00 - prologue

[afflictionmods]

PROLOGUE

It doesn't matter where you are or what you're doing – something strange begins to happen. There's a sudden burning sensation that wraps around your right wrist and part of your forearm. If you glance at the affected area, you'll find that it's...glowing.  The glow is pale blue, and it's so bright that it hurts to look at. The burn itself isn't so painful that you feel like keeling over just yet, but it does hurt nevertheless.

But before you have time to try to soothe the pain, you start to feel lightheaded, dizzy. Perhaps some of you may attribute this to any injuries you may currently be sustaining. For those who were previously unscathed, however, there's quite possibly no explanation for this other than the sudden appearance of the mysterious burn on your arm.

There is no time to mull it over, though, because it is the last thing that you see before the world suddenly fades to black.

-----

When you regain your senses, your vision is blurry; but when it starts to even out and you survey your surroundings, you find yourself sitting in a rather uncomfortable chair. Looking around you’ll see rows and rows of chairs, all facing the same way towards a desk, a podium, and an empty wall. A projector hangs from the ceiling and the lighting is bright and artificial... For some of you, it might be reminiscent of a college lecture hall. For others, you might have never seen anything like this before.

Your wrist, by the way, feels perfectly fine...though there’s now some kind of strange marking on it. It looks like a scar of some sort, and if you choose to touch it, it doesn’t feel inflamed or damaged in any way...but that doesn’t mean you don’t experience any pain. Perhaps the last thing some of you remember is a hard-fought battle, and the aches from your injuries still linger; some of you might not even remember getting hurt, and yet, your body aches like it has; for the lucky ones who feel fine, well. Pray that it lasts for a little while longer.

Because the moment someone gets hurt – emotionally or physically – there’s a small chance you’ll feel it, too. Where and who and what it’s coming from, though, is on you to figure out.

In front of you on the desk is some kind of device – a tablet, for those of you who are familiar. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be capable of doing much of anything right now, other than take photos and videos with the Camera app. There's also a translating app for those of you who need help reading some of the text around campus, as it is all in English. (Verbally, however, you can understand everyone in your own language. Tablets are also in characters' native languages.) It seems to be incredibly durable and hard to break, but you may want to be careful with it regardless.

Something shifts in your pocket (or...in your socks/shoe/what have you, if pockets aren't a thing) as you move around. Should you reach in and feel for it, you’ll find some kind of card – those who are familiar with modern technology will recognize that this is some kind of card you need to swipe. It has your name and a photo of you on one side, and the back of the card has the word "KEYCARD" on it.

There are also other people here, scattered throughout this mysterious classroom you’re in. In fact, there’re a bunch of you — 29 others, to be exact.

And now... you’re free to do whatever you want. Mostly anything, at least, given that once you step outside and explore, you’ll notice an ominous fog behind the various buildings within view. Still, this is a good time to get your bearings, check on what you have - and don’t have - and talk to the people around you until orientation starts.

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( OOC: Welcome to your Intro Log! The partner system is in effect for the Intro Log, meaning that yes, pain share is happening! For some notes regarding the partner system, your character will not know who their partner is upon arrival. It’s entirely possible that they find out now if their partner gets or is already injured, or if they can pick up on their mood. Otherwise, they’ll find out later today...!

Anyone who tries to leave campus grounds will have to enter through the fog, but no matter what, they will mysteriously wind up back onto campus grounds. And for clarification, the keycards are what characters need to gain access to their dorms!

Finally, we will have an NPC Reveal at 6pm EST today! )

FULL NAV

(CODE)

Comments

[vedr]

Oh I wouldn't keep it too long from you! you had obtained it first for yourself, no? [ He's actually going to look at it first and set aside the other books. Otherwise yeah he'll be here all day.

Opens it. Closes it. ]

It seems I was mistaken on the content's... um... intentions! What a formidable piece of literature-!

[ He'll hand it back. ]

[partymagician]

What did you think the intentions were?

[ It just looks like a bunch of numbers and lines to him, which probably doesn't mean anything. Hopefully. ]

[vedr]

Hurting the minds of those woefully unprepared.

[ Grimnir knows math. All for practical things like weather, cooking... This is the kind of math beyond him. It hurts because he wants to know! But can't. ]

For those who are strong enough to endure the, uh, intimidation, it provides invaluable teachings on numbers and calculations!

[partymagician]

Calculations? Sounds a little boring!

[ And he can't read it anyway, not without the translator app. ]

I was hoping there would be books that could give us clues about why we're here, but I'm sure that was too much to ask for.

[vedr]

Oh, That's a good idea! I just wanted to find new books to read...

[ Stares at pile, back to Fai. He grabbed the classic novels. ]

I believe a lot of the books are... educational? They're quite thick.

[partymagician]

It seems so. It's a shame I'm not interested in learning.

[ Too much of a pain.

His gaze follows Grimnir's to the pile of books. ]

It seems like you picked up novels for yourself.

[vedr]

You're not interested in learning? Well, I did say the math book was too hard...

[ He's shocked, but even he has to admit... ]

These are more interesting! Unbound by the restrictions of purpose and audience, the author's voice is free to speak of whatever they desire to weave a fantastic tale!

[partymagician]

A fantastic tale, hmm? Are there fire-breathing lions in it?

[ He tosses out the first example of something magical he's seen. ]

[vedr]

I... have yet to check. Have you found any books with those? N-not that I'd be interested in something so silly-sounding...

[partymagician]

Heh… nothing wrong with being interested in it. I haven’t seen any books like that, but I can tell you the story anyway.

[vedr]

You know of this story? Well, if you would be so kind to retell it...!

[ Brimming with excitement here! ]

[partymagician]

Those lions reside in a world called Recort. It's a world well-known for its knowledge of magic, and you can find just about anything about it in their library. Their main library is massive, with all sorts of rare and one-of-a-kind books that they don't want thieves taking whenever they please. So, they have a guards.

Those guards just happen to be fire-breathing lions. They're not your regular type of fire-breathing lions, though! They're there to specifically protect the books. They might burn everything else, but they'll never burn a book.

[vedr]

That sounds so cool! If it were real, I'd love to visit that library.

[ Insert the sound of little gears turning in Grimnir's head. ]

That isn't much of a story however, just a wonder setting. You need a main character!

[partymagician]

What about five main characters? Our heroes are a fine group—two men, a boy, a girl, and their magical companion. They’re looking for a very rare book that shows the memories of whoever previously touched it.

[vedr]

Oh! That's a great start to an ensemble. I'm guessing that some sort of conflict gets those fire-breathing lions involved?

[partymagician]

Oh, yes. You see, our heroes couldn’t even look at the book, as it was locked up in a safe location in the library.

So, they decided that they would steal it!

[vedr]

[ He's really engrossed in this tale... ]

Ah! That's where the lions come in, I see...! How do they get past them?

[partymagician]

They managed to sneak around them! At first.

[ He smiles, glad that Grimnir is enjoying the story. ]

One of the men manages to find a fake part of the wall that had been covered up with a spell. Once they uncover the secret corridor, they slowly made their way to the book.

It isn't until they pick up the book that the lions appear, ready to set them on fire! At first, all they can do is run, but that isn't enough...