open | event | Jailhouse Rock!

[ironwood]

Characters: Team Delta; also, everyone!
Date: February 17th (through 24th)
Location: The prison beneath the Palace of Landed Sky
Situation: Troublemakers caught rooting around the broken areas of the shell have been rounded up for indefinite (OOC: until the 24th) incarceration (after which point the shell will be repaired and the final phase of the event underway). Some will get a special visitor, others may get supervised visits from friends, and others still may be jailed together!
Warnings/Rating: Incarceration; to be updated as needed.

OOC Note: This is the second phase the three phase February metaplot event! Characters caught unlawfully breaching the containment and repair areas of the turtle's shell will be (generally) brought straight to the prison, having been arrested and escorted primarily by Raylan's taskforce. The majority of these arrests, if threaded out, should occur on the initial log for this event, but a thread header for arrests and escorts is provided here!

Prison | Palace of Landed Sky
Overview
Each Sector has one central police station with holding cells meant for overnight infractions and common misdemeanours. These cells are solid, but not infallible to the experienced escape artist. They, however, are nothing to the cellblocks neatly built within the shell beneath the Palace of Landed Sky as those brought in will quickly learn. This prison is built beneath the palace itself and its walls are hewn out from the turtle's shell. The floors run quite deep, though only the most dangerous criminals are kept in the lowest levels.

Ambiance
The calming effect found at Tu Vishan's head is prevalent in the dungeon and, in fact, is one of the primary means in which prisoners are contained via their complacence. However, with the damages to shell and flesh, Tu Vishan has become distracted and the normally peaceful aura has become inconsistent, with flashes of normalcy, anxiety, and pain noted by all in the area.

All powers are likewise usually contained in the prison, but the field controlling that has become unstable with Tu Vishan's injury. Powers can be inconsistently accessed, with their strengths varying between barely accessible to fully available for use.

Initial & Processing
Upon arrival at the Palace of Landed Sky, all are directed to the right and walk down a long set of stairs with guards posted at landings/intervals which begin at thirty feet and slowly decrease to ten feet. At this point, the taskforce is relieved of their prisoners and a note made to record how many Foreigners (or kedan, in some cases) they have brought in. That is where the role of the taskforce ends and the guards begin.

All prisoners are first funnelled into one of three processing 'tanks' -- large cells situated in a connecting line that each hold between twenty and thirty human-sized bodies. The average time spent in the drop tank (as it is referred to by the guards) runs to three hours during times of rest. They've experienced a spike of business, so to speak, since the shell broke and Eshai's post on the network warning the Foreigners away. Kedan were first to be found on the wrong side of the containment line, having no central warning system such as the consoles to keep them away, but the Foreigner count in the prison has been slowly increasing the longer it takes the repairs to be completed. Currently, a new arrival can expect a wait of up to twelve hours in these cells. The facilities of these holding tanks are minimal, with benches provided and sparse snacks dispersed every four-to-six hours. Prisoners needing to use the other type of facilities are expected to call for a guard and be escorted to-from their business.

Once they've reached the front of the processing queue, they are called to the front by the guards and escorted to a small interrogation room in which they are asked what amounts to tombstone information (name, age, race, suite, etc). These rooms are moderately lit and cooperation is encouraged with the provision of a meal (noodle bowls with meat, vegetables, and broth). They are relieved of extraneous possessions, but left with their surface clothes for the interim with all possessions returned on their release day. (OOC: This interview is generally handwaved; contact Alex at reignsdown or by PM to this account if you would like to thread it and she will provide an NPC to interact with.)

From here, the prisoners are assigned a cell with up to six others and so begins their indeterminate incarceration (OOC: which, unknown to them, will end after February 24th).

Prisoner Life
Each six-person cell is moderately sized with a small partition for toilet use to block cellmates from view, but not from the cell across the hall. There are six beds, lined up on two walls and bunked three high. This gives each cell a rather high ceiling compared to what one might expect. There is a long desk surface with a bench that stretches between the bunks; up to three may sit abreast on this bench at any one time. These desks date from a time when books and papers were more commonplace on Tu Vishan and prisoners were allowed them; nowadays, they are simply a lounging surface for the majority of prisoners.

The cells are emptied each day at dawn and the half the prisoners on each floor sent to the mess hall and half to a large room where they are instructed to walk or run laps for physical exercise. After an hour, these groups are switched to allow the other food/exercise, whichever they were lacking. Meals in this prison generally consist of noodles or rice, vegetables, and a sparse selection of meat with water being the primary source of hydration.

From there, the prisoners on each floor are broken down into teams of ten and assigned work tasks that range from textiles (ex: building/repairing paper lanterns) to upkeep (ex: janitorial duties, laundering, assistance to the kitchens). There is no prison library to attend to and all prisoners are expected to do their part, just as they would on the surface.

They are gathered four hours before dusk and the rotation between exercise and food is repeated. Oftentimes dinner will include a glass of watered down nectar or thin wafers as a form of dessert to differentiate the meals. Then all are ushered back to their cells for a two-hour downtime until night and lights-out.

Bathing and showers are arranged every second day, after the evening meal and exercise. Kedan and Foreigner prisoners are separated for this and provided group bathing facilities with a time limit of one hour to get, clean up, and get out.

Delta Team
Life for Delta Team matches that of the other prisoners, though they will have an NPC visitor one evening that will change things rather significantly. (OOC: A separate thread header has been provided for this group of characters in which to freely interact with one another in the cell before the NPC arrives.)

OOC: Thread headers (and starters for the teams) are provided in the comments area of this post!

Comments

[histruename]

[There's a large, red man sitting on the bench that runs the length of the far wall. The dim light casts the severe angles of his face in shadow as he watches the turtle pace the cell with eyes that cast their own dull, golden glow. In his lap rests his gargantuan right hand that looks more like a column of strange, ancient architecture than a limb. A long, red tail snakes from behind him, its tip twitching like a cat's, is the only outward sign of annoyance he has about their current situation.

The kid's been at this for a while. In a way, Hellboy's a little taken aback by the guy's energy. Not many people can stay that mad for that long. He's not sure if he should be worried or impressed.

Not that he's hurting anyone, but just watching him go back and forth is getting a little irritating. He can hear some of the other guys in the cell grumbling about it, and the last thing they need is a confrontation.]

Hey. Kid. Why don't you come sit down?

[seriouslytwisted]

Don't call me kid, Big Red.

[Maybe if Raphael weren't already so cranky -or maybe if he had a sensible thought anywhere in his head- he would avoid antagonizing the huge muscular guy in the same prison cell as he. Alas.]

[histruename]

[Kid's got spunk, he'll give him that. But the snapping leaves him pretty damn unruffled. Instead, he considers him a moment in silence.] Hm. Right.

It's Hellboy. And your name is...?

[See, this is how civilized people introduce themselves. Why don't you try it?]

i'm so sorry i'm apparently not getting notifs anymore 8|

[seriouslytwisted]

[This is how adults interact with the world around them, and this is also how actual tough guys face things that (attempt to) threaten them.

Raphael is neither of those things, but it's hard to keep up an argument when the other guy isn't even rising to the bait.]

...Raphael.

What'd you do to get stuck in here?

[histruename]

[He nods once, a slight dip of the head as he commits the name to memory. Calling people "kid" is just a habit of his, but he'll try to remember not to if it offends him so much.]

Just trying to get some answers.

[Answers that he never found. That's what pisses him off the most about all this.]

[seriouslytwisted]

[Everything bothers Raph because he's a very bothered person. It's cool Hellboy, nothing personal.]

Yeah, seems like a pretty serious offense around here. They'll throw just about anybody in jail for looking at a worksite funny. [Or climbing all over it or trashing it, any of the above.]

[histruename]

They don't like people poking their noses where they think they shouldn't.

[He tilts his head in amusement, his expression stony and unchanging with the emotion in his voice.]

Too bad for the Emperor, summoning a whole island full of people who just can't help themselves.

[The prison is packed. It must be driving her nuts. Small victories, he guesses.]

[seriouslytwisted]

Summoning? Are you talking, y'know, court of law summoning or video game summoning?

[Because he hasn't heard a story outside of "you died or maybe are asleep and that's how you got here."]

[histruename]

[Ah, jeez... He's got a newbie on his hands.]

I mean she's responsible for bringing us here.

[seriouslytwisted]

[Man, getting stuck with a kid who's also a newbie. It's just not Hellboy's day.]

Well I'm shocked. The king's never the bad guy. [Except in like every medieval movie ever. Ever.]

[histruename]

[At least it's better than some other days. He nods to the empty space on the bench next to him.]

Have a seat and I'll fill you in.

[He doesn't mind if it keeps the kid from pacing.]

[seriouslytwisted]

[Raph plunks down because he'll take old news over no news. He doesn't care if he's the last to know.

Successfully derailed from pacing. Good job, man.]

[histruename]

[Small miracles.

He peers down at the little turtle... kappa... kid, not only glad he's done pacing, but happy to have something to keep him occupied. Sitting around thinking has never really been his thing.]

Where do you need me to start?

[seriouslytwisted]

How'd the Emperor get us here? And how do we get her to send us back?

[He's got family to get back to. He doesn't really care about anything else.]

[histruename]

Far as I know, she's somehow made a psychic link between our worlds and hers. I don't understand a lot about that psychic crap, but I've had this kind of thing happen to me before. Chances are when this's over, we'll just wake up knowing somebody pulled the whammy on us.

[His mouth twitches into a frown as he mulls over the answer to the second question, though. He wishes he could give this kid something better.]

About getting home... we've been working on it. All I know is we're here to fight off a force of evil the Emperor's been at war with for a pretty long time. If we do our job, we get to go home. At least that's what they tell me.

[seriouslytwisted]

[So they actually are in a dream, and they're there to fight someone else's dream-war against another...dream-army.]

Uh...huh.

Pull the other one.

[histruename]

[He shakes his head.]

Sorry, kid. That's all I've got.

[Yeah... he's still gonna call you kid. Force of habit.]

I know it sounds crazy, but it's more likely than you think.

[seriouslytwisted]

[Man. Raphael is wishing about now that he had that ability Splinter has, the one where he can just look someone in the eye and tell whether or not they're lying. Staring into Hellboy's eyes doesn't do much more than make him feel uncomfortable.]

And how am I supposed to know you're not screwing with me? [Give him a reason to trust your word, bro. He'd like to finally know something about this place.]

[histruename]

Don't have a reason to. You're stuck here just like me and everybody else. Far as I'm concerned, we're on the same side.

[He might look like the Devil, but Hellboy's one of the most down-to-earth guys there are. The only people he bothers to deceive are vampires, and they always have that coming.]

[seriouslytwisted]

[Raph rubs at his mouth and hops up to crouch on the opposite bench, rather than just sit on it. Sitting on a surface with no cushion is not so comfortable with the shell.]

Okay. Let's say I believe you. Why's she bringing people here who can't even fight? There's definitely guys like that around.

[histruename]

From what I've learned, the enemy isn't something solid. It's a force of evil that can come in any form. An army, a sickness... it takes more than soldiers to fight something like that. And the Emperor's power is far from perfect. People can come and go whether she wants them to or not.

[He thinks idly about Liz, but pushes the thought away before he can dwell on it. He has other things to think about right now.]

[seriouslytwisted]

This sounds so stupid.

[Raphael hangs his head, pulling at his neck with hands linked behind it. Seriously. Seriously.]

So people can just up and disappear too. And they go back home when that happens.

[histruename]

That's what they say.

[Though he's not exactly ready to believe it himself. Not after Liz left and came back again without any memory of the incident.]

[seriouslytwisted]

Yeah, or maybe they get killed or something. [Or maybe they wake up or maybe this is all COMPLETE BULLSHIT because they are in a DREAMLAND FIGHTING AN ENEMY MADE UP OF BAD THINGS.

Raph stands. He's definitely being played. There's no way any of that is true.]

How d'you know all this anyway?

[histruename]

[Hellboy just sits there like a stone, like a big red boulder with his expressionless, broken gargoyle face. Compared to this kid's fidgeting around, he might as well be a piece of the furniture, always with that level, golden gaze.]

I used to investigate this kind of thing for a living. I do a lot of poking around.