🞛 A R R I V A L.

[podmods]

WHO: EVERYONE
WHERE: Starting beneath the tree and going from there.
WHEN: NOW
WHAT: Everyone is arriving in the pods beneath the tree.
WARNINGS: Add warnings to your top levels.


🞛 ARRIVAL

You awaken naked and covered in the slimy fluid of a strange pod. The sound of a thrumming heartbeat fills your ears. Pulling yourself free from the broken husk you look around to see other pods of a similar size as your own either on the ground or emerging from the walls. Some of the pods are broken while many more are still whole and giving off a faint glow that comes and goes in time with the heartbeat.

You're naked, save a piece of jewelry (be it a necklace, bracelet, ring, or whatever). A simple chain with a white gemstone. No matter how hard you try it can't be removed. Though you aren't really given the chance to focus too much on that right now as something calls you to move. To make your way toward a nearby tunnel. Giving in to this urge you follow the path and soon find yourself blinded by sunlight. As your eyes adjust the blinding light you see a wasteland stretched before you, devoid of color and life. The air is still, almost stagnant and there are none of the usual sounds of bugs and birds.

🞛 SETTING CAMP

As your eyes adjust to the overbearing sunlight, you noticed a dilapidated camp not far from the opening you've crawled out from. As you begin to look around, you come to realize you've just exited from below a giant tree. Like the wasteland around it, its bark is white, branches reaching up into the bright sky like sun-bleached bones.

There's nothing for you here but questions, so it might be best to see what the camp has to offer. Maybe you can find some clothing, water, food. Survival looks as if it might be difficult.

As you make your way toward the camp, the slime from the pod dries and flakes off as you move. Eventually, you make it to the tents and what appears to be wooden crates of supplies. It appears someone is living there though not a soul can be seen aside from those in a similar condition to yourself. The supplies include simple clothing, food, and water, more than enough for a decent-sized group of people It will need to be rationed as you don’t know when or where more will come from.

Looking around the camp you'll find each tent in need of repair. With can be found a couple of sleeping bags in it. It seems you're expected to share. There's nothing else to be found, however. No lanterns for light at night, no fire pit. Of course, where would you get wood when there appears to be no trees save the one you crawled out from. And despite the camp's apparent use once upon a time, there's not a single notebook or scrap of information to be found.

Where you are and how you’ve come to be here is a mystery, perhaps these strange dead lands hold the answers.

🞛 EXPLORATION

If you decide to explore beyond the camp you'd find the landscape spanning in all directions is the same; white and devoid of life. There is grass and shrubbery but it blends into the white landscape. Even the mountains to the north are as devoid of color as everything else around you. It's almost as if they're covered in snow from top to bottom.

To the west can be found an empty riverbed. If you follow it to the south you'll come to the edge of the island and soon realize it's floating through a sea of clouds. Occasionally the cloud cover breaks and you think you can make blue water far below, but maybe that's just a trick of the light.

Not far to the Northeast (and thus Southeast of the camp) is an old stone building. It's crumbling and doesn't look safe to enter, but if one should decide to investigate they'll find it to be an old dock, though much of the dock seems to have fallen away. Within the building can be found fliers and schedules for airships, though you can only determine that by the pictures as the lettering seems to make little sense to you.

Should you decide to follow the riverbed to the north you'll find a cave. Something about the cave sets your teeth on edge and makes your skin crawl. Every fiber of your being tells you not to enter. And if that isn't enough, what sounds like the wailing of tortured souls can be heard coming from within. If you decide to venture into the cave, despite the dark and foreboding nature of it, you'll find you lose your way and soon return to the entrance. No matter how many times you enter you can never seem to go deeper.

Trying to go beyond the empty riverbed doesn't seem like the best idea, right now. You don't have the supplies for it and it seems the further you go from the tree the more tired you become. For now, it's probably best to stick close to camp, to other people.

🞛 DREAM MESSAGES

The shadows grow long and soon darkness envelopes the land and with it brings a chill to the air. The clothing provided in the crates doesn't seem to be enough to fight the chill. Even snuggling into a sleeping bag doesn't seem to be enough. Perhaps you need to cuddle up with someone. Should you choose to do so you'll find warmth comes quickly enough and soon you drift into a peaceful sleep.

Your dreams may start as they normally do but soon you'll find yourself beneath that bone-white tree. As you stare up at it color begins to come into the world, a warm breeze fills the air, and suddenly the air is filled with the scent of spring and the sounds of wildlife. The sky goes from a starry night to the midday sun.

While no audible words are spoken you get the sense as if the tree is speaking to you.

Lost weary souls
In a land of all white
Bring color to this world
Through one another
Weaken not in each other's company

When you awaken the words seem to echo in your mind.

🞛 WEEKS 1 & 2

WEEK 1:
By the end of the first week, those that have been avoiding physical contact with one another will begin to feel themselves entering an even more weakened state than when they first awoke. It's become clear that the dream message was serious.

In addition to that, a bit of color is returning to the world. The ground around the camp has begun to develop shades of brown, as one would expect from dirt. Little bits of grass have begun to push their way up through the dirt, as well. And those while skeletal trees and bushes? They're all starting to grow fresh leaves.

Even the massive tree looming over the camp is looking more lively than before.

WEEK 2:
By the middle of the second week, the night is filled with the sounds of crickets and other insect life. You might have to make sure your tent is bug-proofed or you might wake up with a surprise in your sleeping bag.

If one decides to venture down to the river they'll find a small trickle of water has formed in the bottom. It's ill-advised to drink the water without boiling first, however, as it will make the drinker want to be closer to others. Whether that's just holding hands or something more varies from person to person.

By the end of the second week, greenery is flourishing and the trees and bushes have begun to produce fruit. Though you may want to be careful about what you put in your mouth.

Please check the Flora & Fauna page for more information.

Meat Fruit: when ripe the fruit has a blood-red exterior and inside resembles and tastes like the best quality beef one can possibly buy. A great source of protein or blood if that's your diet.

Milk Fruit: when ripe this fruit is yellow in color with a spikey-looking exterior. It's actually soft to the touch and when squeeze its juices flow freely from the ends of the spikes. It tastes and smells of fresh milk and when ingested will induce lactation for up to three days.

Canine Peppers: a bright red spicy pepper that has a bulbous top and a pointy tip. About as hot a jalapeno, this pepper will give those that eat it canine-like traits for a few days after.

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[podmods]

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[closed to Persephone]

[taintedpeony]

Jin Guangyao was no stranger to waking up in a strange place naked. Especially not after his adventures on the nameless island. the jewel was new, however. How was it that he just slipped into an ocean and ended up waking up in a pod?

The desolate whiteness of the environment was jarring, to say the least as was the odd tree pod he came out from. He made his way forward to explore the camps and see what he could find for survival. There was nothing to be done. He was in a new place and all he could do was survive. He was already missing those he left behind but if he spent his life looking back he would never be able to move forward.

He took in a breath and began to open a wooden crate with a tool he found in a tent. there were some supplies in there, a pot and some cooking implements. He could see a figure in the distance, making their way over but he wasn't sure who it was.

"Hello? I mean you no harm? Did you just wake up as well?"

[ragingnature]

Everything is wrong. There is life around her at first, but as she makes her way up from beneath the roots of the tree that feels grows fainter and fainter until it's nothing but desolation. A blank white canvas of land devoid of any life that she can feel. It makes her stomach turn in a way she wasn't expecting.

She feels ill, mind reeling from the sudden change of her temple on the Nameless Isle to stark nothing of whatever this world is.

At first, the voice doesn't register. There's no way it could be someone familiar to her. But as she draws nearer and she's able to put a face to the voice she pauses, eyes going wide.

"A... A-Yao?" She blinks at him, frozen in place before a smile breaks across her features and she throws herself at him. Naked and still a little slimy or not, she's missed his since he vanished.

[taintedpeony]

He had only managed to give out a surprised shout before embracing her fully. His arms wrapped around her small frame, lifting her up in his joy. Even though he had felt that he had seen her recently there was also a strange feeling of being apart for a while. It was odd. With the war happening he was worried about her.

"Kore!!! It's you!" he didn't mind the state of either of them. It was not the first time he was a mess and nude while embracing her.

He kissed the top of her hair and nuzzled her close. "I am not sure where we are...but I am so glad to see you my dear one."

[ragingnature]

It is, perhaps, not so different from the few times they spent much too long in bed together. Though this is much more out in the open.

Still, she doesn't care. It's been a lonely few months and she's all too happy to cling to him for a bit longer.

"I'm glad to see you, too. I missed you." She says as she finally draws back from him. A somewhat difficult task as the slime almost glues them together. "You just vanished and I..." She trails off, feeling tears sting at her eyes. "It was lonely."

[taintedpeony]

"Oh, Kore...I am so sorry. I am not even certain what happened. I was worried about the chance of it happening." he is happy for her embrace and just tucks her in closer under his chin.

"I am so happy to see you. I am sorry I left you lonely." he pressed a few more soft kisses against her hair and then on her forehead.

That was rather a sticky attempt. A bit like rice glue. He laughed softly.

"I think we may have to look for a bath and some clothing before anything else. We are together now, we can catch up and figure out what to do.

This place is stranger than the nameless island."

[ragingnature]

"It seems to have worked out somehow, at least." She smiles, reaching up to touch his face there's a bit of something there that she peels away. A bit like flakey skin but she suspects it's whatever slime they found themselves covered in having dried. "I'm not sure if there's water. There's no life...not beyond the tree we came out of."

She glances back toward it. It's so tall it seems to scrape the very heavens and the only thing with any color to it.

"Everything feels empty beyond."

[taintedpeony]

"I am grateful to be here with you again Kore." he smiled softly and squeezed her hand in his. There were bits of the slime drying and peeling off, he gently began to rub at the edges to help it flake off.

"That is worrying. It would be hard to survive somewhere without water at least. This skin layer seems to shed at least, perhaps we can use some sand to peel it off? I can help shed the stuff on the areas you cannot reach on you if you like..." there were crates, and if there were pots at least there may be other supplies they haven't found yet.

"I don't have my sword or any of my talisman paper, I don't know if my cultivation would work here. I think we should see what we can find and take stock before it gets too dark."

[ragingnature]

"Maybe. Though if there's no life I can only imagine how cold it's going to get at night. We need shelter and clothing." She supposes they could go back beneath the tree at night. It was fairly warm down there, though also quite humid.

She glances around the area, trying to see if there's anything of interest beyond just the tree. She finally takes note of the dilapidated tents and the crates. "What's all that."

She nods in agreement. "If this place is anything like the isle then I suppose we'll have time to figure everything out."

[taintedpeony]

"Yes. Exactly." he turned over to what she was looking at.

"It seems to be an old settlement, There were cooking supplied in this crate I opened, we may be able to find other things there as well." he knelt down and lifted up a heavy pan.

"I'm certain. But for now, we'll have to find what we need to survive the night at least. We will have time to explore. Do you want to help me go through these crates and see what we can find?"

[ragingnature]

"Maybe the tents can be repaired?" She's never been camping in a way that included a tent. However, she had taken a look at the way the ones back on the isle had been constructed.

"Yeah! It's the best plan we have right now." She finally moves away from him to crack open a crate and go through it. Her strength still seems to be intact, at least. Once she has a good grip on the top of the crate she's able to rip the top right off with minimal effort.

"Oh. I think I found clothing." She grabs the nearest item, holding onto a bit of it as she gives it a little flap in the air to unfurl it so they can both get a look. "A shirt! A, um, rather big one." It'd practically be a dress on her.

[taintedpeony]

"Probably. Once we see what we have we can try and find things to repair them. At least the both of us are hardy and resourceful." He was working through a box of his own, He was sad to see his sword wasn't with him but he was still able to use his cultivation to break it open.

If they found scraps, he could use blood to make a fire talisman and light the wood from the crate to make a fire.

"Oh, that should certainly help with the cold at least. We can maybe tie something around your waist so it fits better."

[ragingnature]

She pulls the shirt on and rolls the sleeves up. It feels a little silly, but it's better than nothing.

"Maybe there's a belt in here or some rope in one of these crates." She pulls out some clothing for him and takes it over to him. After she goes back to pulling open crates. Before long she has a pretty good idea of the stock available to them.

"It looks like we have just about everything we need. For a little bit, in any case." If this place turned out to be like the Nameless Isle it was probably just enough to do whatever is needed to gain more supplies.

[taintedpeony]

"You look adorable in it. If we can't find a belt we can tie some cloth. Though if I were, to be honest, you would look good in anything." he smiled and placed the things he found next to hers, picking up a large shirt and some loose trousers and putting them on himself.

"That is good. We can set up something and perhaps make a fire with some of the wood from these crates.

I hadn't been on the island in its wilder days. was it like this?"

[ragingnature]

She giggles in response to the compliment and does a little curtsey. "Why thank you." She moves toward him before being reminded there's also plenty more to do before they can rest.

"Tents, next, I suppose." She starts toward the nearest one to take a look at the state it's in.

"I honestly don't know. When I arrived the island was already pretty well developed. But from what I heard it was probably like this."