PHASE I [ day one ] Now, hopefully you’re not the type who takes their sweet time waking up. You’ve once again been dumped into a random part of the jungle but there’s really no opportunity for you to relax. You’ll quickly find that you’ve been lumped into two groups: the Unlucky and the Extremely Unlucky.
For the Unlucky, you’re going to feel your equilibrium just about ready to go as soon as you open your eyes. You’ve barely been caught on the edge of a cliff, resting on the slope and the slightest movement could send you careening over the edge. Get it together, grab the edge before you end up with the others—
The Extremely Unlucky have been dumped unceremoniously right into a pit of quicksand. The more they struggle, the more they sink, and they can feel the thrum of energy in their veins of what appears to be the very ground itself welcoming them into its embrace. What’s that? You’re not ready to go yet? Well better hope that the Unlucky get it together in time to save you.
PHASE II [ day one ] Occidi still remains nowhere to be found, but those of the earth affiliation will find themselves imbued with a natural sense of direction and where to go. It’s as if the very ground beneath their feet has been marked with an unseen path and they automatically know to follow it in a certain direction. But where are they going? Who knows.
Those brave enough to follow will find themselves led to a hole in the wall – literally a giant carved out tunnel into the face of a cliff side. Just be careful, it’s rather dark inside. Anyone who wanders in will find themselves going up, down, apparently in spirals and it’s hard to say whether you’re below or above sea level anymore. Yet it’s hard to mind since the walls of the place are lined with beautiful, reflective crystals that gently emit their own light. It’s a natural wonder—
Up until you touch one of them anyway. Coming into contact with one of the crystals will lead to its intense amplification of the vibration. It shakes. It shakes and shakes and shakes violently and – what’s that sound? The sound of the tunnel collapsing behind you? Ah. Better run then.
Try to avoid any of the holes or unstable ground or cliffs. Who knew spelunking could be so dangerous?
PHASE III [ day two ] Occidi is finally seen again out in the forest and it’s made clear that the invisible path that the travelers were drawn to was meant to lead to her. She nods once in acknowledgment of your progress and then turns and continues to walk. She will not answer questions if called out to. It will not take long for it to sink in that the entire forest is quiet, there is nothing stirring in this part.
At least, until characters look too long as the trees. Then, it all begins to slowly come alive. The leaves shake gently as the trees wake up out of their slumber, their roots stretching gently out of the ground as they rouse, and the groan of their trunks as they move slowly in response to Occidi’s presence.
They do not answer questions, but they speak freely. They whisper, “All will return to Occidi” and “The Bridge has come back to us”. They inquire, “But where are your families?” and “What are you?” Yet they continue to muse to themselves, mumbling at passersby without answering their responding questions.
Walk quickly. Those who dawdle for too long, looking to make conversation with the trees or otherwise, will begin to suffer from hallucinations of seeing their families within the forest, gravely injured. The hallucinations stumble and grab onto each character, begging them, “Don’t leave me.”
And you really don't want to stay in that forest when night falls, or you probably won't ever come back out -- but there will be one more moving, whispering tree amongst the forest.
There are hints that there are people living here, but it is impossible to find them amongst the moving, writhing branches and ushering trees; you may catch a glimpse of wide eyes from a greenish face beneath leafy hair if you look, but they'll disappear quickly soon afterwards, protected by the trees. It seems they've heard about a little happening in the jungle and they're not all too willing to chat now.
PHASE IV [ day three ] Finally, finally Occidi will come to a stop deep in the forested areas. Here, there are buildings made out of tree branches, perfectly built so as to not harm the trees or their surroundings. It's clearly a central village area, though there are still no people to be found, and the village itself is a bit of a mess; with scraps of metal scattered around the clearing, and burn marks on the trees.
Occidi won't answer any questions as to that, merely saying “Mine once lived here. But look at what was done to the others…. Not even the help of others could salvage what happened here.” Her normally level and tempered voice carries a string of anger.
Without another word, she disappears, leaving all here in the area. There are heaps of sheet metal scattered amongst the debris. After enough digging, one will be found bearing the emblem of CERES.
On the other hand, poking around the village itself might yield something interesting; deeper into the jungle, in an old, building made next to a giant tree, there appears to be a shrine of some sort. There is nothing odd about that, of course. But the shrine is covered in what was once old blood, and there are crude knives stacked on the shelves around it.
But there's nobody here to answer any questions about that.
Welcome to your new home.
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Welcome to Cerealia's October event! Please visit the OOC information here, and should you have any questions, feel free to ask them here! You can also check the FAQ for more general inquiries. This event will last for the month of October, or IC 3/15 to 3/30. This log will last from 10/15 to 10/22 or IC 3/22 to 3/26. Should this event log hit Captcha, there is an all-purpose overflow here.
There are 36 characters with the element of earth.
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one day is not later!!
Ah... yes. As am I. It's strange we haven't been returned to them yet.
[ though he knows now that this isn't entirely CERES' fault, he's still been expecting to return home soon. Or, at least, he was at the beginning. Then the days began to stretch onwards with no end or explanation to their little field trip in sight. ]
That tree woman hasn't told me anything terribly uplifting, either.
i don't want to make sib tags wait!!
If she is to be believed, I am "one of hers". I can't say I'm particularly happy with that state of affairs.
[Because......well, she was basically useless to him (and also scary).]
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She said something similar to me. I'm not sure what it means, however... She also spoke to me of our homeworlds, and our comrades.
[ the second part, he says with some hesitation; however, if he's going to tell someone, it may as well be the levelheaded and responsible Sousei. ]
no subject
It makes him wonder, but naturally Zara's statement completely drags his attention away from that.]
...Did she? And what did she have to say?
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She said that we're - rather, that I'm from a "lost world." That there's no place for me to return to at this time. [ it sounds like he's seeking sympathy, he realizes, and he doesn't want to sound that way, though part of him, in truth, is desperate to share what his mind's been wrestling with for the past few days. Zara keeps his tone as even and matter-of-fact as possible, relaying the information like a scout to a captain. ] She wouldn't tell me what became of the others in my world, but said that I couldn't save them without aid.
[ idly, he rubs one of his wrists. Without her aid, specifically, was the implicit message. ]
no subject
But if these spirits are saying this as well.....
He latches onto the slight glimmer of hope in that statement, and holds onto his poise.]
"Without aid"... then she implied that there is a way to fix this?
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But, as ever, life isn't that simple. He can't answer Sousei's question satisfactorily. All he can do is reply with his own hope. ]
... I choose to believe so, yes. She did not deny my pleas for help.
no subject
He can't accept it, and so... well, what Zara is doing seems like the best possible path right now.
To try nonetheless to find a way to fix this... there must be a way.]
...Be careful. We do not know the motivations behind these spirits either. [But he won't tell Zara to not do it, either, because....well, Zara's an adult, and he knows what he's doing.] But if she has some sort of aid to give, perhaps that is what we need to resolve this.
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Believe me, I don't trust her any more than I trust Mosley. But it would do us no good not to hear her out. There are two sides to every story.
[ and rarely is either side purely black or white. He'll decide which one is the lesser of two evils when he knows more. ]
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[Sadly.
He doesn't really get exactly what's happening here, but gathering more information is the only real way to learn.
Even if it seems risky even so.]
The danger, then, is in if there are more than just two sides to this story.
[Because that's...also a possibility, he feels.]
no subject
[ even if they're not real, there had to be someone or something that ousted them from their worlds and brought them here - a third party, provided it wasn't CERES themselves, of course. ]
We, ourselves, may be the last faction in this war. But I feel we'll be made to choose sides sooner than not.
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[Which Sousei doesn't enjoy at all, really, but... if they have to pick a side, it had better be the right one.]
We simply don't have the power to take on these other forces on our own. But whoever we ally ourselves with needs to be the correct side.
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Not that he's overly concerned with either side getting the justice it deserves - he just wants to get back to Fiona, safe and sound, one way or another. Whoever can do that for him is who he needs to talk to. ]
... Though I think we're far from knowing that. [ a sigh. ] Have you looked around here very much yet?
no subject
And restore their worlds.
Nonetheless, Zara's right; there's not a lot that can be done about this just yet.]
Somewhat. There doesn't appear to be anyone around besides those of us who were brought here.
[Which feels...wrong, somehow.]
There is also an unnerving building. [And for it to be unnerving to Sousei....]
no subject
Yes... I saw that, as well. I'm not sure what it means, but it seems like an ill omen, at the least.
[ torture and blood sacrifice are never good things. ]
I suppose we'll be left in the dark on it all once again.
no subject
[Sousei's fingers tighten against his sleeves.]
There was spiritual energy there, but I could not say anything more than that. [He's woefully unpracticed at onmyoudou.] If it was the site of sacrifices, then...
[well, sacrifices are never good.]