It is a quiet day in mostly reconstructed Cerealia. The robots are busily running into walls that were not there before, the Cybuddy bees are buzzing...and CERES has still not said a word. Attempting to contact them still gets the User Offline error. Strange...
But who cares if CERES is offline? After all, they are the cruel and tyrannical captors. A Cerealia without them must be better than a Cerealia with them. So there's nothing to worry about on this fine, peaceful day. Or, at least, that's what it seems like, when suddenly there's a voice in everyone's head. A chosen few may recognize the voice, for they will have heard it before, but to the vast majority, it is brand new.
Looks like someone has been saved, and a reward granted... and no, you don't have a single choice in the matter.
 Your heroism will be remembered, lost and stolen souls.
You have saved me, and so now, I shall save you.
All of you.
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PHASE I [ day one ] It happens so quickly. One moment you’re in the colony, going about your daily life, and the next, you’re… floating. A moment later, every player character from the colony is transported with a wisp of fresh air to...somewhere very very different. The distance is far, but it is covered in what must have only been a scant moment, and it’s clear somehow, especially to air characters, that it was Caeli’s doing that brought everyone there.
There, naturally, being right in the middle of the jungle.
Everyone is then unceremoniously dropped. You may land on a tree, or in a patch of poison mushrooms (no really, look out for the colorful plant life, it’s probably poisonous) or in the river. There are some strange insects of all sorts and types, some of which have some uncomfortable side effects if you’re bitten, such as swelling or the uncomfortable urge to go hug the nearest person, and there are strange flowers everywhere, some of which glow only in the dark of night or the shade of trees. It is dreadfully humid, however, and a little hard to breathe--unless you’re of the air disposition.
Either way, you’ve certainly landed somewhere fantastical, so take some time to get used to your surroundings. It shouldn’t take too long to find everyone else, hopefully.
PHASE II [ day two ] Of course, this far into the jungle, and making this much noise, it was only inevitable before some company was attracted.
Some are clearly dangerous, some are peaceful as can be and some are somewhere in between; approach at your own risk.
Either way, these monsters are all drawn to larger groups of people and a lot of noise, so it may be best to keep quiet...though the ones that keep their distance may be even more concerning.
Everyone is certainly being stalked at one point or another in the jungle -- and at night, there are eyes watching from the darker parts of the trees.
PHASE III [ day three ] But perhaps if you follow some of those monsters deeper into the woods, you will stumble across an old, run down village of sorts. It looks as though time and the jungle has overtaken it. Exploring it will reveal plenty of homes that were clearly lived in however, by families and by people of all sorts.
There are empty rooms, covered in dust, and a central village fire, long gone out.
Small knick-knacks and various objects can be found… if you want to steal from the dead, you know. It’s a little rude. It appears they led a simple, peaceful life, however; most notably, there is no technology to be found.
And if The Bridge catches you doing it, she will look incredibly sad and ask you to put everything back in its proper place before she goes back to looking very irritated at Caeli. You may overhear words about how this “isn’t the right place” and Caeli’s unrepentant, “It is only a few hundred miles”. Looks like something went a little wrong in the transportation process.
Time to camp out for the night, perhaps. And your CereVices don’t get any reception out here, so no surfing the internet for you. If you try to connect to the internet, for some reason the device starts playing a song. Was that programmed…?
PHASE IV [ day four ] By the fourth day, it’s pretty clear that you’re going to be stuck here for a bit. Pestering Caeli or Maris gets nothing, while the Bridge still can’t be approached for pretty good reasons. So… you’ll just have to make the best of it while they figure out their next approach.
Time to figure out how to camp with few supplies and even fewer nice places to sleep. Maybe try to make a fire (though it’s incredibly difficult, considering how muggy it is here) or try to find some bugs to eat (ew gross).
Of course, you can try hunting, but the prey doesn’t look too friendly, so be careful not to become the prey yourself. The same goes for fishing, it seems.
Some of the trees are poisonous, some of the grasses will cause unfortunate rashes, and some vines will lash out to grab at people (especially colorful ones); basically, this is an entirely untamed alien jungle, so it may not be the fun camping trip you'd like.
Time to work together to survive out here, at least for a little longer.
It’s your time to shine. This is Person Versus Wild.
PHASE V [ day six ] On day six, the jungle goes utterly silent.
The monsters and animals disappear. The extra friends poof away hastily and suddenly. Maris and the Bridge fall silent (though Caeli admittedly continues floating there as ever). If anyone approaches them to ask, they'll just say that "she is coming".
And soon, she does appear. She moves slowly, lacking in feet; they are roots, as though that of a tree. Nonetheless, she has no troubles with moving forward, slow bit by bit. She does not speak, not at first, and behind her, trotting lightly through the woods, there is another. Both feel strongly of spiritual energy, just like Maris and Caeli. And eventually, after observing the people gathered, they can be spoken to.
BONUS [ day ??? ] After spending some time in the jungle, emotions might be running a bit amuck. And those emotions might bring some unexpected...friends. Yes, let's go with friends.
Because if a character is typically grumpy, gloomy, stoic, lineface, or anything along those lines, they may find themselves followed by a bright, happy bird. That bird feeds off of those emotions, and will just cheerfully follow around any lineface character for as long as possible. Or until they smile. The birds are otherwise harmless, chirping happily every now and then and following them around like a friendly shadow.
Happy, cheerful, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, energetic characters, on the other hand, will soon find themselves followed by... a different friend. Or maybe a handful of them. It depends on how cheerful they are. Either way, these creatures feed off of happiness and fun, but they will also chew on hair or an ear if they're allowed to get that close, making horrifying, chittering noises as they follow anyone who is in a good mood.
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ] |
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Mary?
[Poor thing. Is this fear hugging?] Are you all right? [No clue this isn't just a momentary startled hug. He'll figure it out soon.]
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I can't... really stop--
[ YES ISN'T THIS FAMILIAR. ]
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...but oh. Quatre can't help a laugh.] Somehow it feels like we've done this before, in that case.
[It's not him this time, but he remembers their first encounter.] It's fine. I guess this sort of makes us even.
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It seems that way. Maybe we ought to try it someday anyway.
[A friendly hug when neither of them is under some weird influence.]
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I-isn't that sort of embarrassing, though?
[ Her delicate maidenly sensibilities! While she's working on not clinging to him, yes. ]
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[Quatre shrugs a shoulder. At the very least he doesn't seem to mind being clung to. By now Mary is a friend in his mind, so he's not bothered by it.]
I don't think it's that embarrassing. It's a normal enough thing for friends, every now and again, right?
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And so Mary stops fighting the stupid urge for a moment and just drops her forehead on his shoulder. ]
I guess... I mean, hugs aren't bad...
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[But hey why not. He lifts a hand to settle on her head for a minute.] But... eventually we should try to move. I'm not sure how safe it'll be out here as we start losing light.
And I doubt there's any place convenient to stay.
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I can... move, I think.
[ Or at least she can try to exercise more restraint so Quatre's not dragging her with him. ]
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Quatre nods though, seeing if he can try to disengage from Mary now, offering a faint smile, trying to look reassuring.] Unfortunately I have no idea which way to go. Any way look good to you?
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[Poor soggy Mary. Quatre offers his best sympathetic expression before inclining his head.] Following the river might not be a bad idea. Water tends to lead to civilization, doesn't it?
[In theory? Though everything about this jungle screams "nowhere near civilization" to him though.]
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I guess so... but not too close, okay?
[ SHE DOESN'T TRUST RIVERS ANYMORE. ]
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Not too close. Just to keep it in sight. It'll keep us from going in circles at least, right?
[Come on, Mary. Stick with him; he'll make sure you're okay. He promises. In fact he even holds out a hand towards her. Best to stick together, right?]
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Buuut she's still going to wipe her palm on a clean part of her dress before she takes his hand. Just in case. ]
Right... so we'll get somewhere.
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Exactly. Though... I'm not entirely sure where that'll be just yet. But we'll figure it out. Maybe we'll run into other people to.
[No problem at all.]
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[ Chances are they'll definitely run into someone.
And she's just gonna grimace a little as she tries to fluff out some of her hair with her free hand, urgh. She wants a bath. ]
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[That's his guess, but right now it's only just that. Actually, he's glad he found Mary. She's a familiar face -- one he's become quite fond of.]
Are there any of your friends we should keep an eye out for?
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[ MARY CARES ABOUT HER FRIENDS. ]
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Then we'll definitely keep our eyes open for everyone. I think that's best anyway. That's the way we'll all get through this, I think, by finding each other and working together.
[Teamwork! Quatre's actual element isn't earth, it's heart and always will be let's just face that fact.]
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[ She has to say this firmly. She has no desire to be in the river any more today. Or tomorrow. Or ever.
Sorry, Quatre, she's just going to press a little closer to your side. Lingering hug sentiments and river disgruntlement. ]
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[No falling in the river! It's okay, Mary. Quatre will keep you out of the water as best he can. He's not such a fan of being wet himself, so it's definitely in his plan to stay out of that predicament.]
Are you cold? Even without the temperature being low, it's probably not ideal that you're already wet... [No getting sick from exposure, Mary.]
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He didn't fall in the river, so he has the upper hand here.] Let's make sure you don't get any more chilled then, all right? It seems like it might take things a while to dry out here.
[Everything is so damp.]
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