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

paradise found (ren)

[acquaint]

[ for the record, sylvain only knows as much as he does about swords because he is friends with a sword enthusiast to put all sword enthusiasts to shame. which means, when he happens upon one very fancy looking dagger, he's immediately drawn to it and all his self-preservation instincts immediately gets thrown out the window as he goes to pick it up.

and oh—it's not actually real? huh. he's unfortunately seen and held enough bladed objects in his life to know that this is a very convincing replica; he tests the edge against his thumb and it's as dull as he expects, but the detail is exquisite, though. felix would probably nut if he saw it, really. anyway, he tosses it up and catches it by the hilt a few times, and it isn't until he hears someone approaching that he fumbles, nearly dropping it before he catches it by the blade again. good thing it isn't actually a real weapon, huh? ]

Ah, [ haha... you didn't see that. ] Hey, there.

[prison]

[ ren about misses every one of the cool-looking tosses he does in favor of the single one he witnesses. it happens all in a split-second: ren knows his dagger when he sees it, and he catches sight of it in mid-air as the man tosses it. with the trajectory of the spin and fall, he can about guess that he won't catch the dagger by the hilt, but rather— ]

Wait—! [ he reaches out, but the man catches it by the blade and— nothing happens? so he stands there, hand still stretched out and a little awkward, before setting back to his side.

they'll both pretend that didn't happen. ]

Hey. [ he offers a wave of his hand. ] Pretty cool dagger you have there. [ it's ren's, but he doesn't need to know that, yet. ] Yours?

[acquaint]

[ that's just how it is, right? the one time he fumbles is the one this guy sees, but sylvain isn't upset about it, really. let it be known that he'll never pass up the opportunity to make an ass out of himself, especially in front of other people.

anyway, nothing to see here, just two guys standing around with him holding the model dagger by the blade. sylvain glances down at it briefly and shakes his head, the little awkward smile from before smoothing out into something more friendly. ]

Nah, I just found it. [ he flips the dagger around his fingers and offers it to ren hilt first. ] Look familiar to you?

[prison]

[ a part of ren was curious if the man would claim the dagger as his own, considering he'd been toying around with it. but maybe it's because he's an adult that he doesn't want to be seen playing with a model dagger, no matter how detailed it looks. ]

Actually, yeah. [ he takes it, weighing it on his hand. then, delivered in complete deadpan: ] Believe it or not, it does some pretty sick damage.