#alice monk lamplighter

[solobeegames]

TEL022 LOG 2

6202025 A. MONK LAMPLIGHTER LOC: SECTION I | THE CONCIERGE 107 METERS BELOW SEA LEVEL.

"Let those curse it who curse the day, who are ready to rouse up Leviathan. . ." Job 3:8

I listened to the unsettling accounts of the previous lamplighter: boobytraps, dark tunnels to no where, a giant freak'in crab! I decide to make for the armory right away, but as I did so suddenly the room gave out from under me, my stomach doing flip flops. Somehow the gravity controls of the room had gone haywire. Floating in mid-air in pitch black felt like I was falling into the void.

By the light of my flashlight, I could not find a computer terminal, but creating momentum, I was able to make it to a wall opposite me. I knew I could gain access to the internal wiring system if I opened a wall panel. I was then able to use my portable computer terminal to plug into the wires and short circuit the whole system. That works! The gravity returns instantaneously. Unfortunately, this may have caused instability within the wiring and the whole wall gave way to an electrical explosion. I was able to get out of the way of the blast, but little fires started cropping up everywhere in the darkness! I was frozen in panic, but a sudden, weird flashing caught the corner of my eye from my computer terminal that had been flung across the floor. On the black screen it simply read:

HELLO. FIRE EXISTINGUISHER. ABOVE.

I shone my flashlight above where I had fallen and sure enough there was one!

After extinguishing the fires I ponder the implications. It was definitely ARI communicating with me. It must have somehow infected my computer terminal when I had wired it to the TEL022 systems. I can feel it watching me. I decide to ignore it for the time being and try to find something useful in the storage room.

A fire broke out in the storage room! How?

I put out the flames and feel horribly trapped, like something is intentionally trying to sabotage me and my efforts as lamplighter. I decide to simply make a run for it. Unfortunately, I met the aforementioned giant ass crab! Its screech was earthshattering, especially in the silence of the TEL022, and it was impossibly fast! Thankfully, it was a very dumb creature and I was able to dodge it several times. I found a fletchette gun and shot at it, but the gun was damaged so it was ineffective. Just as the crab made to attack me again, an eerie, but bright neon blue light blossoms from the darkness and grows into a bright enough orb that illuminates my pathway to the monitor room. I knew that was where the closed circuit monitoring system was located, so I dashed into the room! I instantly felt a burning and tingling sensation over my skin, within my nose, my throat, and my lungs. (Toxic gas?) I quickly donned my rebreather and got to work!

SUCCESS! The power to this section came online, and the lights flooded the room, my eyes pierced by the sudden brightness! I heard the crab wailing a dreadful sound. Running back out into the main area, I saw its spindly legs and giant pincers flail around in pain and disorientation, not unlike a spider cowering in the corner. It was completely incapacitated by the light. I ran out of that section without a second glance back!

Nothing is contained here, not by a long shot, but I have at least achieved my objective. Obviously, something of a nefarious nature is going on here. The cubicles within that room looked like a war zone. There are giant crabs. ARI is exhibiting disturbed behavior. And what is Project Hellmouth? (!!!)

| Thousand Empty Light by Alfred Valley

[solobeegames]

TEL022 LOG 1

6202025 A. MONK LAMPLIGHTER LOC: CAISSON (WEST) 70 METERS 107 METERS BELOW SEA LEVEL Why the discrepancy?

". . .even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you." Psalm 139:12 I knew this job was going to be difficult, thankless, grueling, but the state in which I found the Caisson made me feel utterly alone in this endeavor. The place was a wreck. First, I nearly tripped over mounds and mounds of dead crab carcasses. Why has no one cleaned them away? Oh, maybe because there were no cleaning supplies and the waste chute wasn't meant for organic material! On top of that, the hyperbaric chamber was sealed shut - which is just great! It seemed to be utilized as a storage container, as something was inside of it, although I couldn't quite make out what it was. A cursory assessment indicated it was going to take a lot of work and time to unseal the chamber.

On the other side of the room, the lockers contained broken equipment and gear, all old and worn out. What is the meaning of this? Does HAZMOS know about all this?

I also discovered that ARI, the rumored unstable A.I. of TEL022 has control over the life support systems. The air is good in here, although smells like metal and dead fish. This discovery, however, unsettles me deeply. God, I hate A.I!

| Thousand Empty Light by Alfred Valley

[solobeegames]

TEL022 LOG 3

6252025 A. MONK LAMPLIGHTER LOC: SECTION 2 | THE GARDEN

". . .for He gives to His beloved sleep." Psalm 127:2

The previous lamplighter mentioned giant, dripping stalks of mushrooms and the lower level flooded deep with sea water, but I discovered an empty center (sans mushrooms) with no sign of water anywhere in this section of TEL022. However, I did end up finding a gaping hole that penetrated straight through the upper level pathway from all the way down, littered with what looked like scattered, shriveled up mushrooms. I could assess that this damage was caused by humans, and by someone who knew exactly what they were doing. It appears the mushrooms were taken from this area. This can mean only one thing: raiders.

I found an alternate route across the upper level and wondered why in hell raiders would steal a bunch of mushrooms from this facility when it contained other resources and equipment of higher value. Before I was able to make it across the section, though, I was suddenly ambushed by a very large owl. It was warding me off its territory, and it was extremely aggressive. I tried to fashion of shield from a metal wall plate, but I miscalculated the weight and it collapsed on me, hitting my head quite hard. The dizziness, nausea, and disorientation I have felt since tells me I have obtained a concussion.

Unable to find anything to aid me in defense against this creature, I looked for any computer terminal within the vicinity. I found one and from there I was able to get access to all systems. I turned on the lights!

This owl is definitely NOT a normal owl. Large, coal black, with shining yellow eyes that glint and burrow into me with such menace and evil, it is unperturbed by the light. I tried to find an alternate route, but the place is a labyrinth and would have taken me a long time to navigate. Instead I discovered sleeping quarters, beds untouched. I have a week's worth of water and rations on me, so I decided to rest there for 24 hours.

I felt much stronger and well-rested. I did a quick scout of the area to see if the owl was still stationed there. It was, but I saw it fly into a nearby storage room. I made a run for it, hoping to bypass the creature entirely. Unfortunately, it was very wily and fast, it dove straight at me with wicked precision. In my panic and desperation I grabbed one of my wrenches from my pack and chucked it at the creature. It was a dead bullseye! It plummeted to the floor screeching in pain, feathers flailing. I wasted no time in vacating the area.

| Thousand Empty Light by Alfred Valley.

[solobeegames]

I wanted to take a little break from my intense play through of Substratum Protocol and relax with yet another existential sci-fi horror game (hehe), Thousand Empty Light by Alfred Valley. I find that in my experimentation with ttrpgs, I just love the Mothership mechanics the best! I wish that all sci-fi ttrpgs used the Mothership schema for their games, because it is the most intuitive and makes the most sense for the sci-fi genre, which needs that grittier, survivalist approach. Unfortunately, it looks like solo games made with Mothership are few and far between. So far it's just Tidebreak and Thousand Empty Light. That's about it! I know there are solo rules for Mothership out there called Lone Star that I still have to check out, but it looks like Mothership is primarily constructed and geared towards the group rpg crowd, which makes sense to the main themes and the world of the game, but still. It makes me sad! And frustrated because that means I will have to convert most Mothership modules for solo play. *sob*

Anyway, I ended up discovering that there is a Mothership Companion App that helps with character/stat generation (and much more!) so I have been having a lot of fun with that, making/adding my current Mothership characters! They even have really cool illustrations! Even if they are limited.

Alice Monk is my newest character for Thousand Empty Light. She is an engineer tasked with being a lamplighter for the HAZMOS service corporation. Her job will be to journey to an abandoned underwater tunnel on an uninhabited planet alone and restore power and light to each section. She is very serious (most of my science girls are!) and is highly competent at her job which she is passionate about, so I have a feeling that she isn't going to be happy at what she will discover at this God forsaken facility.