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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That's okay, Korra. I just wanted to make sure. I guess that we'll... just have to get used to this?
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Sorry. It kind of sucks, but it looks like that's all we can do for now. [Despite his reassurances, Korra's shoulders still slump a little.] If you stick with me for now, I can look out for you--you're not used to being in a place like this, right?
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...I don't want to hold you up from anything, but I do appreciate the help.
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Anyway, you're not holding me up. [Korra's hands lift, gesturing at the greenery around them.] If everyone in the colony got swept up and taken here, that means we're all separated. Might as well stick together until we can form bigger groups, right?
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[He dusts himself off and looks on, now determined.]
You're right. I think we'll need all the help that we can get. If it is everyone in the colony who has ended up here... Well, then I have a whole laundry list of people to seek out.
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[She shifts around on her feet as she waits for him to ready himself.]
Who're you looking for? I'll keep an eye out for them.
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You can pick a direction. I don't know what I'm doing.
Let's see... first, there's my daughter Trucy. She's this tall and dresses like a magician. And then there's Maya. She has her hair up in a knot, and she wears really funky spirit medium clothes. ...I also want to try to find Myriam Scuttlebutt. She wears a cardboard box.
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Trucy's your daughter? I had no idea. And I've met Maya a few times.
[The last one puzzles her, though.] So...wait. You're saying Myriam's clothes are made of cardboard?
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[He chuckles lightly.]
No, she still wears normal clothes. She just... always hides herself under a cardboard box. ...She's very unique.
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How does she even see like that?
[Though the better question would be "why???"]
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[But I feel like that addresses only one of many concerns...]
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Do I even want to know why she's wearing the box?
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She's an investigative reporter, and that's the cover she uses as she collects her stories. She even has a Cerealia edition for her newspaper...
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She's a reporter?
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How's she with the...uh, gossip?
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She's a good kid, really! Underneath all of the... cardboard and hissing.
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Um...what hissing are we talking about here?
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I am 34 years old.]
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Never mind. I guess I'll see for myself whenever I meet her. Anyway! Let's try heading in this direction.
[Her finger points toward a part of the jungle that doesn't look as dark and unfriendly.] Ready to go?
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He takes a moment to slump in defeat from how weird he must have looked trying to mimic the call of the Scuttlebutt, and then he perks up and nods along.]
You bet I'm ready, Korra! And I bet everyone else is waiting to be found... Let's head off!
no subject
So...your daughter, huh? I guess that means your wife isn't around?
[She figures he would've mentioned her, if she was.]
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Er... that's right. So not around, to not even exist in the first place.
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I guess I was totally off the mark. That means Trucy's adopted?
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That's right, and don't worry about it. I know we have a strong family resemblance despite not being related. It was definitely one of the best decisions I've ever made.
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