voidtreckerexpress | A New Platform [Intro Post March]

A New Platform [Intro Post March]

PLATFORM STOP: MONTH 17
(QUICKSAND)

BEFORE ARRIVAL

"Good morning Voidtreckers, it is day 1 of the month of Quicksand. Points have been updated on the system."
The voice of the Voidtrecker Express welcomes passengers at the same time as always, sometime after breakfast. With points updated, everyone can spend the morning shopping. Most people will be expecting the second announcement that comes a few hours later, as the colours of the void outside the windows blur more and more.

"Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. The weather is cold and damp. 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.

ON THE PLATFORM

1. THE ARRIVAL

At first, all your character can see is steam billowing around them as they come to their senses. But as their eyes adjust, they find themselves on a platform.
It is cold, a slush of ice and rain on the ground underneath their feet. It's not currently raining though. The platform is made of black cobbles, slippy under their feet, dark stone gates serving as barriers giving the impression of a severe and grim place.

They stand in clothes not their own, in a style they might not even recognise. They're carrying a rucksack on their person, and for a moment it seems to just be them, alone on this platform. Before the fog starts to subside, and they'll see they're one of eleven figures: all facing the tracks, and all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies, the latter in one of four colours. Purple, red, blue or orange.

But then there's a roaring sound to get their attention, and out from the fog arrives a train. A sleek black, it it reads The Voidtrecker Express in gold lettering on the side. Every one of the doors hiss as they open automatically, and out pours a strange assortment of people, over a hundred at least. Some are human, some less so, with a majority wearing the same hoodie of four colours as they do, though some sport outfits in a variety of styles.

The train doors close behind them, and the vehicle is cloaked in the same fog that hides the world beyond the platform. A group of people head towards the gates of the platform, their expressions blank and unaffected by their surroundings. Ansem, Connor, Curufin, Elle Days, Freddy Fazbear, Margulis, Murderbot, Potato, Vexen, Will Stanton and Yota They disappear through the barriers, but no one else can - all people can do is wait until the train re-emerges, finishing whatever changes it's making.

2. BOARDING THE TRAIN

After a short time, perhaps ten minutes or so, the fog clears and the doors hiss open again. Everyone will feel a pull when they do, a need to board, and those from the train may encourage new arrivals to board. This feeling grows into one of apprehension and turns worse the longer they stay off-board.

For those that do board, they may find themselves in a few different carriages, but most likely the standard coach. A row of seats sit available, with a few tables between each. More likely than not, some cookies have been set out with jugs of drink, and cups available for pouring.

For those that don't, however, they're likely to attract attention if they're spotted. And if that fails... an unfortunate end will await them.

3. DEPARTURE

Do a little exploring, if you will. But people will have half an hour total from the train's arrival before a second horn sounds, encouraging any stragglers taking advantage of the fresh air to board. After five minutes from this, the doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, but they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train begins to rumble with activity, and the platform starts to disappear into a fog as the voidcraft moves. A female-coded artificial voice echoes throughout the train.

"Welcome aboard, passengers of the Voidtrecker Express. 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.

ON THE TRAIN

1. EXPLORING

With nowhere to go but through the train's carriages, this is a good time for newcomers to explore. For veterans, it's back to your everyday life aboard the Voidtrecker Express.

¤ New arrivals will notice a screen and console in every carriage sharing the same message, and a stack of leaflets in holders by them offering further information to the curious (see 'Publications'). There are lavatories available on each carriage on one end, with another console with a deposit box under it at the other. This is the train shop.

¤ It'll take some time for newbies to figure out the layout, even if there's only two directions to go in. Go one end, and you'll find the food stores and washing utilities. This month's key ingredient is pineapple, and you're sure to bump into others curious about what's in the stock.

¤ Go to the other end, and you'll find the sleeper cabins. Plaques sit on the wall by each door with the names of their occupants, and one of these will be yours - hopefully, they'll figure out that swiping their ticket against the doorpad will open it up to them. In most rooms, the occupied beds are obvious, leaving the spotless, empty spaces for the newcomers. 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.

¤ At the farthest end in this direction is the luggage carriage, where passengers who have bought items from the train shop will find their purchases. There are also medical kits for every one, each labelled with their full roster name. These are scattered around the luggage carriage in various suitcases and bags, but there's also a small fridge and kettle here with bottled water, for those who want a quiet drink.

For those of Purple team who go looking for their reward they will find simple boxes of cupcakes to share out. There's a cupcake for all of purple team, even the new arrivals, share in your new team's success!

2. ACTIVITIES

But of course, there's also everything in-between those two directions, and the people in them.

¤ Areas of note will be the training gym, where there's always regulars training to pass the time. There's a training board offering services, but maybe you'll find someone who catches your eye in here. Or even its gear?

¤ Is your character used to the appliances to be found in the kitchen? Depending on when your character wanders in, they may find someone testing out a recipe, preparing for lunch, or even dinner time.

¤ The library offers a quiet place, with a fair selection of books from fiction to non-fiction. Is your character interested in learning more about the void? Picking up an action or adventure book? Wow, there sure are a few magazines.

¤ There's also media to consume, from the games car, the cinema, to the arts carriage. Ever played a virtual reality game? Wanted to learn how to fly? Have you seen a screen of moving pictures? There's now documentaries to be found in the cinema's catalogues, from How To programming, Void-related topics, and sports.

3. REST AND SLEEP

¤ Time is difficult to track in the void, even with the few clocks around showing a 21 hour time. But the windows allowing a view of the kalediscope void will shift to a pitch black once the time reaches 12, and keep for the rest of the day.

¤ Breakfast, lunch, and dinner time is usually announced by whoever's cooking that day, and when. Sometimes it's decided by the team chores; other times, it's decided by who wants to be cooking.

¤ But sleep eventually comes to all, even if they don't want it to. When 21 hours have finally passed on the train, all passengers, whether they need sleep or not, will see black - only to start a new day in their cabin beds, with the sound of the train's automated voice greeting them with a 'Good morning' message.

NAVIGATION ~ GAMEPLAY ~ SETTING ~ CHARACTER INITIATIVES ~ QUESTIONS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Well... okay. If it is important to you," she said, scratching her head a bit. "I didn't mean to make something important to you seem like it wasn't."

Ah, he didn't mean it this way!--

Yeah, they're really not on the same wavelength where this is concerned, hun. Esteban grins as he shakes his head, brushing the conversation aside.

"It's okay. It's just different, right? Whatever the letters are, they're still important to you, right?" He suspected so at the very least.

She'd found a secluded spot for herself and her friends after all; it made sense to think that she cared for their wellbeing, if she brought them out even on the limited time they had on the platforms. She mentioned she wasn't allowed to do magic, but, he wasn't entirely convinced the cards weren't considered magic themselves.

Anywho. These were all-- what was the word? Schematics? She and Esteban just had very different ways to handle their connections it seemed, but different did not mean bad.

"So I'll ask Goligan to spell them out for me, an' you can tell me what the ones that don't speak like?" Seemed like a good, stable way to approach the group, yes?

She nodded. "Sure! And yeah, they're all my friends. Some of them have been with me forever, some joined us more recently. But I love them all," she said with a bright smile.

Well, there you have it.

"Alright, Goligan!" Esteban nodded at the staff, grin brightening his face. "Let's go one by one! An' Najaran! I'm countin' on you to let me know anythin' fun to know!~"

He also nods at all the creatures here, because he doesn't want to dismiss them either, but there's only so many people Esteban can speak to all at once. He's fairly certain it's the same for them too, so that once the curiosity fades a bit, they might chatter among themselves.

(Wait, if not all of them spoke. Did they share a language? Could they speak among themselves? Now Esteban was curious about this too!)

"Very well," Goligan said.

"Sure," Najaran put in. "Who do you want to know about first?"

"Let's go with Thunderbeak?" Dutifully, he signs the name out, surprisingly well, but it's no wonder that he manages this one.

It's a compound word, really, and he's more than used to these in Draconic, after all, so his name is probably the easiest next to Knight's or Wall of Stone. But he's faiiiiirly certain that the wyvern-bird-- and there's a quick pang of nostalgia at that-- does not speak, and this gives Najaran the opportunity to present her friends, while showing Goligan that he's not entirely useless. Hopefully.

Goligan helpfully spelled the name outloud, then let Najaran speak. "Thunderbeak is great. He can fly and take me with him and has some seriously strong attacks. Especially against people who are in the water. His defense is on the low side, but he is really hard to hit which helps and..." what else.... "Oh yeah. He get a boost from the presence of Dragons as allies, but since the Dragons all died..." she ended a bit sadly and wistfully.

Hang on! Hang on! Questions! So many questions fizzle under Esteban's skin at Najaran's innocent response, that he has to physically bite his tongue before he rapid-fires them all without a pause to let the poor girl know what he's talking about. Deep breath! Slowly, and easy does it!

Even though he sort of doubts that Thunderbeak could... gain a boost? Unless it's under very specific circumstances.

"What kinda boost are we talkin' 'bout? D'es it have t' be a dragon from your world? Didja try with Jingyi?" ... At least he paced his questions slowly enough that they were all understandable. He still has a dozen more, but he tries not to jumble even more of them, bundling them up and hidden away for later. He makes a note not to stand too close to the draconid, just in case.

Edited 2022-04-18 13:45 (UTC)

"Joaquin knows the details. I never really bothered to memorize that part since it didn't matter..." she trailed off staring at the dragon in the sky overhead, eyes widening. "I.... don't know.... I never thought to try...."

"Joaquin?" He has no idea who that might be, but he ventures a guess. "Someone from your world, or someone on the train?" Oh, he does hope that they're on the train, because Esteban doesn't think he can be satisfied with a shrug and an unknown.

He. Is. So. Bloody. Curious.

But, well. He might have to back up from this line of questioning, unfortunately, and he braces himself for a bit of disappointment. And; if she's mentioned someone from her own world, Najaran might have a pang of loneliness, or maybe nostalgia, and Esteban hopes to cheer her up in that case.

"He's one of the Mistrals back home. He made sure I studied lots, and he knew stuff about my Cards I didn't even know, even though he isn't a Cepter." There were people she missed from that adventure. The whole thing was emotionally complicated, really.

Oh, hello curiosity! Esteban is a cat!

"What's a 'Minstral' an' what's a 'Cepter'?" He continues, his lines of questioning almost endless as always.

This sort of casually dropped comment is exactly the kind of thing that make him jump onto offered opportunities, delighted at any mention of a world he can barely understand. There is so much to hear about after all, and so much of it is just completely casual to his companions. Something they don't even notice because it's an everyday thing for them!

He finds it absolutely wild and delightful that the worlds are so strange and different and not one person could know even a quarter of the worlds their companions are just casually mentioning! Najaran summons beings from cards! There's little creatures called higgledies that like to help around! Kaiba can pull out artificial trees from nowhere!

Isn't it amazing?

"Mistrals are what Kigi called us... I'm still not fully sure all of what it meant but... We were the ones who had to take over dealing with the Dark Lord. The Nymphs... um, they're called Elves here... Anyway, they all died trying to keep the Dark Lord sealed away and they had some sort of legend about outsiders who could destroy him once and for all or something. So she made us go through all sorts of tests to see if we could help. It would have been easier if she just asked..." she said, sulking for a moment, but sulking didn't hold up to the rest of the memory. She missed Kigi, wished they had more time to get to know each other. "But I guess given people like Dumdum, it makes sense that she had to be careful about trusting..." A frown. She looked over and nodded to Gargoyle who had its head bowed. "Gargoyle and Wall Of Stone were Kigi's. I was entrusted with her Book after she died..." Najaran said softly.

Then she took a breath and shook her head. "Cepter... everyone keeps asking me that. A Cepter... is what I am. Kigi was a Cepter too. And my dad. And my Master. Lots of people." A really small portion of the population, but Najaran's experience is far from typical of her world.

"We're people who can use the Culdcept Cards... Um... basically a long time ago the Goddess Culdra created a book called the Culdcept. And anything she wrote into the book became real. But during the war with the Gods, the Culdcept shattered and fell onto the different worlds in pieces. In my world, they fell as Cards. And Cepters are the people who can use the Cards to summon whatever is inside them. A creature or an item or a spell, stuff like that."

Hun. Alright, that's a lot.

The half-elf is slowly wrapping his head around all that she has shared in the last few minutes, a very wide range of subjects and histories he is wholly unfamiliar with. But it's the beauty of it, if he's to be honest; to see another world through its denizen's eyes, hearing their stories and histories and faith and beliefs.

He quietens when she mentions that Gargoyle and Wall Of Stone had been Kigi's. Her mentor? He doesn't quite dare ask, and the stone creature's bowed head prompts him to reach out carefully to pat its nearby hand. He... kinda sucks at offering comfort to strangers.

"Culdcept's an interestin' term," he adds softly after a beat of silence. A combination of their Goddess' name, as well as the Cepters, who wield her words of power. Oh! Wait! Hang on! "You already had a concept of diff'rent worlds?" That's a curiosity. "If the book fell onto diff'rent worlds?"

That's pretty rare. Esteban has that same concept back in his home, if he's to be honest, but they only have two confirmed realms, whereas Najaran seems to know a few more?

Edited 2022-04-21 13:40 (UTC)

Gargoyle gave him an odd look... not that it was obvious given his fairly static face.

Najaran nodded. "I just learned about it a little bit before I arrived here, but Grubel told me all about it," she said, making a bit of a face. Grubel was... never going to be her favorite person.

Hun. Okay. She's far less vocal about this after the far denser string of explanations, so Esteban figures she's not as familiar with it as with the rest. Plus, the quick shift in her expression seems to indicate she'd rather not linger on that. That's okay, he can move their conversation along!

Just for fun, he goes from the largest to the smallest of her cards that he can perceive, grinning as he waves at the little creature with wide, round eyes.

"Hello! This is Eidolon, right?" He quickly shifts through the letters, allowing the SCA at his wrist to spout out {E-y-d-o-l-o-n} with its thin voice. Does Eidolon speak? He's not sure, but he's all ears either way!

"Eidolon," Goligan spelled.

"Eidolon can," Najaran said. But they tend not to want to." She has... one of them. So was that a gender comment or something to do with numbers? She's giving no clue. "Eidolon usually helps out with chores."

That's quite okay for Esteban. Genders are overrated in his opinion, so he doesn't even bother questioning whether the 'they' in the sentence is the single Eidolon, or the many of them.

"Well it's nice to meetcha anyways," the half-elf adds, addressing the small creature as he swipes his right hand through the air again through the name {E-i-d-o-l-o-n}.

"What 'bout Wall of Stone?" No surprise that he has the spelling down pat on the first time when he tries this name. It's not a complicated one.

"Wall of Stone was also Kigi's," Najaran said, after Goligan confirmed the spelling. "He's defensive, can't attack, but loves to protect and will keep anyone safe."

"Hey! He's my twin~" Esteban gleefully declares. "Well, not really--" And if Najaran believed him on that first comment, he is bound to laugh a bit, he doesn't mean it literally after all, but. "I'm more defensive. I can fight, but I'm not great at it, but I'd do anythin' to keep my friends safe."

It's the only thing he can do after all. So he does feel some kinsship with the defender of her cards.

"I like protecting people too!" Najaran said with a bright smile.

"Alright, then~ I'll count on you next mission! We'll go protect others together!" he cheers, excited at the prospect. It would be nice to see Najaran's cards in action, and since both of them are protective by nature, they might work well in tandem.

"Alright, let's go with Gremlin?" Hmmm.

{G-r-e-m-e-l-i-n, G-r-e-m-l-i-n} He signs both with a glance at Goligan, hoping the staff might indicate which one is the proper spelling. Does Gremlin speak? Another question that makes him glance back again to Najaran.

Goligan patiently corrected his spelling.

"Gremlin loves machines," Najaran said happily. "He's left the Train alone because the Train is alive, but he loves messing with the ICPs and the ice cream maker. I'm not really good at all that stuff, so he's the one that helps me ask the train for things."

"Ice cream maker? We have an ice cream maker?" One more treat for him to learn to make with Romeo! Oh! They should make some ice cream to go with their apple pies!

"I don't like usin' the ICPs either. But the SCAs are pretty neat!" He signs {Na-ja-ran} again, before going on {meet together. Friends!} He needs both hands for this, and his sentence is a little bit broken, but the meaning gets across well enough. There's a curious look on his face as he notices she's not wearing her own, but doesn't poke it right away.

"They help me learn new languages an' names!" At least there's that. He bends to stage whisper near her. "Hey, hey! Would he like to help me ask from stuff from the shops? I'm pretty bad at it!" the half-elf mentions, before turning to Gremlin properly. "Please?"

"Gremlin would love to help!" Though he might try to spend Esteban's points on things he thinks Esteban needs, rather than what he was trying to buy.

"But... I don't like my SCA. I don't wear it anymore."

LOL, actually it is the cake Najaran wasn't supposed to be eating...

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Culdcept spoilers.

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