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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A. Train

[Well.

This is new.

She blinks slowly, staring up at the ceiling. She shifts and there's a crunch of glass, making Ruka gasp in shock as pain blooms against her side. Ow. Not great.

She moves the other direction and sits up, frowning as she tries to recall. There wasn't a train on the island, right? But she can't seem to recall how she might've gotten here.

This, at least, isn't surprising. She was becoming depressingly used to not remembering just about anything. K5 on the device on her wrist provides her will little answers, but, you know. Young adult life is already so weird, this might as well happen.

She slowly stands, ignoring the blood that begins to stain her blouse red at the side. It's not important, right now, because what is important is the white mask by her side.

Hey! Don't like that!!] I have half a mind to leave you... [She mutters to the mask. It's beautifully, expertly crafted, the visage of a woman with her eyes closed. Ruka looks like she's holding a ticking bomb, brow furrowed as she stands, looking for something to put the mask in to carry it.

Don't mind the blood it's not important, it's fine]

B. The Concert Hall

[Ruka is perfectly aware that it's not safe. She's also seen too many people get immediately killed upon trying to enter the concert hall, so, much to her obvious great disappointment, Ruka stands far enough away to still catch the strains of music without, hopefully, being directly in harm's way.]

...If that place has a piano, I'd like to try and get in there. It doesn't really seem fair. [Not that anything about this place is 'fair,' but still, Ruka stifles a yawn and looks disappointed.] I wonder if there's a back entrance...

[Ruka no]

C. Housing

[Ruka sits on the porch, on the floor, leaning against the wall of the house. On her lap lays a Cu Sith, who Ruka is lazily petting.

She looks...pale. Like, really pale, and her breathing is a bit labored. But the rest seems to be helping, and Cu Sith stirs when someone starts to approach, growling warningly]

Shh. It's okay. I'm sure they don't mean any harm. [She looks up at whoever is approaching, head tilted a bit in curiosity] Right?

[ The Princess isn't sure exactly what possessed her to stop there. She supposes that she must have wondered why someone was standing there watching that building. Dangerous as it had proven to be, she'd like to think others have sense enough not to keep trying to fight their way in.

When the answer comes, her pale eyebrows twitch together in the smallest hint of puzzlement. A piano must be a very desirable thing, if someone would knowingly march into danger for it. ]

If there was, I doubt it'd be any safer.

[ The monsters — demons, someone had called them — remain, one way or the other.

[Ruka didn’t look at the Princess, eyes still on the building. There’s a soft ‘hmm’ of consideration before she sighs]

Yes. That’s probably true. There has to be a way to fight back…

[Something other than whacking them until they stop moving. She hasn’t tried her camera yet, now that she thinks about it.

She glances and does a double take, both because of the shackle around the other’s neck and the fact that the princess looks very different from people Ruka normally sees. Not in a bad way, she’s quiet pretty, but she might’ve mistaken her for a ghost if she didn’t know better (she knows what ghosts really look like, after all).]

…Are you alright? [She nods at the chain, brow furrowed in concern]

[ The Princess follows her line of sight, pale fingers finding their way to the thick chain dangling from her shackle. ]

I'm used to this, so it doesn't bother me.

[ Lacking a heyhole or mechanism of removal, her only options to remove it would decidedly make things inconvenient for her. She can't necessarily rely on anybody to handle things if she went with that option.

Her eyes don't remain on the chain for long, returning to the building. ]

Maybe we need more power, not that I know where to get it.

[She nods once, though she still looks concerned.] I'm sure we can find something to help with it. [There's gotta be one of those hand saw type things around in some house somewhere to try sawing it open, right? Nevermind that that idea is just as dangerous as anything else. It's something.

She takes a step back, away from the concert hall as she continues] Is your skin okay? Underneath the-- ['Collar' doesn't feel right to say, so Ruka just makes a vague gesture around her own throat] If it's raw or hurting, we can get something on it. Something between the metal and your skin.

[She glances in the direction of the hall and then turns away from it, thoughtful] We'd need a small army, I think...

[ It's the first time someone has been this concerned about her shackle. At first, the Princess stares, if only for a short moment. Should it hurt, would it hurt if it was someone else? Her expression smooths out in the next moment, like she'd run a hand over a rumpled sheet to straighten it.

She then lifts her shackle ever so slightly, for it's as far as she can move it, not that she can see the skin there. But she does feel at it with her other hand, finding the fair skin unbroken. ]

It's fine, I think.

[ She gives her assessment, letting the metal fall back into place with a rattle of that overlarge chain. ]

Where that building's concerned, greater numbers might help. But some of the others... They seem to have been weakened, somehow.

[ She has too, but she won't so easily admit it. ]

[She nods, relieved.] At least you're not hurt. [This isn't the greatest place to be without medical help, so if the skin had broken and gotten infected... Ruka can't even begin to think of what they could do.

Unlike the Princess, Ruka has no problem admitting weakness here. She nods again] It's the music. Something in it resonates with the soul and the mind... It makes you sleepy. If we try to get closer, we'll just fall asleep. Then one of those-- things will just eat us, I guess.

['Spirits' doesn't feel like the right word. The watch had called them 'demons' but she wasn't sure if she was comfortable with admitting that to herself yet.] If I had a piano I could maybe try to counter it, but... Right now I'm not sure what to do. Ear plugs, maybe?

[ Drowning out the sound might be an option, if they had the means. The Princess isn't sure how they'd produce that sort of noise, but it's got promise. If they interrupted or changed the nature of that song, it should affect how it works against them.

Without the means, though, they'd have difficulties. She folds her arms, frowning at the building thoughtfully. ]

...What is a piano, exactly?

[ There's one in there, present company could make use of one, if only they had it. ]

Ruka Minazuki | Fatal Frame 4

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