Intro Log.

[awashmods]

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!

Comments

[whereabout]

i. well, that's just great
[ If there's one thing that can be said in Joshua's favor, it's that he's good at reacting to the weird and unexpected.

So he doesn't get hung up for long on blinking, staring, and wondering what the. He carefully picks his way towards the closest wall, as difficult as that is in such close quarters, trading places with whoever's between it and him with a few murmured apologies. Then runs his hand along that wall, a thoughtful look on his face. Not nearly as good of handholds as he'd like, but he's dealt with worse.

He turns to whoever's next to him. ]

Spot me.

[ He doubts he's going to fall - he's got far more faith in his own skills than that - but there are a lot of people in position to get very awkwardly squished if he's wrong. ]


ii. splish splash
[ Some indeterminate amount of time later, after he's gotten out of the well, he busies himself with scouting out the area.

The basic layout of the town is easy enough to ascertain, from a quick climb onto the rooftops. The districts are simple to distinguish by architecture, even despite the overpoweringly gray view. The forest looks like it's going to be the most trouble to scope out, so he leaves that for later.

Instead, he heads (by means of jumping from roof to roof, because blending in with all of this weirdness hardly seems worth the effort) towards the harbor and finally dropping to the ground near the docks. He's there for a while, crouched at the water's edge, scooping out a small amount with one cupped hand and examining it. Something seems off, but it's hard to decide whether it's just the lack of color (which is pretty darned off) or whether there's...something more, that he can't quite put his finger on. ]

ii.

[messianic]

It's...eerie, isn't it?

[Joshua probably heard Minato coming a mile away (he's not very stealthy and he's still kind of wet from the well), but that's fine. He approaches, hands tucked in his pockets still as he crouches next to Joshua and squints down at the water.]

Like...water doesn't have a color anyway, right? Not really. But this is just weird.

[whereabout]

[ He sure did hear him coming.

But that's fine with him, too. The footsteps aren't trying to hide themselves, they're not moving with the speed or the rhythm he'd expect from someone moving to attack. Between that and the oddity of their situation, he'd be quite surprised if whoever was coming turned out to be hostile.

So he doesn't move or even look back when he hears Minato coming. He's not worried - not about him, anyway. ]

I can't decide if there's more to it than that or not.

[messianic]

[Thanks Joshua, glad he's not an immediate threat.

More importantly--]

What are you thinking..? [He's curious... he only has his own impressions, so maybe he can learn something new from Joshua's?]

[whereabout]

[ The hand he's been scooping the water with flattens to let it drip back into the colorless mass. ]

I can't imagine what would do this to a place. But I don't think this is natural.

[ - well. He can imagine a few possibilities, but "someone used the Aureole to create a creepy town with no colors and drop a bunch of random strangers in together" seems far-fetched, even for the situation they're in now. He's not putting that forward as a theory unless he gets really desperate. ]

i.

[crosswind]

[it's not the worst idea, trying to climb up and get out that way. gran's attention is easily secured for this, and he nods when joshua asks for a hand in this quickly formed plan.]

Are you sure that this is safe?

[he doesn't quite care if something happens to himself, but if he landed and broke a leg or landed on someone down here, then, well... that wasn't going to be good for anyone.]

[whereabout]

Not entirely.

[ Blunt as hell! But he's not gonna lie about it. ]

But I'd wager I'm better at this than most of these people. [ Delivered like a simple fact, because he's not really into bragging? He's just...done this kind of thing a lot. ] And staying down here isn't safe, either. In water this cold, I'd guess we have...twenty minutes, at best, before exhaustion starts setting in.

[ It's a rough estimate, without knowing the temperature of the water, but he's sure that the longer they're down here, the harder it's going to be to get out. ]

[crosswind]

[surprisingly enough, Gran's survival rating when left to his own devices wasn't exactly the greatest. he didn't even think about the water starting to creep into his energy levels, so when Joshua starts talking with authority abundant in his voice, Gran feels like he can trust this guy.

he nods, looking up the side of the wall to see if there are any kinks to grab hold of in the initial ascent.]

I'll give you a boost to that scrape in the wall. [it's not that easy to see down here, but he thinks it looks like a foothold. only one way to find out.

Gran lowers himself and interlocks his fingers.]

Don't fall, okay? I'll try to catch you if it happens, but the higher you go up, the more dangerous it's going to get.

[whereabout]

[ He won't argue with a boost, even if he thinks he'd manage without it, so he gives Gran a grateful nod and moves into place, but before he puts his foot in Gran's hands - ]

Don't worry. I start having doubts, I'll come back down before gravity makes me.

[ - okay, now he's ready. ]

I

[brightlyshines]

Joshua...! There you are.

[Estelle woke up shivering from the cold and damp. Dressed as lightly as she is right now, it's simply unavoidable. She isn't sure how they got here, but it's a relief to see Joshua there with her in this crush of bodies, though.]

Got it, I'll keep an eye up for you.

[whereabout]

[ Estelle...actually gets a smile, however brief! It's good that whatever the heck just happened to bring them here, it has indeed brought them here and not merely him (because as much as he wouldn't wish trouble on her, he knows perfectly well that if it comes to him alone she'll just chase it down anyway). ]

Good.

[ He can count on her!

So he grabs onto the best handhold he's found so far, and after a moment of testing with his foot, he starts climbing - not far, at first, just a arge meter or so, before he stops. He reaches up and feels around to find another handhold, but doesn't go up any further just yet. ]

It's not much to work with. But I should be able to get out.

[ He is, however, considerably less sure about...well, anyone who hasn't been doing ninjassassin crap for half their lives. ]

[brightlyshines]

[Listen, she just got him back-- like heck is she losing track of him that easily if she has anything to say about it.

Not that she did with this situation, but...]

Be careful, ok? It looks slippery.

[She smiles up at him before he gets started climbing, taking up position below him and keeping an eye on his back and hold. If anyone could do it, it was Joshua, she knew. Still, she kind of wished they had a rope or something he could tether to the--]

I'd like to say 'I'll be up right after you' but.... It's taller than any tree I've climbed, that's for sure.

[whereabout]

I'm always careful.

[ It's out before he has time to reconsider saying it, because for their five years together, that was true, but given recent actions, now Estelle might beg to differ. ]

I don't think anyone else should come up this way unless they're sure of themselves. But we can come up with a better plan once we know what's up there.

[ For instance, one would hope: a rope. ]

II (as promised a day later)

[totheno1]

[There was someone else at the harbor at that time. A young adult starring on one of the docks in meditative silence until he heard the other come closer. If Kei is bothered by his still wet outfit (he sort of is), he's not showing it in his body language.]

Are you here to stare out at the body of water, young man?

[whereabout]

[ ??

This guy so does not look old enough to be calling teenagers "young man."

But, okay, Joshua will just...roll with it. ]

I guess that's one way to put it.

[ He's not there to stare at the horizon, though - he crouches down to scoop up some water in his hands and stare at that. ]

I can't decide if it's just the lack of color that makes everything feel so off or if there's more to it than that.

[totheno1]

[Nanjo will call other people young because he can.]

Personally, the lack is smell is what unnerves me the most. It makes us stand out even more against this world..wherever we are.

[Someone's broken mind? He hoped it wasn't the destroyed world that Tatsuya mentioned...]

[whereabout]

[ Smell, admittedly, hadn't been high on his list of things to notice, and there's a brief pause as Joshua sniffs the air, then wrinkles his nose. ]

You'd think there'd be a lot more smells around a harbor.

ii

[good_ideas]

[At least the waterside is far (enough) from the well, and nothing else had yielded the information she was looking for. Or even any information at all. The town was empty in every single sense.

What she hadn't expected when she got there was a ninja a person sitting by the docks.]

...Found any fish? [But she's kneeling down by the water, too, looking down at the strange water. Seriously, what is wrong with this place?]

[whereabout]

I haven't really been looking.

[ Yet, anyway. Although if they're stuck here - and he's seen nothing that looks like an escape route in his scouting so far - then it probably would be prudent to see if there are any. Food is going to be a problem. ]

Mostly, I was trying to decide if it's safe to drink.

[ Water's going to be even more important than food. But this...it looks wrong, and that's not promising. ]

[good_ideas]

[Fish would definitely be something they'd have to look for soon. And then Kaoru could be recruited to float them out or something.]

We could make a filter, or boil it and test it on someone.

[Or she can take a look at it with her psychometry? That was one good thing about her powers: it was nigh on impossible to make her eat something that had gone bad, or that had been poisoned if her powers were working.]

[whereabout]

Both would be best.

[ Filter to get solids, boiling to get bacteria, since either thing could ruin someone's day. Of course, that gives them a to-do list in itself. ]

So, fire and shelter. Then we're working from a better place to consider the water situation. Food can wait until after that's settled.

ii;

[buriedearth]

[ Curious about what the other male is doing as Terra himself is wondering around, the brunette also comes closer to the water's edge, though at a respectable distance so he doesn't cause any unneeded scares. ]

... How's the investigation going?

[whereabout]

[ He's hard to sneak up on, very hard to scare, so Joshua doesn't actually look up just yet, even as he hears the footsteps approaching. ]

Lots of interesting things, no coherent way to put them into one explanation for all of this.

[buriedearth]

I guess it'd be too easy for that.

[ ... He's not good at doing too much of piecing complex issues/situations together, but it doesn't mean he wouldn't be able to try. ]

Does that actually feel like water?

[ Since he saw him kind of just reach into the water there. And it doesn't look like normal water, so, you know. ]

[whereabout]

Despite appearances, yes.

[ It seems fine when it's in hand. Mostly, it's just looking at the entire sea that makes him feel really wary of it.

...actually. ]

The water's not moving.

[ At all. Even in the calmest of weather, he'd still expect to see a little bit of movement from the faintest of winds stirring up the surface. But here? Nothing. ]