INTRO LOG #1

[collectedmods]

INTRO LOG #1

Welcome to Collected’s first Intro Log! The information we’ve provided about the setting is not exhaustive - feel free to interact with the setting as you see fit. Rather than have specific prompts, our event posts throughout the game will generally have information listed out like this and players may come up with their own prompts.

If you have questions about the setting or the intro log, please ask them HERE in the comment thread! And most of all, have fun, shoppers.

PROMPTS

The first thing anyone does is gasp for air.

It’ll feel like the first breath you’ve taken in years. That’s right; before you can even become aware of your surroundings, the most immediate thing they’ll process is that you’re in water. Foul smelling water - like rotten eggs and decay. It’s pitch black, and you’re swimming in it with only your head above the surface. If the smell doesn’t deter you, the longer you stay in will; the water stings to have on your skin, chemical in nature.

So - you need to get out. This water can’t be okay to stay in. Once you’ve gathered enough about your surroundings, you’ll see that you’re inside a mall, of sorts. There’s a large (non-functioning) escalator in front of you that will lead you to the semi-safe havens of the second floor - but be careful, because everyone’s going to be gunning for that only exit.

» Once on the second floor, exploring will lead you to a few notes of interest: Long windows and tall glass doors show the conditions outside. The sky is a burnt orange, and there is a thick sort of fog on the horizon. Nothing for miles in every direction - just an empty parking lot, completely devoid of life or any sign that anyone has come across this place in many years. Even so, you’ll find the windows and doors unlocked, so getting outside is easy… the problem is what’s out there.

A trip outside will make it instantly clear why you see no life outside the mall’s walls: exposure to the radioactive sun outside causes your skin to bubble with welts, and the thick, toxic air of the outside is impossible to inhale without keeling over. It’s blistering hot, too. Even non-organic creatures would melt or be eroded by the sun’s radioactive qualities. One thing is abundantly obvious: you cannot survive outside. Not now, at least. Those who receive a burn or other damage from the conditions outside will discover that strangely enough, upon returning inside the mall, the wound begins to heal up on its own. Slowly, and extremely painfully, but it’s healing. That’s strange…

» Another thing of note is that there’s a food court on the second floor. There, you’ll find a variety of abandoned restaurants that have varying amounts of non-perishables inside - canned vegetables and preserved meats, as well as dusty old jars of sauces and the like. There are a few walk-in freezers with hefty locks on them, but if the locks are broken or picked, there’s actually some frozen rations, as well! Many of them are not labelled, so the dining experience will be pretty hit or miss. None of the stoves or cooking appliances in the food court work anymore, either, so you’ll have to get creative when it comes to cooking up these ingredients. (Or just, you know, eat them cold.)

» Throughout the mall’s bathrooms, water fountains, and gym showers, you’ll find that all the water in the mall is suspiciously clean. Like, way too clean to be normal in a place as run-down and clearly abandoned as this. You’ll find that toilets flush completely fine, and shower water heats up (eventually). Should you be grateful, or concerned?

» There’s an electronics store on the second floor, as well, along with a internet cafe. Should you try to turn on the computers in the internet cafe, you’ll find that it only opens to the same forum page: a site called Mall Watch. It’ll prompt you to make an account and password if you try posting to it. In the electronics store, you’ll also find that any phone you forage for and try to boot up will also only open up to this forum page. Weird!

» If you’re looking for a place to sleep, the department stores of the mall still have a variety of furniture sets collecting a lot of dust. Then again, no one’s around to tell you where to sleep - and maybe you don’t trust all these new faces you arrived with. If you’re okay sleeping on the floor of a random store, more power to you.

» You’ll probably want to do something about your clothes that were stained by the black water on the first floor.. try foraging for some clothes! Looking around, you’ll find that some clothes stores have some stock left over, though everything’s generally a mess in clothing stores - it’ll take you some time to find anything that’ll fit you. Looking around enough on this second floor, you might end up stumbling across some of your own belongings or clothing, or those of your peers.

More than anything, the longer you explore and scavenge the mall, you’ll recognize how eerily silent it is. If not for you and your peers here, this place would be totally desolate. Clearly, there’s no one around for miles, and as far as you can tell, you’ll only be able to survive here for as long as the supplies here last. No one’s coming to save you - no one even knows you’re here. In every sense of the word, you are alone.

For now.



NAVIGATION

Comments

sylVAIN count: 1

[brothered]

[The last thing Felix expects to find in this weird and wacky "mall" is the Lance of Ruin.

He recognizes it instantly, of course. Catches sight of its all-too familiar shape from the corner of his eye as he pokes about some random store, and when he turns to get a better look? To convince himself he's seeing things? Ah. Well. He isn't seeing things, no; that sure is the Lance of Ruin, Hero's Relic of House Gautier, in the curled hand (the only hand) of a very, very strange-looking mannequin.

So that's, you know. That's great. Felix loves that, especially after spending the next fifteen minutes poking the strange-looking mannequin, ensuring that it isn't, like, a petrified Sylvain. It's not, he decides. At least, he thinks that it isn't, but does he drag said mannequin to the corner of the store, ensuring it's in a more or less safe space before he gingerly pulls the Lance from its hand? Maybe.

And listen: Touching another person's Relic is a distinctly uncomfortable thing. Felix knows better than to use it, of course, but the memory of Miklan is still... there, all these years later; like, he is all too aware of the devastating power Relics hold.

But what choice does he have? It's too dangerous—and too valuable—to leave alone, and thus Felix drags it along behind him as he continues exploring the mall. He doesn't enjoy the experience. It catches on door frames; it knocks things off shelves; it is, generally speaking, a pain in the ass to carry, and by the time Felix yanks it free from the vinyl strips shielding a commercial freezer—why the Lance wound up tangled in those things, Felix does not know—he is... done with it. Would it be so bad to sit at a table and wait for Sylvain to show his face... would it...

Let it be known that Felix is considering it, but as Felix steps out of the freezer—ah, sweet serendipity. That sure is a shock of incredibly familiar red hair halfway across the food court, and while Felix feels no small amount of relief, Felix wastes no time calling out to it. Sharply.]

Sylvain! [Hi, hello, love you dearly. Also:] Where have you been?

[Seriously! Anyway, please enjoy this scowl as Felix clink-clanks his way over to Sylvain's side, a shopping basket hiked high on one arm as the other levels the Lance of Ruin right at its rightful owner. We are Jousting, apparently.]

i still can't believe you made the lance of ruin even more cursed

[acquaint]

[ the last thing sylvain expects to find in this weird and wacky "mall" is felix holding the lance of ruin.

it's been five years but the memory of miklan morphing into that black beast is still fresh in their minds and it's not something he's likely to ever forget. so when he hears felix calling out to him (because he can recognize his voice anywhere, honestly, there's only one person in this entire world who ever says his name like that), when he turns around and sees the familiar face of his best friend, the sheer relief he feels at knowing he is safe is immediately eclipsed by the sight of the lance in his hand, the prickle of fear chased by worry that makes his chest feel so cold. the lance pulses, the tendrils wriggling in the same unsettling way they always do whenever he wields it, and so forgive him as he takes the lance back, perhaps a little too quickly, when one of those bones squirm a little too close to felix. or maybe that's just him imagining things.

he breathes out slowly when it's back in his hands, still pulsing and wriggling, but at least it's away from felix. seeing the destructive power of the relics once is more than enough to last him an entire lifetime? and like, maybe he's still shaky from waking up in the black water down there, the red light of the crest throwing his face in pale relief. but anyway, he's putting the lance down and then he's reaching for felix's arm and just sags against him. ]

Sorry, [ it's a little muffled from where he has his forehead pressed against his shoulder, breathing out a quiet sigh. just give him a second. ] Hey, Fe.