Tower Aspera » Roleplay

Day 82.

Weather: No changes.

Events: It’s a quiet day. The large Christmas tree remains in the p1 foyer, and things are in whatever shape they were left in last night. It seems those in charge are content to let things sit and settle with all that holiday cheer. Best enjoy it while you can.

Day 81.

Weather: It’s exactly the sort of weather you’d picture in a Christmas song. Fat, fluffy snowflakes steadily drift from the sky, temps are cold, the world is bright.

Events: Everyone wakes to a message from TPTB on their computers/devices, alerting them that presents can be found in the P1 foyer. Additionally, all of yesterday’s punishments have been reversed - those that can be, anyway. Some trauma or embarrassment may remain. Speaking of trauma and embarrassment, Jonah has been added to the tower, and Arlo removed. Jonah’s door is not locked, he is free to roam as he pleases.

Who cares, right? Let’s go downstairs.

Sure enough, around a gigantic Christmas tree are piles upon piles upon piles of presents. Things are more or less grouped together by recipient, though who’s to say whether not things get mixed up in the rush.

Or flat out stolen, if you’ve got the balls. What’s Christmas without a grinch?

The list of presents are as follows: ( Read more... )

Day 80.

Weather: It’s a bright and sunny morning, the sun reflecting dazzlingly bright off all snow-covered surfaces. So, you know… everything. Mid-afternoon sees a light fluffy snow begin falling; the snow gets heavier into the evening and doesn’t stop. It’s not a blizzard by any means, but a consistent fall.

Events: If tomorrow is TPTB’s day for Christmas joy disbursement, does that make today Christmas Eve? Twas the day before Christmas and all through the tower, the fuckers did tinker and display their power. Or something like that.

Much like last time there was a dumpster dive, highlight footage of everyone’s attempts plays without prompting on everyone’s computers in the morning. Well, those that still have computers. More on that later.

First, a message is displayed from TPTB. It reads:

“Greetings.

Yesterday, we tested several of your number in a challenge of teamwork. This experiment was very similar to one we did in the early days of the experiment. That time, of the eleven teams tested, the majority won. This time, seven teams were tested, and the majority failed. We find this curious. Though many of you have been here longer, it seems many of you are still resistant to work together properly.

As tomorrow is your first Christmas celebration, we have decided not to punish the entire tower for their failures. The participants will be individually rewarded or punished depending on their own performance. We have also extended the window for gift submissions. All submissions must be in by midnight.

Good day.”

Well fuck you too, pal. Anyway, yes, rewards and punishments have been dolled out appropriately. Or, inappropriately. Whichever one feels right. They are as following: Gwen, Taissa, Eunmi, and Anja have all been rewarded. Calvin, Oliver, Birdie, Morgan, Poe, Winter, Nathan, Marco, Hiroki, and Leya have all been punished.

Gwen, Eunmi, and Anja will all wake up to find company in their rooms. For Gwen, it’s her dog, Benjamin Barker. For Eunmi, her cat, Goguma. For Anja, a cat. In their bathrooms they will find the basic necessities (such as food, and litterboxes and litter for the cats).

Taissa will find her mother’s unpublished cookbook at her computer.

Calvin, Poe, Winter, and Leya will all find their beds and bedding have been removed. What's more, any time they enter the room of another individual the bed and bedding disappears.

Oliver will find a large folder full of newspaper coverage about his parents.

Morgan will randomly experience his father's old curses 'reawakening' at various points through-out the day.

Nathan will find all of his marijuana has been removed, including all seeds.

Marco will find the amount of cameras in his suite have quadrupled, and they cannot be removed. In addition, wherever he goes he may see brief glimpses of a camera sprouting octopus-like tendrils. At a second glance they will disappear.

Hiroki and Birdie have been locked out of their rooms. They will wake up in the hallway directly outside, and their doors cannot be opened by anyone in the tower.

Finally, a smiling new face has been added to the tower! Maritza has been added to a room. Funnily enough, she does not have the ‘typical’ experience for those just arriving. She is wearing whatever she was last, and her door is unlocked. She need not bother with the network to be free. How nice of them!


NOTE: Gift submissions are still open for all characters! Submissions go HERE.

Day 79.

Weather: No significant changes. Light flurries off and on, and wet, slippery streets. No cars means minimal slush, but what little there is ices over fast.

Events: It’s a relatively quiet night in the tower, but come morning a handful of people will be waking up in different places.

Fourteen subjects have been grouped into pairs, and are going to wake up in a strange room. Only a few of them have seen this room, or something similar, before; for most of them, it is a new experience.

But not everyone can see the room. One member of each team has a device locked on their head rendering them completely blind, and it will not come off.

Each pair is in an identical room. The groups awaken on a raised platform in a space that looks kind of like a warehouse. There are brick walls, concrete floors, and no windows. On the south wall are elevator doors that will not open. On the west and east sides of the platform are iron curved staircases leading about 4 feet down to the lower level. On the northernmost side of the platform is an iron railing. On the lower level are four densely packed and cluttered shelves.

Yes, we've seen this room in action before - but not like this. The lower level has been flooded.


In every team of two players, one individual is wearing a sleek metallic device that completely blinds them. If they feel along it, there is a keyhole on the back. The blinded participant is handcuffed to the railing on the platform. The seeing participant is shackled to a metal ring in an odd metal tile with three keyholes on the floor of the platform. The chain of the shackle has enough slack for the seeing participant to move around the platform, but they can’t quite reach the stairs on either side. Neither the blinding device, the handcuff, or shackle can be forcibly removed or broken by any means available to the participants. The participants are wearing whatever they were last wearing. If an individual went to bed naked, they are wearing a hospital gown. However, neither participant has shoes. Psychic powers do not work in the room, and neither participant is capable of shifting in this room, or performing any magic. Vampire powers of levitation and wall-crawling do not work.

They’ll begin to come awake at around 9AM or so (not that they have any clue what the hell time it is). For a few long minutes, absolutely nothing happens, and no explanation is offered. Eventually, they will hear a voice. It’s a bit robotic, playing from an unseen speaker. It says:

“Hidden on the shelves below you are three keys. One of you, the seeker, must find all three to release yourselves and leave this room. The seeker must rely on the directions of the seer. If you can find all three keys and free yourselves in an hour, you have a chance at being rewarded. If not, you may be punished. Each key is in a small ball that will occasionally omit a red light. Good luck. Time starts now.”

After the message plays, the handcuff falls off of the seeker, and they are free to head downstairs and go looking.

Only, it’s kind of hazardous down there. Some of the participants who have been around long enough may sort of recognize this space. This fun little bonding exercise was forced on another group of poor souls in the early days of the experiment, and those who weren’t chosen still got to watch a sort of ‘highlight reel’ that had definite sport bloopers vibes. However, there have been some significant changes to the playing field.

The shelves are still stuffed with objects of all sorts, but this time the lower level is flooded. The temperature in the room is quite chilly, and the water? Absolutely freezing. The water level is about four and a half feet high, and some of the shelves and objects within are submerged. Some of the shelves are also frozen over in blocks of ice. Hanging on the north wall between the middle shelves are a few tools - hammers and icepicks, and the like. Some shelves might require some physical force to break the ice and explore what’s hidden beneath.

The floors are still in no way clear. There are a lot of hazards, either floating in the water or resting sunken on the floor. Broken furniture (Titanic vibes, anyone), antique rollerskates, putrid smelling slimes, a great many plants. Seaweed? Why on earth is there seaweed in this warehouse?

The shelves - I mean, the parts not frozen over in a block of ice - still have a lot of objects meant to hurt or shock the seeker. The cacti are still there and thriving, and there’s a lot of wet, flimsy boxes that will happily collapse if someone even looks at them a little too hard. There are a few large, heavy coolers. There are light boxes with odd trinkets and glitter. There are a lot of precariously placed vases on the shelves that could absolutely shatter on the ground with very little provocation. There are weird textures. Some boxes are sticky. Some are moldy. There is, frankly, far too many taxidermied animals in this space for anyone to be comfortable. And it’s all freezing fucking cold.

So who are the pairs? They are:

Gwen (seer) and Taissa (blind seeker)
Calvin (seer) and Oliver (blind seeker)
Birdie (seer) and Morgan (blind seeker)
Poe (seer) and Winter (blind seeker)
Eunmi (seer) and Anja (blind seeker)
Nathan (seer) and Marco (blind seeker)
Hiroki (seer) and Leya (blind seeker)

If someone finds all three keys and unlocks the panel in the platform, inside is a box containing the keys to the seeker’s blinding device and the seer’s shackle. The elevator doors will then open. If someone does not find all of their keys… well, they will still be free at the end of the hour. Their binds will fall off and the elevator doors will open. But ominously.

The elevators will take them to the ground floor lobby of the tower, revealing they were in an underground room.

NOTE: Gift submissions are still open for all subjects! Submissions go HERE.

Day 78.

Weather: Light flurries off and on, but it’s a soft, wet snow - nothing that will lead to additional accumulation.

Events: At some point in the night, Oriana and Taissa are added to the tower, back in their own rooms. Welcome home, ladies. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of interesting stories to tell.

At 8 AM, everyone receives a message from TPTB. Unlike other messages received in the past, this one will remain in an individual’s inbox after being read, and can be ‘replied’ to later on. It reads:

“Greetings.

We have decided to aid in your holiday festivities. For the next two days, we will be accepting gift orders. You may order gifts for your companions - or not, if you would prefer to opt out. Gifts will be delivered in four days.

We do have some guidelines regarding what are and are not acceptable orders.

You may not give multiple gifts to one single person. You may only choose one gift per recipient.

You may not order intangible requests, such as enchantments or contact with the outside world. We will not accept orders for bespelled items.

You may not order people.

You must be specific in your orders. You cannot simply tell us ‘give this person something nice.’ Nice is very much up to interpretation, and likely not something anyone would thank you for on Christmas morning. You cannot submit ‘give this person something they want.’ There are no freebies and IOUs.

You may not order a present for yourself.

You may choose whether or not to be listed as a gift’s sender, or remain anonymous. If you do not specify a preference, we will list you as the gift giver.

As always, we reserve the right to reject requests if it is felt they are trying to cheat the system.

Happy Holidays.”

Orders for gifts may be submitted to this entry. Comments are screened, and submissions are opened for two weeks.

Day 77.

Weather: Though there's still the occasional cutting gust of wind, that's mostly died down. Skies are clearing up, and there's a fair bit of sun in the afternoon. I mean, it's still cold as balls out there, but it's brightly so.

Events: At some point in the morning, everyone will regain their eyesight. When, exactly, is a little different for everyone - and it's not even necessarily in the morning. It's sometime after waking up, and completely and immediately at random. It's meant to be jarring, and it is - though perhaps not unwelcome. As for those handy dandy network transcribers? They disappear soon after. Much in the same way they appeared, people just realize they're not there anymore.

Beyond that? All is quiet.

Day 76.

Weather: No changes.

Events: If anyone was expecting to wake up this morning with their vision magically restored… guess again.

Those that were blind yesterday, are blind today. And with absolutely no light sensitivity, some internal clocks may be a bit out of whack.

A lot of things are out of whack, actually. Blind participants may find their closets and dresser drawers have been reorganized. Articles of clothing that don’t even belong to them may show up, because - ha freaking ha - how are they gonna know? Furniture in public rooms may be moved in the path of common walk ways at random times through-out the course of the day.

Personally, my favorite part of the day is the message sent out by TPTB first thing in the morning. It says:

“As some of you realize, not everyone was blinded in yesterday’s experiment. We selected seven individuals to retain their sight. Some of them have chosen to keep this information private.

We have opted not to reveal their identities at this time.”

Lovely.

Day 75.

Weather: The snow has stopped, but it’s still extremely windy and cold outside.

Events: It’s a quiet morning. Perhaps after a few very emotionally charged days, everyone’s due for a little break.

Or perhaps not.

At noon, everyone in the tower has a shared experience, regardless of where they are or whom they are with. For every individual, a shadow appears on the ground on the opposite side of the room they are in (if an individual is outside, the shadow can be from any direction). It slowly grows in a straight line, slowly enveloping the space in darkness. It moves steadily towards any individual nearby. It will follow them into other rooms or spaces, if necessary. Eventually, this slow-rolling blanket of darkness catches up to every individual. And once they are touched by it, they are completely and utterly blinded.

Their vision does not come back.* They are effectively blind. After approximately twenty minutes of whatever reaction feels most appropriate to that person, they will realize something odd. There’s a small, handheld device on their person - be it in a pocket, or even on a strap dangling from their wrist. They will have absolutely no memory of this object, or when it appeared, and wherever it is, they certainly didn’t put it there themselves. It feels small and cylindrical, perhaps about the size of a roll of lifesavers candies. There are a series of buttons on it, and upon experimenting with it, you’ll soon realize that it grants access to the network. It responds to voice commands, transcribes voice to text, and reads messages and posts out loud in a monotonous computer generated voice.

So, yeah. Have fun with that. Team trauma building, all the way!

*Spoiler alert: I lied. Marco, Winter, Ari, Royal, Hiroki, Maya, and Eunmi all regain their vision after a couple of minutes. It is, of course, entirely up to them how helpful they choose to be. Or if they choose to tell anyone at all. They may decide they don’t want the responsibility of being Tower Aspera’s seeing eye dog. Or maybe someone will think now is the perfect time to rearrange furniture.

You never can tell with this lot.

Oh, I forgot to mention. The stairs from P1-P2, and from P4-P5 have been replaced with slides. No idea why.

Day 74.

Weather: In the course of the night a fierce wind kicks in, paired with a rise in temperature just high enough for thick snowfall. Howling winds assault the tower all day long, and create some very intense snow drifts around town.

Events: At 4 AM, an earsplitting, pants-shitting sound plays in any room currently being occupied by a person. It might take a moment through the jolt for an individual to realize, the sound is… the Unsolved Mysteries opening theme being played at an unacceptably high volume. It takes 15 seconds for the little ditty to stop playing, and immediately after that, everyone receives a message from TPTB.

There’s not actually any written message, though. Opening it simply prompts a video to begin playing. It’s an Unsolved Mysteries episode! The new host isn’t as good as the old one, doesn’t have that commanding neo-noir presence about him, and it’s just– oh. It’s about Ari.

Oh.

Well, frankly, this is just awkward.

Day 73.

Weather: No real changes. Temperatures remain below freezing - even at the warmest hours of the day. The skies are cloudy, and there’s very little wind.

Events: One might expect… something. Anything, really. Some smug little nod to the previous night’s antics, or hell, a public admonishment for the death of Hunter. Something.

Sun rises at twelve minutes before 8 in the morning. It’s a calm and quiet morning, and the residents of the tower are free to come out of hiding, or simply lick their wounds and find a safe space to process what happened. Here at Tower Aspera, we like to take our walk-of-shames up a notch, as you well know. There are certainly a few long, awkward walks to be had. And they are allowed to take them without impediment.

Sort of.

Apparently TPTB didn’t want to rob anyone of a very uncomfortable awakening, but they’re a bit too antsy to let anyone really take their time and digest (lol - if you know, you know) it.

As said, the sun rises at 7:48 AM. At 8:48 AM, something happens… like a blink. No matter where each individual within the tower is, they open their eyes and they are in their own room. It’s not like in the past, that vague memory of feeling sleepy before the world fades to black. It’s instantaneous. One moment you’re doing - well, whatever it is you’re doing. The next, you’re seated at the foot of your bed. Your door is locked, and you have a prompt waiting for you from TPTB.

It reads:

“You must submit a name. It must be the name of a current resident within the tower. You may not submit your own name. You may only submit a name.

Please submit a name.”

The prompt cannot be exited out of, and no other programs can be accessed, be it on computer or phone. Subjects are locked in their rooms until they submit a valid answer to the prompt, and no one (with the exception of Yasiel and Ford, who share a room) is able to discuss the process until after it is completed.

The prompt will only accept one, singular name. A submission with any other commentary will result in the answer being rejected, the individual receiving a painful jolt through their implant, and the prompt displaying again. Not so much as a single additional character can be submitted. No punctuation, no emojis, only a name.

What do they want the name for? Is this nominating someone for a punishment? A reward? What will happen to whomever is ‘named’ the most? We’ll have to wait and see how each character decides to play this one. Do you submit the name of someone you don’t like, just in case it’s a bad thing? Or perhaps you’re an optimist, and choose to submit the name of someone you care deeply about, in hopes that they will be rewarded. Perhaps it’s safer to pick a name at random, and simply hope no one is ‘named’ the most.

We shall see. Once a name (and only a name) is submitted, the individual’s door unlocks and the prompt disappears, allowing them to use their communications devices as normal. It is worth noting that if someone submits Hunter’s name, the answer is rejected and they are prompted to answer again.

In the event of an individual refusing to submit a name, after two hours a five minute countdown timer appears beneath the prompt. At the end of that timer, the individual is zapped, and the timer restarts, minus ten seconds. This will keep happening in varying intensities and speeds until a name is finally submitted.

All comments to this post are screened. Please submit your character’s submissions here.

Day 72.

Weather: The weather remains clear and cold, with temperatures in the low teens dropping to single digits at night. The snow remains, but nothing new falls.

Events: The extreme cold may deter some from outdoor activities today, but the supplies remain - minus the hot cocoa stands. All of the cheerful holiday decorations still line the streets, and it’s all rather charming and picturesque… which is kind of annoying in a kidnapping.

Everyone will experience a slightly disoriented feeling when waking in the morning. Something feels… off-balance somehow. Wrong? But nothing’s actually wrong. Some individuals might experience a brief period of dizziness or nausea, a feeling akin to motion sickness… but it passes very quickly. It’s weird that it happens to everyone, but… well, nothing else happens. Nothing looks different. Nothing feels different. It’s a quiet, boring day.

Until.

Oh, oh, until. The sun sets early these days, somewhere around 5 PM, give or take a range of fifteen minutes or so. The sunset is a stunning sight, the tinges of gold touching all the white glittering snow as the sun begins to dip towards the horizon.

Precisely five minutes before the exact moment of sunset. That’s when it hits Grayson, and Grayson only.

It’s a full moon.

That makes no sense. That’s not possible. He felt nothing implying such a thing until that moment, and the other weres? Not a clue at all. It’s just a normal evening. People are going about their daily lives, such as they are in the tower.

Wherever Grayson is in that moment, he's going to hear a voice in his head. It says, "None of the others know. You have five minutes." Where it comes from, who knows, but Grayson will know in his heart that it's true.

Five minutes until the blood bath begins, and only Grayson knows. All of the weres are going to forcibly change, and the bittens will lose control. They will have no warning, and no preparations are in place. Let’s see what his priorities are. The rest of you? Strap in for the bloodbath. You’re in the splash zone.

Day 71.

Weather: The day dawns bright and crystal clear, without a single cloud in the shockingly blue sky. Temperatures are steady in the teens all day with only the faintest breeze, and the snow has piled up into picturesque, fluffy, pristine white drifts.

Events: If anyone thought the transition from fall to winter was going to be subtle and natural, they were wrong. The morning dawns bright and clear and Hallmark movie perfect, with mounds of fluffy white snow everywhere - everywhere except commonly used footpaths, of course. No shoveling snow to get anywhere in town today! The lake has frozen over and there also seem to be some areas piled with extra snow in conveniently placed hills. Interesting.

The rest of the town has become a veritable winter wonderland, festooned with holiday decor - white fairy lights strung up in the trees and on buildings, festive garland wrapped around posts and buildings, decorated with little baubles in red, green, gold, silver, blue, and white. Snowflakes and candy canes abound, and the whole space smells faintly of pine and cinnamon. The window displays at Felicitas now feature mannequins in their most festive holiday gear and a new collection of warm and cozy winter wear.

The real surprise, though, comes to any souls brave enough to venture down to the ground floor lobby of the tower. Piled there is a giant heap of snow toys! The curious investigators will find snowshoes, cross country skis, a variety of sleds and toboggans, and ice skates both figure and hockey styles. One may also find moulds for building ice and snow structures and kits for making ice snowcones and snow ice cream. There’s also fun little stations serving hot cocoa sprinkled through the more popular areas of town, out at the lake, and near those big piles of snow that are just perfect for sledding.

Congratulations! The holiday season is upon us. Enjoy. And don’t worry about going too hard on those winter sports - magical healing has been completely restored.

Day 70.

Weather: Not much has changed since yesterday. Temperatures are still hovering around single digits, and the sky remains clear. It's going to be a long winter if this keeps up...

Events: At some point before the weres emerge from their hiding spots, blankets have been placed for each of them nearby. They're thick and warm and make a nice extra layer for everyone to get back to the tower. And when they get back? It's breakfast time.

That's right, despite certain people's kind offer to set up a breakfast buffet, one has already been set up in the kitchen, and is enough food that it's spilled out into the foyer. It looks like someone raided an IHOP, with several food warmer tables scattered between the two rooms. There's the normal breakfast foods that you would find at a chain breakfast joint, like your plate-sized pancakes and multiple styles of eggs, along with all sorts of fruit toppings for pancakes and crepes and an assortment of veggies and cheeses if you'd like to throw together an omelet.

Like at an IHOP or a Denny's, there's also a selection of more lunch-style foods, like a burger bar, mozzarella sticks, and a tray of those steaks that you always see in the menu but have to question actually getting. There's a whole tray of those steaks, if you're feeling brave, or ravenous from your night of being a wild animal.

Even the vampires get to enjoy the breakfast spread, with new flavored bloods on tap. This time they can sample bloods with flavors listed as "Blueberry Waffle", "Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Sandwich", "Hashbrowns", "Canadian Bacon", "Chicken Nuggets", "Orange Juice", and "Maple Syrup". Actually, someone should make sure that that last one isn't just regular maple syrup.

The buffet stays in place all day, and food is cycled out regularly. "While it's out in the open?" I hear you ask, and yes, fresh food is brought out promptly as soon as any tray needs it, or just when it's been sitting too long. When any of the elevators are empty, they'll occasionally let out two of the robot gorilla waiters (King and Donkey) with fresh supplies. If you get in an elevator with them, they'll just ride the elevator with you until it's empty again.

That probably means that the Robot Gorilla Waiter union came to an agreement after their brief strike. Good for them, they probably deserve it.

Day 69.

Weather: Temperatures remain cold - colder, perhaps, than some here have ever experienced before. In the late night hours things drop well below freezing, and in the light of day temperatures just barely break into double digits. Still, the sky is clear, and despite an occasional icy breeze, it’s not bad conditions for tonight’s full moon.

Events: Every werecreature knows the undeniable truth: tonight is the night of the full moon. It is certainly a day spent in anticipation of fuckery. The nights are getting longer, the weather is inhospitable, what could they be planning this time?

…Nothing. The sun sets early (just shortly after 5pm), but beyond the absolutely typical effects of a full moon… nothing happens. No one shifts that doesn’t expect to, or loses control that wouldn’t ordinarily. All wards hold. No one is trapped. No rampaging creatures are set loose. There is no tampering whatsoever.

It’s okay if you feel strange about this. Surely we all expect something to go wrong, but nothing does. If you’re grasping for a possible explanation, the overwhelming majority of tower occupants did request the werecreatures get a reward. Perhaps this is it? Or perhaps the anxiety of waiting for an ax to drop that never does is enough.

We’ll have to wait and see how people deal with it.

Day 68.

Weather: The storm leaves as swiftly as it rolled in, dying off in the wee hours and leaving behind massive snowdrifts, temperatures near freezing, and almost painfully clear skies. It may be possible to dig oneself out the front doors, but there are no snowplows here - or else, they’re not in use. Nothing in town has been cleared and all is blanketed in the same deep snow.

Events: Good morning, friends! Good thing the power came back overnight, because everyone once again wakes to a little blinking red light.

The message reads:

Many of you suggested yesterday that everyone be rewarded. We have obliged. Enjoy.

Well, that’s simple and also creepy. No mention is made of whether or not there were enough responses to form a consensus on punishments - did they forget? Or are they perhaps letting everyone wait and worry?

But who cares, because presents! Everyone will wake up to a delightfully packaged candle set. The candles, little votives in an array of colorful glass jars, come in various scents.

The witches, feytouched, elementals, psychics, and lone human receive candle sets labeled with… the names of everyone in the tower? How odd. When burned, however, that’s exactly what they are. The candles will smell just like the person they’re named after… if someone had the nose of a were or a vampire. That’s right, these candles will give those without superpowered noses a little insight into what they smell like to the tower’s predators.

The predators in question, every were and vampire, receives a candle set of various delightful (or questionably so) but innocuous scents. Their votives come in options like buttered movie popcorn, gym socks, laundry detergent, apple pie, fresh cut grass, and pussy.

You’re welcome.

Day 67.

Weather: Temperatures continue to plummet overnight, and a massive nor’easter rolls in over the ocean as tower inhabitants sleep. In the morning, the skies are nearly black and the snow is coming down so heavily that visibility is reduced to nearly nothing. Anyone taking the elevator down will find that there is already a heavy snowbank built up several feet high against the doors.

Events: Everyone’s favorite blinking message light is going off when the tower awakes. Like so many times before, doors are locked until the prompts are answered, and everyone must make a genuine attempt at it. Refusing to answer or answering flippantly will earn a jolt from the implants. But since the Tower is snowed in right now, might as well just do it, right?

The message reads:

Yesterday, we revealed that two of your own had set an uncontrolled fire in town, potentially endangering the entire building. Several of you expressed displeasure with this, calling it thoughtless and irresponsible. Our question today is: should Ford and Maya be punished for their actions? Why or why not?

Once the question is answered… surprise! The doors don’t unlock. Instead, there are two more prompts to answer.

Who else do you feel deserves to be punished and why?

Who do you feel deserves to be rewarded and why?

Answering these final questions will unlock their doors and set them free - or at least, free to roam the tower, because anyone who needs to exit via the ground floor will not be able to.

Additionally, around 5pm the tower loses all power. Looks like the storm knocked it out. Or did it?

Day 66.

Weather: Humidity is high, and it’s an unseasonably warm and humid morning. About an hour after sunrise a slow drizzle cuts through the fog and becomes a hard, freezing rain. By midday temperatures have plummeted again, and the pavement is icy. The rain lasts all day. The good news is, it improves the air quality slightly. If it keeps up, things should be back to normal within a day or two.

Events: Everyone wakes to a message on their devices. There’s no text or preamble, just a video launching that cannot be closed. In high speed, and from multiple cameras, it shows Maya and Ford setting a fire, and how it eventually spread. When it’s over, you can close the video. No forced commentary, just… a thing. How do people feel about it? We’ll probably find out soon enough.

Day 65.

Weather: Yesterday’s rain didn’t last long enough to do the air quality any favors, just long enough to put the fires out. Dawn rises on a dark and dreary day, with a thick smog covering the town and an ashy grey slush on the ground. Temperatures have risen into the 40s.

Events: Air quality is still terrible. It will create difficulties for anyone sensitive to that sort of thing (chronic headaches, respiratory issues, etc), and may make everyday tasks a little more uncomfortable than usual for people without them - especially tasks performed outside. Breathing in too much of that bad air can cause sinus and respiratory issues, headaches, or even a tight or burning sensation in the chest. So maybe stay inside and hope too many people don’t open their windows.

Just after midnight, at any point in which Ford is alone in his room, he will find himself locked in. A message awaits on the computer. What does it say? None of your business.

Just kidding. No business is private business in Tower Aspera.

At 8 AM, everyone will receive a message from TPTB. It reads:

“Last night, we gave Ford an optional objective. We informed him that if he completed the objective, we would bring Yasiel back to the tower. The terms of the deal were as follows:

He would be given a list of the people remaining within the tower he is closest to, and asked to choose one of these people to be severely punished. That list of people was Shay, Poe, Gable, and Gwen. He was told that everyone in the tower would be informed of the options he faced and the choices he made. He was given the option to opt out - to pass on the deal.

Ford accepted the deal, and chose Gable. Gable will be punished at an undisclosed future time and date. Yasiel has been returned to the tower.”

And sure enough, he has. At 8AM Ford and Yasiel will wake up in their room. They’re probably about to have a very strange conversation.

Ram and Eunmi are back in the tower, too, which makes one wonder if they were always going to bring Yasiel back. Ram and Eunmi also have an interesting story to tell about where they were.

Benny and Hunter are back to normal.

Weres and vampires body temperatures have returned to normal, though they all may be experiencing after-effects of heat stroke, heat exhaustion, or hypothermia. Which is too bad, because healing is still turned off.

Day 64.

Weather: Yes. There’s a lot of it.

Events: Hokay.

Let’s start with conditions inside the tower and work our way out, shall we? Vampires and werecreatures are still experiencing extreme personal body temperatures. Actually, it’s worse today. They may all start exhibiting symptoms of heatstroke or hypothermia, respectively. No matter how miserable they feel, no one is going to die. Well, at least not of this. Options are still open for stupidity. There may be periods of losing consciousness, but everyone can be brought back around with a little care.

Here’s the thing: magic can’t fix their symptoms. Or, really anything right now. Magical healing, vampiric healing, and were healing are - you guessed it - on the fritz! Because with Cecilia and Yasiel off on what I’m sure is just the loveliest vacation, everyone expected the healing to get shut down, right? Well, you should have.

So, bad day to be a vampire or werecreature. Bad day to be something else, too. Especially bad day for those who have to do things like breathe, or are prone to sinus issues or headaches (here’s looking at you, psychics).

At some point in the night, a fire was set in the southeast side of town. One might have expected it to be a relatively slow burn (snow is wet, right? That’s totally how it works), but the abandoned houses are basically dry tinder boxes, and things escalated rather severely.

By dawn, the two houses on the southeast side of town (on the dead end street between the boathouse and Lake Acta Aurora) have burned down entirely, and spread to the surrounding trees. The lightly forested areas directly north caught fire, burning the trees all along the rock wall. You would think that ledge and the elevation would be enough to spare the woods directly north, but no. Around sunrise enough burning embers are carried on the wind, and the fire picks up again, slowly spreading north and east toward the hospital.

There is a lot of smoke and ash in the air, and there’s just enough wind to really spread it through town. The mountains create another issue: air stagnation, and atmospheric inversion. In a nutshell, all the polluted air is trapped within the town, and the wind is only pushing it against the mountainside. The town is trapped in a dense smog. Over the course of the day, the temperature rises and the snow melts. Pressure finally builds and by late afternoon, a violent thunderstorm rolls in, rattling the tower hard enough to feel, before a harsh, freezing rain pelts the town, and everything is iced over.

These conditions can cause a lot of problems beyond the obvious visibility. Breathing outside the tower can be uncomfortable, and those with existing respiratory concerns will be uncomfortable even inside the tower, without venturing out or opening a window. There’s intense pressure in the air for anyone with sinus issues, and inversion has been known to cause extreme headaches to people even without a history of headaches or migraines. Air elementals (oh hi Arlo) are going to be miserable.

So, yeah. React accordingly, I guess.

Day 63.

Weather: The sun rises into a light, cloudy day. At about 8:30 in the morning… the first snowfall begins. It’s light and fluffy, and by the time it stops mid afternoon there’s a little over an inch on the ground. How picturesque! Cold, but beautiful.

Events: Vampires and werecreatures are having an interesting time today. It seems their core body temperatures have switched. Vampires are running hot. Hotter than they were in their human lives, and for some of them, it’s been a very long time since they’ve had to deal with that sort of thing! They’re also physically incapable of sweating, so… let’s just say the novelty’s going to wear off rather quickly and enter uncomfortable territory. For the weres? They’re feeling practically hypothermic. They’re not actually going to be in danger of hypothermia (fuck you, it’s magic) but their bodies are stuck in a temperature that is very unnatural to them. It’s not fun to be freezing. Or, you know, colder than you’ve ever been in your life with nothing working to raise your body temperature.

New wardrobes may be the first instinct for some of these poor individuals. Oddly enough, it’s impossible to get into Felicitas today. There’s a sign on the door reading ‘no one wants to work anymore.’ If you peer through the glass, you might be able to get a glimpse of one of the gorilla waiters moving around the room with a picket sign. You know it’s bad when even objects don’t want to be in this place anymore.