Test Drive

Welcome to the Pines test drive. If you have a character you'd like to try out in the game's setting, this is where you can do it. This month, the test drive will reflect the activities from the current event. Anyone can tag in! Just use the information below to get started.

Newcomers. Outsiders tagging in will have just arrived in town, either coming intentionally to Wisconsin for some business or just falling through a hole in reality and finding themselves in a little place called Great Pines, which is surrounded by dense forest on almost all sides. They will notice right away that there aren't many people outside, and that is because of the heavy rainfall pouring over everything without stop. They will also see familiar faces in the storm--coming out of the wall of water are people they know, only they appear to have died in some manner. The phantoms will attack the characters they haunt and try to drag them back into the storm. If they succeed, everything outside of the rain will seemingly disappear, and the ghosts will try to eat them.

It should be noted that the rain ghosts are physical beings, similar to zombies that seem to recognize their friends and call out to them. They'll accuse them of murder or crimes that the characters may or may not have committed, but they will draw on the characters' fears and guilt as they try to convince them to surrender. The only answer is to run inside or fight back. There is no limit to the number of ghost people that can attack, so feel free to introduce your characters' nightmares to the party!

Unfortunately, newcomers will not be armed.

Current members. Your characters might notice people on the streets of Great Pines acting uncharacteristic for locals. They seem real enough, and at least they are aware of the crazy events going on, but they aren't in possession of a journal. Be a good neighbor and lend a hand?

I.
Out in the streets. You're out in the rain, surrounded by friends and ex-lovers that appear to have come from the storm itself. They're angry, hungry, and accusing you of leaving them to die. If you're lucky, you might find a plank with a nail in it or a metal pipe in some pile of trash outside of a building. If you can fight your way out of the circle, you may just survive. But you'd better hurry, because it looks like more ghosts are coming to join them.

II.
Holed up. You just wandered off the main road into town and encountered an army of angry ghosts threatening to tear you apart and eat you. Luckily, you somehow managed to break into the diner only a half-mile in. Unfortunately, the ghosts are still coming after you. Time to build a barricade. The diner isn't a big building, but you can probably keep the intruders out for a while if you work quickly. Just ignore their laments of suffering and wait for the storm to pass. The good news is there is plenty of pie.

III.
Out of the frying pan. Screw the rain! While everyone else was fighting creepy ghost-zombies, you did the smart thing and ran the other way. You noticed that the rain stopped short at the edge of the birch forest lining the main road, and into the trees you went. And just like you expected, the ghosts didn't enter the woods. But there's something there. A tall, thin figure that seems to step right behind the trees. Occasionally you hear children laughing around you, and someone whispers right in your ear: He's watching. But when you turn around, no one is there. Maybe this wasn't such a good hiding place after all.

With October around the corner, I'd like to get an idea of who is here for the next event. The next town phenomenon will be a little different and it would help to have a good picture of our roster.

Check in here!

Leave a comment below with your handle and what characters you have in game. An update on the town's conditions and the beginning of the event will be coming shortly. As noted, this round will be a little bit different, so be sure to check in! If you do not respond to this post with a comment by October 7th, we will assume your characters have been eaten by grues, and be forced to expel your spirit to purify the area.

The town continues to be overrun by mysterious animals, and without any real means to keep them in check, the police are at their wits end. Authorities are advising everyone to remain indoors while they come up with a plan--unfortunately, those authorities seem pretty clueless. Out of desperation some of the townsfolk are catching on that light helps, but these are normal civilians and they don't stand a chance against invading monsters.

Meanwhile, some progress is being made by the outsiders. Player characters are starting to work on strongholds, and with the creatures getting more aggressive, this is the time to practice that teamwork. Leave questions concerning the event and new information in a comment on the questions thread below, and feel free to use this post to plot OOCly with new developments.

Rick Schoenbrun has a supply run log up in the Town Square and there is a general event log open here as well, available for any scenario players want to use it for.

Current projects:

The Motel. Hank Pym is working on keeping the lights on at the motel, which can provide shelter and a good place to start stockpiling some weapons or get groups together.

Rose Run. The power is still dead at the old prison, but large bonfires are enough to deter attacks, and the solid concrete floors allow for this. Bellamy and Clarke have been doing a lot of outside wandering and this is a potential site if enough light can be brought in.

All-Mart. Tony's working on maintaining power here, hopefully to keep supplies going for a while. Keeping the power on is an ongoing thing that is only so reliable, but it might help for necessities.

On the other hand, going out into darkness at all now will result in an immediate attack. Large packs of the monsters are roaming everywhere, so at least having a flashlight to chase them back is essential. There is no moon and it remains pitch black at all hours with no sign of improvement.

Additional notes:
A few points for the players of specific characters. This information is ICly only available to the noted characters until they decide to share it with others.

Bellamy Blake and Clarke Griffin. Whether they stay or not, their visit to Rose Run reveals a notable increase in the monster population. Even with attacks occurring throughout town, the number of monsters in and around the prison is exceptionally high. More information will be available if characters decide to investigate.

Rick Schoenbrun. Interviews and general rumor circulating as things get worse have kicked up some noteworthy points. The number of monsters does appear to lessen as you get to the edge of town. Attacks around the diner, the police station, and the new housing development to the north by the Wilderness seem less frequent and severe. Perhaps because of the stronger street lights and police force, perhaps not. Chet Horne, a young, local fix-it man, mentions to Rick that it's been one thing after another. First all the trouble with rats nesting in everyone's basements and then the wiring. Now these wild dogs. They can't seem to catch a break.

Carol Danvers. An overhead survey shows that the darkness seems to end a few miles out of town on all sides. Reaching that line isn't possible as it extends beyond town boundaries and for some reason will always seem too far to get to, but it is visible as she nears the edge of the perimeter.

The darkness is closing in and electricity is becoming nearly impossible to maintain. Even the street lights go on and off sporadically, and buildings are having complete blackouts as the wiring is chewed through by the infestation of creatures. Animals are going missing. Some claim even people, but that will be hard to confirm. Characters with electrical skill will be able to repair the ruined wiring with parts from the All-Mart or scavenged around town, but they'll need to maintain a source of light to do it. Hopefully someone has a torch and lots of batteries.

Whatever is blocking out the sun has nearly shut out all the sunlight in town. The locals have different theories they might have heard from various sources, from astrological events to religious explanations, but no one has any clear solution set. The best thing to do is try to restore power to the buildings or see if they can find information on the lack of light. How they go about it depends on what players decide.

Why should they work together? Because the creatures are hungry and they're figuring out the town is full of prey. Starting now, the infestation will become aggressive, attacking anyone they find in the dark. They can still be driven off by light and even killed by weapons, but their numbers have increased to packs lurking in every darkened space. Tomorrow, July 18th, a wave of hundreds of the creatures will run rampant through town, attacking civilians and outsiders alike, leaving casualties wherever they go. Characters can choose to aid the victims in town or defend themselves, but light is going to be dependent entirely on what they can produce themselves or find. A log will go up today for the event even though the blackout begins tomorrow. There will be a thread for before the lights go out completely and one for the attack wave during the blackout. After the end of the day tomorrow (midnight EST -5:00), the blackout will continue in town until further notice.

Players can plot here and ask questions as needed!

Hello all! I am Tea, your mod and fellow here at the Pines. I'll be playing Marvel comics Tony Stark in limited capacity (no limelight for him) and throwing creepy monsters your way. Feel free to approach me if you have any questions or want plotting in general. My plurk is teaandreveries.

I'm going to post an opening in the main community to start the journal progression so characters can mingle ICly. The first event will follow that. I'll put up an OOC post detailing the event soon. (And thank you for the friending meme. Have at, all of you!)

Test Drive

Welcome to the Pines Test Drive. Curious about the game or want to see if a character would be a good match? Feel free to post a comment below and test the waters. Use one of the optional prompts below if you need an idea, or bring some of your own nightmares along for other people to enjoy!

I.
Getting to know you. You're walking around town and you notice something strange. Maybe it's one of the silhouettes that seems to be waving at you out of every window. Maybe it's the one place on the wooden fence that looks like a face crying in fear. Maybe it's you that isn't quite normal. Whatever it is, the town locals don't seem to notice anything off. They insist that they haven't seen anything out of the ordinary, but you know that they're wrong. Luckily, you might be about to make a few friend.

II.
Lights out. Somehow you've woken up in a large room with polished wooden floors. The walls are simple and white, and the only light is dimly shining from one corner--a few candles. You can see an opening on the far side, where doors might have been if they were there. Beyond your room is another, and another after that. You are in the center of a maze, with room after room nested one within the other, and no way to tell where ends. In the surrounding shadows, the "angels" are waiting. Gaunt figures standing about three feet high like bony children with limbs as slender as spiders'. They whisper and draw closer, but scurry away from the light. If they get close enough, the angels will bite and claw at their victims. They might even try to climb inside them, bony thieves abducting bodies. But don't worry, the rooms have the safety of candles to protect you. Well, most of them. Just don't let the angels blow them out. Remember the Cardinal Rule of survival: there is safety in numbers.

III.
Tag. Maybe your car stalled on the main road, or maybe you just took a wrong turn. Whatever the reason, now you are in a thick forest, closed in on all sides. You can hear laughter as some children play hide-and-seek nearby, but you haven't caught a glimpse of anyone since you stumbled into the trees. On a tree ahead, you see something strange: a piece of paper nailed hastily to the trunk. When you get closer, you see what it says.

He's watching.

The childrens' laughter is getting louder, and you realize now that it isn't that playful. They're laughing at you. You catch movement out of the corner of your eye; swear you just saw a far-too-tall shadow dart past your side. At least you aren't completely alone. If you help each other out, you might be able to figure out the messages left on the trees. Or, on the other hand, you don't have to outrun him. You just have to outrun your friends.

IV.
Wildcard. Bring your own terrors to town to curse the unsuspecting. Have a good idea? Feel free to share it!