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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[Simple as that. Big silver wolf? Arles. Probably as simply as Kashuu will talk about being a sword... But, moving, he nudges Kashuu with his muzzle. Over here.]
There's a dry spot in this direction. [Sunlight through trees, dry grass, they'll both be dry in no time.]
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As soon as they reach the clearing, he plops himself down on the grass (careful to make sure it really is dry first, of course).]
Ahhh, much better! Why can't the whole place be like this? [HE'S ALREADY COMPLAINING.]
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Well, it wouldn't be much of a forest if all of it was like this.
[Mildly, half-teasing, as he licks at one of his paws to clean it.]
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If they were gonna dump us anywhere, it should totally have been the mountains anyway. [They're nice and dry!!] This place is gross and humid and has a bunch of weird things running around! I don't like it.
[He grabs hold of the edges of his jacket while talking, flapping the fabric a little as if that might help to dry it off faster.]
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Well... I agree that it is warm here. [In fact, his tongue is lolling out as his fur dries and he's hit by the heat. Listen. He's in animal form. It's fine if he has to pant.]
But I would take a forest over the mountains. I'm used to forests more. [Even if this one's a jungle.]
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Seriously? Aren't wolves supposed to do really well up in the mountains?
[Mostly because he mountains he's thinking of double as forests but still.]
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[Makes it easier to move around. Surprise attack village. You know. Same old same old.]
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[Because clearly that's what Arles does!! Not attacking villages...!]
I don't have a ton of combat experience on terrain like this, though. It's gonna be a major pain. [It probably won't be, honestly, since he's an extremely adaptable sword... but that won't stop him from complaining!]
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But, it may be beneficial in the long run. We do not know how long we'll be here.
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[But he says that in a somewhat distracted way... It's because he is distracted. He has the attention span of an actual five year old and ARLES HAS DISTRACTED HIM.]
Hey, one day you should let me do your hair for you! It's super pretty and I bet it'd look great in a braid.
[IS THIS REALLY THE TIME... But look he's got to make up for the fact that he missed his chance to pet the big fluffy wolf.]
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...Pardon?
[The subject change was 2fast. Arles pauses mid-ponytail tying to look over at him. IT'S NOT SOMETHING HE HEARS A LOT.]
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I said your hair's super pretty! It's really long and nice so you could braid it and it'd look even better. I'm good with braids, y'know?
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Is that so? This is the first time I've had anyone offer to braid it.
[Slightly wry... But thinking on it, it seems like a thing Elvira might've done.]
It may be more convenient in this jungle.
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[COME ON WOLF PACK GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER... But that sounds like an opportunity!!]
I can do it for you right now, if you want!
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And it would be more convenient in the long run.]
Let's see what you can do. [Yep, there's a go ahead.]
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I'll pick a good one! There's a few that're good if you're gonna do a lot of running or if you're worried about getting blood in your hair or something.
[For being such a fussy sword, it's probably not surprising that he talks about blood so cavalierly... Anyway, getting to work!! He'll take it out of the ponytail Arles just put it up in and immediately start braiding it into sections.]
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If there's something good for running, that would be best. [Blood, eh, that's no big deal. He might end up bloody with return blood if he goes hunting or something else happens but HEY.] I have a feeling that I'll be doing plenty of that while we're here.
[His ears are turning in one direction, and then another.]
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[HE DOESN'T WANT TO RUN because it'll make him sweat more!! It's already humid enough in this awful jungle...
Also, when Arles' ears swivel, Kashuu pauses for a second. The temptation to ask if he can touch them is Strong™ but he will prevail.]
This isn't bothering you or anything, yeah? [He assumes Arles is just keeping an ear out, so to say, but it's better safe than sorry!]
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No, not at all. You're good at it.
[He's not being yanked or anything, so he'll count that as a plus. He had to raise some young wolves for a while, okay, his hair was a long target.]
I'm just listening to make certain nothing will creep up on us.
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Good, good! I'm totally one of the best when it comes to this stuff. [PREENING... He's so proud of his fancy hair skills.]
D'you hear anything?
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Hmm. [Arles smiles, closing his eyes now. There's still a subtle tension in his shoulders, because Arles never lets himself relax so easily, but.]
I hear plenty of things. I can hear large things moving far from here... but I don't think anything is coming toward us.
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[He can run super fast even in heels!! It's his claim to fame. THAT SAID, on a marginally more important note(???):]
Almost done, almost done. I can pin it up in a bun if you want since that'd be even better for running, but it looks really pretty when it's down like this.
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Pin it up, if you would. It would be more convenient right now.
[Pretty braiding will have to be for later.]
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Sure, sure - no problem.
[But he says it in a vaguely sulky way... He'll pin it up, though! Now Arles has a fancy little braid bun securely fastened to the back of his head.]
Aaand, done! I'd show you if I could, but I only have one mirror.
[Why does he even have one.]
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Thank you.
[He'll even straighten as he turns and moves his hand to pat Kashuu's head. Headpat achievo... get.]
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