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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iii!
You can't be delicate with these things, okay.]
Don't let these guys pick on you. More are gonna show up if they smell a weak target, see?
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Huh?
[ he temporarily shakes free of the horde to stand, only to have them reattach and dig into his pant legs instead. ignoring that jab, he gazes out into the interminable distance for the lobbed creature. ]
I'm not! But I don't want to hurt them, either. Isn't there something they like to eat? Maybe they'll leave me alone by then?
[ looks like he doesn't know that the only menu item today is one (1) pool boy ... ]
no subject
[He'll continue to be princess charming in the meantime, bending over to flick a few of the ones attacking his pants away.]
Byeee! [Look at them sail off into the distance so majestically!] It's fine if they get a little banged up.
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[ this is the wORST SURPRISE EVER?!?!?! ]
Aaa-a-aah, wait!
[ but no, the deed's been done, and makoto can only observe in muted horror as they're flung off to the four corners of the earth. look at them go ...
time to see if he can appeal to his companion's higher reasoning. ]
Won't they just come back? I've already tried to outrun them once.
no subject
He straightens back up again, lobbing one last one in the direction of the river, where it lands with an elegant plunk.]
If you throw these guys hard enough, they don't really come back. [ISN'T THAT A LITTLE WORRYING but nope apparently not to Kashuu.] See? Totally fine! You okay? They didn't bite you too hard or anything, yeah?
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No, they didn't bite too badly, thank you. I guess you're used to dealing with them. [ he's rooted to the spot, but after he acclimatizes to the shock, he's quick to at least flick the insectoids off, although they scuttle about him in nervous circles, clearly fearful to be inflict with kashuu's wrath. ]
I can't wrap my head around any of this. We shouldn't even be in a place like this to begin with.
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Kashuu in the meantime doesn't seem to realize that he's probably mildly traumatized this poor kid with his gushy bleeding heart. SORRY, FRIEND. At least the things aren't bothering him so aggressively anymore!]
Good, good! I'm not really used to these guys, but a pest's a pest, right? [And ALL PESTS MUST DIE--
Time for a commiserative UGH of annoyance, though.]
Right?! It's sooo gross out here. Their idea of a rescue mission is totally awful.
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but makoto is happy to commiserate, even reluctantly, if it means freeing himself from these crazy-ass bugs and their mob mentality. he squints at his newfound companion. ]
You heard that message in your head, too? I thought I was going crazy!
[ he can read people's actions, not minds. look at makoto, already jumping the conclusions. he just doesn't want to be outed as #loco. ]
Do you have any idea who took us away? They didn't even ask first.
[ not that it would've made much of a difference?! ]
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Wow, though, he sure is jumping to conclusions!! But he's right, at least... Kashuu doesn't immediately give him a look like are you crazy because he heard that, too.]
Mmmhm! I'm pretty sure everyone did. Nice little trick, but not really helpful if they're just gonna drop us all over the place like they did.
[He's TIRED and HUNGRY and IRRITATED and life in the jungle is hard, honestly. He doesn't like this at all... Even if he supposes they should be at least vaguely grateful for the chance to leave CERES behind.]
Nope. I didn't recognize the voice, anyway, but it might have something to do with that Bridge those guys were looking for back when they flooded the colony. She talked about being set free or whatever, right?
no subject