collectedlogs | INTRO LOG #1

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ all things considered, losing his pack is the least of sylvain's worries? like, there's A Lot of other things going on, for example—where the fuck is his lance, for one thing, and for two, where the fuck is he? because as big as this place might be, it's definitely not enbarr and honestly, sylvain would just like a day to rest.

alas.

anyway, he's just here not really minding his own business and trying to find the stupid lance of ruin and wandering this empty hall leading to this would-be empty lounge area, until he nearly steps on something that skids right up against his boot. it's like the one thing he's recognized so far since getting here, and as he leans down to pick it up, he knows without a doubt that it's his. he knows that gautier cheesecloth anywhere. but more importantly— ]

So that's where it went. [ he pulls up a charming smile, easy as anything, while he takes in this guy in front of him. that's definitely the rest of his pack; there's no lance of ruin here, but he'll take what he can get. ] Guess I missed it earlier when I was looking for it. If you don't mind, I'll take it off your hands.

What? Oh— [He glances down at the bag with his bag sticking halfway out of it, realization sinking in. So he's just been doing this ridiculous thing to someone else's belongings, huh...

Well, that would be more embarrassing if he hadn't been nearly drowned in fetid water this morning, so he frowns down at it instead. This guy gets his bag with all the stuff in it still, and Constantin's was empty - very unfair.]

Have you any proof? Some papers, perhaps, naming you the rightful owner of this... lovely pack?

[He's half serious, because anyone could walk up and declare the bag with food in it is theirs, but the other half of him is in it for the gag. Show him the deed. The pink slips. Cough 'em up, buddy.]

[ listen, they were all nearly drowned in fetid water this morning?? and there is literally just gross jerky and rations in that bag that probably doesn't taste very good, but, the point stands. anyway, he's wondering if this guy is actually serious or he's giving him shit, both are equally likely because for one thing, gross jerky and rations are gross but still food. for two, it's exactly the kind of thing he would do. so— ]

Tell you what, [ because he doesn't have papers, never needed them when the lance of ruin is already enough of a glaring sign to prove who he is. ] You can keep the pack and this, [ he's tossing the rations back to you now, think fast. ] All I ask in return is the jerky. How 'bout it?

[Know that he does not want this ration either, but still holds the open pack out to let the ration thunk into it and rattle whatever else he's already dropped in there. Tada.]

That foul tack? It reeks like poorly tanned leather.

[And since it is jerky, it might as well be just gross leather, actually— but he's not opposed to this deal at all, looking down into the bag(s) again to root around and find the jerky he already dismissed. He should have taken it out earlier, but alas...]

You're really giving me the rest of this? This isn't some trick to say I've robbed you of all but your disgusting meat and paint me as a thief to the rest of the people here, is it?

You're not wrong.

[ poorly tanned leather! sounds about right, actually, and it's a shame felix isn't here to bear witness to this slight against his favorite food.

anyway, ]

Yep, I really am. [ there's no love lost between him and the pack, even after all they've been through together. and if sylvain never has to see those rations again it'd be too soon. ] You might need it more than me. Besides, we're supposed to be working together here, right? I help you, you help me, and all that.

[ we're a happy family, etc. is this him looking to cash in a future IOU?? maybe so. ]

It is adorable of you to think we're "supposed" to be doing anything, at this point, in the wake of a rather large kidnapping and the absolute silence of our mysterious captors.

[Which he says with a little frown as he looks down to poke at the rations again. Here is the thing: no one is trustworthy and he owes jack shit to the whole lot, here on Day Zero, actually. Is Mr. Leather here really on the level? Is he? It's a bag.

Constantin shrugs.]

But I suppose a gesture of good faith can stand for itself, in a pinch. Alright!

INTRO LOG #1

IM HERE.... im here.

hands u some sunglasses

(⌐■_■)

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