(september catch-all) NOW WITH BIGGER, BETTER WAYS TO DIE

[vestigemods]

SEPTEMBER CATCH-ALL

► THIS SHITHOLE JUST GOT BETTER

The morning of the 10th feels just like any other. It arrives without fanfare, no itch at the back of your mind telling you something is different. If you're a homebody, you might very well go about much of your day without growing any the wiser... At least until you go outside.

The island is the first sign that something's amiss. Stepping out your front door and spotting the brand new tree-covered patch of land smack dab in the middle of your lake may not face some of you, but it's certainly not a thing that has happened before. Those who dealt with the hatch and the tunnel beyond in August might notice that the island very distinctly covers where that very hatch used to be, sealing off that tunnel system once and for all.

Those who live along the northern end of the lake will also hear the distinct sound of rushing water, a sharp contrast to the quiet atmosphere of the still lake you fell asleep to. Sure enough, a river now pours into the lake from the north, a whole ass river coming into existence overnight.

But the island and river aren't the only changes - they're just the most obvious. It may be today, tomorrow, or a week from now, but the next time someone makes their way to the north or east barriers in any shape or form, they'll find that the barrier no longer seems to exist. The trees are marked quite clearly, white spray paint on a trunk one per fifteen or so feet but you find that they're able to walk right through the area it's supposed to be. And walk, and walk, and walk. Is this a mishap with the barrier, or was it on purpose? Have the Technicians... set you free?

Maybe it's time to tell the others.

► LET'S SEE WHAT YOU'VE WON!

Those who make their way across the new and improved containment zone can encounter a fairly wide variety of things. Following the main road like a rational human being puts you on the direct route to town. Should you get curious along the way, you might detour off the asphalt to explore a stretch of farmland, with smooth rolling hills that may once have been idyllic before they fell into disrepair. If you're hungry, a grove of apple trees sit alongside the river, their branches heavy with fruits ripe for the picking. Consider sparing some for the horses fenced in the western field - they're too skittish to let you approach, but if you leave the apples inside their fence, they're certain to grab them as soon as you've backed away.

Conversely, heading due east from your cabin like the impulsive goblin you are will likely lead you smack dab into the swamp. It's dismal. It's disgusting. Use the damn road next time, and you won't be slopping your way through nearly knee-deep muck... And that's before you discover the alligators. (Are discovered by the alligators? Who discovers whom is just a matter of perspective, really.)

Whether you take the smart route or the soggy route, you'll (hopefully) end up in much the same place: the town. It's dirty and run-down and the alleys and back roads host a whole species roulette of strays, and you intermittently feel the distinct sensation of being watched or even followed, but it's not all bad. There's Foodland, which compared to the gas station pickings may as well be a five-star buffet. There's also a rec center with a functional bowling alley, if you know how to play - and across the street from that rec center sits an apartment complex, complete with nine mostly-clean apartments with fully-functional electricity and plumbing. I'm not saying the swamp-waders should hijack an apartment shower, buuuut that's definitely not not an option.

Finally, to the north, there's a bit of a mountain that I'm fairly sure that nobody is going to fuck with just yet, unless they happen to be some sort of overachiever who wants nothing more than to get a bird's-eye view of the landscape below. Mind the mountain goats. They like to shove.

► MOD NOTES

• This log is an introduction to the new expanded containment zone, but it also functions as the September catch-all log for all non-event starters.
  
• Refer to the Locations page for actual information on the various new areas and points of interest - the above flavortext is only meant to supplement the Locations page info.
  
• Also check out the September Infopost (most relevantly, the bottom two drop-downs) for more September-specific info to potentially include in your prompts.
  
• Because this is a catch-all for everywhere + all month, try to remember to label your top-levels with the date and location of each prompt (whether in the subject or in the prompt title within the comment)!
  
• Any questions (on the new setting or anything else) can be directed to this top-level or, for a quicker response, to Trace on discord/plurk. Additionally, if you catch any errors (incorrect links, etc) in the Locations post, please let Trace know!
  

Comments

[battlepriest]

Ashraf has really only just begun to look around this place; it's new and fairly bewildering, and empty so far as he's seen, but he supposes he's encountered stranger things. His supposition starts to waver a little by the time he finds Foodland with its shelves and shelves of strange wares, and when he realizes there seems to be an aisle specifically for weeping women, the supposition is pretty much done for.

He hovers at the mouth of the aisle, a dark man in beautifully ornate robes, and looks a little uncertain. This feels probably like a moment that was meant for solitude.

Regardless, he tries, "Are you alright?"

[seaboard]

She hears him speak, though she does not lift her head. Only she shakes her head in reply, with another pitiful little sob as she tries to get out what is bothering her.

"We shall all starve."

[battlepriest]

Oh. Um. So this isn't some kind of, lost my kitten business, huh. Ashraf's eyebrows arch high, but it doesn't stop him from stepping nearer.

"Not immediately, right?" he ventures, as a starting point. "Some of the food in here is pretty tasty."

[seaboard]

She shakes her head against her palms.

"It might be, but it will all rot if we don't preserve it."

Which - she just keeps staring at it, completely lost with little hiccups.

"And there is so much."

[battlepriest]

He stops a fair distance from her, a respectable six feet or so, and studies her with sympathy. This is the kind of concern that should be worrying someone a lot older than she looks. Someone like him, probably. He sighs.

"Aren't there any systems in place to account for that?" he asks. Then, quickly, "Sorry, that's -- an honest question. I'm pretty new."

[seaboard]

She shakes her head. A stiff little shake that sends her veils fluttering back and forth with the gesture.

"I have asked, for I did not wish to disregard anything we might find in this place incorrectly. But there is none! None at all! And there is so much food. How are we to keep it all? This is months work."

The tears burst up again, another harder sob as she just - thinks about it, and gets overwhelmed again.

[battlepriest]

He rubs his chin thoughtfully, casting a glance around them. It is a lot of food, and he has so little information. Like how many people they should be saving it for, for one.

But he can probably pick that up. He pulls his shoulders a little straighter.

"Then I guess we better get to work," he says. "Do you have much experience with this, or are we going in blind?"

[seaboard]

At long last, she finally lifts her head. She expects no help, she expects so very little in that - not because she does not believe other people would - or that they are unkind and selfish - but simply is has never been a position to ask for an outsider's help.

Teary eyed, blue eyes all wet with the frustration and upset she feels, she blinks at him.

"I do - I know quite well - you'd help me?"

[battlepriest]

There's a face, that's an improvement. He offers her a smile, and a small shrug accompanies it.

"Someone has to, right?" No, that's dramatic. He shakes his head with an amused huff. "I don't know how many strong we are, but this kind of work is in everyone's best interests. We'll get more to help out."

[seaboard]

She tries to rub at her face, clearing the tears in the blot of her sleeve cuff. The long blue robes shifting around her as she tried to clear them away.

"I could not ask that of everyone. I am sure they have their own problems."

[battlepriest]

"I can ask it of them," he says easily. "But first, let's figure out what the scope of the work is. It'll be an easier sell if we've got specifics."

He starts forward, attention turning to shelves and food arrayed around them, apparently ready to get right into it.

"So, hypothetically for now, what's our first step?"

[seaboard]

"We need jars." She looks around them, at all of it, trying to think the first step. Bundling up a handful of skirt as she wrings her hands against it. "... Vinegar. We need - much vinegar. It needs to be pickled to survive the weeks coming."

[battlepriest]

"Jars and vinegar, got it," he says, with the sinking realization that he has no idea what stored vinegar looks like here. It's got to be in one of the labeled bottles he's seen all over, right? Hopefully? Time to go read a lot of labels.

He carries past her, scouring the current aisle, then disappearing into the next. His voice floats behind him, "Is there meat in here? I haven't made it that far yet."

[seaboard]

"Y- Yes."

Her voices carries up to answer him as he disappears, and she goes looking for the next part.

Salt. They were going to need a lot of salt.

"But that will be next."

[battlepriest]

"Hey, I know how to do meat! That's worth something, right?" He sounds very proud of himself. He should know how to preserve meat, though, or that'd be fifty-some years of roughing it in the wilderness wasted.

That's about when it occurs to him that he's missed a step. After a brief pause, his head reappears around the edge of the aisle, bright smile already in place. "Oh!" comes the accompanying greeting, "I'm Ashraf, by the way."

[seaboard]

"I am very glad, perhaps the two of us, it shall not be such a great task."

She looks at the cabbages and begins to collect one and then another into her arms.

"... I am Gilia. Gilia St. Loe." The words curve perhaps differently to how they are spelt, Sinleau that drifts from between her task. "First daughter, Second child, of the Isle of St. Loe, Daughter-Sea." The comes off familiar as the titles are given in court attendance.

[battlepriest]

He'd disappeared again to get back to it, but then realizes, oh, they're doing formal introductions, huh. Dutifully he pops back into sight, though this time his arms are full of an array of pickle jars.

"Oh, um -- Ashraf Salib, High Priest of the Church of Prontera." Hell of a mouthful. He huffs a sigh and disappears again. "Also, just wondering, how much do you like pickled cucumber? There are a lot of them over here. I bet we could repurpose this brine."

[seaboard]

"I am honoured."

She looks over at his question from her arms now full of cabbages and begins to look behind the Deli, where she can see many different knives, that would be the next step.

"If there is already food, I do not think we need to disturb it. Only take what needs to be done."

[battlepriest]

"Fair enough," comes his voice, with the clink of glass on metal. The pickles can live another day. He starts down the aisle, taking stock with an eye for reusable jars and anything in need of preservation. He's gonna need a notebook here at some point.

As he goes, he calls, "How long have you been here, Gilia?" A pause, and he adds, "Do you mind if I call you Gilia, or is it the whole thing every time? Just Ashraf is good for me."

[seaboard]

"Perhaps a full cycle of the moon?" She thinks it is about that long, but she could hardly say longer.

"Gilia is fine, or Second-Child, Daughter-Sea perhaps, if formality is required. Any one I suppose, as neither mean much so far from my lands, it seems." She is not so concerned, her family does have it's own ceremony about these things as is needed, but as he is not visiting dignitary, and they have work to do? Then let the work be done and everything else could wait.