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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shits and gigglesdramatic effect as he answers-- ]Sure!
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You're like a friendly dog, aren't you? [ fox, athena, fox. but close enough... youtried.jpg ] I was wondering what exactly we're doing here? Does this mean we've been truly saved from CERES?
And I'm glad you guys found your Bridge!
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But then he pauses to think -- seriously, this time. He paws at the ground as if to ask for further consultation from the planet on how to answer that. ]
Weelllllll....
I dunno! [ He wags his tail a few times. ] She wanted to bring you here since you guys have never been before. You were stuck inside the cold, shiny place, right? So now you're away! It's better here.
[ Probably. ]
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Cold, shiny place? You mean the colony? [ she pokes at her earring at she thinks... ] Is that what it looks like?
And are we going to be here forever?
[ because she'll probably die in a couple of days. ]
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[ He nods once. Nah, he's so sure of himself. Cold and shiny. What else could it be? ]
But you should definitely stay here forever! Why would you wanna go back? It's cold there. Didn't you hear me? Yuck!
[ He shakes his body once, shivering at the thought. ]
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But it's so difficult here! Why can't we live in houses?
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[ The spirit is laughing at her now, barks of laughter. Sympathy? None. ]
Don't be laaaazyyyyy. You're one of mine! So you've got more energy than that. C'mon, c'mon, make me proud!
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What does that mean, anyway? When you say I'm one of yours?
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[ What good motivation. But Ardeo's ear twitches again at that. ]
It means what it means! You're not any of the others. You're with me. And I'm the best. So we're the best!
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That's right, we're the best!
Can I borrow some fire balls from you, by the way? You know, my friend Rei can make fire appear, and it makes me kind of jealous sometimes.
I bet I can cook you a great [ she can barely cook. ] meal if you do!
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I tell you to try harder and then you ask me for a favor?
[ He dances away then, sparks of fire in his wake, probably just to show off. ]
Naahhhh! I don't like that!! No way, no way!
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[ why this... why is he a show off like athena?? ]
It's for our own good!
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[ He barks another laugh. Silly Athena. ]
I won't let you get too hurt, I guess, but do something for yourself! You haven't even given me anything!! Nooot interested!
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W- Well, what do you like? I'll try to get something for you! Do you want a hair ribbon like mine? I bet you'd look cute wearing it!
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[ And just for the sake of argument, he does get a little bigger in size.
But then he flicks his tail once. ]
I'm not trading fire for something like yours though. I'm not played that easy!
[ Not interested in being twinsies apparently. ]
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[ athena has to take a step back to just... let all of this sink in. ]
That's really cool! [ ... she wants to do that, too. but now she's just slightly getting frustrated at not getting what she wants... ]
I'm going to give you something really great, just you wait! And then maybe you'd reconsider!
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[ And now he's just barking out another laugh. He's bigger now, probably as tall as her, and he does the same old circle around her as he did before. The warmth coming off of him is playful, full of excited energy. But best not try to reach out, she might get singed since he's not minding his energy as much right now.
Then he's dancing away just as quick, his tail wagging. ]
But I doubt it!!
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[ YOU'RE DEFINITELY GOING TO GET IT NOW, ARDEO. when he's done circling athena, she tells him to wait and that she'll be back. it takes her a while, but she does come back a bunch of hours later, looking absolutely frazzled and as if she went through such trouble over what she's brought back.
that is, she brings back a basket, woven using various leaves she's found. inside the basket are different kinds of mushrooms and fruits - the safe ones, all carved to look like ardeo. and there's one that looks like athena's head! just so he knows who it's from.
panting, she holds it up to him. ]
Here [ WHEEZE ] you go. [ deep breath. ] This was the best I can do...
I hope you like it, even if you can't give me fire balls!
[ she really did work hard on it, and she was rushing, too. she's got tiny wounds all over her hands and arms now, but that's okay!! she just wanted to prove herself to him. and to add to that, she starts crying because of how proud she is of herself.
though whether or not ardeo would be is an entirely different matter. ]
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Then he looks up at her and nudges the basket back himself. ]
Don't give this to me.
You and your friends are hungry, right? You should've just fed them, dummy!
I'm not gonna give you fireballs because it's not gonna help you make the house you want. And you found all the good food on your own so it's not like you need to hunt. [ He laughs a little again, amused. ] Don't try to hunt. I don't think you'd be good at it.
So I don't get why you want fireballs so I'm not gonna give 'em to you. [ But he does take the one food carved like Athena's head into his mouth(?) and wanders away with it. ] I'm keeping this one though..... I like it.
[ And with that, he disappears in another flash of flame.
Athena doesn't get fireballs because Ardeo's a brat -- but she'll find her tiny wounds all healed when she looks at them again. Plus, she'll be renewed with energy. See? Try harder! ]
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COOLABLE TO COOK PROPERLY, OK. but... fine!!! ardeo makes a good point, and she reconsiders her objectives. maybe she really should just feed what she's made to her friends. he's right. that was a mistake on athena's part because she was being selfish.she whispers a "thank you" before turning back and heading back towards the house she's trying to make, basket in hand. ]