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

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[oomfies]

[ Foul.. Foul creature? Okay, so Lottie looks like she's definitely been going through it - but that's why she's wearing this tacky ass cowboy hat! To hide her ugly until she can find a shower or something! That being said, having the offensive end of an umbrella shoved in her face gets both her jimmies rustled and temper flaring - ]

You could've killed me or something!

[ But.. Really, though?? No!! Lottie will not elaborate on what about an umbrella can count as a murder weapon, instead flicking her hat up to get a better look at this guy. ]

..Also, congrats. You just got seven years bad luck.

[takeroot]

[Sorry, he's distracted by that hat, unlike any Big Hat he has seen before... Impressive. After he gives it a very obvious Look, he blinks at her, coming back to this cool scolding he's getting.]

Oh, have I? Does it compound the existing bad luck of being kidnapped into this bizarre ruin?

[Seriously, is this divine punishment? Was being in a coma not enough. He spins the umbrella idly, considering it.]

I am sorry about accosting you so suddenly. Truly!

[oomfies]

[ This.. Guy is using some extremely fancy words. Is he smart? Or rich? Both?? She can't explicitly tell, because she thinks someone smart wouldn't be using an umbrella as a weapon. Or mistaking someone with green hair as a foul beast (although, he isn't wrong on that one!).

So she pauses, stands a little straighter while she gets a good look at him. ]

..It's cool.

[ He does sound sorry, and that much prompts Lottie to cool her jets and be a little less snappy. ]

Also, depends. Did you come with the umbrella like that?

[takeroot]

[Green hair is not the most outlandish thing he's ever seen, in her... defense? But it's up there. He frowns then, mostly at the umbrella as he gives it a look again.]

No, it was closed when I found it. Just over there— [He gestures over his shoulder; who knows, maybe she'll want one of her own!!] There were quite a few colors!

[A beat. Hm. So. So bad luck, huh--]

Several of them would only open halfway, however...

[Is there a graveyard of busted umbrellas back there in the local JC P*nney? There sure is!]

[oomfies]

Only seven, then.. It doesn't count if it's not all the way.

[ Well, at least she hopes it doesn't, otherwise if this guy's gonna live here with the rest of them they might be screwed.

But umbrellas might be valuable.. Who knows when there's gonna be some god awful leak somewhere - so she clunkily moves towards the graveyard of umbrellas (because she still has a sword attached to her back, something everyone in video games manages to make look easy but in reality: is terrible). ]

Why didn't you try and find a knife or something? Why an umbrella?

[takeroot]

[He watches her pass with a raised eyebrow; like, he'll go back to the umbrella graveyard with her, sure, but her choice of pointy accessory is, hmm--

Well, he's met plenty of competent swordsmen, fancily trained and common sellsword alike, and she is-- not what he'd expect.]

Is that what you were attempting to do? With that?

[A gesture; you know, that. It is obvious, gurl.]

I happened to come across the umbrellas first, regardless. That's all.

[oomfies]

[ That is a very valid point to bring up, because that is, and was, her plan precisely. Find something shiny and figure out how to stab people without having a breakdown (or, you know, something like that). ]

Yeah.. This was way easier to find than a letter opener.

[ Not that she looked really hard.. Seeing a huge sword laying around on the ground is just easier than squinting in an abandoned store with less than ideal eyesight. ]

I bet I could use it to make your umbrella lethal, too.