awashlogs | Intro Log.

Ding, dong, bell,
Pussy's in the well.
Who put her in?
Little Johnny Thin.
Who pulled her out?
Little Tommy Stout.
What a naughty boy was that,
To try to drown poor pussy cat,
Who never did him any harm,
But killed all the mice in the farmer's barn.

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.

But most importantly of all... you're not alone.

Welcome to Awash's first intro log, everyone! Please review the FAQ and rules before playing. 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.

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.

Further information can be found here at the OOC post, and don't forget to greet your fellow players here!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Tonbokiri is unafraid, but he is deeply unsettled.

After having explored around the area where he'd found his horse he'd travelled further south, and now he quickly finds himself being glad that he cannot see the water from his house. He keeps frowning at it as he goes cautiously over bridges and as he glimpses it between houses.

There is something very wrong with the water.
While caught in that thought, some movement catches his eye. He watches in amazement as a boy calmly wades into the too-still water. The water in the well had been unnaturally freezing- is this water like that, too?

Hurrying closer he calls out,]

Are you all right?

[ Ryoji startles at the unexpected voice, shoulders jolting but the rest of him remaining so still, the water may as be ice all around him for how still it remains, no ripple in sight until Ryoji turns to face him. He might have greeted Tonbokiri with a brighter smile at any other time, but the question too throws him off— he's not in any danger; why wouldn't he be alright? ]

I'm okay. [ He reassures Tonbokiri, voice soft, somewhat apologetic. ] There's no reason I wouldn't be... I'm sorry if I worried you.

[He breathes a sigh of relief when the boy says he's all right and shakes his head slightly.]

If you are all right, then think nothing of it.

[And then he notices that the boy's shoes are on the shore and that he'd even rolled up his pants. Ah.]

At least it seems you meant to enter the water. But how is it? Is it not as cold as the water in the well was?

It's freezing!

[ Even worse than the water in the well, but Ryoji seems unbothered by it— he's had his fill of whatever he'd meant to do, standing in the water, so he's coming back up to shore. ]

Maybe I didn't mind the well so much because there was so many people, though. Out here, it's... empty.

[ The water's surface is completely still the moment his feet leave it. Really, really, strangely empty. ]

[As the boy leaves the water Tonbokiri is watching the water become motionless with something approaching morbid fascination. It is deeply disturbing to watch water do that, and yet it's hard to not watch it do that.

After a moment he comes back to the conversation.]

Yes... it wasn't easy to take a proper account of our situation down there, either.
Out here, you're right. It's empty. And grey. And the water is too still. And... [He trails off with a frown. There's more things troubling him about this place that he couldn't quite put words to. But like 'too still', words will come eventually.]

Besides it being freezing, I don't think anyone will want to drink it. Oh- are your feet all right? I can take you back to the well. Someone started a fire there, so it'd be a good place to warm up.

[ His feet look fine— pale, almost white, but that's the rest of him too and he wiggles his toes to prove there's nothing else wrong besides it being very cold and... actually slightly numb, which is weird, but nothing too alarming as he retrieves his socks and shoes and pulls them back on. ]

Somebody's started a fire there? Are people camping out by the well?

[ Instead of wandering off on their own like he did... That sounds like the smarter thing to do, in hindsight. ]

[Tonbokiri tilts his head as the boy simply wiggles his toes in reply to if his feet are all right. Well, perhaps that answer is good enough. Perhaps he isn't human either, and has a strong body. So putting that aside for the moment he answers the question, shaking his head slightly.]

I do not think people will stay there any longer than it takes to get dry by the fire. There is no shelter there, and besides that... I would not recommend for anyone to stay by that well any longer than they must. [It was only a feeling, an instinct, a sense, but he did not like the atmosphere of that place. At least, the most of anywhere he's been so far.]

[ It's Ryoji's not being human that has him taking a moment before realizing why shelter is important for people. He'd never had a proper home, or needed anywhere to sleep; he's used to just appearing where and when he needed to be. There are a lot of things he has to stop and think about, other than shelter. There's the need for warmth, and caution for danger, too. ]

I though the well was strange for its size, and a little bit crowded inside. I got hit by people's elbows a couple of times, on accident.

[ But otherwise that, he hadn't felt anything wrong about it. Though, he hadn't felt anything very wrong with the lack of color in this world either, just as he'd felt nothing in particularly strange about the icy water he would have stood in for hours if Tonbokiri had not come by. ]

[Tonbokiri can't quite tell if the boy is meaning that as a joke, so he just smiles sympathetically.]

Yes, I was also. Although I believe people are not meant to be in the bottom of wells generally, let alone several dozen of them.

It is true though- it was quite strange for it to be so big. Wells are usually not cave-like at the bottom.

But then, there are all sorts of strange things at the moment. [He makes a gesture to take in the colourless scene all around them, as well as the water.]

[ The water is still and the town lack color; these are things that Ryoji had noted immediately, nodded silently to himself, and then moved on. There are stranger things in the world, much of it missed by him until somebody else brings it up, so Tonbokiri's analysis of the well only strokes Ryoji's curiosity of it as they head back towards it. ]

Maybe this world's wells are meant for people, if there were people inside. It was cold, wet, and cramped, but maybe that's just how things are. -—Maybe that's where all the townspeople are: living in wells.

[ And that's why everywhere is so weirdly empty. It's a long shot, but the possibility is still there, no matter how fantastical. ]

[[Continued here at the overflow]]

Intro Log.

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