[network] @ADMIN; Arrival [open]

[snowblindmods]

Welcome to Norfinbury. The time is E̛̬̞͖͖̫R҉͖̯̬R̼̻͉̰͎̳̙O̩͓͔̫͇͈̯R and the date is E̛̬̞͖͖̫R҉͖̯̬R̼̻͉̰͎̳̙O̩͓͔̫͇͈̯R. This network has been provided for your use. Please interact politely with everyone else on this network.
E҉̘̩̙͢͝͡R̛̫̘̝̮̞̬͓̝̫̻̻̜̦̀ͅŖ̮̳͕̲͚͜O̷̙̖͓͙̗̰͘͟R̯̝͓̪̻̩̟̟͕̥͍̭̪͍͘:̵̛̛̝͖͓̺̥̙̝̀͜ ̧̛͙͚̱̫͇̹̙̥͎̜̖̺̻̕͠͝I͇͓̫̺͖̻͈̝͇̰͕̩̯͝͡N̶̛̪̯̤̭̻͎͚̻̟͙V̧̼͙̹͔͝A̷̸̵̧̰̱̺̗̤̤̹̙̺͕͎͇̦̫͕̣̰̪͟L͏̡͍̣̫̘̖̰̟̤̟̕I̛̜̻̖̦̥͓̟̫͡ͅD҉͏̶̴̷͔̬̗̘͖͓͚͔̗̱̝̹̻͔ ̷̢̗͉͚͓̱̫͙̱̪̥̤͢R̵̢̭͕͖̙̤̣̬̪̜͎͇̙̥̘͕̙͟͜ͅE̴̷̶͇̖̙̪̜̜̫̪̬̣̣̫̺͜F̢͏̸̳̬̟͖͉͎͉̤͉͉͎̣̲̙͉͢E͏̨̧̫̩̭̯͓̬̼̳̳̱͉̤͞R̶͉͈̪͔͈͘Ȩ̧̩͙̦̝͉͇͚̼̫̭̕͘͡N̷̡̖͇͕̻̰̯͈͕͉̯C̳̝͍̤̫̥̰͝Ȩ̴̨͡͏̥̥̯̰̭̻̳̫E҉̘̩̙͢͝͡R̛̫̘̝̮̞̬͓̝̫̻̻̜̦̀ͅŖ̮̳͕̲͚͜O̷̙̖͓͙̗̰͘͟R̯̝͓̪̻̩̟̟͕̥͍̭̪͍͘:̵̛̛̝͖͓̺̥̙̝̀͜ ̧̛͙͚̱̫͇̹̙̥͎̜̖̺̻̕͠͝I͇͓̫̺͖̻͈̝͇̰͕̩̯͝͡N̶̛̪̯̤̭̻͎͚̻̟͙V̧̼͙̹͔͝A̷̸̵̧̰̱̺̗̤̤̹̙̺͕͎͇̦̫͕̣̰̪͟L͏̡͍̣̫̘̖̰̟̤̟̕I̛̜̻̖̦̥͓̟̫͡ͅD҉͏̶̴̷͔̬̗̘͖͓͚͔̗̱̝̹̻͔ ̷̢̗͉͚͓̱̫͙̱̪̥̤͢R̵̢̭͕͖̙̤̣̬̪̜͎͇̙̥̘͕̙͟͜ͅE̴̷̶͇̖̙̪̜̜̫̪̬̣̣̫̺͜F̢͏̸̳̬̟͖͉͎͉̤͉͉͎̣̲̙͉͢E͏̨̧̫̩̭̯͓̬̼̳̳̱͉̤͞R̶͉͈̪͔͈͘Ȩ̧̩͙̦̝͉͇͚̼̫̭̕͘͡N̷̡̖͇͕̻̰̯͈͕͉̯C̳̝͍̤̫̥̰͝Ȩ̴̨͡͏̥̥̯̰̭̻̳̫E҉̘̩̙͢͝͡R̛̫̘̝̮̞̬͓̝̫̻̻̜̦̀ͅŖ̮̳͕̲͚͜O̷̙̖͓͙̗̰͘͟R̯̝͓̪̻̩̟̟͕̥͍̭̪͍͘:̵̛̛̝͖͓̺̥̙̝̀͜ ̧̛͙͚̱̫͇̹̙̥͎̜̖̺̻̕͠͝I͇͓̫̺͖̻͈̝͇̰͕̩̯͝͡N̶̛̪̯̤̭̻͎͚̻̟͙V̧̼͙̹͔͝A̷̸̵̧̰̱̺̗̤̤̹̙̺͕͎͇̦̫͕̣̰̪͟L͏̡͍̣̫̘̖̰̟̤̟̕I̛̜̻̖̦̥͓̟̫͡ͅD҉͏̶̴̷͔̬̗̘͖͓͚͔̗̱̝̹̻͔ ̷̢̗͉͚͓̱̫͙̱̪̥̤͢R̵̢̭͕͖̙̤̣̬̪̜͎͇̙̥̘͕̙͟͜ͅE̴̷̶͇̖̙̪̜̜̫̪̬̣̣̫̺͜F̢͏̸̳̬̟͖͉͎͉̤͉͉͎̣̲̙͉͢E͏̨̧̫̩̭̯͓̬̼̳̳̱͉̤͞R̶͉͈̪͔͈͘Ȩ̧̩͙̦̝͉͇͚̼̫̭̕͘͡N̷̡̖͇͕̻̰̯͈͕͉̯C̳̝͍̤̫̥̰͝Ȩ̴̨͡͏̥̥̯̰̭̻̳̫
E҉̘̩̙͢͝͡R̛̫̘̝̮̞̬͓̝̫̻̻̜̦̀ͅŖ̮̳͕̲͚͜O̷̙̖͓͙̗̰͘͟R̯̝͓̪̻̩̟̟͕̥͍̭̪͍͘:̵̛̛̝͖͓̺̥̙̝̀͜ ̧̛͙͚̱̫͇̹̙̥͎̜̖̺̻̕͠͝I͇͓̫̺͖̻͈̝͇̰͕̩̯͝͡N̶̛̪̯̤̭̻͎͚̻̟͙V̧̼͙̹͔͝A̷̸̵̧̰̱̺̗̤̤̹̙̺͕͎͇̦̫͕̣̰̪͟L͏̡͍̣̫̘̖̰̟̤̟̕I̛̜̻̖̦̥͓̟̫͡ͅD҉͏̶̴̷͔̬̗̘͖͓͚͔̗̱̝̹̻͔ ̷̢̗͉͚͓̱̫͙̱̪̥̤͢R̵̢̭͕͖̙̤̣̬̪̜͎͇̙̥̘͕̙͟͜ͅE̴̷̶͇̖̙̪̜̜̫̪̬̣̣̫̺͜F̢͏̸̳̬̟͖͉͎͉̤͉͉͎̣̲̙͉͢E͏̨̧̫̩̭̯͓̬̼̳̳̱͉̤͞R̶͉͈̪͔͈͘Ȩ̧̩͙̦̝͉͇͚̼̫̭̕͘͡N̷̡̖͇͕̻̰̯͈͕͉̯C̳̝͍̤̫̥̰͝Ȩ̴̨͡͏̥̥̯̰̭̻̳̫ E҉̘̩̙͢͝͡R̛̫̘̝̮̞̬͓̝̫̻̻̜̦̀ͅŖ̮̳͕̲͚͜O̷̙̖͓͙̗̰͘͟R̯̝͓̪̻̩̟̟͕̥͍̭̪͍͘:̵̛̛̝͖͓̺̥̙̝̀͜ ̧̛͙͚̱̫͇̹̙̥͎̜̖̺̻̕͠͝I͇͓̫̺͖̻͈̝͇̰͕̩̯͝͡N̶̛̪̯̤̭̻͎͚̻̟͙V̧̼͙̹͔͝A̷̸̵̧̰̱̺̗̤̤̹̙̺͕͎͇̦̫͕̣̰̪͟L͏̡͍̣̫̘̖̰̟̤̟̕I̛̜̻̖̦̥͓̟̫͡ͅD҉͏̶̴̷͔̬̗̘͖͓͚͔̗̱̝̹̻͔ ̷̢̗͉͚͓̱̫͙̱̪̥̤͢R̵̢̭͕͖̙̤̣̬̪̜͎͇̙̥̘͕̙͟͜ͅE̴̷̶͇̖̙̪̜̜̫̪̬̣̣̫̺͜F̢͏̸̳̬̟͖͉͎͉̤͉͉͎̣̲̙͉͢E͏̨̧̫̩̭̯͓̬̼̳̳̱͉̤͞R̶͉͈̪͔͈͘Ȩ̧̩͙̦̝͉͇͚̼̫̭̕͘͡N̷̡̖͇͕̻̰̯͈͕͉̯C̳̝͍̤̫̥̰͝Ȩ̴̨͡͏̥̥̯̰̭̻̳̫
E҉̨̢͎͎̗̦͈͎̘R̨̘̦̙̖̳͈͟R̢̞̺͖̩̟̻͙͕̩͜O̢̢̼͉͔̟̯̝͇̙͜͠R̴̛̗̝͕̣̘͙̪͖̀͟:̢̢͉̙̥̝͖͉̯̟͇̖̱̖͓̲̳ ͏̴͉͈͈̦̝̦͉͖̖͉̪̝̠̭I͡҉̣̼̜̩̻̜͓̻̳̼̥̭̯̭̫͉̭ͅL̶͖͖̯̝̥̬̖̤̥̹͎̟̬̻̦̜̝̻̗͟͞Ļ̸̸̸̥̺̝̜̭̘̞͈͎͚͉E̶͍͍͈̬̕͜͟G̳̬͉̙̥̩̼̭̦͔͘͜͡À̴͟҉̤͔͇̩̳͝ͅL̟͉̯̥̝̀͢͝ ͏҉͈͎͇̞̪̬͓͎̖̥̜̦̖̜O̺̹̺̜͉̠͉̠͇̭̣͔͡͞P̢͘͜҉̺̝̥͎̜Ḙ̢͔͇̰͇̯̺͇͓̜Ŗ̦̝̫̯̻̰͍͙̼̮͎̕ͅA̸̬̯͉͓̥̕͢͞ͅT̷̡͎̻̳̥Ḭ̵̡̥̭̥̀͞O̴͈̤͚͇̜͘͘͞N̢̬͕̙̫̦̳̫̭͖͙̤.̧͢͜҉̩̼̬̞̟̻͇̭͖ ̳̝̺̯̣̠̣̲͎̝̞̣̭̫͘͠S̡̧̼͈̱̳̰̰̳̻̺̫̝͈͖͎ͅH̦̖̣̦̱͓͙͓̣́͜͠͠Ù̸͎̹̼̱͈͇̼̼̕ͅͅṰ̤̝̦̞͍̮̦̞̼̪͕̹̬͈͝T͞͏̟͖͔̯̼̫̞̥̣̘͉̫̟ͅI̢͖̪̮̺̰̟͎͈͇̻͈͔͉̱̯͓̻͞N̢̨̮̱͕̣͟Ģ̸̝̟͚̩͙͖ͅ ҉̴̝̭̩̯̫̤̼̬͇͡ͅD̨͏̺͎̝̟͔͉͕̲̮͎̦͓̥͕̹͓̮̖̘̀͠Ǫ̵͍͇̝̱̖̳̦͖͡W̸̧̩͕̹̹̬̰̻̣̣͓̞̼̮̦̺͟͞͡N̡̛̫͙̠͚̠̲̙̟̤͔̦͙ͅ.҉̢̻̝̦͓̀̕͠

Comments

England; day 001, OTA

[keepscalm]

morning; network (text) ❧

[England knows immediately when he wakes that he is not where he's supposed to be. There's some drowsiness about him, but not the slogging, foggy throb characteristic of a hangover, so he didn't drunkenly wander anywhere. The wall isn't right. The bed feels different. He's got shoes on, for God's sake.

He bolts upright when the voice of the tablet cuts the air, whipping his head around to locate the source. It's...a tablet, apparently. But whatever it's saying isn't as interesting as figuring out where the hell he is, so he ignores it and has a look around the room. It's not one he recognises, not by a long shot. He realises, with creeping horror, that he can't tell what direction his nation is in, and has to swallow the prickle of fear he feels at the knowledge.

The tablet repeats its message. England regards it with suspicion for a rather long time, long enough for the message to repeat once more, before he dares to reach for it; though he worried about the possibility, the device doesn't immediately explode upon contact. It prompts him to pick a username, and he thinks on it for far too long before he finds himself browsing the tablet's applications under the network ID "SceptredIsle". He wants to be cautious about his identity here.

He eventually figures out how to make a text post on the network. It's not very long-winded, which is unusual for England, but he'd like to keep his cards close to his chest until he has a better idea of what's going on.]

Presuming there are truly other people connected to this network, I have a question.

Have any of you ever heard of this place?

afternoon; network (text) ❧

I must say, I wasn't expecting the weather to be quite this bad. The wall of snow I encountered would be impressive if it weren't such an impediment to travel.

Has anyone else seen it?

night; network (text) ❧

[While England didn't particularly trust the tablet's warnings to get inside, it was also becoming extremely obvious that he couldn't continue to endure the elements under these conditions. If the tablet was leading him to danger inside the house, he'd take it over slowly freezing to death. It's not as if he wouldn't come back, being a nation and all.

Or so he assumes, anyway.]

I take it no one else has neighbours, judging by the state of the houses I came by today.

morning, starspangledhero

[fifty]

[America, by contrast, hadn't taken more than a few seconds to come up with a username. Some people just have that innate creative genius, after all. He doesn't recognize England's username, of course, but he can at least answer the question with casual but at least properly spelled writing.]

nope, but its definitely like the start of some creepy movie set in the worst location ever

[keepscalm]

[While that username gives England certain vibes, he doesn't want to jump to conclusions. Even if it does sound like something America would say.]

Perhaps, except for the fact that it's really happening. I'm reluctant to draw such a comparison when the situation might be dire.

[fifty]

come on its gotta be a prank I mean
come on

[Or at least that's what he's trying to convince himself. He definitely can't have gotten kidnapped to probably the snowiest place in the universe.]

afternoon, id: MarbleHornets

[genreblindness]

[Jay has been glancing at the network in between searching the house he woke up in, but hasn't felt comfortable making any responses of his own so far. The weird, glitchy welcome message makes him feel even more uneasy than everything else about this place. However, this post sounds like it could actually be important enough to bear further investigation.

Haven't seen it. Can you go into a little more detail?

[keepscalm]

You'd know it if you saw it. It's easily fifteen metres high. It goes in at least two directions, as well, given that I've found myself in a corner.

[genreblindness]

[Well, that's a little worrying.]

Do you think it could go around this whole place?

afternoon; video

[sageprincess]

[A video feed from someone with the ID of "Zelda" pops up in response. The wall of snow is an intimidating backdrop to the young woman who appears on screen.]

I have. [Her words come out in a rush, anxious to hear from someone who might be able to help her get her bearings.] It runs for as far as I can see.

[--Oh, right, she can use this thing to show others her surroundings. She does just that, flipping the tablet around to scan the extent of the wall, seeming to extend as far to the left as it does to the right.

Notably, she's not stuck in a corner.]

text/video

[keepscalm]

[England watches as the young lady appears on the feed and hurries to elaborate upon what she's seen, and responds with text at first.]

One moment.

[There's a moment of delay, and then England's video feed comes on, but it doesn't show his face. It shows the wall of snow; he's not actually in the corner at the moment, but as he pans the camera across both directions to show that it goes on for a long time, it can faintly be seen behind the house in the direction he came from. For good measure, he takes some video of what else is surrounding him. It's the remains of a few houses, probably with four walls between them but none of them with all four walls on its own.

He turns off the video and returns to text.]

It's much the same in my experience. That corner is the only evidence of an end that I can see.

I don't suppose you know where you are in terms of cardinal directions? I realise it's rather difficult to see the sun right now. [More like almost impossible. The snow clouds are incredibly thick.]

video eternally

[sageprincess]

[Yep, that sure is another giant wall and set of destroyed buildings. What happened to this place?

Zelda frowns as the video changes back into text; it's difficult enough for her to operate the tablet, let alone try to learn to type on it, and that's without trying to write and wade through the snow while woefully underdressed. She keeps her feed on as she starts to walk again.]

It was a bit easier in the morning... [Y'know, with one direction looking pitch black with the other being ever so slightly lighter in comparison] Assuming this sun moves in the same direction as the one I am familiar with, my best estimate is that I am as far south as one can be, unless the wall gives way at some point.

And you?

night; network (text)

[villainously]

what the hell happened to them all? do you suppose it's all from the snow?

( the state of decay around here is truly alarming, is it even possible for snow to ruin a town so horrifically? )

[keepscalm]

It's hard to say. I didn't have time to conduct a thorough survey, but it seemed like the houses I found were damaged some time ago; some of the signs of aging I saw looked as if they'd developed after it had all been knocked down.

It's also odd that some of the houses are still standing, despite the snow and whatever else happened here. Given how much snow surrounds the area we're in, I'm surprised there are any buildings intact, if they were truly buried under all that at some point.

[He doesn't know any better than anyone else at the moment, though. He can only speculate based on what little he managed to explore during the day.]

[villainously]

all I've seen is destruction and decay. can't say if it's the elements or time that caused it, likely both.
doesn't particularly explain how we got here. or where everyone else went.

afternoon, ID: Bowman

[pointnshoot]

[Bard has definitely seen the wall, and he's honestly a little worried that it might collapse and trap him in an avalanche. Maybe he should find somewhere else tomorrow...]

It's directly to the north of the house I woke in this morning and goes in either direction farther than I've yet traveled.

[keepscalm]

[England is starting to get a little concerned about the other accounts of people that have also seen the wall. Maybe they really are closed in.]

I may have a go at it tomorrow to see how thick the wall is. Once I've discerned if it can possibly be tunnelled through, I'll start travelling along the length of it.

morning; text (ID: Chillinski)

[figureitout]

[Before Stiles actually manages to take a look at the posts appearing on the network, he searches the house three times over, gets snow in his shoes, retires back to the bedroom and closes the door and bundles his feet in the coat he found next to the tablet. The device itself might be suspicious, but a coat? Sure, he'll bite.

Registering the tablet and opening the network takes no time at all, and if it's really the only way to talk to those supposed other people here... well, not much choice to be had, really.]

Yeah, that's a no. I mean, on the hearing about this place part, not the other people on the network part, that's obviously not a lie. Or if it is, I'm typing to a ghost spirit possessing the tablet and I am so gonna pass on that.

[keepscalm]

I assure you that I'm not possessing this device, nor am I a ghost.

[Spirit might be arguable since nations are a bit uncanny, but he won't get into that right now.]

So that makes at least two of us that are really here with no bloody clue as to why, unless you're having me on.

night; text; ID: tiro

[fataliteas]

[She tests the edge of the paring knife she found as she reads his message, frowning absently. As a weapon, especially in her hands, it's going to be pretty useless. But a tool is a tool, and she feels lucky to have found anything at all.

She stows it in her backpack, taking out rations for the night, and tries very hard to not think about cake and tea as she types out a reply.]

I encountered a gas station and another house apart from where I woke up, but no people.

[keepscalm]

[Well, it's only natural that a town would have something like a gas station, but it seems odd given that England didn't see any cars when he took a cursory look around.]

A gas station sounds like it could be of considerable use. What were you able to find inside of it, if you don't mind me asking?

night

[neverbitten]

i haven't seen anyone. it must be a pretty big place

[keepscalm]

Everything so far seems to indicate that the space we occupy is sizable, yes. I'm hoping it's not quite as big as it seems. It may just be that there aren't many of us present to run into.

[And it seems like there are more ruined houses than standing ones, so even if there are other people around, they wouldn't be able to take shelter very close to one another.]

night; text - ID: Sakuraba

[feelingepic]

I haven't seen anyone else. It's weirdly quiet.

[Shibuya was always noisy. Even in the backstreets, you could still hear sounds of life. This is just... nothing. Total silence.]

[keepscalm]

Snow often makes it seem that way, I've found. Though the towering walls make it seem a bit more ominous than peaceful in this case.

It's strange that no one I've spoken to has found company thus far. We must be rather spread out.

night - text - ID: claytonator

[dr_unconscious]

I found someone--or I guess he found me. We're both sticking together for the night.

But it looks like we're a lucky case. I did some walking around midday, and there's nothing but snowdrifts and rubble for as far as I could see. I don't think it's a safe bet to pick a direction and assume that you'll run into someone eventually, as nice as that would be.

Did you find anything in those houses you came by?

[keepscalm]

[Well, that's interesting!]

Snowdrifts and rubble were about all I saw, as well. Scrap metal was the only useful thing I found in the remains of one of those houses nearby me. Granted, I had little desire to push my luck with this weather in the hopes of finding something else.

I found a stuffed animal, hand sanitiser, and an umbrella in the house I'm currently in. It's a good thing we have rations.

Though I suppose the stuffed animal could keep me company if I never come across your good fortune. [Jokes. Especially since England doesn't even like people that much and he doesn't really mind being alone.]