[ text ] @shadow; information compilation [ OPEN ]

[itsaname]

hello. i'm shadow moon.

[ He includes a picture of himself so that people can make the connection between name and face. It shows a serious man with gray eyes who clearly has no idea how to take selfies. It's something like this, only darker. He Tried. ]

i'm no one special. i spent most of my life not doing much. then i got sucked into a war i didn't fully understand. i lost everyone i cared about, and then i died.

i don't know if knowing more would've made a difference for me or not. there were a lot of things outside of my control. but knowledge can make a difference here.

i've seen discussion about sharing information, but i haven't seen anything compiled and distributed yet. so that's what i've tried to do. this isn't something i've got experience doing. i've probably missed things. there are probably things that haven't been shared at all. if you can add to this and help make it more accurate, please do.

DEATH
- we're dead, but we can die again. it's common enough that there's a permanent obituary section in the paper. resurrection isn't guaranteed: "life is finite."

- the dead return faster is the body is left alone.

- "an entity" revives the dead. it will only work in privacy; how it revives them is unknown.

- if you die more than once, you will come back wrong.

- the recently revived reappear in the church.

- your lantern is a part of you, and your life is tied to it. take care of it.

LIGHT & MAGIC
- the only sources of light are our lanterns, the bonfire, the lighthouse, the stars, and the moon.

- you can take torches from the bonfire. these can be used to light other things (candles, lamps, etc.).

- magic that should illuminate doesn't work right; other spells are unaffected.
- trying to create a fire only creates smoke.

OTHER BEINGS
- there aren't any animals here. aside from us, it looks like the only inhabitants are forest spirits.
- general policy with spirits: "respect them, and they shall respect you."
- some forest spirits will kill you with their hands.
- some forest spirits are friendly.

- known friendly ones: postmaster, ice cream guy, being beneath church.

- if you see food laying beside the trapdoor in the church, leave it. it's an offering.

- librarian's friendliness is 50-50.

- give it food. it's hungry. its presence is unnerving, but it didn't attack when it had opportunity.

- there were other people here before. they disappeared when the town was "reset." the only ones left are winters, dr. ingram, rastus, and the lighthouse keeper.

THE RIVER
- the river is dangerous for two reasons: its strong, unpredictable current, and something that lives in the water.

- the thing in the water will try to drag down those who cross. throw something in and it'll throw it back.

- it looks sort of like a person, and it'll try to eat you.

- there's a village on the other side of the river. people are working on building a bridge so we can access it (and whatever else might be over there) safely.

- there are remnants of a bridge upriver, but it needs repairs.

THE VILLAGE
- it has 20 houses, a park, a rec center, and a library.
- the library has all sorts of books.

THE LIGHTHOUSE
- approaching the lighthouse without "a large group that knows what they're doing" is suicide.
- the lighthouse keeper uses morse code to communicate. if you get too close, she'll tell you, "GO BACK".

- she communicates like this because she's not currently connected to the network.

MISCELLANEOUS
- there are sand dunes and cliffs past the river in the opposite direction from the lighthouse

- no signs of civilization so far

- the town hall holds no records.

[ AND WITH ALL THAT SAID, he adds: ]

some people consider information and knowledge to be currencies. they want to keep it and peddle it out at their own convenience. i think that in a place like this, that's a good way to get people killed. we all have our own unique strengths, weaknesses, experiences, and observations. if you know something that can help others, please speak up.

thanks.


(( ooc: SUP Y'ALL. this info is from public network posts/comments. shadow isn't the type to read through every single person's conversation, so there's stuff he's missed! please shove info his way and he'll add it in, or suggest other ways for him to format things, or whatever else you'd like to do. shadow is icly not the greatest at this, but He Cares and He's Trying. o9 ))

Comments

@dysmas :// text;

[chardismastic]

[ Not a bad idea, this post. Someone getting their shit in a row is something Rafe can appreciate. ]

the torches can be used to light up other things, candle/lamps/etc

and as for friendlies i suppose you can count the ice cream guy on the other side for one there
the thing in the library i'd say it's 50-50

@silent

[callada]

Thanks for this. There's part of a bridge farther upriver too, maybe an hour or so west-southwest of town, past the fork. I didn't have the supplies to do anything about it but if anyone feels up to making a second bridge it's already started, just needs some work. I marked about where it is on the map in the tablets and the trees on the way there are blazed red. Should be easy to find.

@fuckthis

[evocation]

the lanterns are a part of us, not just tied to us
but they aren't magic, and they aren't created by magic
or if they are, not any magic i've seen
and i found all sorts of books in the library
no stories i recognized, but one was written in elvish

@dr

[donttalktome]

[Guess who feels called tf out by this post???]

Some corrections.
The lighthouse and the stars and moon all create light.
If you die more than once, you're definitely coming back wrong.
The lighthouse does not communicate in morse code, the lighthouse keeper does, because she isn't currently connected to the network.
And for your information, knowledge is a currency.

[itsaname]

thanks. i'll make a note of that.

you mean in the village, right? [ Then: ] do they actually have ice cream?

[itsaname]

it's no problem.

[ Shadow's had plenty of time with little to do. ]

a second bridge is a good idea. we should have more than one way to get across that kind of hazard.

[itsaname]

can you elaborate on them being "part of us" for people who aren't familiar with that kind of thing?

[ Implying that Shadow might be??? He's seen some Weird Shit. Which makes "Elvish" very tame in comparison. ]

thanks. i'll add that in. [ Then: ] did you recognize any other languages?

[itsaname]

[ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ !!! ]

thank you. i appreciate the help.

[ Shadow means it, too.

It's a strange question to ask, but considering the circumstances: ]

do you know what the upper limit is on how many times someone can die?

and yeah, someone told me that once. he said there'd only ever been the information age. he said that information and knowledge were currencies that had never gone out of style.

@witch

[hext]

the town hall is completely empty. no records.
only statues.

i broke one.

@replica

[replicates]

[ hi dad. ]

if you get farther past the river in the opposite direction of the lighthouse
it turns to sand dunes and cliffs

[donttalktome]

I don't know the limit, but you can go at least five, ask Winters.
Whoever told you that was right. Well, on one count at least.
People probably had to figure out how to do more than subsist before they could worry about information.
But that's semantics.
Assuming you, like literally everyone else here, is from a time before mine, your currency would be utterly meaningless to me.
As would gold, or other such things that people once used to trade.
But good information never loses value.
Why do you think it costs so much to learn things?
Because knowledge is worth more than money, which is why the rich try to keep it for themselves.

[Did that just turn into a rant on the education system? Sure did.]

@darkness

[evulsed]

a group isn't going to help you against what's out there

[itsaname]

did anything happen?

[ Which might seem like a bizarre question, but he's seen some really weird statues. ]

[itsaname]

[ hi son. staying out of trouble? ]

thank you. any signs of civilization?

[itsaname]

what do you mean?

[evulsed]

who told you it would make a difference?

@parker

[webshoots]

We have ice cream?

[ after a moment, he adds: ]

Resurrections (or whatever they are) are completed by what Doc Ingram describes as 'an entity' and it only operates if it has privacy, so bodies have to be left alone if the deceased are to be brought back.

We don't know if it's magic or technology or a combination of the two.

[itsaname]

[ Shadow takes a moment to look over his own post. Then, taking a stab at it: ]

dr. ingram mentioned not approaching the lighthouse without a group, if that's what you mean. he said doing otherwise was essentially suicide.

[ Even with all the digging he did in compiling this post, it's a warning that stuck out in Shadow's mind. ]

[itsaname]

[ Shadow wonders if that means Winters has died five times. But then … well, the good Doctor continues on. And on. And Shadow quickly decides that he will indeed ask Winters about that one. ]

the same man told me that a secret no one knows but you is the most powerful secret there is.

he was old. 1000 years or something. [ A number that would sound absolutely insane if Shadow were in his own world, but here? Perhaps not. ] maybe powerful people wanting to keep knowledge for themselves is timeless.

[replicates]

[ listen, he's been on his best behavior ok. ]

nothing we've seen so far

[ because it's still ongoing! ]

[donttalktome]

[Smart move, Shadow.]

A thousand years?
I suppose you would have a lot of secrets then, wouldn't you?
Powerful people wanting to keep their power is timeless.
So yes, that follows.

[What were they talking about again? Oh, right.]

Did you have any specific questions about things?
It's hard to just say "share any information that might be helpful".
I have a lot of information that might be helpful.

@priestess ⟪ text ⟫

[voktys]

The spirit guarding the library is not unfriendly, but they were ravenous with hunger. Perhaps visitors would do good in making it an offering of food when they come for their treasured books? They move in ways some might find unnerving, and it is hard to tell if them breathing down one's neck is a habit or something brought on by our surprise visit. They are entirely clad in white, so at least, they are easily recognisable when one does spot them. I will say they had a fair chance to attack us and did not so do.

The being residing beneath the church, the one who seems to be responsible for the resurrections, is kindly as well. Only one caught a glimpse of them so far, describing the part they saw as 'shadowy' and 'dark', but one with a name such as yours would hardly mind a shadow?

⟪ harrharr, she has attempted a jest! ⟫

They seem to prefer their privacy –– this reminds me, when one spots unattended food in the church closeby the trapdoor, it is meant for this spirit, who takes it only when there are no witnesses.

On the subject of beings in general... So far, they seem to keep to what Winters has told me: respect them, and they shall respect you. ⟪ that's a rephrasing, but the gist is the same. ⟫

@priestess ⟪ text ⟫

[voktys]

The ice cream's vendor is a friendly crab spirit. They can be found by the village, close to the park.

I have been told the flavours are unusual, but frankly, I have no experience with these matters. If one should be unsure, the crab has freely offered a sample spoon before.

[itsaname]

[ Nice as it would be to get a handbook of How To Survive, Shadow remembers how insistent Winters was when they arrived. He remembers getting paid by Wednesday to not ask questions. And honestly, he's just … not that upset by the situation. He's not fueled by outrage or even curiosity.

But Shadow's not compiling this information for himself. So he thinks about it, and he comes up with: ]

that's fair. mostly, i'm interested in things that could be lethal. areas or beings that we need to prepare for or avoid. do you know anything about those?

and you've already helped by correcting things i got wrong. i'd be grateful if you'd continue.

@daylit

[sunborne]

I can definitely vouch for the Postmaster General being friendly! I talked to them a bit - kind of, they drew something and I'm not sure what it is they asked me to do but they were nice! - and it seems like they're just trying to do their job.

I was thinking they could join us on the network or something. Easier to talk to them and stuff now that we have the drawing app thanks to Dr. Ingram. Try to build interrelations between the spirits and the folks here and stuff.