A New Platform [Intro Post March]

[voidtreckermods]

On the Train

Once again passengers are awoken by the morning announcement.

"Good morning passengers, it is day One of the month of Kazoo. Points have been updated on the system."

They have indeed, and everyone can spend the morning shopping. Those who have been on the train for a while will also be expecting the second announcement that comes a few hours later.

"Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." A lurch and a jolt and the windows fill with the fog that means they are at a platform. The fog is thick, the air is warm and humid and there are rumbles of thunder, the air heavy with the promise of rain.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing as they walk silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers: Alfredo Martini, Daia, Enna Alchiba, Lord El-Melloi II, Natsuno Yuuki, Nita Callahan, Saku Gyousou, Sakura, V and Wen Qing

But on the platform itself there are new faces. Wearing hoodies in all four colours, in various states of confusion.

For New Passengers

At first all they can see is steam, billowing around them as they come to their senses. As their eyes adjust, they will see they are on a platform, glass and dark stone rising in sturdy arches around them. Behind them is a set of barriers, and in front of them is a single track extending both ways into thick fog.

They are standing, in clothes that are not their own and a style they might not even recognise. They are carrying a rucksack on their back. For a moment it seems to just be them, alone in the white haze; then the steam begins to fade and they realise they aren’t alone.

The platform is not large, and seems smaller with twenty-seven figures scattered around. All facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. To both the left and right, tracks disappear into the mist.

A roaring sound, and out of the fog arrives a train. Jet black with gold writing on the side. The Voidtrecker Express. There is a hiss as the doors slide open and out step a strange assortment of people. Some are human, some are less so. Most are wearing the same hoodie in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple, though some are sporting different clothes in a variety of styles.

The Train

After a short time, the doors hiss open again. Those from the train may encourage those on the platform to board. It’s not like there's anywhere else to go and even if there was, you feel a pull. A need to board, a feeling that staying on the platform would lead to something terrible. If that is not enough, there are plenty of people on the platform now, to encourage them onto the train.

Each ICP shows the same message and next to the screens there are stacks of leaflets written by those on the train, with further information (see
'Publications'). Those not new to the train will note the addition of an eighth sleeper carriage. The store rooms have been restocked with fresh ingredients, it seems the month of Kazoo is defined by the tomato and there are plenty of them.

For passengers that have bought items, these are also scattered around the luggage carriage in various suitcases and bags.

New passengers will find their ticket allows them into their cabins. They may need to negotiate for beds, especially if they want a top bunk!

Room is tight but there are storage cubbies at the head of each bed, beds fold up and the bottom bunks double as benches for the small table. There is storage under those benches full of spare blankets and pillows.

Departure

A second horn sounds to encourage any stragglers as thunder rumbles further and the storm threatens to break. The doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, but they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train sets off, the fog obscuring the view again as it picks up speed.

"Welcome aboard, passengers of the Voidtrecker Express." A female-coded artificial sounding voice echoes throughout the train. "Please take the time to read the passenger information displayed on the Information and Communication points and familiarise yourself with the layout and emergency exits."

The train begins to tilt, leaving the ground and rising up into the fog-filled sky.

"Entrance into Voidspace imminent. New passengers are advised to remain seated. Entry into Voidspace in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

A shudder, a jolt, a lurch to the left. A flash of light, colourful and blinding. As quick as it happens it is done. The train seems to steady itself. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever-changing colours.

Welcome to the Void!

Comments

Ea-nasir (Caster)

[shitcopper]

[ Arrival ]

As the steam begins to fade, a woman of indeterminable age, clad in an orange hoodie, scans the crowded train station.

Caster doesn't know what's going on, but she's trying to reason it out. Too many people for a Holy Grail War, even a Great one. The hoodies, the train, those don't match up either. And, most importantly.... she doesn't feel the presence of her Master or her mana.

She wouldn't last long without mana. She'd have to get working on that sooner rather than later. But she could afford to figure out what was going on first.

With that in mind, she approaches the first person she sees, all smiles that don't quite meet her eyes. "Hey there! You wouldn't mind answering a few questions, wouldja?"


[ Sleeper One, Cabin C - Roommates ]

The first thing she does aboard the train is find her supposed room, as advertised on her ticket. She is decidedly unpleased to find that "Ea-nasir" is written on the door outside of it. Just spill all the secrets, why don't you?

She opens the door and makes her way in without any further hassle. She doesn't knock - why knock when this is her room? Simply heads inside, shooting a grin at whoever might be inside already. "Hey there. I take it you're my roomie?"

[ Roommate Alternate ]

Or maybe your character enters later while Ea-nasir is getting settled in? In which case, there are a number of clay or stone tablets - less than a foot high usually, but a fair number of them are there - with cuneiform writing, all spread out on one of the beds. Ea-nasir is in the middle of shoving them into the storage space she's been given, or into the storage space used for spare bedding.

She glances up. "Ah, you caught me at a bad time. Just putting away my luggage!" She doesn't stop what she's doing, though.

Further glancing at the tablets will reveal that they are all letters of complaint about a merchant ripping them off in some way. A merchant named Ea-nasir. Please don't read too much into it.


[ Dressing Car -> Triage ]

Caster chooses a spot she thinks she won't be interrupted in for this. And this car, full of spiderwebs and junk, seems like the perfect place. Who'd interrupt her in the middle of a place built for giant spiders?

She pulls mana from her body, spinning it into shape using Item Creation. After a few moments, a sheet of silk pops into existence in her hand.

And then she feels faint, leaning back against the wall. That took more out of her than she'd like to admit. She needs more mana, and she needs it soon.

Decidedly more pale than usual, she staggers out of the Dressing Car and into the next, looking for a way to refill her preciously falling mana. She's going to insult the first person she sees, but let's see who that is first.


[ Wildcard ]

After getting her fill of mana, she can be found exploring the train, poking her head around, fiddling with things, making herself a nuisance. Where do you find her?

Roommate Alternate

[tactlesstantei]

[Arriving back at 1-C, the first thing Masumi does is look at the little list of room occupants by the door in case there's someone new.

Then she double takes, because that's a name she remembers seeing mentioned in a museum before. Still, you never know with this place, so she decides it could be a coincidence and heads in...

...Only to see a bunch of cuneiform tablets. Yup, this is already getting weird.]

So, you're Ea-nasir? My name's Masumi, nice to meet you. [Hey, no reason not to be friendly here.]

[shitcopper]

Ea-nasir packs up one more tablet, setting it in between some spare sheets, before replying. "Yep, that's me. In the flesh. Have to say, not a fan of this place giving away the game quite so easily, but whatcha gonna do, right?"

She turns a grin towards Masumi. Not a bad one. Ea-nasir can be genuinely friendly when she wants to be.

"Nice to meet you too. Tell me, though, does the phrase Mage Society mean anything to you? Holy Grail?" She's trying to feel out just who Masumi is, and finding out how involved she is is step number one.

[tactlesstantei]

This place does have a habit of using names people would rather not use. Is there something you'd rather be called? [While she won't name names, she is aware that the train tends to use people's real names.

The questions do get her interest, mainly because Masumi's the curious type and wants to know what Mage Society is now that it's been mentioned.]

Nope. My world doesn't have magic or anything like that. Are those important where you're from?

[shitcopper]

Most normal people don't know magic exists. Been that way since the Age of Man started. Well, it's all magecraft anyway, not true magic. Just trying to get a figure for where you stand in that.

[ In other words, you've been designated a normie. Not that that's terrible. Harker was a normie, and Harker could kill most mages with the invincible power of a baseball bat.

But back to the main point at hand. ] You can call me Ea-nasir. Call me Caster if we ever need to hide who I am though, yeah? Facing enemies. Something like that, I don't know what the heck to expect here.

ARRIVAL....

[philosopherspotato]

The first person Caster sees is either frigid-hoppy 'I'm not scared YOURE SCARED' Potato from the front, or a really odd lumpy shape (that'd be her tail) from behind.

Either way, the little homunculus sort of keeps vibrating for a second or so, before it registers what she just heard. Or rather, who she just heard. "Eh-"

IT'S....SAFETY!

"AAAAAH! CAAAAAAASTER!!!!"

Immediately, Potato launches over to try and latch onto the other's waist and/or leg. "CASTERIT'SALLFOGGYWEBROKETHEGRAILTOOMUCHTHISISTHEWORSTISEKAIENDING..!!"

That was probably (definitely) too fast to parse out, but at least she seems relieved to see the other? ...Or maybe not, that's tears. "Uhhuuuuu...it feels like we'll get spooky jump scares any minute..!!"

She's not really clued into the fact that none have happened just yet.

[shitcopper]

Ah. A potato. Her best customer, loyal ally, easy mark.

"Calm down there, Potato. What's got you so frazzled? If this is connected to the Grail, well, a little overtime never hurt anyone much."

Except Harker. She was hurt a lot by overtime and then hurt a lot of people back. Best not mention that.

[philosopherspotato]

Truly, the best things come in small packages.

That aside. "But I don't even know if it is..! I thought we won, but now it's all foggy and spooky and-" And.

Annnnnd naturally she's grown a bit distracted by something. Something orange. Something familiar orange, to the point where for a bewildered second she just sort of stares upward with somewhat puffy eyes before looking down at the sweater she has on.

All fear has been forgotten.

Potato looks up, starstruck. "...Caster...we match..."

[shitcopper]

Ahahaha, this is definitely a thing now. Why are they wearing matching colors? Were they being designated a pair? Looking around.... no, there were other colors but also more orange.

"We sure do. Funny, isn't it?" A beat. "I have to say though, orange? Not really my color. Looks great on you though. Real nice." Note to self. Sell her something orange later.

The important thing was that this distracted Potato from potato panicking.

Arrival

[fightcreamsundae]

The person that Caster approached had cat ears and a little lion tail, hair and fur as red as bing cherries, the little tuft of fur at the end of her tail black. She seems to be rather comfortable here, maybe a little confused, but there's confidence to her that she's not lost as to what's going on despite being on the platform alongside Caster.

At the prompt Cherry turned to Caster with a smile that not just met her eyes, but illuminated them. Ears relaxed to show her comfort with whatever the hell was happening, an indomitable cheer that a new friend was about to be made.

"Not at all! What are your questions??"

Re: Arrival

[shitcopper]

Oh good, somebody cooperative. And a catgirl? Just like Rider. Except not Rider, which was strange, but not worth commenting on yet.

"First question, where the heck are we? Second question, why are we here? Third question, what currency do we use here?"

Those seemed like the most important questions to get answered right away. Hopefully this person has something to share. If not, well, it demonstrated that Caster was also new. Could help form some sort of. Comradery. That she could exploit later.

[fightcreamsundae]

Cherry gave the other girl her full attention while she asked her questions, even so much as her ears were forward and didn't turn to listen to the sounds around them. These were questions Cherry could very easily answer!

"So firstly we're on a platform for a train called the Voidtrecker Express! If you want something more specific than that: I don't know!!" She shrugged good-naturedly. "Secondly? We're here to do missions! We help people!!" Cherry's very happy as she says this, like it's the thing she wants to do most. "And currency... Well, the train has what's called points? And you can use points to buy things from the shop. I'm not sure how you earn them, though." She rubs the back of her head as she expressed her uncertainty on how to earn points, but she bounces back from it.

"Um, I'm Siobahn Chereshei." She offered a hand. "I go by Cherry, though."

[shitcopper]

"We do 'missions,' huh? Bold to contract me for that. I hope they can afford my rates." Mercenary work is so beneath Caster. She's a merchant.

Well, she might have a little experience in fighting supernatural threats. And saving the world. And people. But it was going to be expensive.

She takes the offered hand, though. "Caster. And I go by Caster." Yes, that's a class, not a name. Don't blame her that's just how these things work.

Dressing Car > Triage

[chocobosnap]

Prompto wasn't in the area for a particular reason, it just stood to reason that he was trying to figure out what was on the train and figure out what he was doing there.

He was probably giving off a nervous, uneasy energy, but surely she couldn't insult him, could she?

[shitcopper]

Oh, what a perfect-looking schmuck! And with such perfect timing!

A lady kind of limps into sight, locking eyes with Prompto. "Holy cow, what's up with that hair! Did you take a dip in a glue vat this morning?"

She just needs a pick-me-up. Such quick and petty insults are usually beneath her, but at the same time, she isn't above anything when push comes to shove.

[chocobosnap]

Prompto saw her approaching but what she said was..not what he was expecting.

"Huh?" He blinked in confusion. What was happening right now?

Triage!

[fun_thementalist]

Gen had been making his way toward the luggage car - he had very important packages to pick up! - when he saw Caster stumbling out of the dressing carriage, and moved before he really thought.

And really, he should think. Gen was very, very squishy. Most people on this train were stronger than he was. Many of them seemed to be kidnapped specifically because they were very good at fighting and violence and - one thing someone did not do, was suddenly grab someone used to that.

But no, Gen saw someone stumble, so his first reaction was to try and steady them, catch them if they looked like they were falling. Gen also reflexively asked, "Are you all right, my dear?"

[shitcopper]

Thankfully for Gen's continued health, Caster is a lover, not a fighter. Actually she's not much of a lover, but it's hard to replace 'lover' with 'shady merchant' in the phrase and have it sound nearly as good.

Unthankfully, she is that. "Oh my! Are you trying to get a feel? I'm flattered, but that's a crime, you know?"

[fun_thementalist]

And just as lucky for Caster - Gen recognized a fellow troll when he saw one. Or at least once they started to swindle.

His eyes twinkled, amused, and he lamented with false regret, “Ah, my dear, a beauty like you likely attracts so many admirers - you likely have to contend with wandering hands often.”

Releasing her, he spun away with a dancer’s flourish, and then bowed dramatically. “But I’m a taken man, and for all of your lovely assets - I doubt you can quite compete. I hope you’ll live with the disappointment.”

Gen winked, giving a clear signal that the last sentence was meant in good fun, his lips quirked upward in a sly grin.

Roommates!!!!

[theimpatientone]

Merwen looks up as the door opens, her expression faintly turning into surprise to see an unfamiliar face. Well. The fourth bunk is no longer empty.

She is also naked, and is entirely unembarrassed about this. She extends a webbed hand in greeting. "I am one who shares this place, yes. There are two others. Welcome. I'm Merwen the Impatient One."

[shitcopper]

Ea-nasir looks respectfully... but maybe a little longer than needed. Look, this isn't exactly usual for her okay?

She resolves herself though. There are other cultures like this, she knows from the Throne of Heroes, and this woman is obviously not quite a normal human. Atlantean maybe?

She takes the offered hand. Hope that was for a handshake. "I go by Caster, the Caster." She pauses for a beat. "You'll find out shortly that my true name is Ea-nasir, though. Rather rude of this place's spoiler policies, but it is what it is."

[theimpatientone]

A handshake is close enough. Merwen clasps Ea-nasir's hand in both of hers, with a warm squeeze. "You prefer to be called Caster, then? I'll call you Caster, if that's what you like best."

She gestures to one of the upper bunks. "That is the bed not currently taken, so it would be yours now, if it suits you." She hopes so, switching beds at this point might result in disagreements.

Another roommate alternate

[knifewithnoname]

Eight carriages now, though the eighth only seemed to have one room occupied. Still it was one more corridor to walk down. This train was stupid big.

She arrived at her room and glanced at the screen. Ea-nasir. She scanned her ticket and entered the room, looking at her new roommate and all the clay tablets.

"You did be bringing this many things?"

That was her first question, most people only brought one thing and so this was immediately interesting. She remembered her manners a moment later.

"Be being welcome."

[shitcopper]

So this was roommate number three. Teenage girl, adult naked ocean woman, and now a little girl. Well, props for diversity. No men, but she could live with that.

"These guys just don't want to leave my side, what can I say." That was a non-answer, but she wasn't about to disclose her greatest weakness on day one. "I'm guessing most people here don't arrive with much of their own, huh?"

Which made sense. Only one of her things was in that pack that she had. The rest were bad clothes, mostly.

[knifewithnoname]

"No." She shook her head. "Most people do be having one thing and then all the clothes."

Which were the same for everyone, bar size and colour. She moved close to one of the tablets to examine it, though her approach was cautious.

Then again if the woman wanted her things private she could not spread them out all over the room. She wrinkled her nose as she began to read one.