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.
|
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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8)..... i:a!
[ Need a hero, Dipper? This guy's got you covered. Though since Yu is on the ground, Dipper won't be able to see him. What he will be able to see is a huge, imposing figure appear in the air before him, wielding that massive sword, which he brings to bear with flashing eyes...
... to slice into the spider web, causing the spider to rear back and spit and hiss. Izanagi darts forward and snatches Dipper up, tugging him free of the sticky web's strands, and bats away one last assault from the spider before bringing Dipper safely to the ground. The spider does not give pursuit, too busy angrily hissing over the destruction of its web to want to give chase over what is clearly too strong a challenge.
Izanagi will deposit Dipper in front of Yu, who stands there waiting with one hand on his hip, a concerned smile on his face. ]
Hey. You alright? That looked like quite a scare up there.
eeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyy
no, he's mostly preoccupied by screaming in terror, but he manages to put a sock in it when he realizes, a moment later, that he's being rescued, not sacrificed in the name of spider demons.
he drops awkwardly to his knees when izanagi sets him on the ground, staring up at his presumed rescuer. he has...pretty much no idea what just happened.
so he gives the most brazenly untrue answer he can. ]
I totally had it under control.
no subject
I can see that. You landed a pretty good punch.
[ Somehow, coming from him, the humor isn't mocking. He sounds very genuine, actually, like he really believes in Dipper. Yu will lean over slightly, bracing one hand on one knee, to offer Dipper the other hand up. ]
I'm just glad I was able to lend a little help.
no subject
so dipper will actually take yu's hand to get on his feet, a little bolstered by the implied vote of confidence. ]
Yeah, that was a pretty good hit, wasn't it? [ no big deal, it's not like he trained with the manotaurs or anything. ] What exactly did you do? I mean - you summoned that sword guy, right?
[ he can put two and two together. ]
no subject
[ Izanagi is still there, hovering around and looking generally kind of powerful and impassive, but when Yu gestures he disappears into shards of blue light. ]
I figured we could work as a team. That sound alright to you? I'm positive I could use a little help from someone with the courage to punch a spider right between the eyes.
[ Again, he means it, his sincerity clear in his voice. The truth is, he's a little concerned for Dipper, who was unarmed and a little out of his depth there. But there's no mistaking the bravery it took to do what he did, and that's valuable, too. Yu's never one to underestimate that kind of thing. ]
no subject
Then I'm your guy! Dipper. That's me. Spider-punching extraordinaire.
no subject
[ It's strange, still, talking to people with a more Western style of address. Figuring out how polite to be is a bit of a challenge, but he does at least know they'd likely find honorifics strange. ]
Let's get out of here before we find out if that spider has any friends. Speaking of, are you used to monsters or things like that? The way you handled that kind of makes me think you're used to seeing strange things.
no subject
I'm kind of what you'd call a paranormal investigator back home, so yeah, I'm used to seeing some pretty weird things. Aaand occasionally fighting them off.
[ he starts walking, similarly none-too-keen on seeing if that spider has comrades planning revenge on them. ]
no subject
[ That's so many pings in one, he hardly knows where to start. He's sure his curiosity must show in his voice. He joins Dipper in walking, though right now a destination isn't too clear. They'll have to try and find some of the other colonists... ]
We should try and meet up with some of the others. Think you could tell me a little more about that on the way?
no subject
[ though they were somehow separated in the teleportation-whatever that just happened, mabel's never too far off, and is usually quick to make her presence known. ]
That's kind of our thing together, actually. The paranormal investigating. What do you want to know about it?
no subject
The question has him a little more thoughtful. ]
Well, what sort of things did you investigate?
no subject
We were staying in a small town in Oregon over the summer with our great uncle, and it turned out a looooot of really, really weird phenomena went on there. We've really run the gamut. Gnomes, dinosaurs, bottomless pits, zombies, ghosts, sentient video games, time travel...to name a few.
no subject
He rolls his shoulders, considering how to respond. ]
Over the past year, I've been living with my own uncle while my friends and I have been jumping into the television to fight monsters and rescue people in trouble.
[ He looks at Dipper again with a small smile. ]
Your version sounds a little more exciting than mine.
no subject
I can't say we've spent any time in televisions...yet. [ yet, because even with all his experiences and the journal, dipper has no idea what to expect from gravity falls. ] But I guess there's some kind of recurring weird-uncle-and-mysteries thing in the multiverse.
no subject
[ He's outright grinning, now. ]
Maybe there is. I wouldn't have expected to hear a story like mine anywhere else. Of course, it sounds like the details are different, but I'd expect at least that much.
no subject