Wait and Hope ( Chapter One )
The stone floor is cold and damp, musty. The scent of salt is heady and strong. There’s a cascading sound to the left. Loud and growing, tap-tap-tap-stop. Waking is a lonely affair. The cell is empty except for the mice playing in the corner. Four walls and no bed. Food comes in the form of mush every morning, and the guard refuses to speak or answer questions. A day comes and goes. Each monotonous moment the same. A month passes. Then another. During the third, the sound that is a friend now begins. Tap-tap-tap-tap-stop-taptapp. The floor near the wall splinters and cracks, a hand pushes through. The stone gives way to dirt, and the hand becomes an arm, a head and body. A stranger emerges.
They’ve come from the adjacent room and have been digging out a half-finished tunnel. A tunnel that was one of two started in their cell, but they chose the wrong one, didn’t they? If both agree to work together, they can carve out the other tunnel in a few hours. The tunnel breaks open and exposes a cliff overhanging the ocean. There are two choices: jump or go back.
The second chapter only comes after escaping the prison.
Fool That I Am ( Chapter Two )
It’s slowly becoming apparent that the story unfolds in unyielding succession. No matter how many times you check out the book, moving forward only occurs after carving out the tunnel and diving into the salty sea. When you hit the water, consciousness blackens, and you wake on a sandy beach. The sun is bright, and you’re not alone. There’s a rolled map on the ground between you and a short dagger. Fight to the death to protect yourself or band together to get to the final destination.
Choosing the latter will take you through caves, dense foliage, and past a pair of natives that don’t want you there. After diving into a small pool and surfacing in an underground cavern, you’ll find more treasure than you know what to do with. To advance in the story, you must claim some of the treasure for yourself—a crown, a jeweled necklace, a ring.
The third chapter only comes once you’ve taken what is rightfully yours.
I am hungry, feed me. I am bored, amuse me. ( Chapter Three )
The masquerade in Paris has spilled out onto the streets. The Count’s wealth is endless. Jugs of rich wine and trays of delectable sweets cover every surface, staff carrying them through the crowds of masked men and women. Every vice is indulged in, and nothing is off limits. The music is loud, but the people are louder.
You’ve opened your eyes, only to have traveled from the cavern and into the finest French clothing. Dressed in the style of the period, your mask secured, the night is yours. A game of chance and fate begins. You’re pushed towards another masked individual. The first to convince the other to reveal their identity wins. What, may you ask? That’s up to you and your partner and must be decided upon before the game of questions begins. A kiss, possibly? A bag of gold?
The epilogue only comes when you lay down to rest.
A Large Fortune Covers All Defects ( Epilogue )
The night ended on a good note, but like most stories, the road is full of twists and turns. Vengeance for the wrong done you is the only thing you can think of when you wake. All those months sleeping on cold stone. Hungry and alone. Treacherous exploration and harsh waters. Their face is crystal clear, and the need to wash it from your mind is overwhelming.
You'll find them outside the city waiting for you. Their back is turned, and your blade is sharp. They gasp and fall to their knees, taking those thoughts from your mind and restoring the truth: a stranger bleeding in front of you. Neither of you are any longer consumed by implanted hatred, and yet, their fate is in your hands.
The story only stops when the reader decides to end it.
OOC
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. 1815 - 2018. The sting of a blade.
Character arrivals may differ slightly from month to month. We suggest playing out the test drive meme as if your character has already been there a few days/weeks and this is their first time traveling into a book that isn’t for housing or shopping. Players who want to thread out their arrival can find more information on the faq, and those who want to play out the housing situation can find more information there.
To use a book, the character presents their library card and takes the check-out card from the slip inside the cover. On this card the character will see the Title, Date, and means of exit. Players may choose whether their character took stock of this information or not. The card is stamped, and with a rush of wind, the person will find themselves inside.
Please remember that characters may only die once, and any subsequent death would need mod approval as it comes with IC consequences. The librarian will urge all characters to be cautious as everything they experience inside a book is very much real.
code bases by tricklet |
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circulationsection2018-06-30 08:07 pm
Alice Liddell | Alice in the Country of Hearts (Clover/diamond/joker/etc.)
[Jumping into that water had taken quite a leap of faith, no pun intended. But that prison was maddening, and there really seemed to be no other choice. So when she wakes up on that sandy beach she's glad to see that she was right. She's also glad to see she's not alone. She's less glad to see the map and dagger and pulls herself to a sitting position with a frustrated sigh. This chapter is going to be annoying. She can just feel it.]
Are you alright?
[First thing is checking on her companion. The map can wait, and she doesn't want any part of that dagger.]
no subject
[Akira grunted out that answer as he pushed himself upright, checking his body for serious injuries. His entire body ached, but nothing seemed to be broken... after jumping out the wall of a prison? How about that. Looking up, he could see that the girl from earlier was still with him — the two of them barely knew each other, but having an ally was always very much welcome when scouting out a new location.]
[He looks over at her, then follows her gaze to the map and weapon. His eyebrows rise; he'd feel much better with a familiar-ish weapon in hand.]
...What about you? Are you hurt anywhere?
no subject
[Logically speaking that fall should have killed them. Which likely means they guessed right about the way to advance that chapter. Alice carefully gets to her feet, wincing a little at the ache in her muscles. She quickly tries to hide it behind a wry smile.]
For the record, I am never entering one of these books again without reading the whole thing at least a dozen times.
[Hindsight is 20/20. She turns her attention back to the map.]
I'd ask what the next step was but it seems obvious.
no subject
[Akira reaches for the map and dagger, pulling them both closer. He frowned a bit when he saw the... well, the cartoonish map.]
So we follow the shoreline for a while, then break off by... I don't know if these are actual landmarks or just decorations. But we break off.
[He gets to his feet now as well, holding the map and blade. The latter, he holds up to the girl.]
Mind if I keep this? I know how to fight with one.
no subject
I suppose it's too much to ask for a proper map. But even if they are decorations, they might tie in with actual landmarks.
[She hopes. Otherwise it'll be nigh impossible to follow this mess. She waves away his question about the dagger almost before he's done asking it.]
You may as well carry it. I don't really... like weapons.
no subject
[...Guess he's carrying that, then.]
Here, you take this then.
[Akira just hands her the map, noticing that she was trying to get a look at it. He was devising a plan already, another force of habit; maybe she could take navigation, while he focused on making sure nothing was trying to ambush them. He was already opening his mouth to speak when he remembered — this isn't the Metaverse, he's not The Leader, and he has no place ordering her around. Whoops.]
At the very least, the shoreline is probably accurate.
no subject
[She's okay with that and accepts the map with a nod. Alice has a good eye for detail and if there's any similarity between the map and the actual landscape she's confident she can find it.]
Good point. Our best bet is to follow the coast until we hit these hills here.
[She points them out on the map.]
We'll follow those inland. But what worries me is why this line seems to bypass the X in favor of taking a tour of half the island. Is there an obstacle we're not seeing?