WEEK 1

[strangerpeople]

WEEK 1

[The train wouldn't stop. Not until very early the next morning. The few who might have been awake would be able to exit the train, entering the cool twilight of the dawn. The star is dark, and few stars can be seen in the sky as a cold breeze begins to blow from the mountain beyond. You can see some chunks of rock floating idly nearby, far away from the station that it won't hit trains, but near enough that one can see they are larger than the train they just disembarked.

Lastly, laid out in front of them, the first port of call: Menahoven. The mountain: The Throat of the World.

But which world? Who knows. Not any of yours. Maybe it doesn't matter. Not when you are so far from home. Not when you have no way to get off this rock without the aid of the trains-and they will not let you pass.

It looks like you're stuck here until the Conductor decides to leave. In the meantime, everyone will need to get comfortable.


There are fifteen strangers left in this place.]

Comments

WEDNESDAY

[strangerpeople]

DEEP CUTS

[strangerpeople]

[There are two, this week.

-The key is a gift to the top.

-Passage to the Egyptian Land of the Dead can only be found through a knife's edge.

Good luck.]

DEEP CUT 1: The Gate

[strangerpeople]

[There is a locked gate that prevents passage to the top of the mountain.

The only way to access what might be up there is to unlock it.]

DEEP CUT 2: The Passage

[strangerpeople]

[A razor-thin book opened up a passage.

Caleb is starting to look into it, but perhaps others might end up finding it, as well.]

INVESTIGATION

[strangerpeople]

[Several men and women keep slipping in and out of the engine car. All look rather shifty. It's all very odd. Are they there to see the Conductor?

Maybe you can see them, too. Or, keep investigating the port. The choice, as always, is yours.]

at some nebulous point after the meeting...

[charmingheroine]

[This is one of those situations where appearing cute, ditzy, and completely harmless is necessary, and putting on the proper affect is, naturally, hard as hell right now. She hates doing this sort of thing, hates being taken as "a silly kid", but acting like one can make people answer questions they'd ignore otherwise. She hates this, but knows it well.

So she shifts from Competent Partner To A Sort-Of-Belmont to Severely Misplaced Junior Débutante. A soft accent she's taught herself not ever to speak with creeps back into her voice. Hopefully the effort is worth it, this just feels wrong....]

Excuse me -

I beg your pardon, but are you with the railway company?

MEETING

[overworker]

[Depending on your sleep schedule (or perhaps lack thereof) everyone will notice that they've recieved a small nearty written out invitation!]

Pre-Meeting

[overworker]

[If you need to find her before the appointed time, you can find her aboard the train making preparations exactly as she said! Whether it's in the lounge cleaning up or stocking certain items for the gathering... or in the kitchen making some additional foods-- Towa is in peak form today. Feel free to bother her as necessary! Or helping out is an option too. She won't ask, but she'd gladly accept it if you're willing!]

Lunch

[overworker]

[In accordance to the usual lunch time, the train's dining car is set up to be a comfortable place to eat and chat amongst one another. The heavy talk can be saved for later, because right now it's okay to just be fifteen sort-of strangers on one strange train.]

Meeting Time!

[overworker]

[When everyone has assembled, Towa stands to start the meeting officially.]

Good afternoon! Thank you for coming. I hope everyone enjoyed lunch.

But now... I'd like to discuss things amongst ourselves. While the situation is still not great, it's safe and that's important. So while things are still like this, I want to take a proactive approach so that we can work together to keep it that way.

It has been several days since the start of our journey on this particular train so we thought it would be a good time to get together and share the information we've learned so far! About each other, about the train, about the town, about anything really! If there's something you think is worth discussing, no matter how big or small, I'd like to hear it.

Evidence Sharing - The Deep Cut 2 - The Passage

[katzenpfote]

I... ah... did find something... a passage in the library. It led to a tunnel with murals and a great number of cats. The murals seemed to show a story...

[overworker]

[Once the meeting is over, Towa finally has a little time to herself. So with these coins it seems like she might be able to obtain something. Out of curiosity she decides to give it a try. And the results are interesting, to say the least!

Thus you may see her returning from the gift shop with a cane, a mask, a strange ball and an equally strange bottle.]

[katzenpfote]

[He looks over at Towa as she's coming past, and stops.]

That mask... can I see it?

[zackthekiller]

[A strange ball, huh? Zack's gonna stop her once he catches sight of it.]

Hey, can I have that pokeball back? It's either mine or Eliza's.

[technicolourdifficulties]

[This immediately attracts the attention of a certain telly-headed individual, as if the mere presence of a certain item has a sort of magnetic pull on him. And darned if he isn't the picture of exuberance as he all but waltzes up, dripping green from his colourful mouth.]

I say, I do believe that you have found my cane! I was wondering what they had done with it.

sometime after the meeting....

[zackthekiller]

Hey! Anyone lose a cat?

[That's what he's shouting as he wanders up and down the train with a mewing black cat being held like a football. It came out of the baggage claim and he certianly doesn't want it...]

Free cat! Someone take this cat home or something!

[Later, after he somehow got rid of the cat, he goes to the dining car and helps himself to the rice dish he got. Hey, food is food, even if he has no idea what it is or how long it's been sitting in the baggage claim... And yes, he's eating this with a spoon. Like a heathen.

[katzenpfote]

[....]

What are you doing with that cat - here. Give it to me.

[awitchdidit]

Ahaha, since everyone is doing giveaways from the terrible baggage claim system, I've also got some kind of shield here?

[Beatrice hefts a large, gold-and-white shield with a blue gem in the middle and kind of just props it up in the lounge.]

I've got no use for it. In fact, I'm kind of regretting dragging it the length of the train...

[otherworldlyking]

[ Normally he'd just walk on by, but...

Just thinking of how much Duvalie would complain without it is enough for him to have incentive to return it. So he's holding out his hand after a sigh. ]

Feel free to hand it over.

[katzenpfote]

[Caleb has set out the things he has found - minus the feather and head crescent - in the lounge. The coffee gets a strange look from him - he would prefer Clay's tea right now, honestly. He's currently playing with the knife, and there's a hint of bandage on his arm sticking out from his coat.]

[He raises the knife to the durian, and then sets it aside. It's a nice knife... maybe it will fetch a good price. No sense in using it to cut the smelly sock fruit.]

[dragonmouth]

Oh!

[ Tali eyes the durian rather enthusiastically, giving a small smile before running her hand across its bumpy exterior. ]

I wasn't expecting to see another one of these so far from home...

[higanbana]

[did someone say knives

Well, Ris has taken up residence in the lounge, for now, and so she's coming back to maybe rest her eyes for a moment when she sees Caleb playing with something. It glints slightly in the lighting of the room, and that's enough to grab her attention and get her to wander over and inspect it further.

And upon that further inspection...]

Ah!

[She recognizes the knife the minute she sees even the smallest glimpse of its handle, and soon enough she's all but dashing toward Caleb.]

I— where did you find that?!

[She doesn't sound accusatory, just... breathless. Perhaps even a bit relieved?]

[unwittingking]

[This time King will stay on the train, but that's mostly because his visit to the baggage claim left him with a lot of stuff, only two of which is his. Why they even have one of them, he doesn't know, but it'll be in his room for the rest of the time he's here. His collar, though, now rests around his neck, giving him at least one bit of comfort.

Most of the rest? It's laid out on one of the tables in the dining car. He sits in a booth at the table, the notebook in one hand as he reads something that won't be edited, and the other petting the...technically normal cat for everyone else, for him a sort of weird but docile living being, which lays beside him, sleeping.

The robot dog is on the floor, also, doing it's own thing. King would try to get it under control, but he prefers not burning, so he's not going to stop it.

This day is certainly turning out to be interesting...]

[eternaldivide]

[ After the meeting Mithos thought it's be best to distract himself by going and trying out the thing in the baggage claim. It's kinda like what Eliza and him spoke about but not? But he was curious to see the results.

And they certainly were interesting! Especially a certain one to him which he immediately pockets once he realizes what it was.

He'll gather the items, gently picking up the cat last, and makes his way to the lounge. He wants to see what's in the book but he also wants to see if this is someone's cat? And what better place to find people than the lounge. He can sit on the couch and take a look at the book, strange device, and ... some can of liquid?... while he waits for someone to come in. ]

[notthebreakman]

[After visiting the baggage claim, Proto Man ends up in the Lounge. He's sitting in one of the comfortable chairs and whistling a counterpoint to the sad, buzzing hum of the caged bee he obtained.

...Well, he was sitting down. But before long, he finds himself on his feet and... dancing along to the song. It's... not the most graceful thing ever, but it's also producing rose petals that flutter elegantly to the ground. (Sorry Bee Buddy, but there won't be any actual nectar or pollen for you here.)]