biteys: (Default)
NIMBO ([personal profile] biteys) wrote in [community profile] turnout2024-06-29 09:53 am

WEEK 1

WEEK ONE


!
the beginning of the end

That’s what’s playing on repeat on a tape recorder, when the survivors come to.

Characters will find themselves in a humble, American townhouse, which other than being a bit dusty, is still mostly clean. All characters will be sprawled out on the floor and furniture of the living room, in front of what looks to be a giant portal. Characters will also notice they have a seemingly indestructible silver wristband around their wrists, and they have nothing with them but the clothes on their back.

Take a look around, and you'll realize that everyone in the room is likely a stranger. Aside from the tape playing, there's little explanation or proof that what's being said to you is even true. For all you know, one of the people in the room could be responsible for you being suddenly taken here.

Exploring the house's many rooms will reveal that there are small stockpiles food, water, weapons (a few guns, a few bats, a few knives), and maps, along with a large, strange container of blue liquid. The maps all chart a route from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and sport detailed recommended time stamps on them. Strangely, the recommended path occasionally diverges into two separate routes.

Upon searching the house, Haru Okumura finds a set of notes, while Leontuzzo Bellone finds a separate set. They are free to keep these notes to themselves, or share them with the group.

Nothing has anyone's names on it — not the notes, and certainly not the supplies. Everyone will have to compete for the same things. Or maybe all of you can be civilized about this, before anyone goes hoarding weapons and food? Maybe you can even introduce yourselves, while you're at it. For some strange reason, every window and door in this place is locked (and impossible to break), and will be for at least 72 hours, as if someone wanted you all to be cooped up together for a time before heading out.

Most interestingly, in the deepest basement of the house, there's a room with a large, heavy dresser shoved in front of it… and a low moaning and banging emanating from the other side. The door’s slightly ajar, and a closer look reveals a zombie is the source of the sound. Context clues around the basement, like the PhD in interdimensional travel hung up on the wall (for a Dr. Bei), hint that the woman inside is whoever left you this cryptic message - the woman who brought you here, allegedly. But she's long long gone, only this monster left in her wake. It seems she was smart enough to lock herself away to prevent you from being harmed, at least... and it'll give you a preview of the threat that looms outside.
sewer diving
After 72 hours have passed, one and only one door unlocks – in the very same basement that the zombie of Dr. Bei can be found. It leads down to a dark, dingy tunnel that connects to the sewers. Not only is the smell awful, but (non-infected) rats scurry about, keeping to the shadows – but the smell of any of the food you've taken from the house will attract them. Careful!

The party will need to create some light to navigate their way out and keep the rats at bay, or they’ll be bumping around in the dark for quite a while. Now might be a good time to share if you have some matches, or a special talent for being a lantern. Mercifully, there's only one exit that actually opens down in this labyrinth, as if it's a route the Doctor designed to take all the time.

At one point, Puppy falls into the sewage, and loses something they brought from the house.

oh! that's a baseball

Once characters make it out of the sewers, they’ll be a day’s travel to the first mark on the party’s map: “Dodger’s Stadium.” The road they’ll have to hike to get there is winding, curvy, and uphill, which will give the party a good overview of the now dilapidated Los Angeles, along with the many abandoned buildings and cars that litter the place. The stadium itself looks to have been cleared of threats and fashioned into a safe spot a long time ago, as all entrances but one have been completely welded shut. The high walls keep zombies out, and the winding path up here deters most of them from even approaching.

Inside the stadium, there’s some baseball merch (and equipment) to scavenge, not to mention some really old peanuts! Delicious. Maybe there are even some old fireworks laying around this place. Setting up camp here won’t be very comfortable… but at least it’s very safe. A luxury the party won’t have for much longer, if the map is anything to go by. You'll be heading through the city, next, so rest up while you can.

!
week one objectives

➤ make acquaintances with your fellow travelers
➤ decide what to do with the zombie of dr. bei
➤ arm yourself with what you can find
➤ scavenge some portable food from the house and while traveling
➤ make camp at the stadium
mediator: (pic#17265656)

[personal profile] mediator 2024-07-03 04:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, but you can navigate urban areas better than me. I don't get the impression we'll wander through the mountains.

[ Wherever they're going, he must assume it's somewhere with people. He hopes for that anyway. As for her question... hm. ]

I don't know if believing it or not is relevant. I've seen magic in front of my eyes, so it must be real. [ seeing is believing, in other words. ] Though truthfully, I have very little concept of what's normal or supernatural. When I first saw the witch using magic, I thought it was no different than the way a pachinko machine works through the wonder of electricity.
irreversal: 🧃 teen (121)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-07-03 08:13 pm (UTC)(link)
You don't? Ehh... Maybe we'll get to do both.

[ California isn't... all cities like Los Angeles, right? Shoko realizes now that she doesn't quite know. But she wouldn't be surprised if their travels took them out into the wilderness, too. Probably less zombies in the forest than in a densely-populated area. Or so she'd like to think.

What he says next, though, earns him a questioning look. That's... really an interesting way of looking at things, and she has to laugh again. ]


Hang on, you're kind of refreshing, aren't you, Shizuki? I guess growing up in the wilderness gave you a different perspective on everything.
mediator: (pic#17265654)

[personal profile] mediator 2024-07-03 11:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Refreshing? [ blink blink ??? ] I don't understand what you mean.

[ he didn't really expect that sort of response. most people have just looked at him strangely when he makes such comparisons. ]
irreversal: 🧃 teen (87 (1))

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-07-04 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
Just now, when you said seeing magic was like the wonder of electricity. I don't think most people these days would think of electricity as a wonder.

Like I said, it feels like you have a different perspective, maybe it's strange, but I don't think it's bad thing.

[ Especially since as far as perspectives go... it's not harmful. Just a different way of looking at the good in the world, maybe. ]
mediator: (pic#17265657)

[personal profile] mediator 2024-07-04 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
I guess it's a matter of what you're accustomed to. [ he still feels a little sheepish and maybe that's why he leans toward expanding his thoughts even further- ] A person who lived with electricity all their life would never question that lights can turn on with the flick of a switch. For me, those small every day luxuries people take for granted were miraculous. And what is magic if not that?

[ magic is making the impossible possible. electricity, clean running water, cars, the list could go on. things a person like shoko accepted as part of her every day life seem other-worldly to him. he just assumed watching aozaki shoot bullets out of her hand was the same as all those other things.

but this does get him wondering now...
]

You asked me if I believe in the supernatural. What about you? Do you have some familiarity with it?

[ he noticed in the sewers that she never seemed surprised about anything he said when it came to the witches. perhaps shocked at their behavior (and rightly so) but not at their existence. ]
irreversal: 🧃 teen (105)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-07-04 03:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It really does make sense, when he puts it that way. Everyday things that someone like her wouldn't even consider as a luxury at this point, but truly are, if they're to simply look at what human beings have access to without technology and innovation.

Many of which are things that, coincidentally, they won't have access to here, where human civilization seems to have fallen apart. All the more reason why Shizuki's refreshing perspective might be a blessing. Maybe he'll keep them sane. That would be nice, she thinks.

To his question, Shoko reaches for her unlit cigarette and draws out of her mouth, instead fidgeting with it between her fingers, sighing as if she were exhaling a puff of smoke before answering. It should be all right to talk about these things. It's not like Shizuki's lived a completely mundane life himself, anyway. ]


Yeah. Things like spirits and hauntings and curses. At home, they're everywhere, but most people don't have the ability to see them. Those who do are part of a society around jujutsu sorcery. I'm one of those people.
mediator: (pic#17265654)

[personal profile] mediator 2024-07-06 01:24 am (UTC)(link)
I see. That's why you weren't surprised when I spoke about my roommates. [ He suspected she might have had some familiarity with the concepts, but it's good to get confirmation. ] Hm. Does that mean you're a witch too Ieiri?
irreversal: 🧃 teen (pic#17252729)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-07-06 02:18 am (UTC)(link)
[ You know what, ]

Yeah. So you better watch out for me, Shizuki. I might just curse you and make you follow me around everywhere, too~
mediator: (pic#17265655)

[personal profile] mediator 2024-07-06 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
Will you now? [ hmmm ] Can I at least live with you rent free?
Edited 2024-07-06 02:27 (UTC)
irreversal: 🧃 teen (95)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-07-06 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
Geh— no waaay. I have to pay rent too, y'know!

[ no she doesn't she lives in a dormitory ]

Ahaha. But no, it's different from your witches. Jujutsu sorcerers protect normal humans from cursed spirits. They use energy from our bodies and go, buuuuun, and exorcise. Not me, though. I just use it to heal other sorcerers.
mediator: (pic#17265654)

[personal profile] mediator 2024-07-06 03:17 am (UTC)(link)
Ah I see. So you're in that sort of situation too. [ clueless.jpg ] Healing people with magic is still impressive. And I imagine other sorcerers must get into danger a lot.

[ just from what he saw of kuonji and aozaki's wounds when they first went up against touko... it was horrible. he doesn't want to remember that night. but before his mood gets dour he realizes something- ]

Wait, you call yourselves sorcerers? Are you by any chance friends with that white haired guy?
Edited 2024-07-06 03:17 (UTC)
irreversal: 🧃 teen (2svQ5zQ)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-07-06 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
Ahaha... White haired guy...

[ oh boy ]

Yeah. Gojo? We're classmates, so that makes us buddies, too, I guess.
mediator: (pic#17265654)

[personal profile] mediator 2024-07-06 11:58 pm (UTC)(link)
[ hm, he gets the sense that it might be a little more strained than that? or complicated. aozaki and kuonji would never admit to being friends, even if that's ostensibly what they are to him. ]

Is it a case where you work together because of circumstance? He seemed strong but a little arrogant about it.
irreversal: 🧃 teen (21)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-07-07 08:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It's definitely complicated. ]

Unfortunately, it's somewhat justified in his case, though it'd be a lot easier if he wasn't such a dirtbag about it, too, huuh? [ she siiighs. ] We don't work together that much, honestly, especially nowadays. I don't get sent out on missions very much, and he gets sent out on them all the time.
mediator: (pic#17265660)

[personal profile] mediator 2024-07-08 01:28 pm (UTC)(link)
A powerful person who brags about their superiority. I'm unfortunately familiar with that sort of attitude.

[ he's glad aozaki isn't here. her and gojo might end up killing each other with their overinflated egos clashing. ]

Do you wish you were sent out more, or are you just concerned for when he comes back?
irreversal: 🧃 teen (2svQ5zQ)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-07-08 05:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Ahaha, no way. I don't wanna get killed out there, too...

[ 'Too,' because, well. Sorcerers don't exactly have a long life expectancy, a fact of which they've been reminded, as of late. ]

I might have been worried before, I guess. But Gojo figured out the same technique I use to heal people, but for himself, so I guess he doesn't really need me anymore~
mediator: (pic#17268333)

[personal profile] mediator 2024-07-09 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
...Is that something he told you, or something you decided?

[ maybe both things are true, or neither. but before letting her respond he goes on- ]

From my experience with someone like Gojo, the powerful strong types never want to tell you how they're really doing. Even when they're at their lowest, they don't want it to show. It's foolish pride. I'm sure he needs you more than he would ever admit.
irreversal: 🧃 teen (136)

[personal profile] irreversal 2024-07-09 02:34 am (UTC)(link)
[ Maybe it had been something unspoken between her and Gojo, but either way, Shizuki yet again surprises Shoko with his perspective, and his unique wisdom. Something that, deep down, she knows to be true, too, especially of Gojo - blessed child that he is - but... their circumstances keep them apart so much.

Still, it's no real excuse. Especially here, where they've been brought together. ]


...Yeah. He does. Honestly, part of me wonders if I got brought along here just to keep him sane, haha. But you're right, Shizuki.

[ With a quiet chuckle, she runs her fingers through her hair. ]

You seem to do that a lot.
mediator: (pic#17253300)

[personal profile] mediator 2024-07-09 05:56 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Is he now? His expressions turns a little dopey, surprised to receive such praise, but then he smiles. ]

Thank you. [ :)!! ] If you ever need to talk to someone, I'll be around Ieiri. I can't say I understand everything about the world of magic or sorcery, but my time with the witches has clued me in on some of the struggles you may face in it.