Intro log: Welcome to The Resort!

[foundationmods]

INTRO LOG

Before you even open your eyes, you can tell something is not right. It's cold. Not quite unbearably so, but cold enough that you can take notice of it. And as soon as you open your eyes, you will be able to see why it's so cold: you're in the middle of a snowy forest, with only a single two-lane road cutting through the thick trees.

Unfortunately, you seem to be without transportation. Fortunately, you are wearing warm clothes and snow gear, so freezing isn't an immediate problem. But without transportation, you're in for a long walk ahead of you.

There are others around as well. Other people, just as lost and confused as you are. Everyone seems to be lacking any memory that might explain why everyone is here. As far as anyone knows, all of you were just ripped out of your previous lives and dumped here on this snowy road, wearing snow gear and having any items that are important to you already on hand. And for some of you, you even have a new power, one that you somehow instantly know how to use...

Two ways to go: forward and back. Despite having no indication of which way is the 'right' way, you feel drawn towards one direction in particular. Going 'back' is possible, but you get the feeling that you will be even more lost if you try. And given that you have no food or water on you, it's best to keep moving forward.

So, are you ready to walk? Because you have a long road ahead of you.



((Welcome to The Resort! Your characters will have any objects or animals with them that they should have given their canon point, but are dressed in cold weather clothing.

This prompt is just the first part of the intro log. New top-levels will go up over the course of the weekend as everyone progresses from 'where the hell am I?' to the resort proper, and to getting settled in. For now, just start with this prompt. We'll link further updates here for easy access.))

Comments

[relentlesslyonwards]

[Ah. Maybe it's a small comfort to know that he isn't the only one who's disoriented in this situation, but he'd honestly prefer the alternative. He shakes his head in response to Inaba's question.]

Sorry. I think your guess is as good as mine at this point. I can tell you that this doesn't look like any of the roads near Ymir though, so we can cross that off our list. [Unfortunately. At least if they were dumped there, he could guide everyone back to town, but...]

[dereban]

It's fine.

[ She raises her hands a little apologetically, but then there's a bit of confusion that settles in her expression.

Uh. ]

... Ymir? [ psyduck.jpg ] Where's that?

[relentlesslyonwards]

[Ah, whoops. There's a bit of sheepishness in his smile as he responds.]

It's a small town up by the Eisengard Range. We don't get that many visitors, so I'm not surprised you haven't heard of it. But it was the first place that came to mind when I woke up half in the snow.

[dereban]

I. . . understood nothing of that. What country is in?

[relentlesslyonwards]

[........uh... hm. Are they really that far from home? Either way, he just scratches the back of his head a little awkwardly.]

O-oh. It's in Erebonia, up near the north. [But surely she's heard of the largest country on the continent, right...?!]

[dereban]

Erebonia?

[ Inaba will continue to make confused faces until things make sense. They won't ever make sense. ]

Is that like... Europe?

[relentlesslyonwards]

[rip this is just their life now.]

I'm... kind of getting the feeling that we're not on the same page here. Europe doesn't ring a bell to me either, and I doubt most people would miss the name of one of the continent's biggest superpowers.

[He scratches his head.]

...Not that I really know where I'm going with this. [sigh.]

[dereban]

... Looks like it.

[ She sighs for a moment, heavy, the gears in her brain already working on theories and she just doesn't like them. ] I assume that you don't recognize the country of "Japan", either?

[relentlesslyonwards]

No, I've never heard of it.

[Although if she looks around him a little to see what he's carrying in his left hand... it's a conspicuously Japanese-style sword resting in its sheath. Huh.]

[dereban]

Huh.

[ . . . just going to file that for later. Both the fact that he's never heard of it and that he has a Japanese-style sword. For now, she just waves her hand dismissively. ]

Don't worry about it then. I'm sure we'll figure out what's going on in regards to where we are. By the way. Is that sword real?

[relentlesslyonwards]

Yeah. With this many of us here, we'll manage something.

[Cautious optimism is a go! And besides, it's not like they can figure out much as they are now, anyways. Better to just move on to the next topic, which is apparently his sword. At her question, he holds it up so she can take a closer look if she wants.]

This? Yeah, it is. [And with his right hand, he slowly draws it out about an inch out of the sheath; enough to get a glimpse of the blade, but not enough to come off as threatening.] I'm far from what you'd call a master, but I can probably manage enough to defend at least a few of us if something comes our way.

[dereban]

I hope so.

[ She's also trying to be cautiously optimistic herself, even though she's definitely a lot more on the pessimistic side. While Inaba does peer at it a bit, curious, she tries not to get too close, if only because.

Uh.

Swords. ]

Hopefully that won't happen at all, though.

[relentlesslyonwards]

...Well, I can't disagree with you there. It's not like we need any more trouble on top of whatever we already have.

[He's pretty used to finding monsters out and about on the highways, after all. Still, there's no reason to dwell on it, particularly since he doesn't sense anything else aside from the rest of the people who were dumped here. So with that thought in mind, he slides the sword back into its sheath with a light click and rests his free hand on his hip.]

Anyways, we're all in this together, so I think it'd be good to get the introductions out of the way before we get too far ahead of ourselves. So with that said... I'm Rean Schwarzer.

[dereban]

Defintely not.

[ Inaba won't admit to being unable to protect herself in the worst case scenario, even if she did learn some pro wrestling moves that she used on Gotou - her homeroom teacher and club advisor - in the past.

Maybe she should have had Yui teach her some self defense...

There's a bit of a sigh before she wears what seems to be a tired smile, however. ]

Guess so, huh. Calling each other "hey, you" the whole time when we're all in the same predicament would be kind of a problem. In spite of the circumstances, I guess it's nice to meet you. I'm Inaba Himeko.

[relentlesslyonwards]

The pleasure's mine, Inaba. [There's a nod to go with that, though his expression quickly shifts to something thoughtful.]

Actually, this is probably going to sound weird after what we just talked about, but... your name kind of sounds like one you'd find over in the East.

[Wait, she has no context for that. He just scratches the back of head a little awkwardly.]

N-never mind. That probably doesn't make much sense at all, huh.

[dereban]

It's true that it sounds weird, but... maybe you can tell me what the East is like?

[ It's better to talk about something and learn something new instead of just sitting in the dark about it the whole time. ]

[relentlesslyonwards]

Well... honestly, I only really know of what I learned from my Master. But I can tell you that the sword style I use is based off a mix of other styles used in the East.

[dereban]

I mean, even if it's just hearsay, I'd like to at least hear about it? I mean... your sword kind of looks like the kind of thing I'd see back home.

[relentlesslyonwards]

Huh, really?

[That's... he's not sure if that's weird or somewhat reassuring. But if that's the case, it probably would be best to speak up. Maybe they actually did have a common thread somewhere?]

Well, I do know their writing system's pretty different compared to ours. Rather than letters, they use single characters that each represent a word, although sometimes those characters can mean more than one thing, too. But it's not really common to hear it spoken in Erebonia, so I can't really comment on that part.

[dereban]

Huh...

I know back home the English alphabet is pretty different than the Japanese one, although the Japanese alphabet uses three sets of characters-- hiragana, katakana, and kanji. I should have an notebook and pencil to write with in my bag-- do you want me to show you some?

[relentlesslyonwards]

[Hrm. Honestly that brings into question how they're communicating right now but--

He nods his head.]

Sure. And if we want to compare, I can write down what I'm used to using too.

[dereban]

[ Inaba reaches into her schoolbag to take out her notes and a pencil as she opens to a blank page and quickly jots down the basic Japanese alphabet (in hiragana and katakana) and then writes down the following random characters:

雪 (snow) 木 (tree) and 道 (road) ]

That should do it? [ The Japanese text does not get translated, however! ] You can write down something so we can compare.

[relentlesslyonwards]

[He hasn't seen kana before, so his eyes are automatically drawn more to the kanji. And while he can't really read them, he's seen enough calligraphy to recognize some of the radicals, eyes widening slightly at the sight. Before he's able to say anything though, Inaba speaks up.]

R-right. [So he takes the pencil and writes out 'Rean Schwarzer' in what's basically the Latin alphabet and takes a step back when he finishes.]

...Yeah, there's no doubt about it. Those are the characters they use in the East. But how...? [Do they both just really suck at geography......?!]

[dereban]

Ohh, so that's how your name's written.

[ Inaba can actually read it without any issue, because she's actually pretty fluent in English, surprisingly. If only because English forum boards are a lot more useful when it comes to learning about computers and technology. ]

Nnnnno idea. Parallel worlds? Time travel? [ She does not want to even consider this, but here we are, apparently. ] I mean, I could probably show you a map of Japan on my cell phone-- I think Google maps should kind of work offline?

[relentlesslyonwards]

I guess I shouldn't be surprised you can read it, huh.

[Considering he recognized her Japanese characters... This is honestly a bit of a headache. He looks over at the mention of her cell phone though, some mild confusion on his features. wtf is google maps...]

Oh... sure. I should be able to recognize that much.