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discedo_ooc2011-06-13 11:08 pm
coniurati) wrote in discedo_ooc2011-06-13 11:08 pm
Entry tags:
SPERO & DISSIMULO: MAPS AND BASIC INFORMATION
In a few days, most of you will land in either Dissimulo or Spero. Have a look around, enjoy the sights, and try not to die! There's still time to have fun on the trail, but here's an information post about what you'll have to look forward to while you get settled in.
Spero
You've finally made it! By now you're probably thirsty and exhausted from the polluted rain and sun exposure. Those familiar with the Spero will know to land at the docks (of course), though again, you may want to drag your boats ashore to reduce the risk of them corroding.
The whole of Spero somewhat like Discedo. Electricity and running water are a thing of the past unless you work to fix it. As far as water goes, you'll probably have to start collecting rain in clean barrels until the lake's conditions improve. Grass and weeds pop up where there isn't cement, though the majority of the city seems to be more inclined towards litter and rubble than anything green. This may be partially be attributed to the above yellow buildings--which are all basically just fast food joints of various types (think McDonalds, Starbucks, anything you would see on virtually every corner of a city). Most of the insides have already been raided for food or seating destroyed by wildlife, but there are still some tools if you're really itching for some greasy food.
The brown buildings are entirely collapsed. What still stands bears the scars of graffiti and abuse. The high-rise office buildings that are still standing are mostly long-outdated information about companies and real estates that have long since collapsed. A few doors are locked, stair cases blocked, but a quick look around confirms that there's nothing here of interest in your immediate future. The movie theater looks like the last hurrah was thrown in it: trash, congealed food, and the smell of vomit is everywhere. Some film reels can be found upstairs, but the projectors look like they're in dire disrepair. An who even knows if the films are still in good quality? The parking garages are mostly empty. Few cars remain, even fewer contain any objects that are actually of value. Taking a look around in these is really just like looking in a museum containing the civilization before you.
As you make your way down 2nd Avenue away from the docks, the street seems to be lined with what were once small tourist stands and stores. They've all been reduced to dirt by now, although you may be able to salvage some plastic brickabrack, likely small boats.
What you see above is the segment of Spero most are familiar with and hasn't been destroyed; follow the roads a ways out, and just about everything you will see is rubble. A few buildings have even collapsed into the streets. But let's get onto the specific buildings!
Ship Yard
This small shipyard sports many spare parts from modern freighters and other boats, including propellers, scrap metal, and even a few speedboat engines. Unfortunately, many of these items seem to be rusted or broken. More unfortunately, even if you manage to salvage some parts, you're still without fuel. On the bright side you'll still be able to patch up any holes and perhaps reinforce them to be even stronger and more durable.
University
As you can see above, The University of Spero campus covers a fairly large area. The main area (between Stern and Windsor Street) contains a majority of the academic buildings, the library, theater, and dining hall. The classrooms are all the standard tables-and-desks types. Aside from the Science Building, which remains fairly untouched despite the dust and grime, most of the academic buildings seem to abandoned or falling apart due to neglect.
Across Stern Street lies the dormatories--which, to no one's surprise, are utterly trashed. The cement-walled rooms have been sturdy enough to survive, but any furniture or personal belongings have been broken or ripped to shreds. Interestingly enough, you might see some of the stuffing from beds and pillows arranged in what look like nests. You'll find out why soon enough.
Residential buildings
On 5th Street, you'll find your place of residence for the time being. Like Discedo, most apartments are either 1 or 2 bedrooms. Unlike Discedo, all of the apartments are large, sturdy highrise buildings with balconies. The lower floors have been broken into, looted, and (again) torn apart, but the higher you go the more you'll find. Furniture has started to mold, rust, and dust from neglect yet few items seem to actually be missing. Personal belongings on the higher floors also remain: fading photographs, disintegrating notebooks, that sort of thing. Feel free to look around at the hanging pictures of the happy (dead) families whose homes you are now stealing. SLEEP TIGHT.
The hotels, though not quite as high as the apartments, sports much of the same: first floors are ripped up, upper floors are relatively untouched by anything but time.
Mall
It's a good thing the mall isn't filled with zombies, because you would be fucked. Looting has robbed the place of much of any items that could be used as weapons. In the electronics section, you can still find advertisements for "COM-U: Social networking at your fingertips!" It's larger and clunkier than your communicators, but looks like it's your current communicator's predecessor.
The most abundant items are still clothing and shoes, with perhaps a few impractical electronics thrown in (such at TVs and MP3 players). There really isn't as much left as one would expect; it would probably be easier to simply raid the residential area or take cloth from the hotels.
Hospital
Come on in and smell the antiseptic. As you walk in, you may notice some animal prints around the entrance. Some of the blood on the walls and floor seem to have been licked at, though not extensively. With the exception of some overturned gurneys and trays, the hospital remains in relatively good condition.
Some patient rooms are empty, some have remnants of what looks like human bone or hair. The morgue, though it is a morgue, is eerily empty and carries a lingering smell of burnt materials. The walls of it are also blackened, as if having been burned in the past. The dark, pixely, blocked out areas on the map indicate extensive damage that prevents passage.
Should you take a look around at the medical files, you'll see a trend: a seemingly incurable virus called Atropos.
Subway Entrance
Like in Dissimulo (which you will see below), Spero has a subway that is connected to the Discedo line. Sadly, the tunnels seem to be flooded and, given the water quality of the lake right now, it probably wouldn't be wise to fix it in the immediate future.
Observatory
A little ways away from the university lies an observatory, up on a hilltop.
The observatory in Spero is a little bigger than the one seen in Dissimulo, definitely more spacious though lacking in decoration. It is dome-shaped like most observatories familiar to the characters. The walls are completely bare, a solid metallic gray. They're wide enough where even the smallest sound will echo. The building itself is separated into two "floors" or tiers, rather: the bottom level is where all the data-recording seems to be done, various desks with computers, shelves with books, all mushed in together. Up the small, spiral staircase in the center of the observatory is the second level where the large telescope rests. The ceiling of the observatory is still opened up, showing the sky, the building's only source of lighting. The electricity seems to be out and none of the computers will work.
...Or will they?
A small screen at the base of the telescope emits a dim, flickering glow. It's a simple device: a box with a viewscreen and several dials. Turning the dials makes a picture appear, grainy, fuzzy, grayscale but unmistakably there.
The picture you see, whether you recognize it or not, is Tokyo. People move along the streets, cars fight for space in rush-hour traffic, lights flicker on buildings. You can't hear the noises of the city, but it's clearly a video.
Turn the dial, and you may see another world...maybe it'll be familiar. What you're looking at is the home world of any person that has been brought to Discedo, and you can flip between them the same way a person might flip through channels on an old television set.
On the bottom level, there's a strange-looking machine against the wall, covered in a large cloth to keep the dust away. When you pull the sheet away, you can't recognize it by its appearance. The interface of it is strange. You can't tell what the screen is for, since there's no electricity to light it up. Various buttons are placed here and there, indicating its various functions, you presume. It looks broken and old. It doesn't look like any sort of machinery you'd see back home.
Now, the first time around, you found out that this was a product of Spero's desperate effort to discover a cure for the aforementioned virus on another world by creating a machine that could interact with any universe's past, present, or future. Though the creators have long since expired, they were able to leave behind one amazing invention that can penetrate the rifts of space and time. But what else does it do?
Well, if you're so curious, the first step would be to restore electricity to Spero. Who knows? It could very well be your way home.
Accido Camp
At the edge of the city lies several trailers, big enough for four or five people. Anyone from the last trip can tell you that this is where the Accedians camped out during an occupation of Spero; the only evidence now left of the trailers' purpose can be seen a few dirtied papers.
Of course, it may be hard to get to these papers, because some little guys have made this bunker their home. It's the same sort of animal that has wrecked the shit out of the rest of the city. Or, at least, one of the species that is now hanging around Spero. And their cute little faces are so damn familiar to you.
AND YOU WERE WONDERING WHERE THESE FEATHERY BASTARDS WENT. Look how cute the velociraptors are, ready to rip off your faces. Awwwww.
They mystery of why the fuck are there velociraptors will be solved at a later date. Right now your priority is to use those high-powered guns given to you to fend off any of these suckers. They may be small, but they're fast and travel in packs. They're also fiercely territorial, which is a problem if you stumble upon their nest, but also kinda hilarious if you witness a raptor turf war. It's like Westside Story but way better. Because it has dinosaurs.
Luckily these things are relatively small (around 3 feet high) and take damage as easily as any animal. You may want to save your bigger bullets in case anything bigger is lurking around.
Dissimulo
Dissimulo is noticeably smaller than Spero and has much less to scavenge for. On the bright side, the land has become very fertile from the volcanic ash from last year and groundwater is easy to come by and clean. Everything surrounding the town is overgrown farmland. No crops have been planted, but there's certainly enough space to graze your oxen and maybe set up some gardens. The seeds have already been supplied in your survival packs so you may want to look back to that if you want to grow anything.
This abandoned town has taken the exact opposite route of Spero. Whereas the lakeside city crumbles in dirt and grunge, Dissimulo seems to be completely overtaken by nature. Weeds, vines, and grass erupt everywhere. Collapsed buildings have become covered in moss. Saplings spring up through the massive crack on Main Street. The wildlife is not just limited to cougars and monsters, but deer, rabbits, and birds inhabit the town and surrounding land. Woods can be seen on the southeast horizon, but how far and deep they go is unknown.
Most of the above stores are relatively straight forward. The hunting supply store is much like a Bass & Pro shop. Most of the guns are gone, but fishing and knives are still abundant. Stan's Drug Store will have to be your hospital; Dissimulo was one of those "family door-to-door doctors" sort of places. The shelves are well-stocked with basic pharmaceutical needs, though anything requiring extensive care will be hard to come by here.
Houses
Standing homes are two stories and, though looted of valuables, at least have something to offer in way of a place to stay. Not all of the collapsed buildings are completely demolished; most of them simply have the roof caved in from the weight of last year's ash.
Observatory
Much smaller than the one in Spero, this observatory doesn't have quite as much to offer either. No equipment connecting to other worlds stands. However, if you look out the telescope, you can see some dots in the distance. More towns? Perhaps, but they appear very far off. The best you'll be able see is the woods in the distance, which seem to be just as teeming with life as the town.
Subway
The layout of the subway can be seen here, here, and here. The train itself can be found on the tracks of the Claustrum Line and, though shoddy from disuse, has been repaired slightly by previous explorations and can be set to work again... given electricity, that is.
Prison Camp
Ahhh. The most notable of all the Dissimulo buildings. A rusting barbed wire fence surrounds the perimeter as an ominous warning to stay away. Some may recall that this is the exact place where an exploration team was violently killed in a series of supernatural events. Even stepping foot in the prison camp gives a feeling of foreboding. Or maybe it's just your usual new pals watching you from the shadows. Which is curious, considering they're not found quite so often in buildings as they are outside.
You can try to take a look around, but the further you venture into the dark, the more an overwhelming feeling will come to get out. It doesn't matter if you're normally brave or if it's entirely rational to feel this way. Even if you somehow manage to push past the panic, it's like you've hit an invisible wall once the Video Surveillance room is in your sight. Or maybe it's more like invisible hands trying to push you away.
Keep pushing, and you might just find a scalpel shoved into your abdomen. Might be best to save exploration for another day, hmm?
As you all reach your destinations, you may find that yourstalkers followers are more reluctant to follow you indoors. They prefer to just creep outside and stare into your windows. Still, it shouldn't surprise you to see something moving out of the corner of your eye as you drift off to sleep.
These maps will probably be redone in the futurebecause I have zero talent for Photoshop but the basic outline will remain the same. MORE DETAIL WILL COME AT A LATER DATE IN THE NOT-TOO-DISTANT FUTURE. AND INFORMATION. AND THINGS HAPPENING. ORGANIZATION.
HAVE FUN. I'M GOING TO HOGWARTS. CAPSLOCK.
Spero
You've finally made it! By now you're probably thirsty and exhausted from the polluted rain and sun exposure. Those familiar with the Spero will know to land at the docks (of course), though again, you may want to drag your boats ashore to reduce the risk of them corroding.
The whole of Spero somewhat like Discedo. Electricity and running water are a thing of the past unless you work to fix it. As far as water goes, you'll probably have to start collecting rain in clean barrels until the lake's conditions improve. Grass and weeds pop up where there isn't cement, though the majority of the city seems to be more inclined towards litter and rubble than anything green. This may be partially be attributed to the above yellow buildings--which are all basically just fast food joints of various types (think McDonalds, Starbucks, anything you would see on virtually every corner of a city). Most of the insides have already been raided for food or seating destroyed by wildlife, but there are still some tools if you're really itching for some greasy food.
The brown buildings are entirely collapsed. What still stands bears the scars of graffiti and abuse. The high-rise office buildings that are still standing are mostly long-outdated information about companies and real estates that have long since collapsed. A few doors are locked, stair cases blocked, but a quick look around confirms that there's nothing here of interest in your immediate future. The movie theater looks like the last hurrah was thrown in it: trash, congealed food, and the smell of vomit is everywhere. Some film reels can be found upstairs, but the projectors look like they're in dire disrepair. An who even knows if the films are still in good quality? The parking garages are mostly empty. Few cars remain, even fewer contain any objects that are actually of value. Taking a look around in these is really just like looking in a museum containing the civilization before you.
As you make your way down 2nd Avenue away from the docks, the street seems to be lined with what were once small tourist stands and stores. They've all been reduced to dirt by now, although you may be able to salvage some plastic brickabrack, likely small boats.
What you see above is the segment of Spero most are familiar with and hasn't been destroyed; follow the roads a ways out, and just about everything you will see is rubble. A few buildings have even collapsed into the streets. But let's get onto the specific buildings!
Ship Yard
This small shipyard sports many spare parts from modern freighters and other boats, including propellers, scrap metal, and even a few speedboat engines. Unfortunately, many of these items seem to be rusted or broken. More unfortunately, even if you manage to salvage some parts, you're still without fuel. On the bright side you'll still be able to patch up any holes and perhaps reinforce them to be even stronger and more durable.
University
As you can see above, The University of Spero campus covers a fairly large area. The main area (between Stern and Windsor Street) contains a majority of the academic buildings, the library, theater, and dining hall. The classrooms are all the standard tables-and-desks types. Aside from the Science Building, which remains fairly untouched despite the dust and grime, most of the academic buildings seem to abandoned or falling apart due to neglect.
Across Stern Street lies the dormatories--which, to no one's surprise, are utterly trashed. The cement-walled rooms have been sturdy enough to survive, but any furniture or personal belongings have been broken or ripped to shreds. Interestingly enough, you might see some of the stuffing from beds and pillows arranged in what look like nests. You'll find out why soon enough.
Residential buildings
On 5th Street, you'll find your place of residence for the time being. Like Discedo, most apartments are either 1 or 2 bedrooms. Unlike Discedo, all of the apartments are large, sturdy highrise buildings with balconies. The lower floors have been broken into, looted, and (again) torn apart, but the higher you go the more you'll find. Furniture has started to mold, rust, and dust from neglect yet few items seem to actually be missing. Personal belongings on the higher floors also remain: fading photographs, disintegrating notebooks, that sort of thing. Feel free to look around at the hanging pictures of the happy (dead) families whose homes you are now stealing. SLEEP TIGHT.
The hotels, though not quite as high as the apartments, sports much of the same: first floors are ripped up, upper floors are relatively untouched by anything but time.
Mall
It's a good thing the mall isn't filled with zombies, because you would be fucked. Looting has robbed the place of much of any items that could be used as weapons. In the electronics section, you can still find advertisements for "COM-U: Social networking at your fingertips!" It's larger and clunkier than your communicators, but looks like it's your current communicator's predecessor.
The most abundant items are still clothing and shoes, with perhaps a few impractical electronics thrown in (such at TVs and MP3 players). There really isn't as much left as one would expect; it would probably be easier to simply raid the residential area or take cloth from the hotels.
Hospital
Come on in and smell the antiseptic. As you walk in, you may notice some animal prints around the entrance. Some of the blood on the walls and floor seem to have been licked at, though not extensively. With the exception of some overturned gurneys and trays, the hospital remains in relatively good condition.
Some patient rooms are empty, some have remnants of what looks like human bone or hair. The morgue, though it is a morgue, is eerily empty and carries a lingering smell of burnt materials. The walls of it are also blackened, as if having been burned in the past. The dark, pixely, blocked out areas on the map indicate extensive damage that prevents passage.
Should you take a look around at the medical files, you'll see a trend: a seemingly incurable virus called Atropos.
- "Atropos"
Symptoms: Starts out like a common cold, making it difficult to detect in early stages. Symptoms of fatigue, sneezing, coughing are common signs. As it worsens, the person may faint or feel dizzy. The late stages of the virus are characterized by coughing up blood and failure of internal organs, leading to death. The time period of this virus from the initial symptoms to death is around two weeks. Due to the unpredictable nature of this virus, it causes extreme fear and anxiety in patients, occasionally leading to mental decline.
Cause: Ingesting Atropos-infected animals (most notably imported fish from Discedo) causes infection, though it has been questioned whether or not this is the virus' only means of spreading. Simply banning the import of fish and other goods from Discedo may not be enough to slow the infection rate.
Treatment: No treatment has been found as of this time.
Subway Entrance
Like in Dissimulo (which you will see below), Spero has a subway that is connected to the Discedo line. Sadly, the tunnels seem to be flooded and, given the water quality of the lake right now, it probably wouldn't be wise to fix it in the immediate future.
Observatory
A little ways away from the university lies an observatory, up on a hilltop.
The observatory in Spero is a little bigger than the one seen in Dissimulo, definitely more spacious though lacking in decoration. It is dome-shaped like most observatories familiar to the characters. The walls are completely bare, a solid metallic gray. They're wide enough where even the smallest sound will echo. The building itself is separated into two "floors" or tiers, rather: the bottom level is where all the data-recording seems to be done, various desks with computers, shelves with books, all mushed in together. Up the small, spiral staircase in the center of the observatory is the second level where the large telescope rests. The ceiling of the observatory is still opened up, showing the sky, the building's only source of lighting. The electricity seems to be out and none of the computers will work.
...Or will they?
A small screen at the base of the telescope emits a dim, flickering glow. It's a simple device: a box with a viewscreen and several dials. Turning the dials makes a picture appear, grainy, fuzzy, grayscale but unmistakably there.
The picture you see, whether you recognize it or not, is Tokyo. People move along the streets, cars fight for space in rush-hour traffic, lights flicker on buildings. You can't hear the noises of the city, but it's clearly a video.
Turn the dial, and you may see another world...maybe it'll be familiar. What you're looking at is the home world of any person that has been brought to Discedo, and you can flip between them the same way a person might flip through channels on an old television set.
On the bottom level, there's a strange-looking machine against the wall, covered in a large cloth to keep the dust away. When you pull the sheet away, you can't recognize it by its appearance. The interface of it is strange. You can't tell what the screen is for, since there's no electricity to light it up. Various buttons are placed here and there, indicating its various functions, you presume. It looks broken and old. It doesn't look like any sort of machinery you'd see back home.
Now, the first time around, you found out that this was a product of Spero's desperate effort to discover a cure for the aforementioned virus on another world by creating a machine that could interact with any universe's past, present, or future. Though the creators have long since expired, they were able to leave behind one amazing invention that can penetrate the rifts of space and time. But what else does it do?
Well, if you're so curious, the first step would be to restore electricity to Spero. Who knows? It could very well be your way home.
Accido Camp
At the edge of the city lies several trailers, big enough for four or five people. Anyone from the last trip can tell you that this is where the Accedians camped out during an occupation of Spero; the only evidence now left of the trailers' purpose can be seen a few dirtied papers.
Of course, it may be hard to get to these papers, because some little guys have made this bunker their home. It's the same sort of animal that has wrecked the shit out of the rest of the city. Or, at least, one of the species that is now hanging around Spero. And their cute little faces are so damn familiar to you.
AND YOU WERE WONDERING WHERE THESE FEATHERY BASTARDS WENT. Look how cute the velociraptors are, ready to rip off your faces. Awwwww.
They mystery of why the fuck are there velociraptors will be solved at a later date. Right now your priority is to use those high-powered guns given to you to fend off any of these suckers. They may be small, but they're fast and travel in packs. They're also fiercely territorial, which is a problem if you stumble upon their nest, but also kinda hilarious if you witness a raptor turf war. It's like Westside Story but way better. Because it has dinosaurs.
Luckily these things are relatively small (around 3 feet high) and take damage as easily as any animal. You may want to save your bigger bullets in case anything bigger is lurking around.
Dissimulo
Dissimulo is noticeably smaller than Spero and has much less to scavenge for. On the bright side, the land has become very fertile from the volcanic ash from last year and groundwater is easy to come by and clean. Everything surrounding the town is overgrown farmland. No crops have been planted, but there's certainly enough space to graze your oxen and maybe set up some gardens. The seeds have already been supplied in your survival packs so you may want to look back to that if you want to grow anything.
This abandoned town has taken the exact opposite route of Spero. Whereas the lakeside city crumbles in dirt and grunge, Dissimulo seems to be completely overtaken by nature. Weeds, vines, and grass erupt everywhere. Collapsed buildings have become covered in moss. Saplings spring up through the massive crack on Main Street. The wildlife is not just limited to cougars and monsters, but deer, rabbits, and birds inhabit the town and surrounding land. Woods can be seen on the southeast horizon, but how far and deep they go is unknown.
Most of the above stores are relatively straight forward. The hunting supply store is much like a Bass & Pro shop. Most of the guns are gone, but fishing and knives are still abundant. Stan's Drug Store will have to be your hospital; Dissimulo was one of those "family door-to-door doctors" sort of places. The shelves are well-stocked with basic pharmaceutical needs, though anything requiring extensive care will be hard to come by here.
Houses
Standing homes are two stories and, though looted of valuables, at least have something to offer in way of a place to stay. Not all of the collapsed buildings are completely demolished; most of them simply have the roof caved in from the weight of last year's ash.
Observatory
Much smaller than the one in Spero, this observatory doesn't have quite as much to offer either. No equipment connecting to other worlds stands. However, if you look out the telescope, you can see some dots in the distance. More towns? Perhaps, but they appear very far off. The best you'll be able see is the woods in the distance, which seem to be just as teeming with life as the town.
Subway
The layout of the subway can be seen here, here, and here. The train itself can be found on the tracks of the Claustrum Line and, though shoddy from disuse, has been repaired slightly by previous explorations and can be set to work again... given electricity, that is.
Prison Camp
Ahhh. The most notable of all the Dissimulo buildings. A rusting barbed wire fence surrounds the perimeter as an ominous warning to stay away. Some may recall that this is the exact place where an exploration team was violently killed in a series of supernatural events. Even stepping foot in the prison camp gives a feeling of foreboding. Or maybe it's just your usual new pals watching you from the shadows. Which is curious, considering they're not found quite so often in buildings as they are outside.
You can try to take a look around, but the further you venture into the dark, the more an overwhelming feeling will come to get out. It doesn't matter if you're normally brave or if it's entirely rational to feel this way. Even if you somehow manage to push past the panic, it's like you've hit an invisible wall once the Video Surveillance room is in your sight. Or maybe it's more like invisible hands trying to push you away.
Keep pushing, and you might just find a scalpel shoved into your abdomen. Might be best to save exploration for another day, hmm?
As you all reach your destinations, you may find that your
These maps will probably be redone in the future
HAVE FUN. I'M GOING TO HOGWARTS. CAPSLOCK.
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TOO LAZY TO EDIT.
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Note to self, do not read plot posts at 1 in the morning.
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