
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. ] |
no subject
[ athena lands on a tree, the only saving grace from breaking her fall is her long hair getting caught in a bunch of branches. luckily for her, she's wearing tights or else anybody who looks up may be able to see her underwear. and she'd punch you for it, just so it's clear. ]
Hey! Anybody down there? [ she tries to call for help because this city girl definitely can't do this alone. ]
phase iii
[ one of the things about being an attorney is that you should explore and investigate things as much as you can! when athena stumbles upon the old village, she quickly takes pictures using her robot necklace, and not her cerevice. she's not about to take anything, because none of these look even important to her (sorry dead people), but she'll look around, touch some things, and put them back where they came from.
and as she exits a house, she may bump into you. it's been so quiet, so she's definitely surprised, and possibly grabs you by the arm and judo flips you and throws you to the nearby tree.
that is, until she realises what she's done, and she rushes over to you, yelling: ] You gave me a heart attack! Are you okay?!
[ but if she knows you truly well, then she wouldn't do that. probably just scream "AHHH" and disturb some birds or something perched nearby. ]
phase iv
[ miss fancy pants is definitely NOT hunting, but she's gathered a bunch of logs - cleaned them up from any poisonous mushrooms - and put them together to make a neat tree house.
at least, she's trying to. this is pretty difficult.
she wipes her brow of any sweat and slaps her cheeks to pump herself up. ]
I can totally do this!
[ then her stomach grumbles, and she sits down on the ground… ]
Someone feed me. . .
bonus
[ athena's cheer definitely hasn't faded despite the strange circumstances they've been put into, but it's dwindled down a bit. nevertheless, these strange spider-like creatures have been chasing her for a while now until she manages to climb a tree. who knew she could do that? ]
Leave me alone!
[ her hair's definitely been chewed on, as seen by how uneven her hair (which is worn down) looks like, now… godspeed, athena cykes.
she throws some various fruit at the creatures, hoping they'd go away. careful that one doesn't get thrown at you! ]
phase i
So, with a relieved smile, she waves up at Athena from below. ]
Yo. Need a hand, Tarzan?
no subject
Widget, you're not helping!
[ ... yes, this girl definitely needs a hand. send help. ]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
bonus
Athena!
[She swoops down from the air to the tree where Athena's climbed up and she looks towards the spider creatures. She flicks her finger so that some sparks fly at them, deterring them from climbing up the tree as well.]
Shoo! Go away!
no subject
Ai, you're so cool!
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
IV
[From farther on down the way as Rei drags the corpse of a young one of these creatures with her. Several burn marks mar the meat, but it's otherwise intact.]
I can do that, if you can help me with the cooking.
no subject
I can't produce fire balls. I tried asking the fire spirit.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
phase i
...You can't jump?
no subject
If my hair weren't stuck like this, I would!
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
III
[ Rinne just wanted to explore the village, look around and see if he could find anyone he knew taking shelter here. And there he was, being thrown into a tree before he even knew what was going on.
KO, Athena wins. ]
no subject
[ she tries to get him up. oh my god, she didn't mean it, she swears. SHE WAS JUST SURPRISED. ]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
iv
[ he'd happened to see her earlier carrying a bunch of logs. Good, he'd thought! More firewood! They're going to need a lot of it, because who knows how long they're staying out here for? He's not sure if it's better or worse than being stuck in the city, really, but it at least feels like progress.
Unlike Athena's structure, which is showing little progress. His ears twitch in concern, and he tilts his head. ]
... While your idea is noble, perhaps trying to create a simpler structure would be better?
no subject
This is already really simple!
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
iv!
ANYWAY. Here's Kaoru, mercifully dressed for a workday instead of wearing anything fancy. The jungle hasn't been kind to this outfit and it would be even ruder to a silk kimono... Looks like this punk's still having an easier time of it than Athena is, though.]
Ah— Athena-san, should you take a break to eat, perhaps? I have food to share.
[And it's not even poisonous!]
no subject
[ she looks at
himher with tired eyes, and her stomach makes a noise again. ]Food would be great, thanks.
[ normally, she would get up for a greeting, but she's just so tired from lifting so many things that she could barely carry. ]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
bonus
I'll trade. The walking rainbow's kind of annoying.
[And the bird chirps really loudly and still continues to look happy, as if it has no idea what Nice is talking about.]
no subject
But he's so cute! [ he???? ] How can you not like him?
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
iv
[The hero is always late but the cook is always on time. A very serious distinction. But Athena, there's not a lot to choose from out here.]
I suppose I could make eskimo ice cream.
[You really don't want that, Athena.]
no subject
[ she shakes her head slowly, giving archer a tired look. ]
No, I want meat.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
phase iii
[Hello Athena, remember the strange masked weirdo? Yeah he's standing on a nearby tree branch, watching her or has been watching her make the little tree house.]
Greetings Ms. Athena. I hope I haven't come at a bad time.
no subject
she looks up at him, optimistic about what kind of food he might have brought with him. ]
Really? I'd appreciate the help!
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
phase 1
Athena? What're you even doing up there?
no subject
Just... hanging around!
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
bonus
fruit comes raining down and he jumps to the side, his bird squawking.]
Hey! Watch where you throw that!
no subject
I was aiming at the spiders!
[ or what she thinks are spiders, anyway. ]
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)