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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IV
He'd been drawn by the sound when he heard it; he hadn't been far away, just through the trees and considering how to find something to eat today. It turns out that's on your mind a lot when there's no readily available food, and you can't hunt, or identify edibles, or cook, or . . . okay, he's pretty useless, that's the whole problem. He's been lucky so far--
And now he's lucky again, because there's a fish right in his face as soon as he pops through the trees and over to the river to see what that sound is. Of course, in the heat of the moment, when there's a fish on his face, he doesn't exactly feel lucky.]
Ggghh! What the hell?!
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A quick look informs her it's a human (?) who possibly just got hit with one of her fish. Does she feel bad??]
What is problem?
[Denied.
Oona this was literally your fault]
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Also, he can't help but be a little distracted now that he's recovering his bearings some and can get a good look at the singing, fish-throwing girl over there. Oh no, she's hot. Or, more accurately, aw yeah she's hot!
Not that he's going to 100% forgive the fish thing without even a comment, not even for a face like that.]
You totally hit me with this thing! I mean, yeah, I needed lunch, but I didn't need it all over my face!
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[But probably she should apologize, even if she doesn't really mean it. She shrugs] Am sorry it hit your face. Perhaps it is good for skin? [Oona no... But she stands up and brushes her hands off on her shorts]
Because I hit you, you may keep that one. Is good enough payment, yes?
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[He says it playfully, though, his mood lightening; for one thing, if she'd really demanded it, of course he would have. But she's not, and he has food now, and she's super cute, so he can't stay mad about the incident. Sure he got a fish to the face, but how disgusting is he already roughing it out in the wild like this? (Ugh. He'd rather not think about that.)
He holds up the fish like he's going to wave it at her jokingly, but then it jerks in his hands again and he has to fumble to keep hold of it. Smooth.]
--When does it die, anyway?! I thought they couldn't breathe in the air! Am I supposed to do something . . . ?
[Someone has not been a successful hunter on this little journey.]
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They do not, not usually. Have you not been fishing before? Perhaps you should stick to plant hunting, so you do not injure yourself.
[Her tone is teasing, however, before she reaches out to grab the wiggling fish from him. She debates for a moment, before moving to crouch down, holding the fish with one hand and grabbing a rock with the other. She smacks it quickly against the fish's head, stunning it. She pauses, checking to make sure the fish has gone unconscious before she drops the rock to the side.]
Do you have knife? I do not think I brought mine... It should be fine, now. Normally would just eat raw, but humans do not do that sort of thing often, yes?
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He doesn't flip it open yet, though, just holding the handle as he bends down to take a look at her handiwork. Whoa. That had been pretty badass. Gross, but badass. It's embarrassing to be labeled a plant hunter, but he wouldn't ever have figured out how to do that himself.]
Actually people eat raw fish in Japan all the time, but it ain't really my favorite thing. I'm more a shrimp sushi kinda guy! And I never really thought about how you turn this--
[He gestures at the fish.]
--into some lump of pink squishy stuff on rice . . .
[And he holds out the knife. Sure. Go for it.]
You just push the button and the blade comes out.
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[A slight pout. She was so happy to be in the jungle until it meant a lack of the delicious food she'd grown used to eating.
But she takes the knife and presses the button as directed, jumping a little as the knife pops out] Ah! I like it! [Convenient] Hmm... [She hums thoughtfully, considering, before she carefully gets to work gutting and de-boning the fish. Her efforts are rather clumsy since she doesn't normally do this--usually she just sinks her teeth in and rips-- but an effort is being made.]
Will you eat it raw? I do not know how to make fire.
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I don't really know either . . . the only fire I ever made was with a lighter! So, yeah, I'll take it! Not like it'll be the first time, ha ha!
[Ha. Man, he's hungry. He will definitely take it when he's this hungry.]
Hey, thanks, by the way. You totally saved my ass! Or my stomach anyway . . . I owe you one!
[Getting hit by a fish was probably not enough price to pay for a free lunch.]
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But you are welcome. Ah, my name is Oona, by the way. Should know each others' names if we will be eating together, yes? [She takes a strip, checking it over to make sure she got the inedible parts off of it before holding it out for him.]
Next time, we shall find fire. We can roast them-- eh, grill them? [What was the right word there... She was close right? Put the fish on a fire and then eat it.]
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[He takes the fish. A little gingerly, but he tries to tell himself, come on man, you touch sushi all the time. This is no different! It's probably even better because it's fresher! Deal with it.
He deals with it, taking the fish slices into his hands. Seriously, the hands are probably way dirtier than the raw fish. He's coming to terms with that too out here.]
And I'm Kuwata Leon! That's probably Leon for you . . . I can tell you ain't from Japan. I dunno why you're callin' me strange, you're the one who threw a fish in my face! Ha ha!
[A fish he is now beginning to consume. Down the hatch!]
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