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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no subject
[Changge had stopped carrying a bow around outside of the times when she wanted to go into ViViD since guns are easier to conceal.
She will be seriously reconsidering that decision from now on. Guns are great, but she can't make bullets in a jungle.
Hoping to save it for emergencies, she spends a good chunk of the first day looking for suitable materials.
Depending on when you catch her in the day, you will either find her carving a piece of wood with her dagger, systematically ripping up her blazer to make into make-shift bow string, or testing her bow and making unhappy faces at it (she really would rather have a proper bow).
All of this, she's most likely doing up in a tree.
Except when she's making arrows, since shaping them requires the heat of a fire and she's not about to set fire to a tree she's lounging in.
She'll pause what she's doing to look whenever she hears something moving. If you're unfortunate enough to be chased by something she'll probably be willing to help. If you're not a monster or being chased by one, she'll just smile at you.]
Good day. [She says nonchalantly like she didn't even mind being dropped into a weird jungle and left to fend for herself (she did, very much, in fact. She's just very good at pretending).
If she's making the bow then you might need to look up.]
phase 4:
[Changge has taken to technology rather well, but she's still a person from the past. Making fires, hunting and surviving in the wilderness were not hobbies so much as important life-skills for many.
So she's not going to be sitting around waiting to eat bugs.
The problem is that she has no idea what is or isn't poisonous. She put a hand on her chin as she looks at the thing she'd just killed (or rather, had ambushed with a trap. Rabbits were usually less effort, but even the rabbits here were dangerous so there was little choice).]
...maybe I can see if anything else will come try to eat it.
[Would you like to be her poison-tester? Kindly write to apply! (Medical insurance not included in this offer.)]
bonus:
[Changge may give the impression of being smiley and friendly, but she is, in fact, incredibly prickly. She's not...entirely sure what to make of her new companion, but by the third day, she turning around with a glare.]
Would you just leave me alone!?
phase 4
Hello.
[ He's not a surprise coming through the brush since he's so tall, so he hopes he won't scare her. ]
What are you doing?
no subject
She frowns at the wood in her hand and sighs.]
Making arrows. I didn't have mine on me when I was brought here.
[She also gestures at the crude bow she's managed to make. It's better than nothing, but it's nothing compared to the one she left behind in Cerealia, that's for sure.]
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He looks over at the bow and then back to the arrows she's making. ]
It's a good skill to have. I could help you, but I don't have a smaller blade.
[ Just the...7+ foot long one. ]
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[...that is a huge sword though.]
I don't think I've ever seen a sword that large.
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[ He just wishes he was more useful, going around to find others in need of help. Of course he probably doesn't give himself enough credit either. ]
Yes, it's large even for an Oodachi. It was not meant to be wielded.
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bonus;
He stops in his tracks, looks appropriately bemused for a split second. ]
...I wasn't following you.
[ And that might be all well and good, if it weren't for the fact that Adolf is also being followed by the happiest, cheeriest bird species in this jungle.
So between them, there are now two happy feathery friends, chittering enthusiastically at each other.
What has this eelman wrought... he's sorry, he swears. ]
no subject
So. Yeah. Not exactly in the mood to be pleasant. She glares.]
Then onviously I wasn't talking to you.
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He understands where her glare is coming from, so he doesn't take the expression nor the words too personally; anyone's bound to get short with others after being stuck in a killer jungle inhabited by plants and animals with questionable motives.
So he's...as placid as ever, despite the fact that his bird has now made friends with this other bird and insists on flitting back and forth between him and Changge. Not as planned. ]
Mistakes happen. [ That's a 'sorry', or a shoddy excuse for one. ] ...Are these birds yours?
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When someone is angry at you the appropriate response isn't just to stand there and accept it.
[Crossing her arms as she glares at the birds...she can't even tell the stupid things apart. She puts a hand on her firehead and sighs.]
If you're asking for permission to take them both [Unlikely, but let a fugitive princess pretendjng to be a boy dream.] please just take them.
[That's when one of the bird returns to her side and squawks whike running around her in a circle.]
no subject
[ Says the guy who might as well be picking a fight by saying something like this. He means it as a way to convey some sort of sentiment approaching on 'staying calm is the best option', but his terseness usually works against his favor.
Thank god the birds are a mild distraction to Adolf's overall prickliness. They sort of diffuse the situation...sort of, or maybe they're making it worse; Adolf's bird has seen fit to follow Changge's bird and is now attempting to pick up a piece of her hair by its beak. ]
—I wasn't going to ask if I could take them. They just seem to like you.
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Instead, she lets out an irritate huff.]
I'm not looking for a fight. [It would be terribly pointless, but it would have been good for stress relief.] I'm just pointing out that it's bad to be too placid.
[She's going to punch that bird...or at least, she will try.]
I cannot imagine why. They are a nuisance.
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[ In response to being infuriatingly placid. He says this, of course, infuriatingly placidly.
Maybe she should really throw something at him, huh... ]
...Do you have any food on you. They might smell it on your clothes.
[ He offers, though the birds seem much more preoccupied with eating her hair than her sleeves. ]
no subject