were Joanna and Zafika defeated? Both of them have a single red mark above where their hearts are like they’d each been stabbed with a blade.

Five and Ten have followed everyone down to this room, looks like they’ll be able to answer questions… maybe? But everyone knows that neither the Wizard nor the Protector will be here, they’re still fighting up on the island’s beach.

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.

Activity Check: November 2019

[ IRL Timeframe: November 1st - November 31st, 2019 ]

Day 6: Morning

Morning: 6:00am - 12:00noon

[ IRL Timeframe: October 31st - November ~~7th~~ 13th, 2019 ]

In the typically quiet town of Craydon, most residents know that the beach is only a short walk away from the train station at the base of the mountainous region they live in. They've constructed a long wooden path out to the edge of the sandy area, with a number of benches available for any residents. Typically there are a handful of locals either walking, relaxing, fishing, or ocean watching on this normally quiet and uneventful beach. But today, at sunrise, the Wizard and the Protector are on the beach. The Wizard has made short work of sending everyone away but a few have remained to post it to social media.

It's a stalemate, for the most part. For every blow one flings, the other parries it. For every shout, there's one in return. Most unsettling, however, is that they're arguing in a language that isn't native to this world.

Far Haven isn't having an uneventful morning but it is having a quiet morning. The Hospital is looking better after the events of Day 5, the front doors are now available for use and a construction team is hard at work undoing the damage that had been done the previous day. It's definitely not fixed yet, but it's clearly on the way.

That isn't the big event that's drawing people's attention, though. Six, today's monster, has borrowed a chair from inside the hospital's lobby and placed it in the courtyard right outside the front doors. He can be found sitting, one leg propped up over the other and showing off one of the cowboy boots he's wearing, with a clipboard leaned up on his leg. Two of his arms are sitting on the armrests, casually drumming like he's impatient. Two more arms are folded across his front, and the last two arms are holding and writing on the clipboard. His yellow skin is bright as the sunlight hits him, but he's clearly ready for the sun with a pair of aviator sunglasses covering his eyes. Are there multiple eyes under there? He's wearing a cowboy hat with a white bandana around his neck and thick hair(?) bound up in a ponytail dangling off the back of the chair. This monster's a cowboy!

Oh, and there's a huge double-headed axe propped up against his chair. Can't forget that, that's scary.

Bamborough is a strange blend of eventful and not. The Child's boat is back and social media has made no secret of where they headed: Breakfast. The Bamborough Diner, a staple location in the tourist town, has been serving them meal after meal all morning. They're on their sixth meal, stuffing pancake after pancake into their mouth. They've been using the diner's picture-filled menu to order item after item and they haven't repeated one yet. It's time to EAT!

But with all this happening, surely the heroes won't be up to anything else? There's definitely no reason why the Wizard has suddenly chose to go toe-to-toe with the Protector this morning, right? No way, no how.

There's definitely a reason.

Sixth Morning Event:: The Fight.

The Weather
A little foggy.
55°F / 13°C
Uh, grab a jacket, it's actually chilly.

Prompts:

06:00am The Beach, Craydon: Today, at sunrise, the Wizard and the Protector are on the beach. The Wizard has made short work of sending everyone away but a few have remained to post it to social media.

It's a stalemate, for the most part. For every blow one flings, the other parries it. For every shout, there's one in return. Most unsettling, however, is that they're arguing in a language that isn't native to this world.

The heroes can try to get close, but they'll eventually find a barrier in their way. Is your hero here? Are they talking to others? Is there anything they can do? Or do they know more about what's happening than they've told others?

07:00am Harsen Island Regional Hospital, Far Haven: Far Haven isn't having an uneventful morning but it is having a quiet morning. The Hospital is looking better after the events of Day 5, the front doors are now available for use and a construction team is hard at work undoing the damage that had been done the previous day. It's definitely not fixed yet, but it's clearly on the way.

That isn't the big event that's drawing people's attention, though. Six, today's monster, has borrowed a chair from inside the hospital's lobby and placed it in the courtyard right outside the front doors. He can be found sitting, one leg propped up over the other and showing off one of the cowboy boots he's wearing, with a clipboard leaned up on his leg. Two of his arms are sitting on the armrests, casually drumming like he's impatient. Two more arms are folded across his front, and the last two arms are holding and writing on the clipboard. His yellow skin is bright as the sunlight hits him, but he's clearly ready for the sun with a pair of aviator sunglasses covering his eyes. Are there multiple eyes under there? He's wearing a cowboy hat with a white bandana around his neck and thick hair(?) bound up in a ponytail dangling off the back of the chair. This monster's a cowboy!

Oh, and there's a huge double-headed axe propped up against his chair. Can't forget that, that's scary.

08:00am Bamborough Diner, Bamborough: Bamborough is a strange blend of eventful and not. The Child's boat is back and social media has made no secret of where they headed: Breakfast. The Bamborough Diner, a staple location in the tourist town, has been serving them meal after meal all morning. They're on their sixth meal, stuffing pancake after pancake into their mouth. They've been using the diner's picture-filled menu to order item after item and they haven't repeated one yet. It's time to EAT!

0?:00am General Post, Anywhere: Are your characters interacting elsewhere? Are they texting everyone? Put any threads here that don't fit elsewhere with the time and location in the subject.

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.

Day 5: Evening

Evening: 5:00pm until Midnight

[ IRL Timeframe: October 15th - ~~October 23rd~~ October 31st, 2019 ]

Evening is calm, evening is serene, evening is-- a time for everyone to catch up with all the nonsense that just happened today. For anyone checking social media, there are a number of significant events that went down to catch up on:

Gyre's head straight-up fell fucking off. Somehow he's not dead.
Gyre and Luka fought each other.
Gyre punched Luka in the face.
Terrence posted a Photoshop Phriday contest on the Hopeful Hearts homepage in the morning, when the Wizard was KO'd. It's finally gone viral.
Two hospital rooms are out of commission due to the floor collapsing.
The hospital's main lobby is inaccessible via the main doors, good thing the side doors work.
Rory is missing. Where did the Tiger knight go? Social media fears the worst.
The child teleported off of the pier, leaving anyone with them behind as they boarded a tourist boat. If the side is to be believed, it's headed back to Bamborough, but with the child at the helm where would it be going?

That's... quite a bit of bad stuff. Thankfully most of the afternoon events are still ongoing, so there's plenty of opportunities for the heroes to unwind in each others' company. The evil-allured knights get their own chance once they fall asleep for the night.

The Weather
Birds are chirping again.
59°F / 15°C
It shouldn't be this chilly?

Prompts:

5:00pm Onward: Hospital, Far Haven: After the rooms were destroyed and the lobby floor was ripped up, the Hospital is hardly in tip-top shape. Any heroes can drop by to try to gather clues with others, to try to help pick up the place, or of course drop by to get medical attention.

Most Evening Times: Gyre's Camp, Forest between Craydon and Bamborough: Gyre can be found in his camp for most of the evening. It's taking up a little clearing in the trees and it's extremely nicely kept even at first glance. There's a fire pit dug into the ground, and lined with rows of gently polished rocks. There are three delicately carved wooden figures sitting on the rocks, one per rock. There's a little boar, a curved antler that very nearly looks real and uh a wizard hat.

Off to the side, there's a canvas tent that's just barely big enough for a Gyre-sized bedroll and his emptied backpack. It's been zipped shut except for a couple inches opening left at the top. There's a little pile of chopped wood beside the tent, and a bowl filled with a dark purple dye and a few folds of leather. In front of the tent is a boot with the sole coming off, partially unsewn.

Across from the fire, there's a rack set up with one cleaned rabbit? skin, and a deer skin hung on a pole to dry. The deer's skull has been set on a pike up high to bleach the bones.

At least one person has promised to visit, but will he even after their fight? But perhaps he won't be the only one to drop by tonight.

5:00pm Onward: Unlimited Tacos, Bamborough: Even after the rails are fixed in Bamborough, the unlimited taco deal didn't come to an end. If the princess or any knight drops by, they won't even have to ask because there are free tacos for the rest of the day! Any hero may show up and sit down to dine on tacos of all types and flavors. Unfortunately this taco shop only specializes in flour-shell options, but their flavors are on point! Dine in with your fellow heroes and discuss all the nonsense that's been happening... and it's only day five.

5:00pm Onward: Free Drinks, Far Haven: If your hero is just tired of everything having to be So Much All The Time, they can drop by one of Far Haven's brightest night life bars called "Reach". They're offering free drinks all night to celebrate the Wizard getting put in the hospital. Things are looking pretty easy for the team this year! The special drink being offered is the "Wizard Bomb" which drops a blue shot into a bubbly red drink. It's pretty tasty and, best of all, free! Which heroes will find each other here before the night crowd shows up? Sun's going down fast!

5:00pm Onward: Free Admission Meditation, Craydon: Heroes need to take a moment to breathe, and one of the locals in Craydon has realized that. They've offered any hero a free meditation session in their garden room. Incense will be lit, hot towels will be offered, and the gentle serene environment of their garden room (complete with the carefully-combed and designed zen sand pit) will make sure any stress just melts away. Does your hero run across someone else while walking in or leaving? The Wizard can be found sitting outside, staring up at the sky, for the rest of the evening.

7:00pm Bed & Breakfast Helping Hand, Craydon: The owner of the Helping Hand Bed & Breakfast needs a helping hand! They threw their back out after carrying a large stack of firewood in for the wood oven. Looks like they're down for the count for at least the rest of the day. Care to lend a hand, perhaps with your fellow heroes, to get things taken care of? The laundry needs to be done, more firewood has to be cut, the food has to be cooked, the guests have to be checked in and out... Who's going to do all this if they can't even get up off the ground? They're in a rough spot! Social media was kind enough to report on what happened, but now that night's falling, things have to be closed up for the night. After the events of the day, Ten can be found here helping out. Looks like he's doing a little bit of everything!

8:30pm Protector Meeting, Far Haven: After the events of the day, the Protector sought out Olivia and spoke with Luka before he handled his own evening tasks. They both received a card from him with an address on it and a request to bring one knight that they trusted along with them. The address, not strangely at all, will take them to the center of a small local park in the middle of the business district. When they arrive, the Protector will be sitting on a bench overlooking a fountain. All around him are screens that are showing the events of the day, and he appears to be reviewing what happened.

Of course, this isn't his dream space so he can be found by just about anyone at this point. But will anyone else find him? Before or during the meeting? Will they spy on the meeting or make themselves known?

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.

Activity Check: October 2019

[ IRL Timeframe: October 1st - October 31st, 2019 ]

Day 5: Afternoon

Afternoon: 12:00noon - Evening

[ IRL Timeframe: September 25th - October 9th, 2019 ]

It's monster time for four heroes!

When Five appears, it's in the form of a one-on-one fight. Not everyone will get the chance to raise their weapon and fight. Everyone else will be left to handle the goings-ons of the island in general. Harsen Island isn't a quiet place, and there's plenty happening on day five to keep everyone occupied. Now that the dust has settled on the mountain, anyone can go up to look at where the Child emerged from.

Or they can go see the Child themselves, social media is doing a good job tracking their path down to the piers in Far Haven. It's easy to track a glowing magic entity! If the Child isn't who they're interested in, they can find the Wizard, Ten, and the Protector in the hospital in Far Haven. What a popular city! It's the biggest place on Harsen Island, so that makes sense.

But all over the island, things are happening and events are unfolding... at this point, the heroes know more than anyone else does. They'd better be ready to work together!

Monster Arrival: Far Haven: The Duels: Gyre, Zafika, Luka, Olivia.

The Weather
Eerily still.
61°F / 16°C
Brrr, where'd that cool wind come from?

Prompts:

12:00pm The Child, Far Haven: [Continuation of the previous thread.]

Anyone who had interacted with the child, or chased them, is in for an unfortunate surprise. They've been targeted by Five and are about to have to deal with her. Olivia is the first to go toe to toe with her, and the encounter ends up allowing the Child to escape.

When Five appears, she's walking with the confidence of a killer who's sighted their mark. She's the most human-like by far, but there are still dead giveaways as to what she really is. For one, her bright yellow skin is a mark that she can't do away with. That aside, she looks like an assassin right out of a video game. Her head is obscured under a black hood, her mouth masked behind fabric, and her five amber eyes (two on the left and right, one vertically on her forehead) glint as she approaches. Her outfit is all black, pants, shoes, shirt, all leaving no sign of the skin beneath. Dangling from her neck is a circular metallic necklace. Instead of weapons grasped in each hand, she's dragging along two black bags. The sound of the fabric scratching along the ground announces her arrival.

"I challenge you to a duel." She says, her voice sounding all too much like a young child's. As she says it, the world around the two of them disappears. The ground at their feet lies under an inch of water, reflecting the cloudy sky above. There are dead trees sparsly jutting up from the ground and fractured pieces of buildings laying around. This is clearly a battlefield, a wide, lifeless expanse that exists solely to fight.

Anyone in Far Haven will be able to find the child at the end of the Far haven pier, staring out at the ocean. Social media isn't quiet about where they are. But the four who face off against Five won't be able to get there until they've dealt with her.

12:30pm Train Derailment, Bamborough: Unfortunately for anyone who gets the news about anything in Craydon or Far Haven, there's no way to get there. On its way into the train station, the train rolled over a handful of stray acorns and one of the sets of wheels hopped off of the tracks. It'll take a few hours at a minimum to get it back in place. Is your character stranded at the train station? Do they spy a fellow hero also stranded? Will they decide to take a long 4-5 hour power-walk along the tracks out to either of the other cities? Will they just wait for the train? Do they go rent a car to get out there? Roadtrip?! Or do they just go somewhere in Bamborough to kill time?

12:45pm Bed & Breakfast Helping Hand, Craydon: The owner of the Helping Hand Bed & Breakfast needs a helping hand! They threw their back out after carrying a large stack of firewood in for the wood oven. Looks like they're down for the count for at least the rest of the day. Care to lend a hand, perhaps with your fellow heroes, to get things taken care of? The laundry needs to be done, more firewood has to be cut, the food has to be cooked, the guests have to be checked in and out... Who's going to do all this if they can't even get up off the ground? They're in a rough spot! Social media was kind enough to report on what happened, but the one who reported it had to catch a flight and needed to head off. Good luck, heroes!

2:00pm Hospital Visit, Far Haven: Despite being the Wizard, the doctors at the Far Haven hospital insisted that there would be no visitors until at least 2pm. They'd rarely had an opportunity to speak to the Wizard in previous years and they weren't going to pass up an opportunity like this especially not after Ten arrived carrying the Wizard. Anyone who tried following after was left in the waiting room, forced to read bad magazines and sit in uncomfortable chairs. When the doctors finally allow visitors, they look pale. Like they've been told something awful, but they're unwilling to talk about what they talked about. Inside the hospital room, the Wizard is reclined back in a hospital bed with Ten at her side. She's looking conscious, at least, but she still looks pretty roughed up. Ten is playing defense against anyone who tries to get close.

Worse than that, the Protector arrives at the Hospital not long after the doctors allow people into the room. Though the doctors won't speak to the heroes, the Protector can be found tracking them down throughout the hospital. In the waiting room, in the lobby, in the halls, in the elevators. Whatever they were told, it looks like the Protector is making his way around the hospital to undo it. Anyone who sees him will notice that he has a sword scabbard dangling from his belt. Looks like he's ready to defend himself.

2:00pm Unlimited Tacos, Bamborough: One restaurant noticed that there were more people wandering aimlessly around Bamborough than normal because of the train being derailed. As a result, they put out signs advertising free tacos for the rest of the day! Any hero may show up and sit down to dine on tacos of all types and flavors. Unfortunately this taco shop only specializes in flour-shell options, but their flavors are on point! Dine in with your fellow heroes and discuss all the nonsense that's been happening... and it's only day five.

4:00pm Free Drinks, Far Haven: If your hero is just tired of everything having to be So Much All The Time, they can drop by one of Far Haven's brightest night life bars called "Reach". They're offering free drinks all night to celebrate the Wizard getting put in the hospital. Things are looking pretty easy for the team this year! The special drink being offered is the "Wizard Bomb" which drops a blue shot into a bubbly red drink. It's pretty tasty and, best of all, free! Which heroes will find each other here before the night crowd shows up? Sun's still out for now!

4:00pm Free Admission Meditation, Craydon: Heroes need to take a moment to breathe, and one of the locals in Craydon has realized that. They've offered any hero a free meditation session in their garden room. Incense will be lit, hot towels will be offered, and the gentle serene environment of their garden room (complete with the carefully-combed and designed zen sand pit) will make sure any stress just melts away. Does your hero run across someone else while walking in or leaving?

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.

Important: 'Child' toplevels will unlock additional information as the story progresses. Send a ping on Discord to get a reply with further details regarding this thread.

Activity Check: October 2019

[ IRL Timeframe: October 1st - October 31st, 2019 ]

Activity Check

AC: Hope

It's check-in time!

Please reply to the appropriate top-level below with your activity for the listed time frame. The required activity for each 30 day period is four comments. Comment URLs can be linked individually, or provided with the number of comments to the side. If you did one thread that satisfies the activity requirement, you can link that thread and place a (4+) beside it.

Players that do not make the required four comments before the last day of each Activity Check will be dropped from the game.

Please use the following format:

Day ALL: Sidepost

This post is exclusively reserved for character interaction tagging and threading of any and all kinds. Threads here will be deemed canon unless they are flagged otherwise.

The contents of all threads here are not chronologically locked. This means they exist in a fluid timeframe sometime during the game. A thread day and time can be assigned if desired but it is not required.

Please place the setting of your thread in the subject line in the very first comment of the thread. i.e. "The Beach" or "Craydon Train Station" etc.

Day 5 Morning

Morning: 6:00am - 12:00noon

[ IRL Timeframe: August 28th - September ~~11th~~ 25th, 2019 ]

The strangest part about the morning of the fifth day is the silence. There's no earthquake like day four started with, there are no horrible hero-kidnapping shenanigans, and there are no glowing cracks in the ground. The cracks from before are, unfortunately, still there. But there's no glow now, no sign that anything out of the ordinary was going on.

At least until after sunrise.

The morning is shaken up by three significant events of varying intensities: The Wizard, Four, and the unknown child that had appeared on the mountain. The heroes could've easily guessed that things wouldn't go smoothly for anyone. With impressive teamwork the previous evening, they'd brought that unknown child to Harsen Island's only actual hospital in Far Haven.

Unfortunately for everyone, the doctors really can't tell much of anything. None of their machines can get a reading of... anything. There doesn't seem to be a pulse, the child doesn't even appear to be breathing. The only thing that anyone's been able to comment for certain is that the child's eye glow matches the glow that everyone had seen coming out of the cracks in the ground. That's not a good sign at all!

Fifth Morning Event: Far Haven: The Hospital.

The Weather
Eerily still.
72°F / 22°C
A little hotter today.

Prompts:

06:00am Train Station, Craydon: Anyone going for a walk in the Craydon area is going to be in for a surprise: There's a new crater. Laying sprawled at the center of the crater is the Wizard, unmoving and unresponsive. Standing on the defensive is Ten, and he's already urged several locals away from the scene. Despite wearing a pair of shorts and an "I love the beach" T-Shirt, he's looking surprisingly intimidating with all of his fingers turned sharp as needles. Looks like he's not letting anyone close to the body of the Wizard! For anyone who gets a look, there's a very clear scorch mark like she'd been blasted by something... and whatever that something is, it isn't here anymore. By the time social media has started buzzing about it, the hashtags of #heroeswin and #goodprevails are almost instantly coined to celebrate. Better go make sure the Wizard is dead, heroes!

07:00am Train Station Video Stand, Bamborough: Apparently unfazed by the events transpiring in Crayon, Four has arrived at the train station in Bamborough to capitalize on sales in the tourist region of the island. Fortunately for everyone, they're offering the full 9-hero-set of videos for every one of the heroes that had participated in their game shows the day before. There's a special discount for participants: It's free! For tourists it still costs money, but no one's buying it. They'll be visibly losing their optimism about sales opportunities by 8am. And to think, they even put out a tablecloth and designed their own poster to go above them to advertise! Their handwriting isn't the worst!! (They think that, but they're wrong.)

08:00am Harsen Island Regional Hospital, Far Haven: When the child wakes up, it happens abruptly and without warning. They sit upright, eyes snapping open to look at the room they're in. Unfortunately for everyone inside, they turn to the window in their room and detonate it. For anyone watching, a visible blue glowing circle appears on the wall a second before it explodes outward. The child hops to the ground a moment later, their feet clacking like glass strikes stone, and they move to leave. If anyone's in the room, now's the opportunity to stop them. If no one moves to stop them, they'll be jumping out of the window.

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.

Important: 'Child' toplevels will unlock additional information as the story progresses. Send a ping on Discord to get a reply with further details regarding this thread.

Day 4: Evening

Evening: 5:00pm - Midnight

[ IRL Timeframe: August 14th - August 28th, 2019 ]

As the sun sets on Harsen Island and the curtains close on Four's games that abducted all the heroes up into hours of entertainment, things absolutely refuse to wind down.

When the knights return, they'll be placed right where they were when they were added into the game show. The Princess, unfortunately, is the one that doesn't wind up where he was taken from. For everyone else, whether they were climbing up the mountain or existing elsewhere, it looks like all they lost is time.

And maybe a bit of patience.

Every hero that participated in Four's game show reeived a personalized 'Thank you!' card at the end of it, apparently the monster was excited about everyone participating! (Disclaimer: One knight did not receive a thank you card because he refused to participate like a big ole' jerk).

The bright, glowing blue fissures are still open throughout the ground, they haven't gone anywhere while the game show happened. All the cracks originate from the mountain up the slope from Craydon! Social media has finally confirmed that all the cracks converge on one location up the mountain: At a big glowing stone door. It's absolutely not a manmade door and it's definitely magic in some way, but why is it there now?

The Weather
Insects chirping all over.
66°F / 19°C
A surprisingly cool sea breeze.

Prompts:

??:00pm Mountain Door, Craydon: Any heroes still climbing the mountain, or who choose to climb the mountain, can reach the glowing door. As they ascend, they'll have to endure unrelenting wind blowing right in their face the whole way. When they reach the top, send a ping saying "they've reached the door" to receive a description.

6:00pm Rock Sugar Tea Cafe, Bamborough: Not wanting to spend the entire evening in Craydon, the Protector has made his way via train out to Bamborough to find a cafe that serves tea. Three Princesses had come here during previous years and the experiences had been good enough that he sought to try it for himself. He'll be found sitting under an umbrella-covered table outside the cafe, sipping carefully at a nuclear-hot cup of spiced apple tea.

6:30pm Sushi, Far Haven: Of all the places for Ten to end up in all this, he's arrived at the conveyor belt sushi restaurant in Far Haven. Situated off to the side from the lobby of the Crossroads Hotel, the restaurant is simply named 'Sushi' and is filled with numerous tables wedged up against a slowly-progressing conveyor belt filled with plates of sushi. The entire path is in a refrigerated tube to keep the sushi safe to eat, and when a hero arrives they'll see Ten reaching in to obtain a new set of rolls. There are already ten empty plates in front of him: How many more will he eat? Social media is already taking bets on the final count!

7:00pm Door Crater, Craydon: It's the end. Any heroes still lingering at the door on the mountain will be treated to the biggest nightmare of all time: The door starts to emit a high-pitched tone moments before it explodes outwards. Pieces of solid stone go flying outward from the blast, and when the dust clears from the event there's still smoke billowing out from inside of the cave entrance and rising up off of the small crater that the explosion made.

Just inside of the cave entrance is the figure of a child, laying slumped facedown on the ground. They're wearing nothing but tatters over their translucent cyan skin. They look as if they're made of colored glass, their hair looking very much like solid, shiny obsidian but moving as if it wasn't stone at all. Their eyes are closed where they're laying, but there's an unmistakable glow even through their closed eyelids.

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.

Day 4: Monster Arrival

Afternoon: 12:00noon - Evening

[ IRL Timeframe: July 17th - July 31st, 2019 ]

It's monster time.

The bright, glowing blue fissures are still open throughout the ground, they haven't gone anywhere. At last, social media has started buzzing about the source of the cracks. They're all originating from the mountain up the slope from Craydon! There are a ton of theories, including a non-negligible amount talking about a 'Wizard death machine'! Guess the heroes will have to find out for themselves.

As usual, though, social media is the fastest source of information. Do they have an inside man? Is one of the heroes actually the one feeding all the information to social media? Either way, there are numerous discussions going on about the "door on the mountain". Apparently satellite pictures have traced the cracks all the way up to a glowing door in the side of the mountain. It's absolutely not a manmade door and it's definitely magic in some way, but why is it there now?

Monster Arrival: Craydon: The Game Show.

The Weather
Eerily still.
66°F / 19°C
Is... is that... air conditioning?

Prompts:

12:00pm The Game Show, Craydon: Garrot, Rory, Joanna, Haizea, Olivia, Luka, Gyre, Seth, and Zafika will all find themselves teleported from wherever they were to a new and fantastical location. The room is dark, the stage is set, the hero is seated in a contestant's chair. Suddenly, the spotlight is on them and the curtains open: The crowd goes wild! In front of the hero is a big television screen with the words "Welcome!!" on it and, beside it, is the fourth monster. They're entirely humanoid, standing at roughly six feet tall, wearing a positively striking suit and tie. All four of their eyes look surprisingly normal on their face. They look like a regular person just with a second set of eyes where their upper cheeks are. They settle their yellow pupils on the hero in the chair as they smile wide and their mouth squishes as the space opens up into existence. Looks like the mouth isn't a permanent feature, but there's a soft bubbling sound that follows it and then their voice breaks the strange noises up. Their voice is high, eager, and unmistakably excited about the news they're about to share.

"Are you ready for the show? Smile, you're on camera!" They say, hopping back and forth on their feet by the screen, barely able to contain their enthusiasm. Any hero who gives it even a moment of thought will realize two things: 1) Cameras don't work, and 2) That's not a real audience, this room is actually just dark and it's only them and the monster.

Oh god, it's only them. Where are all the others? One on One monster fight? Great!

1:15pm Lounge Time, Bamborough: Social media is going bananas! That monster that was roaming around Far Haven's train station has made his way to Bamborough! The effects of the earthquake here may be less apparent, but there are still things to fix. But Ten won't be found fixing anything this time. Instead he's sitting on a beach chair, under an umbrella, on the oceanfront at the Bamborough Resort. On the little table to his right is a tall glass of tea and a portable USB charger. Because, in his hand, he's fiddling with a cell phone. Where did he get a cell phone? Who brought him tea? What on earth is happening?

4:00pm International Bungalo of Burgers, Bamborough: The social media war of "Crepes or Burgers" has begun, it's been set off by the Wizard arriving at IBoB for dinner. Just like the morning, she's asked for a group table in the restaurant. Gail, Terrence, and Matilda have all received special invitations right into their pocket (or their hand if they lack pockets). Enjoy a little card that says "One free burger!" with a stylized tiny Wizard face to the side looking very surprised!

??:00pm Mountain Door, Craydon: [Exploration] [Not yet revealed]

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.

Important: 'Exploration' toplevels will unlock additional information as items in their descriptions are explored. If your character explores a feature, write [Character explores ____] at the end of your tag and send a ping on Discord to get a reply with further details regarding that item.

Day 4: Morning

Morning: 6:00am - 12:00noon

[ IRL Timeframe: July 3rd - ~~July 10th~~ July 17th, 2019 ]

If any hero was expecting day four to be anything but absolutely bananas, they'd been living in a dream bubble. Fortunately for everyone, they wake up where they fell asleep the previous night. Unfortunately, though, everyone receives a decidely rude awakening at 6:06am.

An earthquake.

No part of the island is safe, everywhere and everything starts shaking and rumbling. Roads split, the train tracks bend, buildings fracture, buildings collapse...

...and bright, glowing blue fissures open up in the ground.

No city is safe from their new feature, but in every single city it's clear that the cracks are coming from a specific source. In Far Haven, the cracks lead west to Craydon. In Bamborough, the cracks lead east to Craydon. In Craydon, though, the cracks lead directly north up the mountain. They gradually narrow the further up the mountain you go, where do they end?

Heroes will, of course, not be able to immediately see this pattern. How are they going to find out about it? Social Media won't be buzzing about it until noon at the earliest!

But that won't be the only thing social media is buzzing about by noon. It looks like Web is nowhere to be found. A concerned local ~~not a stalker~~ reports the missing knight and there's quickly a deep discussion about it. Death? Ran away? Kidnapped? Abducted by aliens? No one knows. There's no body. There's nothing. Where'd Web go?

Fourth Morning Event: All Cities: The Quake.

The Weather
Eerily still.
64°F / 18°C
Despite the quake, there's a nice breeze.

Prompts:

6:06am Earthquake, Everywhere: Every town has fallen victim to an earthquake. The damage is unthinkable. Cars aren't moving anymore, roads and paths are obstacle courses, and everything inside has fallen over. It was a big one! Fortunately the citizens are out almost immediately to begin rescue and repair efforts. No matter where the heroes go, there'll be someone to help, something to do, or help to be offered. Do you need saving, or will you be saving others?

7:45am Train Station, Far Haven: Social media is going absolutely crazy. There's a MONSTER here! There's a monster in the train station!! Numerous pictures are posted of a Child-shaped monster with ten eyes instead of a face. Today, however, he's wearing a pair of black athletic shorts, some flip-flops, and a T-Shirt that says "I'm with Stupid" on the front and an arrow that trails around to the back of the shirt where it says "You're Stupid". At the train tracks, he's going one rail tie at a time repairing them to get the tracks straightened and fixed again. What's the deal???

08:00am International Cabin of Crepes, Bamborough: As if Social Media wasn't buzzing enough about the monster in Far Haven, it explodes again when the Wizard arrives at ICoC for breakfast. Several servers post that she asked for "the family table" and she invited all the knights and the princess to join her. Breakfast. Her treat. Anyone who comes to visit will find her sitting at the head of the biggest table, sipping a mug of coffee.

11:00am Mountain Base, Craydon: [Exploration] Several hikers have returned from up the mountain, reporting that they'd found "strange doors" blocking their path. According to the description they gave, it sounds like the doors can only be opened if one, or more, of the heroes make the climb up the mountain. The cracks go up past the doors, but there's an invisible wall all around the area that stops them from ascending any further. Whatever's going on up the mountain will need some heroic intervention to figure out. Good luck, 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.

Important: 'Exploration' toplevels will unlock additional information as items in their descriptions are explored. If your character explores a feature, write [Character explores ____] at the end of your tag and send a ping on Discord to get a reply with further details regarding that item.

Day 3: Evening

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.