( Police Filter // Unhackable )

As anyone who has been watching the network likely knows, there has been another murder. If you're going to be out, please be cautious, stay alert, and try not to walk alone.

I'm alive again today. It's too soon for this to be another curse.

( Filtered to Euphie, Neil, and Todd // Unhackable )

[Text :: Dockside Action]

April, 14, 1912
Dear Father,

I have just received my orders from the home office. It looks like I will be on the maiden voyage of the RMS Gargantuan. One of the other stewards had to leave their position due to a family emergency so I was asked to fill in for them. I will be the Deck Steward for the First Class passengers.
This is an exciting opportunity. The Gargantuan is the finest ship in the fleet and entirely unsinkable they say. I have only seen her from the dock but I can confirm she is impressive! Much bigger and grander than any other ship.
I will try my best to make you proud Father. Is there anything I could pick up for you in New York?

~Eagle

[OOC: A private letter to home that, since the communicators are not actually telegraph machines, was posted unfiltered to the Network instead. Send a ‘telegraph’ back or see Eagle for a little dockside action before he boards the ship. ]

[[ooc; Carla's letter is in bad google-translate spanish, done more for the visual effect than anything else, I wouldn't advise trying to actually make sense of it. Each sentence has hover text. Here is a page of all of Carla's friends and family for 1912, and some really basic info about 'the rest cure.' I am perfectly fine with both her letter and the poem being viewable on the network, if so desired. She'll write back.]]

THE DECK - DAY
[It is a letter Carla has drafted many times, never quite satisfied with the results. Sometimes, it is more vicious, and other times it is almost kind, pleading. She does not know what she wishes to say to her father, only that she wishes to say something. She has time to think on it still, she does not intend to send the letter until they hit land, and so... as she reads over this draft once more and decides that it does not please her... She releases it to the wind. Perhaps someone on the deck will catch it before it flies away forever, she doesn't care.]

( // a letter to my father )

[What sits on her writing pad now is a poem, written several times in her sharp, feminine handwriting, filling an entire page with its words. The last repetition of it is unfinished, she's pushed the paper aside to look out on the sea.]

“Drowning is not so pitiful As the attempt to rise Three times, 'tis said, a sinking man Comes up to face the skies, And then declines forever To that abhorred abode, Where hope and he part company -- For he is grasped of God. The Maker's cordial visage, However good to see, Is shunned, we must admit it, Like an adversity.”

( cut for action options )

( cut for gif )

Big, aren't they? I guess I never realized.

[ Blonde leans over the rail of the ship, watching the whales. Unlike most days, his voice has a bit of an Italian accent, and his sunglasses are missing -- he's dressed like one of the third class passengers on the Titanic, and that's because that's who he is this weekend. ]

I've never seen them before.

[ Arthur is a bedroom steward assigned to First Class, with a handful of cabins under his responsibility. Is yours one of them? If it is, then your room service, wardrobe assistance, and the usual bed making and room cleaning all fall to him. There is a protocol and a dress code all to abide by not just in the actual attire but the state of it, that said Arthur carries with him an ease of composure, the polite veneer undercut only by the mildness of his tone.

The pay is less than minimum, but on the whole people tip him well. He didn't sign on in the hopes of making sizable pocket change waiting bedside anyway. He just wants passage and this job is his ticket, so that's that.

Substituting for a missing saloon steward here and there isn't really for the money either, so much as to kill time until they land, but he does it fairly often. ]




( OOC tldr )

[Eden is wandering through the ship - she really shouldn't be leaving the 3rd class decks but she can't help it. Her whole life she's been under the control of her father and now she's not, and she's dressed like a boy, her once-long hair cut short and scrappy and stuffed under a hat.

She finds a spot where she can look out onto the horizon.]

The world is bigger than I ever thought.

[She didn't mean to say that out loud. She claps her hand over her mouth for a second, but then lowers it, and keeps looking.]

[ooc: action, if you so choose!]

Wow, this ship is huge!

[Elmer's found himself in the first class section of the Gargantuan, and is wandering cheerfully through the halls - peeking through any carelessly open doors, looking out every window he comes across...he's obviously not a first class passenger though. Maybe second. (He's a stowaway.)]

I wonder how many passengers are here? A hundred? A thousand! Just imagine a ship with ten thousand passengers on it! Haha, but there couldn't possibly be a ship that huge. Not even this one. [He pats the nearest wall as if this were a horse and not...a gigantic inanimate object.]

Hm, I wonder where the kitchens might be...

[Should you choose to run into Thor, he's currently hanging out on the front of the ship like a proper Norse God should!] 

It has been almost a millennia since I last set foot on a ship. Though, last I remember, they were not as large as this one and if I recall, there was a lot more pillaging involved. A night of ale and merriment, boar and dancing before they set sail to find their glory and conquer a neighboring Kingdom- those were the ways of the Nordic peoples. 

Nonetheless, I fear that I cannot shake this feeling that I've seen something like this before- perhaps it was during my time on Earth that reminds me?  I trust that many of my friends will be on this voyage as well? One cannot pillage or sail without their companions to join in with them. Especially you, Sif, you better be here. 

[ minerva mcgonagall did not make it to her scheduled classes today, and she did not call in sick. a very unusual occurence for the witch, one that any who have sat in on even one class would know. even the day previous she was likely sending owls to acquaintances and those leftover from her world; asking after wellbeings, chiding for using magic so openly (it is still a habit, of course).

the reason for her absence is made very clear later in the evening, as a broadcast to the network displays her lifeless body, laying unceremoniously on the floor wearing a rather lovely gown, and one very different from the dress and robes she usually presents herself in. it all looks very wrong on her; and most wrong is the delicate crown that has rolled off into a corner. a period of dress that does not flatter minerva, and one of a fictional queen gertrude who is almost everything the witch is not.

no wand is drawn. no struggle to be found; simply a goblet, dropped to the floor out of her hand -- the arm it belongs to stretched out from her body at an uncomfortable angle. a tiny pool of wine is left in the goblet; the little river that flowed from it has seeped into the cracks of the floor.

so it would come to pass that a great witch; one who endured two wars and many more grueling battles, has been brought to her demise. she'll be found by police (or perhaps an unlikely squatter) in the penthouse of building 8 ]

[Rapunzel Gothel is leaning over the rail of the ship, staring into the water below with wide eyes and a grin. Every so often, she leans over just a little more, as if she can see something swimming below the surface.]

It's so beautiful...

[Her voice has a slight, soft German accent, and she's dressed rather differently than normal. In fact, she looks poorer than she did the day before, like she belongs below decks, with the rest of third class.

Which she does. But she just wanted to see the sea so badly...]

Oh, I wonder if there are whales down there somewhere! Mother would...well, Mother would be furious if she knew I was here, but.

[She shrugs off the thought and keeps looking down below, climbing on the rail a little bit so she can get a better view.]

[ooc: for the record, this is what Rapunzel is wearing today: http://s1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc395/Realaregula/Tangled/?action=view¤t=50_tangled_art_character_design_rapunzel_101.jpg, http://s1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc395/Realaregula/Tangled/?action=view¤t=tumblr_lgs6crkwV11qcx6iuo1_500-1.jpg. I'd been looking for an excuse to dress her like that!]

[Among the many aboard, there's a bright faced girl in a middle class style dress. But the strange thing is that she's wandered on to the lower deck to explore where it's a closer to the water, disregarding the fact it's usually frowned upon to leave the area of one's standing.]

[After sliding by a couple of people in the crowd, she makes it over to the side of the ship where she grabs onto the railing and moves her upper-body over it to look straight down to see the waves moving and crashing with and against the ship.]

Whoa! It's moving really fast.

[Curious with how fast, she leans just a little more over the rail (dangerously so) while breathing in some of that fresh sea air. Her grip on the railing tightens so she's on the safe side and she seems to notice something else.]

Ah, the water is even bluer than before. It's so pretty.

( A Little Backstory )

[He was horribly bored already.  He yearned for motion, felt like a caged beast. Days of confinement to the ship, to small cabins and bland dinner-parties. By nature, he wasn't one to sit still. He missed Diva. Wished she were here, so he could hear her pretty prattle. Devote himself to pleasing her. Her absence left a bitter craving he couldn't quench. There were a lot of young ladies aboard. Some quite lovely—at least, they'd have been lovely to the human Karl. Now they just looked like snacks.] 

[Leaning by the railing, Karl scowled. It was a chilly night, the sky a bed of stars. Below, foamy water sloshed.] 

Tch.

Endless ocean. And days of insufferable boredom. 

[Hunger licked at him constantly. He wanted to hunt. To kill. But a trail of corpses would rouse suspicion. Solomon had advised him to be discreet. Respecting Solomon's wishes, Karl planned to slink to the third-class section later. To parties where the music was fast, where at any moment a delicious dance or brawl could break out, and the blood of your victim was laced with tobacco and sour alcohol. Places that were dangerous for upper-class gentlemen - "Orientals" at that.] 

[Unless they had what Karl did: A sharp set of fangs.] 

I'll have to entertain myself. Why waste a perfectly good voyage?

[OOC: Vampire aboard. Come say hi! <333]

Isabel Elena Cortez, more commonly known as Rain, stood on the deck waving goodbye to her mother. To all appearances she was simply a beautiful quiet upper class young woman. Unfortunately, much to her parents' dismay, difficulties with her birth had left her... different from other young women. Many doctors had been discreetly consulted, many different therapies tried, but nothing could change the fact that mentally she would always remain more young, innocent, and naive than her years.

She was not supposed to be traveling alone on this voyage, but her father's sudden illness prevented her parents from accompanying her. Another time she might have been forced to forgo the trip, but Rain had begged to be allowed to go, promising to be on her best behavior and not do anything to embarrass them. After much debate, they'd finally agreed. Several of their acquaintances would be traveling on the ship and could keep an eye on her. Her aunt would meet her when the ship docked.

For now, though, Rain was largely on her own for the first time in her life. She was a little scared, but also excited. Her suite was beautiful, the ship itself seemed almost magical with surprises around every corner. She couldn't wait to see what the voyage would bring!


[ooc: Feel free to interact with Rain anywhere around the ship. She'll be exploring! Anyone wishing to have been asked by her parents to keep an eye on her is welcome to do so. She'll be shy, but more than happy to interact with anyone of any class.]

[Rose has slipped out of dinner early and she's standing on one of the second class decks. She's wearing an evening gown and her hair, originally gathered off her neck in a cascade of curls, has begun to unravel. It blows off her face in the breeze and she rubs her hands over her arms. It's cold but this view is worth being outside for. There's a smile on her face and her expression is expectant. This is an adventure and it's only going to get better.

She and her brother, John are here on their way to America. The very idea makes her giddy. She's never been anywhere, certainly not America.She feels like she's on the cusp of something, a fantastic life, she tells herself. The other one hasn't been so bad really, but it's been rather boring. She's done with boring. From here on out, her life is going to be anything but. She whispers to herself as she turns her face up to look at the stars, more than she's ever seen in her entire life.]

You're goin' to have a great year, Rose Tyler.

[Miss Lucy Locke smiles brightly at the man who opens the door for her. He stops her to admire her gown and to chat about America, her home in Alabama and a thousand other things Lucy would rather not be bored with. She listens, nodding in the appropriate moments, her smile hurting her cheeks. She's desperately trying to free herself politely and failing for the most part.]

You know, I'm sure there are lots of people in there that'd understand exactly what you're talking about and could give you tons of facts about the South, but I'm feeling a little...[She makes a face]

[The man makes some fussing about escorting to her to her room or calling her maid or something else before Lucy just waves him off.]

No! Really. I'm going to be just...good. Really good. I just want some air. [A look at the man.] Some alone air.

[Someone has not been paying attention to the network lately so he decides to ask the obvious:]

... Where the hell is everyone?

[Accidentally Posted]

Dear
Father,

By the time I know you must be angry, and I don't blame you for that. I am sorry. I'm writing to tell you that I wish things could have been different say thank you, for everything you've done for me. I know it must seem like I'm not I don't appreciate it; but I do know how much you've given, what you've sacrificed for me.

I'm sorry it has to be this way. I hope someday you'll forgive me, and we can see each other again.

Please don't look for us me.

Love Since-- [fades into illegibility]

[Open Action]

While his second-class accommodations aren't the most lavish on the ship, they're fancy enough that Neil doesn't take them for granted; and a long voyage is a rare enough treat that he's not going to waste it brooding over what to tell his father.

Instead he spends the day wandering everywhere he can, taking it all in.



[ooc; struck text is visible as just that-- words scratched out in the course of writing. Shipboard action available, just about anywhere a second-class passenger would be found during the day! background & ooc arranging is here <3 Obviously earlier in the day etc etc sorry.]

[Harry's on the boat, but he's working. Hey, not all of us can afford to just sail on a boat for a few months, even if it is in steerage. Or, you know, want to. Actually he isn't here all that intentionally, but that's something else. Right now, he's attending to Mrs. Babbage's dessert plate. Apparently it wasn't adequate, and then it was given to Ms. Marquette.]

Yes, ma'am. Very sorry. I'll get you another. ... Again.

[She's not happy with that. But apparently not enough to not want him to try again. Alas.

ooc: in other words, feel free to interact with him between work when he's grabbing a smoke or as a member of the help.]