TDM #10 - Wither and Bloom [FINAL REPRINT]

[pumpkinhollow]

Pumpkin Hollow Gazette: Spring Issue

We ask that all toplevels include the age of the character (or at least a rough estimate) for TDM posts, to ensure that players both old and new can quickly make informed decisions about how to interact with a given character. We also ask that if someone lists a prompt as having an age preference, that it be respected. This is specifically for TDMs unless otherwise stated. Thank you!

Pumpkin Hollow Gazette

12/13/24 | TDM #10 - Wither and Bloom [First Edition]
Spring Pokémon Types - Grass, Fairy, Ground, Bug, Normal

WELCOME TO PUMPKIN HOLLOW

By Yorick Aberdeen

The crop for which the town is named.

Greetings, Hollowites, old and new! We are pleased to bring you yet another riveting issue of the Pumpkin Hollow Gazette. Or perhaps this is your very first one?

For nearly two years now, the mysterious ferryman has brought new and interesting faces across seas and stars and dimensional planes to reach our fair island. Since then, our community has grown larger and infinitely more interesting--- and we’re glad you’re joining us! Just in time for the weather to be just lovely.

This time of year tends to be a bit lighter on town-wide events due to this being a vitally busy time for our local agriculture industry, but we urge you to get involved with planting season and spend some time in nature. Who knows? You might even catch sight of our goddess of Land and Spring if you spend enough time among plants! Just don’t look into the trees--- they look back.

We invite you, as with all those who came before you, to enjoy your stay at the Oak & Iron tavern inn while you settle in. Please stop by Town Hall to discuss opportunities for work and more permanent housing! All newcomers get 100 Brass in their pocket upon arrival as well, so we encourage you to take advantage of this as well. Reach out to your neighbors for help if you need it, and don’t forget to pick up your copy of the Pumpkin Hollow Gazette whenever you need the local news!

SPRING WEATHER REPORT

By Phil Connors

The breeze will make your clothes smell great!

Start dusting those homes and beating those blankets! The days are getting longer, and with it, the winds are getting warmer. Spring is here! We’ll see some days that are still chilly and windy, but the more warm and temperate phases will get more common later in the season. We’re also entering the rainy period, meaning flowers are springing out of the ground and we’ll be seeing some very beautiful sunrises on misty mornings. Color is coming back to the isle, the frogs are in the rivers, and the insects and lambs are in the fields. It’s a good season to be outside.

Which means it’s also a good season to do laundry! Join us for our Community Laundry Day, where we all do our much-needed chores together and hang-dry our laundry in the warm and breezy weather! Join us on the green for some team washing. Water provided. Bring your own tubs, soap, and of course, clothes!

COMMUNITY EVENTS KEEP TOWN LIVELY ALL SPRING

By Timothy Stoker

The gazebo in town square, beside the festival green, is the place to be this season.

Legend has it that this time last year, a packed ferry arrived with a mass influx of offworlders, and an emergency potluck dinner was held to welcome the crowd. Now, this reporter wasn’t here just yet when that happened, but stories tell of a gathering of epic culinary proportions that heralded a new age of prosperity for Pumpkin Hollow. Sounds like something worth celebrating! Now that the weather has turned lovely once more (as elaborated on above by our own Phil Connors), the town has decided to celebrate the anniversary of the newly dubbed “Harbor Day” by revisiting that potluck idea. Drop by the Temple of Sacred Roots every other Friday from now until June to sample the cuisine of your new neighbors and local businesses. New residents need only bring themselves!

Also, in the spirit of spring cleaning, residents will also be selling or giving away their old items every weekend, weather permitting, in a series of mass yard sales. Some of our more modern residents supplied the term “yard crawl” for the event, which was deemed to be fitting. So come out on Saturday and Sunday mornings and afternoons to see what useful used items you can take off your neighbors’ hands! It’s a great way for new residents to decorate their new homes cheaply and get some new clothes.

And finally, on Wednesday evenings the Festival Green will be hosting “Swift Social” events (to be held in the Oak & Iron in the event of rain). A reimagining of last year’s popular charity speed dating event, this new Swift Social is expanded to include individuals seeking platonic relationships as well--- though that doesn’t mean romance is off the menu! The 10 Brass will be used to support the town’s medical community and the Autumn Leaves Dormitory House for Young Residents. So come out and make a friend or meet someone cute--- it’s for charity!

Fearsome Fae Antics Cause Town-Wide Trouble

By Melanie King

Up to no good, probably.

Things have been getting tricksy around town as, apparently, the fae population are staging the prank war to end all prank wars—or so local experts are telling us. If, like this reporter, you thought you were just having terrible luck with forgetting where you put things down or waking up with horrible bedhead, surprise! You've actually been caught in the crossfire of the fairies' games and may be entitled to financial compensation. (Not really. That's a joke.)

It looks like their antics are escalating significantly over time from harmless inconveniences to active dangers, so beware of any unusual sounds, behaviours or visual phenomenon you may encounter. Alluring or pleading voices from the woods, ghostly lights, critters acting oddly—if it's out of the ordinary, think twice. Or it might be the last time you think at all (at least, until tomorrow morning).

Fiendish Floral Figures Take Root Around Town

By Yorick Aberdeen

How eerie!

Spring is a time of year characterized by new life and by fresh floral blooms. It’s said that the land is Serranai’s canvas, and flowers are her paint. There is no debating that watching the Spring goddess’s artistry come to life in her season of power is an activity beloved by all! However, the Department of Supernatural Affairs is currently investigating some strangely behaved plant life.

While sightings have been somewhat rare, locals have been reporting eerie structures made out of flowering vines or woven flower stems that take the shape of hollowed out humanoid silhouettes. The poses seem to indicate motion and appear capable of springing to life at any moment, but the strange figures never seem to actually move --- at least, not that anyone has actually seen. However, many have cited that upon looking away from the figures and looking back, they appear to be closer. Those who have had direct contact with these floral armatures of people are also reporting some kind of ongoing allergic reaction from the encounter. Symptoms include severe shortness of breath, unpleasant itching that feels like it is coming from beneath the skin, and intense bouts of emotion which vary from person to person.

The Pumpkin Hollow Board of Safety is currently investigating long-term effects of contact with these beings and advises residents to avoid them. They seem highly resilient to fire, impact, and tearing, and while cutting with a sharp implement seems to have some success, it’s inadvisable to get close enough to the things to use such tools in the first place. Local alchemist Aeryn Sallek and local non-magical chemist Sally Boyle are currently working together to develop an herbicidal blend that is safe for human skin contact and potentially consumption to try and deal with the flowery menaces, which the Board of Safety has begun calling “Hanahilators”. But don’t let the name frighten you--- steering clear of these freaky floral followers should be a more than sufficient safety measure until the threat can be dealt with. Probably, anyway!

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Further Details...

Yard Crawl

Participate in the Yard Crawl as either a buyer, a seller, or both! When you take on a job in Pumpkin Hollow, you are supplied with permanent housing outside the Oak & Iron as part of your start-up kit, and most of them are full of old and worn furniture and clothes left behind when they were abandoned. Get rid of some of it or find something new at the Spring Yard Crawl! Plus, some of the native residents will also be selling or giving away their own old things.

Here’s how the Brass shakes out:

• Buyers can spend 50 Brass and get a haul of their choice of used or free clothing, furniture, or small decorative items. All of it will be of decent to low quality and relatively unremarkable design, so nothing extravagant. (Although a lone exciting knick knack could be considered passable!) Reminder that newcomers are given their first stipend of 100B upon arrival, so new characters are welcome to participate--- you’ll just need to mark that on your ledger if/when you app in. Ask for help if you have questions about this!


• Sellers can make 50B off of their participation but must make a toplevel. Only apped-in characters that are not Laggards can participate as a Seller.


• Those who are both buying and selling end up with a net zero of Brass, but all the aforementioned rules apply!


• Transactions related to the Yard Crawl can be applied to a character’s ledger three times --- once per month for the duration of this TDM!

Swift Social

Under the Swift Social toplevel posted from the mod account, join the fun by posting a starter with the provided code to create a profile card! Then comment on someone else’s starter with one of the following icebreaker questions to get started:

Which would be more surprising to see on your doorstep, a unicorn or a walrus?
If you could commit any crime with no consequences, what would it be?
If you were caught in a trap and the only way to escape from it with your life was to do something genuinely impressive, what would be your approach?
If you had to live on only one food for the rest of your life, what would you choose?
If you were held at knife point and instructed by your assailant that you must call someone on their sending stone, and if they do not answer, you die, who would you call?
Which would be most frightening to encounter in a dark alley: a ghost, an alien, or a horse?
If you could have any wish granted for you, no matter how big or small, what would it be? (Cannot ask for more wishes, that’s cheating!)
What’s a subject that you could confidently teach an hour-long class on with no preparation?
If you could instantly become an expert in any skill, what would you choose?
Make your own!

Be advised that you must post a comment with your profile card so that any Swift Social partners you have can reference it for your age and preferences.

Fae Pranks

It’s a fairy prank war! A few of the local fae courts are using Marrow Isle as their battle ground, since the demons made it trendy. They’re mostly out to prank each other--- but they’re also happy to practice their tricks on you! And fairies have some very odd ideas about boundaries when it comes to pranks. Here’s a few examples of some of the tricks you might encounter, ranging from silly to genuinely dangerous:

• A truly outrageous amounts of butterflies


• Sightings of Edwin the Headless Postman, a Dullahan (this is a played character that a mod will tag out with, please leave an OOC note if you’d like to opt out)


• Will-o-wisps that lead you in circles or into danger


• Fae dance parties that will have you dancing yourself to death!


• Missing objects


• Mysteriously spoiled milk


• Your hair got braided or extra tangled while you were asleep


• Weird sounds in Prague Mill after dark. Is it haunted?


• Strange women crying in the forest or by the Bluffs, but when you approach them to try and help, you find yourself suddenly in life-threatening danger!


• Create your own! Have fun with it, get spooky or goofy as you see fit.

Floral Fiends [cw: body horror, death]

Loosely inspired by the Hanahaki disease and the film Annihilation, Hanahilators are uncanny figures made out of flowers that move when they are not being watched. If they catch you, they will grab you, but seemingly have no interest in harming you as they will relent as soon as they’ve touched you.

However, once you have pollen on you, the effects begin to take hold, and flowers begin growing within your body, first in your lungs and then pushing into the rest of you. These parasitic blooms feed off of your strong emotions and are influenced by the emotions which define you. (Feel free to use the Victorian flower language to determine what kinds of flowers you get!) Once strong enough, the vines begin feeding on your body, destroying it and leaving behind a brand new Hanahilator. But don’t worry, you’ll be back to your old self tomorrow, so enjoy the opportunity to explore the island as a ghost! Apped in characters should remember to fill out a Death Certificate! It’s a relatively rare encounter, so don’t worry about running into one if you don’t want to.

Pokémon

Each season, new types of Pokémon can be found in nature around the island! They cannot be captured as the technology does not exist on Marrow Isle, but they can be befriended and kept as pets. Since there is no PC, each person can have no more than six. You can befriend any Pokémon whose primary type matches the list at the top of the newspaper. (Eevee can be caught in any season.) Legendaries are off limits for obvious reasons, and mythicals can be encountered for fun but not kept! Evolutionary stones can be found in Paradesium, the magical subterranean jungle beneath the mountain to the North. Every type will be available at some point throughout the year, so if you don’t have access to your fave yet, check back next season!

Comments

[maximumcake]

Did she just... sniff him? He's seen Erik do that enough times to catch it here. What was she checking for, he wonders.

"Well, what I really need most is someone to open the shop with me. You look pretty strong. Think you can handle hauling full trays of wet bread dough before sunup?" The 'before sunup' part usually ends up being the dealbreaker.

[arrayerofrazors]

"Oh damn, local himbo recognizes lean muscle, chalk one up for feminism." The new arrival flexes and then laughs at her own joke; it's a surprisingly unguarded sound, not bright, but genuine after its fashion. "Yeah, I can fling trays, and 'before sunup' is a bit of a bonus. I'll keep your hospitality an' your peace, no worries there..."

There's that sniff again. Her head cocks.

Her voice goes very low. "...You were on the damn ship."

[maximumcake]

"Hey, I also have a brain to go with the brawn," he says, laughing along with her. No, he's not disputing the himbo charges.

Okay, so he was right. She definitely is sniffing him. At least now he knows why. He almost wishes he didn't.

"Yeah," the mirth falls right off his face, "You too?"

[arrayerofrazors]

"After my fashion. Prior trip, until I got dumped in a quaint little Village." Somehow she pronounces the capital letter, and the word, with a weary venom; hatred that has outlasted its animating fire. "...That hellhound you smell like did me a good turn, after her own fashion. Been drifting ever since, too...me...to die right. An' I did try to die right, but since I'm here, I need a job. C'est la morte, non?"

[maximumcake]

She will see him visibly wince at that specific pronunciation of "Village." He wasn't there, one of the lucky few, but he's heard the stories. He saw the aftermath.

"By hellhound I take it you mean Valdis? She's one of my life partners here. Was... The Village where you met her?"

He's not going to comment on that last bit, because he doesn't really have a right to an opinion on it with as little as he understands, but he find himself very glad that she came here. It seems like a good place for people with that disposition to... start over.

"Also, you've got the job. Don't worry."

[arrayerofrazors]

"Yeah. She broke into my house, we had a fight, an' then she set me free." Life partner; well, every himbo needs a competent minder or he'll go to a very handsome death. "I can't promise I'll stick with the work, but...well. I can promise I'm giving it a straight shot. I've missed cooking..."

[maximumcake]

He can't help but smile at that description of events. Yep. That's his Valdis. She's the whole package. "She's really good at helping people find their freedom," he says with the most doe-eyed mushy expression of love dripping off his every feature.

"All I ask is you give it a try and tell me if you don't like it instead of not showing up for work one morning." He's not too afraid of that, she doesn't seem the type.

"How much experience would you say you have with cooking? I'm planning to open a cafe side to the bakery soon and I'm still sourcing people for my line."

BY TRADITION -

[arrayerofrazors]

"I have been accused," she answers slowly, steepling her fingers, "of being a were-grandma."

XD

[maximumcake]

The real ones know.

"That good? Seriously? What's your specialty?"

[arrayerofrazors]

Not even the twin demons of sarcasm and depression can keep the pride out of the new arrival's voice: "Workin' food, mainly, I'm used to feedin' fighters and troubled kids. Do a lot of pasta dishes 'cause they scale, I've still got the family borscht rattling around in my head, melts an' paninis an' the like. But if you want a flagship? I make the only good pasties south of Wisconsin an' my man, you can take that to the bank."

[maximumcake]

"Hey, that kind of work is nothing to sneeze at. I'm not one of those fancy-pantsy chefs that thinks cooking in bulk is beneath them." Good food doesn't only belong to the rich or the lucky.

"I have to say... you might just be what I've been looking for in a sous-chef. Those are the type of fare I'm planning to incorporate. I know this is short notice, but would you be interested in making me some flagship pasties as an official audition?"

[arrayerofrazors]

"I really do not think you understand the snake you are puttin' in your jacket here," she warns, but she's already rolling up her sleeve. "You got a name I can call you in my head besides 'the baker who is outta my fuckin' league' before we get to the 'yes chef' and 'no chef' part of this affair? And in a related story do you have the meat an' shit around or do I need an allowance an' a 'be right back'?"

[maximumcake]

"Where are my manners? You got me so excited talking about cooking I forgot them." He offers her his hand, "Max Maximum. But, really, just call me Max. Or Chef Max if you want." He caught that bit about being out of her league. He's not sure he agrees but for once in his life he holds off on flirting because that's not very professional during job interviews.

"I think my answer is really going to blow your mind. Follow me, I'll show you." He lifts the counter divider and beckons her around to his side, to follow him through the back door to the kitchen.

Inside, he takes her to the larder. He's waiting to see how far her chin drops when she discovers that it's full of hanging roasted meat that is all still steaming like it came fresh off the grill. None of it is being refrigerated. They're all hanging from the rafters with nothing but dust cloths over them.

[arrayerofrazors]

Max you've met a woman with self-image issues, will you be waiting for an answer to 'is anyone gonna give her validation?' yes or not.

She shakes his hand and says he can call her Nyx before following him into the larder. There's a brief moment of shock, but her nostrils flare, and the new arrival carefully paces through, hands in her pockets, sniffing, head tilting this way and that. She shoots Max a glance a few times, sniffs again...

"...You own this," she says at last. "Like. Ontologically. Tell me you're not a wizard, you're gonna break my heart if you're a fuckass wizard."

[maximumcake]

Nyx and Max... what were the odds that he'd find a sous-chef with the same last syllable of X? Calling names in the kitchen might get interesting.

Now he's starting to wonder if Nyx is a were-something by how she keeps using her nose. She's obviously not human. Not completely. Come to think of it, neither is he anymore.

"You're right. But, no, I'm not a wizard. I've got nothing against wizards, but what I have is... innate? It was gifted to me like a curse but good. Any food I have a hand in preparing will stay preserved at it's best temperature and freshness for basically forever. That leg of lamb has been there for a week." Looking closely through the cloth, she'll be able to see where he's cut pieces from it over time.

"And the cool thing is, it will work even if I only helped with one ingredient. So, if you use this meat, the pasties will come out perfectly preserved and fine for eating indefinitely."

By tradition I declare: damn OCs and their one-liners

[arrayerofrazors]

"If your minder doesn't put a ring on you I'm gonna."

[maximumcake]

"She's not my minder, she's my partner," Max says indignantly. "And I'm... working on that but it's a little complicated when she and I both have other partners to consider, too. I mean, getting into my pants is one thing, but marriage is a bit far."

[arrayerofrazors]

"Peace, chef, peace," Nyx says, holding her hands up. "Didn't mean anything by it, 'm just used to the better class of man attracting people who keep 'em able to stay better. God knows that was me for a little while..."

She sighs. Forum is back on Earth. Hopefully living a good life.

"...Anyway, this'll do fine. Lemme wash up and tool up an' you'll have your pasties, yeah?"

[maximumcake]

"Sorry," he says, deflating some. "It's just... I actually used to have a master--a real one. Valdis freed me from that, too." Valdis taught him to be his own minder. Now she's taught the Master to mind himself, too.

He pulls up a stool to where he can sit and still see or hear the door if it opens, crosses his arms, and prepares to observe.

"Looking forward to it."

[arrayerofrazors]

"...I see," she says, and her voice is quietly pained. Nyx finishes rolling her sleeves up and starts washing her hands and arms, seemingly lost in thought. It's a good scrub, experienced and professional, familiar with the decidedly non-modern soaps of this place without confusion or question.

And yet she seems so lost in thought...

"...Don't scream," she murmurs. The human guise melts away. When Erin had shapeshifted, or stopped shifting shapes, the gunpowder smoke of her Mantle had hidden it; there are no such luxuries here. The human form that Nyx is wearing evaporates before Max's eyes, leaving behind something not-quite-human, with hair of squirming darkness and a shadow standing at the wrong angle, oddly visible despite the indoor light.

Scars criss-cross her arms, a lifetime of defensive wounds and battles, bright against her too-pale skin.

[maximumcake]

He watches the scrub-down with quiet approval. He knew he had a good instinct about her. But the silence makes him worry he might have hurt her feelings too deeply. If he only knew.

He doesn't scream. He does release a sharp exhale that drags on for much too long. His eyes move over every aspect of her with careful consideration. It's familiar in some ways, but not others. Those scars paint a haunting picture.

"You didn't... get those in The Village, did you?"

[arrayerofrazors]

"I had a master too," comes the quiet answer. She goes for the carving knives, dancing their weight across her hands with quiet approval; good equipment, hard to find. Harvest the meat first, then she can take this to the cutting boards and the vegetables...

"I've got a good nose," she continues. "And in any event your gorgeous hellhound was hanging around Peters, so you were too. Same kinda thing, different kinda genre. If she explained?"

[maximumcake]

He does not miss her precision with the knives. He feels like he's watching Josiah handle his when he looks at her.

"You know Erin?" Know, not knew. She's out there somewhere causing more mischief, of that he is certain. "Yes, she explained. I'm not... I mean... it was vampires for me, not that, though."

[arrayerofrazors]

"Leeches," Nyx says with a sigh. "Though Number...Fever insists the local guy is fine, an' it'd be an insult if I didn't take her at her word."

She's very efficient with those knives. It's oddly reminiscent of Erin singing, in that it seems more like the tool is part of Nyx, rather than being used by her.

"I ain't the bitch Mister Rogers knows I can be when it comes to Peters," she continues quietly. "But I was there when Arthur brought her into the fold. She helped us kill one of Them, and I can hate her all I like but that's not a debt that gets paid back quickly. Used to be a legbreaker, then a militia captain, now I'm mostly depressed. Life comes at you."

[maximumcake]

"Oh, good, you met Fever too." He is a very well-connected baker, apparently.

"She was probably talking about Erik." The slight wince comes before he can think to catch himself because... oh, right. Erik. "He um... listen, when I tell you this you also have to promise not to scream, okay?" He's not giving her time to refuse, for the record. "Erik was my master, at home, before here. But he's changed. He is fine. He's my family and we've long since made amends about it all. Okay? No going and picking fights with him about it, because I don't want that." (Somewhere, Erik hears his name spoken in the same conversation with Erin Peters and he feels his butthole clench spontaneously.)

"It's... I know, it's hard to understand. But people can change. Erin did, Erik has, and I believe in giving people a chance to become better. But, I still think if she were here, Erin would probably say you hating her is fair. For whatever that's worth to you. It's not to late for any of us--not here."