panopte | locations.

LOCATIONS

The main setting is a small town surrounded by forest, train tracks, and a towering stone wall in concentric circles, with darkness already having eaten away at the eastern side. During the day, a red sun hangs in the sky without much of a shine; at dusk and twilight, the sky appears darker than expected, as if the sun's rays don't reach as far as they should. At night, the stars that appear are much fewer than expected at well, and there are no recognizable constellations or other planets in the sky.

While the town is devoid of all human life prior to the characters' arrival, various demons can be found in the wilderness as well as house-squatting within town. Buildings look modern but largely dilapidated, evidently by destruction rather than the erosion of time. There is currently no electricity and no running water, although this may change with character action. Although rare, cars and trailers can be found, though tend towards trucks and vehicles used on farmland.

Few human remains can be found outdoors, but are limited to shards of bone or small pieces of broken jewelry, scant evidence of the previous residents of the town. There is no normal wildlife to be seen other than the cat found in the train; even small insects are their demon counterpart.

*Prominent locations are labeled and enlarged for clarity; this map is not to scale.

WALL

The outer wall defines the perimeter of the setting, made of stone and reaches a dozen meters high and several meters thick. For the most part, the wall remains intact, save for the eastern portion that is lost to invading darkness. Scaling the wall may be difficult but is not impossible, although the view is nothing but the endless sea of darkness. It takes about 6 hours via Bicorn U-Haul to ride along the entire length of the wall.

Whether it is from the top of the wall or at the eastern edge of town, approaching the darkness will cause an increasing sense of dread, culminating in the urge to throw oneself into the void, to one's death. Malice can be felt from the void, and occasionally characters may hear whispers of garbled speech, or notice movement within the darkness despite the pitch black.

TRAIN

All characters initially arrive inside the run down train parked west of the outskirts of the forest, resting off-kilter from where it has been partially thrown off the tracks. There is noticeable damage to the outside, walls crumpled in places as if it were hit by something large, but it remains structurally intact and could possibly be made operational again if a source of fuel is found and repairs to the machinery is done. But where would you even go?

A small black cat with golden eyes wanders the train, typically lurking towards the front inside the driver's cabin on the northern end (implying that the train would have been travelling clockwise on the rails). Her favorite scritching spots are under the chin and at the base of the tail, and she likes any sort of meat. Characters can carry the cat outside of the train, but she will attempt to return as soon as she can. The train itself seems to be a regular train, and does not contain anything technologically advanced.

Snacks and meals can be found inside the dining car, although without power any perishables will soon spoil if they aren't eaten. Characters may also find toiletries and cleaning supplies inside the train. The luggage inside the train is full of clothes that are mostly modern, but include a spread of fashion from different countries and time eras. Tags on the clothing can be translated via COMP, and reveal countries from rl modern day Earth, familiar countries from canons of in-game characters, as well as unfamiliar countries from other canons. None of the clothing will be recognizable as being unique to a character (canonmate or otherwise) unless it is the sentimental object specified in your app, or belongs to your characters.

Of note, demons will not approach or enter the train. Wonder why...

FOREST

The forest is dense, allowing little sunlight through the canopy even during the day, and there are scars of past forest fires beneath the regrowth of plant life. Several trails snake through the forest, hidden under the overgrowth, although most of dead-end traps for ambushing demons. A single trail cuts straight through the forest from the train to the school, you can't miss it, but it's still a several mile trek. At normal walking speed, this would take roughly 5-6 hours without interruption.

SCHOOL

The school building consists of two wings, each with three floors. The main entrance is locked, and from the heavy resistance met when trying to ram down the door, it also appears to be barricaded on the inside. The doors and windows in the school appear to be boarded up, although some windows on the ground floor have been broken in, allowing entry into the dark, musty halls. It smells faintly of rot inside, and the crushed bones of a number of skeletons can be found throughout the school, tucked away in the bathrooms, in closets, and a fair number gathered inside the auditorium where strength in numbers had failed them.

Crying can be heard on the third floor from both the left and right wings of the building. The left wing ends in a science lab that is currently locked by a barrier, behind which is strong demon presence. The right wing ends in a set of bathroom doors, with the crying heard from behind the girl's bathroom door. Everybody so far has decided to be polite and not bother who/whatever this is.

Outside the principal's office on the ground floor, a blizzard blows through the entire hallway. Time seems to pass abnormally within the blizzard, with time stretching far longer than expected, and Moh Shuvuu can be found within the storm.

The school is host to a library containing a multitude of books and other paper material that are brittle with age, but many are still intact. The writing inside is unfamiliar, but can be vaguely translated word for word using a COMP. Many are reference books discussing the arts, maths, sciences, and rhetoric, while there is a distinct lack of history. Information in the books generally match up with modern day knowledge, with anything supernatural being only in fiction books. A desktop computer has been relocated from the computer lab inside the library over to the church.

A map of the town used to be in the library, although it has since then been removed. A copy of this map has been sent to each character's COMP for reference, and depicts a full map of their current location before the east half was taken over by the void. In this map, the missing eastern half was largely residential and was situated next to an "Achates River." There is no wall depicted surrounding the town; instead, the train tracks enter town from the southeast, passes town on the southern side, loops up to the west, then exits on the northeast, essentially forming a cul-de-sac. A dead end. No town name is given.

GREENHOUSE

Several barren garden plots can be found behind the school, but inside the greenhouse next to it, vegetation is thriving thanks to the warmth and humidity. There is a variety of plants of variable edibility, which may be determined using reference books from the school library, or a simple try-it-and-see and an iron stomach. The different flowers are all vibrant red, and the different fruit are all small and sour. A hand pumped well is located inside the greenhouse, and while the water tastes slightly bitter, at least it's clean and potable.

The greenery is wild and overgrown, but there are no signs of fighting inside. Footprints— small, bare foot, probably human— can be seen scattered about, starting from a cellar door towards the northeast corner, crowding around a large fruit tree towards the center of the greenhouse, and returning to that same cellar door. The door does not open, and is currently locked by a barrier.

Of note, demons will not approach or enter the greenhouse.

HOSPITAL

As a place imbued with death, the hospital is a favored haunt of a large number of demons, especially in the basement level, and the entire building is deathly cold. It will take a fair bit of searching, but characters will be able to find medicine and other medical supplies inside the various hospital rooms, along with a large amount of crushed bone and loose hair and scraps of clothing amongst the battered equipment and bloodstained floors. The pantry inside the cafeteria contains an abundance of canned and dried food, all of which are very healthy and very bland. Photos from Ruka's Camera Obscura suggest the hospital had a different layout in the past, with evidence of burn damage to the interior structure.

The stairwell leading down to the basement level is guarded by many demons, and the stairs are littered with broken glass from the exploded lightbulbs on the ceiling. The basement door is currently locked by a barrier, behind which is a powerful presence, and supposedly laboratories and the morgue.

Most recent medical records from the hospital reveal an increase of post-mortem diagnoses of SADS ("Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome" or "Sudden Adult Death Syndrome", aka inexplicable death in a person's sleep from unknown causes). These cases seemed to be uniform across the town, with no apparent epicenter(s).

There is a backup generator behind the hospital that is out of fuel, but otherwise seems to be in working order.

CONCERT HALL

At the center of town is a concert hall that remains structurally sound, with many orchestral instruments still unharmed. With its wide open spaces, there doesn't seem to be as many demons inside, and those who linger in and around the concert hall seem calmer than usual. The air seems to be somewhat lighter, and hunger pangs ebb away while inside the hall. The acoustics are amazing.

A hauntingly beautiful lullaby can be heard from within the building, putting anybody within the vicinity to sleep. High Pixies appear to guard the hall from the doorways and windows of the many entrances and exits, attacking those who ignore the lullaby's warning and come too close. A faerie queen rules over the demons inside the concert hall, and is described as strong, powerful, and wise, and does not think very highly of humans unless they've demonstrated their strength. She is single.

There is a roughed up grand piano in front of the concert hall, although characters will have to block out the Lullaby in order to approach it.

CHURCH

The church is a small structure, but one wholly untouched by the demons outside. A good number of intact skeletons can be found inside filling up the pews, fully clothed and weathered only by time, rather than teeth and claw. A large rusting statue of an angel guards the front entrance, while the back is home to a neat and well populated cemetery plot. There are no dates on the tombstones, but they all bear very familiar names: of loved ones, coworkers, sometimes even the character's own. Don't dig up the cemetery. First of all, that's rude. Second of all, it seems to be a mass grave underneath, filled with remains of the dead scattered amongst little demon larvae of all sorts.

Some religious scriptures and books can be found inside the church, although the bulk of these are hymnals. Followers of this church appear to be polytheistic, and interior artwork depict ash trees, landscapes of golden hills or dunes of sand, and a triplet of angels which look similar to the angel statue in front of the building.

Of note, demons will not approach or enter the church or the cemetery.

POWER PLANT

With its thick metal walls and extra security, the power plant stands tall at the very north end of town. There are so many switches and buttons and knobs and levers, but the power is off so none of them do anything at this time. Please contact the mod if your character touches anything inside and doesn't put it back how it was.

The entire first floor is occupied by a giant Ooze, preventing people from going upstairs to the higher levels. This demon has gotten so large from ingesting so many other people and demons it can no longer leave the building without damaging the structure, trapping the demons on the upper level upstairs. It is always hungry, as if there were an empty void that it cannot fill no matter how much it eats. Perhaps what it is afflicted with is "hunger of the soul" ...

Next to the power plant is a small building with many jail cells and an interrogation room. Every single cell has been left open, and the only "inmates" found within are the resident demons.

HOUSING

Interspersed throughout town are an abundance of abandoned homes, many boarded up just as the school building is, but still a good number remaining that have already been broken into. Characters are free to scavenge for common household items and food: the pantry selection is much greater than the hospital's, but still consists of canned and dried food. Anything perishable has already perished. For other resources, characters will be able to find common locations typically found in a small town, such as restaurants, parks, farmland, mills, coffee shops, etc.

Many houses have accompanying gardens in various stages of neglect, and some even have their own well. The water from private land tends to be somewhat sweet, but drinking too much will make one nauseous. Framed photographs hang on the walls and sit on bedside tables of many of these houses, and they all bear very familiar faces: of each character in the game, standing alongside canon castmates, both current and past characters in the game, and among complete strangers. Everybody looks... happy...? They do look happy.

all photographs by johnny joo