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unfinishedlibrary2025-11-14 08:20 am
libraryassistants) wrote in unfinishedlibrary2025-11-14 08:20 am
It's a beautiful day in the village - TAKE A LOAD OFF, LOG 1
Who: Readers and Actors
What: Beta Story Start - At the start of any particular Story, characters will be drawn to a section of the Stacks. Those inclined to resist will find themselves there anyway, through the shifts and changes inherent to the Library's structure. The Story manuscript will be laid out neatly on a side table, its pages lit by a faint aura that draws focus and beckons insistently to the Editors. Touching it will bring them into the Story.
Characters can either voluntarily touch the Story to enter it, or the Librarian will eventually sweep them in. Regardless of how long it takes them to enter, everyone will arrive at the same point in time.
When: November 14- November 27
Where: Woodhurst (UK) and the SS Radiance (in space!), 2019
Content warnings: Please tag warnings in comment headers!
In Woodhurst
It’s another Monday morning in Woodhurst, and as is often the case for the United Kingdom in the fall, it is raining. It is, all in all, a rather typical Monday morning. People shuffle off to work, dropping by the various cafes and shops for their morning caffeine. Polite (if meaningless) greetings are exchanged, vague comments about the weather are made. Heads down, trudging along, just keeping things going.
By midday, it’s clear that this Monday is a little bit… different. There are some people who seem especially cheerful and helpful. Perhaps you’ve just been served a free upsize of your morning coffee. Or a stranger held an umbrella up for you. People keep talking about the benefits of yoga? And it’s not just a bunch of people seeming to be having an especially good day and paying it forward (that would be strange enough). Some of your friends and loved ones aren’t acting like themselves, aside from being remarkably cheerful. They don’t seem to remember basic things, don’t know their normal rituals, and are generally just very off. You think one of them might have blinked sideways? Whatever it is that’s happened, it doesn’t seem right.
As for those ‘friends and loved ones’… The novices from the Interstellar Group are largely inexperienced with such a thing as covert operations. Fresh off the ship and with no frame of reference, their human disguises may have a few significant flaws.
However many fingers it is they have, they’re keen to help - perhaps a little too much so. Whatever it takes to make these human lives easier, whatever they can do to help them relax - the Group are on it! Hopefully they’ll catch on quietly.
On the IMW Group Supply Ship: Radiance
No plan survives contact with the enemy, is how the saying goes. But within the Interstellar Mindfulness & Wellness Group, the concept is usually applied to patients. Patients are, almost entirely across the board, unpredictable creatures - and while the science behind wellness is robust, there’s simply too much individual variation for a standardised approach. That being said, this particular plan seems to be going… rather more poorly than expected. It starts to break down once the word ‘kidnapping’ is brought up. It’s such an ugly word to use. The Group tries to avoid it. But in some of these cases, the humans need the Group’s own facilities! The idea was to convince the humans to follow them to a very not suspicious space capsule, or to get them to touch this particularly strange teleportation device, and they’d be on their way to recovery. However, most if not all the humans seem to be reacting… quite negatively to that. It’s almost like they don’t understand that this is for their benefit!
The ship is very nice, and perfectly designed to relax and comfort (--for the species the Group are familiar with, at least). Soothing music plays along the spaceship’s halls, which are lit in a soft violet glow. Potted plants are artfully displayed, though none of them are recognisable as any species found on Earth. For those with a sensitive nose, the flowers give off a bright, delicate scent; not unlike that of lavender and lemon myrtle. An entire stretch of glass is dedicated to the view outside, the Earth looking so serene from this distance; stars shining in the space around it.
For those Aliens aboard the mothership, maybe you’re delivering this hour’s yoga session. Maybe you’re leading a group chant or meditation. Are you perhaps talking humans into resting in the healing spa, or - for those so inclined - are you delving deeper, forming a connection, and really getting to know these humans? For the humans… well, at least the spa looks really nice, right?
[Space Spa Features:
Yoga - you’ve been herded into a room where a flexible alien encourages you to breathe deeply; holding it in your stomach and feeling your heart beat before letting it out in a big sigh. The routine is not very different to yoga on Earth, except… well, if you can’t find your proboscis, maybe that particular pose won’t work for you.
Sauna - the heat promotes circulation, but the temperature in here seems to be a little off.
Spa - you know what a spa is. Or, you thought you did. It looks like the aliens aren’t quite on the same page. Where there would normally be cucumbers, there’s a strange pink fruit. Where you’d expect water, there’s… a viscous fluid, gently rotating through a myriad of colours, that seems to soften and soothe your muscles as you soak in it.
And Others - the aliens have no shortage of remedies for what ails you! Since this is their first time experiencing humans, results may vary.]
Optional prompts (player-run):
An alien adrift, unsure what task to complete? Seek guidance from your leader.
In Woodhurst, unnerved and skeptical? Drop in at your local seedy bookshop to chat with some alien enthusiasts.
[Have a plan to drive the Story direction? Let us know, and we’ll add it to the list!
Info post can be found here.]
What: Beta Story Start - At the start of any particular Story, characters will be drawn to a section of the Stacks. Those inclined to resist will find themselves there anyway, through the shifts and changes inherent to the Library's structure. The Story manuscript will be laid out neatly on a side table, its pages lit by a faint aura that draws focus and beckons insistently to the Editors. Touching it will bring them into the Story.
Characters can either voluntarily touch the Story to enter it, or the Librarian will eventually sweep them in. Regardless of how long it takes them to enter, everyone will arrive at the same point in time.
When: November 14- November 27
Where: Woodhurst (UK) and the SS Radiance (in space!), 2019
Content warnings: Please tag warnings in comment headers!
In Woodhurst
It’s another Monday morning in Woodhurst, and as is often the case for the United Kingdom in the fall, it is raining. It is, all in all, a rather typical Monday morning. People shuffle off to work, dropping by the various cafes and shops for their morning caffeine. Polite (if meaningless) greetings are exchanged, vague comments about the weather are made. Heads down, trudging along, just keeping things going.
By midday, it’s clear that this Monday is a little bit… different. There are some people who seem especially cheerful and helpful. Perhaps you’ve just been served a free upsize of your morning coffee. Or a stranger held an umbrella up for you. People keep talking about the benefits of yoga? And it’s not just a bunch of people seeming to be having an especially good day and paying it forward (that would be strange enough). Some of your friends and loved ones aren’t acting like themselves, aside from being remarkably cheerful. They don’t seem to remember basic things, don’t know their normal rituals, and are generally just very off. You think one of them might have blinked sideways? Whatever it is that’s happened, it doesn’t seem right.
As for those ‘friends and loved ones’… The novices from the Interstellar Group are largely inexperienced with such a thing as covert operations. Fresh off the ship and with no frame of reference, their human disguises may have a few significant flaws.
However many fingers it is they have, they’re keen to help - perhaps a little too much so. Whatever it takes to make these human lives easier, whatever they can do to help them relax - the Group are on it! Hopefully they’ll catch on quietly.
On the IMW Group Supply Ship: Radiance
No plan survives contact with the enemy, is how the saying goes. But within the Interstellar Mindfulness & Wellness Group, the concept is usually applied to patients. Patients are, almost entirely across the board, unpredictable creatures - and while the science behind wellness is robust, there’s simply too much individual variation for a standardised approach. That being said, this particular plan seems to be going… rather more poorly than expected. It starts to break down once the word ‘kidnapping’ is brought up. It’s such an ugly word to use. The Group tries to avoid it. But in some of these cases, the humans need the Group’s own facilities! The idea was to convince the humans to follow them to a very not suspicious space capsule, or to get them to touch this particularly strange teleportation device, and they’d be on their way to recovery. However, most if not all the humans seem to be reacting… quite negatively to that. It’s almost like they don’t understand that this is for their benefit!
The ship is very nice, and perfectly designed to relax and comfort (--for the species the Group are familiar with, at least). Soothing music plays along the spaceship’s halls, which are lit in a soft violet glow. Potted plants are artfully displayed, though none of them are recognisable as any species found on Earth. For those with a sensitive nose, the flowers give off a bright, delicate scent; not unlike that of lavender and lemon myrtle. An entire stretch of glass is dedicated to the view outside, the Earth looking so serene from this distance; stars shining in the space around it.
For those Aliens aboard the mothership, maybe you’re delivering this hour’s yoga session. Maybe you’re leading a group chant or meditation. Are you perhaps talking humans into resting in the healing spa, or - for those so inclined - are you delving deeper, forming a connection, and really getting to know these humans? For the humans… well, at least the spa looks really nice, right?
[Space Spa Features:
Yoga - you’ve been herded into a room where a flexible alien encourages you to breathe deeply; holding it in your stomach and feeling your heart beat before letting it out in a big sigh. The routine is not very different to yoga on Earth, except… well, if you can’t find your proboscis, maybe that particular pose won’t work for you.
Sauna - the heat promotes circulation, but the temperature in here seems to be a little off.
Spa - you know what a spa is. Or, you thought you did. It looks like the aliens aren’t quite on the same page. Where there would normally be cucumbers, there’s a strange pink fruit. Where you’d expect water, there’s… a viscous fluid, gently rotating through a myriad of colours, that seems to soften and soothe your muscles as you soak in it.
And Others - the aliens have no shortage of remedies for what ails you! Since this is their first time experiencing humans, results may vary.]
Optional prompts (player-run):
An alien adrift, unsure what task to complete? Seek guidance from your leader.
In Woodhurst, unnerved and skeptical? Drop in at your local seedy bookshop to chat with some alien enthusiasts.
[Have a plan to drive the Story direction? Let us know, and we’ll add it to the list!
Info post can be found here.]
no subject
Clutches is definitely the right word. This is obviously a disguise, who knows what lurks beneath it! Especially if Tsang is a shapechanger; he didn't really think those existed but his grasp on what is and is not real has been rather tenuous since discovering the Warp entities are actually things.
He still wants external proof, but who knows. This could be a daemon right now. "I'm fond of leatherworking." Ignore the spike of malice that follows the words. It means nothing. "I put quite a bit of effort into crafting messages anyone could understand, looking upon my work. I find it very relaxing."
The struggle to not kill the thing right now is one of the hardest things he's had to endure for a while.
no subject
If Tsang were a daemon, it would probably have some, you know, level of risk assessment, instead of thinking about the poor person behind it who really, really needs help.
"Oh, that sounds...interesting?" It did, but not quite with the way the other said it. "Do you create taxidermy or art pieces?" Please clap for Tsang, trying to be supportive!
They were almost at the clearing, and the most suspicious thing Tsang is doing is looking at its smartwatch.
no subject
No murmur of distant voices. No scent of other bodies, no movement in the dark.
He's not surprised. If there was a single shred of evidence of anyone forming a camp nearby, that would be more noteworthy. "A little bit of both. A good hide doesn't last unless it's cured, after all, and then you have to get another one within a week or two."
Maybe if there are others, they'll investigate the sound of their companion's screaming. "There is an art to it all its own, working with organic material. A sculpture so rarely stays where you put it unless it's carefully wired into place. I'll show you, if you'd like." By SURELY pure coincidence alone, Tsang's cooperative human he found is closing, bit by bit.
no subject
"I am always interested in another artist's work and process." It would LOVE to see your art, like..photographs or holograms preferably.
But oh no! Tsang's shoe came untied! Or it didn't but it is stalling so it can hit the teleportation beacon, but, subtly. It drops down swiftly to fake tie its boot laces. Just a ...few...moments...more....
no subject
Someone. Not something.
"Allow me to demonstrate." The serenity of his tone doesn't at all match the seething malice beneath it, or the thin gleam of a short knife in his other hand.
Maybe taking this creature onboard Tsang's ship will be a spectacularly bad idea. Oops.
no subject
Even if it is carcasses. Ew.
Some....one? Oh that did not sound delightful. At all. Especially as Tsang, all five foot five inches of him, is lifted nearly off his feet by the stranger. The stranger, whose hand was covering its teleportation homer.
"D-demonstrate?" Can you actually hurt someone blinking up at you with big innocent eyes like this? It's so naive, and so little challenge.
no subject
This place could be pacified just as easily by Lorgar. Except for the aliens.
And this one is maybe a hundred and ten pounds soaking wet, a pathetic example of whatever species it is. "Demonstration is the best form of instruction, don't you think?" The knife, a wickedly sharp little thing liberated from some kitchen and normally destined for chopping vegetables, is tapped lightly against the captured hand. "Now. You will tell me what I wish to know, won't you?" His smile is easy and friendless. "I will let you go if you cooperate, this does not need to end badly for you."
That's a straight up lie.
no subject
"I. Er. It is helpful in certain tasks, but restrictive of creativity in others." Telling someone to draw their feelings was one thing. Telling them to draw an orange triangle was another, and against the purpose of art.
"That is a knife," Tsang points out, because perhaps, uh, maybe the stranger didn't know? "They are dangerous. Please be careful."
Its voice might squeak a bit. "I don't think this is quite necessary!" Tsang would answer questions without the, uh, sharp objects and deep intimidating voice.
no subject
If he didn't know better he'd wonder if this was an alien version of a civilian, helpless and pathetic, and thoroughly out of its depth. Were they so confident of victory? "The humans you have stolen. Do they yet live?" Where were their pods??
no subject
Tsang's eyes kept flitting to the knife which seemed to be a paid actor in this whole scene, designed to catch the moonlight.
"S-stolen? No! Of course, they live. They are doing wonderful activities for their own betterment!"
no subject
It doesn't really matter, but chances are astronomically high that Curze rather enjoys the anxiety he's inducing here. "What do we call taking someone against their will and doing what we want with them no matter what they want?" Tsang's finding out, isn't he? "It sets a terrible precedent, kidnapping people like that. It means since you have done what you want to them, I can do what I want to you."
no subject
"The activities are harmless!" As opposed to whatever this stranger is probably planning with that knife. "Our first rule is to harm no one!" P-please you could take the same oath?
Please?
"Wh-what do you want to do with me?" Its voice DID squeak but, well, that's entirely understandable in the circumstances.
no subject
It .. is a colony, he's fairly sure. None of this had the industry of a forge world, the construction of hives, or the endless rolling fields of agri-worlds. It must be new! Reasonably well established.
But new. And now, preyed upon by aliens. "You have broken our laws. You have intruded upon our territory, kidnapped our citizens, forced them to participate in your little games; you have done harm. What I want to do is kill you. But then how will I find all your friends?"
It's the same gentle tone, as if none of this is deadly serious at all. "Take me to them so I may redress this sin more directly, and you may live."
no subject
....kill it? KILL IT?! But but but but it's so harmless! It couldn't force someone to use the correct spoon at dinner!
But empathy does this thing, too when pushed to the limits. It lifts its head, and its entire body is shaking, even the hand still held in the other's grip. "Then kill me, if it saves my friends." It could handle its own death to feeling Min'a and Kaiisteron and all its friends suffering.
no subject
"Your death will not save your friends, merely prolong their suffering in recompense for forcing me to hunt them down. Rest assured I take no joy in this." Well, none that he's going to admit to, pulling lightly on the captured wrist to draw Tsang away from the clearing and into the sheltering dark of the woods in a hideous mockery of kindness. "But you creatures must learn humanity is not defenseless, to do with as you wish."
If Curze had any idea what that 'smartwatch' actually did, he probably wouldn't let go of the comparatively thin wrist he's holding onto. But he doesn't know, and when he releases his captured alien, he rather expects his target to take more mundane methods of escape.
no subject
"We observe those who most need help, and offer to help them. For free!" So there, capitalism! "You are making us sound like very bad people." Tsang may jut its lip in a pout. How dare you!
"You do, though!" Tsang is an empath! It can tell you are looking forward to this very much! And it is looking forward to it an equally NEGATIVE amount, fear widening its eyes. You, sir or madam, are very much anticipating doing Very Bad Things to Tsang's emotive spines.
It lands the short distance to the ground, from its tiptoes, with only one thought in mind: It must warn the others. It taps the teleportation beacon on its device. "We only want to help." It sounds so hurt. So very hurt. Being misunderstood is almost as bad as being stabbed.
Probably. It didn't want to find out for sure.
no subject
Capitalism is a FAILED SYSTEM, embrace imperialism, complete with an Emperor!
Whatever plans Curze has, all of them terribly unpleasant, they must now all be on hold, because no sooner is the knife thrown with alarming accuracy with every intention of burying it directly in the alien's throat than some kind of teleportation device goes off, the blade hissing through the spot Tsang was a moment later, to thunk blade-first into a hapless tree instead.