W͜͏̶Ę͏E͝͠K͝͞ ̧1̵͟

[strangerpeople]

W͜͏̶Ę͏E͝͠K͝͞ ̧1̵͟

[The national council just announced the blight to the country.

There was no sugarcoating it anymore. This was a critical time. Saving all of the vines is paramount, but what does one do when the blight hits? It keeps encroaching on the grapes, day by day. Entire clusters, entire bunches, dead and rotting, while allowing the blight to spread, and the leading botanists and viticulturists cannot identify the origin or the cause. They can't even successfully isolate the culprit in their labs; it seems to disappear like air no matter the precautions taken.

It is a catastrophe that seems to be beyond science, and it will result in the complete collapse of the entire country's wine industry. Already, embargoes on this year's crop have forced other grape-growers to close shop for the year after they'd sold their previous stock; it is all too possible that no grapes might ever be grown here again if a cure cannot be found. The tourists have stopped coming. The towns have grown silent.

You, meanwhile, are devastated. With the way your business is going, it will be on the brink of bankruptcy within the year. You will soon have no choice but to close shop and let every grapevine die, let the land go fallow. There must be a cure for this, there must be. Yet everything that can go wrong is.

Then, as you watch the news, it happens. Breaking news. The blight has been found in another country.

It is a pandemic-and it is only getting worse.


-

Well. This is...what else can can anyone say? You all know the deal. You all know what situation you're in. All that is left is to figure out what you can do about it. If there's anything that can be done.

You still feel that compulsion to distrust. To know you cannot win. To know that only the hosts have your best interests in mind. It would be easy to just do all that. But would it be the right thing to do? You can't be completely sure. Indeed, nothing is certain here, except for that damned ticking sound. If only you could stop it.

But you can't stop it. It is inevitable.


There are 15 strangers in this place.]

Comments

SATURDAY

[strangerpeople]

INVESTIGATION

[strangerpeople]

Library

[illusionarymelody]

[So thanks to the meeting and them realizing there are a lot of common threads between games here and a lot of items from the previous locations are showing up, Vita decides to check out the library today.

She's looking for two things. First is any books she recognizes from the Base. The second is looking for spell books to see if she can find the magic that uses the soul to communicate with the dead that Arthur spoke of.]

[strangerpeople]

[She will find books from the base, namely the travel books. Even the marks and note Halley made are there.

As for spell books with necromancy, there are none, unfortunately.]

[illusionarymelody]

[Now that is really creepy. The travel books would be one thing, but Halley's notes and marks would have been far harder to duplicate. Does it appear like these are the originals or possibly a copy?]

[strangerpeople]

[They look to be the originals.]

[illusionarymelody]

[Okay, so there are no necromancy spellbooks, but are there any books regarding magic present? She's looking in general, but would be especially interested in anything regarding barriers and mind control.]

[strangerpeople]

[Any books on magic or barriers look to be in regards to places like Tamriel, Earth-and not just one Earth, or the dangers of looking into mirrors or trusting devils. Hm.

No mind control books, though.]

[illusionarymelody]

[She'll definitely take a look at some of those. Actually, is there anything about the little creature she met, or is this just trusting devils in general? And why shouldn't she look into a mirror?]

[strangerpeople]

[According to the book, devils apparently just like to steal your soul-while there is a deal, devils are not described as remotely cute-they are more like bees that become more monstrous the more powerful they become. It also doesn't really try explain why, other than just shrugging and going "well, they're devils, what would you expect from creatures literally called devils?".

As for the mirrors...apparently there are creatures called Fingerkings, but it doesn't say much else other than "if you should end up on the other side of a mirror, and see a specific type of striped snake-red, yellow and black-run."]

[byanyother_name]

[Okay, because Clothes Were A Thing in his round, Kurama is finally going to poke around the dressing room for anything he recognizes.]

[strangerpeople]

[He will find several pieces that seemed to be right off the rack from the different stores.]

[byanyother_name]

[First thing, please say there's no wedding dress. Second, anything from his, Akira's, or Karma's Brands?]

[strangerpeople]

[No wedding dress, thankfully, but he will find a few items from the various brands, not just his, Karma's or Akira's. A shirt here, a pair of pants there...]

[byanyother_name]

[Hm. Well, he's going to sift out anything that might be useful to the three of them before going through to take a headcount, as it were.

Any brands completely unrepresented?]

[strangerpeople]

[None that Kurama can see.]

Cat Nya-Land

[katzenpfote]

[The movement and the huge pupils of the cats disturbs him, but they're still cats. Caleb sits and watches them for a bit. Aside from the ticks and the eyes, are they still engaging in normal cat behavior?]

[strangerpeople]

[They seem to be doing things on a schedule. Right now, it seems to be their designated play time. Some roll balls simultaneously, while others bat at one another with practiced, rhythmic timing. Every second, every beat, just like the ticking of the clock.

Every ten seconds, they all meow.]

[katzenpfote]

[Well that's not disturbing at all. What happens if he picks one up?]

[strangerpeople]

[The cat will freeze. Then it will start to shake, looking over at Caleb with its eyes.


What will you do next, Caleb?]

[katzenpfote]

[P... et? The cat?]

[1/2]

[strangerpeople]

[At first, the cat looks ready to fight. It's claws are out, hits tail is bushy, and if a cat's blown pupils can look at someone with pure hatred, theirs probably can.

After a few moments of petting, however, there is a change. The pupils suddenly start to contract, and the cat shudders.]

[2/2]

[strangerpeople]

[It's as if Caleb's fingers have some kind of magic, because the cat suddenly starts to purr, leaning into the petting.]

Mrrrr....

[After rubbing its face in Caleb's arm, it looks up with its normal eyes.]

Mrraow.

[katzenpfote]

[Oh he has been clawed by worse, this is fine.]

[But then it relaxes, and he pulls it close and snuggles it a bit. No one else is around, after all.]

There you are. You are a good little thing there, aren't you? We will fix what has been done to you. You do not deserve this.

[strangerpeople]

[Prrrrrrrrrrr.

The cat closes its eyes and meows again. Yes it is very good, the best cat ever. Especially since it is getting attention.]