
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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[Jade Curtiss has got this. He's landed in the mud and may have some stains here or there, but he otherwise looks no worse for the wear as he begins trekking through the jungle.
He may not have seen this coming, but he's prepared for the possibility. He's moving quickly and efficiently in order to set things up to live in the jungle until they can find a way out of here.
Of course, there's still one problem hampering his plans: the insects. One of them manages to bite him, and the next thing he knows, his arms are moving almost automatically to try and hug the nearest person. Even as he does so, his face is painted with boredom and disinterest. It's nothing more than a troublesome side effect, let's wait until it blows over.]
Well, now... This is new.
[Phase II]
[Jade Curtiss is lurking in the bushes, no big deal. Like any big game hunter hunting his sport... except that the prey he seeks are the predators themselves. And what better way to catch one then to let others act as bait?
Maybe Jade put your character up to it, or maybe he just happened to find this character in the midst of an independent monster fight. Either way, he's there and he's lurking, waiting for the optimal chance to strike with a fonic arte.
All throughout, he'll ponder the most important question about this creatures: to dissect, or to cook?]
[Wild Card]
[Find Jade on any day! He'll take charge of a campsite and is likely to strictly assign errands to anyone who wants to stay near him. He'll sometimes take part in chores himself, and will also want to collect any information reports that other may find. And yes, at some points you may find him followed by Kevin the Bird.]
phase ii;
BACK UP WOULD BE NICE RIGHT ABOUT NOW. THANKS. ]
phase ii;
Oh well, maybe it's time to intervene... From the nearby bushes, a glowing circle appears beneath Jade's feet as he prepares a fonic arte.]
O violent torrent...
Splash!
[With that, some waves of magical water appear above that ugly-ass Rhyhorn guy and home on it, the attack being swift and merciless
JADE USED SPLASH. IT'S SUPER EFFECTIVE.]
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she doesn't react much to jade's assistance yet, and she shoots at the rhyhorn thing before it cries out in pain and decides to flee.
that's when she looks back at jade and nods. ]
Thank you.
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He shakes his head and shrugs as he steps out towards her.]
There's no need for gratitude. It's a shame that it got away, after all.
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I
This is new? You mean, you don't enjoy hugging people?
[ He's going to keep his distance, just out of arm's reach. ]
I
I can't say that I see the appeal. Do you?
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Then again, given how grumpy you look, maybe you do need a hug! [ He sniffs, tapping his chin. ] But why are you like this, eh?
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Trust me. There's no amount of hugs that can bring you the outcome you desire. [A supposed de-grumpification, that is.]
I believe that I've come down with something.
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Oh. Well, that's a shame, but the hugs would be more for your sake, not mine!
[ Damn. Kogitsunemaru was all for Jade having a grumpectomy. Oh well. ]
Eh? Come down with a sickness of some sort? This jungle is a mystery, how can we fix it so you can go back to making smart comments?
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II
Auuuuuuuuuuuuugh!!!!!! SOMEONE HELP!!!
II
O mighty explosion... Energy blast!
[This makes a blast of energy erupt by the creature. He aims for the back of it so that the young lady isn't caught in the crossfire. It's tricky to use fonic artes with allies who don't have fon slots to affix friend marks to...
It's a fairly basic arte, but one that Jade thinks should weaken the creature a bit at least and slow it down. Now he'll observe to see if she does anything with this opportunity.]
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That said, the small gap she gets, she pulls a pistol out of her hoody pocket and BANG BANG BANG and you get the picture. The entire magazine is emptied into the monster. Hopefully killing it.
Hopefully.]
Whew.
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But wow, okay, that's pretty cool. Cooler than he was expecting, and it looks like the monster is dead. Or possibly just mostly dead.
Either way, Jade feels like the time is right for him to step on out from the shadows.]
Well well. That was quite the finish.
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[It was moving now so dead seemed dead, yes.]
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i.
Sousei knows Jade. He knows that Jade is a competent, sensible person, even if he can't say he necessarily likes him. But he does know him well enough to not be unhappy about seeing him, since more competence is necessary in this place and--why are you hugging him.
Sousei stiffens immediately, shoving Jade's face away with a hand.
Friendship!!!]
What are you doing?
i.
Jade's face looks unamused with his own arms' actions.]
Your guess is as good as mine. My arms seem to have their own ideas of what I want.
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[He'd thought random hugging was a Cerealia thing, but apparently they can't be that lucky. He's going to just keep on musing as he keeps pressing Jade's face away.]
Did you eat something? [he hadn't thought Jade was that stupid BUT MAYBE.]
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I'm still working out the cause. If it's not a glitch, it has to be something connected to the environment around us.
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...Something connected to the jungle......... he's a city boy, he doesn't know.]
Then...a plant, perhaps? Or an effect of the atmosphere.
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i
This is real life.]
I'm sorry, do you--do you mind? I'm a little--I'm really, just. Not exactly in the mood for this, if you--if you know what I mean.
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Can you, uh. Stop, then? If that's--if that's at all possible. I would. Appreciate it.
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[And then he manages to exert enough willpower to peel his arms off of the robot's robotic bod.]
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