achates | [DAY 0] TDM.

[DAY 0] TDM.

Error in final launch sequence:
Failed to execute MI command:
target remote localhost: 01633
Error message from debugger back end:
Cannot access memory at address 𝟹͚̽𝚡̰̍̂𝟸̠̯̘ͭͧ𝚌̭͉̺͖ͥ𝟿̳̰̒̇ͅ𝟷̦ͣ̉͌̅𝚋͓͎̈̒̀𝟻ͭ̌͂𝟷ͩ̓𝟾̦
Failed to execute MI command:
target remote localhost: 01633
Error message from debugger back end:
Cannot access memory at address 𝟹̖͇͕̃𝚡͉̹̯͇̻̉̓̂𝟸͚̹͈͓̩͚̲̼͒̾𝚌̱̠͙̝̪͇̈̌̂̃̄ͭ𝟿̱̜̪͓̳̹ͤ̊̈́ͦͥ̑𝟷͖̱̝̀̒̇̂̄̈́̓̇ͅ𝚋̥̯͉̹͛͛̊ͤͦͩ𝟻̬̮̈́̋ͯ͛̉̐𝟷̋ͩ̔̔𝟾̼
Waiting for debugger connection...
Debugger connected
Debugger connection lost.
Waiting for debugger connection...
Debugger connected
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Target is not responding, retrying...
Debugger connection lost.
Shutting down...
Rebooting
Download in Progress:
File download complete
Time elapsed during download operation: 00:12:33.131
Rebooting
Launching Demon Summoning Program. . .

You open your eyes to the end of the world, but you do not see it.

Instead what rouses you is screaming and crying, blood and tears: all around you are signs of life. Inside the overturned train, people begin to awaken, sprawled on the ground as if thrown violently from their seats, broken bones and bleeding wounds struggling to rise from the carpet of shattered glass from the windows at their feet. Emerging from the wreck, characters will find themselves at the edge of a dense forest, a towering stone wall at their backs. Bright eyes peer out from the shadows of the foliage, more and more blinking into view like stars in a darkening sky, but despite being drawn to the scent of blood that hangs heavy in the air, nothing steps out of the forest. Not yet.

None of the passengers can recall what happened, what they were doing on a train, where it was going- there's more they can't remember, but overshadowing the gaps of memory are things they have gained in return. A familiar item that is not theirs. A gemstone that feels lighter than it appears, as if hollow inside. And a device that wraps around their wrist (or rests on their head, or hangs around their neck, or however it presents itself to each character) that starts up on its own the moment the character turns their attention to it, as if waiting. Each character's COMP has a "navigator" selected at default, either "A☆L☆A" in bright neon orange, or "K5" in cool slate blue, although the presiding navigator can be freely switched between them.

Heya, boss! My name's Ala, your new navi!

You wanna know something really funny? Go ahead and touch the map on the corner of the screen to enlarge it. See all those little red dots? Those are demons out to kill you. Haha! You're surrounded!

Heya, boss! You can call me Keigo, your navigational AI.

If you touch the map on the corner of the screen, you can enlarge it and see the positions of all your allies. Looks like some of you are already heading out: see those little blue— oh. That one just disappeared. ... Try to stick together.

Along with providing a map with enemy/ally positions, the navigators will walk characters through the demon interaction, recruitment, and summoning processes, with advice varying between the two navigators (click to expand)

Just beat 'em up and force 'em to join! They can't say no if they're dead!

Nobody is immune to bribery, not even demons. What do you even have, though...? No matter what, don't let them get that life stone.

More demons incoming! Ooh, you're screwed. You'd better run! Don't worry, I won't tell.

Let's hide here. We'll wait here until that demon passes, then move!

Look, a body! Are they still alive? Wonder what's in their pockets...?

It's already too late to help. But better them being demon food than you.

Or, you could stay. There is nothing forcing anybody to leave the relative safety of the train. Those who stay behind will find the conductor's cabin empty, save for a small black cat perched on the headrest of the driver's seat that peers out with bright golden eyes at those who enter. Otherwise, there are no signs of a fight or struggle inside the cabin. Elsewhere, there is unclaimed luggage in the overhead compartments with an abundance of clothing and blankets, although characters will not find any of their own clothing except what they're already wearing. The dining cart is still stocked with enough food and beverage to last each passenger at least two days— maybe longer, if people keep leaving/dying... But at the same time, maybe shorter, considering the pervasive hunger that gnaws at the pits of everybody's stomachs, an emptiness that yearns to be filled by something... more.

As minutes stretch into hours, it becomes painfully clear that nobody is coming to help. Everybody only has each other, this town, its inhabitants. The forest is dark and unforgiving, near impossible to navigate even with a map. Strange creatures jump out from the shadows, eyes bright, mouths salivating, hungry. Strong hands claw through the dirt underfoot to grab at people's feet, pulling themselves up, mouths wide open, hungry. Sharp talons swoop down from the skies above, snatching characters up into the air, crushing skulls and snapping spines. Hungry. The demons here seem delighted to see such a feast wandering right into their home; those who are stopped for attempted conversation express surprise that characters are able to see them, but ultimately the hunger wins, and hunger does not listen to reason.

Casualties are inevitable. Blood mist permeates the air, and follows even as characters break out of the forest and across town, all the way to the fraying end of the world. Out in the open, however, the sun rays beat down bright and harsh, and those hungry eyes shy away from the sunlight to remain in the shadows, inside husks of buildings and thickets of overgrown fields. Characters will be able to find refuge in the greenhouse and the church, and some of the standing houses are truly vacant (as opposed to "surprise! there's actually a demon inside!" vacant); the only eyes that follow you are those of photographs hung crooked on the walls, of familiar strangers and forgotten friends. Look, there's a picture of you too.

Other locations require more caution to explore:

The sound of crying can be heard from the upper stories of the school building, thin wails echoing up and down the deserted halls, and human-like shadows peer out from the broken, unboarded windows, as if watching. A barricade inside the front doors makes it difficult to enter from the main entrance, and with most of the windows boarded up, the hallways inside remain dark even during the day. The smell of rot is prominent, heavy and cloying, especially in the auditorium-become-mausoleum that is littered with crushed bones, thin and brittle, every last scrap of flesh already nibbled away. A flock of demons crowd around outside principal's office, where a blizzard blows through the entire hallway, rendering visibility near zero and temperatures below that.

The hospital is also deathly cold, breath visible in puffs of mist that sometimes form into screaming faces, and when all is still and quiet, you look up and see yourself. Shadows form into mirror images of the characters who enter the hospital, silently approaching others and attacking once the person's guard is down. If a demon borrowing your face isn't bad enough, Phantoms go a step further and take the form of people who are close to your character: friends, family, foes. Exploring the hospital may or may not be worth the potential backstabbing, considering the fact that the supplies found are maybe not the most sterile, half the equipment is rusted or corroded, and a lot of the medicine is unlabeled tablets and capsules inside unlabeled bottles (essentially, take at your own risk). Moreover, hordes of all sorts of demon ghosts will bar characters' way down to the basement, gathering in massive numbers anytime somebody tries to descend. Electricity bounces around the top of the stairway down, while bright flames lick the bottom of the stairs; particularly unlucky characters may be hit with a confusion spell, liable to throw themselves headfirst down the stairs to be consumed by the waiting demons below.

Hauntingly beautiful music can be heard from within the concert hall, and listening to their song puts you fast asleep— possibly in the middle of the street if you're not careful— while those who manage to make it past the front doors are immediately frozen in a hunk of ice or electrocuted to a crisp before being kicked to the curb. The concert hall appears to be actively guarded, and it's clear that strangers are Not Welcome. Even the other demons keep clear of this building, drawn to the music but lingering far enough to not be overwhelmed. Characters may have an easier time of initiating conversations with demons from around town or inside the houses nearby the concert hall.

The crackle of electricity can be heard from inside the power plant's upper stories despite the blackout, and the entire building shakes from time to time, as if caught in a thunderstorm, or an earthquake. A slow drip... drip... drip... can be heard throughout the building, of amorphous demons clinging to the walls like mold and leaving puddles of caustic acid Everywhere. Anybody who enters the power plant's front entrance is met with a massive agglomerate of black Ooze that has expanded to fill the entire first floor from wall to wall, floor to ceiling, preventing anybody from going upstairs while it remains. Arms and legs poke out of the demon's body in places, desperately clawing and kicking, weaker, weaker. done.

OOC

Welcome to Day 0! What better meet-and-greet is there than everybody being tossed into the fray to fight for their lives? ('': For convenience, here are the game info, locations, and demon compendium pages; please use these as reference for what more can be found in the setting.

The characters' COMP will turn on only after they notice and focus on it. If they do NOT activate the COMP, they will not be able to see the demons or interact with them in any way other than being killed. Activating the COMP will allow characters to see demons and somewhat understand their language, with an added effect of allowing physical attacks to harm demons, and mitigating the damage taken from demons.

For characters who app and are accepted, please report demon recruitment here. Characters who are just tdming do not have to report. Recruited demons are inclined to listen to their summoner, but are not necessarily friendly at the beginning: if your character shows weakness, the demon may be just as likely to eat them as they are to protect them.

There will be no NPCs in this game other than the two navigators and some key demons. You're on your own for now!

This first event/tdm is open to the public, and can be used for test driving at any time after the game starts. I'll be keeping a pulse on threads for when characters have gotten their bearings and seem to have a general idea of how they want to proceed into the next day, and we'll go from there.

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Mm, guess that's fair.

[Shun'ya casts a look at the spooky front of the hospital, his expression more thoughtful than anxious or grim about what lay ahead. Truthfully, he didn't feel particularly strong one way or another about dying in there, or dying out here... if his mentor didn't help bust him out of here from the outside, then Shun'ya only really had those options, huh? Die or... not die, and most of it was probably out of his control, really.

It is what it is, and all that. Anyway, he'd prefer not to die, but supplies were a necessity, and there was safety in numbers, sooooo...]

Alright, Mister M. We'll poke this little bee's nest and see what honey we can pilfer from it. Before that though, an alias for an alias: you can call me Rosie.

[ He nods politely. ]

Sounds perfectly fair to me.

[ Merlin gives the other man a once-over himself. He'd rather not have his new compatriot die on the job, either, else his own chances of escaping relatively unscathed would plummet. Death isn't the worry for him; he figures he'll simply reappear in that same old tower he's been imprisoned in for over a thousand years by now. ]

Well, Rosie. It's always best to take stock of what everyone can and can't do before venturing into buildings unknown. What can you do?

Hm, well... quite a lot of things, before today.

[Shun'ya's voice turns a bit wry, reminded once more of how a lot of his toolkit as a summoner has been brutally nerfed... but hell, he'd trained for such a possibility, so as annoying as it was, it wasn't the end of the world for him. Just inconvenient.]

Usually, I could boast about being a very experienced and accomplished magician, but this place has somehow sealed my spells, rendering all of that useless. It's okay though. I have a gun!

[He unholstered said gun, striking a brief, cheeky pose better suited a cowboy girl idol - complete with a wink!]

Ninety rounds! [He reholsters his gun.] And if that fails, I've got a tanto. When in doubt, stab, as my mentor always says.

[Well, more like, 'if your back is to the wall and all you have is your blade, don't be shy about going for the groin shot - even demons (who have those parts) will be scared off by threat of neutering', but that was a bit of a mouthful.]

[ Merlin brings his free hand to his chin, curling his fingers around it and letting the sleeve of it fall so he can show his COMP wrapped around his wrist for proper. He nods, muttering "I see, I see", a smile on his face all the while. ]

Sounds like we're in the same boat... And it sounds like your mentor's a smart one!

[ "When in doubt, stab." Wise words, wise words indeed.

Merlin's struggling with the nerf life too, probably much more than Shun'ya is, though he doesn't show it. It comes with the territory when your name is practically synonymous with magic. To be stripped of the ability to even cast a single beginner's magecraft spell is...galling, to say the least.

All things said, the other man showed him his gun, so it's only fair for Merlin to explain what he can do as well. ]

Sadly, I don't have anything as impressive as your gun or your tanto, and a mage without his spells isn't anything more than a sorry sight, really. I only have my dashing good looks, my silver tongue, and this sword.

[ He reaches, with his free hand, to the tower-like middle section of his staff to pull out the Western-styled sword sheathed within. He holds it in his hand, firm and confident, for a few moments, before re-sheathing it back into his staff. Then, he twists his arm so the COMP is in view, and turns his gaze toward it. ]

Oh, and I can't forget the help of these fine fae folk I had lovely conversations with and joined me afterwards, either. A Pixie and a Cait Sith, I believe these Phantas—I mean, demons—are called.

[ They look a little different from what he's used to, but faeries are faeries. ]

Just a sword, he says.

[Shun'ya huffed out a half-laugh, contemplating the staff-sword in Merlin's grip. It seemed like he knew what to do with it, at least, so Shun'ya wouldn't have to worry about ducking underneath the panicked flailings of a wizard caught with his magical pants down... that was something, at least.]

Ah, you've got a COMP too... it really does seem like everyone was given one.

[Troubling, since the experience level ranged from 'complete newbie' to experienced devil summoners like him. The only consolation was that most demons around here were weak, so not much damage could be done if recruited but, the downside was, well...

The demons were weak, and Shun'ya had to recruit them too. If only he could summon Tama, or even Cerberus... ugh.]

Do you know how to command demons in battle? If you show any weakness or lack of confidence, they can easily turn on you, y'know. It'd be wise to summon them one at a time if you harbour any reservations, just to be safe.

[ Merlin makes a noncommittal hand gesture, not unlike weighing motions. He's no Master. ]

Somewhat, but I've only had a few runs with them so far. They've been listening to me well enough.

[ It's usually the other way around, taking commands under a summoner instead of doing the commanding. It's not too bad, though. ]

...You won't have to warn me about the danger of these demons. I'm aware that a good number of faeries are creatures that are perfectly capable of tearing a human apart on a whim, limb by limb. They mostly live for the present, as they find little point dwelling on the past or thinking long and hard about the future.

[ They're ageless and think in a way differently than humans do. That's only a matter of course. ]

Edited 2024-09-03 18:22 (UTC)

Huh. Are you... experienced with demons, Mister M?

[Shun'ya's friendliness doesn't falter, but his gaze does become a might shrewd as he re-examines Merlin with renewed interest. If he was a mage, then it was likely he did have dabblings with demons - but in Shun'ya experience, most magicians tended to shun the use of demons - too much time investment, too unreliable - in favour of the far more obedient and versatile spells that magic brought.

Shun'ya was an outlier in that be blended the two disciplines but, rare was it to encounter a mage that actually understood demons beyond "monster that will eat me just because". They didn't care to know the reasons why or their motivations...]

Something like that. Dealing with all sorts of magical non-human beings every now and then comes with the thaumaturge life.

[ Phantasmals, to be specific. But he's not here to expound on that with the "uhm actually". Not today. Maybe some other day. ]

But that's to be expected, isn't it? No surprise that a magical practitioner would run into magical beasties.

Hah, well... where I'm from, magicians try to have as little contact with demons as possible.

[Hm, well, with the exception of shikigami and inugami, but did those really count, when they were such a vital part of a magicians toolkit? They were so disposable and mass-produced nowadays that they were more asset than demon servant...]

The disciplines of devil summoning and onmyōdō tend to remain separate, so... well, nevermind. I suppose it's not really important right now.

[Mister M was passingly familiar with demons and knew how to use a blade - that was all Shun'ya needed to know for now, he supposed. Whether he was secretly a mass-murderer or a demon in disguise, Shun'ya will handle it as those complications arose.]

Any other tricks up your sleeve before we press on, Mister M?

[ The mention of onmyōdō brings to mind, of course, Abe no Seimei, shikigami, and the like, which are not Merlin's wheelhouse but useful information to know. And of course, it would be remiss not to mention the carnivorous muscular monk with a strange penchant for the nude and an even more unfortunate penchant for causing trouble for literally everyone in the same room. ]

Nope! That's all I've got, and all you're getting out of me.

[ He's being (mostly) honest about that too! For once. ]

Now, onwards and inwards, shall we?

Sure. After you, Mister M!

[Shun'ya does a flourishing half-bow, extending an arm in a 'after you!' gesture as he shoots Merlin a wink. Cheeky boy.]

[ ......

......

"Cheeky boy" is exactly what Merlin thinks when Shun'ya does the bow, urging him forward instead of doing it himself. He stares at him, wordlessly, for one moment, two, three, then moves forward, into the hospital. Their adventure is short-lived and fruitless, save for a brief stint of combat or two, but nothing more than that. Still, in a situation like this, getting in and out relatively unharmed and unscathed is as good a victory as any. ]

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[DAY 0] TDM.

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ties a nice neat bow around this thread and pats it