WEEK 1

[umbralant]

WEEK 1

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Your hosts have come and gone, and have left you with nothing but more questions and a key. Regardless of how you reacted or what you decided to do soon after that, it’s a fact that the day must end eventually.

And so it does, with the striking of the clock. As the twelve gongs reverberate and disappear into the night, the rest of the city is left silent save for a chilly wind that skims the streets. Those who have retired to their assigned rooms will find that the furnishings are decent enough to get a good night’s sleep, while those who wander the city will only continue to see empty streets and fog. But regardless of how you spend the night, eventually it will become readily apparent that dawn will not be coming any time soon as the waxing moon continues to hang in the sky even as the clock strikes six or seven or eight.

No one’s stopping you from wallowing in bed or holing up in a building during this perpetual night, but there’s a whole city out there to check out and some interesting additions to the Opera House decor; don’t forget though, a cage is a cage and every good cage needs its bars. While a portion of the streets and buildings are clear, any intrepid explorers won’t find themselves able to get very far through the fog that surrounds them; anyone who tries to venture through will end up getting turned around and end up right back where they started. Still, there’s plenty of other places to check, even if the fog-shrouded buildings are more or less off limits. Fortune favors the bold, after all.

[[Welcome to Week 1! Feel free to make top levels at your discretion, and remember to note it in your header if you plan on investigating any locations. You can also now privately contact The Lady or Rembrandt at your leisure!]]

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Comments

Investigation: Candle Store

[twoasone]

[He was at the bookstore for something else, but now he's trapped inside by the rain. A rather unfortunate turn of events, but he could be stuck in worse places. He manages to make use of his time by looking through the sketchbooks and deciding on which book to keep for himself.

When the rain lets up, he migrates to the candle shop, taking stock of the candles. He's set a few of the make-your-own-scented-candle kits to the side for now, looking for anything of interest he could use for long term survival.

There's just one thing... The thing in the back of his mind. The thing the lady gave him. Did she actually allow him to...?

If you come by the candle shop later in the day, you'll find him muttering dejectedly at a very strange person... Who looks a lot like himself. Most of the conversation is in Cantonese, but every so often he slips out of his native tongue-]

-- You're more like a doll, aren't you?

Investigation

[umbralant]

[Welcome to the candle shop! Enjoy making candles!

Well there sure are a lot of matches and lighters on sale here! Decorated with all kind of motifs, especially a few with little pictures of places around Krakow. You may even recognize the main square, the opera house, and the clock tower among them!

Not the most useful thing when it's about survival, but it may prove of some use for a long-term stay in always-dark-Krakow]

[twoasone]

[Oh joy! Guess he'll make some candles-

Wait. Those are places around Krakow. He takes a closer look at the pictures, keeping an eye out for landmarks he hasn't seen yet.]

[umbralant]

[Well, most of them seem to be of particular areas of the Main Square, but there are also a small collection of ones depicting silhouettes of Wawel Castle, St. Mary's Basilica and St. Florian's Gate too. Most of them seem to depict particularly picturesque and historic districts of the city like Planty Park and Little Market Square.

Also there's a lot of churches too. So many.]

[twoasone]

[Hm... Perhaps these may be glimpses of the buildings obscured in the fog? If only there was a way to break through...

The churches, though... Funny how they remind him of what he's been forced to leave behind. He had just found that place he truly belonged... Only just damned his own flesh and blood for the chance. Why couldn't the reverend accept them both? Wasn't there some way he could-

The wheels in his head are turning, flickering back to the instinct in the back of his mind. He has a power, now. Perhaps...

He shoves that thought to the back of his mind, but it still lingers there as he goes to investigate the store further. For all he knows, this is merely a storefront, but perhaps he might be lucky enough to find tools of the trade? Wax, wicks, ovens?]

[umbralant]

[There are certainly wax and wicks, although they'll be found in the pre-packaged candle-making kits rather than anywhere else. There aren't any ovens and the like either, thanks to the virtues of mass-production and uniform-quality goods.

Ain't nothing stopping him from gathering a bunch of candles and melting them down one day with a flaming trombone though.]

[twoasone]

[Damn. Curse the industrial revolution for ruining fine craftsmanship.

Anything else in this shop that might catch his eye?]

[umbralant]

[Unless Shin's interested in particularly strangely-scented candles (pizza? beer?? urinal cake???), there's nothing else that really stands out!]

[twoasone]

[Note to self: Melt down the urinal cake candles into something more useful and/or sane.

Well. If there is no more to be seen, then Shin will be left to his thoughts.
And when he's left to his thoughts, he thinks of his immediate past.
And when he thinks of his immediate past, he gets kind of lonely.
And when he gets kind of lonely, he uses that power he was given.
And when he uses that power he was given, he realizes he can only make a self aware clone.
And when he realizes he can only make a self aware clone, he ends up making himself depressed.

Don't end up making yourself depressed, folks.]

candle shop

[raventhaw]

[ raven's a few steps away from the candle shop when she notices shin inside. he appears to be talking to someone, which wouldn't be so suspicious if it weren't someone who appears to be a direct copy of himself. raven tries to quietly open the door, just a pinch so she can hear what he's saying...

if she's successful in being sneaky, what else will she hear? ]

[twoasone]

[He's so caught up in talking to his reflection he doesn't notice her entering...

How good is her Chinese? He's purposefully speaking the Cantonese dialect, but if she understands a bit of that language she might get more out of him than the occasional English (Polish?) phrase. Either way, he is clearly upset that the other version of him isn't replying like a human being.]

[raventhaw]

[ she doesn't really know it at all. mostly she's hoping that there'll be any traces of english (polish?). either way...that's he's talking to the other version of himself is unsettling.

is there anything else to note about shin's doppleganger? raven's still adamant about being sneaky, here. ]

[twoasone]

[ The doppelganger doesn't speak much... Or express anything other than confusion. Occasionally they will reply in English. Things like "You created me" or "I don't understand."

Shin dejectedly puts a hand to his temples and shakes his head. "Dear lord..." he mutters in English, before muttering something else in another language...

"What about your brother?" The other him asks.

"Nothing!" Shin clearly snaps. "You won't understand at all!"

The doppelganger just stares on as he groans in frustration. ]

[raventhaw]

[ brother, hm.... raven will remember that.

it's about time she reveals herself, though, so she steps into the candle shop with her arms crossed. ]

Your "gift" from The Lady. Is that what this is?

[twoasone]

[ He tenses, spinning around to meet the intruder-

How long has she been here? He furrows his brow. ]

... Yes. I think so. Apparently I can summon a clone of myself.

[ The clone just stares on... ]

Was I bothering you?

[raventhaw]

Not at all. I was just coming in to browse.

[ said nonchalantly as she just...strolls into the candle shop and looks through all the candles. ]

You're free to continue, if you'd like.

[twoasone]

. . .

Right.

[He just... Leaves the clone there for a moment.]

It's a rather pleasant shop, yes?

[youspinmeknightround]

[Suzaku has been sticking to the main square to give his foot a rest, but he can see these people from the window in the post office. Eventually his curiosity gets the better of him, if nothing else then because the man looks rather down about meeting this strange lookalike.]

Excuse me. What's going on here?

[twoasone]

GAH!

[Shin startles, spinning around to see the intruder all wide eyed. The doppleganger just turns his head with a confused look.]

Ah- You're Suzaku, right? [He's seen the profiles. He mutters something under his breath that probably means 'how do I put this.'] You remember we had powers, right?

[youspinmeknightround]

[He hasn't seen them yet, himself, so here is a blink of surprise. Did the Lady namedrop him when she sent Rembrandt after him or something?]

I am, but... sorry, I didn't catch your names. [names plural, he's not catching on just yet.]

I do remember the powers, though. Are you testing them out?

[Glancing between the two and their eerie similarities though. Waiiit.]

Is he...?

[twoasone]

Yes...

[ Before Shin has a chance to speak, the other one answers for him in a monotonous voice. ]

I am nothing more than his puppet, sir.

. . . [ Poor Shin is at a loss for words for a moment. ]

... Yes. That's what I was trying to do.

[youspinmeknightround]

Ah. I take it you didn't tell him to say that?

[this is. eerie, ngl]

[twoasone]

. . . No.

[ The "puppet" doesn't say another word. For now. ]

And yet this thing is devoid of independent thought! All it wants me to do is order it around!

[youspinmeknightround]

I can see that... it must be awkward for you, to suddenly have yourself as some kind of servant.

[....He really has no idea how to approach this either, so he asks just as awkwardly.]

Anything I can do to lend a hand?

[would the clone get competitive with him? does it just need a friend? who knows]

Candle Shop

[noellemadic]

[When Noelle enters and finds two Shin, she stops in her tracks. Did...did she fail to see another one of these people all this time? Is that what's going on?

...]

...am I interrupting something?