Intro Log.

[awashmods]

It's raining, it's pouring. The old man is snoring. He bumped his head and went to bed And he couldn't get up in the morning.

ou wake in knee-deep water, cold as ice and stagnant, in a space that is far too echoey and spacious. It feels like a massive cave, but looking up... there's only one small, circular opening that shows grey sky and shines any sort of light. It looks like a long trip upwards, a small cylinder with walls of brick that's just a little too high to reach, even when jumping. Getting out is probably going to be a bit of a task, especially considering the water is more than cold enough to make limbs go numb. The dark makes it impossible to see much further, but the space seems large, all filled with water, but with no other way out, stone walls the only thing for an intrepid explorer to find. Oh, and to make things even better, it's raining today. Water from below (though thankfully only like, knee-deep), and water from above... how fun. But most importantly of all... you're not alone. Welcome to Awash's second intro log, everyone! Please review the FAQ and rules before playing. New characters have all woken at the bottom of the well in the middle of the town (which seems a lot bigger on the inside, somehow), and it looks like they'll have to put in some work to get out. Thankfully, they have some friends on the outside, this time. Once out, they'll be free to explore the various locations the Town has to offer at will. Just try not to die on any of the far-too-rickety walkways. Please feel free to ask any questions here and don't forget to greet your fellow players here!

Comments

i

[atomicals]

Okay, so I get needing to scream and freak out, but ow, and ow!

[HOW LUCKY, Mafuyu, you've found Hunk who is not only tall but is wearing armour with... a relatively solid amount of handholds to grasp onto. He groans and does not get dunked, just looks mildly put out.]

[buncho]

[ She's super lucky she has all these tall strong guys to make a ladder out of- maybe she can stack a whole lot of them and they can get out that way? She wouldn't put Hunk at the very bottom, though, because while she's used to people shouting out in pain in front of her, it's usually to her punching them in the gut instead of almost breaking a nose while she tries to step onto his back/shoulders/face, whoops. ]

Aren't you wearing something hard?

[ So he shouldn't be able to feel anything, presumably, as she knocks her knuckles against the plating over his back. ]

It looks super heavy! You should take it off and throw it away!

[atomicals]

[Okay so it doesn't precisely hurt but.]

There's more than one kind of pain, okay. This is the "someone trying to climb me" pain. It's like a pain in the soul.

[So he's just being silly... He jerks his head a little to look back at her accusingly when she makes the suggestion of throwing away his armour.] This is special space armour? There's no way I'm throwing it away?

Besides, it's gonna be our way out of here.

[since she's on his back anyway, "our"]

[buncho]

[ Pain in the soul... ]

Oh crap, did I hurt your feelings?

[ She settles down- not getting off his back, but just hanging on like she intends to be piggybacked everywhere- and taps at the armor again. Sure is hard, kind of strange looking, and doubtful that it'll be of any use to getting out of here.

UNLESS ]

I guess we could use it as a battering ram and break through the walls...

[atomicals]

Dude, I totally have like. Jets in this thing. Jet boots. Okay, not jet boots but like. Rockets! That maybe I shouldn't use in case I burn someone but.

I also got a grappling hook!

[BRAGGING??? Or just trying to sell how awesome his armour is? Little of column A, little of column B.

He's even lifting one of his armoured arms up, pointing his finger at where this grappling hook of his comes out.]

[buncho]

[ Something like this definitely deserves to be bragged about; Mafuyu drops off Hunk's back and onto the ground so she can get a better look at—-

not the grappling hook, but she's crouched down on the ground, knee high in well water poking at his knee. ]

For real, rockets? On your feet? I want to see!

[atomicals]

Uh. Out of well first, and then demonstration.

[He moves his arm and... a grappling hook shoots out of his gauntlet, smoothly latching onto the edge of the well far up above.]

Climb on again. I'll show you up there.

[buncho]

[ Mafuyu clambers back onto his back, gripping his shoulders tight, a little put out that they're not going to rocket propel themselves out of the well at the expense of burning everybody around them, but if they're standing in water, maybe that can't be helped. ]

I'm on! Let's go!

[atomicals]

[ROCKETS LATER. Hunk will be good to his promise. Either way, they are wooshing upward, easily drawn straight out of the well until Hunk uses his hands to grasp onto the well and lift the rest of the way out.

...okay this is tiring when there's someone on his back but he does it!!!]

Phew. Okay. There.

[buncho]

[ Rockets! Now! Mafuyu gets off his back the moment their heads clear the top of the well, stretching her arms above her head and about to make a divebomb for Hunk's feet again, but ]

What happened...? The colors are all wrong!

[ That's to say, the colors aren't all there. It was easier to excuse in the well where it's dark enough that muted colors are normal, but it's warm out, it's day time, and the grass is grey. ]

[atomicals]

Wh--

[It took him a second to look up, but the second he does he's completely balking... wow, what. He even has to crouch down, totally not buying that the grass is actually grey but nope, it is. Like the colour got sucked right from it.

He pops off his helmet, squinting incredulously.]

What the quiznak...

[buncho]

You're seeing it too, right?! It's not just me!?! I'm not the only one going blind?!!

[ Because hey!! this is wrong, this is soooo wrong, Mafuyu has to look down at herself and see that it's not everything that's been sapped of color. It's hard to tell, though, because her hair is silver and the school uniform she's wearing is black and white, but Hunk is properly colored and everything so?? ]

Everything looks like an old black and while movie... A silent film! It's just like that!

[ and when she closes her mouth, it really is just like that. There's no sound of cars like she's used to, no incessant chirping of birds, nothing that suggests an inhabited city besides the chattering echoing up from the well. ]

[atomicals]

We totally don't fit in to a silent film.

[He's double-checking himself just to make sure that he indeed has colour and yeah it's all good and he double-checks her and... okay, he thinks that she's fine because her skin pallor is aight but.]

But this should definitely not be... a thing. How... [NO REALLY, HOW. It's breaking his scientific brain.]

[buncho]

[ Mafuyu shakes her head, even though she can tell it's a theoretical question and not really one she needs to be answering. If things don't make sense, she's never one to sit down and try to think things through anyways; there's always an easier way. ]

Look, there's houses over there. There's got to be a mayor or president or someone in charge of things! We'll go find them and see what's up!

[atomicals]

Think so?

[Hunk's a little skeptical, only because...] It looks like there's no-one in those houses. I could be wrong, though, maybe people are just nervous with random people showing up in their well.

[buncho]

The only way to tell is to go see, right? So come on!

[ Without waiting, Mafuyu bounds to the closest house, and starts pummeling on the door with her fist. If people were too scared to come out before, this probably doesn't help. ]

HEYYYY!! COME OUT! DON'T MAKE US BREAK DOWN THE DOOR!!

[atomicals]

[OMG, Mafuyu why. He actually says the first part in a soft oh em gee before he hurries after her.]

We won't break down any doors! [HOLLERING...

...but no-one reacts and there's not even a peep so his reassurances may have fallen on deaf ears after all.]

[buncho]

[ Oh, smart! Lure them into a false sense of security. Mafuyu reaches to rattle the handle to cement the threat, but maybe all of her pounding loosened the screws, because when she goes to pull the door open, the entire door comes off the hinges and falls towards them, Mafuyu shrieking and backpedaling as fast as she can. ]

[atomicals]

[Oop. Hunk takes a step forward, slamming the front of his arm (gauntlet'd so it's no big thing) against the falling door... and pushing it so it falls off to the side. Then he's totally turning to Mafuyu and placing his hands on his hips like a disappointed parent.]

See? This is what happens when you say you're gonna bust people's doors down. This was karma.

[buncho]

I didn't mean to! Karma should be after I bust down people's doors! ...On purpose.

[ The buildings are shoddy, it's not her fault! But even after all that commotion, nobody comes running out of the house to yell at them for property damage. Tentatively, Mafuyu steps out from under the door and pokes her head past the doorway. ]

Anybody home...? Let's take a look around before they come back. We can put the door back after and pretend it's always been like that.

[ Next, karma will have it so the entire house falls in over their heads. ]

[atomicals]

[Hunk is following... fully ready to apologise to whoever inside and beg for them not to sue them for money they absolutely don't have. Huh. It is... way dusty inside. Way too dusty for a place people live.]

Uh. Do you usually break into people's houses? 'Cause it's kind of sounding like that.

[LIKE, REALLY]

[buncho]

Uh. [ haha, well... ]

It's called infiltrating hideouts and stuff. There's lots of good dirt to find in places like this.

[ Ideally, she'd like to find "dirt" as in information that'll be helpful to them in some way— papers in the drawers that she riles through, any personal belonging on the display cases around the living room, leftovers in the fridge people might not miss if they go missing— but most of what's around here is actual, literal dirt. ]

[atomicals]

...Uh-huh.

[Now, okay, Hunk's done some infiltrating in his day but it's usually been either 1) into bad guys's spaceships or 2) into the digestive system of a giant alien creature. The latter was not fun.

He sceptically heads inside, sneezing when they stir up dust.]

You know, I'm starting to think that whoever lived here hasn't been back for a while. Maybe they moved.

[buncho]

[ It's bad enough inside that Mafuyu's got the collar of her shirt pulled up over her nose and mouth to act as a filter, but the air's still really thick and everything she touches comes back sticky and grimy. ]

If nobody's here, then we can take whatever we want! Like a piggybank or something, I dunno if there's anything worth taking in here. Let's go upstairs and check under the mattresses.

[atomicals]

Uh, no. Why is that your conclusion?

[WHAT KIND OF TRUANT HAS HE ENDED UP WITH HERE!! He grimaces as he follows her, mainly to make sure she's not going to go nicking valuables.] They might come back! I mean. Not now but eventually?

[Then, mumbling to himself:]

If we find any spooky stuff or skeletons in here I'm going to scream.