A New Platform [Intro Post April!]

[voidtreckermods]

On the Train

Two days after they return from their mission they are awoken as usual "Good morning passengers, it is day sixteen of the month of Egret. The shop has been updated and points have been applied to passengers tickets."

Those that go to check the shop terminals will find they have indeed updated, with the option to buy larger items and also animals. The morning goes on until just after noon there is a second announcement.

"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 they are soon surrounded by the fog that means they are at a platform. Though the fog is thick, thicker than usual perhaps, there are patches on sunlight shining through and it is pleasantly warm.

The doors open and the first few to disembark do so with rucksacks on, hoods pulled up, silent and almost blank faced. Cu Chulain, Dio Brando, Disreputable Dog, Heiji Hattori, Loki Maedhros, Maglor, Naruto, Thor, Tobias Fangor.

They walk to the barriers, show their tickets and disappear.

But on the platform itself there are once again new faces. All are stood, waiting for the train.

For New Passengers

At first all they can see is steam. Billowing around them as they come to their senses. They are standing, in clothes that are not their own, styles 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 but then as people begin to shift or call out it will become apparent they are not alone.

The platform is not large and it holds eighteen figures all facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. It's warm but foggy making it hard to see much, but there are clearer patches bathed in sunlight found across the platform. Both left and right the tracks disappear into the mist. Then there is 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 into the cold step a selection of people. Some are human, some are less so. They are wearing the same hoodie in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple.

The Train

The doors hiss open. Those from the train may encourage those on the platform to board. It’s not like there is 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 not be a good thing. 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. The store rooms have been restocked with an abundance of onions, in case the passengers weren't bored of them yet.

Passengers who are not brand new will notice that the train has gotten yet longer again with a sixth sleeper cabin for new arrivals.

New passengers will find their tickets allow 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 and you will hopefully find a pillow for your bed if it has not been nabbed by a roommate, there are also spare blankets for if it gets cold.

Departure

A second horn sounds to encourage any stragglers and the doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train sets off, the fog obscuring the view 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. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever changing colours.

Welcome to the Void!

Comments

[unfavorableinstigation]

Nita quirked an eyebrow, but didn't object as she kept packing.

"If you were able to bring them with you, I don't see why not... Careful if they're too big for the platform, though, let alone the train!"

She was thinking along the lines of Eva's Pokemon, and how big certain species could get.

[najaran]

She nodded. "Not Gargoyle then," she said and reached back behind her, sighed, then dug the pouch out of her bag. "Belts, does anyone sell belts here?" Not that she knew what she'd do for money....

She held the bag and a card flew to her hand. She considered then out came three more. She frowned, but shrugged. Maybe only one Eidolon wanted to come out for the moment.

"C'mon guys, if we help we can eat!" she said happily.

She threw the four cards into the air and they resolved themselves into a rather large suit of armor, creature that looked like he belonged in a cereal commercial, An upright cat in a cape, and a scaly creature.

[unfavorableinstigation]

"Sell... I guess Charlotte does. She makes clothes. You have to buy her sweets, though, and those cost three points in the train's shop. This stuff doesn't count," Nita added, gesturing at the increasingly-consumed foodstuffs.

Then came the creatures, and Nita stopped entirely, before blinking.

"Guess we won't need to take this stuff back to the kitchen after all... None of you four eat metals or anything, do you?" she asked.

It seemed only prudent to check on dietary concerns when dealing with unknown species.

[najaran]

"Points?" she asked around a mouthful as she used her fork to gesture tasks to the creatures. She stopped when Nita sad they didn't need to take it back after all. She swallowed as she considered. "Gremlin, sometimes, Cait Sith eats spells, ideally but he can eat regular food too. The rest of us mainly eat regular food and both of those two can if they need to."

[unfavorableinstigation]

Nita nodded. "It's just something the train does. We get them from doing chores and just generally interacting with each other. Teamwork and all that stuff."

Not nearly as hard to gain for most as people expected.

She took in the info with a straight face, though she had to hide her grin with a quickly-freed hand once Najaran finished. "I am so glad I'm not the one doing the shopping on this train."

For once, she just plain pitied it.

"Metal we can handle, spells - that'll depend on if it's just magical energy or Cait Sith eats the diagrams themselves."

Which could cause problems for certain people on the train, and not just Nita.

[najaran]

"The train itself does?" she asked, becoming more and more convinced that the train was a sentient card. She just had to figure out how to talk to it...

Cait Sith looked up at Nita. "The spell energy please, not the cards themselves."

Yes, they talk and not just in the Speech.

[unfavorableinstigation]

Najaran could get in line, as far as Nita was concerned.

Nita nodded, well-used at this point to nonhuman beings conversing in non-Speech languages. (Blame Nautilus for that one, as well.)

"Gotcha," Nita replied. "I can get you hooked up once we're all inside. I'm a wizard, but I'm not the only one on the train, so you won't be short of options."

[najaran]

"Wizard?" Cait Sith asked while Najaran kept eating. The others were eating as well, except Gremlin who had scampered off to inspect the train.

[unfavorableinstigation]

Again, a nod.

"Yeah - it's different for different worlds, but the place I'm from, the Powers offer you the Oath if there's a problem only you can solve. And once you're on errantry, you can go all sorts of places - though," she added wryly, glancing back at the train and the retreating Gremlin. "This whole Voidtrecker Express thing is a first.

"He's just going off to scout, right?" This referring to Gremlin.

[najaran]

Najaran swallowed. "Probably. He won't cause too much trouble though and he won't hurt anyone." And since the train might be alive, the train was included in anyone. "He's just curious. What's errantry?"

Be sure to post on the Character Shenanigans page if he tries to eat some part of the train! XD

[unfavorableinstigation]

That was good to hear.

"As long as he doesn't get lost. He wouldn't be the first non-Voidtrecker creature on the train, and I doubt he'll be the last."

Answering Najaran's question, Nita went on, "The job of wizards is to help people - guard growth and ease pain, provide disaster relief or talk natural disasters out of happening, all sorts of deeds big and small. That's errantry; working in Life's Name."

Lol, he wouldn't, but thanks!

[najaran]

"Non-Voidtrecker creature?" This whole thing had her so confused. And they were almost out of food, which was sad. "How do you talk a disaster out of happening? Were they happening because of the Elemental Lords?"

[unfavorableinstigation]

"Haven't picked up one of the leaflets yet, huh?" Nita remarked, then directed Najaran's attention to the golden letters on the engine's side: The Voidtrecker Express

"Even if we bring people with us, we're the ones selected to be Voidtreckers, by whatever means they're using, not our friends."

Which didn't mean they couldn't help out.

"If all earthquakes and tornadoes are caused by Elementals feeling unrest on the world you're from, then you could think of it as like that," Nita answered after considering it for a moment.

"So we find different ways to channel the energy, to prevent lives from being lost."

[najaran]

She studied the lettering for a moment, then looked back to Nita. "People like my cards? Or is there another way to bring people? Like... Gooligan? I haven't been away from him more than a day since we met...."

She thought about that and shook her head. "No, not at all. Not all, anyway." Mostly they were more or less dormant, weren't they? Well except the Lord of Water was active all the time. And the Lord of Flame was a special case. And the Lord of Earth had been poisoning Old Willow.... and the Lord of Air had changed that town... No, that had been the Black Cepters... right? Well now she was no longer sure, having met the other Lords somewhat. "I don't know," she admitted. Her head was starting to hurt.

[unfavorableinstigation]

"I haven't figured out how the train tells the difference, or if it's even the train, really," Nita answered, picking up one of the boxes to carry back to the Stores carriage.

"But if you think they should have come with you, but they haven't, they'll probably have to be brought in on their own."

Nita blinked, wondering where to start.

"There can be a lot of overlap - and when you can talk to the world, you get to see a little more of the picture than most - but how it all fits together varies a lot world-by-world."

[najaran]

But... Gooligan... She wasn't used to being kidnapped without him and his practical advice. Even if she did ignore that advice most of the time....


"You can talk to the world itself?" This didn't shock her as much as it might shock others, given she'd met someone who could "Read" the world and everything in it to the point where she found everything boring, even eating.

[unfavorableinstigation]

Nita shook her head, grinning.

"Not the planet - I'm not Planetary, back home! But trees, grasses, stone... the little pieces that make the whole."

Nita hefted the box up to her torso and did her best to gesture they should start walking onto the train.

"Think we're almost done out here, now! You and your friends are fast."

[najaran]

She and the others grabbed what they could, Knight being able to carry the most... but he had some troubles getting into the train...

"Trees... like Old Willow?"

[unfavorableinstigation]

"Haven't talked to all that many willows, but... yeah, I think you've got the idea."

Liused was a Rowan tree, after all - and Filif a Demisiv! As well as not from Earth.

[najaran]

"I've spoken to Old Willow once. Kigi's sister was part of her at that point." Hey if Nita could be unintentionally confusing, so could Najaran.

[unfavorableinstigation]

"... I'm assuming Kigi and her sister are a kind of plant life?"

Which wasn't to say they weren't also persons!

[najaran]

"What? Oh no. At least I don't think they are. Maybe they are now?" She's not sure. "They are... were.. elves. Well Kigi was, never met her sister...."

[unfavorableinstigation]

Nita shrugged. It wasn't the strangest family genetic arrangement she'd seen.

Or heard of, rather.

"Can't say I've met anyone by those names, at any rate. You all good, then?" she asked, doing one last sweeping glance to see just how much food was gone.

[najaran]

Any of it left within Najaran's reach. She nodded, hefting a box. "We're ready."

Thread wrap?

[unfavorableinstigation]

"Right."

There weren't too many boxes to carry, so assuming all of them were picked up (in addition to the two Nita was handling), they'd be heading back on the train post-haste.