ROUND 3 INTRO LOG

[foundationmods]

Welcome to The Island. The Witch extends her greetings to you on this fine day, and is pleased to finally begin the game. Please, take a seat.

Though this game may be more difficult than originally expected, there are high hopes placed upon you. Fight well against what awaits you in order to reach a truly sparkling end.

The difficulty level is challenging, but also depends on you. Think deeply on your moves as you play.

You wake with a start - even if you don't remember falling asleep in the first place - and find yourself standing on the dock of what looks like an island. There's a noise behind you - and if you turn to look, you'll see a plain white boat taking off and leaving you all behind, not stopping for a second if you try to flag them down or scream at them.

It doesn't look like you can swim to shore, either - there's nothing but sea in all directions, and something tells you trying to swim out will end up badly. However, a small dip, if you were so inclined, would be fine. It's not like the weather is bad for it - it feels like it's summer, despite it having been firmly springish at the Foundation.

...Speaking of, what happened? The last thing you remember is being...wherever you were, and then seeing a yellow bird come towards you. Perhaps it was in the corner of your eye, or landed on your shoulder...regardless, all of you saw the bird before you were whisked away to this strange island.

Is it a new SCP? Something like this isn't outside the realm of their abilities, after all.

And there's something else. Your abilities are blocked, beyond those natural to your body. Try as you might, you just can't use any of your more supernatural or superhuman skills - though all of your physical abilities are intact, of course.

There is also a...letter? on your person, as if it was there all along - in your pocket or in your hand. It is...a remarkably plain envelope, and even the letter itself is plain parchment.

It reads:

'To the players in this game,

First and foremost, let me begin with an apology: for many of you, this is not a good time to bring you here, and forcing you to play in this game instead of asking nicely is quite rude of me. For that, you have my apologies.

However, as you will soon find out, this game is quite necessary. I hand-picked all of you because I felt you were the best for this task, strange circumstances notwithstanding, and I am sure you will excel beyond even my expectations. Please give me some consideration and play this game to your best efforts. Success will be greatly rewarded.

I will be watching, and I will intervene if needed. But I think all of you are up to this task. I am in your debt for this.

- The Witch of ██████████'

...hm.

If you decide to head up the path, you'll find Goat....men? waiting for you near the doors to the mansion. Despite their bright red eyes, they merely bow politely and wordlessly bring you into the mansion, showing you your rooms and then stating that they will prepare food for you or anything else you should need whenever you want, in surprisingly deep voices.

As they leave, you can't help but wonder...

Where are you now?

Round Calendar!
Vote for investigation times for the round

Comments

[fullbodied]

Not a clue.

[she shakes her head, and rubs her arms lightly, a worried look on her face. But she catches herself, and tries to look reassuring a moment later.]

I'm sure we'll get a clue or something soon, though. Maybe we'll find it ourself through some old fashioned detective work.

[excavated]

[ Being the observant person that he is, the worry that traces her expression doesn't escape Syaoran's eyes, but he opts to just relax his shoulders a bit, wearing a rather thin smile, even if he seems to keep his calm demeanor. ] I hope so. If we have to some detective work, I'd guess that our best bet would be... [ His words trail a bit as he glances down the path. ] That way, probably. And maybe we'll find some someone that does know.

[fullbodied]

A smart deduction.

[much cheerier this time.]

Let's take a look, then. I'm Ann Takamaki, by the way.

[excavated]

I wouldn't say it's much of one, really. [ Maybe he's being humble, but he doesn't really think it's worth saying that it's smart, given how simple it was for that to click. ] Yeah. [ But then she introduces herself, and that causes him to pause, just slightly. ] I'm Syaoran. Li Syaoran. We might be on a strange island under weird circumstances... [ He then bows politely from the waist. ] ... but it's nice to meet you regardless, Takamaki-san.

[fullbodied]

[so polite. Ann just offers a polite bow in return.]

It's nice to meet you too. This whole situation's bullshit, so we've gotta stick together where we can.

And I mean the whole situation. Anyway, let's go, Syaoran. Let's investigate.

[excavated]

[ "This whole situation's bullshit," huh. It makes him wonder if she knows more about what might be happening here than he does, just a little. It might not be in regards to how they got here, but rather... something bigger. Nevertheless, he nods in response, lips forming a thin, serious line. ] Alright. I'll let you lead the way. [ Just in case it gets dangerous. While he might not have access to magic in this space, that doesn't mean he isn't an abled fighter. ]

[fullbodied]

[she doesn't mind leading. She pulls off her jacket, going down to just her dress. She flips the jacket over her shoulder.]

Follow me! I may not be able to heal right now, but if you find a whip, toss it my way, okay?

[excavated]

[ Syaoran nods in response, preparing himself. ] I will. And I'll watch your back, just in case. [ It's the least he can do. He'll definitely keep his eyes peeled for not only a whip, but for anything in particular, in the off chance that they find anything else that they might find useful. ]

[fullbodied]

[as they go further, she goes to a complete stop.]

... Oh my god.

[staring at the goatmen.]

This is definitely an SCP. Shit.

[excavated]

[ When she stops, he does so as well, noticing the good amount of goat men that stand in front of the door to the mansion. While he might be new to the whole 'Foundation' thing and have many questions-- ]

Are you sure...?

[ Syaoran asks in a way that's a little skeptical. ]

[fullbodied]

Yeah.

Things like this don't happen normally in the Foundation's world. [as if she's used to explaining this?]

Uggggghhhhh, great. [she wants to pull her pigtails out.] And I can't hear Hecate at all.

[excavated]

Even if things like this don't happen normally in this world, that doesn't mean that we should immediately assume that it's specifically that. Are we even sure that we're in the same world that we were in previously?

[ Syaoran's words are serious, but he seems to keep his cool in spite of a potential adversary. ]

... Hecate? That's a goddess' name, isn't it?

[ Look at this fucking nerd. ]

[fullbodied]

That's usually how it goes, though. It'd still be considered an SCP-- especially since it just pulled us to who knows where.

[but they don't seem to be attacking, so Ann plays it cool.]

And yeah, that is. But Hecate is also my persona. She's how I heal or use magic.

[excavated]

If that's how it works in that world, then yes. I still think that we should put aside any previous assumptions if we're going to figure things. Otherwise we might make mistakes. [ That's how he sees things, anyway. ] I see. I don't know what a Persona is, but-- I can't access any of my magic, either. It seems that someone might be blocking our abilities, which means that whatever or whoever this is... is very powerful.

[fullbodied]

[no comment on how powerful the person, this "witch" is. Ann wouldn't know how to begin to quantify it.]

Okay, well right now... they look friendly enough. Just a bunch of goat men. Niiiiice goatmen. They're... basically waving us inside.

[excavated]

Do you think that means it's safe to go inside?

[fullbodied]

I dunno. It might be? But I don't see much of an other option.

[excavated]

That's true. Things at least don't seem to be dangerous so far, though.

[fullbodied]

Yeah, it seems that way.

By the way, did you just finish your intake interview...?

[she's heading inside.]

[excavated]

Yeah. Just a few minutes before I showed up on this island.

[ He'll follow her in, keeping his voice even as he answers her question. ]

[fullbodied]

Man, that sucks. I'm sorry. Normally, there's some training before the weird stuff goes down. But guess we're all here now.

There's usually a lot of bullshit, even doing this normally.

[excavated]

There's nothing to apologize about. Even if it's strange, I can handle it. It isn't as if I haven't experienced weird things before, after all.

[fullbodied]

It's not about experiencing the weird things, though.

It's about being basically forced to do it by some shady organization that just up and stole you from your home.

[excavated]

... Can you tell me why exactly you think that they're shady? [ While it's true that he had his doubts, when he had the interview, they practically spelled it out for him that whatever they were doing? They were doing it to help this world. That's why he readily agreed. And that's why he decided to get himself involved. But he still doesn't know much. Which is why information is important. ] I don't exactly have a home to return to myself, [ for reasons he's leaving unspoken ] so I'd like to hear your thoughts.

[fullbodied]

Because anyone that's doing something out of the goodness of their hearts doesn't keep stealing people and forcing them to work for them.

[she's adamant about this point.]

I almost refused, then they made it clear I didn't have much of a choice.

I've also heard that not every SCP is dangerous-- but they only ever send us to deal with the dangerous ones.