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.
|
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
Well, that's handy. I imagine you won't need to stay awake that long. Maybe just a few hours?
[Draco watches Kazuya run his fingers through his hair, noticing as he found the tender spot. He points his wand again, quickly casting another healing spell that's meant to remove any bruising. WHO KNOWS, maybe that'll also help a little.
He sits back, moving his gaze away from Kazuya to survey the forest surrounding them.]
...Don't suppose you have any idea where we are, do you?
no subject
It looks like... the Amazon or something, but... [Cerealia didn't have anything like this, to his memory. Could this be another of those ViViD glitches? Or... something??] I don't know.
no subject
Merlin help me, I do not want to be stuck in the bloody amazon. Unless this particular rainforest is on Earth, but I highly doubt that. I was just getting used to my flat!
[Huff huff.
But then an idea pings!]
I wonder if I can Apparate back?
[Don't mind him, he'll just quickly be hopping up to his feet and spinning on the spot with no explanation beyond that -- and he actually does disappear with a loud crack!
...Only to pop back into existence about ten feet away.
His brow furrows in confusion for a moment, and then he lets out a noisy exhale.]
Damn. Alright, well that didn't work.
no subject
I... [Wait. What was it with humans and being able to have easy teleportation abilities? Kazuya couldn't go ten feet without getting stuck in a tree or leaving behind his leg, or something equally horrible. He called shenanigans!] I nearly peed.
[No. Wait.]
I mean- why- wait, teleporting isn't working? Ah, lame... [There goes his desperate last attempt to get back to Cerealia then] There goes plan X...
no subject
[Snorts a little.
And then snickers.]
Sorry? I assure you, that was not my intention.
[The question makes him frown again, though, because yeah, that's annoying.]
Not sure... Granted, I'm fairly new to Apparating but I haven't had any trouble with it. I should've been able to pop right back into the city. [SIGH.] Whatever whisked us away must really want us to stay out here.
no subject
[Was it for their own amusement? Honestly, Kazuya's memories were a little fuzzy inbetween Cerealia and arriving here, for obvious reasons, so he couldn't recall anything that might be a clue during the transition to here. Cautiously, he slowly rose up off the floor, still feeling off-kilter, but steady enough to move around without falling over or being overcome by nausea. Huh... that guy's magic did enough to finally kick start his regeneration into overdrive, then. It was enough to spark a bit of optimistic hope in him]
Hmm, well, anyway... we can't go back for now then. So, first thing's first... [he snapped his fingers for emphasis] Survival. So that's, ah, shelter, food and water? We should, y'know... prepare for being stuck here for a while. I think.
no subject
I can't ever catch a break, it seems.
[WOE IS ME and all that. He huffs.]
Alright, well. Water and shelter aren't a problem. I can't just conjure up food, though. My magic doesn't work like that.
[He looks around somewhat warily.]
I...guess there are probably animals out here or...something.
no subject
[Well, not that Kazuya could say anything about that, since he was a city boy too. But, but, this was his thing. In a dangerous, impossible situation, where one had to scavenge food and avoid hungry predators? It was his jam. He had experience, and if there was one thing he knew how to do well, it was to topple hungry, powerful predators and eat them instead]
Well, you've struck lucky-! Ow... [Argh, no shouting. Kaz winced, and continued in a more subdued voice;] Ah, I mean, if there're animals, I can, uh, hunt them. Easily. How're you with raw meat?
no subject
I'm not a city boy, I'm just...
[HOW TO SAY IT TACTFULLY... Eh, whatever.]
Wealthy. I actually live quite a distance from the city, I've just not often been in a situation where I have to hunt my own food.
[Uggghh. His expression doesn't get any better at the mention of raw meat, and he sort of side-eyes Kazuya a bit.]
...Disgusted. Disgusted is how I am with it if you're suggesting that raw is how we should eat it.
[Ah, but no, that would be silly. ...Right?]
I can make us a fire. So we can make the raw meat not raw anymore.
no subject
[Well, it wasn't natural, and the burns it left were toxic to humans, so he had no idea if meat cooked by his flames would be poisonous or tainted. He shouldn't risk it]
...nevermind. So! Then! If you're happy with cooking your own food, I can have the nasty raw bits you don't want. [He was starving - his magic was burning through his spiritual energy at an insane rate to boost his regenerative abilities beyond their limits, so he needed something with a lingering life essence to stay on top of it. That meant raw meat. Yuck yuck yuck, but Kaz would suffer through it] Leave all the hard work to me. I'm... I'm well enough to kill something modestly sized.
[Though "modestly sized" probably meant something different to him...]
no subject
After a moment, Draco glances skyward and draws in a breath.]
Alright, one -- I want to ask about your fire, but that can wait. Two, I'm not at all happy with cooking my own food, but I can manage it. [Probably.] And three...if I'm going to be cooking, then why on earth would you still eat something that's raw? I might not be able to do much, but I can at least guarantee it'll be better than that.
[A beat.]
Wait, no, and four -- are you sure you're really up for hunting anything right now?
no subject
Um, well, you see. [He looked about himself, as if looking for an escape route] It's a personal reason - the meat thing. Yes. A personal thing, like, a medical one. So, don't worry about it.
[He straightened up then, trying to look as alert and put together as possible. There was still a subtle sway to his body, and he was unsure if the line he'd walk would be completely straight, but he had fought fiercer opponents in a worse states, so he was fairly certain that if they crossed paths with, like, a jaguar or something, he could take it in his sleep]
And I'm, uh, sixty per cent okay right now. I can hunt. Unless you wanna do it, by yourself, alone, in the jungle, with God knows what lurking out there...
no subject
I'm not scared of whatever's out there!
[Said probably a liiiittle too quickly, and Draco scowls.]
But I'm not a hunter, obviously, so I don't...I don't fancy trying to take up the hobby now. If you say you're fine, then fine! I believe you. Have fun.