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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What's so hard to get? My vocation is a series of contests meant to entertain the audience – that's all.
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[Ruby, you know nothing about Card Games.]
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It'd be better to show you, but I haven't the means with me. Where I'm from, Duel Monsters is all the rage. And it's not always about entertainment . . .
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You can't put it like that and then expect me not to be curious!
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So you're actually curious? Then, if we get back, I'll show you.
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[Never underestimate her curiosity.]
But okay, good! Then... I can't wait to see! ...Though I guess we should get out of this jungle first, right? [heh....]
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I don't suppose you know the way.
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[Don't sound so okay with it, Ruby.]
I've just been going wherever seems least icky really. Have you seen some of the mud? It's like... neon-brown. I didn't even know neon brown could be a thing.
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This is the planet Cerealia was built on. Anything is possible.
But you're the aspiring Huntress here. The least "icky" path sounds good enough.
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[Victory is hers. And conversationally, as they walk:]
I'm pretty sure that icky, strange-looking things in jungles are probably dangerous, so that's all the more reason to avoid them.
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[And she always sounds so flippant about it.]
If this trip ends up taking longer than expected, we'll need to find a safe place to rest, too.
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[Weird stuff, man.......]
But this jungle is probably dangerous, so... I guess we should keep an eye out for something like that.
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You take the front and use those trained eyes of yours. I'll watch the back.
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[Usually she's the plan-making one, but she has no issues with following someone else's sensible plans.
Instead, she'll just head on forward, curiously glancing around even as they move.
They should totally run into a monster.]
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And so they shall. After trekking through the jungle for a while, IV missteps into a pile of dead leaves. The crunching of the leaves is painfully audible, and he scowls down at the mess when he glimpses a feathered head in the distance out of his peripherals. His head shoots up to catch a better look, but whatever it is has slunk off to the side in eerie silence. With how it had blended in, he'd almost missed it.]
Did you see that?
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...Though she definitely did hear that; she pauses as well, squinting at the trees around them--though in distinct contrast to him, she's got a bit of a smile on her face.
She can't help it; she's excited.]
Yeah! There's definitely something out there. [And with that ominous comment, she's going to go ahead and unfold her scythe to its proper, massive side, holding it lightly out before her.]
... Better get ready, IV! Here it comes, I think!
[MONSTER FIGHT TIME]
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Ruby!
[If she's going to put her Huntress training to work, now would be a great time while he . . . figures out something.]
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[Don't worry, this doesn't bother her in the least. The monster isn't huge, at least, though it does have some nasty claws and teeth; that doesn't deter Ruby, however.
Instead, she launches herself forward, using the momentum of the gun embedded in her scythe in order to propel herself forward. She can't fight in her typical style when she's looking out for someone else, which means she'll need to think of something else on the fly.
Time for plan b.
She swings her scythe around and nails the monster in the head with the flat of the blade, gathering its attention (and incensing it).]
Here we go, let's... um. [Oh, yep, it's charging, OKAY. She waits until the last moment, when it's charging away from IV, and then she just...disappears in a flutter of rose petals.
She'll reappear above the monster a moment later, swinging her scythe down with all of her strength to embed it deeply into its back.]
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["Let's um"? Apparently vanishing and reappearing to stab a monster counts as "um." IV watches the action while he backs up out of the clearing, and then tears his gaze away to search for a potential way he can contribute – if he can do so in time, considering that he remembers Ruby's specialty lies in speed.
Perhaps he will, anyway. The monster goes wild under Ruby, more angered than hurt, in the hopes of bucking her off with a mighty jerk. It's a distraction for IV, too, when he has to jump back and out of the way of its swinging tail. Time's a-tickin'.]
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Okay, no, Ruby has no idea what she's doing, but at least she's trying.
The jerking of the monster beneath her does send Ruby flying with a yelp, though she's able to twist in the air, swinging her scythe around to fire a few bullets at the monster. Gotta keep its attention. She doesn't want to see IV get hurt.
Then again, she's had better ideas, especially when the recoil serves to throw her into the nearest tree.
Ow.]
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The monster, sensing its advantage, goes in for a direct hit when IV darts past (saved by the bulk of the creature costing its speed) to throw himself in the middle and extend his hand. The bracelet around his wrist shines and forms a force field around himself and Ruby that shatters after one swing of the monster's enormous head. He looks over his shoulder.]
Are you hurt?
[Trees are bad. Stay away from them.]
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[At least her Aura protects her from things like this, so she's quick enough to stagger up to her feet--just in time to see IV pull up a force field.
Cool.
but it shattered, and so Ruby doesn't really hesitate to slide back in front of him, lifting her scythe.]
I've got this, really, I promise!
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[He draws back as the monster, roaring, stomps on the earth to charge again. Ruby is so very small before it, but the scythe's got size and he knows just how fast she can go, so IV watches while he shifts his weight to secure a quick leap to the side if necessary.]
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She takes a deep breath, and launches herself straight at the monster and its charge. It's a blur of red and a giant monster, head-to-head--but at the last moment, she speeds up further, and it's the force of the wind that is dragged along by the sheer speed that she's moving at that drags the monster along with her despite its resisting.
It topples with a heavy snarl, and Ruby skids to a stop, before suddenly launching herself upwards with a fire of her scythe's sniper rifle, using the momentum to throw herself into the air--
So she can swing her scythe straight down, slashing straight through the creature's exposed neck, skidding to a stop in front of it a few moments later in a crouch, cloak fluttering.]
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The creature falls quiet with a guttural groan. IV stares, first at the carcass and then Ruby as he lifts his head. A maneuver like that would be feasible for anyone in ViViD with the right optimization, but this – what Ruby does – is exotically natural, though par for the course on a planet like this one. He focuses on the monster again, wary.]
Is it dead?
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