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

Evidence Share II

[notthebreakman]

[Proto didn't join the others for lunch, but he does show up to participate in the group meeting. Once he's sure he won't be interrupting, he'll stand up to share his findings.]

I went to the Shrine yesterday. There are two statues, one much larger and more popular than the other. The larger one is seemingly dedicated to "Her Thrice-Renewed Majesty," but I don't think the people who are native to this location are as fond of her as the rest of the empire claims, given that someone apparently got away with doing this to its base.

[He hands Towa the photo he took of the defaced inscription to pass around to the rest of the group.]

As interesting as that is from a political standpoint, I think the smaller statue is more immediately relevant to our interests. After all, it memorializes the lost, but not forgotten, Conductor of the Vespertine, which vanished without a trace six months ago.

[Again, he hands Towa the three photos he took of that statue to share.]

[telecosmetic]

Lost to time? That doesn't sound good...

[technicolourdifficulties]

[Six months ago... RGB thinks he might have an idea where this plot is going, and he doesn't like it one bit. He'd been debating saying anything, but...]

...I may have some related news on the topic.

[He reaches into a sleeve and pulls out a rolled up newspaper, which he unfurls with a flourish and presents for viewing.]

It seems like time may not be on our side.

[telecosmetic]

What in the fuckshit? She can just-just reduce their time like that and actually affect them? I've heard of "time is money," but this is ridiculous!

[technicolourdifficulties]

More akin to a jackalope, actually. And it's not as ridiculous as you might think, unfortunately.

[notthebreakman]

[Well, that doesn't bode well at all, does it?]

It sounds like you have an idea how it could be done. Care to elaborate?

[technicolourdifficulties]

[Normally he'd say something cryptic and make them guess, but... Well, this seems like a pretty poor time for that, much as it pains him to be so forthcoming.]

...Where I am from, concepts given form are commonplace. I daresay that it would be more difficult to find a piece of fruit for sale than a bottle of first love.

While I have never seen this occur with time before, the implication that they have not only done this but that this Empress has a monopoly of control over them is... Well, quite frankly, you should find it absolutely terrifying.

[There might be yellow dripping down the glove he's rested his head on.]

[notthebreakman]

Oh, believe me, I'm plenty concerned.

One of the locals I spoke to said, and I quote, "She controls forever" like it was as simple as water being wet.

Frankly, I think this empire is well past due for a little revolution, but that task should be left to the people of these worlds.

[telecosmetic]

We can totally encourage it, though, right? It already looks like not everyone loves the queen, from that graffiiti you shared.

[Eliza loves...REVOLUTION]

[technicolourdifficulties]

...You want to try and spark a revolution against someone who has some measure of control over time.

[Seriously...? He's all for it in theory, but actually getting involved is a bit much???]

[telecosmetic]

Well then, the first step is to figure out how she does that and stop it, isn't it?

[notthebreakman]

We'd probably need to be a lot closer to this Throne of Hours thing to have a shot at figuring it out. A secret like that would have to be kept close to home, right?

[telecosmetic]

Probably...wonder if this train will take us near there. [But she's kind of happy her idea isn't just getting shot down immediately.]

[notthebreakman]

It's a possibility, but we should also try to think of alternative strategies in case our future destinations only take us further and further away.

[It's a decent idea! It's probably best not to put all their eggs into that one basket, that's all.]

[overworker]

Thrice-Renewed...

[That's a strangely worded title.]

A monarchy wouldn't have elections, so I wonder what that's supposed to mean. Unless it suggests several attempts to overthrow her...

[But the second statue is important too.]

What could have happened to her? After all, we all must have been there and yet... I can't remember a thing about her or what may have happened to her in that time...

And that would also mean that we've been involved in this... for more than six months at least now too...

[notthebreakman]

[Proto has a different theory about where the title comes from.]

The newspaper RGB found mentioned the "Deathless," something about people still existing despite having "legally died." Perhaps the Empress is in a similar state?

[He couldn't tell Towa a thing about Cardia, either. It had taken him a little while before he even managed to recall where he'd seen her before.]

I have memories of being on that train that should contradict each other, and yet they all still happened. The best way I can think to describe it would be that space was warped and time was bendable, somehow. At this point, only an outside observer would be able to tell what exactly happened.

[overworker]

This matches the stories of vampires that Charlotte came across in the library. But if this is true, then we should be extra cautious around the people in this town. I'd like to help them if we can, but first and foremost we should make sure that we remain safe.

[The latter part, she nods at.]

I thought so as well. I wondered if I had just remembered incorrectly, because it was foggy enough already. But if this is true, then it lines up with us having been through this several times already.

[notthebreakman]

I don't think I need to worry about vampires as much as the rest of us, so I don't mind acting as a bodyguard to the others to keep them safe.

[Proto would rather not have to spend the rest of existence in an eternal time loop, thank you very much.]

But why suddenly switch trains and Conductors partway through... whatever this is supposed to be?

[overworker]

While I appreciate it, you should be careful as well.

[Why are you all like this.]

Did something happen to the other one that we can't remember?

[notthebreakman]

Unless the vampire drinks oil and coolant, I should be alright.

[Huh, he has the weirdest sense of deja vu, like he's met that exact type of vampire...

...Aaaaaand now it's gone.]

I... don't know. I feel like it must have, but if we can't remember anything...

[zackthekiller]

The Vespertine... [He still doesn't remember that much of the last train he was stuck on. Just snippets of thing that happened in-]

SIX MONTHS?! [Yeah, that's more concerning.] What the fuck?!

[notthebreakman]

Your guess is as good as mine right now. Maybe it's been six months to the people of Menahoven, but only a few days from our perspective.

[...Zack's not going to get Einstein's theory of relativity, is he? Just a hunch.]

...Or maybe we've lost even more memories than we initially thought.

[zackthekiller]

[Other than what the famous equation looks like? Nope.]

Either way, this is getting really fucked up.

[notthebreakman]

You mean it wasn't already fucked up to begin with?

[No sense in derailing the conversation by trying to explain it, then. Especially not when it isn't even a certainty that that's what's happening here.]

[zackthekiller]

No, I'm wondering how fucked up it's gonna get!